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The eleventh season of Criminal Minds was ordered on May 11, 2015 by CBS. It premiered on September 30, 2015 on CBS and ended on May 4, 2016. The season consisted of 22 episodes. The entire main cast returned for the season, except Jennifer Love Hewitt (Kate Callahan), who left the show in the season ten finale. On June 22, 2015, it was announced that Aisha Tyler would replace Hewitt in a recurring role as Dr. Tara Lewis, a psychologist with an eye on forensic psychology and its application toward the criminal justice system. Joe Mantegna as David Rossi, Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan, Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid, A. J. Cook as Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, Rochelle Aytes as Savannah Hayes, Amber Stevens as Joy Struthers, Cade Owens as Jack Hotchner, Josh Stewart as William "Will" LaMontagne Jr., Mekhai Andersen as Henry LaMontagne, Phoenix Andersen as Michael LaMontagne, Marisol Nichols as Agent Natalie Colfax, Frances Fisher as Antonia Slade, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Hayden Montgomery, Bodhi Elfman as Peter Lewis / Mr. Scratch, Aubrey Plaza as Cat Adams Jennifer Love Hewitt left the show because of her pregnancy, and her character Kate Callahan, handed in her resignation at the end of the season ten finale, due to her pregnancy and decision to devote the next year to her baby. It was announced that Aisha Tyler will replace Hewitt in a recurring role as Dr. Tara Lewis. A.J. Cook revealed herself to be pregnant, and it was later revealed in the tenth-season finale that her character Jennifer "JJ" Jareau was also pregnant. She did not appear in the first six episodes (except the season premiere). Showrunner Erica Messer expressed her desire about bringing back old characters from previous seasons, including Spencer Reid's mother played by Jane Lynch. Cook appears in the first episode "The Job" holding her sleeping baby Michael, played by Phoenix Andersen, her child in real life. According to Matthew Gray Gubler, he will be directing an episode in which another BAU member will be leaving the cast this season, that member being Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore). Shemar Moore left the show as Derek Morgan, which aired on March 23, 2016. On February 10, 2016, it was announced that Paget Brewster would return as Emily Prentiss for one episode later in season 11 episode 19, titled "Tribute". The season ended on May 4, 2016, with the show's first cliffhanger finale since the fifth season. Messer said she felt it was time for another cliffhanger and thought that it served as a "really fun launch pad" into the twelfth season, which was officially ordered two days later. Jennifer Love Hewitt was announced to be leaving the show after the season ten finale. Her character, Kate Callahan, handed in her resignation at the end of the season ten finale, due to her real-life pregnancy and decision to devote the next year to her newborn baby. A. J. Cook was also revealed to be pregnant, a fact that was carried over to her character Jennifer "JJ" Jareau as well. Showrunner Erica Messer informed in an interview that Cook's character JJ will not appear for the first five episodes of the season as Cook is on maternity leave. Messer continued talking about a guest star to replace Cook during her absence from the show as she said, "My hope is we could have a fun guest star when A.J.'s on maternity leave. It will be different because JJ won't be there. There is no replacing her as we know, but there's an opportunity there to have fun for a few episodes." Aisha Tyler will join the cast in the wake of Hewitt's exit, and will be playing a recurring role as Dr. Tara Lewis, a forensic psychologist who has always wanted to study psychopaths up close, to understand the human being behind the evil acts. Her previous job was to interview serial killers and determine whether they were fit to stand trial. It was announced that Tim Kang will guest-star on the show in the second episode of the season, "The Witness". while Marisol Nichols is set to make an appearance. It was announced on August 5, 2015, that an alum from Glee, Ashley Fink, will guest star in the third episode of the season, "'Til Death Do Us Part". Amber Stevens returned as Rossi's daughter, Joy Struthers, in episode seven, "Target Rich". Aubrey Plaza also had a guest role in episode eleven, "Entropy". On January 14, 2016, CBS announced that actor Danny Glover will guest-star as Derek Morgan's deceased father in the episode "Derek". On February 10, 2016, CBS announced that actor Paget Brewster will guest star in one episode in the latter part of the season, reprising her role as Emily Prentiss. In an interview with TVGuide, Erica Messer expressed her interest about bringing back characters from previous seasons instead of adding a new character to replace Hewitt permanently on the show. She explained, "I feel like when you look at 10 years of people we could bring back, it would be fun to do that." Messer added that bringing back old characters would allow the show to focus on the team without having to service a new regular character. Criminal Minds is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. It premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and started its fifteenth, and final, season on January 8, 2020. It follows a group of behavioral profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU), who use behavioral analysis and profiling to investigate crimes. The show tells the story of the team as they work various cases, and tackle their personal struggles. The show's original cast consisted of seven star-billed characters: Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). The cast has undergone major changes through the series' run, with several of the show's original members leaving and being replaced by nine additional starring characters: Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols), Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn), Kate Callahan (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez), Stephen Walker (Damon Gupton), and Matt Simmons (Daniel Henney). Criminal Minds has gained critical acclaim for its characterization, pacing, atmosphere, acting, directing, and writing. It has also become a rating hit for CBS, regularly featuring as one of the network's most-watched cable shows throughout its 14-year-long run. Its success has spawned a media franchise, with several spinoffs, including a South Korean adaptation and a video game. The show was renewed for its fifteenth and final season of ten episodes starting on January 8, 2020. When the series premiered in September 2005, it featured FBI agents Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), Spencer Reid (Matthew Gray Gubler), Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A. J. Cook), and Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness). For season 1, Garcia was not a main cast member but rather had a recurring role, although she appeared in most episodes. Glaudini departed the series in season 2 to return to live in New York City; Paget Brewster replaced her in the role of Emily Prentiss. Patinkin departed the series at the start of season 3, due to being disturbed by its content. Joe Mantegna replaced him as David Rossi, a best-selling author and FBI agent who comes out of retirement. During this season, Cook became pregnant with her first child, and the pregnancy was written into the show. Cook was on maternity leave for part of season 4; her character's void was temporarily replaced by Meta Golding, who played Jordan Todd, an FBI agent who works with the agency's Counter Terrorism Unit. Prior to the start of season 6, it was announced that Brewster's role would be reduced for the upcoming season, and Cook would be released from her contract; they were replaced by Rachel Nichols as Ashley Seaver, an FBI cadet. The decision to release Cook and Brewster from their contracts resulted in a backlash from fans who signed protest petitions. Subsequently, Cook and Brewster were reinstated in their roles for season 7 and Nichols was released. Brewster then departed from the series after that season; she was replaced in the eighth season by Jeanne Tripplehorn, who played Alex Blake, a linguistics expert. Brewster did however make a guest appearance as Prentiss in the 200th episode. After two seasons, Tripplehorn was released from the show; Jennifer Love Hewitt joined the cast for season 10 as Kate Callahan, a former undercover FBI agent who joins the BAU. During this season, the character of Gideon was killed off by producers off-screen; executive producer and showrunner Erica Messer said this decision was made as it was clear that Patinkin would not return to the series, but he could be featured in a flashback if he were ever to return in the future. Cook and Hewitt were on hiatus from the show due to their pregnancies after production concluded for season 10; Aisha Tyler, who plays Dr. Tara Lewis, joined the show at the start of season 11 in a recurring role, though she appeared in most episodes. Cook returned after seven episodes of season 11, but Hewitt did not return to the show again. Moore departed later that same season; he had considered leaving in season 10 when his previous contract ended, but was persuaded to stay to give his character a proper sendoff. Messer said it was initially planned for Moore to do six episodes, but it was decided to extend this to the first 18 episodes of season 11 as six episodes "didn't feel like enough". A week after Moore left, Paget Brewster made her second special guest appearance; in season 12, Brewster once again became a series regular. Moore was replaced in the twelfth season by Adam Rodriguez, as Luke Alvez, a Fugitive Task Force Agent. Tyler was also promoted to series regular from this season. Following this, Gibson was suspended, and later fired, from the program due to an on-set altercation with one of the producers; his character Hotchner was written out of the show. Gibson was replaced by Damon Gupton as Stephen Walker, a seasoned profiler from the Behavioral Analysis Program (the counterintelligence division of the FBI) who will bring his spy-hunting skills to the BAU. Gupton's contract was not renewed after season 12, with CBS stating his departure was "part of a creative change on the show". Daniel Henney, who was a series regular on spin-off series as Matt Simmons, joined the main show as a series regular for season 13. On April 26, 2019, it was announced that the series finale will be titled "And in the End…". Jason Gideon (Mandy Patinkin), senior supervisory special agent and former BAU unit chief (seasons 1–3), Aaron Hotchner (Thomas Gibson), Former BAU unit chief and senior supervisory special agent (seasons 1–12), Elle Greenaway (Lola Glaudini), Supervisory Special Agent (seasons 1–2), Derek Morgan (Shemar Moore), supervisory special Agent (seasons 1–11; guest star seasons 12–13), Spencer Reid, (Matthew Gray Gubler), supervisory special agent (all seasons), Jennifer "JJ" Jareau (A. J. Cook), former BAU communications liaison and current supervisory special agent (seasons 1–5, 7–15; recurring season 6), Penelope Garcia (Kirsten Vangsness), BAU technical analyst and BAU communications liaison (seasons 2–15; recurring season 1). Garcia joined the BAU after bringing attention to herself by illegally accessing some of their equipment, while she was an underground hacker; she is offered a job in lieu of a jail sentence. She submitted her resume to Hotch on pink stationery. She usually supports the team from her computer lab at Quantico but occasionally joins them on location when her skills can be used in the field. She is a leader in a support group for those who have lost someone in their lives. Her parents were killed by a drunk driver when they were out looking for her when she was a teen and had missed her curfew. She enjoys a flirtatious relationship with SSA Derek Morgan, often engaging in comical banter of a sexually suggestive nature when he calls for information. He calls her "Baby Girl". She was once shot and almost killed by Jason Clark Battle, who lured her on a date in the episode "Lucky" (season 3). When SSA Jennifer Jareau leaves the BAU, Penelope and Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner take over her job as communications liaison. She is kidnapped once again at the end of season 13. SSA Sam Cooper () often calls when his team needs her computer skills. Penelope is the godmother of Jennifer's son, Henry, and the godmother of Morgan's son, Hank., Emily Prentiss (Paget Brewster), supervisory special agent and BAU Unit Chief (seasons 2–7, 12–15; guest seasons 9, 11), David Rossi (Joe Mantegna), senior supervisory special agent (seasons 3–15), Ashley Seaver (Rachel Nichols), FBI cadet and special agent (season 6), Alex Blake (Jeanne Tripplehorn), FBI linguistics expert, supervisory special agent, and professor at Georgetown University (seasons 8–9), Kate Callahan (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Former FBI undercover agent and supervisory special agent (season 10), Tara Lewis (Aisha Tyler), forensic psychologist and supervisory special agent (seasons 12–15; recurring season 11), Luke Alvez (Adam Rodriguez), fugitive task force agent and supervisory special agent (seasons 12–15), Stephen Walker (Damon Gupton), supervisory special agent (season 12), Matt Simmons (Daniel Henney) (seasons 13–15; guest seasons 10, 12) is a former member of the . Erin Strauss (portrayed by Jayne Atkinson; seasons 2–3, 5–9), an assistant director and the BAU Unit Chief's direct superior. While her FBI experience was primarily in administration, SSA Derek Morgan remarked on her masterly marksmanship, after observing her at a firing range. In early episodes, Strauss appeared only concerned with herself and appearances within the Bureau, going so far as to force SSA Jennifer Jareau to accept a promotion to the Pentagon in the episode "JJ" (season 6). Further character development revealed her alcohol abuse. After being confronted by Morgan and Hotchner, Strauss accepts help and achieves sobriety. In the season 8 finale, the Replicator breaks into Strauss's hotel room in New York, drugs her, and forces her—at gunpoint—to drink alcohol from her room's minibar. Hotchner finds her on a bench near the hotel, where Strauss dies in his arms. Her death is avenged when Rossi traps the Replicator in an exploding house. Fittingly, Strauss's sobriety helps defeat the Replicator as Rossi uses her sobriety chip to escape the Replicator's trap and taunts him with it. After attending her funeral, the members of the BAU gather in a still-emotional Rossi's backyard, reminisce, and toast her memory. Showrunner Erica Messer chose to kill Strauss off because she felt that the character had come full circle since she was first introduced., Haley Hotchner (portrayed by Meredith Monroe; seasons 1–3, 5, 9) is Agent Aaron Hotchner's wife and the mother of his only son, Jack Hotchner, born in late 2005. The couple's marriage was troubled, as clues were revealed in season 3 that she may have been having an affair and walked out on him. She later appeared with divorce papers, and he accepted reluctantly so as not to cause any trouble for his son with the divorce. In the episode "100" (season 5), Haley and Jack were captured by a killer known as "The Reaper"; though Jack was saved, Haley was shot and died before Aaron could save her. Aaron later beat The Reaper to death. In the episode "Route 66", Hotch collapses from internal bleeding and dreams about Haley. She tells him that he should stop blaming himself for her death and to make sure Jack knows that he can talk about his mother's death. Haley leaves Hotch by telling him that he and Beth have a good relationship and he shouldn't mess it up by not telling her how he feels., Jessica Brooks (portrayed by Molly Baker; seasons 1, 3, 5, 9–11), is Agent Aaron Hotchner's sister-in-law, Jack's aunt, and Haley's sister., Jordan Todd (portrayed by Meta Golding; season 4) is SSA Jennifer Jareau's handpicked replacement to serve as the BAU's media director during Jennifer's maternity leave, from late 2008 through early 2009. Jordan had formerly served in the FBI counterterrorism division, but follows Jennifer for only day of shadowing before Jennifer goes into labor. Jordan seemed to get along well with most of the team, even flirting platonically with SSA Derek Morgan. She is especially close with SSA David Rossi, who is seen to counsel her while they are on cases. However, Jordan has clashed several times with Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. She eventually leaves when she decides she can't handle the stress that comes with her job., Diana Reid (portrayed by Jane Lynch; seasons 1, 2, 4, 12 & 15) is the mother of BAU team member Dr. Spencer Reid. Like her son, she has a high IQ. She was once a university professor of literature, but suffers from schizophrenia and is hospitalized in a Las Vegas sanitarium, where Spencer committed her when he was 18. Her husband, William Reid, left prior to her diagnosis, because of his inability to cope with her illness, and he could not deal with protecting her after she witnessed a murder. She is functional when on her medication, but frequently lapses into regression to her university career. Diana spent much time reading aloud to Spencer while he was growing up, and he continues to write her a letter every day. She is proud of her son but disapproves of the FBI, as it is a government-run organization; she refers to his colleagues as "fascists". She seems to be showing signs of improvement in later episodes, when Reid states that she went on a supervised field trip to the Grand Canyon without feeling the need to notify Reid. However, she did not forget him, as Reid later receives a postcard and a gift from her., William LaMontagne Jr. (portrayed by Josh Stewart; season 2–5, 7–9, 11–present) is SSA Jennifer Jareau's husband and the father of Jennifer's sons, Henry and Michael. Will and Jennifer met while she was working a case in his hometown. As of early season 4, Will had moved to Virginia and is a stay-at-home dad for Henry until he became a detective for the Metropolitan Police Department (Washington D.C.) as shown in the season 7 finale ("Run"). It is also stated that the couple had made a deal that in a life-threatening situation, they would do everything so that one of them could live to look after Henry. Jennifer accepted his marriage proposal and they were married officially; however, when their son was born, they exchanged rings with insets of Henry's birthstone, citrine. He is seen briefly in the 100th episode getting medicine for Henry with Jennifer, as well as the episode "The Slave of Duty" (season 5), accompanying Jennifer and the team at Haley Hotchner's funeral. In the season 7 finale, Will works alongside JJ to stop the bank robbers and is eventually taken hostage. Afterward, they agree to get married and unknowingly attend a surprise wedding ceremony thrown by Rossi and Will., Kevin Lynch (portrayed by Nicholas Brendon; season 3–10) first appears in the episode "Penelope" (season 3), in which he is required to search Penelope Garcia's computer to learn who shot her. Kevin sends the team live video alerting that the unsub (unknown subject) is in the BAU headquarters. He is intensely impressed by Penelope's computer skills, and the feeling is mutual. At the end of the episode, Penelope is introduced to Kevin, and the two become romantically involved. In the episode "I Love You, Tommy Brown" (season 7), Kevin proposes to Penelope, but she turns him down, saying that "things are going too fast", and ultimately the couple break up., Mateo Cruz (portrayed by Esai Morales; season 9–10) takes over from the late Erin Strauss as the new BAU section chief in season 9. He has a past working relationship with JJ. It was revealed in "200" that the two had worked on a task force together in the Middle East. He was the only person to know of her pregnancy and miscarriage during her time on the task force. In the same episode, they are both kidnapped by Tivon Askari (Faran Tahir), who was a traitor within the task force. They are both physically and mentally tortured into giving the access codes given to them during the mission. He is shocked to discover that Michael Hastings (Tahmoh Penikett), one of the men with whom they had worked on the task force, was the mastermind behind the plan and threatened to rape JJ to give him the access codes. He gives in and is later stabbed by Askari, who is quickly killed by Hotch. Cruz is taken to the hospital following the incident and is believed to be alive. Several episodes later, he reappears in the season 9 finale, "Angels" and "Demons", when he asks the team to investigate a case brought to him by his friend Peter Coleman, the sheriff of Briscoe County, Texas. They first arrive to investigate a series of murders involving prostitutes, but as they investigate, the team soon finds that they are caught in a ring of corrupt deputies—ironically the only officer not involved being Sheriff Coleman—and find their lives in danger. After a fatal shootout with the corrupt, drug-peddling Preacher Mills (Brett Cullen), Sheriff Coleman is killed, Morgan is wounded, and Reid is critically wounded and hospitalized as a result. Distraught by this turn of events, Cruz travels to Texas with Garcia to help the team investigate and apprehend the ring leader, Deputy Owen McGregor (Michael Trucco). He is not seen again until late in season 10 (episode 19, "Beyond Borders") when he needs the BAU to help the FBI's international team, led by (Gary Sinise), to catch an unsub who has kidnapped a family while on vacation in Barbados. The case is especially critical because this unsub has eluded both the domestic and international BAU teams by killing a family in Aruba, then in Florida one year later. This episode was the backdoor pilot for the upcoming spinoff, titled Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders. He has not been seen since., Savannah Hayes (portrayed by Rochelle Aytes; season 9–11) Savannah Morgan (née Hayes) is Derek Morgan's wife. She works as a doctor at Bethesda General Hospital. Savannah first appeared in Season 9's "The Return", and it is presumed Morgan and Savannah started dating prior to Season 9, and first met after she approached him when he was depressed over a case that ended badly. Before they started dating they used to be neighbors. She was introduced to the show because Shemar Moore, the actor who portrays Morgan, requested that his character get a romantic partner., Joy Struthers (portrayed by Amber Stevens; season 10–11, 14) is Rossi's daughter from his short-lived second marriage to French diplomat Hayden Montgomery. When they divorced, Hayden didn't tell him she was pregnant, and Joy thought her father was her mother's second husband, who finally told her the truth before dying from cancer. In the episode "Fate" (10x09), Joy seeks Rossi out and they're getting to know each other. Joy is a reporter and true-crime writer and is married. She has a 2-year-old son called Kai., Kristy Simmons (portrayed by Kelly Frye; seasons 13–present) is Matt Simmons' wife, and the mother of his four (soon to be five) children. The first season of Criminal Minds received mixed reviews from critics. It has a Metacritic score of 42 based on 21 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Dorothy Rabinowitz said, in her review for The Wall Street Journal, "From the evidence of the first few episodes, Criminal Minds may be a hit, and deservedly" and gave particular praise to Gubler and Patinkin's performance. Ned Martel in The New York Times was less positive, saying, "The problem with "Criminal Minds" is its many confusing maladies, applied to too many characters." The reviewer felt that "as a result, the cast seems like a spilled trunk of broken toys, with which the audience—and perhaps the creators—may quickly become bored." The Chicago Tribune reviewer, Sid Smith, felt that the show "may well be worth a look", though he too criticized the "confusing plots and characters". Writing in PopMatters, Marco Lanzagorta criticized the show after its premiere, saying it "confuses critical thinking with supernatural abilities" and that its characters conform to stereotypes. In the Los Angeles Times, Mary McNamara gave a similar review, and praised Patinkin and Gubler's performances. In 2016, a study by The New York Times of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook Likes found that "like several of the other police procedurals", Criminal Minds "is more popular in rural areas, particularly in the southeastern half of the country. It hits peak popularity in Alabama and rural Tennessee and is least popular in Santa Barbara, Calif." The series is in syndication on the A&E; Network and Ion Television, as well as on We TV and Sundance TV. Early seasons of the show have also begun airing on Rewind Networks's HITS TV channel in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Criminal Minds typically ranks in the top-ten in Digital video recorder (DVR) playback, drawing in a range of 2 to 3 million viewers, according to Nielsen prime DVR lift data. For the week of October 10, 2010, the show peaked at sixth in DVR playback, gaining 2.40 million viewers, while also ranking seventh in demo playback (1.0 demo). Criminal Minds has produced two spin-offs: and , as well as a video game. The Season 5 episode, "The Fight", introduced a second BAU team and launched a new series called Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior. The spin-off series debuted February 16, 2011, on CBS but was canceled after a short 13-episode season owing to low ratings. On September 6, 2011, CBS DVD released The Complete Series on a four-disc set. It was packaged as "The DVD Edition". The cast features Forest Whitaker as the lead role of Sam Cooper; including Janeane Garofalo, Michael Kelly, Beau Garrett, Matt Ryan, Richard Schiff, and Kirsten Vangsness, who reprises her role as Penelope Garcia from the original series. A proposed new series in the Criminal Minds franchise to be named Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders was announced in January 2015. Former star Gary Sinise (who is also a producer on the show) and Anna Gunn were cast in the lead roles of and Lily Lambert, though the latter departed after the backdoor pilot. Tyler James Williams has been cast as Russ "Monty" Montgomery and Daniel Henney as Matt Simmons, with Alana de la Garza as Clara Seger and Annie Funke as Mae Jarvis further being cast as series regulars. The series follows the FBI agents of the International Response Team (IRT) helping American citizens who are in trouble abroad. CBS aired a backdoor pilot on April 8, 2015 in the Criminal Minds slot, with a crossover episode titled "Beyond Borders". The second spin-off series debuted March 16, 2016, on CBS. On May 16, 2016, CBS renewed the series for a second season. On May 14, 2017, CBS canceled the series after two seasons due to low ratings. In 2017, tvN launched their own Korean version of Criminal Minds. The episodes are based on the original American version after its third season. On the cast is Lee Joon-gi as Kim Hyun-joon (Derek Morgan), Moon Chae Won as Ha Sun-woo (Emily Prentiss), Son Hyun-joo as Kang Ki-hyung (Aaron Hotchner), Yoo Sun as Nana Hwang (Penelope Garcia), Lee Sun-bin as Yoo Min-young (Jennifer Jareau), and Go Yoon as Lee Han (Spencer Reid). The episodes are 1 hour long. CBS announced in October 2009 that Legacy Interactive would develop a video game based on the show. The game would require players to examine crime scenes for clues to help solve murder mysteries. The interactive puzzle game was released in 2012, but the show's cast was not involved with the project so it did not feature any of their voices. The second game, developed by FTX Games was released on October 29, 2018 on Android & iOS devices. Gamespy Article On The Game The twelfth season of Criminal Minds was ordered on May 6, 2016, by CBS with an order of 22 episodes. The season premiered on September 28, 2016 and ended on May 10, 2017. Joe Mantegna as David Rossi, Matthew Gray Gubler as Spencer Reid, A. J. Cook as Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Kirsten Vangsness as Penelope Garcia, Damon Gupton as Stephen Walker, Aisha Tyler as Dr. Tara Lewis, Adam Rodriguez as Luke Alvez, Thomas Gibson as Aaron Hotchner (Episodes 1-2), Paget Brewster as Emily Prentiss (Episodes 3-22) Jane Lynch as Diana Reid, Alana de la Garza as Clara Seger, Daniel Henney as Matt Simmons, Shemar Moore as Derek Morgan Bodhi Elfman as Peter Lewis / Mr. Scratch, Angela Robinson Witherspoon as Cassie Campbell, Jeananne Goossen as Fiona Duncan, Harold Perrineau as Calvin Shaw, Richard T. Jones as Officer Lionel Wilkins, Gia Mantegna as Lindsey Vaughn, Aubrey Plaza as Cat Adams Josh Stewart as William LaMontagne Jr., Mekhai Andersen as Henry LaMontagne, Sherilyn Fenn as Gloria Baker, Pooch Hall as FBI Trainee Clark, Tatum O'Neal as Miranda White, David Otunga as Dwayne Jerrard, Beth Riesgraf as Maeve Donovan, Tracie Thoms as Monica Walker Criminal Minds was renewed for a twelfth season with an episode order of 22 episodes on May 6, 2016. The season began on September 28, 2016. The entire main cast returned for the season, except Shemar Moore (Derek Morgan), who left the show during the eleventh season. After Shemar Moore's departure in the previous season, former star Adam Rodriguez was cast to fill his void in the twelfth season. He will play Luke Alvez, a new recruit to the BAU from the FBI's Fugitive Task Force, tasked with helping to capture an escaped killer from last season. On July 21, Kirsten Vangsness confirmed that Paget Brewster would reprise her role as SSA Emily Prentiss for multiple episodes. On August 10, 2016, Aisha Tyler, who joined the show in the previous season as Dr. Tara Lewis, had been promoted to a series regular. On August 30, 2016, Brewster was promoted to series regular, following Thomas Gibson's firing. Jane Lynch reprised her role as Dr. Diana Reid, Spencer Reid's schizophrenic mother after eight years. She appeared in the second half of the season in a multi-episode arc. To fill the void after Gibson's firing, Damon Gupton was cast in the series regular role of Special Agent Stephen Walker, a profiler from the Behaviorial Analysis Program in the FBI. He will make his first appearance in the eighth episode. Shemar Moore reprised his role as Derek Morgan in the season finale as his character tried to help catch Mr. Scratch after bringing the BAU a lead in the case against him. During April 2017, it was revealed that Gia Mantegna would reprise her role as Lindsay Vaughn in the final 3 episodes of the season. It was also revealed that Beth Riesgraf would reprise her role as Maeve Donovan in the season finale. On August 11, 2016, Deadline reported that Thomas Gibson had been suspended and therefore written out from two episodes due to an on-set altercation with one of the producers. He was also cut from directing one of the episodes. The following day, Gibson was fired following the on-set altercation. A joint statement from ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios read, "Thomas Gibson has been dismissed from Criminal Minds." Gibson's character's exit was explained in the sixth episode of the season, "Elliot's Pond", when it was revealed that his character retired and went into witness protection because of Mr. Scratch stalking his son. Live +7 ratings were not available, so Live +3 ratings have been used instead.

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This is an overview of the regular, recurring, and other characters of the TV series "Blue Bloods Commissioner Francis Xavier Reagan is portrayed by former Magnum P.I. star Tom Selleck. Frank is the younger son of Henry (Len Cariou) and Betty Reagan, born in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York in the early 1950s. His older brother, Peter Christopher Reagan, died of leukemia at the age of 18 months, over a year before Frank was born. Frank married Mary Margaret Reagan in the early 1970s, and they have four children together: Danny, Erin, Joe, and Jamie. Each of Frank's sons followed him into the NYPD: Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) is a Detective 1st Grade and lead investigator with the 54th Precinct's Detective Squad; Joe was a Detective with the Warrants Squad who was murdered on the orders of his partner Sonny Malevsky (Michael T. Weiss), the leader of a corrupt gang of police officers called the Blue Templar; and Jamie (Will Estes) is a Sergeant assigned to the 29th Precinct with a law degree from Harvard University. Frank's only daughter, Erin (Bridget Moynahan), is also in law enforcement as a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney. Erin was promoted to Deputy Bureau Chief of the NYCDA's Trial Bureau in 2013. In addition to his children, Frank is also a loving grandfather to Erin's daughter, Nicky Reagan- Boyle (Sami Gayle), and Danny's two children, Jack (Tony Terraciano) and Sean Reagan (Andrew Terraciano). In one episode, it is mentioned that Frank's wife's grandfather was one of the builders on the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1870s and '80s. Frank's dad's father, Charles Reagan, was an Irish immigrant who served in World War I before becoming a police officer. Charles was the one who taught him how to fish. In "Whistle Blower" (season 2, episode 10), Frank mentions his great-uncle Teddy Reagan, a member of the NYPD Mounted Unit, who spent a cold night in a boxcar with his horse, Dolly, and a flask, waking up much later in Pittsburgh. Growing up, Frank became friends with Angelo Gallo (Chazz Palminteri), who grew up to be one of the top mafia lawyers. After Gallo was shot on the orders of a former client, Frank has him publicly arrested for hindering prosecution, to protect him from being considered a rat. Another close friend of his is Monsignor Walter Donahue, a member of the city archdiocese. However, it is also mentioned that Frank does not have many friends in the New York City Council, especially after Danny's arrest of city Councilman Tony Mancini (Richard Burgi), a former NYPD detective, for domestic abuse. After serving in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War (during which time he held the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal), Frank became the third generation of Reagans to become a police officer. He began his career as a patrol officer stationed at the 27th Precinct. After three years on patrol, he was promoted to Detective 3rd Grade. Since then, he has served in various positions across the city, including Chief of the Brooklyn South Division and the Chief of Department of the NYPD, culminating in being appointed Police Commissioner. In the 1970s, Frank led the attempt to apprehend Whitey Brennan, the head of the Westies, at his grandson's baptism. Due to the chaos, a shootout ensued in which two police officers were wounded and four people from the Westies were killed, including Whitey's wife and grandson. In the early 1980s, Frank served in the Canine Unit as a dog handler. However, he transferred out of the unit after Greta, his partner, was shot and killed by a burglar Frank sent her in after. From 1995 to 1999, Frank was the Commanding Officer of the Special Investigations Unit, a special anti-narcotics task force. On September 11, 2001, Frank was working in the North Tower when the South Tower collapsed. He spent days at Ground Zero, and took refuge at St. Paul's Chapel, where he and other officers slept in the pews. As a "Member Of the Service" (MOS) prior to 1994, Frank continues to carry a revolver (a Colt Official Police "Fitz Special" that originally belonged to his father and grandfather) as his duty weapon. He also owns a Colt Government M1911. At one point, he uses it on a serial rapist who was about to rape and kill Erin. Frank was appointed the Police Commissioner by Mayor Frank Russo (Bruce Altman). In 2011, after the election of Carter Poole (David Ramsey), Frank offers to tender his resignation, but Poole decided to keep Frank on as PC. In 2015, after Mayor Poole's successful reelection, Frank struggles with whether he even wants to stay on for another four years as PC, assuming the mayor even asks him to. He ultimately decides to stay for "as long as the Mayor's head is in his ass" (which was remarked as indefinitely). The mayor officially asked Frank to re-up in February 2016 and he agrees. Frank has an indifferent attitude towards politics, often taking on the mayor and numerous reporters who misinterpret his actions. He tries hard not to judge people, and tends to purse his lips together when hearing bad news or the horrific details of an ongoing case. He also refuses to play favorites; in season 4, he mentions that he is afraid to recommend Jamie, now with four years on the force, for promotion to Detective because it would look like nepotism. In 2011, Frank was shot by Kevin Brennan (Jack Gwaltney), the son of the former head of the Westies who Frank arrested back in the '70s. In 2013, Frank is the target of an assassination attempt by Hector Santiago (Omar Maskati), a mentally challenged teenager of the Bitterman housing projects who is tricked by a member of the Los Lordes gang who declared war on the NYPD. The bullets miss Frank, but hit Mayor Poole, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. One of Frank's predecessors, "Crooked" Commissioner Connors, served time in a federal prison after his term as PC was completed and left him with more than one mess to clean up, including Officer Thomas Sculley (Warren Kole), one of four patrol officers who, a few months after 9/11, accidentally shot an unarmed Muslim teenager, and was acquitted of all charges and allowed by then-Commissioner Connors to keep his job. In 2016, Officer Sculley, who had kept his head down for the last 14 years and made great strides to atone for his horrible rookie mistake, passed the Sergeant's exam with flying colors. Frank was reluctant to promote him, lest tensions between the citizens and the police grow even worse and ultimately offered Officer Sculley a choice: transfer to another city (Long Island, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Boulder, Colorado, or San Diego were among the departments Frank talked to) or take his promotion to Sergeant and ride a desk at the NYPD Erie Basin Auto Pound in Brooklyn for the rest of his career. In the first season, Frank is well regarded and respected by his officers and his city, to the point where the mayor felt threatened by his popularity; however, by season 6, public opinion regarding the police – and him personally – has changed so drastically that he gets booed off-stage while speaking at Columbia University. However, in season 7, new mayor Margaret Dutton affirms that his polls are better than any of the NY Mayors Frank was nearly served with a vote of no confidence by the NYPD rank and file in 2012 when he publicly apologized for the accidental shooting of a black man by a rookie patrol officer named Blake (played by Corbin Bleu) instead of waiting for the official report. The following officers are among Frank's senior staff who assist him in his duties as the New York City Police Commissioner. First Deputy Commissioner – Vincenzo (John Bedford Lloyd), Deputy Commissioner, Public Information/de facto Chief of Staff – Garrett Moore (Gregory Jbara), Chief of Department – Ed Hines (John Rue) (Ret. 2013), Chief of Department – Dino Arbogast (John Ventimiglia) (terminated, 2014), Special Assistant to the Commissioner – Lieutenant Sidney Gormley (de facto Chief of Department) (Robert Clohessy), Chief of Organized Crime Control Bureau – Bureau Chief Dino Arbogast (John Ventimiglia) (promoted to Chief of Department in 2013), Chief of Intelligence – Bureau Chief Bryce Helfond (Victor Slezak), Chief of Gang Division – Deputy Chief Donald Kent (Dennis Haysbert) (promoted to Assistant Chief and then KIA, 2015), Primary Aide – Detective 1st Grade Abigail Baker, PC's (Detective) Squad (Abigail Hawk) The following are Frank's known police assignments. 1. Patrol Officer, NYPD 27th Precinct 2. Patrol Officer, NYPD 25th Precinct 3. Detective, NYPD 21st Precinct 4. Senior Detective, NYPD Homicide 5. Dog handler, NYPD Canine Unit 6. Commanding Officer, NYPD Special Investigations Unit 7. Deputy Chief, NYPD Patrol Borough Brooklyn South 8. Chief of Department, NYPD(Wears the uniform and shield to Academy graduation.) 9. New York City Police Commissioner Over his career, Frank has had numerous partners. Jimmy Burke (Gary Basaraba) – Frank's partner while stationed at the 27th Precinct who took a bullet for him. He was eventually promoted to Inspector and placed in command of the 15th Precinct. While up for a promotion to Deputy Chief as the Deputy Commander of Patrol Borough Manhattan South, it was revealed that he had been cooking the books for his precinct's CompStats. Frank allowed him to retire rather than face demotion to Captain and reassignment to the 128th Precinct in Staten Island., Lenny Ross (Treat Williams) – Frank's partner while stationed at the 25th Precinct; by 2016, Lenny had retired and wrote a book about the bad old days entitled "Back in the Day" detailing their exploits., John McKenna – An NYPD officer who was with Frank during 9/11 who later got sick and died from illness he was exposed to during the attacks., Greta – When assigned to the Canine Unit as a dog handler, Frank's partner was Greta. He transferred out of the unit after Greta was shot and killed by a burglar Frank sent her in after. Detective First Grade Daniel Fitzgerald Reagan is the eldest son of Commissioner Frank Reagan. He is portrayed by New Kids on the Block singer Donnie Wahlberg. The oldest surviving son of the current New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan and his wife Mary, Danny grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with a younger sister, Erin, and two younger brothers, Joe and Jamie. He was happily married to Linda since 1996, with whom he has two sons, Jack (b. circa 2002) and Sean (b. circa 2004), until Linda's death between seasons 7 and 8. They lived on Staten Island until their home was destroyed in a fire in the season 7 finale, which was set by a drug cartel in retaliation to a recent bust Danny made. During high school, Danny dated Marianne Romano (Charisma Carpenter), who was described by his partner Baez as "the queen bee, super good looking, a little crazy, and dynamite in the sack" to which he agreed. As a young man, Danny worked construction. In several episodes in the earlier seasons, it is clearly established in dialogue that Danny was the oldest of the siblings followed by Erin, Joe and Jamie in that order; Frank mentions that Danny was in diapers during the Watergate hearings which took place in 1973-74, while the final scene at the Reagan family plot in the episode "The Blue Templar" shows Joe's date of birth on his headstone as June 6, 1977. In later seasons, the writers appear to have retconned the order of birth. In the episode Common Ground, 2017, Frank states that Joe was his firstborn and that he misses him every day. He also stated that the boys were 19 months apart and Erin was their younger sister. Therefore, Joe is the oldest, then Danny, Erin and Jamie is the youngest. For a class project of Nicky's, Danny mentioned that when he was three years old, he wanted to be a firefighter for Halloween, but his grandfather Henry swore that as long as he was alive, no Reagan would ever be a member of the FDNY, got him into a police uniform, and he "never took it off" until he made Detective. On the job for 15 years (as of season 1), Danny took a leave of absence from the New York City Police Department to serve two tours in the Iraq War as a Marine. (He had enlisted and served in the Marines shortly after high school and prior to joining the NYPD, and either stayed in the Marine Corps Reserve and was activated, or volunteered to reenlist at the start of the war.) Danny saw combat in Fallujah, and was the only member of his platoon to come home alive (resulting in some post-traumatic stress). During his time in the Marines, Danny was decorated for heroism. He is old- school; his hotheadedness and harsh methods of detective work sometimes get him in trouble, which his father worries about. When asked if his son "crosses the line" and violates procedure from time to time, Frank answered, "I think he walks on the line". Danny is hard on other policemen and detectives when he feels they are unprofessional or not doing their duty to its utmost. He is currently assigned to the Detective Squad of the 54th Precinct, and partnered with Detective Maria Baez. In "Most Wanted", it is mentioned that he leads the Manhattan South Detective Borough in both collars and complaints. In "Love Stories", he and Baez are awarded the NYPD Medal for Valor for their actions in " Partners". As a detective with the NYPD, Danny carries a Kahr K9 in 9×19mm as his duty weapon, and drives a Dodge Charger on duty, which replaced his previous Chevrolet Impala 9C1. He also owns a Glock 19 in 9×19mm, and previously used a Smith & Wesson 5946 in 9×19mm. Danny drove a Jeep XJ Cherokee as his personal/family vehicle from Season 1 to Season 5, whilst Linda drove a rather troublesome 2001 Kia Sedona/Carnival; this vehicle was replaced when Henry lost his driver's license and gave Linda his car. In Season 6, Danny's Cherokee was replaced by a fourth-generation Ford Explorer. Over his career, Danny has had numerous partners. Detective Darryl Reid (Malik Yoba) – Partnered together for "eight months seven years ago" (c. 2008), Reid's career came to an end (and put Danny's in jeopardy) when it was revealed that he planted evidence to secure a murder conviction., Detective DeMarcus King (Flex Alexander), Detective Ava Hotchkiss (Yvonna Kopacz Wright) – First partner of Danny's when he was assigned to Major Crimes., Detective First Grade Jackie Curatola (Jennifer Esposito) – From 2010 until 2012, Danny was primarily partnered with Detective Jackie Curatola at the 54th Precinct. In 2012, Jackie took early retirement from the NYPD after starting to show signs of burning out., Detective Kate Lansing (Megan Ketch) – Assigned to replace Detective Curatola in 2012, Detective Kate Lansing worked with Danny for almost three months. She transferred back to Internal Affairs after the arrest of Captain Derek Elwood (Nestor Serrano), who framed Danny for possession of narcotics in order to prevent him from discovering his gambling problem., Detective Candice "Mac" McElroy (Megan Boone) – A temporary addition to the 54th Precinct, Detective Candice McElroy briefly served as Danny's partner in 2013., Detective First Grade Maria Baez (Marisa Ramirez) – Danny's partner since 2013, and someone he has known for about 15 years. She previously spent three years with the Joint Bank Robbery Task Force until it was disbanded in 2011. Assistant District Attorney Erin Reagan is Frank Reagan's sole daughter. She is portrayed by Bridget Moynahan. A New York County Assistant District Attorney and single mother, Erin is the second child and only daughter of the current New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan and his wife Mary. She grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, with three brothers, Danny, Joe, and Jamie. It is implied throughout the series that she had something of a wild streak growing up (unlike her daughter). In season 5, it is mentioned that she graduated top of her class from Columbia University; she later went on to attend Fordham University School of Law. In season 6, Erin celebrated her 40th birthday. Erin is divorced from John "Jack" Boyle (Peter Hermann), a criminal defense attorney, whom she met when they were 19. In "Old Wounds", she finally changes her name from Erin Reagan-Boyle back to Erin Reagan. Since her divorce, Erin has had a few romantic interests. She and her boss, District Attorney Charles Rosselini (Bobby Cannavale), flirted with each other and even shared a kiss after a date, but nothing ever came of it mainly due to Erin's reluctance with the idea of dating her boss. In 2011, she met Jacob Krystal (Fred Weller) at an art gallery; she later learned that he was an art thief who returned once- stolen works to their rightful owners, and he left town. In 2013, after being shot in a courtroom hostage situation, she started up a fling with her ex- husband Jack but broke up when they started getting serious again (lest he break her heart again, or their daughter find out that they were once again "hooking up"). In 2014, she met Robert McCoy, a defense attorney, on a speed- date, and the two became romantically involved until he was appointed interim District Attorney, at which point she said she can't sleep with her boss. Erin is almost raped and killed in "Re-Do", though Frank saves her life by shooting her attacker dead. In "To Protect and Serve", Erin is taken hostage and shot in the arm at the courthouse. She is saved by Danny after he says a coded message, "Please, don't hurt my family," after which she dropped to the ground, and Danny shot her assailant. It is revealed that their father taught them this when they were young, as a plan in case one of them was ever held at gunpoint. In "Working Girls", Erin is offered the position of Deputy Mayor of Operations by Mayor Poole, but she turns him down. In "Ends and Means", Erin is promoted from Senior Counsel to Deputy Bureau Chief of the Trial Bureau. In the season four finale, she filed a complaint against her boss, Bureau Chief Amanda Harris, upon learning she had abused her power. In season six, Erin was considered for a judgeship. Like the rest of her family, Erin is licensed to carry a firearm. Her weapon of choice is the Glock 19 in 9×19mm and, according to Frank, she's a better shot than Danny and Jamie. In season 8, it was revealed Erin wanted to join the police force like her family, wanted to take the exam but it wasn't for her and chose law and become a prosecutor. Sergeant Jameson Reagan is the youngest son of Frank Reagan. He is portrayed by Will Estes. A young police officer and recent Harvard Law School graduate, Jamie is the youngest child of the current New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan and his wife Mary. Jamie grew up in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with two older brothers, Danny and Joe, and an older sister, Erin. His shield number as a Patrol Officer was 60528, and as a Sergeant is 71181. He was stationed at the 12th Precinct, and is partnered with Sgt. Anthony Renzulli (his training officer) in seasons one and two, Officer Vinny Cruz in season three, and Officer Eddie Janko since season four. Upon Jamie’s promotion to Sergeant, he is transferred to the 29th Precinct. During his first year on the job, Jamie was the one who continued Joe Reagan's investigation into the Blue Templar. In season two, he takes advantage of a chance opportunity to go undercover in the Sanfino crime family. In "Front Page News", Jamie gets his first kill in what he learns is a suicide by cop; the shooting leaves him with brief post- shooting trauma (more so since Bryant's death was found to be a suicide-by- cop), but between his family and the NYPD psychologist (Annabella Sciorra), he quickly recovers. In season four, he begins to express concerns because both his father and brother had made detective by that point in their careers, while he is still a patrol officer. In season six, Jamie is studying for and is considering taking the Sergeant's exam; however, he ultimately decides against taking it. In season seven, Frank gets wind from the ranks that he may be the only thing holding Jamie back from becoming a detective. When pressed, Jamie informs his father that he's happy where he is in his career and doesn't necessarily want another assignment. In that same episode, it is mentioned that Jamie is the only NYPD employee with a Harvard Law degree that walks a beat. While attending Harvard, Jamie met and became involved with Sydney Davenport and the two even got engaged. However, Sydney broke up with him a few months after he became a police officer when realizing the true danger of his career. Since 2013, there has been significant romantic tension between Jamie and his patrol partner, Eddie Janko, with the two even sharing a kiss. Despite this, Jamie has chosen not to act on his feelings after learning that Sergeant Renzulli would reassign them to new road partners if they did. Despite agreeing to keep things professional, there remained lingering romantic tension between the two. In 2018, Jamie and Eddie get engaged along with choosing to remain as partners on the job after discovering there is no official rule against it. In Season 9 Episode 1 "Playing With Fire", however, after Frank contemplates issuing such a specific written rule because of his concerns, Eddie tells Jamie that all she wanted was for them to be a couple. Jamie then announces to Frank that he had scored at the top of the Sergeants' Exam (Frank had not yet looked at the scores and was under the impression that he had declined to take it) and had decided to accept the promotion, which would end his patrol partnership with Eddie and resolve the conflict. Frank then gives his blessing for the marriage, saying he couldn't be happier for Jamie and Eddie. The Season 9 finale, "Something Blue", ends at the start of the wedding Mass with Archbishop Kearns (Stacy Keach) officiating; as Eddie's father Armin (a convicted racketeer) remains incarcerated, Frank walks Eddie down the aisle at her request. As a uniformed patrol officer, Jamie drives a patrol car on duty and carries a Glock 19 in 9×19mm as his duty weapon; while in plainclothes, Jamie uses the smaller Glock 26 in 9×19mm. While off-duty, Jamie drove his brother Joe's 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS until it was sabotaged and totaled by the Blue Templar. He mentioned gradually repairing and restoring it over the next several years, and was next seen driving it in Season 9 Episode 7. Over his career, Jamie has had a few partners. Sergeant Anthony Renzulli (Nicholas Turturro) – Jamie's training officer, Sgt. Renzulli knows the beat of his precinct very well and often offers Jamie good advice when he needs it. He believes Jamie will make a great cop, and often pokes fun at him for abandoning a lucrative law career., Officer Vincent Cruz (Sebastian Sozzi) – Jamie's partner who grew up in the Bitterman housing projects neighborhood of New York City. In "The Bitter End", Cruz and Jamie are patrolling near the Bitterman Houses and come across a purse snatcher who leads them on a chase through the project. The purse snatching proves to be a setup, and both officers find themselves under fire from Los Lords gang members. Cruz is hit twice in the neck and despite Jamie's best efforts, he dies at the scene from massive internal bleeding., Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko Reagan (Vanessa Ray) – A younger police officer and Jamie's partner from season 4 until he is promoted to sergeant season 9. Feisty and strongly opinionated, she is very passionate when it comes to her job. As of late, her latent romantic feelings for Jamie have become more apparent, but they mutually decided not to pursue a romantic relationship lest they lose their partnership. However, they announced their engagement to the Reagan family in the season 8 finale, "My Aim Is True". The two wed in the season 9 finale, "Something Blue". Former Commissioner Henry Reagan is Frank Reagan's father. He is portrayed by Len Cariou. The retired Police Commissioner and father of Frank (grandfather of Danny, Erin, Jamie, and the late Joe; great-grandfather of Nicky, Jack, and Sean). His childhood during the 1920s and 1930s was hard due to his father, Charles, an Irish immigrant, World War I veteran and former police officer, being an alcoholic and unable to hold a job. Henry was a Marine in World War II and Korea, and joined the NYPD in 1952. He got married in 1955. Like his grandson Danny, Henry is socially conservative and hates the political correctness of modern law and order. His wife of 46 years, Betty, died December 2, 2001. It is later revealed that Henry and Betty had another son, Peter Christopher, who died of leukemia at the age of 18 months, over a year before Frank was born. In "Bad Blood", it was revealed that he once rode with one of the first female patrol officers, Colleen McGuire (Anita Gillette). Henry admitted that they both had romantic feelings for each other, but they never acted on them since he was married. He had his boss reassign Colleen to a different partner to avoid putting his marriage at further risk, but remained good friends with her. In "Stomping Grounds", it was mentioned that Henry, during his days as a Detective with the Vice Squad, transferred out of the unit when he started to see every woman on the street as a hooker. In "Town Without Pity", Henry mentioned that during the New York City blackout of 1977 he was stationed in the South Bronx. Len Cariou, separated in age from Tom Selleck by only six years, wears make-up and a dental prosthetic to appear older., In "A Night on the Town" is revealed that Betty had a wooden box in which she put all her "treasures". One of these treasures is a U.S. Army Master sergeant insignia that can't be Henry's or Frank's insignia because they served in the United States Marine Corps. Nurse Linda Rose Reagan (née O'Shea) was Danny Reagan's wife. She was portrayed by Daytime Emmy-nominated actress, Amy Carlson. The wife of Danny from 1996–2017 and mother of their two sons. She loves her husband and the Reagan family, but at times, Danny's obsessive attitude toward collaring criminals makes her wonder whether he views his job as a higher priority than his family. In seasons one and two, she is a stay-at-home mom, but she returns to her nursing job at St. Victor's Medical Center in season three. She has an older sister, Wendy (Laurie Williams), and a niece, Sofie, who is a fashion model. She also has a brother, Jimmy O'Shea (Kevin Dillon), who has been in and out of trouble with the law. In "New Rules", Linda is shot at the hospital by a teenage gangbanger who had been ordered to kill a witness, but she eventually makes a full recovery. In "Under the Gun," Linda is mugged while working a community health van in the projects, and uses her father-in-law's influence to bypass the New York City pistol permitting process to obtain an unrestricted concealed carry permit and buys a .38 Special Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver. Ultimately she decides she does not want to carry after all, and gives the pistol to Danny. On May 28, 2017 (between seasons 7 and 8), Linda died in a medivac helicopter crash while tending to a patient being air lifted to the hospital. It was later implied in the season 9 premiere episode that the Mexican cartel hitman known as the Panther had been responsible for the aforementioned helicopter crash. Nicole Reagan is Erin Reagan's daughter. She is portrayed by Sami Gayle. Erin's daughter, born October 14, 1996, aspires to become an officer like the rest of her family. As of "Old Wounds", she is 16 years old. In season five, she is a high school senior preparing for college; in season six, she is attending Columbia University, her mother's alma mater, and graduates at the end of season 9. She is a very curious young girl and is not afraid to question her uncle Danny and great-grandfather about police matters, often challenging their old school conservatism. During the initial seasons her willingness to be a nonconformist was emphasized by her short hair, but in later seasons she grew it out. She wanted to join the family business as the first female Reagan to be a cop. In season 8, Nicky takes the police exam, over her mother's objections. In the pilot episode, Nicky is portrayed by Marlene Lawston. Jamie's partner and eventual wife, Officer Edit Marie "Eddie" Janko Reagan (first name pronounced "eh-DEET") is of mixed Hungarian and Serbian descent. Feisty and strongly opinionated, she is very passionate when it comes to her job. She is portrayed by Vanessa Ray. Eddie's mother, Lena Janko (Christine Ebersole) immigrated from Serbia and Eddie herself is fluent in the Serbian language, which comes in handy when Danny recruits her to bust a sex trafficking ring. Her father, Armin Janko (William Sadler) was a financial advisor before his company was revealed to be involved in a Ponzi scheme, ruining a lot of good people. As a result, he is serving a prison sentence. He gets a lighter sentence after busting a prison guard drug ring. In "The Bullitt Mustang", Eddie is one of several police officers charged with official misconduct by the acting New York County District Attorney for fixing her 90-year-old neighbor's parking tickets; the charges are subsequently dropped after Frank and Erin work out a deal. In "Back in the Day", Eddie reveals her aspirations of making detective, having signed herself and Jamie up for a surveillance assignment for one of the precinct's detectives. While awaiting their target, Eddie chose to remain at her post when Jamie chose to respond to an officer-down call, which proved to be false. This led to a brief conflict between them, with Jamie threatening to get a new partner if she ever goes against an emergency call again. There has been significant romantic tension between Eddie and Jamie since the middle of season four, the two even sharing a kiss. Despite their attraction, Jamie had chosen not to act on his feelings after learning that Renzulli would reassign them to new partners per NYPD protocol. Nevertheless, there continued to be romantic tension lingering between the two, which had become much more apparent when they both acknowledged to each other how they feel, leading to another kiss. Despite this, they agreed not to further act on their feelings since they don't wish to jeopardize their partnership. However, after a life-threatening situation in the season 8 finale, Jamie and Eddie fully accepted their feelings and got engaged. When they announced their engagement to the Reagan family, Frank offered Eddie her choice of a new precinct assignment. However, Jamie pointed out that there is no actual regulation prohibiting married NYPD officers from being partnered on the job. Therefore, they have decided to remain partners as well. In Season 9 Episode 1 "Playing With Fire", however, after Frank contemplates issuing an official written rule because of his concerns for such an arrangement, Eddie tells Jamie that all she wants is for them to be a couple. Jamie later announces to Frank that he had scored at the top of the Sergeants' Exam (Frank had not yet looked at the scores and was under the impression that he had declined to take it) and has decided to accept the promotion. This, therefore, ends his patrol partnership with Eddie and resolves their conflict. Frank then gives his blessing for the marriage, saying he couldn't be happier for Jamie and Eddie. Jamie's promotion to Sergeant and transfer to the 29th Precinct results in the precinct commander transferring out several patrol officers whom Jamie catches in what appears to be either an internal brawl or a Fight Club-like activity in the precinct locker room. Jamie recommends the transfer of six officers from the 12th, including Eddie, to the 29th to replace them. Eddie initially declines her transfer, telling Jamie she needs the space for her own career to grow. Despite this, she quickly changes her mind after visiting Jamie at the 29th while in civilian clothes and overhearing several patrol officers disparaging him in his absence, as well as hearing from some of the other transferees how rough their new assignment at the 29th is. After her transfer to the 29th, she was initially partnered with Officer Maya Thomas (Yasha Jackson) until Thomas was dismissed after getting caught stealing cash from crime scenes. Eddie is now partnered with Officer Rachel Witten (Lauren Patten), whom Frank had dismissed for racial profiling and then reinstated after a few months. Eddie's mother Lena makes her first appearance in "By Hook or by Crook". Despite her husband's conviction and imprisonment, she has tried to maintain her past wealthy lifestyle. Upon meeting Jamie and learning of Eddie's engagement to him, she openly expresses doubt about his ability to give her the lifestyle she had been raised with. However, she soon warms up to him when Jamie refuses to be intimidated by her and is happy with the relationship. The Season 9 finale, "Something Blue", ends at the start of the wedding Mass with Archbishop Kearns (Stacy Keach) officiating; as Armin remains incarcerated, Frank walks Eddie down the aisle at her request. In the Season 10 premiere, after she and Jamie referred to herself as "Eddie Janko-Reagan" a few times, they decided she would remain "Officer Janko" on the job and "Mrs. Reagan" at home. Upon the couple's return to duty after the wedding, their precinct commander, Captain Espinoza (Luis Antonio Ramos), switched Eddie and Officer Witten to the night shift under Sergeant McNichols (Stephanie Kurtzuba) to remove Jamie from Eddie's chain of command. As a uniformed patrol officer, Eddie drives a patrol car on duty and carries a Glock 19 in 9×19mm as her duty weapon. Her shield number is 68921. As of Season 9 she is wearing the NYPD Excellent Police Duty award. Appearing: Jack Reagan, Danny and Linda's older son, born circa Fall 2000. He is portrayed by Tony Terraciano. In season 9 Episode 5 "Thicker than Water", Jack begins attending (the fictional) Hadleigh College, somewhere outside the immediate New York City metropolitan area., Sean Reagan, Danny and Linda's younger son, born circa 2003. He is portrayed by Andrew Terraciano, Tony's younger brother. Mentioned but not portrayed on-screen: Detective 1st Grade Joseph Conor Reagan, son of Frank and Mary, younger brother of Danny and Erin and older brother of Jamie. Joe was a member of the NYPD Warrants Squad partnered with Detective Sonny Malevsky (Michael T. Weiss). He was a graduate of John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He was killed on May 15, 2009, by Sonny when Joe learned that he was the leader of a corrupt gang of police officers called the Blue Templar. Joe's Shield, number 46808, was retired after his death in the line of duty. In "Cursed", the Reagans decided to reinstate the number when an officer made a request to wear it in honor of her late father who had the same number in Boston., Mary Margaret Reagan, Frank's late wife and the mother of his four children, Danny, Erin, Joe, and Jamie. She died on September 14, 2005, of cancer. In "Fathers and Sons", it is mentioned that her grandfather helped build the Brooklyn Bridge in the 1870s and '80s., Betty Reagan, Henry's wife of 46 years and the mother of Frank and Peter. She died on December 2, 2001. In "By Hook or by Crook", it is mentioned that she was born in Ireland, the oldest of 12 children where there was never enough food, and met Henry after moving to New York to make more money. The Sunday family dinners are her legacy of having overcome the struggle of childhood poverty., Peter Christopher Reagan, Henry and Betty's oldest son and Frank's older brother. He died of leukemia when he was only eighteen months old. The Mayor of New York City who appointed Frank Reagan to the position of New York City Police Commissioner. He lost the 2011 election to Carter Poole (David Ramsey), who succeeded him as Mayor. While he is credited as the character "Frank Russo" in Season 1, his name is never actually mentioned. He makes a return appearance in Season 3 when his daughter is arrested by Jamie and Vinny for smoking pot. Here, his character is introduced as "Former Mayor Robert Levitt". He is portrayed by Bruce Altman. Elected to the position of Mayor of New York City in 2011, Carter Poole and Frank butt heads on occasion, but the two have a mutual respect for each other that Poole says went back to his childhood when Frank was a beat cop in his neighborhood and used to look out for the children. In "Parenthood", it is mentioned that he attended Yale University and that he has an illegitimate daughter who does not know about him, aside from the fact that he is the mayor. In "This Way Out", he's shot in an assassination attempt during a town hall meeting by a mentally-challenged teenager who was tricked by a member of the Los Lordes gang operating out of the Bitterman Housing Projects. The shooting leaves the mayor paralyzed from the waist down, confining him to a wheelchair, but does not prevent him from discharging his duties as Mayor. In 2015, he is reelected for another term as Mayor. In 2017, he resigns as Mayor because he is burned out and feels he is not the man to lead the city any longer. He is portrayed by David Ramsey. The New York City Public Advocate under Mayor Carter Poole, Margaret Dutton ascended to the position of interim Mayor of New York City in 2017 after the Mayor's resignation. She is portrayed by Lorraine Bracco. As Mayor, she is aided by Carlton Miller, who is portrayed by Mark Linn-Baker. The Mayor-elect as of "Friends in High Places". His first encounter with a member of the Reagan family, after winning the election in a landslide, is with Erin when he offers his endorsement for her to run for election as District Attorney; Erin eventually learns that she is only one of four Assistant DAs to whom Chase has made that offer. Frank's first encounter with Chase is when Chase informs him that he intends to keep him on as Commissioner and that he would like to reinstate Frank's Stop and Frisk program among other more hardline law enforcement policies to protect the NYC tourist industry. He does add one condition: that Frank replaces Garrett Moore as DCPI with a more hardline replacement from one of a list of candidates provided by Chase. Simultaneously, Garrett receives an unsolicited job offer for a professorship at Duke University; he and Frank do some checking and discover that Chase's wife is on the Board of Directors at Duke. Frank and Garrett stand firm on Garrett staying, with a counteroffer to hire one of Chase's nominees as an assistant. Chase accepts, but tells them that once he is sworn in, "what I say goes." He is portrayed by Dylan Walsh. The Governor of New York, known for his thin skin, which Frank describes as "thinner skin than a grape", and tendency to "overreach". He is portrayed by David Zayas. Detective 2nd Grade Abigail Baker is a member of the Police Commissioner's (Detective) Squad who serves as Frank's primary aide. She was credited in Season 1 as "Det. Melissa Baker", however was referred to as Abigail throughout the season and the name was changed in Season 2. Baker is portrayed by Abigail Hawk. In "Manhattan Queens", Baker was harassed by Suffolk County Police Department Deputy Chief Sam DeLuca, who had a romantic interest in her. In the same episode it is revealed that she is from Ocean Bay Park and her parents still live there. She speaks fluent Japanese. Frank mentions she is happily married in season 6 when questioned by his former partner Lenny. She subsequently became pregnant and gave birth during season 7. Having been with Frank for nine years as of season 8's "Heavy Is the Head", Baker longs for more active detective work despite Frank's assurances that he needs her and often leans on her detective's instincts. She receives an offer working for newly-promoted Captain Bullman, who used to be her sergeant, but Frank refuses to let her resign. Frank reluctantly tells Abigail later that he found out Bullman mainly wanted to hire her to have someone in his ranks who could pull favors at 1PP. Abigail's husband is Officer Brian Baker of the 65th Precinct. They have at least two children (whose pregnancies were shown in the series). In "By Hook or by Crook", Brian is shot and critically wounded by a drug dealer who was released on bail after a murder conviction in Mexico was missed by a background check. Brian recovers. The NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information, who becomes Frank's de facto chief of staff. Before becoming Frank's DCPI, Garrett was a reporter. He has been married and divorced three times, and has a stepson, whom he has tried to keep out of trouble. Garrett and Frank have a rather complex relationship; for example, Frank often expresses dismay when Garrett comes into his office unannounced but also seemingly values his perspective. Furthermore, many episodes depict the two debating an issue regarding what information should or should not be released to the public. In "Nightmares", a woman in Atlantic City, New Jersey accused him of rape, but the allegations were proven to be false when it was revealed that the woman in question was a prostitute who slept with rich married men and then blackmailed them. He is portrayed by Gregory Jbara. Formerly the Organized Crime Control Bureau Chief, Dino Arbogast was promoted to Chief of Department (the highest-ranking uniformed police officer) by Frank after the retirement of the previous Chief, Ed Hines. Dino maintains this role for season 4, until the finale, when he's forced to resign after being caught on video committing lewd acts with an escort hired by a recently deceased brothel madam, and lying about it, and benching Danny in an attempt to keep the act from being discovered. He is portrayed by John Ventimiglia. The newly appointed Inspector General of the NYPD, Kelly Peterson is a former member of the Essex County Prosecutor's Office in New Jersey. In the season 4 finale, Peterson tells Commissioner Reagan about her intent to resign, after finding that she does not have enough "professional animosity" toward the NYPD due to becoming too close to Frank. She is portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth. In season 8, Peterson returns as the Corporation Counsel of New York City. The Supervisor of the 54th Precinct's Detective Squad, Sergeant Sidney Gormley was Danny's boss for over four years. He was frequently exasperated by his subordinate. He lives in New Hyde Park with his wife, Sheila (Cady Huffman), has a son Brendan, and, according to the certificate in his office, is a graduate of New York University. In "Flags of Our Fathers", Gormley mentions that he is a veteran, and that he lost a grandfather and two uncles in the service. Early in season 5, Gormley is reassigned by Frank to One Police Plaza and appointed as Dino's replacement as Chief of Department. However, due to Gormley only being a Sergeant, and therefore not being high enough in rank to be eligible for Chief of Department (who must be at least a captain or higher), he is given the job title "Special Assistant to the Commissioner", which gives him the authorities of the Chief of Department though not the pay grade or privileges. In this capacity, Gormley acts as Frank's liaison to the rank and file. He is later on promoted to Lieutenant. He is portrayed by Robert Clohessy. First Deputy Commissioner Vincenzo, NYPD – Frank's 2nd-in-Command; he was considered for the position of New York City Police Commissioner, but the Mayor ultimately appointed Frank to the position. He is portrayed by John Bedford Lloyd., Chief of Department & former Chief of Detectives Ed Hines, NYPD (Ret. 2013) — The highest-ranking uniformed police officer; he is portrayed by John Rue., Bureau Chief Bryce Helfond, NYPD – The NYPD Chief of Intelligence; he is portrayed by Victor Slezak, Assistant Chief Donald Kent – The Chief of the NYPD Gang Division and a longtime friend of Frank; the day he was promoted to Assistant Chief, he and Maggie, his wife of 30 years, were killed in a drive-by the Warrior Kings gang. He was portrayed by Dennis Haysbert., Deputy Chief Trevor Jackson – The longtime commander of the New York City Police Department Emergency Service Unit who was forced into mandatory retirement at the age of 63. He is portrayed by Isaiah Washington. Detective 1st Grade Jackie Curatola was Danny's previous partner; she is divorced and is regularly the recipient of passes or ogling from her uniformed colleagues and perps alike, much to her annoyance. In 2012, Jackie took early retirement from the NYPD after starting to show signs of burning out. She is portrayed by Jennifer Esposito. As a detective with the NYPD, Jackie carried a Glock 19 in 9×19mm as her duty weapon. Assigned to replace Detective Curatola in 2012, Detective Kate Lansing worked with Danny for almost three months. She transferred back to Internal Affairs after the arrest of Captain Derek Elwood (Nestor Serrano), who framed Danny for possession of narcotics in order to prevent him from discovering his gambling problem. She is portrayed by Megan Ketch. Danny's partner since 2013 (and someone Danny has known for 15 years), Detective 1st Grade Maria Baez previously spent three years with the NYPD's Joint Bank Robbery Task Force until it was disbanded in 2011. In "Bad Blood", it is revealed that she has an older brother, Javier (Kirk Acevedo), who is a recovering drug addict, and her mother, Carmen Baez (Saundra Santiago), and her sister, Ana Baez (Liza Colón-Zayas), are introduced in "Stomping Grounds". Before transferring to the 54th Precinct, Maria fell hard for Detective Jimmy Mosely (Johnathon Schaech), but their relationship fizzled out when he refused to leave his wife for her. In "Partners", Javier revealed that he is an informant for the DEA against a drug cartel; he dies saving Maria's life in a raid on that cartel. In "Love Stories", she and Danny are awarded the NYPD Medal for Valor for their actions in "Partners". During season 7, Danny claims that Baez has difficulty establishing or maintaining romantic relationships. She is portrayed by Marisa Ramirez. The new Commander of the 54th Precinct's Detective Squad, Lieutenant Dee Ann Carver is Danny's strict, by-the-book boss who took over after Sgt. Gormley was transferred to 1PP. She is portrayed by LaTanya Richardson Jackson. She is the adoptive mother of a baby girl whose father committed suicide in front of her and Danny, despite their best efforts to talk him down. Erin's ex-husband and Nicky's father, Jack Boyle is a formidable defense attorney. Due to his actions after the divorce (including moving away and not keeping in contact with his daughter), Jack is not very well liked by the adults in the Reagan family (although his nephews, Jack and Sean, are both excited to see him when he returns to New York). When Danny was framed for narcotics possession, Henry hired Jack as his attorney. Jack and Erin briefly got back together after surviving a courtroom hostage crisis, but Erin ended it when they started getting serious again (lest he break her heart again, or their daughter find out that they were once again "hooking up"). Jack did return in 2017 to represent a man that Erin is trying to convict. This time Jack came out on top. Erin also learned of Jack's relationship with a woman who is a few years older than Nicky, which did not last long. Late in season 8, Erin confesses to Anthony that she is dating Jack again. Jack is portrayed by Peter Hermann. Erin's boss in the first season, Charles Rosselini is the New York County District Attorney with aspirations of higher office. He is portrayed by Bobby Cannavale. The Bureau Chief of the Manhattan District Attorney's Trial Bureau, Amanda Harris promoted Erin to Deputy Bureau Chief. She almost fires Erin after she calls her out on violating Brady Rules by not providing the defense with video footage that may have exonerated a previous rape suspect; Harris ends up keeping Erin, saying that she needs someone like her to keep her in check. Regardless of this, Harris is eventually arrested after Erin finds out that she has a long-standing deal with a recently deceased high-profile madam who has her people seduce high-profile New Yorkers of major influence – like high- level cops, politicians, pro athletes, and various celebrities – and get them on tape in order to guarantee their assistance whenever she needs it. (Whether this assistance is solely for cases or possibly for darker, personal reasons is left open to speculation.) She is portrayed by Amy Morton. A defense attorney Erin met on a speed-date. He was an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn for twelve years before leaving to join private practice in 2008. After Bureau Chief Amanda Harris was fired, McCoy was appointed the interim New York County District Attorney. This caused Erin to break off their relationship, saying she can't sleep with her boss. He is portrayed by Holt McCallany. As the interim DA, McCoy came into conflict with Commissioner Reagan when he announced that the DA's office did not plan on prosecuting petty marijuana possession charges. A member of the DA's Investigations Unit who assists Erin with her cases. He is portrayed by James Lesure. In 1995, McBride's mother was murdered in an unsolved robbery. When Erin finds the case in a cold-case pile, she runs DNA found at the scene, which reveals what McBride already suspected but was afraid to confirm: that his father had been responsible. A Senior Detective for the DA's Investigations Unit who assists Erin with her cases. He and Danny don't personally get along, but are willing to work together when necessary. In "Friends in Need" it is revealed that his cousin is Joey Ruscoli (Anthony DeSando), and his aunt is Sophia Ruscoli (Catherine Wolf). In "Good Cop Bad Cop" it is revealed that his mother is Lucille Abetemarco (Suzanne Shepherd). In "The Brave" it is revealed that his ex-wife is Vivian Abetemarco and his daughter is Sophia Abetemarco (Isabel Harper Leight). In "Disrupted" the role of Vivian Abetemarco is from thus on played by Kate Miller. In "Past Tense" it is revealed that his long-lost former mobster half-brother is Leo Stutz (Erick Bentancourt). He is portrayed by Steve Schirripa. In "The Brave" the role of his ex-wife Vivian Abetemarco is originally portrayed by Diana Bologna. District Attorney Samar "Sam" Charwell is Erin's new boss after she is promoted to Bureau Chief in season 9. He is played by Aasif Mandvi. Jamie's first partner and Training Officer, Sergeant Tony Renzulli knows the beat of his precinct very well and often offers Jamie good advice when he needs it. He believes Jamie will make a great cop, and often pokes fun at him for abandoning a lucrative law career. He was also the Training Officer for Joe. In season 3, he moves to an apparent desk job managing the patrolmen of the 12th Precinct. He is married, and has a side job painting to make extra money; he is also a gambler, but quit after Frank bailed him out of a $3,000 debt (with it made clear that this is a one-time offer). He is portrayed by Nicholas Turturro. As a uniformed patrol supervisor, Sgt. Renzulli drives a patrol car on duty and carries a Glock 19 in 9×19mm as his duty weapon. Officer Vincent "Vinny" Cruz, shield number 59910, is Jamie's partner in season 3. He's a child of the Bitterman housing projects in Brooklyn. In "The Bitter End", he is killed when he and Jamie are lured by a purse snatcher into the Bitterman projects, and Vinny is shot by a sniper on a rooftop. He is posthumously promoted to Detective 1st Grade. He was portrayed by Sebastian Sozzi. As a uniformed patrol officer, Vinny drove a patrol car on duty and carried a Glock 19 in 9×19mm as his duty weapon. See entry in "Reagan family" section above. Captain Robert Espinoza is the Commander of the 29th Precinct and Jamie's immediate superior starting in Season 9 Episode 2 "Meet the New Boss", who requested his assignment as new blood to help clean out corruption in the ranks of the patrol officers. He is played by Luis Antonio Ramos. A community social-activist preacher, portrayed by Ato Essandoh, who feels it is his duty to protect people of color (particularly those in his neighborhood) from the brutality and racial profiling of the NYPD. In "Excessive Force", when a criminal Danny was pursuing purposely jumped out a window and falsely claimed that Danny pushed him. Potter, seeking to further his own agenda, relocated a young witness and his entire illegal family, and demanded to Commissioner Reagan to have his son take an early retirement. Potter is nearly arrested by Commissioner Reagan for witness tampering, but Frank lets him off with a warning in order for him to save face with his congregation. In Season 7 "Unbearable Loss", Potter suffers a personal tragedy when his teenage son, Michael, is murdered by one of the youths he once sheltered; Frank consoles him, revealing that his son Joe was killed by a corrupt cop. This, along with Danny's successful capture of the killer, softens some of Potter's bitterness towards the Reagans. The first season of Blue Bloods, an American police procedural–family drama television series, aired in the United States on CBS between September 24, 2010 to May 13, 2011. The series was created and, along with Leonard Goldberg and Michael Cuesta, executively produced by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess. The show revolves around the Reagan family, consisting of the retired police commissioner, current police commissioner, police officers, and an assistant district attorney, all working with the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Actors Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou and Tom Selleck make up the main cast as the Reagan family—Danny, Erin, Jamie, Henry and Frank. Blue Bloods first season aired during the 2010–11 television season on Fridays at 10:00 p.m. EST. The series debuted with the pilot episode, which was viewed by 13.01 million viewers. The season ended with the finale "The Blue Templar", which was watched by 11.79 million viewers. The season averaged 12.58 million viewers per 22 episodes. Internationally, the first season was very successful in Canada, United Kingdom and New Zealand, ranking among the top 30 most watched programs on the respective channels. The first season also garnered positive reviews from television critics, praising the performances of lead actors Donnie Wahlberg and Tom Selleck and the family dynamic among the Reagans. A running theme through the first season is Jamie's assumption of Joe's investigation. The FBI tried to recruit Jamie, but instead he conducted his own covert investigation into Joe's murder. The corrupt cops were operating within a fraternal organization called the "Blue Templar", and murdered Joe when his covert investigation was getting close to exposing names. Joe's assailants attempt to kill Jamie by sabotaging the brakes in his car; however, this effort backfired. After the failed hit, Jamie informs Frank, Danny, and grandfather Henry about the results of his informal investigation. Along with Frank's prosecutor daughter Erin, the Reagan family completes Joe's Blue Templar investigation. After gathering sufficient evidence to obtain arrest warrants, Frank personally leads a squad of police officers, including Danny and Jamie, to execute the warrant. They arrest the corrupt cops while they are having a covert meeting to divide stolen drug money. The group's leader, a detective named Sonny Malevsky, admits to killing Joe. After his confession, Malevsky commits suicide with his service pistol. The entire season was released on DVD in Region 1 on September 13, 2011, Region 2 on September 19, 2011 and Region 4 on September 15, 2011. The first season of Blue Bloods was produced by Panda Productions, Paw In Your Face Productions and CBS Productions. The series aired in the United States on CBS Friday nights at 10:00 P.M. EST and Canada on CTV via simulcast. Internationally, season one aired in New Zealand on TV3 Saturday nights at 9:30 P.M., in Australia on Network Ten for the first twelve episodes (Wednesday nights at 8:30 P.M. for the first six and Friday nights at 9:30 P.M.) and on One for the rest of the season. In a deal with CBS Studios International, the series was acquired by the UK channel Sky Atlantic on January 5, 2011 and was one of the first series to air on the new channel, which launched on February 1, 2011. The series was created by Mitchell Burgess and Robin Green and executive produced by Burgess, Green, producer Leonard Goldberg and director Michael Cuesta. The show was initially run by director Ken Sanzel, but Sanzel left in August 2010 amid alleged creative tension with series star Tom Selleck. Staff directors for the season include Cuesta, Félix Alcalá, Jan Eliasberg, Karen Gaviola, Stephen Gyllenhaal, Ralph Hemecker, Gwyneth Horder-Payton, Frederick K. Keller, Matt Penn, John Polson, Michael Pressman, Rosemary Rodriguez, and Alex Zakrzewski. Episodes were written by a team of writers, which consisted of Burgess, Green, Brian Burns, Siobhan Byrne-O'Connor, Amanda Green, Julie Hébert, Thomas Kelly, Gwendolyn M. Parker, Mark Rosner, Ken Sanzel, Diana Son, and Kevin Wade. Cinematographers hired for the season included Craig DiBona, David Insley, Tim Ives and Teodoro Maniaci. Composers Mark Morgan and Rob Simonsen provided the background music for the season. The first season featured a cast of five main actors who received star billing. Tom Selleck portrays Francis "Frank" Reagan, the patriarch of the Reagan family, a former Marine, and current Police Commissioner who is notably silent about his political beliefs. Donnie Wahlberg acted as Frank's eldest son Daniel "Danny" Reagan, a hard-nosed NYPD Detective and former Marine who often roughs up his suspects, despite being prohibited to do so. Bridget Moynahan portrays Frank's daughter Erin Reagan-Boyle, an assistant district attorney who abides by the law in her dealings with criminal justice. Will Estes portrayed Frank's youngest son Jamison "Jamie" Reagan, a rookie police officer and graduate from Harvard Law before entering the police academy. Len Cariou played Frank's father Henry Reagan, a retired police commissioner and former Marine who, like Danny, is very vocal about his political beliefs. In addition to the regular cast, the season also featured actors who received the "also starring" billing, appearing in almost every episode of the season. Jennifer Esposito portrayed Jackie Curatola, an NYPD detective at the precinct and Danny's partner. Nicholas Turturro portrayed Sergeant Anthony Renzulli, Jamie's partner and mentor, who had been a partner of Joe Reagan. Several recurring characters appeared in the first season. Amy Carlson appeared as Linda Reagan, Danny's wife and mother of two children Jack and Sean. Sami Gayle portrayed Erin's teenage daughter Nicole "Nikki" Reagan-Boyle (Marlene Lawston played this role in the pilot episode). Abigail Hawk portrayed Abigail Baker, Frank's primary aide. Brothers Andrew and Tony Terraciano portray Sean and Jack Reagan, Danny and Linda's sons. Gregory Jbara acted as Garrett Moore, the NYPD's Deputy Commissioner of Public Information. Robert Clohessy played Sgt. Sidney Gormley, the immediate supervisor of Danny and the other detectives at the precinct. Actress Dylan Moore appeared in the first eight episodes as Jamie's brief fiancée Sydney Davenport. Bruce Altman portrayed Mayor Frank Russo, Frank's superior. Andrea Roth appeared in four episodes as Kelly Davidson, a television news reporter who dated Frank. Yvonna Kopacz Wright portrayed Ava Hotchkiss, a detective at the precinct and Danny's temporary partner. Noelle Beck appeared in three episodes as Frank's Deputy Press Secretary Sue Connors. Nick Sandow recurred in four episodes as Lieutenant Alex Bello, an officer at Internal Affairs. Michael T. Weiss portrayed Sonny Malevsky, a detective who had worked with Joe Reagan before his murder. Colleen Clinton appeared as Agent Anderson, an FBI agent who attempts to recruit Jamie for her investigation into the Blue Templar. Bobby Cannavale appeared in three episodes as Charles Rosselini, Erin's boss who becomes romantically involved with her. Robert John Burke portrayed Jyle Hogan in three episodes. Tom Selleck as Police Commissioner Francis "Frank" Reagan, Donnie Wahlberg as Detective Daniel "Danny" Reagan, Bridget Moynahan as ADA Erin Reagan-Boyle, Will Estes as Officer Jamison "Jamie" Reagan, Len Cariou as Henry Reagan Jennifer Esposito as Detective Jackie Curatola, Amy Carlson as Linda Reagan, Sami Gayle as Nicole "Nicky" Reagan-Boyle Blue Bloods premiered with the pilot episode, which attracted 13.01 million viewers. After four episodes, the season received a full order of 22 episodes. The series was the most watched program on Friday nights during its duration and was the second most watched program during its short move to the Wednesday timeslot. Apart from the pilot episode, the most-watched episode of the season was "Little Fish", which accrued a viewership of 12.30 million viewers. The series finale was watched by 11.78 million viewers. The season averaged over 12.58 million viewers and a 7.8/14 household rating, becoming the 19th most- watched series of the 2010-2011 primetime television season. In the 18-49 adult demographic, the season averaged a 2.2 Nielsen rating, equating to 2.88 million viewers and ranking number 85th for the 2010-2011 primetime television season. In Canada, Blue Bloods stood as a solid performer on CTV, landing within the top twenty of the top programs in Canada. The show ended its first season as the most watched new drama series as well as second most watched new series of the season. The season ranked number five in the 18-49 and 25-54 age demographics. In the United Kingdom, the series was among the weekly top five most viewed program on Sky Atlantic, amassing an audience between 450,000 and 630,000 viewers. In Australia, the series premiered with a strong 1.11 million viewers, but viewership fell to 288,000 viewers by April, prompting Network Ten to move the series to its HD channel One, which premiered the second half of the season on October 31, 2011. Upon the premiere of the pilot episode, the series received positive reviews from television critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from television critics, the show received an average score of 70, which indicates "generally favorable review", based on 25 reviews. Reviews for the full season were generally positive. Nick Hartel of DVD Talk deemed the DVD release of the season as "Recommended", writing that it "should wisely be approached as a family drama that utilizes the police angle as a common bonding element." Hartel lauded Selleck, Wahlberg and Cariou's performances and the family dinners, noting that "the arguments and interruptions that garnish the meals give "Blue Bloods" its most human qualities." Hartel also noted that the series "quickly resort to genre story staples", adding that the "identity crisis of cop drama versus family drama results in the former getting the short end of the stick with many cases feeling like an afterthought or plot contrivance for the Reagans to discuss at the weekly family dinner." C.S. Stonebridge of The Numbers wrote, "The regular crimes are also intriguing enough to carry most episodes, although there were a few too many times where there were pretty big coincidences that strained credibility. But this storyline made watching each episode more important, as opposed to a show like Law & Order, where you could almost literally grab any episode in the show's 20 year run and watch it without having to have seen any of the earlier episodes to know what's going on." Stuart Cummins of What Culture called the series "entertaining police drama that combines the best elements of shows such as Numbers, CSI and Law & Order with the family crises and dramas found in shows like Brothers & Sisters." Chuck Barney of San Jose Mercury News found the cases on the series to "don't carry much of a wow factor" and the show overall lacked "the kind of grittiness that might make it more powerful." Barney however praised the actors' performances and the family dynamic of the Reagans. Some reviewers, however, share mixed to negative opinion concerning the shows format. DVD Verdict writer Adam Arseneau wrote positively about the season, praising the actors' performances, the family dynamic and the multi-generational police family plot while deeming the family dinners and the lessons doled out from them "smacks of self-righteousness and lazy writing." Arseneau concluded about the season, "If we had genuinely solid material to engage the Reagans, Blue Bloods could be one of the best cop shows on television. As it stands, it rarely transcends average." David Brown from Radio Times gave the season release three stars (out of five), writing "Imagine something that mixes the best elements of Law & Order and Brothers & Sisters and you get the idea." The Guardian writer Michael Hann wrote negatively of the series, noting that "one can know what is happening without even watching the show, since each episode follows the same template." All viewing figures and ranks are sourced from BARB. Blue Bloods is an American police procedural drama television series that airs on CBS. Its main characters are members of the fictional Reagan family, an Irish Catholic family in New York City with a history of work in law enforcement. Blue Bloods stars Tom Selleck as New York City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan; other main cast members include Donnie Wahlberg, Bridget Moynahan, Will Estes, Len Cariou, and Sami Gayle. The show is filmed on location in New York City with occasional references to nearby suburbs. The series debuted on September 24, 2010, with episodes airing on Fridays following before being moved to Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time and 9:00 p.m. Central and Mountain time for a four-week tryout. After four weeks, it returned to its original Friday 10:00 p.m. Eastern time slot, where it has remained since. On April 12, 2019, CBS renewed the series for a tenth season; it premiered on September 27, 2019. The series follows the Reagans, a family who has history of work in law enforcement. Frank Reagan is the Police Commissioner. Frank's oldest son Danny is an NYPD detective, his youngest son Jamie is an NYPD police sergeant, and his daughter Erin is the district attorney. Frank's second son Joe (though the series mistakenly refers to him as the oldest in more recent episodes) was murdered by a crooked cop in the line of duty in events that pre-date the series, when he was involved with an FBI investigation of a group of corrupt NYPD cops known as the Blue Templar. Frank's father Henry is a former NYPD beat cop who rose through the ranks to become Police Commissioner. Each member of the family represents a different aspect of police work or the legal process: Frank as the commissioner, Danny as the detective, Jamie as the beat cop, and Erin as the prosecutor. Additionally, while each person's story might occasionally interweave with another's, the show also follows the professional and, at times, personal relationships with their respective partners and colleagues. Frank with Garrett Moore, the NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information and de facto Chief of Staff, Detective 1st Grade Abigail Baker, the Primary Aide to the Commissioner, and later Lieutenant Sidney Gormley, the Special Assistant to the Commissioner and de facto Chief of Department; Danny with Detective Jackie Curatola, and later Detective Maria Baez; Jamie with Officer Edit "Eddie" Janko; and Erin with Detective Anthony Abetemarco who is an investigator for the DA's office. The Reagans are an Irish Catholic family that gathers for Sunday dinner each week; according to People, "the Sunday supper is the heart of each show." Both Henry's and Frank's wives, Betty and Mary, are deceased, as is another son Joe, a detective with the Warrants Squad who was murdered prior to the series premiere. Erin is divorced and has one daughter, college student Nicky, who lived with her mother until accepting a job in San Francisco in season 10. Danny is a widower with two sons, Jack and Sean; he was married to Linda, a nurse who was killed off-screen in a helicopter crash between seasons 7 and 8. Jamie married his partner, Eddie Janko, in the Season 9 finale; they acknowledged their mutual attraction during season 7 and became engaged at the end of season 8. Selleck mentioned that he was drawn to the project because of the strong pilot script and that he was concerned about becoming involved in an ongoing series because he did not want to compromise his commitment to the Jesse Stone television movies. Beginning January 19, 2011, Blue Bloods was moved to Wednesdays at 10 p.m. for a four-week tryout. In February 2011, the series returned to its Friday night time slot due to the series premiere of . In the UK, the show helped launch Sky Atlantic by premiering on Tuesday, February 1, 2011, at 10:30 p.m. In Australia, the show premiered in February 2011 in a primetime Wednesday slot on Network Ten, then from February 2013 for season two was moved from the network's primary SD channel to its HD channel one alongside White Collar, then on August 26, 2013, the show moved back to the primary SD channel on Mondays for season three. In New Zealand, the show premieres on July 13, 2013 on TV3 replacing in a primetime Saturday slot after . On October 20, 2012, CBS announced that Jennifer Esposito was being dropped from the series, with her character, Detective Curatola, being placed on indefinite leave of absence. Esposito and CBS had been at odds over her limited availability for work after the actress was diagnosed with celiac disease. She had missed a week after collapsing on set earlier in the season. According to Esposito, CBS challenged her request for a reduced work schedule, and further, kept her from finding work elsewhere. In a press release from CBS, the network said that Esposito had "informed us that she is only available to work on a very limited part-time schedule. As a result, she's unable to perform the demands of her role and we regretfully had to put her character on a leave of absence." Curatola's last appearance was in the season three episode "Nightmares". According to TV by the Numbers, by committing itself to a third season of Blue Bloods, CBS all but guaranteed a fourth season, because, as a CBS Television Studios production, CBS had a financial incentive to produce at least the minimum number of episodes needed for stripped syndication. On March 27, 2013, CBS made it official by renewing Blue Bloods for a fourth season to begin in the fall of 2013. Blue Bloods was renewed for a fifth season on March 13, 2014, and has since been renewed for seasons 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10. A house in Bay Ridge in Brooklyn is used for exterior shots of the Reagan house. The series received $79 million in tax breaks from the state of New York for its seasons four through seven. In Australia, the series premiered on Network Ten's primary channel on February 2, 2011. Due to poor ratings of the first season, Ten moved the series to its HD channel One, which premiered the second season on October 31, 2011. Due to decreased viewership of Ten's primary channel, season three moved back from August 26, 2013, and season four returned on March 17, 2014. Foxtel channel TV HITS (styled TV H!TS) have started airing the series from Episode 1, weeknights at 8:30pm AEST as of March 20. In New Zealand, the series premiered on TV3 on July 13, 2013. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, Sky Atlantic premiered the series on February 1, 2011, with season two returning on October 4, 2011, season three on December 13, 2012, and season four on November 28, 2013. Season five premiered on January 21, 2015. Reruns of Blue Bloods air nationally in the United States every Wednesday on Ion Television, and WGN America, the latter of which airs the show daily. CBS Television Distribution currently distributes the series to local outlets on weekends, with two episodes being offered. Repeats of Blue Bloods air on Pick in the UK. The show airs twice a day on TV2 Charlie in Denmark. Reviewers have praised the series' on-location shooting. The New York Daily News praised Selleck's performance as Frank Reagan, while also praising the family dinner scene for discussion of morally complex issues. The Daily News drew comparisons between Selleck's characters Jesse Stone and Frank Reagan, saying that both Reagan and Stone are moral, principled men of few words. In Entertainment Weeklys annual Fall TV Preview, Ken Tucker named Blue Bloods one of the "5 Best New Shows" of 2010. In late 2014, the left-leaning magazine Slates Laura Hudson criticized the show for its depiction of racial incidents involving the police. In 2017, Selleck was nominated for a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Crime Drama Actor for his work on the show. The pilot episode garnered 15.246 million viewers because of the Live + 7 days after with viewings from DVRs. Without the DVR adding to the live viewing the show's debut episode garnered a total of 13.02 million viewers. Overall, the ratings have been steady for the series, after the pilot episode. The lowest viewer total through the first seven seasons was 8.88 million in episode eight of season seven (which ran against Game 3 of the 2016 World Series); it was one of the few episodes through the first seven seasons that had fewer than 9 million initial-broadcast viewers. The second-season finale on May 11, 2012, was watched by 10.73 million viewers and received a 1.2/4 ratings/share among adults ages 18–49. The highest (non-pilot) live viewership of 12.93 million occurred in episode 14 of season four ("Manhattan Queens"), which was the series' 81st episode. In January 2013, CBS announced via press release that Blue Bloods was the first scripted Friday series in 10 years to average at least 13 million viewers (live + 7), gaining eight percent more viewers than the previous year. The in 2001 had 14.78 million viewers, while the in 2003 had 14.92 million. From season 8 onward, ratings have declined. Season 9 was the first season with no episodes reaching 10 million first-run viewers, although Blue Bloods still ranked as the eighth most watched program in 2018–19 Live + 7 viewership. Season 9 also saw the lowest first-run viewership for any episode (7.62 million for Ep. 14, "My Brother's Keeper").

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This is a list of deserts sorted by the region of the world in which the desert is located. Kalahari Desert – a desert covering much of Botswana and parts of Namibia and South Africa, Karoo Desert - a desert covering parts of southern South Africa, Namib Desert – a desert in present-day Namibia, Danakil Desert – a desert lying in the Afar Triangle and covering northeastern Ethiopia, southern Eritrea, southern Djibouti and northwesternmost Somalia, Eritrean Coastal Desert - a desert lying along the southern part of the coast of Eritrea and the coast of Djibouti, Guban Desert - a desert lying along the coast of northwestern Somalia, Grand Bara Desert - a desert covering parts of south Djibouti, Chalbi Desert – a desert in northern Kenya along the border with Ethiopia, Nyiri Desert - a desert located in southern Kenya along the border with Tanzania, Lompoul Desert - a desert lying in northwestern Senegal between Dakar and Saint-Louis, Sahara Desert – Africa's largest desert and the world's largest hot desert which covers much of North Africa comprising:, Ténéré – a desert covering northeastern Niger and western Chad, Tanezrouft – a desert covering northern Mali, northwestern Niger as well as central and southern Algeria, at the west of the Hoggar Mountains, El Djouf - a desert which covers northeastern Mauritania and parts of northwestern Mali, Djurab Desert - a desert covering northern central Chad, Tin-Toumma Desert - a desert covering southeastern Niger, at the south of the Ténéré, Libyan Desert (also called Western Desert) – a desert covering eastern Libya, western Egypt and northwestern Sudan at the west of the Nile River, White Desert – a desert covering a part of western Egypt and located in Farafra, Egypt, Eastern Desert – a desert covering eastern Egypt and northeastern Sudan between the Nile River and the Red Sea, Nubian Desert – a desert covering northeastern Sudan between the Nile River and the Red Sea, Bayuda Desert – a desert covering eastern Sudan located just at the southwest of the Nubian Desert, Sinai Desert – a desert located on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, Atlantic Coastal Desert – a desert lying along the western coast of the Sahara Desert and occupies a narrow strip in Western Sahara and Mauritania Arabian Desert – desert complex on the Arabian Peninsula comprising:, Al Khatim Desert - a desert near Abu Dhabi, Al-Dahna Desert - a desert being the main central division of the Arabian Desert and covering parts of Saudi Arabia, Empty Quarter (Rub' al Khali)- the world's largest sand desert and covering much of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, Nefud Desert - a desert in northern part of the Arabian Peninsula, Ramlat al-Sab`atayn - a desert in north-central Yemen, Wahiba Sands - a desert covering great parts of Oman, Judaean Desert – a desert in eastern Israel and the West Bank, Negev – a desert located in southern Israel, Bromo Sand Sea – a volcanic desert in Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park, East Java, Indonesia, Dasht-e Kavir – a desert in central Iran, Dasht-e Lut – a large salt desert in southeastern Iran, Polond Desert – a desert in eastern Iran, Maranjab Desert – a desert in central Iran, Katpana Desert – a cold desert in Pakistan, Indus Valley Desert – a desert located in Pakistan, Kharan desert – a desert located in Pakistan, Syrian desert – a desert located in Syria, Jordan and Iraq, Thal Desert – a desert in Pakistan, Thar Desert – a desert in India and Pakistan, Dasht-e-Margo – a desert in southwestern Afghanistan, Kyzyl Kum – a desert in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Kara Kum – a large Central Asian desert, Lop Desert – a desert in China, Ordos – a desert in northern China, Gobi – a desert in Mongolia and China, Taklamakan – a desert located in China Accona Desert – a semi-desert in central Italy, Bardenas Reales – a semi-desert in Navarre, Spain (455 km²), Błędowska Desert – a desert located in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland (32 km²), Deliblatska Peščara – a desert located in Vojvodina, Serbia (300 km²), Highlands of Iceland – the interior plateau of Iceland; not a desert by climate, but effectively one because precipitation penetrates the volcanic soil so quickly that the land is infertile, Larzac - a semi-desert in the Massif Central in France, Melnik Desert Canyon- A sandy canyon surrounded town in the southwestern tip of Bulgaria: where sand dunes, sandstone formations, sand pyramids and an overall canyon has formed while pertaining to other desert-like climate., Sands of Đurđevac – a desert located near Đurđevac, Croatia, Monegros Desert – a semi-desert in Aragón, Spain, Oleshky Sands – a desert located in the Ukraine near Askania-Nova biosphere reserve (~185 km², 15 km in diameter), Oltenian Sahara – a desert spanning approximately 80,000 hectares or 800 km² in the Romanian historical province of Oltenia, Sand dunes of Lemnos - A small desert with an area of just 70 acres in the Lemnos island in Greece., Santorini and Anafi, both islands located in the Aegean Sea, possess the only hot desert climates (BWh) in Europe, according to the Köppen climate classification., The Stone Desert - A medium-sized desert with dunes, sandstone formations, desert vegetation and a desert-like climate found on the western Varna Province border of North East Bulgaria., Ryn Desert - a desert in western Kazakhstan and southeastern Russia, Tabernas Desert – a desert in Almería, Spain (280 km²) Central Valley of California (which is divided into the Sacramento Valley in the north, and the San Joaquin Valley in the south) – this area has largely been transformed, due to irrigation canals, to an agricultural area. It is technically a semi-arid climate, Chihuahua Desert a desert in Mexico and the United States, Great Basin Desert, Black Rock Desert, Death Valley, Mojave Desert a desert in the United States, Red Desert (Wyoming), Sonoran Desert a desert in the United States and Mexico, Colorado Desert, Thompson Plateau a desert in Canada Atacama Desert – a desert in Chile and Peru, La Guajira Desert – a desert in northern Colombia and Venezuela, Monte Desert – in Argentina, a smaller desert above the Patagonian Desert, Patagonian Desert – the largest desert in the Americas, located in Argentina and Chile, Sechura Desert – a desert located south of the Piura Region of Peru, Jalapão A desert park in Tocantins, Brazil Central Desert – a central Australian desert, Gibson Desert – a central Australian desert, Great Sandy Desert – a northwestern Australian desert, Great Victoria Desert – the biggest desert in Australia, Little Sandy Desert – a western Australian desert, Simpson Desert – a central Australian desert, Strzelecki Desert – a south-central Australian desert, Tanami Desert – a northern Australian desert Rangipo Desert – a barren desert-like plateau (with 1.5-2.5 m/yr rainfall) on the North Island Volcanic Plateau in New Zealand Antarctica Desert – the largest desert in the world, Arctic Desert – the second largest "desert" in the world, though it is frozen ocean, so (like the rest of this section) not a desert climate in any conventional sense, North American Arctic – a large tundra in North America, Greenland – mostly covered by ice, like Antarctica, Russian Arctic – a large tundra in Russia Desert, Desertification, List of deserts by area, Tundra Desert of Maine, Joaquina Beach, Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, Accona Desert, Tottori Sand Dunes, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Red Desert (South Africa), Słowiński National Park, Carcross Desert, Chara Sands, Osoyoos Desert, Dunas dos Ingleses This list of North American deserts identifies areas of the continent that receive less than annual precipitation. The "North American Desert" is also the term for a large U.S. Level 1 ecoregion (EPA) of the North American Cordillera, in the Deserts and xeric shrublands biome (WWF). The continent's deserts are largely between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Madre Oriental on the east, and the rain shadow-creating Sierra Nevada, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges on the west. The North American xeric region of over includes: three major deserts; numerous smaller deserts; and large non-desert arid regions; in the western United States and in northeast, central, and northwest Mexico. The following are three major hot and dry deserts in North America, all located in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The Chihuahuan Desert is the largest hot desert in North America, located in the Southwestern United States and Northern Mexico. Its total area is ., The Sonoran Desert is a desert located in the Southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. It is the second largest hot desert in North America. Its total area is ., The Mohave Desert is the hottest desert in North America, located primarily in southeastern California. Its total area is . The largest cold desert is the Great Basin Desert, which encompasses much of the northern Basin and Range Province, north of the Mojave Desert. Other cold deserts lie within the Columbia Plateau/Columbia Basin, the Snake River Plain, and the Colorado Plateau regions. British Columbia, Ashcroft – Located along the Thompson River. The entire length of the Thompson River from Kamloops to Lytton is mostly semi-arid, but at the midpoint near Ashcroft, the climate is dry enough to be classified as arid., Washington – British Columbia – Idaho – Wyoming – Oregon – Nevada, Much of the Columbia Basin is desert, such as the, Channeled Scablands, a desert in the Columbia Basin of eastern Washington, Most of the Snake River Plain (ecoregion) is sagebrush steppe, but barren lava fields form small deserts, such as, Craters of the Moon National Monument in Idaho, The Wyoming Basin (ecoregion) is dominated by arid grasslands and shrub steppe, but also contains the, Red Desert (Wyoming), Owyhee Desert, in southwestern Idaho, northern Nevada, and southeastern Oregon., Y P Desert, a portion of the Owyhee Desert in Idaho, Oregon High Desert, aka "Great Sandy Desert", eastern Oregon, Alvord Desert, a dry lake bed., Northwest Lahontan subregion in Nevada-part of the Northern Basin and Range (ecoregion), Black Rock Desert, a dry lake bed., Great Basin Desert, Nevada, dominated by sagebrush steppe, Forty Mile Desert, in northwest Nevada, Smoke Creek Desert, Nevada (980 sq mi), Carson Desert, Utah, Great Salt Lake Desert, Utah, Sevier Desert surrounds the intermittent, salty Sevier Lake, Black Rock Desert volcanic field, Escalante Desert (3,270 sq mi), Colorado Plateau, Utah, San Rafael Desert, the drier portions of the San Rafael Swell, Colorado, dominated by pinyon–juniper woodlands, but contains desert areas where unfavorable soil conditions exist:, Bisti Badlands Desert, New Mexico, Painted Desert, Arizona, Mojave Desert, California (the High Desert); and parts of western Arizona, southern Nevada, and a small portion of Utah., Death Valley, California, Amargosa Desert, Nevada, Sonoran Desert, Colorado Desert, Southern California (the Low Desert), Yuha Desert, Imperial Valley, California, Yuma Desert, southwest Arizona, Lechuguilla Desert, southwest Arizona, Tule Desert (Arizona) and Sonora, Mexico, Gran Desierto de Altar, Sonora, Mexico, Baja California Desert, State of Baja California, Mexico, Vizcaíno Desert, central State of Baja California, Mexico, Chihuahuan Desert, Trans-Pecos Desert, west Texas, White Sands, unusual gypsum dune field in New Mexico The separately defined western arid regions of North America are continental regions of aridity based on available water in addition to rain shadow- diminished rainfall and which have many non-desert shrub-steppe (EPA) and xeric shrublands (WWF) in addition to desert ecosystems and ecoregions. This large arid region of includes: deserts, such as the Great Basin Desert and Sonoran Desert; and the non-desert arid region areas (with greater than annual precipitation) in the Great Basin arid region, Colorado Plateau, Mexican Plateau, and others. This arid region extends from the top of the North American Desert in Washington and Idaho southward into Mexico in the Trans- Mexican Volcanic Belt. The 'western arid region' is east of and (except for Mojave sky islands) discontiguous from the Mojave Desert, unlike the southwestern Great Basin deserts adjacent with ecotones to the northern Mojave Desert. North American Deserts in List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA), North American Deserts in List of ecoregions in North America (CEC), List of deserts, Semi-arid climate, Deserts of California, Great American Desert, Desert of Maine, Desert ecology, Deserts and xeric shrublands – biome and ecoregions The Gobi Desert () is a large desert or brushland region in Asia. It covers parts of Northern and Northeastern China and of Southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklamakan Desert to the west, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest and by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is notable in history as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road. The Gobi is a rain shadow desert, formed by the Tibetan Plateau blocking precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi territory. The Gobi measures over from southwest to northeast and from north to south. The desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lake Bosten and the Lop Nor (87°–89° east). It occupies an arc of land in area as of 2007; it is the sixth-largest desert in the world and Asia's 2nd largest. Much of the Gobi is not sandy but has exposed bare rock. In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert extending from the foot of the Pamirs (77° east) to the Greater Khingan Mountains, 116°-118° east, on the border of Manchuria; and from the foothills of the Altay, Sayan, and Yablonoi mountain ranges on the north to the Kunlun, Altyn-Tagh, and Qilian mountain ranges, which form the northern edges of the Tibetan Plateau, on the south. A relatively large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua (Sungari) and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. Some geographers and ecologists prefer to regard the western area of the Gobi region (as defined above): the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami (Kumul), as forming a separate and independent desert, called the Taklamakan Desert. Archeologists and paleontologists have done excavations in the Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert (in Mongolia), which is noted for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, dinosaur eggs, and prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old. The Gobi is overall a cold desert, with frost and occasionally snow occurring on its dunes. Besides being quite far north, it is also located on a plateau roughly above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. An average of approximately of rain falls annually in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes. These winds may cause the Gobi to reach in winter to in summer. However, the climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature of as much as . These can occur not only seasonally but within 24 hours. In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been recorded as low as . In contrast, in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, it rises as high as in July. Average winter minimums are a frigid , while summertime maximums are a warm . Most of the precipitation falls during the summer. Although the southeast monsoons reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is generally characterized by extreme dryness, especially during the winter, when the Siberian anticyclone is at its strongest. The southern and central parts of the Gobi Desert have variable plant growth due to this monsoon activity. The more northern areas of the Gobi are very cold and dry, making it unable to support much plant growth; this cold and dry weather is attributed to Siberian-Mongolian high pressure cells. Hence, the icy sandstorms and snowstorms of spring and early summer plus early January (winter). The Gobi Desert is the source of many important fossils finds, including the first dinosaur eggs, twenty-six of which, averaging 9 inches in length, were uncovered in 1923. Despite the harsh conditions, these deserts and the surrounding regions sustain many animals, including black-tailed gazelles, marbled polecats, wild Bactrian camels, Mongolian wild ass and sandplovers. They are occasionally visited by snow leopards, brown bears, and wolves. Lizards are especially well-adapted to the climate of the Gobi Desert, with approximately 30 species distributed across its southern Mongolian border. The most common vegetation in the Gobi desert are shrubs adapted to drought. These shrubs included gray sparrow's saltwort (Salsola passerina), gray sagebrush, and low grasses such as needle grass and bridlegrass. Due to livestock grazing, the amount of shrubs in the desert has decreased. Several large nature reserves have been established in the Gobi, including Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Great Gobi A and Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area. The area is vulnerable to trampling by livestock and off-road vehicles (effects from human intervention are greater in the eastern Gobi Desert, where rainfall is heavier and may sustain livestock). In Mongolia, grasslands have been degraded by goats, which are raised by nomadic herders as source of cashmere wool. Large copper deposits are being mined by Rio Tinto Group. The mine was and remains controversial. There was significant opposition in Mongolia's parliament to the terms under which the mine will proceed, and some are calling for the terms to be renegotiated. Specifically, the contention revolves primarily around the question of whether negotiations were fair (Rio Tinto is far better resourced) and whether Rio Tinto will pay adequate taxes on the revenues it derives from the mine (an agreement was reached whereby the operation will be exempt from windfall tax). The Gobi Desert is expanding at an alarming rate through desertification, most rapidly on the southern edge into China, which is seeing of grassland overtaken every year. Dust storms have increased in frequency in the past 20 years, causing further damage to China's agriculture economy. The northern and eastern boundaries between desert and grassland are constantly changing. This is mostly due to the climate conditions before the growing season, which influence the rate of evapotranspiration and subsequent plant growth. The expansion of the Gobi is attributed mostly to human activities. It is part of the broader consequences of anthropogenic climate change, but locally driven by deforestation, overgrazing, and depletion of water resources. China has tried various plans to slow the expansion of the desert, which have met with some small degree of success, but no major effects. The Three-North Shelter Forest Program (or "Green Great Wall") was a Chinese government tree-planting project begun in 1978, and set to continue through 2050. The goal of the program is to reverse desertification by planting aspen and other fast-growing trees on some 36.5 million hectares across some 551 counties in 12 provinces of northern China. From 1978 to about 2004, the survival rate for trees planted as part of the Three Norths Shelter Forest System Project was low (about 15%). The Gobi, broadly defined, can be divided into five distinct dry ecoregions, based on variations in climate and topography: Eastern Gobi desert steppe, the easternmost of the Gobi ecoregions, covering an area of . It extends from the Inner Mongolian Plateau in China northward into Mongolia. It includes the Yin Mountains and many low-lying areas with salt pans and small ponds. It is bounded by the Mongolian-Manchurian grassland to the north, the Yellow River Plain to the southeast, and the Alashan Plateau semi-desert to the southeast and east., Alashan Plateau semi-desert, lies west and southwest of the Eastern Gobi desert steppe. It consists of the desert basins and low mountains lying between the Gobi Altai range on the north, the Helan Mountains to the southeast, and the Qilian Mountains and northeastern portion of the Tibetan Plateau on the southwest., Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe, ecoregion lies north of Alashan Plateau semi-desert, between the Gobi Altai range to the south and the Khangai Mountains to the north., Dzungarian Basin semi-desert, includes the desert basin lying between the Altai mountains on the north and the Tian Shan range on the south. It includes the northern portion of China's Xinjiang province and extends into the southeastern corner of Mongolia. The Alashan Plateau semi-desert lies to the east, and the Emin Valley steppe to the west, on the China-Kazakhstan border., Tian Shan range, separates the Dzungarian Basin semi-desert from the Taklamakan Desert, which is a low, sandy desert basin surrounded by the high mountain ranges of the Tibetan Plateau to the south and the Pamirs to the west. The Taklamakan Desert ecoregion includes the Desert of Lop. The surface is extremely diversified, although there are no great differences in vertical elevation. Between Ulaanbaatar () and the small lake of Iren- dubasu-nor (), the surface is greatly eroded. Broad flat depressions and basins are separated by groups of flat-topped mountains of relatively low elevation ), through which archaic rocks crop out as crags and isolated rugged masses. The floors of the depressions lie mostly between above sea-level. Farther south, between Iren-dutiasu-nor and the Yellow River, comes a region of broad tablelands alternating with flat plains, the latter ranging at altitudes of 1000–1100 m and the former at . The slopes of the plateaus are more or less steep, and are sometimes penetrated by "bays" of the lowlands. As the border-range of the Hyangan is approached, the country steadily rises up to and then to . Here small lakes frequently fill the depressions, though the water in them is generally salt or brackish. Both here and for south of Ulaanbaatar, streams are frequent and grass grows more or less abundantly. Through all the central parts, until the bordering mountains are reached, trees and shrubs are utterly absent. Clay and sand are the predominant formations; the watercourses, especially in the north, being frequently excavated deep. In many places in the flat, dry valleys or depressions farther south, beds of loess, thick, are exposed. West of the route from Ulaanbaatar to Kalgan, the country presents approximately the same general features, except that the mountains are not so irregularly scattered in groups but have more strongly defined strikes, mostly east to west, west-north-west to east- south-east, and west-south-west to east-north-east. The altitudes are higher, those of the lowlands ranging from , and those of the ranges from higher, though in a few cases they reach altitudes of . The elevations do not form continuous chains, but make up a congeries of short ridges and groups rising from a common base and intersected by a labyrinth of ravines, gullies, glens and basins. But the tablelands, built up of the horizontal red deposits of the Han-gai (Obruchev's Gobi formation) which are characteristic of the southern parts of eastern Mongolia, are absent here or occur only in one locality, near the Shara-muren river. They are greatly intersected by gullies or dry watercourses. Water is scarce, with no streams, no lakes, no wells, and precipitation falls seldom. The prevailing winds blow from the west and northwest, and the pall of dust overhangs the country as in the Takla Makan and the desert of Lop. Characteristic of the flora are wild garlic, Kalidium gracile, wormwood, saxaul, Nitraria schoberi, Caragana, Ephedra, saltwort and the grass Lasiagrostis splendens. The taana wild onion Allium polyrrhizum is the main browse eaten by many herd animals, and Mongolians claim that this is essential to produce the correct, slightly hazelnut-like flavour of camel airag (fermented milk). This great desert country of Gobi is crossed by several trade routes, some of which have been in use for thousands of years. Among the most important are those from Kalgan (at the Great Wall) to Ulaanbaatar (); from Jiuquan (in Gansu) to Hami ; from Hami to Beijing (); from Hohhot to Hami and Barkul; and from Lanzhou (in Gansu) to Hami. The southwestern portion of the Gobi, known also as the Hsi-tau and the Little Gobi, fills the space between the great north loop of the Yellow River on the east, the Ejin River on the west, and the Qilian Mountains and narrow rocky chain of Longshou, in altitude, on the southwest. The Ordos Desert, which covers the northeastern portion of the Ordos Plateau, in the great north loop of the Yellow River, is part of this ecoregion. It belongs to the middle basin of the three great depressions into which Potanin divides the Gobi as a whole. "Topographically," says Nikolai Przhevalsky, "it is a perfectly level plain, which in all probability once formed the bed of a huge lake or inland sea." He concludes this based on the level area of the region as a whole, the hard saldgine clay and the sand-strewn surface and, lastly, the salt lakes which occupy its lowest parts. For hundreds of kilometers, nothing can be seen but bare sands; in some places they continue so far without a break that the Mongols call them Tengger (i.e. sky). These vast expanses are absolutely waterless, nor do any oases relieve the unbroken stretches of yellow sand, which alternate with equally vast areas of saline clay or, nearer the foot of the mountains, with barren shingle. Although on the whole a level country with a general altitude of , this section, like most other parts of the Gobi, is crowned by a chequered network of hills and broken ranges going up 300 m higher. The vegetation is confined to a few varieties of bushes and a dozen kinds of grasses and herbs, the most conspicuous being saxaul (Haloxylon ammondendron) and Agriophyllum gobicum. The others include prickly convolvulus, field wormwood (Artemisia campestris), acacia, Inula ammophila, Sophora flavescens, Convolvulus ammanii, Peganum and Astragalus species, but all dwarfed, deformed and starved. The fauna consists of little but antelope, wolf, fox, hare, hedgehog, marten, numerous lizards and a few birds, e.g. the sandgrouse, lark, stonechat, sparrow, crane, Henderson's ground jay (Podoces hendersoni), horned lark (Eremophila alpestris), and crested lark (Galerida cristata). The Yulduz valley or valley of the Haidag-gol (–) is a mini desert enclosed by two prominent members of the Shanashen Trahen Osh mountain range, namely the chucis and the kracenard pine rallies, running perpendicular and far from one another. As they proceed south, they transcend and transpose, sweeping back on east and west respectively, with Lake Bosten in between. These two ranges mark the northern and the southern edges respectively of a great swelling, which extends eastward for nearly twenty degrees of longitude. On its northern side, the Chol-tagh descends steeply, and its foot is fringed by a string of deep depressions, ranging from Lukchun ( below sea level) to Hami ( above sea- level). To the south of the Kuruk-tagh lie the desert of Lop Nur, the Kum-tagh desert, and the valley of the Bulunzir-gol. To this great swelling, which arches up between the two border-ranges of the Chol-tagh and Kuruk-tagh, the Mongols give the name of Ghashuun-Gobi or "Salt Desert". It is some across from north to south, and is traversed by a number of minor parallel ranges, ridges and chains of hills. Down its middle runs a broad stony valley, wide, at an elevation of . The Chol-tagh, which reaches an average altitude of , is absolutely sterile, and its northern foot rests upon a narrow belt of barren sand, which leads down to the depressions mentioned above. The Kuruk-tagh is the greatly disintegrated, denuded and wasted relic of a mountain range which used to be of incomparably greater magnitude. In the west, between Lake Bosten and the Tarim, it consists of two, possibly of three, principal ranges, which, although broken in continuity, run generally parallel to one another, and embrace between them numerous minor chains of heights. These minor ranges, together with the principal ranges, divide the region into a series of long; narrow valleys, mostly parallel to one another and to the enclosing mountain chains, which descend like terraced steps, on the one side towards the depression of Lukchun and on the other towards the desert of Lop. In many cases these latitudinal valleys are barred transversely by ridges or spurs, generally elevations en masse of the bottom of the valley. Where such elevations exist, there is generally found, on the east side of the transverse ridge, a cauldron-shaped depression, which some time or other has been the bottom of a former lake, but is now nearly a dry salt-basin. The surface configuration is in fact markedly similar to that which occurs in the inter- mount latitudinal valleys of the Kunlun Mountains. The hydrography of the Ghashiun-Gobi and the Kuruk-tagh is determined by these chequered arrangements of the latitudinal valleys. Most of the principal streams, instead of flowing straight down these valleys, cross them diagonally and only turn west after they have cut their way through one or more of the transverse barrier ranges. To the highest range on the great swelling Grigory Grum-Grshimailo gives the name of Tuge-tau, its altitude being above the level of the sea and some above the crown of the swelling itself. This range he considers to belong to the Choltagh system, whereas Sven Hedin would assign it to the Kuruk-tagh. This last, which is pretty certainly identical with the range of Kharateken-ula (also known as the Kyzyl-sanghir, Sinir, and Singher Mountains), that overlooks the southern shore of the Lake Bosten, though parted from it by the drift-sand desert of Ak-bel-kum (White Pass Sands), has at first a west- northwest to east-southeast strike, but it gradually curves round like a scimitar towards the east-northeast and at the same time gradually decreases in elevation. In 91° east, while the principal range of the Kuruk-tagh system wheels to the east-northeast, four of its subsidiary ranges terminate, or rather die away somewhat suddenly, on the brink of a long narrow depression (in which Sven Hedin sees a northeast bay of the former great Central Asian lake of Lop-nor), having over against them the écheloned terminals of similar subordinate ranges of the Pe-shan (Boy-san) system (see below). The Kuruk-tagh is throughout a relatively low, but almost completely barren range, being entirely destitute of animal life, save for hares, antelopes and wild camels, which frequent its few small, widely scattered oases. The vegetation, which is confined to these same relatively favoured spots, is of the scantiest and is mainly confined to bushes of saxaul (Haloxylon), anabasis, reeds (kamish), tamarisks, poplars, and Ephedra. The Gobi had a long history of human habitation, mostly by nomadic peoples. By the early 20th century, the region was under the nominal control of Manchu- China, and inhabited mostly by Mongols, Uyghurs, and Kazakhs. The Gobi Desert as a whole was known only very imperfectly to outsiders, and information was confined to observations by individual travellers from their respective itineraries across the desert. Among the European explorers who contributed to the understanding of the Gobi, the most important were the following: Jean-François Gerbillon (1688–1698), Eberhard Isbrand Ides (1692–1694), Lorenz Lange (1727–1728 and 1736), Fuss and Alexander G. von Bunge (1830–1831), Hermann Fritsche (1868–1873), Pavlinov and Z.L. Matusovski (1870), Ney Elias (1872–1873), Nikolai Przhevalsky (1870–1872 and 1876–1877), Zosnovsky (1875), Mikhail V. Pevtsov (1878), Grigory Potanin (1877 and 1884–1886), Count Béla Széchenyi and Lajos Lóczy (1879–1880), The brothers Grigory Grum-Grshimailo (1889–1890) and M. Y. Grigory Grum-Grshimailo, Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov (1893–1894 and 1899–1900), Vsevolod I. Roborovsky (1894), Vladimir Obruchev (1894–1896), Karl Josef Futterer and Dr. Holderer (1896), Charles-Etienne Bonin (1896 and 1899), Sven Hedin (1897 and 1900–1901), K. Bogdanovich (1898), Ladyghin (1899–1900) and Katsnakov (1899–1900), Count Jacques Bouly de Lesdain and Martha Mailey, 1902. Asian Dust, Geography of Mongolia, Geography of China, Green Wall of China, Legendary Mongolian death worm (olgoi khorkhoi), said to inhabit the Gobi in Mongolia, List of deserts by area Owen Lattimore. (1973) "Return to China's Northern Frontier". The Geographical Journal, Vol. 139, No. 2 (June 1973), pp. 233–242. Cable, Mildred and French, Francesca (1943) The Gobi Desert Landsborough Publications, London, OCLC 411792., Man, John (1997) Gobi: Tracking the Desert Yale University Press, New Haven, ., Stewart, Stanley (2001) In the Empire of Genghis Khan: A Journey among Nomads HarperCollins Publishers, London, ., Thayer, Helen (2007) Walking the Gobi: 1,600 Mile-trek Across a Desert of Hope and Despair Mountaineer Books, Seattle, WA, ., Younghusband, Francis (1904) The Heart of a Continent, John Murray. Map, from "China the Beautiful", Flickr: Photos tagged with gobi

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Trolls is a 2016 American computer-animated musical comedy film based on the Troll dolls created by Thomas Dam. Mike Mitchell and Walt Dohrn co-directs this film, with Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger serving as the writers. Trolls is based on a story by Erica Rivinoja. The film features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zooey Deschanel, Christine Baranski, Russell Brand, James Corden, Jeffrey Tambor, John Cleese and Gwen Stefani. The film follows two trolls who go on a quest, to save their village from destruction by the Bergens, creatures who eat Trolls to be happy. The 33rd animated feature film produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film premiered on October 8, 2016, at the BFI London Film Festival and was theatrically released in the United States on November 4, 2016, by 20th Century Fox. The film received positive reviews from critics, grossed $346 million worldwide against its $125 million budget and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song for "Can't Stop the Feeling!". A sequel, Trolls World Tour, is scheduled to be released on April 17, 2020. The Trolls are small colorful creatures who live in an almost perpetual state of happiness, singing, dancing, hugging, and having fun all day. However, they are discovered by the Bergens, large ugly miserable creatures, who can only feel happy by eating a Troll. The Bergens imprison the trolls and eat them every year on a special occasion, called Trollstice (a pun on solstice). The Trolls, led by their king, King Peppy, with his baby daughter, Princess Poppy, escape through tunnels on the day of Trollstice, when Prince Gristle Jr. was going to eat his first Troll. Enraged, Gristle Jr.’s father King Gristle Sr. banishes his Chef, who was in charge of preparing for Trollstice. Chef promises to leave and find the Trolls herself. 20 years later, the now-adult Poppy throws a big party to celebrate the Trolls' escape, despite the warnings of the over-cautious and egotistical gray troll, Branch, that loud parties will attract the Bergens. A "Zen" troll named Creek, who is Poppy's crush, arrives and tells Branch to start being happy instead of being grumpy; Branch refuses. At the party, Branch's warnings come true, when Chef sees the fireworks and kidnaps Poppy's friends Guy Diamond, Biggie with Mr. Dinkles, Fuzzbert, Smidge, Satin with Chenille, DJ Suki, and Cooper, along with Creek, despite Poppy trying to rescue him and King Peppy. Chef then takes the kidnapped Trolls back to Bergen Town, while secretly plotting to overthrow its monarchy as revenge for her exile. Alone inside the bunker, Branch looks at a bunch of homemade party invitations, indicating that he appreciates Poppy's offers of friendship, that he has an unrequited love for her, and that internally would like to have fun with the rest of the trolls. Meanwhile, Poppy goes on a rescue mission alone, as no other troll is willing to venture to Bergen Town, including Branch. But later on, when Poppy gets into trouble, she is saved by Branch, who thinks she will not make it if she goes alone. Once inside the Bergen king's castle, Poppy and Branch witness Creek get eaten by the now-King Gristle Jr., but Poppy remains hopeful that Creek survived. Poppy and Branch find the rest of the captured Trolls being guarded by a scullery maid named Bridget (perjoratively called "Idget" by Chef). Poppy discovers that Bridget is secretly in love with King Gristle Jr. and offers to help her get a date with the king while trying to confirm if Creek is alive. While setting Bridget up for the date with a musical number, Branch refuses to sing and triggers an argument with Poppy, revealing that, as a child, his grandmother was captured and got eaten while trying to save him, because his singing compromised his location to Chef. Branch's complete guilt over his grandmother's death caused his color to turn from blue to gray. After Poppy comforts him with a hug, Branch decides to help Bridget and the trolls, though he still refuses to sing. Bridget, disguised under the name of "Lady Glittersparkles" gets her date with Gristle Jr. at a roller rink and arcade restaurant and Gristle Jr. asks her to be his "plus one" at Trollstice. Poppy notices Creek being held captive inside the jewel adorning the king's mantle. Having helped Bridget, the Trolls attempt to rescue Creek from Gristle's room and steal his jewel but discover that it is empty. The Trolls are then captured by Chef, and Poppy gets shocked to discover that Creek sold them out to the Bergens to spare himself from being eaten. Creek lures out every troll from Troll Village (via Poppy's cowbell) and they are captured by Chef and the other Bergen cooks. With all the Trolls captured, thrown into a pot, and soon to be eaten, a heartbroken Poppy becomes sad and falls into despair after she had been betrayed by her crush, and loses hope as she and all the other Trolls turn gray. Branch, even though he is gray, tries to sing "True Colors" for Poppy to cheer her up, and also confesses his love for her. Poppy, after regaining her colors and realizing she has falled in love with Branch, returns his feelings, and they both end up restoring all the trolls' colors including Branch's. Bridget saves the trolls, willing to sacrifice herself. Poppy cannot bring herself to abandon Bridget after her sacrifice that is sure to doom her life, and with Branch and her friends, shows the Bergens that Bridget is Lady Glittersparkles and that it is not necessary to eat Trolls to be happy, and they too, can find happiness within themselves. The vengeful Chef refuses to accept the peace and tries to kill the Trolls, but is knocked into a serving cart that is sent rolling out of Bergen Town. Chef is set on fire with Creek, who was still in her pouch. Both species celebrate, bringing new life to the town and renewing the life of the troll tree. Poppy is then declared queen of the Trolls, and Poppy and Branch start a romantic relationship and share a hug. In a mid-credits scene, Chef and Creek's cart stops rolling. Chef prepares to eat Creek herself, but they soon find out they are on top of a monster, who opens his mouth and eats them both. Anna Kendrick as Poppy, the princess, and later queen, of the Trolls., Iris Dohrn as Baby Poppy, Justin Timberlake as Branch, an over-cautious pessimist Troll survivalist., Liam Henry as Young Branch, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as King Gristle Jr., the prince/king of the Bergens., Zooey Deschanel as Bridget, a kind-hearted Bergen who works as a scullery maid to the Bergen Chef. She also had a secret crush on Gristle Jr., Christine Baranski as Chef, the evil and power-hungry chef of the Bergens., Russell Brand as Creek, a Troll with a "positive" personality and "zen"-like wisdom. He later turned out to be a coward, a faker and a traitor, when he told the Bergens where the other Trolls were, just so he can save himself., James Corden as Biggie, a large Troll., Jeffrey Tambor as King Peppy, the king of the Trolls who once led his Trolls to freedom from the Bergens and Poppy's father., John Cleese as King Gristle Sr., the ruler of the Bergens at the start of the film., Gwen Stefani as DJ Suki, the Trolls' residential DJ Troll who uses DJ equipment made of insects., Ron Funches as Cooper, a giraffe-like Troll., Caroline Hjelt as Chenille, a Troll who alongside her twin sister Satin are the most fashion forward, Aino Jawo as Satin, a Troll who alongside her twin sister Chenille are the most fashion forward., Kunal Nayyar as Guy Diamond, a gray glittery Troll who is always naked., Quvenzhané Wallis as Harper, a Troll artist with heterochromia who paints with her hair., GloZell as Grandma Rosiepuff, an elderly Troll and Branch's late grandmother. Dami Im voices the character in the Australian version. Susanna Reid voices the character in the UK version., Meg DeAngelis as Moxie Dewdrop, a dancing Troll. Connie Glynn voices the character in the UK version., Ricky Dillon as Aspen Heitz, a Troll skitterboarder. Greg James voices the character in the UK version., Kandee Johnson as Mandy Sparkledust, a Troll who designs and repairs all the treasures of Troll Town. Abbey Clancy voices the character in the UK version., Walt Dohrn as :, Cloud Guy, an anthropomorphic cloud., Smidge, a small female troll with a masculine voice., Mr. Dinkles, Biggie's pet worm., Fuzzbert, a hair troll with two legs., Mike Mitchell as Darius / Vinny / Captain Starfunkle / Spider / Wedgie Bergen #1 / Chad / Card, Grace Helbig as Cookie Sugarloaf, one of the trolls. Carrie Hope Fletcher voices the character in the UK version., Curtis Stone as Todd, a royal guard that works for the Bergen Royal Family., Rhys Darby as Bibbly, a Bergen shopkeeper of the Bib Store. DreamWorks announced plans for a film based on the Troll toyline as early as 2010. This version was to be written by Adam Wilson and Melanie Wilson LaBracio. By 2012, Chloë Grace Moretz had already been cast in the female lead role and Jason Schwartzman was reported to have been offered the male lead. In September 2012, 20th Century Fox and DreamWorks Animation announced that the film with the working title Trolls would be released on June 5, 2015, with Anand Tucker set to direct the film, written by Wallace Wolodarsky and Maya Forbes. By April 2013, DreamWorks Animation had acquired the intellectual property for the Trolls franchise from the Dam Family and Dam Things. Having "big plans for the franchise," DreamWorks Animation became the exclusive worldwide licensor of the merchandise rights, except for Scandinavia, where Dam Things remains the licensor. In May 2013, the film was pushed back for a year to November 4, 2016. The same month, DreamWorks Animation announced that Mike Mitchell and Erica Rivinoja has been hired as a director and screenplay writer to "reimagine" the film as a musical comedy, which will present the origin of the Trolls' colorful hair. On June 16, 2014, Anna Kendrick joined the cast to voice Poppy, a princess. On September 15, 2015, Deadline Hollywood reported that Justin Timberlake will voice a character named Branch. Timberlake previously worked with DreamWorks Animation as the voice of Arthur "Artie" Pendragon in Shrek the Third in 2007. The full cast announced their respective roles via announcements on Twitter on January 6, 2016. Justin Timberlake served as an executive producer for the film's music and released the original song "Can't Stop the Feeling!" in conjunction with "Hello Darkness" on May 6, 2016. The song reached No. 1 in the official charts of 17 countries, including the United States and Canada. In addition to Timberlake, the rest of the cast contributed to the film's soundtrack, which also features guest appearances from Earth, Wind & Fire and Ariana Grande. The soundtrack album was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Australian Recording Industry Association. The film's opening premiere opened at the BFI London Film Festival Opening Celebration on October 8, 2016 as a special BFI presentation, and was theatrically released on November 4, 2016, in the United States by 20th Century Fox. Trolls was released on Digital HD on January 24, 2017, and on DVD and Blu-ray on February 7, 2017. The film topped the home video sales chart for two consecutive weeks. Trolls grossed $153.7 million in the US and Canada and $193.2 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $346.8 million, against a budget of $125 million. In the United States and Canada, Trolls was released alongside the releases of Doctor Strange and Hacksaw Ridge, and was projected to gross $35–40 million from 4,060 theaters in its opening weekend. On its first day, the film grossed $12.3 million (including $900,000 made from Thursday night previews). It went on to open to $46.5 million, finishing second at the box office behind Doctor Strange. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 76% based on 160 reviews; the average rating is 6.27/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Trolls brings its instantly recognizable characters to the big screen in a colorful adventure that, while geared toward the younger set, isn't without rewards for parents." On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating, the film has a score of 56 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 80% overall positive score. Lindsey Bahr of Associated Press gave the film a positive review and said, "Ultimately, the 'get happy' moral of the story, while trite compared to something like Inside Out, is sufficiently sweet enough for its audience. Did you expect more from a piece of candy?" Bill Zwecker of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and said, "You simply will walk out – or perhaps dance out – of the theater feeling very happy yourself." Andy Webster of The New York Times said, "Exuberant, busy and sometimes funny, DreamWorks Animation's Trolls is determined to amuse." Michael Rechtshaffen, writing for The Hollywood Reporter, called the film "an admittedly vibrant- looking but awfully recognizable animated musical comedy concoction." Alonso Duralde of TheWrap said the film "combines the barely-there characterization and irritating cutesiness of The Smurfs with the hideous character design and awful pop covers of Strange Magic." Betsy Bozdech of Common Sense Media gave the movie 4 stars. She said, "Make no mistake: Kids are going to love this movie. Trolls is cute, it's colorful, it has tons of catchy songs, and the messages are positive and easy to understand (happiness is inside everyone, if you know where/how to find it, and you shouldn't have to change who you are to get someone to like you)." Regarding music award shows, only film-related categories are included on this list. DreamWorks Trolls: The Experience was the first of multiple mobile pop-up attractions Feld Entertainment and Universal Brand Development had agreed to develop in April 2018. The pop-up attraction opened in New York City on October 22, 2018. On February 28, 2017, Universal Pictures, the studio's new distributor and parent company since 2016, and DreamWorks Animation announced that a sequel titled Trolls 2 would be released on April 10, 2020, with Kendrick and Timberlake reprising their roles of Poppy and Branch as well as Aibel and Berger returning to write the script. On October 4, 2017, the release date for the sequel was moved up to February 14, 2020, as Fast & Furious 9 took its original April 10, 2020 slot. Along with the new release date, it was announced that Dohrn will be returning to direct and Shay will return to produce the sequel. On December 6, 2017, the film was pushed back to an April 17, 2020 release. In May 2018, it was confirmed that Sam Rockwell, Chance the Rapper, Anthony Ramos, Karan Soni, Flula Borg, and Jamie Dornan joined the cast. Corden, Icona Pop, Funches, Stefani and Nayyar will also reprise their roles. In October 2018, it was confirmed that Kelly Clarkson had joined the cast, and will perform an original song. A new title for the sequel, Trolls World Tour, was announced in June 2018. In May 2017, podcasters Justin, Travis and Griffin McElroy began campaigning for roles in the film via a podcast titled "The McElroy Brothers Will Be in Trolls 2". Following the campaign's success, DreamWorks confirmed in September 2018 that the McElroy brothers would make cameo appearances in "World Tour. In June 2019, along with promotional posters, new cast members have been announced, which include: J Balvin, Mary J. Blige, Rachel Bloom, George Clinton, Ester Dean and Gustavo Dudamel. Trolls Holiday is a half-hour television special that aired on November 24, 2017 on NBC. Set after the film, Poppy realizes that the Bergens have no holidays to celebrate. She enlists Branch and their friends (the Snack Pack) to show their best friend Bridget and other Bergens the importance of holidays. Most of the original cast (including Kendrick, Timberlake, Deschanel, Mintz-Plasse, Corden, Funches, Nayyar and Dohrn) all reprise their roles from the film. The likely-Christmas Special is also directed by Crawford and written by Josh Bycel & Jonathan Fener with music by Jeff Morrow. Its soundtrack album that features seven songs was released on October 27, 2017. It is now available on Netflix and on DVD by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. The bonus features of the DVD also include one episode of Spirit Riding Free and two of . A 52-episode animated series based on the film, entitled Trolls: The Beat Goes On! that airs on Netflix premiered on January 19, 2018 and ran for 8 seasons. The show stars Amanda Leighton as Poppy, Skylar Astin as Branch, and Funches who is reprising his role as Cooper, and Dohrn reprising his role as Cloud Guy. Another series titled TrollsTopia will be released on the upcoming streaming service Peacock. Dreamworks Trolls Party A Troll Doll (Danish: Gjøltrold) is a type of plastic doll with furry up- combed hair depicting a troll, also known as a Dam doll after their creator Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam. The toys are also known as good luck trolls, or gonk trolls in the United Kingdom. The dolls were first created in 1959 and became one of the United States' biggest toy fads in the early 1960s. They became briefly popular again during the 1970s through the 1990s and were copied by several manufacturers under different names. During the 1990s, several video games and a video show were created based on troll dolls. In 2003, the Dam company restored the United States copyrights for this brand, stopping unlicensed production. In 2005, the Dam company modernized the brand under the name Trollz, but it failed in the marketplace. In 2013, the brand was bought by DreamWorks Animation, with an animated feature film called Trolls being released in 2016. Troll dolls were originally created in 1959 by Danish fisherman and woodcutter Thomas Dam. Dam could not afford a Christmas gift for his young daughter Lila and carved the doll from his imagination. Other children in the Danish town of Gjøl saw the doll and wanted one. Dam's company Dam Things began producing the dolls in plastic under the name Good Luck Trolls. It became popular in several European countries during the early 1960s, shortly before they were introduced in the United States. They became one of the United States' biggest toy fads from the autumn of 1963 to 1965. The originals were of the highest quality, also called Dam dolls and featuring sheep wool hair and glass eyes. Their sudden popularity, along with an error in the copyright notice of Thomas Dam's original product, resulted in cheaper imitations. The Dam company never stopped its production of trolls in Denmark, where they were always a popular item. In the late 1980s, the Dam trolls started making another comeback in North America. E.F.S. Marketing Associates, Inc. was one of the few corporations granted permission to import and market the Thomas Dam trolls for resale in the United States. These Dam Trolls were marketed under the trade name of Norfin Trolls, with an "Adopt A Norfin Troll" logo on the tags. During the period of popularity in the early to mid-1990s, several attempts were made to market the troll dolls to young boys. This included action figure lines such as The Original Battle Trolls from Hasbro, the Stone Protectors franchise, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Trolls. The popular Mighty Max line also had a series named Hairy Heads, also known as Dread Heads. In 1994, the Dam copyright was restored by the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. The Uneeda Doll Company, a company that made millions of US dollars by manufacturing troll dolls in the U.S., challenged the restoration. The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the lower court's preliminary injunction, enjoining Uneeda from manufacturing, distributing, or selling "Wish-nik" troll dolls. In 2003, Toy Industry Association named troll dolls to its Century of Toys List, a list of the 100 most memorable and most creative toys of the 20th century. In 2005, the troll brand was licensed to DIC Entertainment, and products such as fashion dolls and fashion accessories were sold under the Trollz name. The new Trollz campaign was not successful. In 2007, the Danish company filed a lawsuit against DIC Entertainment claiming that the company financially misrepresented its ability to create and market a modern troll doll toy campaign and destroyed the image and goodwill of the doll. The Magic Trolls And The Troll Warriors was a 1991 cartoon special made to promote the Troll doll toys, featuring Trolls battling against King Nolaf and his Troll Warriors. There was also a 30-minute DiC cartoon special in 1992 called Magical Super Trolls which featured an evil troll named Craven. A platform video game simply titled Trolls was released in 1993 for Amiga, DOS, and C64. Other games were released for the NES and SNES (Super Troll Islands). This fad also saw a 1994 re-release of the game Dudes with Attitude simply modified into Trolls on Treasure Island. The 1990s troll doll fad also included The Trollies Radio Show, which was a direct-to-video musical with trolls singing hits such as "Kokomo", "Woolly Bully", and "Do Wah Diddy", as well as some original songs. A Troll doll with pink hair and a blue bathing suit had a minor role in the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story, as well as both the 1999 sequel Toy Story 2 and the 2010 sequel Toy Story 3. Another appearance was made by a Troll doll in Marvel Studios 2014 production of Guardians of the Galaxy, where it appears as a relic from Peter Quill's childhood and later is substituted for the infinity stone. The animated sitcom “King of the Hill” features Troll dolls in several episodes owned by the character Bobby Hill. The 2005 DIC Entertainment range included an animated series called Trollz. The series stars five trolls who live in a magical world of ogres, gnomes and dragons, but experience everyday aspects of teenage life. In the 1990s sitcom Living Single, Synclaire James (Kim Coles) had a sizable collection of Troll dolls on her desk at Flava Magazine and a seven-foot Troll doll in her bedroom she named Crispus Attucks. In the 2008 Doctor Who audio play The Doll of Death, Third Doctor companion Jo Grant admits to having a sizeable troll doll collection. On April 11, 2013, DreamWorks Animation announced that it had acquired the intellectual property for the Trolls franchise from the Dam Family and Dam Things and become the exclusive worldwide licensor of the merchandise rights, except for Scandinavia, where Dam Things remains the licensor. DreamWorks produced a 3D computer-animated musical comedy film based on the Troll dolls, Trolls, released on November 4, 2016. It was directed by Mike Mitchell and co-directed by Walt Dohrn, with Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake providing the voices. Company website In international law and business, patent trolling or patent hoarding is a categorical or pejorative term applied to a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused infringers far beyond the patent's actual value or contribution to the prior art, often through hardball legal tactics (frivolous litigation, vexatious litigation, strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), chilling effects, and the like). Patent trolls often do not manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question. However, some entities which do not practice their asserted patent may not be considered "patent trolls" when they license their patented technologies on reasonable terms in advance. Other related concepts include patent holding company (PHC), patent assertion entity (PAE), and non- practicing entity (NPE), which may or may not be considered a "patent troll" depending on the position they are taking and the perception of that position by the public. While in most cases the entities termed "trolls" are operating within the bounds of the legal system, their aggressive tactics achieve outcomes contrary to the origins of the patent system, as a legislated social contract to foster and protect innovation; the rapid rise of the modern information economy has put the global intellectual property system under more strain. Patent trolling has been less of a problem in Europe than in the United States because Europe has a loser pays costs regime. In contrast, the U.S. generally employs the American rule, under which each party is responsible for paying its own attorney's fees. However, after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Octane Fitness, LLC v. ICON Health & Fitness, Inc. on April 29, 2014, it is now easier for courts to award costs for frivolous patent lawsuits. The term patent troll was used at least once in 1993, albeit with a slightly different meaning, to describe countries that file aggressive patent lawsuits. The 1994 educational video, The Patents Video also used the term, depicting a green troll guarding a bridge and demanding fees. The origin of the term patent troll has also been variously attributed to Anne Gundelfinger, or Peter Detkin, both counsel for Intel, during the late 1990s. Patent troll is currently a controversial term, susceptible to numerous definitions, none of which are considered satisfactory from the perspective of understanding how patent trolls should be treated in law. Definitions include a party that does one or more of the following: Purchases a patent, often from a bankrupt firm, and then sues another company by claiming that one of its products infringes on the purchased patent;, Enforces patents against purported infringers without itself intending to manufacture the patented product or supply the patented service;, Enforces patents but has no manufacturing or research base;, Focuses its efforts solely on enforcing patent rights; or, Asserts patent infringement claims against non-copiers or against a large industry that is composed of non-copiers. The term "patent pirate" has been used to describe both patent trolling and acts of patent infringement. Related expressions are "non-practising entity" (NPE) (defined as "a patent owner who does not manufacture or use the patented invention, but rather than abandoning the right to exclude, an NPE seeks to enforce its right through the negotiation of licenses and litigation"), "patent assertion entity" (PAE), "non-manufacturing patentee", "patent shark", "patent marketer", "patent assertion company", and "patent dealer". Confusion over use of the term patent troll is clear in research and media reporting. In 2014, Price Waterhouse Coopers published research into patent litigation including a study of non-practicing entities including individual inventors and non-profit organisations such as universities. In quoting that research, media outlets such as the Washington Post labelled all non-practicing entities as patent trolls. According to RPX Corporation, a firm that helps reduce company patent- litigation risk by offering licenses to patents it owns in exchange for an agreement not to sue, patent trolls in 2012 filed more than 2,900 infringement lawsuits nationwide (nearly six times higher than the number in 2006). In addressing the America Invents Act (AIA) passed by Congress in September 2011 reforming US patent law, U.S. President Barack Obama said in February 2013 that US "efforts at patent reform only went about halfway to where we need to go." The next indicated step was to pull together stakeholders and find consensus on "smarter patent laws." As part of the effort to combat patent trolls, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board was empowered to begin conducting the inter partes review (IPR) process in 2012. IPR allows an executive agency to review the validity of a patent, whereas previously such a review could only be conducted before a court. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the IPR process in 2018. In 2015, 45% of all patent cases in the United States were filed in the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, and 28% of all patents were filed before James Rodney Gilstrap, a court known for favoring plaintiffs and for its expertise in patent suits. However, in May 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled unanimously in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC that patent litigation cases must be heard in the state in which the defendant is incorporated, shutting down this option for plaintiffs. On June 4, 2013, President Obama referenced patent trolls and directed the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to take five new actions to help stem the surge in patent-infringement lawsuits tying up the court system. Saying "they don't actually produce anything themselves, they're just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else's idea and see if they can extort some money out of them," the President ordered the USPTO to require companies to be more specific about exactly what their patent covers and how it is being infringed. The Administration further stated the USPTO will tighten scrutiny of patent claims that appear overly broad, and will aim to curb patent-infringement lawsuits against consumers and small- business owners using off-the-shelf technology. The President asked Congress to enact legislation to more aggressively curb "abusive" lawsuits. David Kravets said "[t]he history ebooks will remember the 44th president for setting off a chain of reforms that made predatory patent lawsuits a virtual memory." In the U.S. Congress, Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) sponsored legislation in 2013 intended to reduce the incidence of patent trolling. The bill, called the Patent Litigation Integrity Act, would help judges make patent trolls pay for the cost of the lawsuits, especially if the trolls lost the lawsuits. In February 2014, Apple filed two amicus briefs for cases pending in the U.S. Supreme Court, claiming to be the #1 target for patent trolls, having faced nearly 100 lawsuits in the preceding three years. In November 2014, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settled its first consumer-protection lawsuit against a company, for using "deceptive sales claims and phony legal threats". The FTC found that defendant MPHJ had sent letters to more than 16,000 small to mid-size businesses threatening patent infringement lawsuits if the companies did not comply with its demand for licensing fees of $1,000 to $1,200 per employee, but never making preparations for such lawsuits. The 2014 settlement provided for a $16,000 fine per letter that MPHJ or its attorneys would send. In May 2013, Vermont's Consumer Protection Act took effect. The Vermont law prohibits bad faith infringement threats, with bad faith indicated by: lack of specificity of the alleged infringement, settlement demands or damage claims that include excessive licensing fees, and unreasonably short deadlines for payment of demanded monies. Vermont's statute gives recipients of threat letters the right to counter-sue in state court, thus making it a less lucrative business model to send out large numbers of threat letters. As of August 2013, the Vermont legislation had not been tested in court as to violation of federal preemption, the legal principle that bars states from interfering in matters regulated or administrated by the federal government (such as aviation), or enforcement of federal law. In August 2013, Nebraska's Attorney General sent warnings to a patent troll's law firm, asserting that to send frivolous licensing demands to Nebraska businesses may constitute unfair and deceptive business practices and violate Nebraska's unfair competition law. In 2013, Minnesota's Attorney General obtained a settlement prohibiting MPHJ Technology Investments LLC from continuing its licensing campaign, Minnesota said to be the first state to obtain such a settlement. In April 2014, the Wisconsin governor signed legislation that would make patent- trolling Wisconsin companies more difficult. The legislation imposes strict notification duties on the entity claiming infringement, and there are potentially strict penalties for non-compliance with the notification process. In the 2014, legislative session, Idaho Lieutenant Governor Brad Little sponsored Senate Bill 1354, or the "Patent-troll" bill which protected companies from "bad faith assertions of patent infringement", in which a patent holder frequently harasses businesses for purportedly infringing on a patent in order to collect an extortionate licensing fee. The cost of defending against a patent infringement suit, as of 2004, was typically $1 million or more before trial, and $2.5 million for a complete defense, even if successful. Because the costs and risks are high, defendants may settle even non-meritorious suits they consider frivolous for several hundred thousand dollars. The uncertainty and unpredictability of the outcome of jury trials in the United States also encourages settlement. It has also been suggested that distortions in the patent market, such as those caused by the examination backlog, promote patent trolling. If the patent office accepts claims that have been invented, published or even patented before, ignoring material prior art, then even existing technologies in use are subject to patent trolling. Reexamination to invalidate the patent based on prior art can be requested, but requests are typically made only after a lawsuit is filed or threatened (about 0.33% of patents in U.S. have re-examination is requested.) and often in conjunction with an infringement lawsuit. Only the patent holder will participate in this process, and the party requesting the reexamination has no right of appeal and is estopped from using the same evidence in any subsequent civil action; this risk keeps the popularity of reexamination low despite its lower cost. Furthermore, the most common outcome is not the validation or invalidation of the patent, but narrowing the scope of the claims. There is also no obligation to defend an unused patent immediately, thus manufacturing companies may produce the patented product for years until the patent troll sues them. For example, the JPEG format, intended to be free of license fees, was subject to two patent attacks, one by Forgent Networks during 2002–2006 and another by Global Patent Holdings during 2007–2009. Both patents were eventually invalidated based on prior art, but before this, Forgent collected more than $100 million in license fees from 30 companies and sued 31 other companies In 2011, United States business entities incurred $29 billion in direct costs because of patent trolls. Lawsuits brought by "patent assertion companies" made up 61% of all patent cases in 2012, according to the Santa Clara University School of Law. From 2009 through mid-2013, Apple Inc. was the defendant in 171 lawsuits brought by non-practicing entities (NPEs), followed by Hewlett-Packard (137), Samsung (133), AT&T; (127), and Dell (122). Patent troll-instigated litigation, once mostly confined to large companies in patent-dependent industries such as pharmaceuticals, came to involve companies of all sizes in a wide variety of industries. In 2005, patent trolls sued 800 small firms (those with less than $100 million annual revenue), the number growing to nearly 2,900 such firms in 2011; the median defendant's annual revenue was $10.3 million. A July 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers study concluded that non-practicing entities (NPEs) accounted for 67 percent of all patent lawsuits filed—up from 28 percent five years earlier—and though the median monetary award size has shrunk over time, the median number of awards to NPEs was three times higher than those of practicing companies. A 2014 study from Harvard University, Harvard Business School and the University of Texas concluded that firms forced to pay patent trolls reduce R&D; spending, averaging $211 million less than firms having won a lawsuit against a troll. That 2014 study also found that trolls tend to sue firms with fewer attorneys on staff, in effect encouraging firms to invest in legal representation at the expense of technology development. The 2014 study reported that trolls tend to opportunistically sue firms with more available cash, even if the firm's available cash was not earned in the technology that is the subject of the patent lawsuit, and targeting the firms long before a product begins turning a profit, thus disincentivizing investment in new technologies. Emphasis became progressively focused on patents covering software rather than chemical or mechanical inventions, given the difficulty in defining the scope of software patent claims in comparison to the more easily defined specific compounds in chemical patents. A GAO study concluded that the proportion of patent lawsuits initiated by trolls hadn't changed significantly from 2007 through 2011, the GAO speculating that the raw numerical increase in both troll and non-troll instituted lawsuits may be due to the "inherently imprecise" language and a lack of common, standardized, scientific vocabulary in constantly evolving emerging technologies such as software. Software patents were described as "particularly prone" to abuse because software is "inherently conceptual", with research indicating that a software patent is four times as likely as a chemical patent to be involved in litigation, and a software "business method patent" is thirteen times more likely to be litigated. On June 4, 2013, the National Economic Council and Council of Economic Advisers released a report entitled Patent Assertion and U.S. Innovation that found significant harm to the economy from such entities and made recommendations to address them. The report further stated: "Specific policies should focus on fostering clearer patents with a high standard of novelty and non-obviousness, reducing disparity in the costs of litigation for patent owners and technology users, and increasing the adaptability of the innovation system to challenges posed by new technologies and new business models, would likely have a similar effect today." A core criticism of patent trolls is that "they are in a position to negotiate licensing fees that are grossly out of alignment with their contribution to the alleged infringer's product or service", notwithstanding their non-practising status or the possible weakness of their patent claims. The risk of paying high prices for after-the-fact licensing of patents they were not aware of, and the costs for extra vigilance for competing patents that might have been issued, in turn increases the costs and risks of manufacturing. On the other hand, the ability to buy, sell and license patents is seen by some as generally productive. The Wall Street Journal argued that by creating a secondary market for patents, these activities make the ownership of patents more liquid, thereby creating incentives to innovate and patent. Patent Licensing Entities also argue that aggregating patents in the hands of specialized licensing companies facilitates access to technology by more efficiently organizing ownership of patent rights. In an interview conducted in 2011, former U.S. federal judge Paul R. Michel regarded "the 'problem' [of non-practicing entities, the so- called "patent trolls"] to be greatly exaggerated." Although there are a number of problems with the U.S. patent system, i.e. "most NPE infringement suits are frivolous because the defendant plainly does not infringe or the patent is invalid", "patent infringement suits are very slow and expensive", and "NPEs may add value to the patents by buying them up when manufacturers decline to do so. Inventors may have benefited from the developing market in patent acquisition." This view was supported in an article in 2014 that suggests that the pejorative term patent troll works in the benefit of large organisations who infringe patents and resent smaller inventors being represented by someone with the clout to take them on. The argument against the use of the term is that NPEs, in the main, return the majority of a settlement to the original inventor. Similarly, New York Times columnist Joe Nocera wrote that legislation on patent reforms considered by the United States Congress that are "allegedly aimed at trolls" often instead "effectively tilt the playing field even further towards big companies with large lobby budget". Patent trolls operate much like any other company that is protecting and aggressively exploiting a patent portfolio. However, their focus is on obtaining additional money from existing uses, not from seeking out new applications for the technology. They monitor the market for possibly infringing technologies by watching popular products, news coverage and analysis. They also review published patent applications for signs that another company is developing infringing technology, possibly unaware of their own patents. They then develop a plan for how to proceed. They may start by suing a particularly vulnerable company that has much to lose, or little money to defend itself, hoping that an early victory or settlement will establish a precedent to encourage other peer companies to acquiesce to licenses. Alternately they may attack an entire industry at once, hoping to overwhelm it. An individual case often begins with a perfunctory infringement complaint, or even a mere threat of suit, which is often enough to encourage settlement for the nuisance or "threat value" of the suit by purchasing a license to the patent. In the United States, patent suits previously could be filed in any United States District Court, allowing plaintiffs to "shop around" to find the court with the highest chances of success; in 2015, 45% of all patent cases were filed in the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, as this court was known for favoring plaintiffs and for its expertise in patent suits. However, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a unanimous May 2017 decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC that patent litigation cases must be heard in the state which the defendant is incorporated, shutting down this option for plaintiffs. The uncertainty and unpredictability of the outcome of jury trials also encourages settlement. If it wins, the plaintiff is entitled as damages an award of at least a "reasonable" royalty determined according to the norms of the field of the patented invention. Patent trolls are at a disadvantage in at least two ways. First, patent owners who make and sell their invention are entitled to awards of lost profits. However, patent trolls, being non-manufacturers, typically do not qualify. Further, patent owners' rights to bar infringers from manufacture, use, or sale of technologies that infringe their patents has been curtailed in the 2006 court decision eBay v. MercExchange. Rather than automatically granting an injunction, the US Supreme Court stated that courts must apply a standard reasonableness test to determine if an injunction is warranted. Writing in Forbes about the impact of this case on patent trolls, writer Jessica Holzer concludes: "The high court's decision deals a blow to patent trolls, which are notorious for using the threat of permanent injunction to extort hefty fees in licensing negotiations as well as huge settlements from companies they have accused of infringing. Often, those settlements can be far greater than the value of the infringing technology: Recall the $612.5 million that Canada's Research in Motion forked over to patent-holding company NTP, Inc., to avoid the shutting down of its popular BlackBerry service." The non-manufacturing status of a patent troll has a strategic advantage, in that the target infringer cannot counter-sue for infringement. In litigation between businesses who make, use or sell patented technology, the defendant will often use its own patent portfolio as a basis to file a counterclaim for infringement. The counterclaim becomes an incentive for settlement, and in many industries, discourages patent infringement suits. Additionally, a patent suit carries with it the threat of an injunction or mutual injunction, which could shut down manufacturing or other business operations. If a patent owner does not make, use or sell technology, then the possibility of a counter-suit for infringement would not exist. For this reason, a patent troll is able to enforce patents against large companies which have substantial patent portfolios of their own. Furthermore, patent trolls may use shell companies. Patent trolls are neither using nor marketing the inventions covered by their patents, but instead plan to make money by threatening or filing lawsuits. Using the justice system to make money gives patent trolls a financial advantage because patent troll plaintiffs are typically immune from defense strategies large business employ against legitimate smaller patent plaintiffs (e.g., litigation costs are significantly higher for the defendant or infringer than for a purported damaged plaintiff who has a "no recovery, no fee" contingency-fee lawyer; until recently trolls had an almost-unrestricted ability to choose plaintiff-friendly forums, frequently the Eastern District of Texas). Strategies used by companies to protect themselves from legitimate competition are ineffective against patent trolls. Defensive techniques include: monitoring patent activities of competitors to avoid infringing patents (since patent trolls are not competitors, productive companies usually have no way to find out about the troll or its patents until after significant investments have been made to produce and market a product); going on the offensive with counterclaims that accuse the patent plaintiff of infringing patents owned by the defendant (the mutual threat often leads the parties to arrive at a mutually beneficial cross-licensing arrangement); or a "scorched earth" defense designed to drive up litigation costs (which is equally ineffective because patent trolls plan for and have the finances to fully litigate a case; in fact, some are able to draw on hedge funds and institutional investors to finance their patent cases). Patent "pooling" arrangements where many companies collaborate to bring their patented knowledge together to create new products are also inapplicable to patent trolls because they do not produce products. It is possible to perform offensive techniques to ward off patent trolls with the open source release of concepts preemptively to prevent patent trolls from establishing intellectual property on building block technology. A Google-led initiative, LOT Network, was formed in 2014 to combat PAEs by cross-licensing patents that fall into the hands of enforcers. Another Google-affiliated organization, Unified Patents, seeks to reduce the number and effectiveness of patent trolls by filing inter partes reviews (IPR) on patents owned by trolls. Large companies who use patent litigation as a competitive tool risk losing their patent rights if a defendant claims patent misuse. However, the misuse defense is difficult against a patent troll because antitrust violations typically involved require significant market power on the part of the patent holder. Nevertheless, manufacturers do use various tactics to limit their exposure to patent trolls. Most have broader uses as well for defending their technologies against competitors. These include: Design arounds can be a defense against patent trolls. The amount of license fee that a patent troll can demand is limited by the alternative of the cost of designing around the troll's patent(s)., Patent watch. Companies routinely monitor new patents and patent applications, most of which are published, to determine if any are relevant to their business activities., Clearance search. A standard practice is to perform a clearance search for patents or pending patent applications that cover important features of a potential product, before its initial development or commercial introduction. For example, a search by Thomas Edison uncovered a prior patent by two Canadian inventors, Henry Woodward and Mathew Evans, for carbon filament in a non-oxidizing environment, (), the type of light bulb Edison wanted to develop. Edison bought the patent for US$5,000 ($ in present-day terms) to eliminate the possibility of a later challenge by Woodward and Evans., Opposition proceeding. In Europe (under the European Patent Convention), any person may initiate proceedings to oppose a European patent. There is a more limited process in the United States, known as a reexamination. As an example, Research In Motion, filed reexaminations against broad NTP, Inc. patents related to BlackBerry technology., Litigation. Whereas some companies acquiesce to a troll's demands, others go on the offensive by challenging the patents themselves, for example by finding prior art that calls into question their patentability. They may also broadly challenge whether the technology in question is infringing, or attempt to show patent misuse. If successful, such a defense not only wins the case at hand but destroys the patent troll's underlying ability to sue. Knowing this, the patent troll may back down or lessen its demands., Early settlement. An early settlement is often far less expensive than litigation costs and later settlement values., Patent infringement insurance. Insurance is available to help protect companies from inadvertently infringing a third party's patents., Defensive patent aggregation, the practice of purchasing patents or patent rights from patent holders so they don't end up in the hands of an individual or enterprise that can assert them. Increasingly aggregations are focused on purchasing patents and patent rights off the open market, or out of NPE assertion and litigation, which directly impact the businesses of the aggregation's members. The aggregator then provides members a broad license to everything it owns in exchange for an annual fixed-fee. Defensive aggregators purchased 15% of all brokered patent sales in 2014., Action for unjustified threats. In Australia, the UK and other countries, a legal action may be brought against anyone who makes unjustifiable threats to begin patent infringement proceedings. Concerning the Australian threats provisions, Lisa L. Mueller says that "if a patent troll is found to have engaged in a threat, the only way it could defend itself against an injunction or an award of monetary damages would be to commence patent infringement proceedings and have the court find that infringement occurred.", Bounties. Monetary bounties have been offered to the public to find prior art or provide other information, such as arguments showing the obviousness or material defects in a patent application, that would invalidate a patent troll's patents. This tactic has been used not only against the patent in question but also against other patents held by the patent troll in order to undermine its business model. Copyright troll, Patent monetization, Patent privateer, Patent war, Rent-seeking, Stick licensing, Strike suit, Submarine patent, Trademark troll, Wright brothers patent war Christian Helmers, Brian Love and Luke McDonagh, 'Is there a Patent Troll Problem in the UK?,' Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal 24 (2014) 509–553 – available at SSRN, Catherine Tucker, The Effect of Patent Litigation and Patent Assertion Entities on Entrepreneurial Activity, Arstechnica 2014, Connell O'Neill, The Battle Over Blackberry: Patent Trolls and Information Technology, The Journal of Law, Information, and Science, 2008, Vol. 17, pp. 99–133., Maggie Shiels, Technology industry hits out at "patent trolls", BBC News, June 2, 2004., Lorraine Woellert, A Patent War Is Breaking Out On The Hill, Business Week, July 2005., Joe Beyers, Rise of the patent trolls, ZDNet, October 12, 2005., Raymond P. Niro, The Patent Troll Myth, Professional Inventors Alliance web site, August 4, 2005., Raymond P. Niro, Who is Really Undermining the Patent System – "Patent Trolls" or Congress?. 6 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 185 (2007)., Jennifer Kahaulelio Gregory, "The Troll Next Door", 6 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 292 (2007)., Simon Phipps, On Cane Toads, Fire Ants and Patents, SunMink, February 13, 2005., Bakos, Tom, "Patent Trolls", Insurance IP Bulletin, Vol. 2005.3, June 2005., Ferrill, Elizabeth, "Patent Investment Trusts: Let's Build a PIT to Catch the Patent Trolls", N.C. J. of Law & Tech., Vol 6, Iss. 2: Spring 2005., Kurt Leyendecker, "Patent Trolls!", Control, Protect & Leverage, A Leyendecker & Lemire Blog, March 14, 2006., Colleen V. Chien, Of Trolls, Davids, Goliaths, and Kings: Narratives and Evidence in the Litigation of High-Tech Patents, 87 N.C. L. Rev. 1571 (2009), available at SSRN. Summarized at Jotwell., Ranganath Sudarshan, Nuisance-Value Patent Suits: An Economic Model and Proposal, 25 Santa Clara Computer & High Tech. L.J. 159 (2008).

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Suits is an American legal drama television series created and written by Aaron Korsh. The series premiered on USA Network on June 23, 2011 and is produced by Universal Cable Productions. It is the network's longest-running original series in terms of seasons and episodes. The series concluded on September 25, 2019. Suits is set at a fictional New York City law firm and follows talented college dropout Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams), who start working as a law associate for Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) despite never having attended law school. The show focuses on Harvey and Mike closing cases, while maintaining Mike's secret. The show also features the characters Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), and Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres). On January 30, 2018, the series was renewed for an eighth season without Adams and Markle, and Katherine Heigl joined the cast as Samantha Wheeler. Recurring characters Alex Williams (Dulé Hill) and Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) were promoted to series regulars. The show was renewed for a 10-episode ninth and final season on January 23, 2019, which premiered on July 17, 2019. Throughout its run, Suits has been nominated for several awards, with Torres and Adams receiving individual praise. Besides two nominations recognizing her role as a supporting actress, Torres was awarded Outstanding Performance in a Television Series at the 2013 NHMC Impact Awards. Adams was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series at the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards, and the show itself has been nominated for two People's Choice Awards. The show's success spawned a spin-off, Pearson, centered on Jessica Pearson's advent into Chicago politics, which premiered alongside the final season of Suits on July 17, 2019. It has also generated South Korean and Japanese adaptations. Former student Mike Ross makes a living illegally taking the Law School Admission Test for others. To pay for his grandmother's care, he agrees to deliver a case of marijuana for his best friend Trevor, a drug dealer. Mike astutely avoids being arrested in a sting, only to stumble into a job interview with Harvey Specter, called the best closer in the city. Mike's knowledge of the law impresses Harvey enough to win him the associate position, even though Mike didn't attend Harvard. Together they try cases for the firm while maintaining the secret that Mike is a fraud. Jessica Pearson, the managing partner, learns Mike's secret, but other issues take precedence when co-founding partner Daniel Hardman returns to the firm, pressuring Jessica and Harvey. Mike begins to foster a relationship with paralegal Rachel Zane, but finds himself pursuing other romantic entanglements after his grandmother's sudden death. Harvey and his secretary Donna face accusations of burying evidence and must discover the truth while keeping incriminating evidence from Hardman, who would use it to leverage a managing partner position. The intensifying threat from Hardman forces Jessica into a merger with a British firm headed by Edward Darby. Mike tells Rachel he's a fraud. Darby's presence in the firm gives Harvey leverage to seek a position as a named partner. Meanwhile, the merger causes Louis Litt to clash with his British counterpart. Darby International client Ava Hessington draws Harvey into a lengthy trial against his former mentor, and the lawsuit turns into a murder charge. Realizing that his fraud can't continue forever, Mike leaves newly renamed Pearson Specter to take a position as an investment banker. Mike's new job puts him and Harvey on opposite sides of a takeover battle, causing the SEC to accuse them of collusion. When Mike is fired, Louis goes to extreme lengths to persuade Mike to come back to Pearson Specter, rather than working for shady billionaire investor Charles Forstman. Louis demands a name partner position, competing with Harvey, but his wrongdoings get him fired instead. When he realizes Mike never went to Harvard, he blackmails Jessica into rehiring him with the promotion he desired. Mike proposes to Rachel; Donna leaves Harvey to work for Louis. Harvey struggles with losing Donna and begins to open up to a therapist about his broken relationship with his mother. Louis' insecurity, however, and desire to undermine Harvey create an opening for Jack Soloff, an ambitious partner who is being manipulated by Hardman. Rachel's wedding plans and her relationship with her parents are both overshadowed by Mike's secret. Mike and Harvey both resign to protect their future, but Mike is abruptly arrested for fraud. More and more people involved realize the allegations are true, and facing a tenacious prosecutor Anita Gibbs, Mike accepts a plea bargain, pleads guilty, and turns himself in so that no one else will go to jail. At the wedding, Mike tells Rachel that he will not marry her now but if she still wants him in two years then he will marry her after getting out of prison. Harvey escorts him to prison making their last few goodbyes. A two-year prison sentence puts Mike at the mercy of Frank Gallo, an inmate with a grudge against Harvey. At Pearson Specter Litt, few employees remain to help. Rachel works an Innocence Project case for her law professor; Jessica assists pro bono but is distracted from matters at the firm, and chooses to leave her position to pursue her own life. Mike's cellmate proves pivotal in a deal for Mike's freedom. He struggles with his fraud being public knowledge but obtains a job at a legal clinic. Harvey helps both Rachel and Mike pass the Bar, and persuades Mike to come back to the firm. Everyone at the firm struggles to adjust to a new normal without Jessica. Donna takes a position as COO, and Harvey's friend Alex joins the team. Harvey begins dating his former therapist, Paula; Louis sees a therapist of his own, with mixed results. Rachel begins her career as an attorney, having passed the Bar. Mike continues to work pro bono cases at the clinic, with Harvey's blessing, but one of the cases puts Alex, Harvey and others at risk. Louis and Sheila reconnect; as does Jessica with her family in Chicago. Mike and Rachel accept a job offer in Seattle to run their own firm that takes on class-action suits, and get married before leaving. As the season closes, a case that puts Specter Litt in danger is found to be the work of Robert Zane's partners, Rand and Kaldore. When Zane finds out, he joins forces with Specter Litt. As Mike and Rachel leave after getting married, Robert Zane is now the managing partner of Zane Specter Litt, with Donna remaining in her COO role. Robert hires a new senior partner, his right hand and fixer Samantha Wheeler. Wheeler later becomes a name partner alongside Alex Williams. Louis learns that Sheila is pregnant. Katrina Bennett makes senior partner, and struggles with romantic feelings for her married personal associate. Donna and Harvey finally admit their feelings for one another as Season 8 ends, but Donna's mishandling of client/boyfriend Thomas Kessler forces Zane to sacrifice himself for the good of the firm. With Robert now disbarred, Faye Richardson, a special master from the bar is sent to oversee the firm due to the perception of the underhanded tactics they have been involved with for years. Faye is out to dismantle and destroy the firm, but has few skeletons of her own that can be used to take her down. Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter: Name partner since the firm was Pearson Darby Specter, and the self-proclaimed best closer in New York City. Marries Donna Paulsen in season 9., Patrick J. Adams as Michael “Mike” Ross (main season 1–7; recurring season 9): hired by Harvey as his personal associate, despite not having a license to practice law initially but later was allowed by the bar., Rick Hoffman as Louis Litt: Name partner since the firm was called at Pearson Specter Litt and current Managing Partner. Though he is Harvey's main rival, he loves the firm like family and considers the associates as his biggest assets., Meghan Markle as Rachel Zane (main season 1–7): a senior paralegal and later associate at Pearson Specter Litt who becomes Mike Ross' wife., Sarah Rafferty as Donna Paulsen: Harvey's former secretary and close confidante who becomes COO at Specter Litt in season 7. Marries Harvey Specter in season 9., Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson (main season 1–7): Managing partner of Pearson Hardman, Pearson, Pearson Darby, Pearson Darby Specter, Pearson Specter and Pearson Specter Litt., Amanda Schull as Katrina Bennett (main season 8–9; recurring season 2–7): A former fifth-year associate hired by Harvey and later Louis' personal associate; in the fallout when Louis almost left the firm, she went to work for Robert Zane, Rachel's father, but returned to Specter Litt in season 6 and became a senior partner in season 8. By the end of the series, she is a Named Partner of Litt Wheeler Williams Bennett., Dulé Hill as Alex Williams (main season 8–9; recurring season 7): Harvey's old friend who was a partner at Bratton Gould; Harvey hires him as a senior partner at Specter Litt and he later becomes a named partner at Zane Specter Litt Wheeler Williams., Katherine Heigl as Samantha Wheeler (main season 8–9): A talented new partner at Specter Litt, previously known as Robert Zane's "right-hand man", who challenges the status quo and later becomes a named partner at Zane Specter Litt Wheeler Williams and finally Litt Wheeler Williams Bennett. Suits first appeared on USA Network's development slate under the title A Legal Mind in April 2010. On April 5, 2010, USA announced that it was developing seven new pilots for its 2010–2011 television season, including A Legal Mind, which would later become Suits. The premiere was written by Aaron Korsh, and David Bartis and Gene Klein served as executive producers. It was later announced on May 17, 2010, that USA ordered a ninety-minute cast- contingent pilot for the series. The network later picked up A Legal Mind on January 19, 2011, and ordered eleven one-hour episodes in addition to the 90-minute pilot. Creator Aaron Korsh, whose Notes from the Underbelly sitcom was canceled during the 2007–2008 Writers' strike, wrote a spec script intended to be a "half-hour Entourage-type based on my experiences working on Wall Street." He later realized that the project should have hour-long episodes. Korsh and his agent took the script to several production companies and wanted to give the script to Universal Media Studios. However, Korsh found it odd that the studio did not want to sell the script to NBC, the network the studio typically worked with. Korsh's agent convinced USA Network executive Alex Sepiol that although the series was neither a procedural nor what the network typically did, he would like the characters. Sepiol approved of the script, and by then, Hypnotic Films & Television signed on to the project. The team pitched the script to USA network, which bought the script after the pitch. Korsh did not pitch it to anyone else. When rewriting the script, Korsh made only small changes to the first half-hour, up to when Mike is hired. Originally, Mike did not take LSATs for others and only pretends to have attended Harvard, as opposed to pretending he attended Harvard and has a law degree. Korsh noted that there is no degree or test needed, to work on Wall Street and be a mathematical genius, unlike the bar examination in law. He decided to "embrace" this difference and change the premise. The pilot episode was filmed in New York City, where the series is set. The rest of the series is filmed in Toronto (at Downsview Park Studios), where the sets are built to be identical to the New York law offices seen in the pilot. To promote the series debut, USA had an advance screening of the pilot on June 2, 2011, at the Hudson River Park and distributed free Häagen-Dazs Sundaes cones at the viewing. The network also had a branded ice cream carts, bikes, and scooters give away at the Sundaes and USA/Entertainment Weekly 2011 promotion summer guides on June 22 and 23. They also held the promotion in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston to endorse the pilot. The season was created by Aaron Korsh and was aired on the USA Network in the United States. The season was produced by Hypnotic Films & Television and Universal Cable Productions. The executive producers were Korsh, Doug Liman, and David Bartis. The staff writers were: Korsh with three writing credits; Sean Jablonski, Jon Cowan, Ethan Drogin, and Rick Muirragui with two each; and Erica Lipez with one. The directors throughout the season were Kevin Bray, John Scott, Dennie Gordon, Kate Woods, Terry McDonough, Tim Matheson, Norberto Barba, Felix Alcala, Jennifer Getzinger, and Mike Smith. The first role in which a casting spot was filled was for Patrick J. Adams, who was cast in the lead role of Mike Ross in July 2010. In late July, Gabriel Macht joined the main cast as Harvey Specter. Rick Hoffman came on board in mid-August to portray Harvey's competition, Louis, at the law firm. Meghan Markle and Gina Torres soon joined the cast in late August, who were set to play Rachel Zane and Jessica Pearson respectively. Sarah Rafferty completed the main cast as Donna, and the pilot was filmed in New York City in the fall of 2010. The series was soon commissioned with a 12-episode order on January 19, 2011. The series began filming in Toronto on April 25, 2011, and completed on August 12, 2011, in New York City. Post production for the series was done at Cherry Beach Sound. "Greenback Boogie" by Ima Robot serves as the theme song of the show and was released as a single on September 18, 2010, and is included on the band's third album, Another Man's Treasure. A deleted scene leaked onto YouTube shows Victor Garber as Phillip Hardman, originally part of the pilot, but was ultimately cut during script rewrites. It shows that Hardman had retired from the firm on his own accord. Despite being cut for American audiences, the scene was left in for British viewers when it was first aired, and the scene continues to be included in re-runs. The first season premiered on June 23, 2011, and concluded on September 8, 2011. It ran for 12 episodes, including a 90-minute pilot. The complete first season was available on Region 1 DVD on May 1, 2012, and Region A/B Blu-ray on April 10, 2014. Suits was renewed for a second season consisting of 16 episodes on August 11, 2011, which premiered on June 14, 2012. The mid-season finale aired on August 23, 2012, with the remaining six episodes returning on January 17, 2013. The complete second season was available on Region 1 DVD on December 2, 2013, and Region A/B Blu-ray on June 26, 2014. On October 12, 2012, the show was renewed for a third season of 16 episodes. Season 3 premiered on July 16, 2013, with the final six episodes airing after March 6, 2014. The complete third season was available on December 22, 2014, on Region 1 DVD and was released on Region A/B Blu-ray on September 1, 2014. A fourth season of 16 episodes was announced on October 24, 2013. Season 4 premiered on June 11, 2014, with the mid-season finale on August 6, 2014. The complete fourth season was available on June 8, 2015, on Region 1 DVD and was released on Region A/B Blu-ray on June 8, 2015. On August 11, 2014, USA Network announced a fifth season of 16 episodes, which premiered on June 24, 2015. The complete fifth season was available on May 31, 2016 Region 1 DVD and was released on Region A/B Blu-ray on June 6, 2016. The complete sixth season was available on Region 1 DVD on May 30, 2017 and was released on Region A/B Blu- ray on May 29, 2017. On July 1, 2015, Suits was renewed for a sixth season consisting of 16 episodes and premiered on July 13, 2016. The series is available through streaming services on Amazon Video, iTunes, Vudu, and Xfinity. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the first six seasons of Suits were broadcast on Dave, but the channel chose to drop the series before Season 7, causing Netflix to pick up the UK rights, streaming the programme less than 24 hours after its U.S. broadcast. Netflix did not pick up the rights for Ireland. The series has not been released on Blu-ray in the United States or in Canada, but Region A/B releases are readily available in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Spain. Suits has received positive reviews on Metacritic. On Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds a 91% approval rating with the Season 3 consensus reading, "Though it's occasionally overly wordy, Suits stimulates with drama derived from the strength of its well-developed characters' relationships." Carrie Raisler of The A.V. Club said, "Suits has more internal forward momentum than [al]most anything else on television right now, and when it's on, like it mostly is here, it just cooks." Julie Hinds of The Detroit Free Press said, "The combination of Gabriel Macht as slick attorney Harvey Specter and Patrick J. Adams as unlicensed legal genius Mike Ross has been a winning one." In February 2017, USA began early talks for a potential Jessica Pearson spin- off. Gina Torres would star in and produce the spin-off. In August 2017, it was revealed that the season 7 finale of Suits would serve as a backdoor pilot to the potential Jessica Pearson spin-off series. On March 8, 2018, it was announced the Jessica Pearson spin-off was picked up to series. On January 17, 2019, it was announced the spin-off would be called Pearson, titled after the main star's character. On May 1, 2019, it was announced that the series will premiere on July 17, 2019. In October 2019, the series was canceled after a single season. Jang Dong-gun and Park Hyung-sik star in a Korean remake of the series, which is produced by Monster Union and EnterMedia Pictures and was broadcast on KBS2 in 2018. Yūji Oda and Yuto Nakajima play leading roles in a Japanese remake broadcast by Fuji Television in 2018. Suits () is a South Korean television series starring Jang Dong-gun and Park Hyung-sik. The drama is based on the American television series of the same name by Aaron Korsh. It aired on KBS2 starting April 25, 2018 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 22:00 (KST) for 16 episodes. A capable and distinguished lawyer of the law firm "Kang&Ham;" Choi Kang-Seok recruits a young man named Go Yeon-Woo who has a retentive memory but not a law degree. An adaptation from the American TV show Suits. Jang Dong-gun as Choi Kang-Seok, Park Hyung-sik as Go Yeon-woo, Chae Jung-an as Hong Da-ham, Jin Hee-kyung as Kang Ha-yeon: Co-founder of “Kang&Ham;”. She is the equivalent of Jessica Pearson, portrayed by Gina Torres., Ko Sung-hee as Kim Ji-na, Choi Gwi-hwa as Chae Geun-sik: A lawyer and Kang-Seok's rival. He is the equivalent of Louis Litt, portrayed by Rick Hoffman. Hwang Tae-gwang as Lawyer Huang, Choi Yu-hwa as Jae-hee, Lee Si-won as Se-hee, Lee Tae-sun as Seo Gi-woong, Son Yeo-eun as Kim Moon-hee, Kim Young-ho as Ham Ki-taek Lee Yi-kyung as Park Joon-pyo (ep 1–2), Bewhy as himself (ep 3–4), Jang Shin-young as Na Joo-hee (ep 3–4), Kwon Hyuk as Nam Sang-moo, as Madame Bae (ep 4), Son Seok-koo as David Kim (ep 5–6, 13, 15), as CEO Sim Young Joo (Namyoung CEO) Jeon No-min as Oh Byung-wook (ep 7) The remake was first announced in 2015, with the rights being sold to Korea's EnterMedia Pictures Co. Ltd., Suits is the second Korean drama co-produced by NBCUniversal after and the third series overall after Saturday Night Live Korea., This is Jang Dong-gun's first small-screen comeback in six years. In the tables below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings. In Malaysia, broadcast on 8TV every Monday and Tuesday at 10:30pm to 11:30pm from May 7 to June 26, 2018. Suits is an American legal drama created by Aaron Korsh and premiered on USA Network in June 2011. The series revolves around Harvey Reginald Specter (Gabriel Macht), a senior partner at a top law firm in Manhattan, and his recently hired associate attorney Mike Ross (Patrick J. Adams) as they hide the fact that Mike does not have a law degree. Each episode focuses on a single legal case and its challenges while examining the work environment of the firm, Mike's and Harvey's personal relationships, and problems stemming from Mike's lack of a degree. The rest of the starring cast portray other employees at the firm: Louis Litt (Rick Hoffman), a partner who manages the associates, Rachel Zane (Meghan Markle), a paralegal who develops feelings for Mike; Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), Harvey's long-time legal secretary, close friend, and confidant; and Jessica Pearson (Gina Torres), the co-founder and managing partner of the firm. Harvey Reginald Specter (Gabriel Macht) is a newly promoted senior partner at the prestigious New York law firm Pearson Hardman and is known as one of the city's top litigators. In episode 1 of season 8 it is revealed he was born and raised in Chicago, the same town as fellow attorney (Samantha Wheeler). In the pilot episode, he is told of his promotion to senior partner—the youngest to hold that position—and is forced to hire a Harvard Law School graduate to be his associate attorney. He is impressed with Mike Ross' quick thinking and drive to be a good lawyer, as well as his inherent ability to absorb enormous amounts of information (his photographic memory) and his extensive knowledge of law. Mike, however, does not have a law degree, but is hired anyway because Harvey does not want to waste time interviewing less promising candidates. Mike reminds Harvey of a younger version of himself, and so they agree to conspire to pretend that Mike is, in fact, a Harvard graduate. He acts as Mike's mentor, as well as his immediate superior: although he performs these roles somewhat reluctantly and emotionally distantly at first, he later begins to show that he does care about Mike and Mike's future as a lawyer. Harvey began working in the mail room, went to New York University (NYU) for his undergraduate degree and Jessica Pearson later paid for his tuition at Harvard Law, from which he graduated in 1997. Though years later Jessica muses to him that he did not take his studies seriously, he still graduated fifth in his class. Although he intended to start his law career at Gordon, Schmidt & Van Dyke (Pearson Hardman's previous name partners), Jessica sent him to the New York County District Attorney's Office for mentoring and he worked as an assistant district attorney (ADA) under District Attorney Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole). While there, he met his legal secretary Donna Paulsen, who became his close friend and confidant. After two years, he discovered a case with which Dennis was suppressing evidence, and rather than report it, Harvey abruptly left the DA's office to go into private practice at Pearson Hardman. Five years before the events of the series, while a senior associate, Jessica informs him that she has discovered an embezzler in the firm and requests that Harvey discreetly investigate; in return, he requests a promotion to junior partner upon its successful completion. With help from several other lawyers at the firm, including Louis Litt, Specter discovers that the money is being embezzled by Daniel Hardman, the founding managing partner of the firm. When Harvey discovers this, he insists that Jessica must report it to the DA; she refuses, choosing to instead confront Daniel, who claims the money is being used to fund his wife's cancer treatments, but after further investigation Harvey discovers that in reality the money is being used to finance an affair with a colleague. Shortly afterwards, Harvey learns that his father Gordon succumbed to a myocardial infarction; though visibly devastated at this news, he mourns quietly, choosing to celebrate his promotion instead. To win his cases, which he tries to do at all costs, Harvey will not hesitate to use unorthodox methods, including coercive persuasion, bluffing, and calling in the many favors owed to him by various influential and powerful people. Although he may be unconventional, Specter is a fair lawyer; he will not tamper with facts to win cases, and he hates any lawyer who will. Many wrongly believe that he lacks in integrity and expect that he will break the law to win; these incorrect assumptions helped him win a case by bluffing the opposing counsel into believing he was willing to commit perjury to win, while having no such intention whatsoever. In stark contrast to the methods of Louis Litt, Specter strongly prefers out-of-court settlements over going to court; Harvey's longstanding belief is that a courtroom has too many variables for him to be able to control, a tenet that was instilled into him by DA Cameron Dennis, his mentor. Despite the fact Jessica Pearson, his immediate superior, is much more cautious and tends to favor less risk over greater reward, Specter ignores her instructions, openly challenges her decisions, and does as he wants. Although Harvey generally wins his cases to far greater profit than had he followed Pearson's instructions, his risky methods tend to perpetuate her belief that he needs to remain on a leash. Harvey places his own interests above those of his colleagues, although his job performance always benefits his clients, and, by extension, Pearson Hardman and its employees. He dislikes cases pro bono publico, most likely due to their simplicity; generally, he will assign such cases to Mike Ross. On occasion, however, Specter will waive his right to collect legal fees for less wealthy clients; in these cases, he insists that this be kept secret for the sake of his reputation. He has a rivalry with Louis Litt that began when they were associates; though Harvey feels superior to Louis and often mocks him, he respects Louis, acknowledging his financial expertise and commitment to the firm, and considers him a skilled lawyer. This rivalry is later shown to be friendly; Louis characterizes it as similar to that between Ralph the Wolf and Sam the Sheepdog in the Looney Tunes cartoons. Louis, in turn, reluctantly realizes Harvey's value to the firm. In a season 2 episode, Louis (standing in for Travis Tanner) humiliates Donna on the witness stand in a preparatory mock trial, and Harvey confronts Louis afterwards, stating that Louis has taken their rivalry too far. Louis fires back that, although the experience pained him greatly, he did it to accurately portray the lengths Tanner would have gone to in court if the case had gone to trial. He never becomes emotionally attached to his clients, either; he performs his work with cold professionalism, rarely showing emotional attachment to his client. However, Harvey expresses a strong loyalty for those who have been loyal to him, such as Donna, his longtime secretary, Ray Benghazi, his chauffeur, and (eventually) Mike Ross, his associate. When confronted about his emotional distance, he states that caring makes a person appear weak, and that a lawyer who shows feelings gets trampled. Because of this belief, he never shows any vulnerability, even to romantic interests. In season 5, Harvey starts having panic attacks as a consequence of Donna leaving him to work for Louis. He starts seeing a therapist. Harvey has several female romantic interests, but he has trouble committing to a long-term relationship. He briefly dated Zoe Lawford. He attempted to have a real relationship with Dana "Scottie" Scott in the second half of season 3, which was revealed to be a rekindling of a past relationship. But this ended in the season 3 finale when the two realized they could not handle the necessary separation between their personal and business lives. Later in season 7, he dated Dr. Paula Agard, his therapist but it ended later in the season when she gave him an ultimatum to choose between their relationship and working with Donna. Since the very beginning Harvey has been attached to Donna more than anyone else and they both have a very strong friendship and often portray romantic feelings for each other. She is his moral compass and the only person Harvey listens to. Although not showing any obvious attraction towards each other over the course of 8 seasons, in the finale of season 8, Harvey is able to realise his feelings for Donna and they kiss with all their pent up feelings and emotions. He seems to have had a good relationship with his father Gordon Specter, a saxophone player; Gordon was immensely proud of Harvey, called him at work, and constantly wondered why his son had not been promoted to partner. It is insinuated by Travis Tanner that his mother (Lily Specter) was promiscuous, and Jessica's statements about Harvey's personality suggest his early life was emotionally damaging; Harvey later reveals in a conversation with Mike that Tanner's insinuations were true. Lily repeatedly dishonored Gordon Specter (James McCaffrey), and Harvey witnessed one of these events at the age of sixteen. He kept quiet about it so as not to distress his father but eventually told him. His mother then left them; and he held deep rooted hatred for his mother for years but made amends with her in season 6 after Donna told him to. Harvey also has a younger brother (Marcus Specter); little else is known about his past or family. Harvey is a car and sports enthusiast, and was a star pitcher for his high school baseball team. However, a shoulder injury prevented him from pitching in the state championship; the team won without his help, a fact that has continued to haunt him. His office features an extensive vinyl record collection and a collection of signed basketballs and baseballs. He also loves Macallan single malt Scotch. He dated Elizabeth Hurley in 1998. He constantly quotes movies, such as Top Gun, The Untouchables, The Breakfast Club, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Silence of the Lambs, and Highlander. Michael "Mike" James Ross (Patrick J. Adams) is a lawyer with a photographic memory who never attended law school. While in college, he aspired to be a lawyer and even passed the bar examination on a dare. However, he was expelled after his friend Trevor Evans convinced him to memorize a calculus test and sell it in order to pay off Trevor's debts to a drug dealer, and they unknowingly sold the answers to the Dean's daughter, forcing the dean to resign under scrutiny, but not before revoking Mike's scholarship and expelling him. Since then, he began smoking marijuana and took the LSAT as a proxy for others to pay the nursing home bills of his grandmother, who raised him after his parents died when he was eleven. To keep his grandmother in the private nursing home, he agrees to deliver marijuana for Trevor. However, he discovers that the delivery is a sting operation. He escapes the police by accidentally slipping into the hotel room where Harvey Specter's interviews for prospective associate attorneys is taking place. He impresses Harvey with his encyclopedic knowledge of law and drive to become a better lawyer than any graduate of Harvard Law School, the only school from which the Pearson Hardman law firm hires. Harvey hires him and becomes his reluctant mentor, keeping Mike's lack of a law license a secret from everyone at the firm except Donna. Later, a hacker alters Harvard Law's records to show that Mike is a graduate. Mike often comes across as naive and initially has trouble adjusting to daily life as an attorney. He often gets emotionally involved with clients and even with some opponents, a trait both Harvey and Jessica Pearson view as weakness. Despite this, Mike does not want to be a cold-hearted and emotionally distant person like Harvey. Mike has feelings for Trevor's girlfriend Jenny Griffith and is her boyfriend after she breaks up with Trevor. However, Jenny breaks up with him because he has feelings for Rachel Zane, a colleague. He does not want to base his relationship with Rachel on a lie, so he intends to tell her that he does not have a law degree. Harvey advises him against this, and Rachel senses Mike is hiding something and breaks up with him. He eventually does tell her but the timing is awful, as Rachel had just found out that she was denied admission to Harvard Law. She smacks Mike in the face a few times, and they have sex in the file room. Mike later takes a job as an investment banker to avoid having his fraud come back to haunt him, jeopardizing his future as well as Harvey's. As season 4 begins, Mike gets his feet wet with his first case as an investment banker on a takeover with Gillis Industries. This puts him and Harvey at edge, seeing as how the other party working on the takeover is Logan Sanders, and he is represented by Harvey and Pearson Specter. Mike boldly goes head to head with Harvey, holding his own until finally succumbing when Louis undoes a deal Mike was working with Charles Forstman for money. As a direct result of the deal with Forstman, which Mike agreed to cut his boss Jonathan Sidwell out of, and which Forstman himself notified Sidwell, Mike was promptly fired. Before taking a job with Charles Forstman, Louis Litt, guilty over his own deal with Forstman, uses a favor with Jessica to rehire Mike to Pearson Specter. His relationship with Rachel is tumultuous during this period, finding out that she had a history with Logan and also that she had kissed him. At first they had broken off their relationship following this betrayal. Mike then relented, realizing he cared greatly for her, enough to over look the incident and he moved back in after she approached him and convinced him to do so. For the remainder of the season, Mike is in the background, doing side work, and helping solve issues as Louis Litt's deal with Forstman falls apart. Mike, through his own compassion in the final summer episode of Suits, "This is Rome..." returns Louis's possessions to his house. When there, and attempting to comfort Louis, he asks about a key he found in Louis's box of things. At first, Louis takes it as playful and dismisses him. However, after Mike asks about the key again when he failed to get Louis hired with Robert Zane, Louis is able to piece together that Mike truly isn't a Harvard graduate. In season 5, Mike's secret is discovered and he accepts time in prison for 2 years after a long trial against Anita Gibbs, an attorney who makes sending him to jail her life's mission. In season 6, Mike is able to cut down his prison time with the help of Harvey and works as a teacher at the church for a while before being reported by a student's parent. He then passes the bar with the help of Harvey and Jessica even though Anita Gibbs makes full effort to stop him. In season 7, he returns to the firm. In the last episode of season 7, Mike marries Rachel and they both leave the firm to run a legal clinic in Seattle. Mike returns from Seattle in season 9 with a case that intersects with one of the firm's clients. The case ultimately leads to special master Faye Richardson firing Samantha Wheeler. In the series finale, Mike and Harvey devise a scheme to get Faye to leave. Louis Marlow Litt (Rick Hoffman) is a name partner at Pearson Hardman (later Pearson Specter Litt) who is the firm's leading authority and expert on all financial matters and the direct supervisor of the firm's associate attorneys. He is self-serving and often bends rules to get what he wants, including faking a positive drug test to blackmail Mike Ross. He is overly pedantic, jealous to the point of paranoia, highly suspicious, snobbish, and cruel. Louis tends to be someone who would be considered a "Wanna be" person. Louis often fails to understand how he appears to others, honestly surprised to find people hold grudges over his behavior and that he can be hurtful. However, he highly values loyalty to his colleagues and the firm. Unlike Harvey, who is known to almost always prefer settlements to trials, Louis believes that trials are not necessarily a bad thing. He is known to be the firm's highest billing attorney in terms of hours, and has a strong work ethic, on one occasion proving it by finishing the associates' monthly work in a single evening. Louis has a love of Broadway, ballet, origami, mudding, tennis, and recreational gun target practice. His address is 601 E 59th St., New York City. He has a rivalry with Harvey Specter that began when they were associates. Louis is particularly jealous of Harvey's success and feels that his own contributions to the firm have been overlooked as a result. He was promoted to junior partner before Harvey was, but Harvey is promoted to senior partner first, a promotion Louis believes he should have gotten instead. Jessica tells him that she does appreciate his work and is able to trust him with cases that require her instructions to be carried out precisely and without question, something the brash, self-centered Harvey cannot be relied upon to do. Despite his animosity toward Harvey, Louis believes that Harvey is a great lawyer and does his best to help Harvey when the good of the firm is at stake. Harvey, in return, acknowledges Louis's value, financial expertise, and commitment to the firm, with Harvey himself expressing more than once that Louis is the firm's hardest-working attorney. Harvey confirms this again in the series finale while arguing about Louis with special master Faye Richardson, telling her that she took "the best lawyer in this firm" and stripped him of his dignity. He has been rightfully suspicious of Mike Ross' status as a Harvard graduate since he was hired, going so far as to fake a positive drug test in an attempt to trick him into admitting it. When Harvey is accused of suppressing evidence, Louis is asked to stand-in for prosecutor (to-be) Travis Tanner in the mock trial. He uses the mock trial to confront Jessica about Harvey's better treatment. In the season two episode "Sucker Punch", Louis has Mike hooked up to a lie detector (as a means of getting information about Harvey) and asks Mike where he attended law school. Mike answers that he has a diploma from Harvard Law School, which is an essentially true statement, and it seems to have eased Louis's suspicions. As of the season 2 episode "Asterisk," Louis has been promoted to senior partner by Daniel Hardman. He has the deciding vote in the firm's managing partner vote; though he is angry with Hardman for treating him poorly in the past, he is also angry with Jessica for the way she has constantly overlooked him in recent years. He ultimately votes in favor of Hardman which gives Jessica's position to Hardman by one vote, although this is short-lived. After Hardman has been ousted once again and Jessica reinstated as managing partner, his relationship with Harvey is severely damaged, but Louis tries to move on. As a newly minted senior partner, Louis is entitled to hire a Harvard Law graduate as an associate attorney of his own. He becomes smitten with Maria (the secretary of her Harvard class and former US Supreme Court clerk) who accepts his offer; but by chance when she is introduced to Donna and it becomes clear that Mike's undercover status as a fraudulent HLS graduate could be put in jeopardy, Jessica is forced to order Louis to rescind the offer, leaving him angry and embittered. Harvey's resentment and anger towards Louis doesn't die off. In the episode "Blood in the Water" after Hardman's dismissal, Harvey seethingly confronts Louis in his office and accuses him (falsely) of betrayal, leaking a list of the best Pearson Hardman associates to Alison Holt at Bratton Gould. Louis emphatically insists that he didn't, which Harvey eventually accepts, but Harvey goes on to recite many of Louis's worst transgressions against himself and Jessica as reasons not to trust Louis whatsoever: bugging Harvey's office, leaking the CM lawsuit to Hardman (significantly damaging Jessica's already tenuous position as managing partner with Hardman back); spying on Mike's clandestine meeting with Monica Eaton and telling Hardman; accepting Hardman's offer of a senior partnership, casting the swing vote for Hardman as managing partner, and once successful, sneaking into Harvey's office and searching it after hours for information to damage Harvey's credibility, and immediately instituting a new partner drug test policy less than 12 hours later specifically (and solely) designed to force Harvey's resignation; all reasons to make Harvey tell him that for all intents and purposes (other than strict business required by Jessica) their relationship is finished and will never be repaired. The intensity of Harvey's confrontation leaves Louis seriously shaken, and, convinced he has no future at Pearson Hardman, approaches Alison Holt to inquire about moving to a position at Bratton Gould. He comes to Jessica (convinced that she sent Harvey to intimidate him into leaving) requesting her to waive the non-compete clause of his partner's agreement so he can join Bratton Gould; Jessica does as he asks, but reveals that Harvey's actions were not under her direction whatsoever and requests that he stay at Pearson Hardman. She also verbally acknowledges face-to-face (seriously and unprompted) for the first time that she was wrong, and (in contrast to her initial reaction in the episode "Asterisk") that Hardman's decision to grant Louis a senior partnership was indeed correct and well-deserved; Louis is visibly moved by this rare show of remorse (on Jessica's part). Despite this, Louis initially decided to submit his resignation regardless, but later changes his mind and decides to stay. Starting off season 4, Louis is torn inside following the events of the previous season, and his former love Sheila seeming out of reach he dives into his work and into mild depression. Highly critical of his own actions, things are made more complicated by the introduction of Jeff Malone during "One-Two- Three Go…", prosecutor for the SEC comes to Pearson Specter. Louis, still unsure of what to do, goes to Donna to advice who tells him "to wait for Jessica to come to him" with a large offer. His secretary Katrina, however, after seeing Jeff Malone's entrance tells Louis that if he waits, he may miss his chance, which he does. Things continue downhill for Louis, Malone being offered a senior partner position only worsens things as it was seen as an attempt to make himself obsolete. As friction between Louis and Jeff increase, Donna helps intervene on Louis's behalf, and convinces her to give Louis, the large coveted corner office to help soothe his ego, which it does. The friction, however, continues over into "Two in the knees" as the firm becomes increasingly pressed by the SEC and Louis rebuffs Jeff's attempt to calm the waters during the broker investigation. Louis is heavily offended by Mike, when going into a courtroom right before their hearing, when Mike shows him doctored photos of his love Sheila, seemingly being engaged, which rattles him to the core. This, however, turns out to be fake and as revenge, in "Leverage" Louis goes above Mike's head to prevent him from getting much needed investment funds from Tony Gianopolous in the takeover war that Mike is waging with Pearson Specter over Gillis Industries. Louis attempts to patch his relationship in several episodes, failing miserably and actually putting Harvey at arm's length. Defeated, and intent on proving his worth to his friend, Jessica provides him that opportunity when she offers him a chance to invalidate the sale of Wexler stocks so that the firm never bought them and prevent the SEC from being able to scrutinize the firm further. Louis finds a loophole, and instead of waiting for Jessica's approval or consulting Harvey, he unwinds the sale and puts the deal, which at that moment takes Harvey off his feet as he was just using those shares of Wexler to try and leverage a deal with Forstman, who had as a result of Louis's actions purchased them already on the open market. Louis, feeling bad and guilty for betraying Harvey; albeit without knowing it, is intent on fixing the problem. Going to Forstman, Louis makes a deal with Forstman to sell the shares to Logan Sanders, Harvey's former client through the Gillis takeover arc. Only after this does Louis confide in Katrina that in order to do the deal, he had to funnel money through offshore accounts, which amounted to Tax Evasion, and is a felony. While impressing Harvey, the sale wracks on Louis's nerves as he frantically searches for a way to undo the deal when Forstman then seals him into it, by forcing Louis to take a payoff as "incentive" to not rat him out or turn on him over the deal. Louis, still enraged from his Forstman deal and seemingly at his own pity, is offered a reward from Jessica for his save-the- day move. Originally, he chooses that he wants to finally be named partner in the firm, which Jessica says is still off the table. He then chooses to get more vacation and work-from-home time, giving him an opportunity to fix things with Sheila. However, after encountering Mike on his way to take a job with Forstman which Louis interrupts, he instead uses his reward from Jessica to rehire Mike and prevent him from taking a job with Forstman. Hoping the Gillis deal is behind them, Louis buries his fee receipt deep in the Gillis files, but then is immediately dismayed when Mike informs him of Sean Cahill's attempt from the SEC to get the Gillis takeover files. This panics Louis as Mike proposes to turn over all Gillis files to get the SEC off their backs. Louis desperately tries to get Forstman to undo their deal, but Forstman will only agree if he can get Harvey involved in a similar deal. As Louis is there, Harvey and Mike both figure out what Louis is doing and try to find him, but in their effort, Louis has already gone to Jessica and explained what he did. As Harvey arrives she fills him in, and expresses her discontent and promises to fire Louis after the deals are done. Louis goes then to the SEC the next day and confesses in person to Cahill, but unable to reach him, speaking to Woodall first. He is quickly rushed from the building and told by Woodall that the SEC is "only going after the big fish" and is not interested in his confession. Louis, perplexed, returned to the office and the next morning, realizes that the reason for this is that Woodall must have made a similar deal with Forstman in the past, which if the SEC were to begin investigations on, would find that Woodall had taken money from Forstman. Louis, knowing that Jessica intends to fire him but still wanting to help, tags along with Mike and Harvey as they convince to Sean Cahill that instead of coming to Pearson Specter, that he should focus his attention on his own boss for malicious prosecution. They offer up Woodall, who plays right into their hand by denying access to his bank records. After returning to the firm, Louis leaves his resignation in "Gone" before Jessica has the chance to fire him. "This Is Rome" starts with Louis coming to Harvey and asking for three of his own clients to start looking for other work in the city, but because of the company by-laws, he can't take them without Jessica's approval. Louis is then given a job opportunity in Boston via Harvey, where Sheila also works. Happy and trusting, Louis goes to Sheila who quickly rebuffs his love advances as not genuine, and she dismisses him. Determined to help Louis, Mike gets him an interview with Robert Zane, Rachel's father. Zane is impressed with Louis's billables at Pearson Specter, but insists that Louis must steal ONE client from Harvey to get hired. Acting on a tip from Katrina, his former associate, Louis steals Versalife, a client that Harvey would possibly have to drop due to antitrust complications. Harvey, however, with Mike's assistance, approaches Walter Gillis and convinces him to buy a division of Versalife, thus getting Pearson Specter under the antitrust threshold. Mike returns the contents of Louis's office to him and attempts to console him. In doing so, Mike drops a clue that accidentally gives away his secret about never attending Harvard. Mike asks about a key in Louis's box several times. Louis then explains the significance of the key, that it is an item given to Harvard graduates of the Order of the Coif. After Mike leaves, Louis deduces that Mike, as a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law, should have known about the key. (The key is fictional; Harvard Law School does not have a chapter of Order of the Coif.) Taking his allegations to Jessica in the final scenes of "This Is Rome", Louis angrily gets her to admit to being a liar and a hypocrite with regard to Mike. He demands to be named partner, and in a tense standoff, stammers out the name "Pearson-Specter-LITT!" After being named partner, Louis changes considerably and though fidgeting now and then, he stands by the firm and his partners. He has been engaged to Sheila Sazs and Tara Messer in the past and failed both relationships. In season 7, Sheila walks back into Louis's life and they both decide to be together and have children. Rachel Elizabeth Zane (Meghan Markle) is a paralegal who has worked at Pearson Hardman for six years (as of season 4). She is at first Mike Ross' friend, and she later develops romantic feelings for him. She aspires to be an attorney, but she suffers from test anxiety and cannot score well enough on the LSAT. Mike tries to help her score higher on the LSAT, but she learns that he used to take tests for others when she inadvertently tries to hire him to take the test for her. Late in season 1, she kisses Mike, leaving him confused about his feelings for her. She later leaves him a voice-mail, which Mike never hears. However, Mike's girlfriend Jenny learns about it and become suspicious about Mike's feelings for Rachel. After Rachel goes on a double-date with Mike and Jenny, Jenny breaks up with Mike, opening the door to a relationship between Mike and Rachel. However, the relationship ended before it started as Rachel sensed that Mike was hiding something and broke up with him. Her father, Robert Zane, is a name partner at Rand, Calder, and Zane, a fact she does not want people to know. Her family is wealthy, but she lives on her own income to prove a point to her father, who always wanted a son and who has told her multiple times that she should consider another career. She is a foodie and loves ballet. However, she does stun Mike with the revelation that she hasn't seen classic movies like Casablanca or Citizen Kane, dismissing them as "old." In a season 2 episode, Rachel is seen taking the LSAT after work. (However, none of the actual LSAT exams are administered in the evening.) Rachel eventually gets a 172 on her LSAT, passing the criteria to gain admission into Harvard Law. It is revealed late in season 2 that, despite her score and being a legacy via her father, she does not rate highly enough among all the applicants to get into the next semester's Harvard Law class. Louis discovers this and, to spare Rachel's feelings, blames it on his affair with Sheila Sasz going badly. The season 3 episode "She's Mine" reveals that Rachel has been admitted into Columbia Law School. Two episodes later, she learns she was also accepted into Stanford Law School, much to the chagrin of Mike who does not want her to move 3,000 miles away. She finally decides to attend Columbia Law School to stay close to Mike and also work as a part-time associate at the firm. In season 4, Rachel replaces Mike as Harvey's associate, but is often snubbed and mistreated by him, unlike Mike. Harvey is involved in keeping together Logan Sanders' company, who is revealed to be Rachel's ex-boyfriend. After a series of events Rachel and Logan share a passionate kiss, which makes her feel guilty and she immediately confesses to Mike, who is hurt and leaves her for a while. At the end of the season Mike proposes marriage to Rachel. In season five, Rachel continually struggles to keep Mike's secret from her parents. When Mike's former love interest Claire turns out to be the opposing counsel on Mike's first case as a junior partner, Rachel handles the entire case on Mike's behalf and ultimately has to beg Claire for keeping Mike's secret. When Mike gets arrested, Anita Gibbs tries to get Rachel to testify against Mike and Harvey by using her contacts with Rachel's professor, threatening her entire career. When Mike decides to settle with Anita Gibbs, he decides to marry Rachel; however, changing his decision at the last moment out of guilt leaving her in her wedding dress. In season six, Rachel's abilities as a lawyer are put to test when she handles an innocence project and against all odds saves Leonard Bailey from getting executed for a crime that he didn't commit. Later she is given assurance by Louis that she will be admitted as a Second year associate after her graduation. However, her career is once again threatened when in midst of a plan to get Harvey's help, an ethics board member refuses her the opportunity to pass the bar although Harvey later saves her. She also constantly supports Louis through his tempestuous relationship with Tara and is the only one holding him through his trauma when it ends. Throughout season 5 & 6, Rachel goes through a tough time with Mike going to jail and puts in all her efforts to help him. In season 7, they decide to get married and move to Seattle to run a legal clinic together. They get married in the last episode of the season. Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty) is Harvey Specter's legal secretary, close friend, and confidant. She has worked with him since his first year as an Assistant District Attorney, and she left the DA's office with him to work with him at Pearson Hardman. She listens in on all the conversations in his office, partially because he never turns the intercom off. She knows the private details of his personal life and relationships. She is also an integral part of Harvey's pre-trial ritual. She was promoted to the post of Chief Operating Officer of the firm in season 7. Donna, like Harvey, is brashly confident and self-assured, but unlike Harvey, she is able to understand her own feelings well and intuitively understand the feelings of others around her and how those people's feelings are reflected through their corresponding actions. She often explains Harvey's feelings to him when he is on the verge of making a gut decision with significant potential for future repercussions for him or his relationships with his clients or co-workers. She often also takes pride at knowing things before Harvey asks for them, and is usually able to out-think everyone, except for Harvey, who is usually able to quickly discern when Donna has an ulterior motive and makes a point of calling her out on it, despite her efforts to prevent him from doing so. Donna is considered the best legal secretary in New York City, and she carries enough power in the firm to intimidate senior partner Louis Litt, especially since she remembers most of Louis's indiscretions. Mike Ross often comes to her when he thinks he needs help, and she mocks him because he does not really need help; when Mike actually needs help, she provides all the assistance she can. She often jokes that she knows everything, and she is witty and has sardonic sense of humor. Whenever she solves a seemingly impossible problem for Harvey, Louis or Mike, they inevitably ask how she did it and she often gives the simple response, "I'm Donna." Donna is friends with Rachel Zane. During a conversation with Mike in season 2, it is implied that Donna once had romantic feelings for Harvey. In an earlier conversation with Rachel, she says that she was never romantically involved with Harvey because if the relationship did not work out, she could not continue working for him. However, it is revealed that she once had a boyfriend who broke up with her because she placed her working relationship with Harvey over her romantic relationship with her boyfriend. When she learns that Harvey believes she loves him, she tells him that despite what she once told him, she loves him "like a brother or a cousin." In the season 2 episode "Break Point", Donna found that she signed in an allegedly buried document and then lost it. When she finds it, she succumbs to pressure from outside counsel and illegally destroys it, exposing and causing trouble for the firm; She is soon after fired by Jessica Pearson for her actions. Afterwards, Donna is furious with Harvey because he did not fight aggressively for her job, did not fire her himself, and never personally called her. She hires her own attorney and intends to plead the Fifth in the trial. She refuses to participate in the mock trial, even though Harvey asks her in person. Mike eventually convinces her, but she declines to answer any questions as she intended. Louis, playing the part of prosecutor, asks her if she loves Harvey. She tries to say that she cannot answer with a simple yes or no, but Louis aggressively pursues a simple answer. When Harvey comes to her defense and ends the questioning, she leaves without a word and is later furious with Mike for not anticipating that Louis would ask such a question. At the end of the episode "High Noon", when it is revealed that Hardman forged and planted the document that Donna allegedly signed, Harvey resolves to get Donna her job back. Though she is initially upset with Harvey for defending her against Louis and letting Louis believe she loves Harvey, she returns to the firm after Harvey admits he needs her. In season 3, Donna begins a romantic relationship with Darby's fixer, Stephen Huntley. The morning after their first date, she goes to the copy room to flirt with Stephen, leaving Harvey to ask where she was upon her returning to her desk. Not wanting to tell Harvey about her and Stephen dating, she simply says she was helping Stephen with some copying, leaving Harvey to sternly remind her, "You work for me." In the fifth episode of the third season, when Donna tells Harvey that she's sleeping with Stephen; though visibly a bit uneasy, he responds that it is ultimately a matter of indifference to him, so long as Donna keeps it fully separate from her life and work in the office, where she is responsible only to him, to which she fully agrees. Later though, in the season 3 episode "The Other Time", Harvey admits that her relationship with Stephen does aggravate him. In the sixth episode of the third season, it is revealed that Harvey and Donna slept together once when he quit the DA's office 10 years ago, since Donna had told him she doesn't date people she works with and they didn't work together any longer (for the time being). When Harvey was promoted at Pearson Hardman, he tells her he needs her there and that he doesn't want to be a lawyer without her. She decides to accept his offer to be his secretary and they both agree that they will forget their night together, and from there starts the mysterious can-opener tradition. After remembering all they've been through, Harvey admits to Donna that her relationship with Stephen does bother him but implies that it does not mean he wants her for himself. She tells him she knows and says, "This is exactly why I had that policy." When he asks her why she changed it for Stephen, she replies, "Because I have to live my life, Harvey." In season 4, Donna falls into significant legal jeopardy when she illegally acquires evidence from Mike and it forces Harvey and her to put the problem of defining their relationship under a microscope. Harvey has often said that he loves her, but it often leaves Donna perplexed and upset with Harvey, who is unwilling to outwardly move past it strictly platonic emotion and show a romantic interest because of the vulnerabilities it would force him to be exposed to. Donna eventually realizes that she cannot deal with this never-ending lack of definition to their relationship, and decides to leave Harvey to go to work for Louis, whose previous secretary had just died in the season finale. Season 5 starts where the previous one leaves off, with Harvey feeling gutted and abandoned. He angrily rebuffs her offer of a standard 2-week transitional period to look for a replacement. In season 6, Donna works with office IT guy Benjamin to develop a digital personal assistant featuring her quips and advice. While their efforts to market the device are frustrating and ultimately fail, the experience inspires Donna to want more out of her life, but she is not exactly sure what. In season 7, she demands that Harvey give her a "seat at the table" as a senior partner. Harvey initially agrees, but later says it won't work because it dilutes what it means to be a senior partner at the firm. Donna agrees but now has a new demand: she wants to be Chief Operating Officer (COO). During the season, Donna becomes jealous of Harvey's growing romantic relationship with his therapist Dr. Paula Agard as her unresolved feelings for Harvey bubble back up to the surface. In season 7, episode 10 "Donna", she kisses Harvey unexpectedly after having conversations with Mike and Louis. She later apologizes for it, but this leads to Harvey admitting to Paula not only about the kiss but also that had slept with Donna in the past, causing a rough patch between the two. Donna also resigns from the firm when Paula gives him an ultimatum to choose between working with Donna and his relationship but Harvey brings her back by breaking up with Paula and choosing her. In season 8, she starts dating Louis's client, Thomas Kessler. Harvey breaks privilege by telling Donna that a deal Thomas has been given by Harvey's client is merely a rouse to use him as a stalking horse. Donna ultimately tells Thomas, ultimately resulting in Harvey and Donna fighting about the latter losing faith in the former. While Harvey has been summoned for questioning with the ethics committee, he tells Thomas to not throw Donna under the bus and blame him completely. Donna doesn't show up to the hearing despite being summoned, making Harvey realise that she's the one he wants to be with and he runs to her apartment and they passionately kiss. In season 9, Donna and Harvey married in the last episode of the series finale, with Mike Ross visiting from Seattle. After their wedding, it was announce Donna and Harvey would be moving to Seattle to work with Mike Ross and Rachel Zane Ross. Jessica Lourdes Pearson (Gina Torres) is the co-founder, name/managing partner of Pearson Hardman (later Pearson Darby, Pearson Darby Specter, Pearson Specter, and finally Pearson Specter Litt). She received her undergraduate degree from Vassar College on a full scholarship, graduated second in her class from Harvard Law, served on the Law Review, and did one year as the first black female clerk in the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals. Although she is well-respected, her "overbearing nature" and "holier-than-thou attitude", as described by Harvey Specter, often makes it difficult for those working with/for her. When faced with a dilemma, she will choose the less risky choice, although it may have diminished returns. If, in spite of this, Harvey or Mike Ross choose a riskier but more profitable course of action, she will harshly rebuke him, even if the risk pays off. Despite outward appearances, Jessica has performed unethical, immoral, and possibly illegal deeds. She takes loyalty seriously and will react badly to those who betray her as in season 1 when she discovers a good friend has been stealing from the firm for years and harshly leads a lawsuit against her. While in college, she felt that classmate (currently a Judge) Ella Medeiros was too uptight; simultaneously they were competing for a job they both wanted. To neutralize her as a threat to Jessica's chances she caused Ella to become heavily intoxicated and placed her in the nude while unconscious in a lecture classroom. This comes back to haunt Jessica when Ella becomes the judge assigned to a case involving her client. Whenever Jessica feels that someone is too uptight, she "straightens them out"; to straighten Louis Litt out, she did to him what she did to Ella, and she told him to blame Harvey, to straighten Harvey out. Jessica is in a quandary with respect to Harvey: she realizes Harvey is her greatest asset and the firm's best rainmaker because of his willingness to do whatever it takes to win, but she has difficulty controlling him and she cannot trust him to do exactly as she instructs. Jessica is divorced from Quentin Sainz, a pharmaceutical chemist and businessman who was diagnosed with ALS, and later dies in the third-season episode 'Yesterday's Gone'. At the end of season 1, Trevor Evans tells her that Mike does not have a law degree and Harvey is protecting Mike. When Jessica investigates, she discovers that Harvard's records show that Mike has a law school diploma, but she also finds that he has no record of an undergraduate degree, convincing her that the Harvard degree is a fraud. Even though she plans to have Harvey fire Mike, she lets Mike continue working because Daniel Hardman returns to the firm and Harvey threatens to quit if Mike is fired, leaving her vulnerable to Daniel. Jessica uses Mike's secret against him at the end of season 2, when she has him deliberately lose a case to ensure her merger with Darby International goes through, under the threat that she will use an anonymous letter to reveal Mike's status as an unlicensed attorney. This puts her at odds with Harvey, and even though she and Harvey work together on a case while she tries to make amends, she admits that if she had to do it all over again, she would. In the meantime, Mike cashed in a favor with the firm's I/T specialist to gain proof that the anonymous letter came from Jessica's hard drive, meaning Mike can now put Jessica's career in jeopardy should she reveal his secret. With this threat lifted, Harvey plots (with Darby's apparent compliance) to take over the New York office from Jessica. Eventually Harvey admits this to her, and their relationship is temporarily destroyed. She remains angry for a while and make that clear to both Harvey and Edward. Eventually she begins to empathize with Harvey, and as a consolation prize, makes him a name partner. After Ava's charges are dropped, Jessica forces Darby to begin negotiations to dissolve the merger. She agrees to waive the Harvard rule for Rachel and, after noting her long presence at the firm and overwhelming expertise as a paralegal, agrees to also pay for Rachel's law school tuition (as she did for Harvey). In season 4, it is revealed that Jessica had been engaging in a romantic relationship with a senior prosecutor for the SEC (Jeff Malone) for quite some time. She hires him at the firm at the beginning of the season, but insists to him that the romantic side of their relationship is finished as long as he is at the firm. She eventually relents and changes her mind on this, after Malone's respectful but incessant forcing of emotions on her, him wanting to keep both parts of their relationship. Eventually she is forced to lie to Jeff about the truth behind Louis's sudden resignation and near-immediate return, which puts their relationship on the line. When Jeff finds out that she had been lying, he breaks up with her, and resigns from the firm a few days later. In season 6, Jessica leaves the firm to Louis and Harvey to explore more of herself. She appears in season 7 on various occasions. Katrina Bennett (Amanda Schull) is a fifth-year associate attorney recently hired at Pearson Hardman. She first appears in the season two episode "Blind- Sided" as an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA's office, assigned to prosecute a hit-and-run accident case involving the son of a longtime client of Harvey's. She offers Mike a deal on the case in exchange for Mike putting in a good word for her with Harvey, indicating her desire to leave the DA's office and enter private practice. She was soon after hired by Harvey, but solely to protect Mike from being investigated after he broke privilege during the case's proceedings. Once hired, she constantly uses her "fifth" year status to intimidate everyone beneath her at the firm; she browbeats both Rachel and Mike into following her orders as if they were her subordinates under her purview (she might outrank them in terms of seniority, but they don't report to her and aren't required to follow her instructions). In the episode "Unfinished Business", she desires to be involved in a case that Harvey and Mike are working on, so she sneaks into Harvey's office while Harvey is gone and Donna is away from her desk and places a file with important (though unsolicited) research on Harvey's desk. When confronted by Mike in Harvey's office, she refuses to back off, only doing so after being sternly reprimanded by Donna in support of Mike. She later attempts to make amends with Mike, but he rebuffs her. Suspicious of her motives, Mike points out her mistreatment of everyone below her level at the firm since her arrival. In response, she deliberately humiliates Mike to the whole firm by creating a prank cartoon with Mike's face attached to a baby in a stroller with a pacifier, then displays it on all the computer monitors in the entire firm by hacking the firm's server. When confronted by Harvey, she claims to be resentful of the fact that he hired her to solve a crucial problem, but since then he completely ignores her, not giving her any cases or instructions. She insists that he should be also working with her, not only Mike. Ultimately, her actions against Mike lead her to be left to only work with Louis, to whom she had initially refused a request to be his personal associate. Louis eventually gives in and gives her a case to work on, becoming his protege. After she and Mike are forced to work together on Louis's case and they come up with a solution, she tells Louis that Mike deserves the credit. Katrina and Mike call a truce, though she assures him that her allegiance is now to Louis. Her loyalty to Louis gets her fired by Jessica in the season 3 episode "Know When to Fold 'Em", but Rachel is able to convince Jessica that Katrina was not at fault, and she is soon reinstated. In season 4, she helps Louis navigate through the Gillis Industries takeover battle, and his dealings with Charles Forstman, even forging a document to cover up Louis's part in the tax evasion on Forstman's behalf. In the episode "This is Rome", she gives the recently fired Louis information that allows him to steal a Pearson Specter client, which is a condition of Louis's offer of a senior partnership from Robert Zane. She assumes that she will be Louis's associate at his new firm, and is therefore not bothered when Jessica finds out and fires her—that is, until Jessica reveals that Mike was able to win the client back, meaning Louis will not be getting the job he was promised. Later in the season, Rachel gets the presently unemployed Katrina a job at her father's firm. In season 5, Katrina reappears while Mike is at the offices of Rand, Kaldore, & Zane, to help him work on Mike and Robert Zane's class-action lawsuit against Kelton Insurance. In season 6, Katrina is lured back to the struggling Pearson Specter Litt firm, after Louis convinces her she will have a much quicker path to senior partner at her old place of employment. She makes senior partner at Zane Specter Litt in season 8. Katrina is fired by special master Faye Richardson in the penultimate episode of the series (season 9), but is rehired following Faye's exit and promoted to name partner in the series finale. Alex Williams (Dulé Hill) joins the firm in season 7 after Harvey convinces him to leave Bratton Gould. He serves as one of the main characters of season 8, as he competes with Samantha to get his name on the wall next after a merger with Robert Zane. Harvey and Robert ultimately agree to put both Samantha's and Alex's names on the wall. It's revealed in season 9 that Alex, under duress, helped cover up the Reform Corp prison murder while at Bratton Gould, something that has haunted him ever since. Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl) joins the firm when Specter Litt merges with Robert Zane's part of his original firm. She serves as Robert's right- hand man. After being promised by Zane that her name would be next on the wall, she learns that she will be in competition with Alex for that honor because Harvey had promised the same thing to Alex. Having come from a difficult childhood in Foster care, Samantha looks to Robert as a father figure. In season 9, she decides to search for her biological parents. After meeting her birth father, she learns that neither of her parents gave her up. The father says he merely had a fling with her mother, who never told him she got pregnant, and her mother died when Samantha was two years old. She is fired from Specter Litt Wheeler Williams in season 9 by Faye Richardson, who was appointed by the bar as a special master to oversee operations at the firm following the disbarment of Robert Zane. In the series finale, Louis rehires Samantha and her name is returned to the wall. Jenny Griffith (Vanessa Ray) is Trevor Evans' girlfriend and a close friend of Trevor's best friend Mike Ross. Though she is Trevor's girlfriend, she has had feelings for Mike since their first meeting and kisses him while she is still dating Trevor. She is initially unaware that Trevor is dealing marijuana. When she learns the truth, she is upset that both Trevor and Mike lied to her. She asks Mike to convince Trevor to stop dealing, but before Mike can talk to him, Trevor again lies and tells her that he stopped dealing because of his conversation with Mike. Mike tells Jenny that the conversation never happened, and she breaks up with Trevor. She is happy to learn that Mike is working as a lawyer and keeps the fact that he does not have a law degree secret. She agrees to act as a witness in Mike's mock trial, and they begin their relationship while practicing for the trial. However, Trevor tells her about a voice-mail Rachel Zane left for Mike, and Jenny becomes suspicious of Mike's true feelings for Rachel. After meeting Rachel on a double date, Jenny breaks up with Mike to allow him to pursue a relationship with Rachel. Trevor Evans (Tom Lipinski) is a marijuana dealer and a computer programmer of dubious skill. He is also Mike Ross' best friend and is Jenny Griffith's boyfriend. He has become financially well-off dealing drugs, but he allows Jenny to believe that he makes his money through computer programming. In the pilot episode, a cash-strapped Mike agrees to deliver drugs for Trevor, but Trevor accidentally sends him into a sting operation. Mike stops talking to Trevor, partially because of the operation and partially because his boss Harvey Specter orders him to do so, and their friendship begins to deteriorate. Because Trevor refuses to stop dealing drugs, Jenny breaks up with him. In the episode "Bail Out", Trevor is held for ransom, and Harvey rescues him. Mike then buys Trevor a bus ticket to Montana, where Trevor stays for most of the season. He later returns and helps Harvey and Mike intimidate a witness into telling the truth. However, Trevor learns that Mike and Jenny are dating through a voice-mail Rachel Zane left Mike. Angry, he tells Jenny about the voicemail, casting doubt over Mike's feelings for Rachel, and tells Jessica Pearson that Mike does not have a law degree in the season 1 finale. At the end of the season 2 premiere, Mike meets in person with Trevor, who threatens to ruin Mike's life more than he already has. Mike responds by revealing that he knows Trevor's social security number and will use the information against Trevor if the need arises. In seasons 2, 3, and 4, Trevor reappears, but only in flashback episodes. In season 5, Trevor reappears in the present, meeting Mike for a drink at a bar to discuss Mike's wedding. Trevor apologizes and takes responsibility for his actions at their last encounter in person (season 2, episode 1). Trevor explains to Mike that, though he graciously appreciates the invitation, he cannot attend because his wife has forbid him from staying in contact with anyone from his past who was associated with him and his criminal activities, and that Mike's current status as a fraudulently licensed (and practicing) attorney fits that category. Later in the season, he appears as a witness for the prosecution against Mike, after promising Mike that he wouldn't. Trevor insists that he had no choice but to comply with Anita Gibbs (the ADA prosecuting the case) and that she showed him that they had an airtight case. While on the stand, Harvey is able to destroy his credibility and testimony in open court, pointing out that Trevor has a long criminal past, his girlfriend (Jenny) left him for Mike once she found out he was dealing, and that he is only appearing because he was promised immunity. Edith Ross (Rebecca Schull) is Mike Ross' paternal grandmother and guardian after his parents' deaths. Mike placed her in a nursing home after she fell while she was alone. To pay for a private nursing home and keep her out of a state facility, he began taking the LSAT for others and accepts a temporary job dealing marijuana for his friend Trevor Evans. Edith dislikes Trevor and referred to him as an anchor dragging Mike down. She knows that Mike has been smoking marijuana and only wants him to live up to his potential. She dies at the end of the season two episode "Asterisk". In seasons 3, 4 and 5, Edith reappears, but only in flashback sequences. Kyle Durant (Ben Hollingsworth) is an associate attorney at Pearson Hardman during season 1. He is a favorite of Louis Litt, under whom all the associates work, and Louis frequently pits him against Mike Ross, the protégé of Louis's own rival Harvey Specter. Louis comments to Harvey that the rivalry between Kyle and Mike reminds him of their own rivalry as associates. Kyle is arrogant and lacking in morals, going so far as to renege on an oral settlement agreement in a mock trial against Mike and then mocking him in a whisper. When Rachel Zane needed a date for her double date with Mike and his girlfriend late in season one, she asks Kyle to go with her though she knows about Kyle and Mike's rivalry, and Mike suspects she was using Kyle to make Mike jealous. The character did not appear after season 1, with no mention of what happened to Kyle. Harold Gunderson (Max Topplin) is a former associate attorney at Pearson Hardman. Harold is socially awkward, sensitive, and his infatuation with Rachel Zane is not reciprocated and makes her uncomfortable. He gets along well with Mike Ross, and the two are sometimes seen working together. Louis Litt tends to treat Harold poorly; Louis verbally abuses Harold and once forced him to watch over his ill cat even after discovering that Harold is severely allergic to cats. Despite Harold's clumsiness and seemingly poor legal skills, he was actually a very good student at Harvard, confiding to Mike that it is only Louis's domineering management that makes him appear flustered and incompetent. Louis eventually fires Harold in the wake of clients leaving the firm. However, through his connections with Jimmy, a former Pearson Hardman associate, Mike is able to get Harold a new job at Jimmy's new firm Bratton Gould. Harold resurfaces in season 3, as the attorney asked by Mike to represent the foreign nationals who are witnesses in the pending Ava Hessington murder trial, getting the witnesses to settle on an undisclosed amount in a civil suit so that they would therefore not be called as witnesses in the murder trial. He later appears in a mock trial as a witness called by Nigel Nesbitt, testifying against Louis. But the move backfires when Rachel (acting as Louis's "lawyer") gets Harold to admit that Louis actually prepared him quite well to be a successful lawyer at Bratton Gould. Harold's deal with Mike in the Hessington case gets them both investigated by the US Attorney's Office at the end of season 3. Louis gets Harold released. Jimmy Kirkwood (Pooch Hall) is a former associate attorney at Pearson Hardman who works at Bratton Gould as of season 2. Jimmy came from a working-class background, made his own way to get accepted into Harvard Law, graduate and become an associate attorney at Pearson Hardman, having been hired around the same time as Mike Ross. First appearing in the season 1 episode 'Undefeated', Jimmy leaks a confidential witness list to a rival law firm Wakefield Cady, in exchange for a junior partnership; Jimmy has very large outstanding law school debts. His actions cause the firm's leadership to suspect Rachel Zane as the source of the leak and get her temporarily suspended. Mike goes to Benjamin, and makes a wager to convince Benjamin to reveal the name of the person who came to him asking for the confidential employee codes which identify individual employees who use the firm's resources for personal reasons. Benjamin comes to Mike later to make good on the favor, and as he walks away, addresses Jimmy as "Louis" indicating that Jimmy had posed as Louis to Benjamin in order to get the employee codes. Mike is able to deduce this and confronts Jimmy, who eventually admits to leaking the list. Mike gives him an ultimatum: either he comes forward and admits to leaking the list, or Mike will turn him in. It is never shown that Jimmy or indicated comes forward, but Rachel gets reinstated, and the next time Jimmy appears, it is in the season two episode "Blood in the Water" he is working for Bratton Gould. Jimmy does not appear again until the season five episode "Compensation", in which he asks for Mike's help in a personal matter. Dana "Scottie" Scott (Abigail Spencer) was Harvey's on-and-off again girlfriend at Harvard and rival in the professional world. She graduated first in their class at Harvard Law. She also clerked for a US Supreme Court Justice. She works at Edward Darby's London based international law firm. She first appears as the opposing counsel in a merger that Harvey's client, Jones (a British-born luxury hotel chain proprietor) is seemingly eager to complete with Scottie's client Daniel Vega, which Harvey believes he is pushing through too hastily. When Harvey discovers Scottie is opposing counsel he is taken aback and becomes incredibly cautious, wary of Scottie's methods. Scottie tries to con Harvey into believing that her client wants to merge when in reality it is a hostile takeover in disguise. When Harvey discovers this, he instructs his client to immediately put his hotel chain's most valuable assets on the market, foiling her plan and making the advantages of a hostile acquisition disappear. Harvey then confronts her about it. Embarrassed, she pleads with him to not go through with it, knowing that it would make her look very foolish and risk her losing her client. Harvey agrees, in exchange for her admitting her mistake to both parties of the deal, who reconcile with each other and agree to go back to the original negotiations stipulating a merger. Vega ends up terminating her services and firing her anyway following the deal's closing. In season 2 she returns, offering her firm's cooperation and resources on a multi jurisdictional class action lawsuit and, after its success, creates a merger situation that will make both Harvey and herself name partners at the merged Darby/Pearson firm. But because of inside information she gave to Harvey and Mike to help them beat Jessica, Darby personally fires her. Eventually Harvey convinces Darby to keep Scottie, insisting that without her, Darby wouldn't have the merger. Darby gives Harvey the option of where to send Scottie; he eventually decides to have Darby send her back to London instead of remaining in New York as she desired. In season 3, Harvey begins an "official" romantic relationship with Scottie while also convincing Jessica to offer her a senior partnership at the firm. But this is short lived, ending in the season 3 finale when the two realized they could not handle the necessary separation between their personal and business lives. In season 4, Harvey goes to Scottie to fulfill a favor to Robert Zane, asking her to settle her case against him. She initially refuses, but after a genuine plea from Harvey, she relents and agrees to do so. In season 5, Harvey and Mike go to Scottie to see whether it was she who had reported Mike for being a fraud. Travis Tanner (Eric Close) is a rival lawyer of Harvey's. He is introduced in the season-one episode "Undefeated" as a senior partner at Clyde McPhee, a firm in Boston. He received both his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale, with honors in both. He was a junior tennis champion and played at Yale as well. Before he met Harvey, Tanner had never lost a case. It is shown that he is willing to break the law to win, and he believes that Harvey is the same way. In his first case against Harvey, Tanner is initially successful (Harvey admits to Mike, "he [Tanner] has been a step ahead of me this entire time") but Harvey soon makes a comeback. He obtains an electronic wiretap recording (from his private investigator) of Tanner admitting to witness tampering with Harvey's plaintiffs in the case; since the wiretap was placed without a warrant, the recording is inadmissible as evidence for the case in court unless the person submitting it claims to have no knowledge of its origin. Harvey bluffs, threatening to submit an affidavit to this regard; if he had followed through on this ultimatum, Harvey would've been authorizing the submittal to court of a sworn document making a perjurious claim, regardless of its simultaneously proving Tanner's guilt. Tanner notes this to Harvey, but nevertheless backs down under threat of Harvey's evidence against him and accepts the terms, signing the settlement agreement; once Tanner does this, it leaves Harvey with no need to actually submit the affidavit. At the beginning of season 2 he returns to the show as a senior partner at Smith Devane, a firm in New York, accusing Harvey of burying evidence in the season two episode "Discovery". He is determined to have Harvey disbarred and insists that it be included in the settlement. He eviscerates Harvey while deposing him, to the point where Harvey punches Tanner in the face. However, Daniel Hardman is able to blackmail him into dropping Harvey's disbarment from the agreement. The episode "High Noon" reveals that Hardman created the memo and told Tanner that the memo was fake, forcing the him to drop the suit. Though Tanner privately implies this to Harvey, he refuses to testify in court to this regard. At the end of season 3, Tanner returns as the lawyer representing Ava Hessington who is now suing the still-undissolved Pearson Darby Specter firm, and all of the people involved with her case, for malpractice. His strategy is attacking Scottie both personally and professionally. Tanner is aware that Harvey still has feelings for Scottie, and he is well aware of their past dalliances. He utilizes this as a vulnerability by humiliating Scottie while deposing her, forcing Harvey to think twice before responding while putting his ability to constrain his emotions under serious pressure, hoping that it will provoke him into intervening on Scottie's behalf by succumbing to Tanner's financially outrageous settlement demands. Tanner gets Stephen to sign an affidavit claiming that Scottie was complicit in the murders, but Donna is able to neutralize this. She visits Stephen in prison with Mike, then asks Mike to leave the room and gets Stephen to admit that he lied, unaware that he was being recorded. Ava later agrees to withdraw the suit. In season 5, Tanner appears in the episode 'Toe to Toe' as the lawyer representing a young female entrepreneur in an intellectual property/contract dispute against one of Harvey's clients, for whom she was a long time employee but has recently quit to start her own company. Upon taking the case, Harvey seems eager, almost giddy, about going up against Tanner, which he sees as an opportunity to strike back at someone who has caused him no small amount of pain and scrutiny, both personally and professionally. Taking into account Tanner's skills and expertise based on their past cases against him, Mike initially reacts warily and cautions Harvey, noting that he has recently been suffering from a string of panic attacks, and that past experience against Tanner would indicate that it's prudent to assume the upcoming case will be intense and complicated and put Harvey's psychological endurance under serious pressure. But instead, Tanner, claiming to be a changed man, displays a marked difference from his well-known cocky and brashly confident personality, instead conducting himself as a consummate professional: relatively mild- mannered and humble, and reacting instead of immediately attacking, though still confident in his own abilities. Harvey refuses to believe it, and continues to use a combative nature, both during litigation and physically (punching Tanner in the face out on the street outside the office). Eventually, as the case continues, Mike starts to see that Tanner is no longer attacking Harvey indiscriminately or below the belt (as in their past cases), only responding as a veteran attorney might be expected to react to Harvey's disproportionate attacks. He comes to the conclusion that Tanner may be acting honestly, but because of past experiences Harvey is unwilling to take Tanner at his word and agree to his initial settlement offer, which Harvey himself admits to Mike in private is relatively fair, but still refuses to consider as a possibility because Tanner is the one presenting it. Mike realizes that Harvey's emotions are guiding his judgment, and he meets with Tanner privately without Harvey's knowledge, and convinces Tanner to voluntarily remove himself as the case's attorney of record, and allow Katrina Bennett to replace him. Mike then takes the first offer back to Harvey, who immediately agrees to take the deal once Mike points out that Tanner is no longer involved. Cameron Dennis (Gary Cole) is the former New York County (Manhattan) District Attorney. Jessica sent Harvey to the Manhattan DA's office to be mentored by Cameron straight after graduating from Harvard Law. He had a history of altering the evidence in cases to ensure high conviction rates, even at the cost of sending the innocent to jail. In season one he makes a deal with the state attorney general's office to save himself by selling out Harvey. It isn't until Donna secretly presents evidence to Jessica of Cameron's past malfeasance behind Harvey's back that Jessica is able to force Cameron into changing his deal with the AG's office and resign from his position as DA, saving Harvey. In season 3, Dennis returns (with a personal vendetta against Harvey) after being appointed as the special prosecutor in the US Attorney's case against Dr. Ava Hessington and her oil company, and he later brings murder charges against her when six dissidents are killed by the foreign colonel she bribed. He admits to Harvey that he took the case as retribution for Harvey's "betrayal" of him when he was forced to resign from his post as DA, when in reality Harvey knew nothing about Donna's actions at the time (and was furious with her once he did) until long after Cameron had stepped down. Jessica visits him and tells him that Harvey didn't betray him and that he should be mad at Jessica and not take it out on Harvey's client. Cameron realizes Jessica's implication that it was Donna ('the redhead'), but claims it's irrelevant as Harvey did nothing to prevent Jessica from using the evidence against him; Jessica replies, "so after you threw him under the bus and I saved him, he should've thrown himself back under the bus?" Dennis ignores the question, claiming that "you [Jessica] just don't get it!", going on to imply that Jessica (as he has to Harvey in the past) has no right to point out occasional indiscretions in the morality of his methods, given that she is an expensive attorney for the wealthy while he is a state prosecutor (with a mediocre salary in comparison) serving the public interest. The battle between Harvey and Cameron continues for the rest of the first half of the season, through litigation and eventually to trial, until Darby convinces Harvey to go to Cameron with a deal: drop the charges against Ava, Darby will plead guilty to five years' probation, and will testify at Stephen Huntley's murder trial. Cameron agrees to the deal, but Jessica convinces him to allow her to slip in an additional provision: Darby also must forfeit his legal license and agree to initiate dissolution negotiations. Darby reluctantly agrees to the final deal. Daniel Hardman (David Costabile) is the co-founder of Pearson Hardman, former managing partner, and former mentor of Jessica. Five years before the events of the series, he had been secretly embezzling money from the firm's clients. When confronted, he told Jessica that he needed the money to afford breast cancer treatments for his wife Alicia. However, Harvey and Donna discover that the money is financing Daniel's affair with a colleague. Once this is discovered, Harvey deemed Daniel a liability and forced Daniel to resign and name Jessica as his successor by threatening to tell Alicia about the affair. Daniel resigns to prevent his wife's distress. Daniel first appears in the season two premiere following Alicia's death. He returns to the firm, this time working under Jessica instead of above her. Though he is a self-professed "changed man", Harvey and Jessica are not convinced. His role at the firm is more like a guide and voice of logic rather than a disciplinarian. Though he disagrees with Jessica's decision to fight for Harvey when he is accused of suppressing evidence rather than settle and lose Harvey, he does not go against her decision and urges her to prepare for the trial. He has a strong work ethic and is willing to work around the clock to accomplish a goal. At the end of "Sucker Punch", he takes advantage of the partners' apparent lack of faith in Jessica and requests a leadership vote to regain control of the firm. He wins the vote in "High Noon", but Harvey and Mike discover that Hardman forged the supposedly buried memo and orchestrated the lawsuit against the firm. When this is revealed at a partners meeting, Hardman is voted out of the firm. Though he agrees to not sue the firm in return for Jessica not revealing the incident and signing a confidentiality agreement, he tells her that this is not the end of their battle. Hardman later returns to battle his old firm as a contractor, working for Rachel's father, Robert Zane, representing the name defendant in a class action gender discrimination lawsuit being led by Harvey against Folsom Foods, Robert Zane's client. Daniel manipulates the situation and the confidentiality agreement that Jessica signed on the night of his expulsion to get Monica Eaton to sue Jessica Pearson simultaneously for wrongful termination, knowing that the combined assault will box the firm into a corner and damage its credibility; as Harvey insists to Jessica, "you can't be the name defendant in a gender discrimination case while we're suing Folsom Foods for the same thing!". His efforts to drain Jessica's resources and ruin what is left of her firm by having Monica file suit against Jessica are thwarted by Jessica's decision to merge with Darby's firm, giving her an insurmountable advantage in resources and (not including Darby learning of Daniel's prior embezzlement from to the due diligence required for merger negotiations, nullifying the confidentiality agreement's repercussions). He later appears in season 4 during a flashback episode. In season 5, Hardman returns to make another run at taking back control of the firm from Jessica. He first appears when Jessica confronts him about having helped Jack Soloff to land Fletcher Engines as a client. He insists that Jack came to him looking for advice on Fletcher, with no ulterior motives or intentions against the firm itself; Jessica refuses to believe him. In the episode 'Uninvited Guests' Jack Soloff tries to convince the firm's senior partners to let Hardman back into the firm on a trial basis in exchange for sharing the revenues from a billion dollar client that Hardman just recently signed. It is later revealed that the client is the disgraced billionaire Charles Forstman, now incarcerated. Harvey is able to thwart all of Hardman's funding by agreeing to resign from the firm. Sheila Amanda Sazs (Rachael Harris) is a high-level official in the Harvard Law School placement department, whose job is to place graduates as associate attorney positions at law firms. As such, she works with recruiters from top law firms such as Pearson Hardman, always trying to get maximum return for her graduates. She and Louis have had an on-off sexual relationship, and she appears to be turned on by his power, especially after he makes senior partner. Louis's relationship with Sheila helps him discover that there is no record of Mike Ross attending Harvard Law. Sheila and Louis get engaged in season 3, but break up soon after when they discover they want very different things after marriage. Louis returns to Sheila in the wake of being fired from Pearson Specter in season 4, stating that he has secured a job in Boston and that they can finally be together. But Sheila rejects Louis's offer of reconciliation, feeling that it was work circumstances, more than love, that brought him back. In season 5, it is revealed that Sheila leaked the information to Anita Gibbs that got Mike arrested for fraud. She reunites with Louis near the end of season 7, and in season 8 proclaims she wants to have a child with him. Monica Eton (Gina Holden) is a former senior associate attorney at Pearson Hardman, who was Daniel Hardman's mistress. She first appears in the second season flashback episode 'Rewind'. Five years before the events of season 1, Monica was a senior associate at Pearson Hardman and a close friend of Rachel Zane. Louis Litt had a huge crush on her, waiting for her outside her office, following her in the hallways, and perpetually asked her out despite the fact that she rebuffed and rejected him again and again. He also followed her outside the office; he would sit and stare at her while she took her lunch at a nearby diner, and follow her home. When Rachel Zane notices this, she mentions to Monica that there are legal avenues to prevents this; Monica dismisses this with reassurance, saying that 'the day I need laws to protect myself from Louis Litt is the day I stop being a lawyer'. Throughout this time, she is conducting a clandestine affair with the firm's managing partner; during Harvey's investigation of Daniel Hardman's embezzlement, Rachel mentions to Donna that Monica is absent every Tuesday for pilates, coincidentally at the same time when Hardman is absent from the office weekly for lunches at the Harvard Club, which he claims (later found out to be falsely so) to Jessica is in reality taking his wife to chemotherapy. Donna tells Harvey, who investigates and deduces that the money he's been embezzling is actually for supporting his affair with Monica; Harvey forces him into resigning by threatening to tell his wife, and name Jessica as his successor. Despite lacking evidence of Monica's complicity in the embezzlement, Jessica deems Monica a liability and demands her immediate resignation from the firm, which Louis Litt accepts from Monica on Jessica's behalf. Monica returns in the second half of the second season as the main plaintiff in a wrongful termination suit against Jessica Pearson, and hires Daniel Hardman as her attorney, who manipulates the suit by intentionally stalling the proceedings and dragging it out, stretching the firm's resources to the limit. Hardman admits this to Harvey, but insists that it is on behalf of Monica. Approached by Mike, Monica later agrees to settle the wrongful termination suit against Jessica. Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce) is Rachel's father, a well known Harvard-educated attorney (and former classmate of Daniel Hardman) who is a name partner at Rand, Kaldore and Zane, a powerful and respected New York law firm and a Pearson Hardman (later Specter) competitor. Rachel doesn't like to let people know she is his daughter, choosing instead to prove she can make it in the legal profession without his help. Robert has not been very supportive of Rachel's endeavors, especially when her test anxiety kept her from passing the LSAT, and he has on more than one occasion suggested that she choose another career path. Robert was the lawyer who replaced an attorney who died who was representing Folsom Foods against Pearson Hardman in a multi-case gender discrimination suit (season 2), until his daughter personally got involved with the case. That led Robert to drop the case and hire the recently dismissed Daniel Hardman to take over as an independent outside counsel for the case. In season 3, he makes several appearances: once while hosting Mike and Rachel for dinner, and later towards the end of the season when Mike approaches him and tries to convince him to give the firm an advance on the settlement from the Folsom Foods case, in exchange for a 20% cut in the settlement payout. He eventually agrees, but only after Mike leverages his relationship with Rachel in order to convince him to do it (to Rachel's wrath upon her discovery), souring their relationship for a while. In the second half of season 4, Mike approaches Zane to consider hiring Louis, who had been recently fired from Pearson Specter and was having trouble finding another job in New York. He agrees to meet with Louis, and the two of them hit it off. Upon hearing about Mike's actions, Rachel tells him another reason why she did not want to work for her father: he is not the kind of person to whom you want to owe a favor. But when Louis tells him that he cannot bring any PS clients to Zane, he responds with indifference, making a counteroffer: Zane will offer a him a senior partnership if Louis can steal a client from Jessica by breaking the Pearson Specter partnership agreement. After Mike foils Louis's attempt to poach a client, Harvey goes to Zane and asks him to hire Louis anyway as a personal favor to Harvey. After Louis becomes a name partner, Harvey visits Zane and retracts the favor, unaware that Zane already knows that Louis was not just reinstated at the firm, but that Louis told Zane that he was also immediately made name partner, igniting Zane's suspicions about the real reason behind Louis's abrupt departure and near-immediate return. In light of this, Zane makes clear to Harvey that regardless of the status of Zane's offer to Louis, Harvey still owes him a favor. In season 5, Mike and Rachel are engaged, and Robert appears in several episodes. He tries to get Rachel to have Mike sign a prenuptial agreement, which Rachel does not want him to do. Mike tells Robert he is willing to sign it, but Rachel holds firm and refuses, nullifying it. In the episode 'Compensation' Mike takes on a case given to him by his friend Jimmy from Bratton Gould, a pro-bono class-action lawsuit against Kelton Insurance for the negligent deaths of 200 people. Jessica refuses to provide the funding necessary to support the case's inevitably long and complicated litigation and orders him to drop it. Mike, left without recourse, goes to Robert and asks him to take on the case. Robert agrees that Mike and he will co-counsel the case (to Jessica's dismay) and Robert is able to persuade one of his clients, a $20 billion hedge fund, to fund the lawsuit. The case is litigated over the next 2 episodes, and eventually they are able to extract a large settlement from Kelton. In season 7, he merges with Specter Litt and forms Zane Specter Litt after realizing that his partners at the old firm did not have his back. He becomes managing partner after Harvey stepped down after Donna convincing him that he did not want to be a leader. Louis also does not want the leadership role but is upset because Robert and Harvey both do not consider Louis as a viable option. Edward Darby (Conleth Hill) is managing partner of Darby International, a law firm headquartered in London. He is Jessica's newly named managing partner as of the season 2 finale, following a successful merger of Pearson Hardman and Darby International. It is revealed in the season 3 premiere that the merger caused the firm to be officially renamed Darby Pearson (Darby retains 51% control over the combined firm, leaving Jessica as a 49% minority stakeholder), but as a show of good faith and chivalry, Darby let the New York office's sign read Pearson Darby. This was not only in recognition of Jessica's contingent having been there originally, but also that Pearson's staff, clients and influence make up the majority of the combined firm's presence in New York. While Daniel Hardman is representing Folsom Foods against Jessica, Darby's intervention alone was responsible for the firm winning the case. Jessica could not reveal Daniel's prior embezzlement to anyone on her own without violating the confidentiality agreement she signed; as part of the due diligence of the merger negotiations, Darby is given access to the firm's financials, allowing him indirectly to learn of Daniel's past illicit actions while nullifying the confidentiality agreement's effects, which apply strictly to Jessica and her use of the information. (Since he learned of it legally and wasn't specifically bound by the agreement himself, he can reveal the embezzlement to anyone without the repercussions of breaching confidentiality.) After he discovers the embezzlement, Darby threatens to reveal this to Daniel's own client unless he immediately settles the case on Jessica's terms; left without options and his own reputation at stake, Daniel is forced to advise the company to accept her settlement terms. In season 3, Darby assigns Harvey the case of Ava Hessington and Hessington Oil. He takes this case personally partly due to two factors: the first factor being Ava's father was his first client, and the second factor being her father was his former romantic companion. The case and the litigation involved continues for most of the third season, until it is discovered that Stephen orchestrated the killings of the protestors against the Hessington Oil pipeline in the EIR and Darby only found out after Stephen had done it, but that his discovery of Stephen's actions had taken place before he approached Jessica with merger proposal at the end of season two. During a recess from Ava's murder trial, Harvey finds himself boxed in without options, and Darby comes up with the idea to approach Cameron Dennis with an offer: Darby will plead to obstruction of justice and 5 years' probation, in exchange for Ava's full acquittal and Darby's testimony at Stephen's murder trial. Cameron agrees to the offer; but while signing the final paperwork at Pearson Darby's offices, Edward realizes that an additional condition has been added to the terms of the settlement: forfeiture of his legal license to practice in the United States, which would consequently force him to resign his name partnership in the combined firm and agree to initiate dissolution negotiations with Jessica. Unwilling to re-involve Ava and without recourse, he caves and signs the agreement. Nigel Nesbitt (Adam Godley) is Louis's British counterpart, as he fills a similar role to Louis's at Darby International. He initially tries to make a deal with Louis to ensure each will keep his job after the merger goes through. But Louis backhandedly found a way to ensure that if one or the other had to be fired, it would be Nigel. Nigel managed to keep his job as quartermaster at the new Pearson Darby, then used the position to taunt Louis. Louis meets with Darby to present his case that he, not Nigel, would serve the firm best in the quartermaster role. Ultimately, Nigel reveals that he tricked Louis into stealing the quartermaster position, so that Nigel could then take over Louis's role and be in charge of the huge pool of associates at the combined firm. Nesbitt has cat called Mikado. His address is 3291 Belgrave Place, London. In season 3, Nigel and Louis cross swords repeatedly, as Louis refuses to accept having lost his post as head of the combined firm's associates to Nigel. Louis acts as if nothing ever changed, calling his former subordinates into his office to reprimand them for mistakes in their work; though in reality they are in most cases just following Nigel's directives. Nigel has a much more hands-off management style than Louis; He is often away on business overseas (whereas Louis is never really ever seen leaving New York or traveling on business) and issues his instructions and assigns cases through weekly memos. When Louis hears of this, he is outraged; believing that anything unlike his pedantic, humiliating, drill-sergeant manner to be an improper managerial style, he begins to regularly undermine Nigel's authority by issuing orders and distributing assignments to the associates contrary to Nigel's initial instructions whenever he is not physically present in the office. Louis confronts Nigel at the mud club, where he accuses Nigel of neglecting his responsibilities for overseeing the associates by not forcefully policing them. Nigel tries to explain his reasoning for his more subtle but firm approach; Louis refuses to accept any of it, and declares that he is going to continue flouting Nigel's authority until Nigel adopts Louis's harsh, rude and overbearing attitude, and proceeds to melodramatically storm out of the mud club. In response, Nigel retaliates at Louis by distributing a molded glass art piece engraved with the caption, "Louis Litt blew me" on it (Louis's own words during the confrontation at the mud club) to all of the associates, embarrassing him. This makes Louis even more angry, and he confronts Nigel, claiming that his own actions against Nigel are completely justified (him being the expert on handling the associates) while none of Nigel's responses are. This continues for most of the third season. Stephen Huntley (Max Beesley) is Harvey's British counterpart, a senior partner at Darby International's London office. He is Darby's "fixer" and right-hand man. Jessica tells Harvey of him, "He is to Darby what you are to me". After meeting him, Harvey admits to Jessica that they have much in common. He is, like Harvey, strikingly handsome and brashly confident (he also wears a handkerchief in the outer breast pocket of his suit jacket), and also appears to be fond of expensive clothing, fine dining, rare sports cars, and women. He states to everyone at the New York office (and Harvey initially) of being in town to help smooth out "cultural integration" between the two firms. He later reveals while out to lunch with Harvey that in reality he was sent by Darby to help Harvey take over the New York office for him from Jessica. He admits to Harvey that he is intrigued by Donna saying, "she has a body like Elizabeth Hurley and the sass of a Maggie Thatcher". He reveals that had dated Elizabeth Hurley in 1999; Harvey states that he had dated her the year before. He is later seen, while driving a 1956 Porsche Speedster (from Harvey's car club) attempting to ask Donna to see a production of Macbeth with Daniel Day- Lewis with him, and appears unsuccessful; but, shortly after, Donna accepts his proposal to help him with his "short-term needs" while he is in New York, and the two go on a real date. Further on, it is revealed that Stephen administered the bribe money to Colonel Moriga on behalf of Ava Hessington, while also (unknown to Ava) ordering the Colonel to murder six leaders opposed to Hessington Oil's pipeline. Harvey eventually cuts a deal with Cameron Dennis to have him arrested and charged with the murders, and he is publicly taken into custody while at a restaurant with Donna. During the dissolution negotiations, while he is in prison awaiting trial, Donna and Mike visit him to convince him to recant a sworn, but false affidavit he signed at the behest of Travis Tanner, claiming that Scottie was fully aware of the murders before the initial merger negotiations. Tanner had drawn up the affidavit specifically to leverage Harvey into settling Ava's malpractice allegations against him by targeting Scottie for eviscerating scrutiny under oath while deposing her. Donna eventually convinces him to tell the truth, which he does (once Mike has left the room) unaware that, since the entire conversation is unprivileged, it has been fully recorded; this allows Harvey to confront Tanner with recordings from the conversation and neutralize the affidavit entirely. Dr. Ava Hessington (Michelle Fairley) is CEO of Hessington Oil, a UK-based international oil company that she took over from her father. She has PhDs in petroleum exploration and chemical engineering. The local US Attorney's office is investigating her for bribing foreign government officials to gain access to their oil fields for a pipeline—a crime that she admits (to Harvey) to being guilty of, but something that is considered "standard practice" in the oil business, especially in countries that are less than politically stable. Harvey has Scottie look into her background and discovers that she bribed a corporate whistleblower in 2010, covered up an oil spill in 2008, and had an environmental study doctored in 2006. She and her father have been clients of Darby's firm for some time, dating back to her father being Darby's first client, as well as simultaneously being his lover. Her bribery case is assigned by Darby to Harvey, because of Harvey's familiarity with the sitting US Attorney prosecuting the case. She remains his client after being acquitted of the bribery charges, and is later arrested for conspiracy to commit murder by Cameron Dennis (also someone Harvey is very familiar with). After she is fully acquitted of all charges she leaves the country for a short time, but later reappears after hiring Travis Tanner to bring a relatively frivolous malpractice suit against Pearson Darby Specter, claiming Harvey's handling of her case caused her damages and hardship, in spite of Darby and Stephen's culpability in the murder charges and Harvey's non-involvement. After an emotional plea and a full apology in person from Harvey, she eventually agrees to fully drop the malpractice suit (to Tanner's grumbling dismay). Jonathan Sidwell (Brandon Firla) is the CEO of the Sidwell Investment Group, and Mike's boss as an investment banker for the first part of season 4. He first appears in the season 3 episode, "Conflict of Interest" as hedge fund magnate/corporate raider Tony Gianopolous's deputy at Gianapolous Limited Holdings (GLH). In his first scene, Louis meets with him to try to prevent Gianapolous from taking over Hessington Oil by providing proof of GLH's investments in a wide swath of several industries, enough to draw the FTC's attention for grounds to open an antitrust investigation. Louis threatens to use his connections at the FTC to do so unless Gianapolous backs off; Sidwell thwarts this by pointing out that the FTC's commissioner himself is a personal friend of Gianapolous's and has obtained an exception in regards to the Hessington Oil situation. He next appears in the episode "Bad Faith", once again meeting with Louis, who comes Sidwell with a proposal to reorganize all of Sidwell's finances in a manner to allow him to legally avoid paying taxes; Sidwell, impressed by Louis's demonstration, hires him on the spot to be his personal attorney, misunderstanding that Louis's intention is to get GLH to decide to move all of their business to Pearson Specter. Sidwell refuses to recommend that to Gianapolous, claiming Louis's professional stature is not significant enough to warrant his consideration. Louis goes to Harvey, knowing that his famous reputation and status as a name partner will likely be enough to convince Gianapolous, and they are successful. In the episode "Heartburn" with Louis recovering from his heart attack and not present in the office, Sidwell seeks out Mike for some career advice. He confides that he wants to quit GLH and move to a different company, feeling that his career progress is stalling, but is aware that his employment contract contains a non-compete clause. Mike initially refuses to help, only conceding when Sidwell makes clear of his intention to fire Louis for not being able to help him. Once Harvey discovers what he did Mike is forced to derail Sidwell's plans, but then goes back to him with another idea, which manages to convince Gianapolous to let Sidwell go run a spun-off division as an independent investment firm which will boost the stock price of both entities. At the beginning of season 4, Sidwell is the founding CEO of his own investment firm and Mike's new boss. He is portrayed as a straight-talking, concise, tough but fair boss to Mike. At the beginning, it seems that every conversation he has with Mike ends with him threatening to fire Mike unless he meets his pressing demands, but is shown later to become a bit of a mentor figure to him. In order to stay alive in the Gillis Industries takeover battle against Logan Sanders and Harvey, Mike is forced to buy 100,000 shares of Gillis Industries stock without Sidwell's prior approval. He summons Mike, compliments him on brazenly purchasing the stock without permission but gives him one week to find someone to refund the investment and deleverage Sidwell or it will cost him his job. Eventually on realizing Mike's plan with Forstman of sidelining him from Forstman's investment, he fires Mike. Eric Woodall (Željko Ivanek) is a recurring character in seasons 3 and 4. First appearing in the season 3 finale as the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, he has a reputation as a prosecutor who will use his position to bend the rules of the law and deliberately target and investigate certain attorneys in private practice whom he deems "dirty". After finishing a case that took 4 years to complete, he sets his sights on Harvey. He sends his deputies to corner Mike Ross on the street outside the firm's building to coerce Mike voluntarily be taken in for interrogation without having gotten an arrest warrant; This way, whatever Mike says under questioning could be self- incriminating and be used by Woodall later to make a case against Harvey, without having basis for a case to begin with. Woodall tells him that he is investigating the disappearance of the foreign nationals who were supposed to have been witnesses in the Ava Hessington case that Mike and Harold settled out of court.. Mike quickly recognizes what Woodall might be trying to do and refuses to talk to him or answer any of his questions long enough for Harvey to show up and force Woodall to release him. Woodall later formally arrests both Harold and Mike, using the Patriot Act as basis for taking them in for questioning without processing him or allowing him to call his attorney, in violation of his 4th Amendment rights, hoping that will give him enough time to pressure Harold to break down, start talking and implicate Mike. This time Louis gets wind of what's going on and retrieves Harvey from his office before they both go downtown, hoping to get there before Harold caves. Eventually they show up just in time and manage to keep Harold from talking. As the four of them leave, Woodall stops Harvey, telling him that he won't be dropping the case just because Harold didn't talk. Harvey responds with indifference, saying that he will sue Woodall for malicious prosecution if he refuses to drop the case, noting that Woodall arrested Mike without letting him call his attorney, on the basis of deliberately twisting a provision of the Patriot Act and manufacturing a fabricated terrorist claim to justify doing so. It is understood that Woodall later was forced to resign from his position as US Attorney because of Harvey's reporting his actions to Woodall's superiors. In season 4, Woodall reappears, now as a senior administrator at the New York office of the SEC. He has Sean Cahill file lawsuits against 7 PS clients in order to get them to drop the firm from representation. As part of the court battle, Harvey and Jessica depose Woodall, presenting emails from a past case from while he was US Attorney as proof to support their malicious prosecution claim against him. Under pressure during Harvey's interrogation, he admits that their proof is valid, after which Cahill immediately intervenes and ends the deposition. As they leave the conference room, he implicitly admits to Harvey that he is specifically going after him because of his vendetta against him. Sean Cahill (Neal McDonough) is a senior SEC official and long-time friend of Eric Woodall who appears in season 4. He first appears in a meeting with Jessica and Malone at the SEC's offices where they confront him about the SEC's recently begun harassment of Pearson Specter's clients, likely on behalf of Eric Woodall, and inform him of their recently filed lawsuit against him. Cahill has launched a formal investigation against 4 major New York law firms; the only reason Cahill is targeting the other firms is to back a cover story in order to specifically target Pearson Specter clients but not be accused of unfairly singling them out for extra scrutiny, but still maintain that they are being impartial. The court battle between Cahill and the firm continues for the rest of the first half of the season. After Woodall's deposition, Jessica and Harvey go to court in order to try to get the case dismissed based on proof that Woodall has a propensity for malicious prosecution, but Cahill thwarts her plans by telling the judge that Jeff Malone, the former SEC prosecutor whose last assignment was to target PS's clients, resigned instead of following instructions, and then virtually immediately took a job to work for Jessica. Cahill calls the coincidental nature of this into question by asserting that she did it so readily because she and Malone had been engaging in a clandestine romantic relationship. Confronted by this directly by Cahill in front of the judge, Jessica, though infuriated for being cornered with no way out under penalty of perjury, is left with no recourse other than to reluctantly confirm that Cahill's allegations are true. The judge responds by denying Jessica's motion, allowing Cahill to proceed with his depositions. He next deposes both Harvey and Mike simultaneously (without Woodall present), and tries to further probe and prove his collusion allegations. Mike and Harvey hold firm, noting that neither of them were financial beneficiaries of any alleged collusion and Cahill has no proof to the contrary; from this, Cahill comes to the conclusion that he must look elsewhere. After Katrina brings Louis a copy of the deposition, Louis realizes that it is inevitable that Cahill will eventually find his illegal transaction with Forstman. He goes to see Cahill at his office, intending to confess in exchange for shielding the firm, but runs into Woodall instead, who sends Louis home after hearing his confession. Louis, having confessed to a felony to a senior federal official yet not charged, processed, or booked, is left perplexed, and goes and tells Harvey and Jessica, who come to the conclusion that Woodall must have done a deal with Forstman as well, and thus has no interest in investigating Louis's actions. After spending all night trying to find a link with no success, they go see Cahill in the morning, explaining their assertions of Woodall's collusion with Forstman, and make him an offer: they will give him hard proof of Louis's illegal collusion, but he must force Woodall to allow them access to his bank accounts and prove he has nothing to hide; if Woodall allows them, they are proven wrong and Cahill has all he needs to make an airtight case in court against Louis; if he refuses (indicating their assertions were correct), Cahill must agree to not prosecute Louis. Woodall walks into the room at the end of the conversation, and Cahill explains the situation and asks him provide access to his accounts. Woodall hesitates in his response, first trying to shrug them off, eventually refusing altogether by pulling rank on Cahill; after a long pause, Cahill, realizing their assertions were accurate, asks them to leave him alone with Woodall. Cahill returns in season 6 with a proposal for Harvey that could get Mike out of prison early, but it involves Mike informing on Kevin, his cellmate and only friend in prison. It is revealed that Kevin's father-in-law, William Sutter, is under investigation by Cahill for insider trading. Logan Sanders (Brendan Hines) is a recurring character in season 4. First appearing in the premiere episode, he the son of billionaire businessman Max Sanders, the founder and longtime CEO of Sanders International, and a client of Harvey's. Years before, he and Rachel Zane carried on an extramarital affair while Logan was married to his wife, Alison. They fell in love, but Rachel broke off the affair. Max has just recently decided to retire, appointing Logan to succeed him as CEO. Having had a longtime reputation as brashly confident, aggressive, and often reckless, he is eager to prove himself to Harvey and the world as a competent CEO to be taken seriously. Not having earned his respect yet, Harvey initially ducks Logan's calls to set up a meeting, forcing Logan to call Jessica and have her put it on Harvey's schedule, to Harvey's annoyance and dismay. Logan tells him he wants to pursue a hostile takeover attempt on Gillis Industries, which is coincidentally the same company that Mike had earlier pitched to Harvey, forcing Harvey to resolve a conflict of interest. He ends up choosing Logan, because Mike had also put Harvey's representation of the Sidwell Investment Group (Mike's employer) formally under review due to Harvey's earlier stonewalling of Mike's intentionally non-hostile takeover strategy of Gillis. The takeover battle between Logan and Mike lasts for the first 6 episodes, and puts Rachel in the crossfire and adds an emotional side to the takeover battle, as it is clear that Logan's feelings for Rachel have been reignited in part due to them working together again, and he often tries to force emotions with her while doing so (despite her making clear to him of her present commitment to Mike). Logan's actions include requesting Harvey hire a private investigator to look into Mike. Knowing it is likely that his secret will be discovered, Harvey is forced try prevent that by thwarting Logan's request while still working towards winning the takeover. Rachel decides to go to Logan separately and manages to convince him to stop trying to win by pursuing personal attacks against Mike. Eventually Logan wins the takeover battle and dismembers Gillis' company as originally planned, but once Harvey hears of Logan's inappropriate accosting of Rachel and her brief reciprocation, he makes clear to Donna of his disgust with both of their actions, and that he stands firmly behind Mike. Harvey eventually drops Logan as a client, once Louis rehires Mike back at the firm. Jeff Malone (D.B. Woodside) is a senior SEC prosecutor who joins Pearson Specter as a senior partner at the beginning of season 4. He is also Jessica's lover. First appearing in the season premiere, he shows up unannounced at the firm's offices to see Harvey and Jessica, who is well aware of his feared reputation as a career prosecutor at the SEC. He informs them that Eric Woodall will soon be taking a position as a senior official at the New York office of the SEC, and will be pursuing a vendetta against Harvey by using his position to deliberately target Pearson Specter clients with disproportionately invasive scrutiny (the SEC's purview does not usually include formally investigating law firms). Malone offers to leave his position at the SEC and lead Pearson Specter's defense against Woodall in exchange for a senior partnership. Jessica initially balks at the offer because she doesn't appreciate Malone ambushing her and banking on her secret romantic relationship with him as leverage to coerce her to hire him. She also had initially intended to assign this responsibility to Louis, but Harvey, impressed by Malone's brash approach, dismissively rejects the idea of Louis out of hand and convinces her to hire Malone instead. She does so but makes clear to Malone that the romantic side of their relationship is finished so long as they are colleagues. Initially, Louis and Malone have a bit of an acrimonious relationship, due to Louis's bitter humiliation from being passed over in favor of someone who was just recently hired strictly for the purpose instead. Eventually they put it behind them and become more friendly with each other. He constantly tries to force affections with Jessica, including getting Louis thrown off of a case in order to be able to work one-on-one with Jessica. She initially rebuffs his advances steadfastly, but later changes her mind. This makes for a very complicated dynamic and it eventually forces her to lie to him about Mike's status (and how it factored into Louis's becoming a name partner) in her capacity as his superior and thus puts their romantic relationship at risk. Eventually Malone discovers that she had been lying to him about Louis (though not discovering Mike's secret) and breaks up with her, and resigns his senior partnership a few days later. Malone appears in the season 5 episode "Live to Fight". Jessica approaches him at his new office requesting that he represent her, if need be, as her personal attorney in the ongoing court proceedings of Mike's fraud case. He is now aware of Mike's fraudulent status, with the criminal allegations against him being public information, and thus he now understands what she had been lying to him about. He initially balks at her request, insisting that he will only consider it if she confides everything in him before formally retaining him - making it unprivileged knowledge. At the end of the episode he drops her as a client, but does tell her that he would be willing to consider resuming their interpersonal relationship if she approaches him. Charles Forstman (Eric Roberts) is a multi-billionaire investor and corporate raider who seems to reside in New York. First appearing in the season 4 episode 'Leverage', he is a ripe investment opportunity that Mike goes to as a last resort while trying to save Gillis Industries from a hostile takeover. A twisted and corrupt businessman, it is revealed that he has a widespread influence, and has done deals in the past with both Harvey Specter and Eric Woodall, the latter losing his job at the SEC at the end of "Gone" due to this relationship. After Forstman does a deal with Louis Litt to sell the Wexler block to Logan Sanders and renege on his verbal agreement with Mike, Forstman's intention was to hire Mike afterwards, going so far as to sabotage Mike's relationship with Jonathan Sidwell, Mike's then-boss, to make sure that Mike got fired and would be left with little choice other than to accept Forstman's job offer. He offers Mike a $1 million signing bonus, and is surprised that Mike wants time to think about it. He forces Louis to wire Logan's payments through Switzerland and the Cayman Islands in order to illegally avoid US taxes. Louis wires the money as Forstman wants, but he also forces Louis to accept a $1 million fee for putting the deal together, as a form of self-protection for Forstman to cover his act of tax evasion. Louis signs the agreement anyway, implicating himself in an act of embezzlement. Louis later tries and fails to get the deal nullified when the SEC begins investigating Pearson Specter; Forstman tells him that he'd only reverse the deal if Louis could pin similar dirt on Harvey; Louis refuses. After Louis admits to Harvey and Jessica what he did, Harvey goes to Forstman to again try to convince him to nullify the deal and let Louis off the hook, noting to Forstman that Louis has never wronged him and his grudge is against Harvey, not Louis. Forstman acknowledges this, but still refuses to do so. In the season 4 finale flashback scenes, Harvey's first encounters with Forstman 12 years beforehand are explained. Back while Harvey was an ADA at the Manhattan DA's office under Cameron Dennis, the first case he took to trial was a white collar criminal case which ended up with Forstman's biggest rival being sentenced to prison. Forstman sends Harvey a drink while they are at the same bar and offers him a job with a $1 million signing bonus. Harvey firmly but respectfully refuses the offer outright. But when his brother Marcus comes to him asking for $150,000 to open a restaurant, Harvey reconsiders, especially since Marcus tells him he will go ask their mother for a loan if Harvey cannot come through. Marcus also cannot get a bank loan, because he has a gambling problem that Harvey caused and it destroyed his credit rating. Harvey first goes to Jessica, who refuses and warns him about Forstman and his slippery reputation. Harvey finally goes to Forstman and explains the situation and tells him he wants to take his offer. Forstman initially refuses but impressed by Harvey's persistence and brash offer of a bet, he agrees to a wager: If Harvey can beat Forstman in a car race, he will give him the money. But what Harvey didn't realize was that Forstman was using the entire situation to con Harvey into revealing information on the status of a rumored yet publicly unconfirmed criminal investigation by Cameron Dennis against a major investment firm that Forstman holds a large stock interest in. Harvey implicitly confirms that Cameron will indeed press charges soon, unwittingly giving Forstman the heads up he was looking for to sell short and make $100 million before the company's share price inevitably tanked after the investigation was announced publicly. Harvey confronts Forstman after the market opens, realizing what he had done, and tells him that not only is he refusing his job offer, he is going to prosecute him as well. But Forstman had covered himself, and sent to Marcus the $150,000 for the restaurant directly, though making it appear that it had come from Harvey, knowing that he would not be able to muster the courage necessary to tell his brother the truth about the source of the money and give it all back once he had received it. In season 5, Forstman appears in the episode 'Uninvited Guests' when Harvey visits him in prison to confront him about funding Daniel Hardman's renewed run at taking over the firm. Forstman admits to providing Hardman with full power of attorney over his assets for the duration of his prison sentence. But it becomes clear that there is a gap between Hardman's and Forstman's objectives; Hardman is using Forstman as a blank checkbook to target the firm's clients for hostile takeover and eroding Jessica's base of support among the senior partners in order to take over the firm from her. But Forstman is shown to be willing to ditch Hardman and cut off all of his funding immediately in exchange for Harvey's resignation from the firm. In the next episode 'Faith' after significant thought and consulting his therapist for advice, Harvey agrees to resign, and is shown at the vote of no confidence meeting presenting proof of Forstman's termination of Hardman's representation services. Jack Edward Soloff (John Pyper-Ferguson) is a senior partner at Pearson Specter Litt. He is first mentioned in the season 5 premiere, but does not appear in person until the episode 'Compensation'. Described by Louis as having "a pirate beard and a stupid pen that he carries around like Linus's blanket" he is the newly appointed chair of PSL's compensation committee. Brashly confident and ambitious, he comes to Louis to propose an alteration to the firm's compensation formula to put more emphasis on billable hours than on contingent fees, which Soloff is well aware would specifically target Harvey (who operates on a contingent fee basis) hoping to earn the respect of the partners and a boost in esteem by successfully picking a fight and beating the firm's de facto chief of staff and second-most-powerful partner. He is temporarily successful, and with Louis's help he manages to illegally publicize Harvey's salary while maintaining deniability, humiliating him in front of the whole firm in order to get the support necessary to win a vote on his desired compensation alteration. He and Harvey battle for the next few episodes, with Harvey poaching some of Soloff's clients, and with Mike's help, eventually gets him to back off. Later that season, Soloff is shown to be complicit in Daniel Hardman's efforts to remove Jessica and regain control of PSL, using Charles Forstman's money, which causes Jessica and Harvey to become convinced that Hardman holds some kind of damaging information on Soloff. Gretchen Bodinski (Aloma Wright) is the legal secretary who Harvey eventually hires to replace Donna after she goes to work for Louis in season 5. At first, Harvey is hoping Donna will come back; when he finally accepts her departure, he looks for a replacement. Surveying the sexy younger applicants waiting outside his office, he immediately calls in Gretchen who, as an older African American woman, is the physical opposite of Donna. Harvey hires Gretchen and, though he has low expectations for her performance, she proves herself as capable and intuitive as Donna. Gretchen and Donna formally meet and clash in the episode "Privilege", but soon respect and even like each other as equals. When Donna goes back to Harvey, Gretchen becomes Louis's assistant. Zoe Lawford (Jacinda Barrett, who is Gabriel Macht's wife in real life) is a former employee of Pearson Hardman who briefly dated Harvey Specter. She later works as jury advisor for mock trial against Harvey in a case. Esther Litt-Edelstein (Amy Acker) is Louis's sister who appears in season 5 as Harvey's client. She also sleeps with him. She later approaches Harvey again with a case but he dismisses her and convinces her to go to Louis. She also asks Harvey out for dinner after that but he refuses, causing her to become evidently upset which ticks off Louis. It's revealed in season 9 that she was sexually abused by her boss at the firm where she previously worked. When that firm is set to merge with her current employer, she is reluctant to come forward about the abuse now that she is married and has a daughter. Samantha, who suffered similar abuse in the past, convinces Esther to speak up. Dr. Paula Agard (Christina Cole) is Harvey's therapist whom he visits after he starts having panic attacks as a consequence of Donna leaving him to work for Louis in season 5. After some struggle, Harvey opens up to her about his mother and his other issues. He sees her throughout season 5 & 6\. In season 7, he asks her out for a date, no longer being her patient. They begin a relationship but it comes to an end when she makes him choose between their relationship and working with Donna. Tara (Carly Pope) is an architect who is appointed to renovate the firm in season 6. She gets romantically involved with Louis while still in a relationship. She ends her relationship and is briefly engaged to Louis. She later leaves him because of the way he treated her in an argument. Brian (Jake Epstein) is the target of verbal attacks by Louis for wanting to leave the office to be with his wife and newborn child. Louis later realizes his abuse is triggered by jealousy, as he wishes to have a child himself, and not by Brian's performance. In season 8, Louis mentions that Brian is one of his favorite associates and tries to keep him from being fired by Katrina. Katrina fires him anyway, citing statistics that show Brian is underperforming as compared to other associates. Donna makes Katrina see that while some employees rack up accolades for themselves, Brian is the type of employee that makes those around him better. Katrina is convinced, and rehires Brian. Later that season, Katrina is promoted to senior partner and asks Brian to be her personal associate. The two become close while working a case, putting Brian's marriage in jeopardy. They mutually agree to not act on their attraction, but Katrina later admits she still has feelings for Brian while Brian later insists he can't just "turn off" his feelings for her. The two mutually decide at that point that Brian should leave the firm, with Katrina promising to help him land a good position elsewhere. Following the scandal surrounding Robert Zane's disbarment in the season 8 finale, Faye (Denise Crosby) is appointed by the New York Bar Association as a special master to oversee operations at Specter Litt Wheeler Williams in season 9. Her "my way or the highway" approach rubs the remaining name partners and Donna the wrong way, but it appears that she has very few skeletons in her closet that the group can use to take her down.

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Methuselah ( Məṯūšélaḥ, in pausa Məṯūšā́laḥ, "Man of the javelin" or "Death of Sword"; Mathousalá) was a biblical patriarch and a figure in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Said to have died at the age of 969, he lived the longest of all figures mentioned in the Bible. According to the Book of Genesis, Methuselah was the son of Enoch, the father of Lamech, and the grandfather of Noah. Elsewhere in the Bible, Methuselah is mentioned in genealogies in 1st Chronicles and the Gospel of Luke. His life is described in further detail in extra-biblical religious texts such as the Book of Enoch, Slavonic Enoch, and the Book of Moses. Bible commentators have offered various explanations as to why the Book of Genesis describes him as having died at such an advanced age; some scholars believe that Methuselah's age is the result of mistranslation, while others believe that his age is used to give the impression that part of Genesis takes place in a very distant past. Methuselah's name has become synonymous with longevity, and he has been portrayed and referenced in film, television and music. Methuselah is a biblical patriarch mentioned in , as part of the genealogy linking Adam to Noah. The following is taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible: According to the chronology of the Bible, Methuselah died during the year of the flood; He was also the oldest of all the figures mentioned in the Bible. Methuselah is mentioned once in the Hebrew Bible outside of Genesis; in , he is mentioned in a genealogy of Saul. Methuselah is mentioned a single time in the New Testament, when the Gospel of Luke traces Saint Joseph's lineage back to Adam in Luke 3 (). The apocryphal Book of Enoch claims to be revelations of Enoch, transcribed by him and entrusted to be preserved for future generations by his son, Methuselah. In this book, Enoch recounts two visions he has had to Methuselah. The first is about the Genesis flood narrative, and the second chronicles the history of the world from Adam to the Last Judgment. In the latter vision, men are represented as animals - the righteous are white cattle and sheep, the sinners and enemies of Israel are black cattle and wild animals. Following his father's death in the Book of Enoch, Methuselah is designated by God as a priest, while Methuselah's grandson, Noah's brother Nir, is designated by God as his successor. In Slavonic Enoch, Methuselah asks his father for a blessing, and is given instructions on how to live righteously. After their father ascends into heaven, Methuselah and his brothers build an altar and made "a great festivity, praising God who had given such a sign by means of Enoch, who had found favor with Him." The Book of Jubilees presents itself as "the history of the division of the days of the Law, of the events of the years, the year-weeks, and the jubilees of the world" and claims to be a revelation of God to Moses, given through the Angel of the Presence in addition to the written Law received by Moses on Mount Sinai; and, while the written Law was to be imparted to all, this was to be a secret tradition entrusted only to the saints of each generation, to Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, and Shem, then to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Levi, and finally to the priests and scribes of the latter times. Rabbinic literature states that when Noah was four hundred and eighty years old all the righteous men were dead, except Methuselah and himself, who were of immense stature as they were descended from the sons of God. At God's command they both announced that one hundred and twenty years would be given to men for repentance; if in that time they had not mended their evil ways, the earth would be destroyed. But their plea was in vain; even while Noah was engaged in building the ark the wicked made sport of him and his work, saying: "If the Flood should come, it could not harm us. We are too tall; and, moreover, we could close up with our feet [which were of monstrous size] the springs from below." They resorted to these tactics; but God heated the water, and their feet and the flesh of their bodies was scalded. The 17th century midrashic Sefer haYashar ("Book of Jasher") describes Methuselah with his grandson Noah attempting to persuade the people of the earth to return to godliness. All other very long-lived people died, and Methuselah was the only one of this class left. God planned to bring the flood after all the men who walked in the ways of the Lord had died (besides Noah and his family). Methuselah lived until the ark was built, but died before the flood, since God had promised he would not be killed with the unrighteous. The Sefer haYashar gives Methuselah's age at death as 960. Methuselah (Arabic: Mattūshalakh) is also mentioned in Islam in the various collections of tales of the pre-Islamic prophets, which also say he was an ancestor of Noah. Furthermore, early Islamic historians like Ibn Ishaq and Ibn Hisham always included his name in the genealogy of Muhammad. The Book of Moses, a Mormon text, says that after Enoch and the City of Zion were taken up to heaven, Methusaleh stayed behind; this was so that God's promises to Enoch - that he would always have descendants on earth and that he would be an ancestor of Noah - would be fulfilled. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints further teaches that Methuselah was a prophet. Interpretations of the Bible following biblical literalism take Methuselah's 969 years to be 969 solar years. Some literalists attempt to give certain arguments for how this could be: early humans had a better diet, or a water vapor canopy protected the earth from radiation before the Flood. Others introduce theological causes: humans were originally to have everlasting life, but sin was introduced into the world by Adam and Eve, its influence became greater with each generation, and God progressively shortened human life, particularly after the Flood. The Catholic Encyclopedia says "Certain exegetes solve the difficulty to their own satisfaction by declaring that the year meant by the sacred writer is not the equivalent of our year." Some believe that Methuselah's extreme age is the result of an ancient mistranslation that converted "months" to "years", producing a more credible 969 lunar months, or 78½ years, but the same calculation applied to Enoch would have him fathering Methuselah at the age of 5 using numbers from the Masoretic Text. Donald V. Etz suggested that the Genesis 5 numbers "might for convenience have all been multiples of 5 or 10". Ellen Bennet argued that the Septuagint Genesis 5 numbers are in tenths of years, which "will explain how it was that they read 930 years for the age of Adam instead of 93 years, and 969 years for Methuselah instead of 96 years, and 950 years for that of Noah instead of 95 years"... "Surely it is much more rational to conclude that Noah lived 50 years instead of 500 years before he took a wife and begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth." and lists the Septuagint total ages with decimal points: 93.0 for Adam, 91.0 for Cainan, 96.9 for Methuselah, 95.0 for Noah, etc. Kenneth Kitchen states that all the numbers of Genesis 5, including Methuselah's age, have no meaning at all, and calls them "pure myth", Yigal Levin states that these long lifespans are intended simply to speed the reader from Adam to Noah. Claus Westermann states they are intended to create the impression of a distant past. The Sumerian King List mentions a character named Ubara-Tutu who seems almost identical to Methuselah. He was the son of En-men-dur-ana, a Sumerian mythological figure often compared to Enoch, as he entered heaven without dying. Ubara-Tutu was the king of Sumer until a flood swept over his land. Although the ages of Methuselah and Ubara-Tutu are different, their year of death are the same. Babylonian writer Berossus also claims that, prior to the events of Babylon's flood myth, kings could live for tens of thousands of years, which bears some similarity to Genesis 5. In Forever Young: A Cultural History of Longevity, Lucian Boia says that the Bible's portrayal of Methuselah and other long lived figures features "traces of the Mesopatamian legends" found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, where Gilgamesh rules Uruk for 126 years, and his ancestors are said to have ruled for several hundred years each. Boia also notes that tales of kings who lived for thousands of years can be found in both Indian and Chinese mythology, and that the Bible is comparatively "restrained" in depicting early humans as being able to live for hundreds of years, rather than thousands. Boia notes that following the Flood, the Bible depicts its character's lifespans as gradually diminishing; Noah's sons lived between 400 and 500 years, while Abraham died at 175, Moses died at 120, and David died at 70, an age that the Bible portrays as old for David's time period. Boia compares early biblical figures and their vast lifespans to the people of the Golden Age in Hesiod's poem Works and Days, whose bodies are perpetually youthful. Methuselah's father Enoch, who does not die but is taken by God, is the seventh patriarch, and Methuselah, the eighth, dies in the year of the Flood, which ends the ten-generational sequence from Adam to Noah, in whose time the world is destroyed. Boia believes that Methuselah serves the symbolic function of linking the Creation and the Flood, as Adam would have died during Methuselah's lifetime and Methuselah could have learned about the Garden of Eden from Adam. The kings of the Sumerian King List lived for over a thousand years, and Mesopotamians believed both that living over a thousand years made someone divine or somewhat divine, and that their contemporary kings were descended from the kings of the Sumerian King List. Robert Gnuse hypothesizes that the author of Genesis made all of its characters die before they turned one-thousand as a polemic against these Mesopotamian beliefs, as well as any claim that a king is divine. Gnuse also believes that the author of Genesis said that Methuselah died before he lived a thousand years to show that he was not divine. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, Methuselah's name "has become a synonym for longevity". Saying that someone is "as old as Methuselah" is a humorous way of saying that someone is very elderly. The word "Methuselarity," a portmanteau of Methuselah and singularity, was coined by Aubrey de Grey to mean a future point in time when all of the medical conditions that cause human death would be eliminated, and death would occur only by accident or homicide. A -year-old Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) tree growing high in the White Mountains of Inyo County in eastern California is called Methuselah. The lyrics of Ira Gershwin's song "It Ain't Necessarily So" (1935) cast doubt on various aspects of the Bible, such as the idea that Methuselah lived so long, the idea that the devil is evil, the story of Jonah, and the story of David and Goliath. The character Flint from the episode "Requiem for Methuselah" is a nearly-immortal man who was born in ancient Mesopotamia. His identities include Methuselah, Alexander the Great, Solomon, Lazarus of Bethany, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Brahms. Flint becomes lonely after living for a time on a deserted planet, and creates an immortal gynoid to keep him company. He eventually begins to slowly die because he left Earth's atmosphere, and dedicates the remainder of his days to the betterment of Mankind. Anthony Hopkins played Methuselah in Darren Aronofsky's 2014 film Noah. In the film, Noah's adopted daughter Ila (played by Emma Watson) is infertile until Methuselah blesses her. Aronofsky's version of Methuselah is a hermit who lives on a mountaintop. In this retelling of the Genesis flood narrative, Methuselah dies during the deluge. In the TV series Altered Carbon, based on Richard K. Morgan's 2002 novel of the same name, a class of people who can afford to live forever by transferring their consciousness into cloned bodies that are called "Meths" or "Methuselahs." In 2016, it was announced that producer David Heyman would produce a biblical epic starring Tom Cruise as Methuselah with Joachim Rønning to direct. The film is set to show Methuselah as never aging and possessing "unparalleled survival skills." The subgiant star HD 140283 is believed to be the oldest extant star discovered, often nicknamed "The Methuselah Star" after the ancient biblical figure. Aging, Genealogies of Genesis, Longevity, Longevity myths, Maximum life span, Oldest people Bible ; (Genesis 11:24, 25) Complete Bible Genealogy Family tree of Methuselah These are lists of the 100 known verified oldest people sorted in descending order by age in years and days. The oldest person ever whose age has been independently verified is Jeanne Calment (1875–1997) of France, who lived to the age of 122 years, 164 days. The oldest verified man ever is Jiroemon Kimura (1897–2013) of Japan, who lived to the age of 116 years, 54 days. As of , the oldest known living person is Kane Tanaka of Japan, aged . The oldest known living man is Chitetsu Watanabe, also of Japan, aged . The 100 oldest women have, on average, lived several years longer than the 100 oldest men. All the people on this list are supercentenarians, having reached an age of at least 110. The list including known and validated supercentenarians who died before 2015 was compiled by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). Later cases are included in more recent GRG data, with administrative reports or press coverage as supplementary sources, as indicated in the table. The list including all known and validated supercentenarians who died before 2015 was compiled by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG). Later cases were sourced either from more recent GRG data, from administrative reports or from press coverage, as indicated in the table. Unranked entries have not been validated by the GRG, which only publishes recent cases above 112 years old. Longevity claims, Longevity myths American supercentenarians are citizens or residents of the United States who have attained or surpassed 110 years of age. , the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) had validated the longevity claims of 782 American supercentenarians. As of , the GRG lists the oldest living American as Hester Ford (born in Lancaster, South Carolina, August 15, 1905), aged . The longest-lived person ever from the United States was Sarah Knauss, of Hollywood, Pennsylvania, who died on December 30, 1999, aged 119 years, 97 days. Below is a list of the longest lived American supercentenarians according to the GRG. Ann Pouder (née Ann Marie Alexander) (April 8, 1807 – July 10, 1917) was one of the first modernly recognized British American supercentenarians. Her age at death was . Born in London, England, when Pouder was twelve years old, her family emigrated to the United States, making her British American. There she lived the following 98 years of her life in Baltimore, Maryland. She married Nepalese American Alexander Pouder , although became a widow very early and had no children. Her extreme longevity claim was certified by Alexander Graham Bell. In her last few months, she was bedridden, blind, and almost deaf, but her mind remained sharp. Lucy Hannah (née Terrell; July 16, 1875 – March 21, 1993) was an African- American supercentenarian. She is considered the second-oldest person from the United States and the world's fourth-oldest verified person. Before her death, Hannah claimed to be 118, but investigation by the Social Security Administration's "Kestenbaum" study in 2003 determined that her age at death was actually 117 years, 248 days. At the time of her death in March 1993, Hannah was recognized as the oldest American ever and second-oldest person ever whose age had been verified, behind only Jeanne Calment. She may have been the world's second-oldest living person, after Jeanne Calment, because Shigechiyo Izumi’s record was withdrawn by Guinness World Records in 2010. Mary Electa Bidwell (May 19, 1881– April 25, 1996) was an American supercentenarian. She died at age 114 years, 342 days on April 25, 1996. She is the oldest person on record ever to die in Connecticut. Her parents were Charles Woodruff Bidwell and Alice Beach Nobel. She was a descendant of John Bidwell, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Bidwell worked as a teacher in a one-room school house for six years. She married Charles Hubbell Bidwell, a distant cousin, in 1906. Bidwell lived on her own in North Haven, Connecticut, until she was 110. Bidwell died at the Arden House, a nursing home in Hamden, Connecticut. Maggie Pauline Barnes (née Hinnant; March 6, 1882 – January 19, 1998) was an American supercentenarian. She was born to a former slave and married a tenant farmer. Barnes died on January 19, 1998 in Johnston County, North Carolina. She was survived by four of her fifteen children. Her date of birth has been disputed. Though the year 1882 is written in her family bible, the 1900 US Census records birth year 1881, and her marriage license says she was born in 1880. Authenticating to the most recent of those dates, Barnes lived for 115 years and 319 days. Adelina Domingues (February 19, 1888 – August 21, 2002) was a Cape Verdean American supercentenarian who was the world's oldest person from the May 28, 2002, death of fellow 114-year-old American woman Grace Clawson until her own death less than three months later. Domingues was born in Cape Verde. Her family was not very well off financially at the time of her birth. Domingues's Italian father was a harbor pilot by profession, and her mother was Portuguese by ethnicity. She married a ship captain in 1907, and moved to the United States that year. Her husband died from cancer in 1950. Domingues was a missionary from the Church of the Nazarene in Cape Verde and other parts of Africa and was also a religious preacher when she lived in Massachusetts, as well as an expert seamstress. Domingues was a firm believer in the American Dream, was deeply religious, had conservative political views, and was a pen pal of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. She had four children, but only one of them (a son, Frank) reached adulthood. Frank died in 1998 at the age of 71, with Adelina outliving him by four years. Domingues died at a nursing home in the San Diego, California, area in August 2002, at age 114 years and 183 days. Domingues claimed she was actually 115 years old, but her family and Cape Verdean diplomats did some research and discovered her baptismal information, from which they concluded that Domingues was 114 years old when she died. Charlotte Benkner (née Enterlein; November 16, 1889 – May 14, 2004) was an American supercentenarian and considered the world's oldest person from 2003 to 2004. Subsequent recognition of other supercentenarians ranked Benkner as the third oldest at the time of her death. Benkner was born in Leipzig, Germany, and emigrated to the U.S. in 1896. She grew up in Peekskill, New York, where her family ran the Albert Hotel, and as a young woman once met then President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt. On her 1908 marriage to Karl Benkner, she moved west, living in Pennsylvania and Ohio before retiring to Arizona. Already a supercentenarian and the oldest person in Arizona, Benkner returned to Ohio to live in North Lima with her sister Tillie O'Hare, her youngest sibling. Tillie died in January 2004, just three weeks shy of becoming a centenarian. Benkner survived her sister by only four months, and died at age 114 years 180 days, after a brief hospital stay in Youngstown, Ohio. Benkner was buried in her childhood town of Peekskill. Emma Verona Johnston (née Calhoun; August 6, 1890 – December 1, 2004) was an American supercentenarian who was born in Indianola, Iowa to a large family. She graduated from Drake University in the Class of 1912 and went on to work as a Latin teacher before she married ophthalmologist Harry Johnston; at the time of her death, she was the university's oldest living graduate. At age 98, Johnston moved from Iowa to Ohio in order to live with her daughter and son- in-law. Even after turning 110, she continued to be in good health, alert and engaging in conversations, and was still able to walk up steps. She became the oldest known living American in May 2004. Shortly afterwards, on the occasion of her 114th birthday, she was presented with a proclamation signed by Drake University President David Maxwell. The University's Vice President for Institutional Advancement, John Willey, nominated her for an honorary degree. Johnston died in Worthington, Ohio on December 1, 2004, at age 114 years, 117 days. Bettie Antry Wilson (née Rutherford; September 13, 1890 – February 13, 2006) was the oldest resident of Mississippi ever recorded, and was considered the oldest living person in the United States from December 2004 until the subsequent verification of Elizabeth Bolden. Both were born in the rural South, where they lived less than 100 miles apart. Wilson was the daughter of freed slaves, Solomon and Delia Rutherford. In April 2005, Wilson moved into a new home funded by donations, in New Albany. She celebrated her 115th birthday in September 2005, and died on February 13, 2006, aged 115 years, 153 days. She was survived by her son, five grandchildren, 46 great-grandchildren, 95 great-great-grandchildren and 38 great-great-great-grandchildren. George Rene Francis (June 6, 1896 – December 27, 2008) was an American supercentenarian and the joint second-oldest living man in the world, together with Englishman Henry Allingham, also born on June 6, 1896, until Francis's death aged 112 years, 204 days. He was also the oldest living man in the United States, following the death of Antonio Pierro on February 8, 2007. Francis was from New Orleans, Louisiana, but since 1949 lived in Sacramento, California, where a local newspaper published a poem that Francis enjoyed reciting to friends and the public throughout his life. He credited his longevity to nature, and enjoyed a rich diet of pork, eggs, milk and lard. He gave up smoking cigars at the age of 75. Francis attempted to join the army in World War I but was rejected for service in 1918 as being too short and small (he weighed only about ). Despite this, he later was a boxer before becoming a barber and then a chauffeur.

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Isobel Catherine Stevens, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series producer Shonda Rhimes, and was portrayed by actress Katherine Heigl from 2005 to 2010. Introduced as a surgical intern at the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital, Izzie worked her way up to resident level, while her relationships with her colleagues Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), George O'Malley (T. R. Knight) and Alex Karev (Justin Chambers) formed a focal point of the series. Heigl garnered critical acclaim for her performance as Izzie and received numerous awards and nominations for her role, winning the "Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series" at the 2007 Emmy Awards. She was critical of the character's development during the show's fourth season, particularly her romance with George. She declined to put herself forward for the 2008 Emmy Awards, citing insufficient material in the role. After speculation that Izzie would be killed off in the fifth season, the character was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma. She married Alex in the series' one-hundredth episode, and afterwards, her tumor was successfully removed. Izzie made her final appearance in the sixth season, leaving Seattle after Alex refused to resume their marriage. Heigl requested to be released from her contract 18 months early, in order to spend more time with her family. In January 2012, Heigl reported that she would like to return to Grey's Anatomy to give closure to her character, however, Rhimes confirmed that there were no plans to have the character return at that time and has since stated that she has no plans to ever re-approach Izzie's storyline again. Izzie appears in the first episode of Grey's Anatomy, meeting fellow interns Meredith Grey, Cristina Yang, Alex Karev, and George O'Malley. She and George move in with Meredith and become best friends. Izzie's boyfriend, hockey player Hank (Jonathan Scarfe), struggles to accept her new role as a surgeon, and the two break up. Izzie is hurt when Alex exposes her past as a lingerie model. However, the two later go on to begin a friendship and then a romance. Alex experiences sexual dysfunction with Izzie and cheats on her with nurse Olivia Harper (Sarah Utterback). When Izzie finds out, she breaks up with him, though they briefly reunite following a bomb incident at the hospital. Izzie reveals while treating a pregnant teenager that she had a daughter at the age of 16 and gave her up for adoption. Izzie falls in love with cardiothoracic patient Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and the two become engaged. When Denny's condition deteriorates, Izzie deliberately worsens his health further by cutting his LVAD wire to move him up the donor register. Although Denny receives a new heart, he has a stroke hours later and dies. Izzie is the sole beneficiary of Denny's will, inheriting $8.7 million. She uses the money to open a free clinic at the hospital: the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic. Izzie disapproves of George's relationship and marriage to orthopedic resident Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez). She and George sleep together, and attempt to keep their liaison a secret. George and resident Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) are the only people aware that Izzie gave birth to a daughter at the age of sixteen; ultimately the child was given up for adoption. He supports Izzie when her daughter Hannah (Liv Hutchings), diagnosed with leukemia, arrives at Seattle Grace Hospital in need of a bone marrow transplant from Izzie. Izzie's feelings for George grow, and she reveals that she has fallen in love with him. When Callie discovers George has been unfaithful, the two separate, and George and Izzie embark on a short-lived relationship, only to discover there is no real chemistry between them. Izzie supports Alex when he discovers his new girlfriend has psychiatric problems, and convinces him to have her committed. She is also handed primary responsibility for the clinic, as Bailey cuts back on her responsibilities. Izzie and Alex go on to rekindle their relationship, though Izzie is concerned when she begins hallucinating Denny. She discovers she has metastatic melanoma (Stage IV) which has spread to her liver, skin, and brain, causing the hallucinations. Her survival chances are estimated at only 5%. She is admitted to Seattle Grace as a patient, and Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) successfully removes a tumor from her brain. Izzie spends her time in the hospital planning Meredith and Derek's wedding, but when her condition worsens and Derek discovers a second brain tumor, they give the ceremony to Izzie and Alex, who marry in front of all their friends. The procedure to remove the second tumor from Izzie's brain causes her to lose her short-term memory, and although she soon regains it, she flatlines moments later. The fifth season ends with her friends ignoring her DNR order and attempting to resuscitate her, transposed with images of Izzie in an elevator encountering George, who has been in an accident and is also currently flatlining. Though George dies, Izzie is resuscitated and recovers enough to return to work. Izzie makes a treatment error that endangers the life of a patient, and is fired from the hospital's surgical program. Believing Alex is partially to blame, she writes him a Dear John letter and leaves. Izzie later learns that Alex was not responsible for her lost job, and returns to make amends with him, but Meredith informs her that Alex is moving on. Izzie informs Alex that she no longer has cancer. Although he is pleased, Alex officially breaks up with Izzie, telling her that he loves her but deserves better. She leaves Seattle to start fresh. Several episodes later, Alex informs Meredith that Izzie sent divorce papers, which he signs in the episode "How Insensitive". In the sixth-season finale, Alex is shot and asks for Izzie. Imagining that Meredith's half-sister Lexie (Chyler Leigh) is Izzie, he apologizes and asks her never to leave him again. In the 300th episode, Alex reveals he never found out what happened to Izzie, but envisions a perfect, happy life for her, always smiling, now that he has moved on and is happy with Jo. Izzie was created by Grey's Anatomy producer Shonda Rhimes, with actress Katherine Heigl cast in the role. Heigl originally wanted to play Izzie as a brunette, but was requested to retain her natural blond for the part. Heigl's comprehension of medical procedures and terminology is slight; the actress explained that while she has an admiration for doctors, she is not as fascinated by medicine as other cast members. When Kate Walsh's character Addison Montgomery left Grey's Anatomy to launch the spin-off show Private Practice, Heigl disclosed that she had hoped for a spin-off for Izzie. Heigl declined to put her name forward for consideration at the 2008 Emmy Awards, claiming that she had been given insufficient material on the series to warrant a nomination. Following Heigl's statement, speculation arose that her character would suffer a brain tumor and be killed off Grey's Anatomy, substantiated by the announcement Jeffrey Dean Morgan would return to the series as Denny, who died at the end of season two. ABC's entertainment president Steve McPherson denied the rumor, stating: "There is an unbelievable storyline for her this year, which is really central to everything that's going to go on this season". Speculation resumed, however, when Dean Morgan returned to the show for a second time in its fifth season. Cast member James Pickens, Jr. announced that both Heigl and T.R. Knight were set to depart from the show, but he later retracted his comment. During the course of the fifth season, Izzie was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma (Stage IV) which spread to her liver, skin and brain. Following the show's one-hundredth episode wrap party, Heigl revealed she did not know if Izzie would survive, as no one on the production team would disclose her character's fate to her. It was confirmed in June 2009 that Heigl would return as Izzie for the show's sixth season. Heigl's appearances in the season were sporadic, seeing Izzie depart and return twice. Although she was scheduled to appear in the final five episodes of the season, Heigl requested that she be released from her contract 18 months early, and made her final appearance on January 21, 2010. Heigl explained that she wanted to spend more time with her family, and did not think it would be respectful to Grey's Anatomy viewers to have Izzie return and depart yet again. Michael Ausiello spoke further on Katherine Heigl's perspective on Izzie's departure. He said, "[Katherine] thinks her Jan. 21 farewell - while not originally intended to be her last episode - oddly works as a bookend to Izzie's story. "Even though there's a part of me that would like to go back and do the quick Izzie farewell, " she says, "I also think that my last scene - where Meredith says to Izzie, 'Please don't go, This is your home,' and Izzie's response was, 'No it’s not, not anymore it’s just a place I Worked and I can do that anywhere' - was kind of tragic and appropriate all at the same time. When I was playing the scene I was really trying to convey that, for Izzie, that was a lie that she had to tell herself to have the courage to have to move on." In August 2010, Rhimes stated that she did not feel Izzie's character arc—specifically her relationship with Alex—had fully concluded, and hoped to give proper closure to their relationship in the seventh season. She later confirmed that she had intended to kill off Izzie off-screen, but opted against this a day later as she felt that it would destroy Alex, rather than give him closure. Instead, she concluded: "I'm open to seeing Izzie again. So if she [Katherine] were to come back, we would be thrilled to [wrap up her story]. But if she doesn't, we'll just move on." Heigl also went on to say in October 2010 that the character returning to show looks bleak because, "that chapter is closed, and it's sad. And it's hard." She also felt that Izzie coming back to the show would, "just feel manipulative." However, in January 2012, Heigl stated in an interview that she has asked the producers if she could return to the show to give closure to Izzie's storyline: "I've told them I want to [return]," she said. "I really, really, really want to see where [Izzie] is. I just want to know what happened to her and where she went and what she's doing now. My idea is that she actually like figures it out, and finds some success and does really well in a different hospital. She was always floundering you know, and so she was always one step behind the eight ball and I want to see that girl take some power back." She later went on to say that she regrets leaving the show, "Oh yeah, sometimes, yeah. You miss it. I miss my friends. It was a great work environment ... and it becomes a family. I spent six years together with these people every day ... you grow up together, in a way," and again commented on Izzie possibly returning to the show, "I always felt that if they wanted me to come back and sort of wrap up that storyline ... I want them to know that I'm down with it if they want me to, but I completely understand if it doesn't necessarily work ... They've got a lot of story lines going on there." But in March 2012, Shonda Rhimes said that there are no plans at the moment for the character to return, "I think it was really nice to hear her appreciating the show. At the same time we are on a track we have been planning. The idea of changing that track is not something we are interested in right now." Three years later, Rhimes said she has completely moved on from the idea of Izzie coming back, "I’m done with that story. I’ve turned that idea over in my mind a thousand times and thought about how it would go. And I don’t think so." Heigl believes that the Grey's Anatomy writers incorporate much of the actors' personalities into their roles, and that Izzie is a "super moral" version of herself. Episode "Bring the Pain", which aired as the fifth episode of the second season, was originally intended to be the final episode of the first season. Rhimes explained that Izzie's character in this episode came "full circle" from her role in the pilot: "Izzie, so vulnerable and underestimated when we first meet her, is the girl who removes her heart from her sleeve in "Bring the Pain"." Discussing Izzie's personality in a 2006 Cosmopolitan interview, Heigl assessed that she is "immensely kind" and patient. When Denny died in the season two episode "Losing My Religion", Rhimes discussed the impact it had on Izzie, noting that Izzie is forced to abandon her idealism, which in turn leads to her letting go of medicine. In the aftermath of Denny's death, Heigl came to believe that Izzie was not cut out to be a doctor. Executive producer Betsy Beers explained, however, that Denny's death served to make Izzie more mature, and Heigl affirmed that "At the beginning of the [third] season they were trying to show how lost Izzie was. She lost her optimism. She realizes now that life is difficult, but she still tries very hard to see the best in people." In order to demonstrate Izzie's dislike of George's love-interest Callie, Rhimes penned a scene which she deemed one of her favorite moments on the show, in which Callie urinates in front of a stunned Izzie and Meredith. Rhimes assessed that: "I love that Mer and Izzie respond with all the trauma of having viewed a car crash [...] the point is Callie pees and Izzie tortures her a tiny bit about the hand washing and that made me overjoyed because that’s the kind of thing people do." Discussing Izzie's relationship with Alex in a 2006 Cosmopolitan interview, Heigl assessed that "Even when Alex was a complete dirtbag to her [Izzie], she forgave him and gave him another chance. And he really screwed her over. [...] To go for a guy like that is to say I want to be damaged.'" Writer Stacy McKee deemed Izzie's moving on from Alex to patient Denny Duquette "karma", as Alex previously treated Izzie badly, yet as he begins to realize his true feelings, he is forced to watch her embark on a romance with "the undeniably handsome - and totally charming" Denny. Series writer Blythe Robe commented on Izzie and Denny: "I love the way Izzie lights up when she's around him. I love their relationship because it's so pure and honest and completely game free." Writer Elizabeth Klaviter noted at this time the way Izzie "seems to be sacrificing her reputation because of her feelings for Denny." When Izzie deliberately worsened Denny's condition to move him up the transplant list, series writer Mark Wilding questioned the morality of the actions, asking: "is Izzie bad for doing it? Is she tremendously irresponsible? She cut the LVAD wire for love so does that make her action understandable?" Rhimes discussed costuming choices in the scene which saw the interns gather around Denny's deathbed, explaining: "Meredith and George and Cristina and Callie and Alex are all dressed, not for a prom, but for a funeral. Everyone in dark colors, everyone dressed somberly. As if they were in mourning. Only Izzie is in happy pink. Only Izzie looks like she didn’t know this was coming." Following Denny's death, Heigl approached Rhimes to ask when her character would next have a romantic liaison. Rhimes explained that "Izzie doesn't sleep around". Heigl expressed a desire for Izzie to reunite with Alex, explaining: "I believe on some level, there's a connection between Izzie and Alex. He can do honorable things even though he's cutting and sarcastic. I would like to ultimately see them together, if not this season, then next." Yahoo! Voices wrote that Stevens in the third season "has become more condescending and passive aggressive herself, more than anyone else." Heigl was critical of her character's development in the show's fourth season, particularly her affair with George, which she deemed "a ratings ploy". Heigl explained: "They really hurt somebody, and they didn't seem to be taking a lot of responsibility for it. I have a really hard time with that kind of thing. I'm maybe a little too black and white about it. I don't really know Izzie very well right now. She's changed a lot." Attempting to rationalise Izzie's actions, Heigl later assessed that: People who are so infallible, perfect and moral tend to be the first to slip and fall. But I would love to see how she deals with the consequences of what she's done, because what’s interesting is when people make decisions that shake their world, they suddenly have to go, 'Woo, I didn't know I was capable of this.' I'd like to see Izzie take some culpability. Heigl was nominated for the "Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series" award at the 2007 and 2008 Golden Globe Awards for her role as Izzie. She was named "Favorite Female TV Star" at the 34th People's Choice Awards, and awarded "Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series" at the 2007 Emmy Awards. Prior to the ceremony, considering Heigl's chances of winning the Emmy, Variety's Stuart Levine assessed of her performance: "Heigl has little difficulty reaching Izzie's highest highs and lowest lows. Showrunner Shonda Rhimes puts a lot of pressure on Heigl to carry many intense storylines, and she's up to the challenge." Levine also noted, however: "There are times when Izzie becomes completely irrational during crisis situations, which may bother some." Fox News included Izzie in its list of "The Best TV Doctors For Surgeon General". The character was listed in Wetpaint's "10 Hottest Female Doctors on TV" and in BuzzFeed's "16 Hottest Doctors On Television". During the show's third season, the New York Post Robert Rorke deemed Izzie to be "the heart and soul" of Grey's Anatomy. He deemed her the show's heroine, and wrote that: "Izzie is a welcome, calming presence, despite the devastation she experienced when she failed to save her patient and fiance Denny Duquette. [...] Besides the formidable Dr. Bailey (Chandra Wilson), Izzie seems to be the only adult intern at Seattle Grace; the character has achieved a depth lacking in her fellow interns." Eyder Peralta of The Houston Chronicle was critical of Izzie's ethics in cutting Denny's LVAD wire, writing that she "should not be practising medicine" and stating: "That's the reason I don't watch Grey's Anatomy, anymore, because the super hot blond chick can make an earth- shattering, fatal decision and she doesn't get canned." The season four romance between Izzie and George proved unpopular with viewers, and resulted in a fan backlash among Alex and Izzie fans. The return of Izzie's deceased fiancé Denny and the resumption of their romance during the show's fifth season also proved unpopular with fans, and was deemed "the world's worst storyline" by Mary McNamara of the Los Angeles Times. McNamara was also critical of the episode "Now or Never", which saw Izzie flatline following neurosurgery, opining that Izzie ought to die. The episode in which Izzie married long-term love Alex received 15.3 million viewers, the largest television audience of the night. Izzie's cancer storyline received a mixed response from the medical community. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, commented that Izzie's treatment options were unrealistic. Whereas in the show she was offered the drug interleukin-2, in reality the drug is never recommended to patients when melanoma has spread to the brain, as it can cause bleeding and strokes. Brawley explained that such patients would instead be offered radiosurgery. Conversely however, Tim Turnham, executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation, praised Grey's Anatomy for bringing about greater public awareness of melanoma, stating: "We welcome the national spotlight Grey's Anatomy has created for melanoma and its efforts to encourage viewers to learn more about the importance of prevention, early detection and research." Specific General Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series that premiered on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a mid-season replacement on March 27, 2005. The series has aired for fifteen seasons, and focuses on the fictional lives of surgical interns and residents as they evolve into seasoned doctors while trying to maintain personal lives. The show's premise originated with Shonda Rhimes, who serves as an executive producer, along with Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Krista Vernoff, Rob Corn, Mark Wilding, and Allan Heinberg. The series was created to be racially diverse, utilizing a color- blind casting technique. It is primarily filmed in Los Angeles. The show's title is a play on Gray's Anatomy, the classic human anatomy textbook. Episodes have been broadcast on Thursday nights since Grey's third season. The first two seasons aired after Desperate Housewives in the Sunday 10:00 pm EST time-slot. All episodes are approximately forty-three minutes, excluding commercials, and are broadcast in both high-definition and standard. Episodes are also available for download at the iTunes Store in standard and high definition, and Amazon Video, with new episodes appearing the day after their live airings. ABC Video on demand also releases episodes of the show, typically one to two days after their premieres. Recent episodes are available on ABC's Android/iTunes app or at ABC's official Grey's Anatomy website, and on Hulu. In 2010, ABC signed a deal allowing Grey's Anatomy episodes to be streamed on Netflix. Grey's Anatomy was among the ten highest-rated shows in the United States from the show's first through fourth season. The show's episodes have won a number of awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Drama Series, a People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Drama, and multiple NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Drama Series. Since its premiere, Buena Vista Home Entertainment has distributed all seasons on DVD. There have been several special episodes recapping events from previous episodes, and two series of webisodes. General Specific Owen Hunt, M.D. is a fictional character from the medical drama television series Grey's Anatomy, which airs on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the United States. The character was created by series' producer Shonda Rhimes, and is portrayed by Scottish actor Kevin McKidd. He was introduced in season five as a U.S. Army trauma surgeon who served in war-torn Iraq, and subsequently joins the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital to teach medicine as a surgical attending, head of trauma surgery, and eventual chief of surgery, sometimes with unorthodox methods. Originally contracted to appear for a multi-episode story arc, he was upgraded to a series' regular at the conclusion of his first appearance. The fictional character served as a love interest for surgical fellow Cristina Yang, and had an unstable personality when first introduced, suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). McKidd's connection with fellow actress Sandra Oh (Cristina Yang) has been acclaimed amongst critics, with Matt Roush of TV Guide calling the "instant sparks" between McKidd and Oh "electrifying." McKidd was nominated for two awards for his work on the show, winning one of them. Chris Monfette of IGN has praised the addition of "fresh, new characters" such as Owen Hunt. Before his regular appearances on the show, Owen Hunt was a United States Army surgeon, specializing in trauma surgery. The character makes a dramatic first appearance when he performs a tracheotomy on a man with a pen, winning the admiration of resident Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh). He is offered a job by former chief of surgery Richard Webber (James Pickens, Jr.), but declines, explaining that he has not completed his tour in Iraq. His appointment as the new head of trauma surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital was not well-received initially. By his first week he manages to irk both Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) and Mark Sloan (Eric Dane), head of neurosurgery and plastic surgery, respectively, who view his treatment of some of the patients as crude, and also rebuffed by resident Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl) when he stabs a set of pigs and then orders the residents and interns to save their lives, in order to teach them medicine on "live tissue." Hunt eventually embarks on a relationship with Yang, but it comes to a sudden close when his PTSD gets the best of him, and he unconsciously strangles her. Soon after the breakup, he begins therapy with the hospital psychiatrist, Dr. Wyatt. Some time later, a soldier visits the hospital for treatment, and his presence influences Owen to contemplate returning to the US Army. When he shares this with Cristina, she disagrees with his decision, stating that she doesn't want him to die, and the two eventually rekindle their relationship. Owen brings in Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), his best friend and colleague from when he was in the army, as the new head of cardiothoracic surgery. When it is revealed that Hunt and Altman may be potential lovers, Hunt and Yang's relationship is challenged, and eventually concluded by Yang. During a hospital shooting, Owen is shot and injured, attracting the sympathy of Cristina, who subsequently restores their relationship. Due to the emotional reverberations of the shooting crisis, Owen and Cristina decide to wed one another shortly after their reconciliation, not wanting to risk separation. There are some concerns from Cristina's friends that Owen is taking advantage of her PTSD to rush her into marriage, which she had previously decided against. When Cristina discovers she is pregnant, Owen is displeased with her desire to abort the baby, and the two separate from each other. One of the major, recurring points of conflict in their relationship are Owen's strong desires for children and a traditional wife, and Cristina's equally strong conviction that she never wants children. In the fallout of resident Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo)'s tampering with Derek Shepherd's Alzheimer's trial, Owen is promoted to Chief of Surgery after Webber steps down. After substantial thought, Owen reluctantly decides to accompany Cristina to the abortion, uniting the two. Owen's friendship with Teddy ends when Owen lies to Teddy about her husband's sudden death, due to Owen wanting her to finish a surgery she was currently performing and Teddy blaming Owen for her husband's death. Feeling abandoned and disconcerted after an altercation with Cristina, Owen has a one-night stand with a patient's friend. Cristina consequently finds out, terminates their relationship, and their marriage is tested. After Cristina passed her medical boards, she reconciles with Owen, but reveals to him that she is leaving Seattle to go to Mayo Clinic. Teddy and Owen eventually became friends again. She had been offered a position at the United States Army Medical Command but chose to stay at Seattle Grace Mercy West out of loyalty. After Teddy's husband Henry dies she wallows in her grief and it affects her colleagues and residents, causing Owen to "fire" her so that she can have a fresh start elsewhere. He also fires April Kepner (Sarah Drew) because the hospital cannot afford to keep her due to her not being a Board certified. Months later, Hunt visits Kepner and rehires her as he realized he made a mistake. In later seasons, Owen and Kepner become close friends due to her choice to sign up with the military, a decision Owen helped prompt and encourage, and a decision which leads to the eventual end of Kepner's marriage to Avery. In season 9 Cristina and Owen's marriage is again very strained. Cristina is working at Mayo Clinic and Owen in Seattle but she returns. Owen asks for a divorce. He later shows that he is still in love with her and only asked for a divorce so Cristina and the others involved in the plane crash get the money. Cristina and Owen reconcile in episode 9 before Bailey's wedding. In season 10, Cristina decides to accept a job to run a state of the art clinic in Switzerland. Owen supports her decision as he realizes no good could come from him asking her to stay, but requests her not to leave him until she has to leave him for good, following which, they both spend two weeks leading to her permanent departure together. While saying her farewell to her colleagues of the last seven years, there is a possible act of terrorism in Seattle, which later turns out to be just a gas main explosion. Cristina has a quick but emotional goodbye hug with Derek, Bailey, and Webber, leaves her shares of the hospital to Alex, and dances it out with Meredith one last time to an old favorite song. Owen, however, is busy saving a patient in the O.R., so they share a silent goodbye through the gallery's glass. In Season 11, Owen develops a relationship with Amelia Shepherd. This is off and on throughout Season 11 and 12 until the end of Season 12 where he and Amelia get married, after Amelia proposes to him. Owen is attracted to Amelia's desire for a "real family" and children. In Season 14, after going through a series of marital issues, Owen decides to pursue a divorce from Amelia, citing Amelia's reversal on wanting to have children and her increasingly erratic behavior. Owen listens to Amelia when she, in a fit of pique, tells him to go be with Teddy. As a result, he flies to Germany to be with Teddy, but, after they spend the night together, Owen reveals he is there at his wife's suggestion. Teddy is insulted he made her a last choice, citing his inability to be alone, and Teddy breaks it off. Owen returns to Grey Sloan alone. It is later discovered that Amelia's behavior was caused by a brain tumor. In a reversal of blame, Amelia is angry Owen placed sole blame on her for their marital issues, as well as committing adultery with Teddy, since he ignored all of her tumor symptoms as selfishness and poor character. Despite pursuing their divorce, they continue sleeping together. Owen decides to pursue his lifelong dream of fatherhood alone and begins fostering Leo, a baby who was given up by his teenage mother. When Amelia finds Leo's mother, Betty, homeless and addicted to drugs, Amelia takes Betty in, and, together, Owen and Amelia take care of Leo and Betty at Owen's home, reconciling and deciding to stay in their relationship and renew their marriage. In Season 15, Owen and Amelia have a strong relationship, which is interrupted by the news that Teddy is pregnant with Owen's child. Teddy did not tell Owen at first, because she knew he would leave Amelia for the chance to be a father, and Teddy does not want to be with Owen after he made her his alternate choice. Owen is upset because he would not have reconciled with Amelia or fostered Leo if Teddy had told him earlier that he was expecting a biological child. This causes additional tension with Amelia, who knows Owen would have left her without trying to salvage their marriage. In light of Teddy's disinterest, Owen tells Amelia he chooses her. However, Owen continues to exhibit possessive and obsessive behavior over Teddy and her pregnancy, causing Amelia to permanently split from their relationship. Owen then adopts Leo as his son and welcomes his newborn daughter, Allison, with Teddy, whom they named after Teddy's best friend Allison, who died during the collapse of the second tower on September 11, 2001. Teddy has a change of mind and decides to try a relationship with Owen. In Season 16, Owen is in a relationship with Teddy, whom he had previously given his position as Grey-Sloan's Head of Trauma to keep her in the country. Owen has a contentious relationship with the new Chief of Surgery, Koracik, whom Teddy had dated during her pregnancy. After electrocuting Koracik's genitals, Koracik takes out a restraining order against Owen, requiring him to be 500 feet away. Teddy has been finding motherhood overwhelming and hating her maternity leave, so Owen decides to take paternity leave to allow her to return to work. His paternity leave turns into a resignation. Owen eventually accepts an offer from Karev to become Chief of Trauma at Pac-North after he finds stay-at-home parenting overwhelming and boring. Shonda Rhimes, series' creator, says that the character was envisioned "an old-fashioned tortured hero" and likens him to Heathcliff. Originally set to appear in a multi-episode story arc, Kevin McKidd's contract was extended, securing him a slot as a series' regular of Grey's Anatomy. In July 2008, Entertainment Weekly announced the possibility of McKidd becoming a series' regular, with this possibility eventually being confirmed by People. When asked of how he got involved with the show, McKidd offered the insight: McKidd told BuddyTV, "It's been really great. I was nervous when I started because every job I've ever done before this, I have been in the job right from day one when everybody's new and getting to know each other. So I was nervous because I had never done this before. And I feel really grateful to the Grey's cast and crew and everyone there, really, because they've been so nice to me and gracious and accepting of me joining the show. The transition was much easier than I thought it might be, which I'm very grateful for." McKidd has told People that he thinks Grey's Anatomy is a great show and he feels lucky to be on it. Shonda Rhimes, the series' creator, said of his addition, "I am excited to have Kevin McKidd joining us for the season, he's been a delight to collaborate with and brings incredible passion, talent and creativity to his work. Plus, he’s already got the ‘Mc’ built into his name so we had to keep him." The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) characterized Hunt as "confident", "innovative", "intelligent", while he also can be "aggressive", "brazen", "presumptuous", "hasty and rash". McKidd said of his character: "[...] He's not an easy character to connect to, I think. There's some darkness to him and there's some danger to him that I think is really interesting and exciting to play. [...]" Additionally, McKidd describes Hunt as "very instinctive, and follows his gut, and he's very impulsive, and very immediate. He immediately assesses a situation. And he's very honest, sometimes painfully honest, with himself and with others. He wants to make himself better. He wants to improve himself as a person. He's a decent guy, a sort of a guy I'd like to go out and have a beer with." Hunt's unorthodox teaching methods have been the subject of controversy. McKidd said of this: The look of Owen has been described as hardcore and the antithesis of the other males on the show. McKidd says it's not just the look of Owen, but the fact that in his profession, he is dealing with life and death everyday. The one distinction he finds between his character and the others is that Owen does not care what other people think of him. When McKidd returned from his first appearance, his character appeared to have been changed. McKidd told TV Guide: "Yes, that was who he really is in the premiere, but now we're seeing what can happen to a good man, a good soldier and good surgeon [because of war]." The character of Owen Hunt had an almost instant attraction to Cristina Yang since his first appearance at Seattle Grace, illustrated by the passionate kiss they share soon after they meet. Owen's story and connection with fellow character Cristina has been a topic of discussion. McKidd said: "Between him [Owen] and her [Cristina], it’s going to get really complex and kind of tense and explosive." Owen and Cristina have experienced roadblocks in their fictional relationship, and continue to. McKidd offered this insight on his character's relationship with Cristina: McKidd has referred to his character and the character of Cristina Yang as "soulmates." Speaking of Owen's PTSD storyline, McKidd stated: "What's exciting about telling this story with this character is that it's quite brave of ABC and Shonda [Rhimes], on a prime-time network TV show, to address a tough subject, and one that people don't necessarily want to hear about. But so far the writing room is handling it beautifully. They're not banging people over the head with it but exploring it in a sensitive and interesting way." Owen and Cristina have struggled with their fictional relationship in season eight, leading to Owen having a sexual affair. Directly before the episode involving the affair aired, McKidd said to Entertainment Weekly: "The thing about Owen is that he tries to do things perfectly, and obviously, he messes up as the chief because you have to make these odd black-and-white decisions and sometimes you make the wrong decision. There’s a lot of stress in his life at the moment, so he’s trying not to let that affect his efficiency as chief." Although the characters' marriage is tested, McKidd reported to The Hollywood Reporter: "I think they're meant for each other. I hold out faith in Cristina and Owen, even though they go to the darkest places out of all the couples on the show. It's going to get worse but it's going to get better soon." The character has received generally positive feedback from television critics. Weeks after Hunt's first appearance on the show, Matt Roush of TV Guide commented that "Hunt/McKidd is the most encouraging thing to happen to Grey's Anatomy in quite a while." He also added: "The instant sparks between him [Hunt] and Yang were electrifying." On the other hand, Robert Rorke of the New York Post states that McKidd was brought in as Hunt to "boost the sagging fortunes" of the show's ratings. Kelley L. Carter of USA Today, describes Hunt as "hardcore" and "the antithesis of the other males on the show." Chris Monfette of IGN said that the fifth season of Grey's Anatomy was an improvement on the previous two seasons, attributing this in part to the introduction of "fresh, new characters", Owen and Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw). He also referred to McKidd as "the season [five]'s best, most effective addition", adding: Margaret Lyons of New York Magazine judged Hunt "too sad" for the first part of the ninth season. In 2010, Kevin McKidd was nominated for the Prism Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series' Multi- Episode Storyline, and won the award. In 2011, McKidd was nominated for the Prism Award for Best Performance in a Drama Series, for his work on Grey's Anatomy. McKidd was nominated, along with the rest of the Grey's Anatomy cast, for Best Drama Series at the 21st GLAAD Media Awards, in 2010. Also in 2010, McKidd, and the rest of the cast, were nominated for Outstanding Drama Series, at the NAACP Image Awards. The same nomination was received at the 2011 NAACP Image Awards, with the cast winning the award. At the 43rd NAACP Image Awards, in 2012, McKidd and the cast were nominated yet again for Outstanding Drama Series. Specific General Owen Hunt at ABC.com

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Plant reproduction is the production of new offspring in plants, which can be accomplished by sexual or asexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction produces offspring by the fusion of gametes, resulting in offspring genetically different from the parent or parents. Asexual reproduction produces new individuals without the fusion of gametes, genetically identical to the parent plants and each other, except when mutations occur. In seed plants. In asexual reproduction male and female gametes do not fuse, as they do in sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction may occur through budding, fragmentation, fission, spore formation and vegetative propagation. Plants have two main types of asexual reproduction in which new plants are produced that are genetically identical clone of the parent individual. Vegetative reproduction involves a vegetative piece of the original plant (budding, tillering, etc.) and is distinguished from apomixis, which is a replacement of sexual reproduction, and in some cases involves seeds. Apomixis appear in many plant species and also in some non-plant organisms. For apomixis and similar processes in non-plant organisms, see parthenogenesis. Natural vegetative reproduction is a process mostly found in herbaceous and woody perennial plants, and typically involves structural modifications of the stem or roots and in a few species leaves. Most plant species that employ vegetative reproduction do so as a means to perennialize the plants, allowing them to survive from one season to the next and often facilitating their expansion in size. A plant that persists in a location through vegetative reproduction of individuals constitutes a clonal colony; a single ramet, or apparent individual, of a clonal colony is genetically identical to all others in the same colony. The distance that a plant can move during vegetative reproduction is limited, though some plants can produce ramets from branching rhizomes or stolons that cover a wide area, often in only a few growing seasons. In a sense, this process is not one of reproduction but one of survival and expansion of biomass of the individual. When an individual organism increases in size via cell multiplication and remains intact, the process is called vegetative growth. However, in vegetative reproduction, the new plants that result are new individuals in almost every respect except genetic. A major disadvantage to vegetative reproduction, is the transmission of pathogens from parent to offspring; it is uncommon for pathogens to be transmitted from the plant to its seeds (in sexual reproduction or in apomixis), though there are occasions when it occurs. Seeds generated by apomixis are a means of asexual reproduction, involving the formation and dispersal of seeds that do not originate from the fertilization of the embryos. Hawkweed (Hieracium), dandelion (Taraxacum), some Citrus (Citrus) and Kentucky blue grass (Poa pratensis) all use this form of asexual reproduction. Pseudogamy occurs in some plants that have apomictic seeds, where pollination is often needed to initiate embryo growth, though the pollen contributes no genetic material to the developing offspring. Other forms of apomixis occur in plants also, including the generation of a plantlet in replacement of a seed or the generation of bulbils instead of flowers, where new cloned individuals are produced. Asexual reproduction is a type of reproduction where the offspring comes from one parent only, thus, inheriting the characteristics of the parent. A rhizome is a modified underground stem serving as an organ of vegetative reproduction; the growing tips of the rhizome can separate as new plants, e.g., polypody, iris, couch grass and nettles. Prostrate aerial stems, called runners or stolons, are important vegetative reproduction organs in some species, such as the strawberry, numerous grasses, and some ferns. Adventitious buds form on roots near the ground surface, on damaged stems (as on the stumps of cut trees), or on old roots. These develop into above-ground stems and leaves. A form of budding called suckering is the reproduction or regeneration of a plant by shoots that arise from an existing root system. Species that characteristically produce suckers include Elm (Ulmus), Dandelion (Taraxacum), and many members of the Rose family such as Rosa and Rubus. Plants like onion (Allium cepa), hyacinth (Hyacinth), narcissus (Narcissus) and tulips (Tulipa) reproduce by dividing their underground bulbs into more bulbs. Other plants like potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) and dahlia (Dahlia) reproduce by a similar method involving underground tubers. Gladioli and crocuses (Crocus) reproduce in a similar way with corms. The most common form of plant reproduction utilized by people is seeds, but a number of asexual methods are utilized which are usually enhancements of natural processes, including: cutting, grafting, budding, layering, division, sectioning of rhizomes, roots, tubers, bulbs, stolons, tillers, etc., and artificial propagation by laboratory tissue cloning. Asexual methods are most often used to propagate cultivars with individual desirable characteristics that do not come true from seed. Fruit tree propagation is frequently performed by budding or grafting desirable cultivars (clones), onto rootstocks that are also clones, propagated by stooling. In horticulture, a "cutting" is a branch that has been cut off from a mother plant below an internode and then rooted, often with the help of a rooting liquid or powder containing hormones. When a full root has formed and leaves begin to sprout anew, the clone is a self-sufficient plant, genetically identical. Examples include cuttings from the stems of blackberries (Rubus occidentalis), African violets (Saintpaulia), verbenas (Verbena) to produce new plants. A related use of cuttings is grafting, where a stem or bud is joined onto a different stem. Nurseries offer for sale trees with grafted stems that can produce four or more varieties of related fruits, including apples. The most common usage of grafting is the propagation of cultivars onto already rooted plants, sometimes the rootstock is used to dwarf the plants or protect them from root damaging pathogens. Since vegetatively propagated plants are clones, they are important tools in plant research. When a clone is grown in various conditions, differences in growth can be ascribed to environmental effects instead of genetic differences. Sexual reproduction involves two fundamental processes: meiosis, which rearranges the genes and reduces the number of chromosomes, and fertilization, which restores the chromosome to a complete diploid number. In between these two processes, different types of plants and algae vary, but many of them, including all land plants, undergo alternation of generations, with two different multicellular structures (phases), a gametophyte and a sporophyte. The evolutionary origin and adaptive significance of sexual reproduction are discussed in the pages “Evolution of sexual reproduction” and “Origin and function of meiosis.” The gametophyte is the multicellular structure (plant) that is haploid, containing a single set of chromosomes in each cell. The gametophyte produces male or female gametes (or both), by a process of cell division called mitosis. In vascular plants with separate gametophytes, female gametophytes are known as mega gametophytes (mega=large, they produce the large egg cells) and the male gametophytes are called micro gametophytes (micro=small, they produce the small sperm cells). The fusion of male and female gametes (fertilization) produces a diploid zygote, which develops by mitotic cell divisions into a multicellular sporophyte. The mature sporophyte produces spores by meiosis, sometimes referred to as "reduction division" because the chromosome pairs are separated once again to form single sets. In mosses and liverworts the gametophyte is relatively large, and the sporophyte is a much smaller structure that is never separated from the gametophyte. In ferns, gymnosperms, and flowering plants (angiosperms), the gametophytes are relatively small and the sporophyte is much larger. In gymnosperms and flowering plants the mega gametophyte is contained within the ovule (that may develop into a seed) and the micro gametophyte is contained within a pollen grain. It is known as frtilizion Unlike animals, plants are immobile, and cannot seek out sexual partners for reproduction. In the evolution of early plants, abiotic means, including water and wind, transported sperm for reproduction. The first plants were aquatic, as described in the page "Evolutionary history of plants", and released sperm freely into the water to be carried with the currents. Primitive land plants like liverworts and mosses had motile sperm that swam in a thin film of water or were splashed in water droplets from the male reproduction organs onto the female organs. As taller and more complex plants evolved, modifications in the alternation of generations evolved; in the Paleozoic era progymnosperms reproduced by using spores dispersed on the wind. The seed plants including seed ferns, conifers and cordaites, which were all gymnosperms, evolved 350 million years ago; they had pollen grains that contained the male gametes for protection of the sperm during the process of transfer from the male to female parts. It is believed that insects fed on the pollen, and plants thus evolved to use insects to actively carry pollen from one plant to the next. Seed producing plants, which include the angiosperms and the gymnosperms, have heteromorphic alternation of generations with large sporophytes containing much reduced gametophytes. Angiosperms have distinctive reproductive organs called flowers, with carpels, and the female gametophyte is greatly reduced to a female embryo sac, with as few as eight cells. The male gametophyte consists of the pollen grains. The sperm of seed plants are non-motile, except for two older groups of plants, the Cycadophyta and the Ginkgophyta, which have flagellated sperm. Flowering plants are the dominant plant form on land and they reproduce by sexual and asexual means. Often their most distinguishing feature is their reproductive organs, commonly called flowers. Sexual reproduction in flowering plants involves the production of male and female gametes, the transfer of the male gametes to the female ovules in a process called pollination. After pollination occurs, fertilization happens and the ovules grow into seeds within a fruit. After the seeds are ready for dispersal, the fruit ripens and by various means the seeds are freed from the fruit and after varying amounts of time and under specific conditions the seeds germinate and grow into the next generation. The anther produces male gametophytes which are pollen grains, which attach to the stigma on top of a carpel, in which the female gametophytes (inside ovules) are located. After the pollen tube grows through the carpel's style, the sperm from the pollen grain migrate into the ovule to fertilize the egg cell and central cell within the female gametophyte in a process termed double fertilization. The resulting zygote develops into an embryo, while the triploid endosperm (one sperm cell plus a binucleate female cell) and female tissues of the ovule give rise to the surrounding tissues in the developing seed. The ovary, which produced the female gametophyte(s), then grows into a fruit, which surrounds the seed(s). Plants may either self- pollinate or cross-pollinate. In plants that use insects or other animals to move pollen from one flower to the next, plants have developed greatly modified flower parts to attract pollinators and to facilitate the movement of pollen from one flower to the insect and from the insect back to the next flower. Flowers of wind pollinated plants tend to lack petals and or sepals; typically large amounts of pollen are produced and pollination often occurs early in the growing season before leaves can interfere with the dispersal of the pollen. Many trees and all grasses and sedges are wind pollinated, as such they have no need for large fancy flowers. Plants have a number of different means to attract pollinators including colour, scent, heat, nectar glands, edible pollen and flower shape. Along with modifications involving the above structures two other conditions play a very important role in the sexual reproduction of flowering plants, the first is timing of flowering and the other is the size or number of flowers produced. Often plant species have a few large, very showy flowers while others produce many small flowers, often flowers are collected together into large inflorescences to maximize their visual effect, becoming more noticeable to passing pollinators. Flowers are attraction strategies and sexual expressions are functional strategies used to produce the next generation of plants, with pollinators and plants having co-evolved, often to some extraordinary degrees, very often rendering mutual benefit. The largest family of flowering plants is the orchids (Orchidaceae), estimated by some specialists to include up to 35,000 species, which often have highly specialized flowers that attract particular insects for pollination. The stamens are modified to produce pollen in clusters called pollinia, which become attached to insects that crawl into the flower. The flower shapes may force insects to pass by the pollen, which is "glued" to the insect. Some orchids are even more highly specialized, with flower shapes that mimic the shape of insects to attract them to attempt to 'mate' with the flowers, a few even have scents that mimic insect pheromones. Another large group of flowering plants is the Asteraceae or sunflower family with close to 22,000 species, which also have highly modified inflorescences that are flowers collected together in heads composed of a composite of individual flowers called florets. Heads with florets of one sex, when the flowers are pistillate or functionally staminate, or made up of all bisexual florets, are called homogamous and can include discoid and liguliflorous type heads. Some radiate heads may be homogamous too. Plants with heads that have florets of two or more sexual forms are called heterogamous and include radiate and disciform head forms, though some radiate heads may be heterogamous too. Ferns typically produce large diploids with stem, roots and leaves; and on fertile leaves called sporangium, spores are produced. The spores are released and germinate to produce short, thin gametophytes that are typically heart shaped, small and green in color. The gametophytes or thallus, produce both motile sperm in the antheridia and egg cells in separate archegonia. After rains or when dew deposits a film of water, the motile sperm are splashed away from the antheridia, which are normally produced on the top side of the thallus, and swim in the film of water to the antheridia where they fertilize the egg. To promote out crossing or cross fertilization the sperm are released before the eggs are receptive of the sperm, making it more likely that the sperm will fertilize the eggs of different thallus. A zygote is formed after fertilization, which grows into a new sporophytic plant. The condition of having separate sporophyte and gametophyte plants is call alternation of generations. Other plants with similar reproductive means include the Psilotum, Lycopodium, Selaginella and Equisetum. The bryophytes, which include liverworts, hornworts and mosses, reproduce both sexually and vegetatively. The gametophyte is the most commonly known phase of the plant. All are small plants found growing in moist locations and like ferns, have motile sperm with flagella and need water to facilitate sexual reproduction. These plants start as a haploid spore that grows into the dominate form, which is a multicellular haploid body with leaf-like structures that photosynthesize. Haploid gametes are produced in antherida and archegonia by mitosis. The sperm released from the antheridia respond to chemicals released by ripe archegonia and swim to them in a film of water and fertilize the egg cells, thus producing zygotes that are diploid. The zygote divides by mitotic division and grows into a sporophyte that is diploid. The multicellular diploid sporophyte produces structures called spore capsules. The spore capsules produce spores by meiosis, and when ripe, the capsules burst open and the spores are released. Bryophytes show considerable variation in their breeding structures and the above is a basic outline. In some species each gametophyte is one sex while other species produce both antheridia and archegonia on the same gametophyte which is thus hermaphrodite. Meiosis, Asexual reproduction Simple Video Tutorial on Reproduction in Plant Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The success of this joining requires that the vascular tissues grow together and such joining is called inosculation. The technique is most commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants for the horticultural and agricultural trades. In most cases, one plant is selected for its roots and this is called the stock or rootstock. The other plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits and is called the scion or cion. The scion contains the desired genes to be duplicated in future production by the stock/scion plant. In stem grafting, a common grafting method, a shoot of a selected, desired plant cultivar is grafted onto the stock of another type. In another common form called bud grafting, a dormant side bud is grafted onto the stem of another stock plant, and when it has inosculated successfully, it is encouraged to grow by pruning off the stem of the stock plant just above the newly grafted bud. For successful grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive until the graft has "taken", usually a period of a few weeks. Successful grafting only requires that a vascular connection take place between the grafted tissues. Research conducted in Arabidopsis thaliana hypocotyls have shown that the connection of phloem takes place after 3 days of initial grafting, whereas the connection of xylem can take up to 7 days. Joints formed by grafting are not as strong as naturally formed joints, so a physical weak point often still occurs at the graft because only the newly formed tissues inosculate with each other. The existing structural tissue (or wood) of the stock plant does not fuse. Precocity: The ability to induce fruitfulness without the need for completing the juvenile phase. Juvenility is the natural state through which a seedling plant must pass before it can become reproductive. In most fruiting trees, juvenility may last between 5 and 9 years, but in some tropical fruits, e.g., mangosteen, juvenility may be prolonged for up to 15 years. Grafting of mature scions onto rootstocks can result in fruiting in as little as two years., Dwarfing: To induce dwarfing or cold tolerance or other characteristics to the scion. Most apple trees in modern orchards are grafted on to dwarf or semi-dwarf trees planted at high density. They provide more fruit per unit of land, of higher quality, and reduce the danger of accidents by harvest crews working on ladders. Care must be taken when planting dwarf or semi-dwarf trees. If such a tree is planted with the graft below the soil, then the scion portion can also grow roots and the tree will still grow to its standard size., Ease of propagation: Because the scion is difficult to propagate vegetatively by other means, such as by cuttings. In this case, cuttings of an easily rooted plant are used to provide a rootstock. In some cases, the scion may be easily propagated, but grafting may still be used because it is commercially the most cost-effective way of raising a particular type of plant., Hybrid breeding: To speed maturity of hybrids in fruit tree breeding programs. Hybrid seedlings may take ten or more years to flower and fruit on their own roots. Grafting can reduce the time to flowering and shorten the breeding program., Hardiness: Because the scion has weak roots or the roots of the stock plants are tolerant of difficult conditions. e.g. many Western Australian plants are sensitive to dieback on heavy soils, common in urban gardens, and are grafted onto hardier eastern Australian relatives. Grevilleas and eucalypts are examples., Sturdiness: To provide a strong, tall trunk for certain ornamental shrubs and trees. In these cases, a graft is made at a desired height on a stock plant with a strong stem. This is used to raise 'standard' roses, which are rose bushes on a high stem, and it is also used for some ornamental trees, such as certain weeping cherries., Disease/pest resistance: In areas where soil-borne pests or pathogens would prevent the successful planting of the desired cultivar, the use of pest/disease tolerant rootstocks allow the production from the cultivar that would be otherwise unsuccessful. A major example is the use of rootstocks in combating Phylloxera., Pollen source: To provide pollenizers. For example, in tightly planted or badly planned apple orchards of a single variety, limbs of crab apple may be grafted at regularly spaced intervals onto trees down rows, say every fourth tree. This takes care of pollen needs at blossom time, yet does not confuse pickers who might otherwise mix varieties while harvesting, as the mature crab apples are so distinct from other apple varieties., Repair: To repair damage to the trunk of a tree that would prohibit nutrient flow, such as stripping of the bark by rodents that completely girdles the trunk. In this case a bridge graft may be used to connect tissues receiving flow from the roots to tissues above the damage that have been severed from the flow. Where a water sprout, basal shoot or sapling of the same species is growing nearby, any of these can be grafted to the area above the damage by a method called inarch grafting. These alternatives to scions must be of the correct length to span the gap of the wound., Changing cultivars: To change the cultivar in a fruit orchard to a more profitable cultivar, called top working. It may be faster to graft a new cultivar onto existing limbs of established trees than to replant an entire orchard., Genetic consistency: Apples are notorious for their genetic variability, even differing in multiple characteristics, such as, size, color, and flavor, of fruits located on the same tree. In the commercial farming industry, consistency is maintained by grafting a scion with desired fruit traits onto a hardy stock., Curiosities, A practice sometimes carried out by gardeners is to graft related potatoes and tomatoes so that both are produced on the same plant, one above ground and one underground., Cacti of widely different forms are sometimes grafted on to each other., Multiple cultivars of fruits such as apples are sometimes grafted on a single tree. This so-called "family tree" provides more fruit variety for small spaces such as a suburban backyard, and also takes care of the need for pollenizers. The drawback is that the gardener must be sufficiently trained to prune them correctly, or one strong variety will usually "take over." Multiple cultivars of different "stone fruits" (Prunus species) can be grafted on a single tree. This is called a "fruit salad tree"., Ornamental and functional, tree shaping uses grafting techniques to join separate trees or parts of the same tree to itself. Furniture, hearts, entry archways are examples. Axel Erlandson was a prolific tree shaper who grew over 75 mature specimens. Compatibility of scion and stock: Because grafting involves the joining of vascular tissues between the scion and rootstock, plants lacking vascular cambium, such as monocots, cannot normally be grafted. As a general rule, the closer two plants are genetically, the more likely the graft union will form. Genetically identical clones and intra-species plants have a high success rate for grafting. Grafting between species of the same genus is sometimes successful. Grafting has a low success rate when performed with plants in the same family but in different genera. And grafting between different families is rare., Cambium alignment and pressure: The vascular cambium of the scion and stock should be tightly pressed together and oriented in the direction of normal growth. Proper alignment and pressure encourages the tissues to join quickly, allowing nutrients and water to transfer from the stockroot to the scion., Completed during appropriate stage of plant: The grafting is completed at a time when the scion and stock are capable of producing callus and other wound-response tissues. Generally, grafting is performed when the scion is dormant, as premature budding can drain the grafting site of moisture before the grafting union is properly established. Temperature greatly affects the physiological stage of plants. If the temperature is too warm, premature budding may result. Elsewise, high temperatures can slow or halt callus formation., Proper care of graft site: After grafting, it is important to nurse the grafted plant back to health for a period of time. Various grafting tapes and waxes are used to protect the scion and stock from excessive water loss. Furthermore, depending on the type of graft, twine or string is used to add structural support to the grafting site. Sometimes it is necessary to prune the site, as the rootstock may produce shoots that inhibit the growth of the scion. Cutting tools: It is good procedure to keep the cutting tool sharp to minimize tissue damage and clean from dirt and other substances to avoid the spread of disease. A good knife for general grafting should have a blade and handle length of about 3 inches and 4 inches respectively. Specialized knives for grafting include bud-grafting knives, surgical knives, and pruning knives. Cleavers, chisels, and saws are utilized when the stock is too large to be cut otherwise., Disinfecting tools: Treating the cutting tools with disinfectants ensures the grafting site is clear of pathogens. A common sterilizing agent is absolute alcohol., Graft seals: Keeps the grafting site hydrated. Good seals should be tight enough to retain moisture while, at the same time, loose enough to accommodate plant growth. Includes specialized types of clay, wax, petroleum jelly, and adhesive tape., Tying and support materials: Adds support and pressure to the grafting site to hold the stock and scion together before the tissues join, which is especially important in herbaceous grafting. The employed material is often dampened before use to help protect the site from desiccation. Support equipment includes strips made from various substances, twine, nails, and splints., Grafting machines: Because grafting can take a lot of time and skill, grafting machines have been created. Automation is particularly popular for seedling grafting in countries such as Japan and Korea where farming land is both limited and used intensively. Certain machines can graft 800 seedlings per hour. Approach grafting or inarching is used to join together plants that are otherwise difficult to join. The plants are grown close together, and then joined so that each plant has roots below and growth above the point of union. Both scion and stock retain their respective parents that may or may not be removed after joining. Also used in pleaching. The graft can be successfully accomplished any time of year. Bud grafting (also called chip budding) uses a bud instead of a twig. Grafting roses is the most common example of bud grafting. In this method a bud is removed from the parent plant, and the base of the bud is inserted beneath the bark of the stem of the stock plant from which the rest of the shoot has been cut. Any extra bud that starts growing from the stem of the stock plant is removed. Examples: roses and fruit trees like peaches. Budwood is a stick with several buds on it that can be cut out and used for bud grafting. It is a common method of propagation for citrus trees. In cleft grafting a small cut is made in the stock and then the pointed end of the scion is inserted in the stock. This is best done in the early spring and is useful for joining a thin scion about diameter to a thicker branch or stock. It is best if the former has 3–5 buds and the latter is in diameter. The branch or stock should be split carefully down the middle to form a cleft about deep. If it is a branch that is not vertical then the cleft should be cut horizontally. The end of the scion should be cut cleanly to a long shallow wedge, preferably with a single cut for each wedge surface, and not whittled. A third cut may be made across the end of the wedge to make it straight across. Slide the wedge into the cleft so that it is at the edge of the stock and the centre of the wedge faces are against the cambium layer between the bark and the wood. It is preferable if a second scion is inserted in a similar way into the other side of the cleft. This helps to seal off the cleft. Tape around the top of the stock to hold the scion in place and cover with grafting wax or sealing compound. This stops the cambium layers from drying out and also prevents the ingress of water into the cleft. In whip grafting the scion and the stock are cut slanting and then joined. The grafted point is then bound with tape and covered with a soft sealant to prevent dehydration and infection by germs. The common variation is a whip and tongue graft, which is considered the most difficult to master but has the highest rate of success as it offers the most cambium contact between the scion and the stock. It is the most common graft used in preparing commercial fruit trees. It is generally used with stock less than diameter, with the ideal diameter closer to and the scion should be of roughly the same diameter as the stock. The stock is cut through on one side only at a shallow angle with a sharp knife. (If the stock is a branch and not the main trunk of the rootstock then the cut surface should face outward from the centre of the tree.) The scion is similarly sliced through at an equal angle starting just below a bud, so that the bud is at the top of the cut and on the other side than the cut face. In the whip and tongue variation, a notch is cut downwards into the sliced face of the stock and a similar cut upwards into the face of the scion cut. These act as the tongues and it requires some skill to make the cuts so that the scion and the stock marry up neatly. The elongated "Z" shape adds strength, removing the need for a companion rod in the first season (see illustration). The joint is then taped around and treated with tree-sealing compound or grafting wax. A whip graft without a tongue is less stable and may need added support. Stub grafting is a technique that requires less stock than cleft grafting, and retains the shape of a tree. Also scions are generally of 6–8 buds in this process. An incision is made into the branch long, then the scion is wedged and forced into the branch. The scion should be at an angle of at most 35° to the parent tree so that the crotch remains strong. The graft is covered with grafting compound. After the graft has taken, the branch is removed and treated a few centimeters above the graft, to be fully removed when the graft is strong. The four-flap graft (also called banana graft) is commonly used for pecans, and first became popular with this species in Oklahoma in 1975. It is heralded for maximum cambium overlap, but is a complex graft. It requires similarly sized diameters for the rootstock and scion. The bark of the rootstock is sliced and peeled back in four flaps, and the hardwood is removed, looking somewhat like a peeled banana. It is a difficult graft to learn. Awl grafting takes the least resources and the least time. It is best done by an experienced grafter, as it is possible to accidentally drive the tool too far into the stock, reducing the scion's chance of survival. Awl grafting can be done by using a screwdriver to make a slit in the bark, not penetrating the cambium layer completely. Then inset the wedged scion into the incision. Veneer grafting, or inlay grafting, is a method used for stock larger than in diameter. The scion is recommended to be about as thick as a pencil. Clefts are made of the same size as the scion on the side of the branch, not on top. The scion end is shaped as a wedge, inserted, and wrapped with tape to the scaffolding branches to give it more strength. May alternately be named a rind graft or a bark graft. Tree branches and more often roots of the same species will sometimes naturally graft; this is called inosculation. The bark of the tree may be stripped away when the roots make physical contact with each other, exposing the vascular cambium and allowing the roots to graft together. A group of trees can share water and mineral nutrients via root grafts, which may be advantageous to weaker trees, and may also form a larger rootmass as an adaptation to promote fire resistance and regeneration as exemplified by the California black oak (Quercus kelloggii). Additionally, grafting may protect the group from wind damages as a result of the increased mechanical stability provided by the grafting. Albino redwoods use root grafting as a form of plant parasitism of normal redwoods. A problem with root grafts is that they allow transmission of certain pathogens, such as Dutch elm disease. Inosculation also sometimes occurs where two stems on the same tree, shrub or vine make contact with each other. This is common in plants such as strawberries and potato. Natural grafting is rarely seen in herbaceous plants as those types of plants generally have short-lived roots with little to no secondary growth in the vascular cambium. Occasionally, a so-called "graft hybrid" or more accurately graft chimera can occur where the tissues of the stock continue to grow within the scion. Such a plant can produce flowers and foliage typical of both plants as well as shoots intermediate between the two. The best-known example this is probably +Laburnocytisus 'Adamii', a graft hybrid between Laburnum and Cytisus, which originated in a nursery near Paris, France, in 1825. This small tree bears yellow flowers typical of Laburnum anagyroides, purple flowers typical of Cytisus purpureus and curious coppery-pink flowers that show characteristics of both "parents". Many species of cactus can also produce graft chimeras under the right conditions although they are often created unintentionally and such results are often hard to replicate. Grafting has been important in flowering research. Leaves or shoots from plants induced to flower can be grafted onto uninduced plants and transmit a floral stimulus that induces them to flower. The transmission of plant viruses has been studied using grafting. Virus indexing involves grafting a symptomless plant that is suspected of carrying a virus onto an indicator plant that is very susceptible to the virus. Grafting can transfer chloroplasts (specialised DNA in plants that can conduct photosynthesis), mitochondrial DNA and the entire cell nucleus containing the genome to potentially make a new species making grafting a form of natural genetic engineering. White spruce can be grafted with consistent success by using scions of current growth on thrifty 4- to 5-year-old rootstock (Nienstaedt and Teich 1972). Before greenhouse grafting, rootstocks should be potted in late spring, allowed to make seasonal growth, then subjected to a period of chilling outdoors, or for about 8 weeks in a cool room at 2 °C (Nienstaedt 1966). A method of grafting white spruce of seed-bearing age during the time of seed harvest in the fall was developed by Nienstaedt et al. (1958). Scions of white spruce of 2 ages of wood from 30- to 60-year-old trees were collected in the fall and grafted by 3 methods on potted stock to which different day-length treatments had been applied prior to grafting. The grafted stock were given long-day and natural-day treatments. Survival was 70% to 100% and showed effects of rootstock and post-grafting treatments in only a few cases. Photoperiod and temperature treatments after grafting, however, had considerable effect on scion activity and total growth. The best post-grafting treatment was 4 weeks of long-day treatment followed by 2 weeks of short-day treatment, then 8 weeks of chilling, and finally long-day treatment. Since grafts of white spruce put on relatively little growth in the 2 years after grafting, techniques for accelerating the early growth were studied by Greenwood (1988) and others. The cultural regimes used to promote one additional growth cycle in one year involve manipulation of day length and the use of cold storage to satisfy chilling requirements. Greenwood took dormant potted grafts into the greenhouse in early January then gradually raised the temperature during the course of a week until the minimum temperature rose to 15 °C. Photoperiod was increased to 18 hours using incandescent lighting. In this technique, grafts are grown until elongation has been completed, normally by mid-March. Soluble 10-52-10 fertilizer is applied at both ends of the growth cycle and 20-20-20 during the cycle, with irrigation as needed. When growth elongation is complete, day length is reduced to 8 hours using a blackout curtain. Budset follows, and the grafts are held in the greenhouse until mid-May. Grafts are then moved into a cooler at 4 °C for 1000 hours, after which they are moved to a shade frame where they grow normally, with applications of fertilizer and irrigation as in the first cycle. Grafts are moved into cold frames or unheated greenhouse in September until January. Flower induction treatments are begun on grafts that have reached a minimum length of 1.0 m. Repotting from an initial pot size of 4.5 litre to 16 litre containers with a 2:1:1 soil mix of peat moss, loam, and aggregate. In one of the first accelerated growth experiments, white spruce grafts made in January and February that would normally elongate shortly after grafting, set bud, and remain in that condition until the following spring, were refrigerated for 500, 1000, or 1500 hours beginning in mid-July, and a non-refrigerated control was held in the nursery. After completion of the cold treatment, the grafts were moved into the greenhouse with an 18-hour photoperiod until late October. Height increment was significantly (P 0.01) influenced by cold treatment. Best results were given by the 1000-hour treatment. The refrigeration (cold treatment) phase was subsequently shown to be effective when applied 2 months earlier with proper handling and use of blackout curtains, which allows the second growth cycle to be completed in time to satisfy dormancy requirements before January (Greenwood et al. 1988). Grafting is often done for non-woody and vegetable plants (tomato, cucumber, eggplant and watermelon). Tomato grafting is very popular in Asia and Europe, and is gaining popularity in the United States. The main advantage of grafting is for disease-resistant rootstocks. Researchers in Japan developed automated processes using grafting robots as early as 1987. Plastic tubing can be used to prevent desiccation and support the healing at the graft/scion interface. As humans began to domesticate plants and animals, horticultural techniques that could reliably propagate the desired qualities of long-lived woody plants needed to be developed. Although grafting is not specifically mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, it is claimed that ancient Biblical text hints at the practice of grafting. For example, Leviticus 19:19, which dates to around 1400 BCE, states " [the Hebrew people] shalt not sow their field with mingled seed... "(King James Bible) Some scholars believe the phrase mingled seeds includes grafting, although this interpretation remains contentious among scholars. Grafting is also mentioned in the New Testament. In Romans 11, starting at verse 17, there is a discussion about the grafting of wild olive trees concerning the relationship between Jews and Gentiles. By 500 BCE grafting was well established and practiced in the region as the Mishna describes grafting as a commonplace technique used to grow grapevines. According to recent research: "grafting technology had been practiced in China before 2000 BC". Additional evidence for grafting in China is found in Jia Sixie's 6th century CE agricultural treatise Qimin Yaoshu (Essential Skills for the Common People). It discusses grafting pear twigs onto crab apple, jujube and pomegranate stock (domesticated apples had not yet arrived in China), as well as grafting persimmons. The Qimin yaoshu refers to older texts that referred to grafting, but those works are missing. Nonetheless, given the sophistication of the methods discussed, and the long history of arboriculture in the region, grafting must have already been practiced for centuries by this time. In Greece, a medical record written in 424 BCE contains the first direct reference to grafting. The title of the work is On the Nature of the Child and is thought to be written by a follower of Hippocrates. The language of the author suggests that grafting appeared centuries before this period. In Rome, Marcus Porcius Cato wrote the oldest surviving Latin text in 160 BCE. The book is called De Agri Cultura (On Farming Agriculture) and outlines several grafting methods. Other authors in the region would write about grafting in the following years, however, the publications often featured fallacious scion-stock combinations. During the European Dark Ages, Arabic regions were experiencing an Islamic Golden Age of scientific, technological, and cultural advancement. Creating lavishly flourished gardens would be a common form of competition among Islamic leaders at the time. Because the region would receive an influx of foreign ornamentals to decorate these gardens, grafting was used much during this period. After the fall of the Roman Empire, grafting survived in the Christian monasteries of Europe until it regained popular appeal during the Renaissance. The invention of the printing press inspired a number of authors to publish books on gardening that included information on grafting. One example, A New Orchard and Garden: Or, the Best Way for Planting, Graffing, and to Make Any Ground Good for a Rich Orchard, Particularly in the North, was written by William Lawson in 1618. While the book contains practical grafting techniques, some even still used today, it suffers from exaggerated claims of scion-stock compatibility typical of this period. While grafting continued to grow in Europe during the eighteenth century, it was considered unnecessary in the United States as the produce from fruit trees was largely used either to make cider or feed hogs. Beginning in 1864, and without warning, grapevines across France began to sharply decline. Thanks to the efforts of scientists such as C. V. Riley and J. E. Planchon, the culprit was identified to be phylloxera, an insect that infests the roots of vines and causes fungal infections. Initially, farmers unsuccessfully attempted to contain the pest by removing and burning affected vines. When it was discovered that phylloxera was an invasive species introduced from North America, some suggested importing rootstock from the region as the North American vines were resistant to the pest. Others, opposed to the idea, argued that American rootstocks would imbue the French grapes with an undesirable taste; they instead preferred to inject the soil with expensive pesticides. Ultimately, grafting American rootstock onto French vines became prevalent throughout the region, creating new grafting techniques and machines. American rootstocks had trouble adapting to the high soil pH value of some regions in France so the final solution to the pandemic was to hybridize the American and French variants. Seed orchard, Tree of 40 Fruit In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, fungi and protozoa. Bacterial spores are not part of a sexual cycle but are resistant structures used for survival under unfavourable conditions. Myxozoan spores release amoebulae into their hosts for parasitic infection, but also reproduce within the hosts through the pairing of two nuclei within the plasmodium, which develops from the amoebula. Spores are usually haploid and unicellular and are produced by meiosis in the sporangium of a diploid sporophyte. Under favourable conditions the spore can develop into a new organism using mitotic division, producing a multicellular gametophyte, which eventually goes on to produce gametes. Two gametes fuse to form a zygote which develops into a new sporophyte. This cycle is known as alternation of generations. The spores of seed plants are produced internally, and the megaspores (formed within the ovules) and the microspores are involved in the formation of more complex structures that form the dispersal units, the seeds and pollen grains. The term spore derives from the ancient Greek word σπορά spora, meaning "seed, sowing", related to σπόρος sporos, "sowing", and σπείρειν speirein, "to sow". In common parlance, the difference between a "spore" and a "gamete" is that a spore will germinate and develop into a sporeling, while a gamete needs to combine with another gamete to form a zygote before developing further. The main difference between spores and seeds as dispersal units is that spores are unicellular, the first cell of a gametophyte, while seeds contain within them a developing embryo (the multicellular sporophyte of the next generation), produced by the fusion of the male gamete of the pollen tube with the female gamete formed by the megagametophyte within the ovule. Spores germinate to give rise to haploid gametophytes, while seeds germinate to give rise to diploid sporophytes. Vascular plant spores are always haploid. Vascular plants are either homosporous (or isosporous) or heterosporous. Plants that are homosporous produce spores of the same size and type. Heterosporous plants, such as seed plants, spikemosses, quillworts, and ferns of the order Salviniales produce spores of two different sizes: the larger spore (megaspore) in effect functioning as a "female" spore and the smaller (microspore) functioning as a "male". Such plants typically give rise to the two kind of spores from within separate sporangia, either a megasporangium that produces megaspores or a microsporangium that produces microspores. In flowering plants, these sporangia occur within the carpel and anthers, respectively. Fungi commonly produce spores, as a result of sexual, or asexual, reproduction. Spores are usually haploid and grow into mature haploid individuals through mitotic division of cells (Urediniospores and Teliospores among rusts are dikaryotic). Dikaryotic cells result from the fusion of two haploid gamete cells. Among sporogenic dikaryotic cells, karyogamy (the fusion of the two haploid nuclei) occurs to produce a diploid cell. Diploid cells undergo meiosis to produce haploid spores. Spores can be classified in several ways: In fungi and fungus-like organisms, spores are often classified by the structure in which meiosis and spore production occurs. Since fungi are often classified according to their spore-producing structures, these spores are often characteristic of a particular taxon of the fungi. Sporangiospores: spores produced by a sporangium in many fungi such as zygomycetes., Zygospores: spores produced by a zygosporangium, characteristic of zygomycetes., Ascospores: spores produced by an ascus, characteristic of ascomycetes., Basidiospores: spores produced by a basidium, characteristic of basidiomycetes., Aeciospores: spores produced by an aecium in some fungi such as rusts or smuts., Urediniospores: spores produced by a uredinium in some fungi such as rusts or smuts., Teliospores: spores produced by a telium in some fungi such as rusts or smuts., Oospores: spores produced by an oogonium, characteristic of oomycetes. Carpospores: spores produced by a carposporophyte, characteristic of red algae., Tetraspores: spores produced by a tetrasporophyte, characteristic of red algae. Chlamydospores: thick-walled resting spores of fungi produced to survive unfavorable conditions., Parasitic fungal spores may be classified into internal spores, which germinate within the host, and external spores, also called environmental spores, released by the host to infest other hosts. Meiospores: spores produced by meiosis; they are thus haploid, and give rise to a haploid daughter cell(s) or a haploid individual. Examples are the precursor cells of gametophytes of seed plants found in flowers (angiosperms) or cones (gymnosperms), and the zoospores produced from meiosis in the sporophytes of algae such as Ulva., Microspores: meiospores that give rise to a male gametophyte, (pollen in seed plants)., Megaspores (or macrospores): meiospores that give rise to a female gametophyte, (in seed plants the gametophyte forms within the ovule)., Mitospores (or conidia, conidiospores): spores produced by mitosis; they are characteristic of Ascomycetes. Fungi in which only mitospores are found are called "mitosporic fungi" or "anamorphic fungi", and are previously classified under the taxon Deuteromycota (See Teleomorph, anamorph and holomorph). Spores can be differentiated by whether they can move or not. Zoospores: mobile spores that move by means of one or more flagella, and can be found in some algae and fungi., Aplanospores: immobile spores that may nevertheless potentially grow flagella., Autospores: immobile spores that cannot develop flagella., Ballistospores: spores that are forcibly discharged or ejected from the fungal fruiting body as the result of an internal force, such as buildup of pressure. Most basidiospores are also ballistospores, and another notable example is spores of the genus Pilobolus., Statismospores: spores that are discharged from the fungal fruiting body as the result of an external force, such as raindrops or a passing animal. Examples are puffballs. Under high magnification, spores often have complex patterns or ornamentation on their exterior surfaces. A specialized terminology has been developed to describe features of such patterns. Some markings represent apertures, places where the tough outer coat of the spore can be penetrated when germination occurs. Spores can be categorized based on the position and number of these markings and apertures. Alete spores show no lines. In monolete spores, there is a single narrow line (laesura) on the spore. This indicates the mother spore split into four along a vertical axis. In trilete spores, each spore shows three narrow lines radiating from a center pole. This shows that four spores shared a common origin and were initially in contact with each other forming a tetrahedron. A wider aperture in the shape of a groove may be termed a colpus. The number of colpi distinguishes major groups of plants. Eudicots have tricolpate spores (i.e. spores with three colpi). Envelope-enclosed spore tetrads are taken as the earliest evidence of plant life on land, dating from the mid-Ordovician (early Llanvirn, ~), a period from which no macrofossils have yet been recovered. Individual trilete spores resembling those of modern cryptogamic plants first appeared in the fossil record at the end of the Ordovician period. In fungi, both asexual and sexual spores or sporangiospores of many fungal species are actively dispersed by forcible ejection from their reproductive structures. This ejection ensures exit of the spores from the reproductive structures as well as travelling through the air over long distances. Many fungi thereby possess specialized mechanical and physiological mechanisms as well as spore-surface structures, such as hydrophobins, for spore ejection. These mechanisms include, for example, forcible discharge of ascospores enabled by the structure of the ascus and accumulation of osmolytes in the fluids of the ascus that lead to explosive discharge of the ascospores into the air. The forcible discharge of single spores termed ballistospores involves formation of a small drop of water (Buller's drop), which upon contact with the spore leads to its projectile release with an initial acceleration of more than 10,000 g. Other fungi rely on alternative mechanisms for spore release, such as external mechanical forces, exemplified by puffballs. Attracting insects, such as flies, to fruiting structures, by virtue of their having lively colours and a putrid odour, for dispersal of fungal spores is yet another strategy, most prominently used by the stinkhorns. In Common Smoothcap moss (Atrichum undulatum), the vibration of sporophyte has been shown to be an important mechanism for spore release. In the case of spore-shedding vascular plants such as ferns, wind distribution of very light spores provides great capacity for dispersal. Also, spores are less subject to animal predation than seeds because they contain almost no food reserve; however they are more subject to fungal and bacterial predation. Their chief advantage is that, of all forms of progeny, spores require the least energy and materials to produce. In the spikemoss Selaginella lepidophylla, dispersal is achieved in part by an unusual type of diaspore, a tumbleweed. Alternation of generations, Auxiliary cell, Bioaerosol, Cryptospores, Endospore, Evolutionary history of plants, Fern, Sporophyte

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A medieval university was a corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of higher education. The first Western European institutions generally considered universities were established in the Kingdom of Italy (then part of the Holy Roman Empire), the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of France, the Kingdom of Spain, and the Kingdom of Portugal between the 11th and 15th centuries for the study of the Arts and the higher disciplines of Theology, Law, and Medicine. During the 14th century there was an increase in growth of universities and colleges around Europe. These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the exact date when they became true universities, though the lists of studia generalia for higher education in Europe held by the Vatican are a useful guide. The word universitas originally applied only to the scholastic guilds—that is, the corporation of students and masters—within the studium, and it was always modified, as universitas magistrorum, universitas scholarium, or universitas magistrorum et scholarium. Eventually, however, probably in the late 14th century, the term began to appear by itself to exclusively mean a self-regulating community of teachers and scholars recognized and sanctioned by civil or ecclesiastical authority. From the early modern period onward, this Western-style organizational form gradually spread from the medieval Latin west across the globe, eventually replacing all other higher-learning institutions and becoming the preeminent model for higher education everywhere. The university is generally regarded as a formal institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. Prior to the establishment of universities, European higher education took place for hundreds of years in Christian cathedral schools or monastic schools (scholae monasticae), in which monks and nuns taught classes. Evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the 6th century AD. With the increasing growth and urbanization of European society during the 12th and 13th centuries, a demand grew for professional clergy. Before the 12th century, the intellectual life of Western Europe had been largely relegated to monasteries, which were mostly concerned with performing the liturgy and prayer; relatively few monasteries could boast true intellectuals. Following the Gregorian Reform's emphasis on canon law and the study of the sacraments, bishops formed cathedral schools to train the clergy in Canon law, but also in the more secular aspects of religious administration, including logic and disputation for use in preaching and theological discussion, and accounting to control finances more effectively. Pope Gregory VII was critical in promoting and regulating the concept of modern university as his 1079 Papal Decree ordered the regulated establishment of cathedral schools that transformed themselves into the first European universities. Learning became essential to advancing in the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and teachers also gained prestige. Demand quickly outstripped the capacity of cathedral schools, each of which was essentially run by one teacher. In addition, tensions rose between the students of cathedral schools and burghers in smaller towns. As a result, cathedral schools migrated to large cities, like Bologna, Rome and Paris. Some scholars such as Syed Farid Alatas have noted some parallels between Madrasahs and early European colleges and have thus inferred that the first universities in Europe were influenced by the Madrasahs in Islamic Spain and the Emirate of Sicily. Other scholars such as George Makdisi, Toby Huff and Norman Daniel, however, have questioned this, citing the lack of evidence for an actual transmission from the Islamic world to Christian Europe and highlighting the differences in the structure, methodologies, procedures, curricula and legal status of the "Islamic college" (madrasa) versus the European university. Hastings Rashdall set out the modern understanding of the medieval origins of the universities, noting that the earliest universities emerged spontaneously as "a scholastic Guild, whether of Masters or Students... without any express authorization of King, Pope, Prince or Prelate." Among the earliest universities of this type were the University of Bologna (1088), University of Paris (teach. mid-11th century, recogn. 1150), University of Oxford (teach. 1096, recogn. 1167), University of Modena (1175), University of Palencia (1208), University of Cambridge (1209), University of Salamanca (1218), University of Montpellier (1220), University of Padua (1222), University of Toulouse (1229), University of Orleans (1235), University of Siena (1240), University of Valladolid (1241) University of Northampton (1261), University of Coimbra (1288), University of Pisa (1343), Charles University in Prague (1348), Jagiellonian University (1364), University of Vienna (1365), Heidelberg University (1386) and the University of St Andrews (1413) begun as private corporations of teachers and their pupils. In many cases universities petitioned secular power for privileges and this became a model. Emperor Frederick I in Authentica Habita (1158) gave the first privileges to students in Bologna. Another step was when Pope Alexander III in 1179 "forbidding masters of the church schools to take fees for granting the license to teach (licentia docendi), and obliging them to give license to properly qualified teachers". Hastings Rashdall considered that the integrity of a university was only preserved in such an internally regulated corporation, which protected the scholars from external intervention. This independently evolving organization was absent in the universities of southern Italy and Spain, which served the bureaucratic needs of monarchs—and were, according to Rashdall, their artificial creations. The University of Paris was formally recognized when Pope Gregory IX issued the bull Parens scientiarum (1231). This was a revolutionary step: studium generale (university) and universitas (corporation of students or teachers) existed even before, but after the issuing of the bull, they attained autonomy. "[T]he papal bull of 1233, which stipulated that anyone admitted as a teacher in Toulouse had the right to teach everywhere without further examinations (ius ubique docendi), in time, transformed this privilege into the single most important defining characteristic of the university and made it the symbol of its institutional autonomy ... By the year 1292, even the two oldest universities, Bologna and Paris, felt the need to seek similar bulls from Pope Nicholas IV." By the 13th century, almost half of the highest offices in the Church were occupied by degree masters (abbots, archbishops, cardinals), and over one-third of the second-highest offices were occupied by masters. In addition, some of the greatest theologians of the High Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas and Robert Grosseteste, were products of the medieval university. The development of the medieval university coincided with the widespread reintroduction of Aristotle from Byzantine and Arab scholars. In fact, the European university put Aristotelian and other natural science texts at the center of its curriculum, with the result that the "medieval university laid far greater emphasis on science than does its modern counterpart and descendent." Although it has been assumed that the universities went into decline during the Renaissance due to the scholastic and Aristotelian emphasis of its curriculum being less popular than the cultural studies of Renaissance humanism, Toby Huff has noted the continued importance of the European universities, with their focus on Aristotle and other scientific and philosophical texts into the early modern period, arguing that they played a crucial role in the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries. As he puts it "Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler, and Newton were all extraordinary products of the apparently Procrustean and allegedly Scholastic universities of Europe... Sociological and historical accounts of the role of the university as an institutional locus for science and as an incubator of scientific thought and arguments have been vastly understated." Initially medieval universities did not have physical facilities such as the campus of a modern university. Classes were taught wherever space was available, such as churches and homes. A university was not a physical space but a collection of individuals banded together as a universitas. Soon, however, universities began to rent, buy or construct buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching. Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers. The first type was in Bologna, where students hired and paid for the teachers. The second type was in Paris, where teachers were paid by the church. Oxford and Cambridge were predominantly supported by the crown and the state, which helped them survive the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538 and the subsequent removal of all principal Catholic institutions in England. These structural differences created other characteristics. At the Bologna university the students ran everything—a fact that often put teachers under great pressure and disadvantage. In Paris, teachers ran the school; thus Paris became the premiere spot for teachers from all over Europe. Also, in Paris the main subject matter was theology, so control of the qualifications awarded was in the hands of an external authority - the Chancellor of the diocese. In Bologna, where students chose more secular studies, the main subject was law. It was also characteristic of teachers and scholars to move around. Universities often competed to secure the best and most popular teachers, leading to the marketisation of teaching. Universities published their list of scholars to entice students to study at their institution. Students of Peter Abelard followed him to Melun, Corbeil, and Paris, showing that popular teachers brought students with them. Students attended the medieval university at different ages—from 14 if they were attending Oxford or Paris to study the arts, to their 30s if they were studying law in Bologna. During this period of study, students often lived far from home and unsupervised, and as such developed a reputation, both among contemporary commentators and modern historians, for drunken debauchery. Students are frequently criticized in the Middle Ages for neglecting their studies for drinking, gambling and sleeping with prostitutes. In Bologna, some of their laws permitted students to be citizens of the city if they were enrolled at a University. University studies took six years for a Master of Arts degree (a Bachelor of Arts degree was awarded after completing the third or fourth year). Studies for this were organized by the faculty of arts, where the seven liberal arts were taught: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. All instruction was given in Latin and students were expected to converse in that language. The trivium comprised the three subjects that were taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The quadrivium was taught after the preparatory work of the trivium and would lead to the degree of Master of Arts. The curriculum came also to include the three Aristotelian philosophies: physics, metaphysics and moral philosophy. Much of medieval thought in philosophy and theology can be found in scholastic textual commentary because scholasticism was such a popular method of teaching. Aelius Donatus' Ars grammatica was the standard textbook for grammar; also studied were the works of Priscian and Graecismus by Eberhard of Béthune. Cicero's works were used for the study of rhetoric. Studied books on logic included Porphyry's introduction to Aristotelian logic, Gilbert de la Porrée's De sex principiis and Summulae Logicales by Petrus Hispanus (later Pope John XXI). The standard work of astronomy was Tractatus de sphaera. Once a Master of Arts degree had been conferred, the student could leave the university or pursue further studies in one of the higher faculties, law, medicine, or theology, the last one being the most prestigious. Originally, only few universities had a faculty of theology, because the popes wanted to control the theological studies. Until the mid-14th century, theology could be studied only at universities in Paris, Oxford, Cambridge and Rome. First the establishment of the University of Prague (1347) ended their monopoly and afterwards also other universities got the right to establish theological faculties. A popular textbook for theological study was called the Sentences (Quattuor libri sententiarum) of Peter Lombard; theology students as well as masters were required to lecture or to write extensive commentaries on this text as part of their curriculum. Studies in the higher faculties could take up to twelve years for a master's degree or doctorate (initially the two were synonymous), though again a bachelor's and a licentiate's degree could be awarded along the way. Courses were offered according to books, not by subject or theme. For example, a course might be on a book by Aristotle, or a book from the Bible. Courses were not elective: the course offerings were set, and everyone had to take the same courses. There were, however, occasional choices as to which teacher to use. Students often entered the university at fourteen to fifteen years of age, though many were older. Classes usually started at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. Students were afforded the legal protection of the clergy. In this way no one was allowed to physically harm them; they could only be tried for crimes in an ecclesiastical court, and were thus immune from any corporal punishment. This gave students free rein in urban environments to break secular laws with impunity, which led to many abuses: theft, rape and murder. Students did not face serious consequences from the law. Students were also known to engage in drunkenness. Sometimes citizens were forbidden to interact with students because they made accusations against the University. This led to uneasy tensions with secular authorities—the demarcation between town and gown. Masters and students would sometimes "strike" by leaving a city and not returning for years. This happened at the University of Paris strike of 1229 after a riot left a number of students dead. The University went on strike and they did not return for two years. As students had the legal status of clerics, Canon Law prohibited women from being admitted into universities. Most universities in Europe were recognized by the Holy See as a Studium Generale, testified by a papal bull. Members of these institutions were encouraged to disseminate their knowledge across Europe, often lecturing at a different Studia Generalia. Indeed, one of the privileges the papal bull confirmed was the right to confer the Ius ubique docendi, the right to teach everywhere. Ancient higher-learning institutions, Ancient universities of Scotland, List of oldest universities in continuous operation, Nation (university), Renaissance of the 12th century, Studium Generale, Town and gown, University Cobban, Alan B. English University Life in the Middle Ages Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1999., Ferruolo, Stephen: The Origins of the University: The Schools of Paris and their Critics, 1100-1215 Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1998., Haskins, Charles Homer: The Rise of Universities. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 1972., Rashdall, Hastings, rev. by F. M. Powicke, and A. B. Emden: The Universities of Europe in the Middle Ages, 3 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1895; 1987,, Ridder-Symoens, Hilde de (ed.): A History of the University in Europe. Vol. I: Universities in the Middle Ages, Cambridge University Press, 1992,, Rait, Robert S.: Life in the Medieval University, Cambridge University Press, 1931,, Pedersen, Olaf, The First Universities: Studium Generale and the Origins of University Education in Europe, Cambridge University Press, 1997., Seybolt, Robert Francis, trans.: The Manuale Scholarium: An Original Account of Life in the Mediaeval University, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1921, Thorndike, Lynn, trans. and ed.: University Records and Life in the Middle Ages, New York: Columbia University Press, 1975, The Shift of Medical Education into the Universities, The Educational Legacy of Mediaeval and Renaissance Traditions., From Manuscript to Print: Evolution of the Mediaeval Book., Life of the Students at Paris., Mediaeval History: A Mediaeval Atlas, Cambridge, A Brief History: The Mediaeval University., Mediaeval Science, the Church, and Universities, Quality Assurance In A Globalized Higher Education Environment: An Historical Perspective (DOC file), The Rise of Universities (classic), Charles Homer Haskins, 1923 The quest for universal literacy is a development of the last 150-200 years. Schools for the young have historically been supplemented with advanced training for priests, bureaucrats and specialists. Starting in about 3500 B.C., various writing systems developed in ancient civilizations around the world. In Egypt fully developed hieroglyphs were in use at Abydos as early as 3400 B.C. The oldest known alphabet was developed in central Egypt around 2000 B.C. from a hieroglyphic prototype. One hieroglyphic script was used on stone monuments, other cursive scripts were used for writing in ink on papyrus, a flexible, paper-like material, made from the stems of reeds that grow in marshes and beside rivers such as the River Nile. The Phoenician writing system was adapted from the Proto-Canaanite script in around the 11th century BC, which in turn borrowed ideas from Egyptian hieroglyphics. This script was adapted by the Greeks. A variant of the early Greek alphabet gave rise to the Etruscan alphabet, and its own descendants, such as the Latin alphabet. Other descendants from the Greek alphabet include the Cyrillic script, used to write Russian, among others. The Phoenician system was also adapted into the Aramaic script, from which the Hebrew script and also that of Arabic are descended. In China, the early oracle bone script has survived on tens of thousands of oracle bones dating from around 1400-1200 B.C. in the Shang Dynasty. Out of more than 2500 written characters in use in China in about 1200 BC, as many as 1400 are identifiable as the source of later standard Chinese characters. Of several pre-Columbian scripts in Mesoamerica, the one that appears to have been best developed, and the one to be deciphered the most, is the Maya script. The earliest inscriptions which are identifiably Maya date to the 3rd century B.C., and writing was in continuous use until shortly after the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in the 16th century. In Chinese civilization, in school the children were not allowed to scribble. They were not to write slanted or sloppy characters. Other surfaces used for early writing include wax-covered writing boards (used, as well as clay tablets, by the Assyrians), sheets or strips of bark from trees (in Indonesia, Tibet and the Americas), the thick palm-like leaves of a particular tree, the leaves then punctured with a hole and stacked together like the pages of a book (these writings in India and South east Asia include Buddhist scriptures and Sanskrit literature), parchment, made of goatskin that had been soaked and scraped to remove hair, which was used from at least the 2nd century B.C., vellum, made from calfskin, and wax tablets which could be wiped clean to provide a fresh surface (in the Roman times). Perhaps the earliest formal school was developed in Egypt's Middle Kingdom under the direction of Kheti, treasurer to Mentuhotep II . In what became Mesopotamia, the early logographic system of cuneiform script took many years to master. Thus only a limited number of individuals were hired as scribes to be trained in its reading and writing. Only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals such as scribes, physicians, and temple administrators, were schooled. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed to learn a trade. Girls stayed at home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Later, when a syllabic script became more widespread, more of the Mesopotamian population became literate. Later still in Babylonian times there were libraries in most towns and temples; an old Sumerian proverb averred that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn." There arose a whole social class of scribes, mostly employed in agriculture, but some as personal secretaries or lawyers. Women as well as men learned to read and write, and for the Semitic Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive syllabary. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. Massive archives of texts were recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools, through which literacy was disseminated. The Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. The earliest Sumerian versions of the epic date from as early as the Third Dynasty of Ur (2150-2000 BC) (Dalley 1989: 41-42). Ashurbanipal (685 – c. 627 BC), a king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, was proud of his scribal education. His youthful scholarly pursuits included oil divination, mathematics, reading and writing as well as the usual horsemanship, hunting, chariotry, soldierliness, craftsmanship, and royal decorum. During his reign he collected cuneiform texts from all over Mesopotamia, and especially Babylonia, in the library in Nineveh, the first systematically organized library in the ancient Middle East, which survives in part today. In ancient Egypt, literacy was concentrated among an educated elite of scribes. Only people from certain backgrounds were allowed to train to become scribes, in the service of temple, pharaonic, and military authorities. The hieroglyph system was always difficult to learn, but in later centuries was purposely made even more so, as this preserved the scribes' status. The rate of literacy in Pharaonic Egypt during most periods from the third to first millennium BC has been estimated at not more than one percent, or between one half of one percent and one percent. In ancient Israel, the Torah (the fundamental religious text) includes commands to read, learn, teach and write the Torah, thus requiring literacy and study. In 64 AD the high priest caused schools to be opened. Emphasis was placed on developing good memory skills in addition to comprehension oral repetition. For details of the subjects taught, see History of education in ancient Israel and Judah. Although girls were not provided with formal education in the yeshivah, they were required to know a large part of the subject areas to prepare them to maintain the home after marriage, and to educate the children before the age of seven. Despite this schooling system, it would seem that many children did not learn to read and write, because it has been estimated that "at least ninety percent of the Jewish population of Roman Palestine [in the first centuries AD] could merely write their own name or not write and read at all", or that the literacy rate was about 3 percent. In the Islamic civilization that spread all the way between China and Spain during the time between the 7th and 19th centuries, Muslims started schooling from 622 in Medina, which is now a city in Saudi Arabia, schooling at first was in the mosques (masjid in Arabic) but then schools became separate in schools next to mosques. The first separate school was the Nizamiyah school. It was built in 1066 in Baghdad. Children started school from the age of six with free tuition. The teaches of Quran (the holy book of Muslims) claims that Muslims should learn to read, write and explore the universe. Thus, education and schooling sprang up in the ancient Muslim societies. Moreover, Muslims had one of the first universities in history which is Al-Qarawiyin University in Fez, Morocco. It was originally a mosque that was built in 859. In ancient India, education was mainly imparted through the Vedic and Buddhist education system. Sanskrit was the language used to impart the Vedic education system. Pali was the language used in the Buddhist education system. In the Vedic system, a child started his education at the age of five, whereas in the Buddhist system the child started his education at the age of eight. The main aim of education in ancient India was to develop a person’s character, master the art of self-control, bring about social awareness, and to conserve and take forward ancient culture. The Buddhist and Vedic systems had different subjects. In the Vedic system of study, the students were taught the four Vedas – Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda, they were also taught the six Vedangas – ritualistic knowledge, metrics, exegetics, grammar, phonetics and astronomy, the Upanishads and more. In the Buddhist education system, the subjects included Pitakas – Vinaya Pitaka -it is a Buddhist cannon that contains the set of rules and regulations that govern the Buddhist community residing in the Monastery Sutta Pitaka -It is divided into 5 ‘niyakas’ (Collections). It contains Buddhas teachings recorded mainly as sermons and Abhidhamma Pitaka -It contains a summary and analysis of Buddha’s teachings In ancient India, education was imparted and passed on orally rather than in written form. Education was a process that involved three steps, first was ‘Sravana’ which is the acquisition of knowledge by listening to the Shrutis. The second is ‘Manana’ wherein the students think, analyze and make inferences. Third, is ‘Nidyasana’ in which the students apply the knowledge in their real life. During the Vedic period from about 1500 BC to 600 BC, most education was based on the Veda (hymns, formulas, and incantations, recited or chanted by priests of a pre-Hindu tradition) and later Hindu texts and scriptures. The main aim of education, according to the Vedas, is liberation. Vedic education included: proper pronunciation and recitation of the Veda, the rules of sacrifice, grammar and derivation, composition, versification and meter, understanding of secrets of nature, reasoning including logic, the sciences, and the skills necessary for an occupation. Some medical knowledge existed and was taught. There is mention in the Veda of herbal medicines for various conditions or diseases, including fever, cough, baldness, snake bite and others. Education, at first freely available in Vedic society, became over time more rigid and restricted as the social systems dictated that only those of meritorious lineage be allowed to study the scriptures, originally based on occupation, evolved, with the Brahman (priests) being the most privileged of the castes, followed by Kshatriya who could also wear the sacred thread and gain access to Vedic education. The Brahmans were given priority even over Kshatriya as they would dedicate their whole lives to such studies. Educating the women was given a great deal of importance in ancient India. Women were trained in dance, music and housekeeping. The Sadyodwahas class of women got educated till they were married. The Brahmavadinis class of women never got married and educated themselves for their entire life. Parts of Vedas that included poems and religious songs required for rituals were taught to women. Some noteworthy women scholars of ancient India include Ghosha, Gargi, Indrani and so on. The oldest of the Upanishads – another part of Hindu scriptures – date from around 500 BC. The Upanishads are considered as ‘wisdom teachings’ as they explore the deeper and actual meaning of sacrifice. These texts encouraged an exploratory learning process where teachers and students were co-travellers in a search for truth. The teaching methods used reasoning and questioning. Nothing was labeled as the final answer. The Gurukul system of education supported traditional Hindu residential schools of learning; typically the teacher's house or a monastery.In the Gurukul system, the teacher (Guru) and the student (Shishya) were considered to be equal even if they belonged to different social standings. Education was free, but students from well-to-do families paid "Gurudakshina," a voluntary contribution after the completion of their studies. Gurudakshina is a mark of respect by the students towards their Guru. It is a way in which the students acknowledged, thanked and respected their Guru, whom they consider to be their spiritual guide. At the Gurukuls, the teacher imparted knowledge of Religion, Scriptures, Philosophy, Literature, Warfare, Statecraft, Medicine, Astrology and History. The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as technical scientific, philosophical and generally Hindu religious texts, though many central texts of Buddhism and Jainism have also been composed in Sanskrit. Two epic poems formed part of ancient Indian education. The Mahabharata, part of which may date back to the 8th century BC, discusses human goals (purpose, pleasure, duty, and liberation), attempting to explain the relationship of the individual to society and the world (the nature of the 'Self') and the workings of karma. The other epic poem, Ramayana, is shorter, although it has 24,000 verses. It is thought to have been compiled between about 400 BC and 200 AD. The epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma (doing ones duty). An early centre of learning in India dating back to the 5th century BC was Taxila (also known as Takshashila), which taught the three Vedas and the eighteen accomplishments. It was an important Vedic/Hindu and Buddhist centre of learning from the 6th century BC to the 5th century AD.'Another important centre of learning from 5 century CE , was Nalanda. In the kingdom of Magadha, Nalanda was well known Buddhist monastery. Scholars and students from Tibet, China, Korea and Central Asia traveled to Nalanda in pursuit of education. Vikramashila was one of the largest Buddhist monasteries that was set up in 8 to 9 century CE. The start of Chinese education was raised in Yao dynasty(2188 BC to 2067 BC). In Yao dynasty, people started to educate their children to respect their parents, brothers and counties. The first education system was created in Xia dynasty (2076 BC to 1600 BC). During Xia dynasty, government built schools to educate aristocrats about rituals, literature and archery (important for ancient Chinese aristocrats). During Shang dynasty(1600BC to 1046BC), normal people (farmers, workers etc.) accepted rough education. In that time, aristocrats' children studied in government schools. And normal people studied in private schools. Government schools were always built in cities and private schools were built in rural areas. Government schools paid attention on educating students about rituals, literature, politic, music, arts and archery. Private schools educated students to do farmwork and handworks. During the Zhou dynasty (1045 BC to 256 BC), there were five national schools in the capital city, Pi Yong (an imperial school, located in a central location) and four other schools for the aristocrats and nobility, including Shang Xiang. The schools mainly taught the Six Arts: rites, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy, and mathematics. According to the Book of Rites, at age twelve, boys learned arts related to ritual (i.e. music and dance) and when older, archery and chariot driving. Girls learned ritual, correct deportment, silk production and weaving. It was during the Zhou dynasty that the origins of native Chinese philosophy also developed. Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) founder of Confucianism, was a Chinese philosopher who made a great impact on later generations of Chinese, and on the curriculum of the Chinese educational system for much of the following 2000 years. Later, during the Qin dynasty (246–207 BC), a hierarchy of officials was set up to provide central control over the outlying areas of the empire. To enter this hierarchy, both literacy and knowledge of the increasing body of philosophy was required: "...the content of the educational process was designed not to engender functionally specific skills but rather to produce morally enlightened and cultivated generalists". During the Han dynasty (206 BC – 221 AD), boys were thought ready at age seven to start learning basic skills in reading, writing and calculation. In 124 BC, the Emperor Wudi established the Imperial Academy, the curriculum of which was the Five Classics of Confucius. By the end of the Han dynasty (220 AD) the academy enrolled more than 30,000 students, boys between the ages of fourteen and seventeen years. However education through this period was a luxury. The nine-rank system was a civil service nomination system during the Three Kingdoms (220–280 AD) and the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589 AD) in China. Theoretically, local government authorities were given the task of selecting talented candidates, then categorizing them into nine grades depending on their abilities. In practice, however, only the rich and powerful would be selected. The Nine Rank System was eventually superseded by the Imperial examination system for the civil service in the Sui dynasty (581–618 AD) In the city-states of ancient Greece, most education was private, except in Sparta. For example, in Athens, during the 5th and 4th century BC, aside from two years military training, the state played little part in schooling. Anyone could open a school and decide the curriculum. Parents could choose a school offering the subjects they wanted their children to learn, at a monthly fee they could afford. Most parents, even the poor, sent their sons to schools for at least a few years, and if they could afford it from around the age of seven until fourteen, learning gymnastics (including athletics, sport and wrestling), music (including poetry, drama and history) and literacy. Girls rarely received formal education. At writing school, the youngest students learned the alphabet by song, then later by copying the shapes of letters with a stylus on a waxed wooden tablet. After some schooling, the sons of poor or middle-class families often learnt a trade by apprenticeship, whether with their father or another tradesman. By around 350 BC, it was common for children at schools in Athens to also study various arts such as drawing, painting, and sculpture. The richest students continued their education by studying with sophists, from whom they could learn subjects such as rhetoric, mathematics, geography, natural history, politics, and logic. Some of Athens' greatest schools of higher education included the Lyceum (the so-called Peripatetic school founded by Aristotle of Stageira) and the Platonic Academy (founded by Plato of Athens). The education system of the wealthy ancient Greeks is also called Paideia. In the subsequent Roman empire, Greek was the primary language of science. Advanced scientific research and teaching was mainly carried on in the Hellenistic side of the Roman empire, in Greek. The education system in the Greek city-state of Sparta was entirely different, designed to create warriors with complete obedience, courage, and physical perfection. At the age of seven, boys were taken away from their homes to live in school dormitories or military barracks. There they were taught sports, endurance and fighting, and little else, with harsh discipline. Most of the population was illiterate. The first schools in Ancient Rome arose by the middle of the 4th century BC. These schools were concerned with the basic socialization and rudimentary education of young Roman children. The literacy rate in the 3rd century BC has been estimated as around one percent to two percent. There are very few primary sources or accounts of Roman educational process until the 2nd century BC, during which there was a proliferation of private schools in Rome. At the height of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire, the Roman educational system gradually found its final form. Formal schools were established, which served paying students (very little in the way of free public education as we know it can be found). Normally, both boys and girls were educated, though not necessarily together. In a system much like the one that predominates in the modern world, the Roman education system that developed arranged schools in tiers. The educator Quintilian recognized the importance of starting education as early as possible, noting that "memory … not only exists even in small children, but is specially retentive at that age". A Roman student would progress through schools just as a student today might go from elementary school to middle school, then to high school, and finally college. Progression depended more on ability than age with great emphasis being placed upon a student's ingenium or inborn "gift" for learning, and a more tacit emphasis on a student's ability to afford high- level education. Only the Roman elite would expect a complete formal education. A tradesman or farmer would expect to pick up most of his vocational skills on the job. Higher education in Rome was more of a status symbol than a practical concern. Literacy rates in the Greco-Roman world were seldom more than 20 percent; averaging perhaps not much above 10 percent in the Roman empire, though with wide regional variations, probably never rising above 5 percent in the western provinces. The literate in classical Greece did not much exceed 5 percent of the population. During the Early Middle Ages, the monasteries of the Roman Catholic Church were the centers of education and literacy, preserving the Church's selection from Latin learning and maintaining the art of writing. Prior to their formal establishment, many medieval universities were run for hundreds of years as Christian monastic schools (Scholae monasticae), in which monks taught classes, and later as cathedral schools; evidence of these immediate forerunners of the later university at many places dates back to the early 6th century. The first medieval institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of arts, law, medicine, and theology.[1] These universities evolved from much older Christian cathedral schools and monastic schools, and it is difficult to define the date on which they became true universities, although the lists of studia generalia for higher education in Europe held by the Vatican are a useful guide. Students in the twelfth- century were very proud of the master whom they studied under. They were not very concerned with telling others the place or region where they received their education. Even now when scholars cite schools with distinctive doctrines, they use group names to describe the school rather than its geographical location. Those who studied under Robert of Melun were called the Meludinenses. These people did not study in Melun, but in Paris, and were given the group name of their master. Citizens in the twelfth-century became very interested in learning the rare and difficult skills masters could provide. Ireland became known as the island of saints and scholars. Monasteries were built all over Ireland, and these became centres of great learning (see Celtic Church). Northumbria was famed as a centre of religious learning and arts. Initially the kingdom was evangelized by monks from the Celtic Church, which led to a flowering of monastic life, and Northumbria played an important role in the formation of Insular art, a unique style combining Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Byzantine and other elements. After the Synod of Whitby in 664 AD, Roman church practices officially replaced the Celtic ones but the influence of the Anglo-Celtic style continued, the most famous examples of this being the Lindisfarne Gospels. The Venerable Bede (673–735) wrote his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731) in a Northumbrian monastery, and much of it focuses on the kingdom. During the reign of Charlemagne, King of the Franks from 768 to 814 AD, whose empire united most of Western Europe for the first time since the Romans, there was a flowering of literature, art, and architecture known as the Carolingian Renaissance. Brought into contact with the culture and learning of other countries through his vast conquests, Charlemagne greatly increased the provision of monastic schools and scriptoria (centres for book-copying) in Francia. Most of the surviving works of classical Latin were copied and preserved by Carolingian scholars. Charlemagne took a serious interest in scholarship, promoting the liberal arts at the court, ordering that his children and grandchildren be well-educated, and even studying himself under the tutelage of Paul the Deacon, from whom he learned grammar, Alcuin, with whom he studied rhetoric, dialect and astronomy (he was particularly interested in the movements of the stars), and Einhard, who assisted him in his studies of arithmetic. The English monk Alcuin was invited to Charlemagne's court at Aachen, and brought with him the precise classical Latin education that was available in the monasteries of Northumbria. The return of this Latin proficiency to the kingdom of the Franks is regarded as an important step in the development of mediaeval Latin. Charlemagne's chancery made use of a type of script currently known as Carolingian minuscule, providing a common writing style that allowed for communication across most of Europe. After the decline of the Carolingian dynasty, the rise of the Saxon Dynasty in Germany was accompanied by the Ottonian Renaissance. Cathedral schools and monasteries remained important throughout the Middle Ages; at the Third Lateran Council of 1179 the Church mandated that priests provide the opportunity of a free education to their flocks, and the 12th and 13th century renascence known as the Scholastic Movement was spread through the monasteries. These however ceased to be the sole sources of education in the 11th century when universities, which grew out of the monasticism began to be established in major European cities. Literacy became available to a wider class of people, and there were major advances in art, sculpture, music and architecture. In 1120, Dunfermline Abbey in Scotland by order of Malcolm Canmore and his Queen, Margaret, built and established the first high school in the UK, Dunfermline High School. This highlighted the monastery influence and developments made for education, from the ancient capital of Scotland. Sculpture, paintings and stained glass windows were vital educational media through which Biblical themes and the lives of the saints were taught to illiterate viewers. During the 6th and 7th centuries, the Academy of Gundishapur, originally the intellectual center of the Sassanid empire and subsequently a Muslim centre of learning, offered training in medicine, philosophy, theology and science. The faculty were versed not only in the Zoroastrian and Persian traditions, but in Greek and Indian learning as well. The University of al-Qarawiyyin located in Fes, Morocco is the oldest existing, continually operating and the first degree awarding educational institution in the world according to UNESCO and Guinness World Records and is sometimes referred to as the oldest university. The House of Wisdom in Baghdad was a library, translation and educational centre from the 9th to 13th centuries. Works on astrology, mathematics, agriculture, medicine, and philosophy were translated. Drawing on Persian, Indian and Greek texts—including those of Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Euclid, Plotinus, Galen, Sushruta, Charaka, Aryabhata and Brahmagupta—the scholars accumulated a great collection of knowledge in the world, and built on it through their own discoveries. The House was an unrivalled centre for the study of humanities and for sciences, including mathematics, astronomy, medicine, chemistry, zoology and geography. Baghdad was known as the world's richest city and centre for intellectual development of the time, and had a population of over a million, the largest in its time. The Islamic mosque school (Madrasah) taught the Quran in Arabic and did not at all resemble the medieval European universities. In the 9th century, Bimaristan medical schools were formed in the medieval Islamic world, where medical diplomas were issued to students of Islamic medicine who were qualified to be a practicing Doctor of Medicine. Al-Azhar University, founded in Cairo, Egypt in 975, was a Jami'ah ("university" in Arabic) which offered a variety of post-graduate degrees, had a Madrasah and theological seminary, and taught Islamic law, Islamic jurisprudence, Arabic grammar, Islamic astronomy, early Islamic philosophy and logic in Islamic philosophy. Under the Ottoman Empire, the towns of Bursa and Edirne became major centers of learning. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the town of Timbuktu in the West African nation of Mali became an Islamic centre of learning with students coming from as far away as the Middle East. The town was home to the prestigious Sankore University and other madrasas. The primary focus of these schools was the teaching of the Qur'an, although broader instruction in fields such as logic, astronomy, and history also took place. Over time, there was a great accumulation of manuscripts in the area and an estimated 100,000 or more manuscripts, some of them dated from pre-Islamic times and 12th century, are kept by the great families from the town. Their contents are didactic, especially in the subjects of astronomy, music, and botany. More than 18,000 manuscripts have been collected by the Ahmed Baba centre. Although there are more than 40,000 Chinese characters in written Chinese, many are rarely used. Studies have shown that full literacy in the Chinese language requires a knowledge of only between three and four thousand characters. In China, three oral texts were used to teach children by rote memorization the written characters of their language and the basics of Confucian thought. The Thousand Character Classic, a Chinese poem originating in the 6th century, was used for more than a millennium as a primer for teaching Chinese characters to children. The poem is composed of 250 phrases of four characters each, thus containing exactly one thousand unique characters, and was sung in the same way that children learning the Latin alphabet may use the "alphabet song". Later, children also learn the Hundred Family Surnames, a rhyming poem in lines of eight characters composed in the early Song dynasty (i.e. in about the 11th century) which actually listed more than four hundred of the common surnames in ancient China. From around the 13th century until the latter part of the 19th century, the Three Character Classic, which is an embodiment of Confucian thought suitable for teaching to young children, served as a child's first formal education at home. The text is written in triplets of characters for easy memorization. With illiteracy common for most people at the time, the oral tradition of reciting the classic ensured its popularity and survival through the centuries. With the short and simple text arranged in three-character verses, children learned many common characters, grammar structures, elements of Chinese history and the basis of Confucian morality. After learning Chinese characters, students wishing to ascend in the social hierarchy needed to study the Chinese classic texts. The early Chinese state depended upon literate, educated officials for operation of the empire. In 605 AD, during the Sui dynasty, for the first time, an examination system was explicitly instituted for a category of local talents. The merit-based imperial examination system for evaluating and selecting officials gave rise to schools that taught the Chinese classic texts and continued in use for 1,300 years, until the end the Qing dynasty, being abolished in 1911 in favour of Western education methods. The core of the curriculum for the imperial civil service examinations from the mid-12th century onwards was the Four Books, representing a foundational introduction to Confucianism. Theoretically, any male adult in China, regardless of his wealth or social status, could become a high-ranking government official by passing the imperial examination, although under some dynasties members of the merchant class were excluded. In reality, since the process of studying for the examination tended to be time-consuming and costly (if tutors were hired), most of the candidates came from the numerically small but relatively wealthy land-owning gentry. However, there are vast numbers of examples in Chinese history in which individuals moved from a low social status to political prominence through success in imperial examination. Under some dynasties the imperial examinations were abolished and official posts were simply sold, which increased corruption and reduced morale. In the period preceding 1040–1050 AD, prefectural schools had been neglected by the state and left to the devices of wealthy patrons who provided private finances. The chancellor of China at that time, Fan Zhongyan, issued an edict that would have used a combination of government funding and private financing to restore and rebuild all prefectural schools that had fallen into disuse and abandoned. He also attempted to restore all county-level schools in the same manner, but did not designate where funds for the effort would be formally acquired and the decree was not taken seriously until a later period. Fan's trend of government funding for education set in motion the movement of public schools that eclipsed private academies, which would not be officially reversed until the mid-13th century. The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshashila University, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Amongst the subjects taught were Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, mathematics, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra (Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine. Each university specialized in a particular field of study. Takshila specialized in the study of medicine, while Ujjain laid emphasis on astronomy. Nalanda, being the biggest centre, handled all branches of knowledge, and housed up to 10,000 students at its peak. Vikramashila Mahavihara, another important center of Buddhist learning in India, was established by King Dharmapala (783 to 820) in response to a supposed decline in the quality of scholarship at Nālandā. Hindu education :- Even during the middle ages, education in India was imparted orally. Education was provided to the individuals free of cost. It was considered holy and honorable to do so. The ruling king did not provide any funds for education but it was the people belonging to the Hindu religion who donated for the preservation of the Hindu education. The centres of Hindu learning, which were the universities, were set up in places where the scholars resided. These places also became places of pilgrimage. So, more and more pilgrims funded these institutions. Islamic education :- After Muslims started ruling India, there was a rise in the spread of Islamic education. The main aim of Islamic education included the acquisition of knowledge, propagation of Islam and Islamic social morals, preservation and spread of Muslim culture etc. Educations was mainly imparted through Maqtabs, Madrassahas and Mosques. Their education was usually funded by the noble or the landlords. The education was imparted orally and the children learnt a few verses from the Quran by rote. Indigenous education was widespread in India in the 18th century, with a school for every temple, mosque or village in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The schools were attended by students representative of all classes of society. The history of education in Japan dates back at least to the 6th century, when Chinese learning was introduced at the Yamato court. Foreign civilizations have often provided new ideas for the development of Japan's own culture. Chinese teachings and ideas flowed into Japan from the sixth to the 9th century. Along with the introduction of Buddhism came the Chinese system of writing and its literary tradition, and Confucianism. By the 9th century, Heian-kyō (today's Kyoto), the imperial capital, had five institutions of higher learning, and during the remainder of the Heian period, other schools were established by the nobility and the imperial court. During the medieval period (1185–1600), Zen Buddhist monasteries were especially important centers of learning, and the Ashikaga School, Ashikaga Gakko, flourished in the 15th century as a center of higher learning. Aztec is a term used to refer to certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who achieved political and military dominance over large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the Late post-Classic period in Mesoamerican chronology. Until the age of fourteen, the education of children was in the hands of their parents, but supervised by the authorities of their calpōlli. Part of this education involved learning a collection of sayings, called huēhuetlàtolli ("sayings of the old"), that embodied the Aztecs' ideals. Judged by their language, most of the huēhuetlàtolli seemed to have evolved over several centuries, predating the Aztecs and most likely adopted from other Nahua cultures. At 15, all boys and girls went to school. The Mexica, one of the Aztec groups, were one of the first people in the world to have mandatory education for nearly all children, regardless of gender, rank, or station. There were two types of schools: the telpochcalli, for practical and military studies, and the calmecac, for advanced learning in writing, astronomy, statesmanship, theology, and other areas. The two institutions seem to be common to the Nahua people, leading some experts to suggest that they are older than the Aztec culture. Aztec teachers (tlatimine) propounded a spartan regime of education with the purpose of forming a stoical people. Girls were educated in the crafts of home and child raising. They were not taught to read or write. All women were taught to be involved in religion; there are paintings of women presiding over religious ceremonies, but there are no references to female priests. Inca education during the time of the Inca Empire in the 15th and 16th centuries was divided into two principal spheres: education for the upper classes and education for the general population. The royal classes and a few specially chosen individuals from the provinces of the Empire were formally educated by the Amautas (wise men), while the general population learned knowledge and skills from their immediate forebears. The Amautas constituted a special class of wise men similar to the bards of Great Britain. They included illustrious philosophers, poets, and priests who kept the oral histories of the Incas alive by imparting the knowledge of their culture, history, customs and traditions throughout the kingdom. Considered the most highly educated and respected men in the Empire, the Amautas were largely entrusted with educating those of royal blood, as well as other young members of conquered cultures specially chosen to administer the regions. Thus, education throughout the territories of the Incas was socially discriminatory, most people not receiving the formal education that royalty received. The official language of the empire was Quechua, although dozens if not hundreds of local languages were spoken. The Amautas did ensure that the general population learn Quechua as the language of the Empire, much in the same way the Romans promoted Latin throughout Europe; however, this was done more for political reasons than educational ones... Modern systems of education in Europe derive their origins from the schools of the High Middle Ages. Most schools during this era were founded upon religious principles with the primary purpose of training the clergy. Many of the earliest universities, such as the University of Paris founded in 1160, had a Christian basis. In addition to this, a number of secular universities existed, such as the University of Bologna, founded in 1088. Free education for the poor was officially mandated by the Church in 1179 when it decreed that every cathedral must assign a master to teach boys too poor to pay the regular fee; parishes and monasteries also established free schools teaching at least basic literary skills. With few exceptions, priests and brothers taught locally, and their salaries were frequently subsidized by towns. Private, independent schools reappeared in medieval Europe during this time, but they, too, were religious in nature and mission. The curriculum was usually based around the trivium and to a lesser extent quadrivium (the seven Artes Liberales or Liberal arts) and was conducted in Latin, the lingua franca of educated Western Europe throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance. In northern Europe this clerical education was largely superseded by forms of elementary schooling following the Reformation. In Scotland, for instance, the national Church of Scotland set out a programme for spiritual reform in January 1561 setting the principle of a school teacher for every parish church and free education for the poor. This was provided for by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland, passed in 1633, which introduced a tax to pay for this programme. Although few countries of the period had such extensive systems of education, the period between the 16th and 18th centuries saw education become significantly more widespread. Herbart developed a system of pedagogy widely used in German-speaking areas. Mass compulsory schooling started in Prussia c1800 to "produce more soldiers and more obedient citizens" In Central Europe, the 17th century scientist and educator John Amos Comenius promulgated a reformed system of universal education that was widely used in Europe. Its growth resulted in increased government interest in education. In the 1760s, for instance, Ivan Betskoy was appointed by the Russian Tsarina, Catherine II, as educational advisor. He proposed to educate young Russians of both sexes in state boarding schools, aimed at creating "a new race of men". Betskoy set forth a number of arguments for general education of children rather than specialized one: "in regenerating our subjects by an education founded on these principles, we will create... new citizens." Some of his ideas were implemented in the Smolny Institute that he established for noble girls in Saint Petersburg. Poland established in 1773 of a Commission of National Education (Polish: Komisja Edukacji Narodowej, Lithuanian: Nacionaline Edukacine Komisija). The commission functioned as the first government Ministry of Education in a European country. By the 18th century, universities published academic journals; by the 19th century, the German and the French university models were established. The French established the Ecole Polytechnique in 1794 by the mathematician Gaspard Monge during the French Revolution, and it became a military academy under Napoleon I in 1804. The German university — the Humboldtian model — established by Wilhelm von Humboldt was based upon Friedrich Schleiermacher’s liberal ideas about the importance of seminars, and laboratories. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the universities concentrated upon science, and served an upper class clientele. Science, mathematics, theology, philosophy, and ancient history comprised the typical curriculum. Increasing academic interest in education led to analysis of teaching methods and in the 1770s the establishment of the first chair of pedagogy at the University of Halle in Germany. Contributions to the study of education elsewhere in Europe included the work of Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi in Switzerland and Joseph Lancaster in Britain. In 1884, a groundbreaking education conference was held in London at the International Health Exhibition, attracting specialists from all over Europe. In the late 19th century, most of West, Central, and parts of East Europe began to provide elementary education in reading, writing, and arithmetic, partly because politicians believed that education was needed for orderly political behavior. As more people became literate, they realized that most secondary education was only open to those who could afford it. Having created primary education, the major nations had to give further attention to secondary education by the time of World War I. In the 20th century, new directions in education included, in Italy, Maria Montessori's Montessori schools; and in Germany, Rudolf Steiner's development of Waldorf education. In the Ancien Régime before 1789, educational facilities and aspirations were becoming increasingly institutionalized primarily in order to supply the church and state with the functionaries to serve as their future administrators. France had many small local schools where working-class children — both boys and girls — learned to read, the better to know, love and serve God. The sons and daughters of the noble and bourgeois elites, however, were given quite distinct educations: boys were sent to upper school, perhaps a university, while their sisters perhaps were sent for finishing at a convent. The Enlightenment challenged this old ideal, but no real alternative presented itself for female education. Only through education at home were knowledgeable women formed, usually to the sole end of dazzling their salons. The modern era of French education begins in the 1790s. The Revolution in the 1790s abolished the traditional universities Napoleon sought to replace them with new institutions, the Polytechnique, focused on technology. The elementary schools received little attention until 1830, when France copied the Prussian education system. Jules Ferry, an anti-clerical politician holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, created the modern Republican school (l'école républicaine) by requiring all children under the age of 15—boys and girls—to attend. see Jules Ferry laws Schools were free of charge and secular (laïque). The goal was to break the hold of the Catholic Church and monarchism on young people. Catholic schools were still tolerated but in the early 20th century the religious orders sponsoring them were shut down. In 1818, John Pounds set up a school and began teaching poor children reading, writing, and mathematics without charging fees. In 1820, Samuel Wilderspin opened the first infant school in Spitalfield. Starting in 1833, Parliament voted money to support poor children's school fees in England and Wales. In 1837, the Whig Lord Chancellor Henry Brougham led the way in preparing for public education. Most schooling was handled in church schools, and religious controversies between the Church of England And the dissenters became a central theme and educational history before 1900. Scotland has a separate system. See History of education in Scotland. Japan isolated itself from the rest of the world in the year 1600 under the Tokugawa regime (1600–1867). In 1600 very few common people were literate. By the period's end, learning had become widespread. Tokugawa education left a valuable legacy: an increasingly literate populace, a meritocratic ideology, and an emphasis on discipline and competent performance. Traditional Samurai curricula for elites stressed morality and the martial arts. Confucian classics were memorized, and reading and recitation of them were common methods of study. Arithmetic and calligraphy were also studied. Education of commoners was generally practically oriented, providing basic 3-Rs, calligraphy and use of the abacus. Much of this education was conducted in so- called temple schools (terakoya), derived from earlier Buddhist schools. These schools were no longer religious institutions, nor were they, by 1867, predominantly located in temples. By the end of the Tokugawa period, there were more than 11,000 such schools, attended by 750,000 students. Teaching techniques included reading from various textbooks, memorizing, abacus, and repeatedly copying Chinese characters and Japanese script. By the 1860s, 40-50% of Japanese boys, and 15% of the girls, had some schooling outside the home. These rates were comparable to major European nations at the time (apart from Germany, which had compulsory schooling). Under subsequent Meiji leadership, this foundation would facilitate Japan's rapid transition from feudal society to modern nation which paid very close attention to Western science, technology and educational methods. After 1868 reformers set Japan on a rapid course of modernization, with a public education system like that of Western Europe. Missions like the Iwakura mission were sent abroad to study the education systems of leading Western countries. They returned with the ideas of decentralization, local school boards, and teacher autonomy. Elementary school enrollments climbed from about 40 or 50 percent of the school-age population in the 1870s to more than 90 percent by 1900, despite strong public protest, especially against school fees. A modern concept of childhood emerged in Japan after 1850 as part of its engagement with the West. Meiji era leaders decided the nation-state had the primary role in mobilizing individuals – and children – in service of the state. The Western-style school became the agent to reach that goal. By the 1890s, schools were generating new sensibilities regarding childhood. After 1890 Japan had numerous reformers, child experts, magazine editors, and well- educated mothers who bought into the new sensibility. They taught the upper middle class a model of childhood that included children having their own space where they read children's books, played with educational toys and, especially, devoted enormous time to school homework. These ideas rapidly disseminated through all social classes After 1870 school textbooks based on Confucianism were replaced by westernized texts. However, by the 1890s, a reaction set in and a more authoritarian approach was imposed. Traditional Confucian and Shinto precepts were again stressed, especially those concerning the hierarchical nature of human relations, service to the new state, the pursuit of learning, and morality. These ideals, embodied in the 1890 Imperial Rescript on Education, along with highly centralized government control over education, largely guided Japanese education until 1945, when they were massively repudiated. Education was widespread for elite young men in the 18th century, with schools in most regions of the country. The subjects taught included Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, Theology, Law, Astronomy, Metaphysics, Ethics, Medical Science and Religion. The current system of education, with its western style and content, was introduced and founded by the British during the British Raj, following recommendations by Lord Macaulay, who advocated for the teaching of English in schools and the formation of a class of Anglicized Indian interpreters. Traditional structures were not recognized by the British government and have been on the decline since. Public education expenditures in the late 19th and early 20th centuries varied dramatically across regions with the western and southern provinces spending three to four times as much as the eastern provinces. Much of the inter-regional differential was due to historical differences in land taxes, the major source of revenue. Lord Curzon, the Viceroy 1899–1905, made mass education a high priority after finding that no more than 20% of India's children attended school. His reforms centered on literacy training and on restructuring of the university systems. They stressed ungraded curricula, modern textbooks, and new examination systems. Curzon's plans for technical education laid the foundations which were acted upon by later governments. Shortly after Norway became an archdiocese in 1152, cathedral schools were constructed to educate priests in Trondheim, Oslo, Bergen and Hamar. After the reformation of Norway in 1537, (Norway entered a personal union with Denmark in 1536) the cathedral schools were turned into Latin schools, and it was made mandatory for all market towns to have such a school. In 1736 training in reading was made compulsory for all children, but was not effective until some years later. In 1827, Norway introduced the folkeskole, a primary school which became mandatory for 7 years in 1889 and 9 years in 1969. In the 1970s and 1980s, the folkeskole was abolished, and the grunnskole was introduced. In 1997, Norway established a new curriculum for elementary schools and middle schools. The plan is based on ideological nationalism, child-orientation, and community-orientation along with the effort to publish new ways of teaching. In Canada, education became a contentious issue after Confederation in 1867, especially regarding the status of French schools outside Quebec. Education in New Zealand began with provision made by the provincial government, the missionary Christian churches and private education. The first act of parliament for education was passed in 1877, and sought to establish a standard for primary education. It was compulsory for children to attend school from the age of 6 until the age of 16 years. In Australia, compulsory education was enacted in the 1870s, and it was difficult to enforce. People found it hard to afford for school fees. Moreover, teachers felt that they did not get a high salary for what they did. In Imperial Russia, according to the 1897 census, literate people made up 28 percent of the population. There was a strong network of universities for the upper class, but weaker provisions for everyone else. Vladimir Lenin, in 1919 proclaimed the major aim of the Soviet government was the abolition of illiteracy. A system of universal compulsory education was established. Millions of illiterate adults were enrolled in special literacy schools. Youth groups (Komsomol members and Young Pioneer) were utilized to teach. In 1926, the literacy rate was 56.6 percent of the population. By 1937, according to census data, the literacy rate was 86% for men and 65% for women, making a total literacy rate of 75%. An important aspect of the early campaign for literacy and education was the policy of "indigenization" (korenizatsiya). This policy, which lasted essentially from the mid-1920s to the late 1930s, promoted the development and use of non-Russian languages in the government, the media, and education. Intended to counter the historical practices of Russification, it had as another practical goal assuring native-language education as the quickest way to increase educational levels of future generations. A huge network of so-called "national schools" was established by the 1930s, and this network continued to grow in enrollments throughout the Soviet era. Language policy changed over time, perhaps marked first of all in the government's mandating in 1938 the teaching of Russian as a required subject of study in every non-Russian school, and then especially beginning in the latter 1950s a growing conversion of non-Russian schools to Russian as the main medium of instruction. Education in French controlled West Africa during the late 1800s and early 1900s was different from the nationally uniform compulsory education of France in the 1880s. "Adapted education" was organized in 1903 and used the French curriculum as a basis, replacing information relevant to France with "comparable information drawn from the African context." For example, French lessons of morality were coupled with many references to African history and local folklore. The French language was also taught as an integral part of adapted education. Africa has more than 40 million children. According to UNESCO's Regional overview on sub-Saharan Africa, in 2000 only 58% of children were enrolled in primary schools, the lowest enrollment rate of any region. The USAID Center reports as of 2005, forty percent of school-aged children in Africa do not attend primary school. Today, there is some form of compulsory education in most countries. Due to population growth and the proliferation of compulsory education, UNESCO has calculated that in the next 30 years more people will receive formal education than in all of human history thus far. Illiteracy and the percentage of populations without any schooling have decreased in the past several decades. For example, the percentage of population without any schooling decreased from 36% in 1960 to 25% in 2000. Among developing countries, illiteracy and percentages without schooling in 2000 stood at about half the 1970 figures. Among developed countries, figures about illiteracy rates differ widely. Often it is said that they decreased from 6% to 1%. Illiteracy rates in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) surpassed those of more economically developed countries (MEDCs) by a factor of 10 in 1970, and by a factor of about 20 in 2000. Illiteracy decreased greatly in LEDCs, and virtually disappeared in MEDCs. Percentages without any schooling showed similar patterns. Percentages of the population with no schooling varied greatly among LEDCs in 2000, from less than 10% to over 65%. MEDCs had much less variation, ranging from less than 2% to 17%. Since the mid-20th century, societies around the globe have undergone an accelerating pace of change in economy and technology. Its effects on the workplace, and thus on the demands on the educational system preparing students for the workforce, have been significant. Beginning in the 1980s, government, educators, and major employers issued a series of reports identifying key skills and implementation strategies to steer students and workers towards meeting the demands of the changing and increasingly digital workplace and society. 21st century skills are a series of higher-order skills, abilities, and learning dispositions that have been identified as being required for success in 21st century society and workplaces by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies. Many of these skills are also associated with deeper learning, including analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork, compared to traditional knowledge-based academic skills. Summary: Global synchronization raised in the Renaissance and experienced three peaks of expansion: Colonial Era, The World War and After The Cold War. And global synchronization is still growing and processing nowadays. The linguistic obstacles, cultural dictatorship, inequality and cultural racisms have been eliminating from 500 years ago to today. Disappearance of those unfavorable factors has been promoting education become more and more globally. The start: Renaissance Before the Renaissance, education is focusing on art and ritual related with Christianity. And also Christianity controlled education system and decided who can accept education. During the Renaissance, education systems was changed. Many private schools were raised. Therefore, more and more people accepted education and people in Europe had opportunities to choose what they want to study. Arts and knowledges were spreading from the Florence to whole Europe. People in every corners of Europe spread their culture and thoughts to each others. Trades between different countries and regions raised more frequently in Europe. During business activities, languages, artworks and literatures from different culture groups mixed and influenced each others. First peak: Colonial Era During the Colonial Era, Education's global synchronization was promoted by three reasons: business, Suzerains' policy and weak countries' policies. Both three points make eductions in different regions to be assimilate. For business, business men come from suzerains rarely educated workers who come form colonies. For suzerains, suzerains educated people in colonies to speak suzerains' language and accepted suzerains' culture because suzerains want to assimilate native people in colonies (Make suzerains control colonies easily)(FE: What France did in its colonies). For weak countries, they imitated suzerains and studied how suzerain make themselves strong because they wanted to become strong countries and avoid fortunes which is becoming colonies . So weak countries educate citizens as how suzerains educated citizens and absorb suzerains' culture. Second peak: World War During the world war, many people migrated to other countries for avoid wars. They brought their knowledge and culture to other countries and reshape other countries' culture and situation. It eliminated parts of globalizing education's obstacles: language and culture racism. Furthermore, refugees who studied in other countries came back to their own and spread knowledge and culture of the other countries after the end of war. It eliminated language obstacle and culture racism again. Third peak: The Cold War Before the Cold War, countries formed two opposing groups. Trade and cultural communication were rarely happened between countries who stand in different groups. After the Cold War, most countries join in the globalization's system. Cultural communication raised more frequently between countries and each others. It has been eliminating globalizing education's obstacles( linguistic obstacles, inequality and cultural racisms) and make education in every countries to be assimilated. Factory model school, History of childhood, History of education in Taiwan, Education in Egypt#History, Social history#History of education, History of childhood care and education, History of education In Africa Benavot, Aaron, and Julia Resnik. "Lessons from the past: A comparative socio-historical analysis of primary and secondary education." in Joel Colton et al. eds. Educating all children: A global agenda (2006): 123-229. online, Bowen, James. A History of Western Education: Vol 3: The Modern West, Europe and the New World (2 vol 2003). vol 1 Orient and Mediterranean 2000 B.C.-A.D. 1054, Connell, W. F. ed. '/'A History of Education in the Twentieth Century World" (1981), 478pp; global coverage, Cubberley, Ellwood Patterson. The History of Education: Educational Practice and Progress Considered as a Phase of the Development and Spread of Western Civilization (1920) online, Palmer, Joy A. et al. eds. Fifty Major Thinkers on Education: From Confucius to Dewey (2001) online, Palmer, Joy A. ed. Fifty Modern Thinkers on Education: From Piaget to the Present Day (2001) online, Peterson, Penelope et al. eds. International Encyclopedia of Education (3rd ed. 8 vol 2010) comprehensive coverage for every nation, Watson Foster, ed. The Encyclopaedia and Dictionary of Education (London: 1921, 4 vol) online free; global coverage Dharampal. (1983). The beautiful tree: Indigenous Indian education in the eighteenth century. New Delhi: Biblia Impex., Elman, Benjamin A., and Alexander Woodside. Education and Society in Late Imperial China, 1600-1900 (U of California Press, 1994), Lee, Thomas H. C. Education in traditional China: a history (2000) online, Jayapalan N. History Of Education In India (2005) excerpt and text search, Price, Ronald Francis. Education in modern China (Routledge, 2014), Sharma, Ram Nath. History of education in India (1996) excerpt and text search, Swarup, Ram (1971). The Hindu view of education. New Delhi. Aditya Prakashan. Anderson, Robert David. European Universities from the Enlightenment to 1914 (Oxford University Press, 2004), Begley, Ronald B. and Joseph W. Koterski. Medieval Education (2005) online, Bowen, James. A History of Western Education: Vol 3: The Modern West, Europe and the New World (2003)., Boyd, William, and Edmund J. King. The History of Western Education (1994), Butts, R. Freeman. A Cultural History of Western Education: Its Social and Intellectual Foundations (2nd ed. 1955) online, Cook, T. G. The History of Education in Europe (1974), Cubberley, Ellwood. The history of education (1920) online Strong on European developments, Graff, Harvey J. The Legacies of Literacy: Continuities and Contradictions in Western Culture and Society (1987) from Middle Ages to present, Hoyer, Timo. "Sozialgeschichte der Erziehung. Von der Antike bis in die Moderne" [Social History of Education. From Ancient to Modern Age] (Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft Darmstadt, 2015), Lawson, John, and Harold Silver. A social history of education in England (Routledge, 2013), McCulloch, Gary. The Struggle for the History of Education (2011), Focus on Britain excerpt; Chapter 1 covers historiography., McCulloch, Gary. Historical Research in Educational Settings (2000); Textbook on how to write British educational history. excerpt; Good bibliography, Ringer, Fritz. Education and Society in Modern Europe (1979); focus on Germany and France with comparisons to US and Britain, Sturt, Mary. The education of the people: A history of primary education in England and Wales in the nineteenth century (Routledge, 2013), Toloudis, Nicholas. Teaching Marianne and Uncle Sam: Public Education, State Centralization, and Teacher Unionism in France and the United States (Temple University Press, 2012) 213 pp, Wardle, David. English popular education 1780-1970 (Cambridge UP, 1970), Whitehead, Barbara J., ed. Women's education in early modern Europe: a history, 1500-1800 (1999) online specialized topics Cremin, Lawrence A. American Education: The Colonial Experience, 1607–1783 (1970); American Education: The National Experience, 1783–1876. (1980); American Education: The Metropolitan Experience, 1876-1980 (1990); standard 3 vol detailed scholarly history, Goldstein, Dana. The Teacher Wars: A History of America's Most Embattled Profession (2014), Herbst, Juergen. The once and future school: Three hundred and fifty years of American secondary education (1996)., Parkerson Donald H., and Jo Ann Parkerson. Transitions in American education: a social history of teaching (2001), Reese, William J. America's Public Schools: From the Common School to No Child Left Behind (Johns Hopkins U. Press, 2005), Thelin, John R. A History of American Higher Education (2011) Gaither, Milton, "The Revisionists Revived: The Libertarian Historiography of Education," History of Education Quarterly 52 (Nov. 2012), 488–505., Goodman, Joyce, and Ian Grosvenor. "Educational research—history of education a curious case?" Oxford Review of Education 35:5, pp 601-616., Herbst, Jurgen. "The history of education: state of the art at the turn of the century in Europe and North America." Paedagogica Historica 35.3 (1999): 737-747., King, Kelley. "How Educational Historians Establish Relevance,": American Educational History Journal (2014) 41#1/2 pp 1–19. Famous Educators and Notable Contributions, Childhood in Ancient Cultures Monastic schools () were, along with cathedral schools, the most important institutions of higher learning in the Latin West from the early Middle Ages until the 12th century. Since Cassiodorus's educational program, the standard curriculum incorporated religious studies, the Trivium, and the Quadrivium. In some places monastic schools evolved into medieval universities which eventually largely superseded both institutions as centers of higher learning. Since the cenobitic rule of Pachomius (d. 348 AD) and the sixth-century Rule of the Master and the Rule of St. Benedict, monks and nuns were required to actively engage in reading. This reading took on the characteristics of a school that dealt with both religious and secular subjects. Beginning in the 5th century a variety of abbots took upon themselves the responsibility of educating those who entered the monastery at a young age. The earliest of these monastic schools had more of a spiritual and ascetic focus than a scriptural or theological one, but it has been suggested that these were the qualities that led many monks trained at the monastic school at Lerins to be selected as bishops. The Roman statesman Cassiodorus had abandoned politics in 537 and later in the century established a monastery on his own lands at Vivarium in southern Italy. Cassiodorus stipulated that his monastery would be a place of study, providing a guide for that study in his Introduction to the Divine and Human Readings (Institutiones), which encompassed both religious texts and works on the liberal arts. Cassidorus set out this program of study as a substitute for the Christian school he and Pope Agapetus had hoped to establish in Rome. In any event, the curriculum that Cassiodorus set out involved the literary study of well-established texts that he had listed in his Institutiones, following the rules that he laid out in his De orthographia. Centers of learning were also found in seventh-century Spain, both at major monasteries and at episcopal centers. Students at the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian, at Agali near Toledo, learned such scientific subjects as medicine and the rudiments of astronomy. In the heyday of the monastic schools in the 9th and 10th centuries, the teachings of important scholars such as Alcuin, Hrabanus Maurus, Heiric of Auxerre and Notker Balbulus raised the prestige of their abbeys and attracted pupils from afar to attend their courses. Although some monastic schools contributed to the emerging medieval universities, the rise of the universities did not go unchallenged. Some monastic figures such as Bernard of Clairvaux considered the search for knowledge using the techniques of scholasticism to be a challenge to the monastic ideal of simplicity. The rise of medieval universities and scholasticism in the Renaissance of the 12th century offered alternative venues and new learning opportunities to the students and thus led to a gradual decline of the monastic schools. The monastery played a large role in the preservation and continuation of science throughout the Middle Ages. The largest part of their contribution was keeping the textual traditions of philosophers the likes of Aristotle and Plato alive in the transition from the height of Classical learning into the Middle Ages. In between prayer, meals, and sleeping, monks engaged in various labor activities in accordance to the Benedictine Rule. These activities ranged from gardening to copying texts. Through the latter, monks became learned in the Classical Greek texts and later began to contribute their own knowledge to more practical and daily texts. Much of the great libraries and scriptoria that grew in monasteries were due to obligation of the monks to teach the young boys who came them having been committed to the monastic life by their parents. Cassiodorus (ca.480-ca.575) wrote a handbook for his monastery in which he recommends numerous pagan authors for studying by the monks. Although it is understood that Cassiodorus recommended those studies that enhanced spiritual learning or served some kind of sacred purpose, it is vital to remember that the study of classical and secular text did exist in monasteries. The idea that many great texts of the Classical period would have been lost without the dedication of the monks, is a very real one. It may even be said that they saved many of the Classical Greek texts from extinction. Carolingian Schools, Cathedral school

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Succession to the British throne is determined by descent, sex (for people born on or before 28 October 2011), legitimacy, and religion. Under common law, the Crown is inherited by a sovereign's children or by a childless sovereign's nearest collateral line. The Bill of Rights 1689 and the Act of Settlement 1701 restrict succession to the throne to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover who are in "communion with the Church of England". Spouses of Roman Catholics were disqualified from 1689 until the law was amended in 2015. Protestant descendants of those excluded for being Roman Catholics are eligible. Queen Elizabeth II is the sovereign, and her heir apparent is her eldest son, Charles, Prince of Wales. Next in line after him is Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, the Prince of Wales's elder son. Third in line is Prince George, the eldest child of the Duke of Cambridge, followed by his sister, Princess Charlotte, and younger brother, Prince Louis. Sixth in line is Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son of the Prince of Wales. Under the Perth Agreement, which came into effect in 2015, only the first six in line of succession require the sovereign's consent before they marry; without such consent, they and their children would be disqualified from succession. The first four individuals in the line of succession who are over 21, and the sovereign's consort, may be appointed Counsellors of State. Counsellors of State perform some of the sovereign's duties in the United Kingdom while he or she is out of the country or temporarily incapacitated. Otherwise, individuals in the line of succession need not have specific legal or official roles. The United Kingdom is one of the 16 Commonwealth realms. Each of those countries has the same person as monarch and the same order of succession. In 2011, the prime ministers of the realms agreed unanimously to adopt a common approach to amending the rules on the succession to their respective Crowns so that absolute primogeniture would apply for persons born after the date of the agreement, instead of male-preference primogeniture, and the ban on marriages to Roman Catholics would be lifted, but the monarch would still need to be in communion with the Church of England. After the necessary legislation had been enacted in accordance with each realm's constitution, the changes took effect on 26 March 2015. No official, complete version of the line of succession is currently maintained. The exact number, in remoter collateral lines, of the people who would be eligible is uncertain. In 2001, American genealogist William Addams Reitwiesner compiled a list of 4,973 living descendants of the Electress Sophia in order of succession, but did so disregarding Roman Catholic status. When updated in January 2011, the number was 5,753. The annotated list below covers the first part of this line of succession, being limited to descendants of the sons of George V, Elizabeth II's grandfather. The order of the first eighteen numbered in the list is given on the official website of the British Monarchy; other list numbers and exclusions are explained by annotations (Notes and sources below) and footnotes. People named in italics are unnumbered either because they are deceased or because sources report them to be excluded from the succession. King George V (1865–1936), King Edward VIII (1894–1972), King George VI (1895–1952), Queen Elizabeth II (born 1926), (1) Charles, Prince of Wales (b. 1948), (2) Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (b. 1982), (3) Prince George of Cambridge (b. 2013), (4) Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (b. 2015), (5) Prince Louis of Cambridge (b. 2018), (6) Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (b. 1984), (7) Archie Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2019), (8) Prince Andrew, Duke of York (b. 1960), (9) Princess Beatrice of York (b. 1988), (10) Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank (b. 1990), (11) Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (b. 1964), (12) James Mountbatten-Windsor, Viscount Severn (b. 2007), (13) Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (b. 2003), (14) Anne, Princess Royal (b. 1950), (15) Peter Phillips (b. 1977), (16) Savannah Phillips (b. 2010), (17) Isla Phillips (b. 2012), (18) Zara Tindall (née Phillips; b. 1981), (19) Mia Tindall (b. 2014), (20) Lena Tindall (b. 2018), Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002), (21) David Armstrong-Jones, 2nd Earl of Snowdon (b. 1961), (22) Charles Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley (b. 1999), (23) Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (b. 2002), (24) Lady Sarah Chatto (née Armstrong-Jones; b. 1964), (25) Samuel Chatto (b. 1996), (26) Arthur Chatto (b. 1999), Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1900–1974), (27) Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1944), (28) Alexander Windsor, Earl of Ulster (b. 1974), (29) Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden (b. 2007), (30) Lady Cosima Windsor (b. 2010), (31) Lady Davina Windsor (b. 1977), (32) Senna Lewis (b. 2010), (33) Tāne Lewis (b. 2012), (34) Lady Rose Gilman (née Windsor; b. 1980), (35) Lyla Gilman (b. 2010), (36) Rufus Gilman (b. 2012), Prince George, Duke of Kent (1902–1942), (37) Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (b. 1935), (38) George Windsor, Earl of St Andrews (b. 1962), Edward Windsor, Lord Downpatrick (b. 1988), Lady Marina Windsor (b. 1992), (39) Lady Amelia Windsor (b. 1995), Lord Nicholas Windsor (b. 1970), (40) Albert Windsor (b. 2007), (41) Leopold Windsor (b. 2009), (42) Louis Windsor (b. 2014), (43) Lady Helen Taylor (née Windsor; b. 1964), (44) Columbus Taylor (b. 1994), (45) Cassius Taylor (b. 1996), (46) Eloise Taylor (b. 2003), (47) Estella Taylor (b. 2004), (48) Prince Michael of Kent (b. 1942), (49) Lord Frederick Windsor (b. 1979), (50) Maud Windsor (b. 2013), (51) Isabella Windsor (b. 2016), (52) Lady Gabriella Kingston (née Windsor; b. 1981), (53) Princess Alexandra, The Honourable Lady Ogilvy (b. 1936), (54) James Ogilvy (b. 1964), (55) Alexander Ogilvy (b. 1996), (56) Flora Ogilvy (b. 1994), (57) Marina Ogilvy (b. 1966), (58) Christian Mowatt (b. 1993), (59) Zenouska Mowatt (b. 1990) In 1485, Henry Tudor, a female-line descendant of a legitimated branch of the royal house of Lancaster, the House of Beaufort, assumed the English crown as Henry VII, after defeating Richard III, who was killed at the battle of Bosworth when leading a charge against Henry's standard. Richard was the last king of the House of York, and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. Henry declared himself king retroactively from 21 August 1485, the day before his victory over Richard at Bosworth Field, and caused Richard's Titulus Regius to be repealed and expunged from the Rolls of Parliament. After Henry's coronation in London in October that year, his first parliament, summoned to meet at Westminster in November, enacted that "the inheritance of the crown should be, rest, remain and abide in the most royal person of the then sovereign lord, King Henry VII, and the heirs of his body lawfully coming." Henry VII was followed by his son, Henry VIII. Though his father descended from the Lancastrians, Henry VIII could also claim the throne through the Yorkist line, as his mother Elizabeth was the sister and heiress of Edward V. In 1542 Henry also assumed the title King of Ireland; this would pass down with the monarchs of England, and later Great Britain, until the Acts of Union 1800 merged the separate crowns into that of the United Kingdom. Henry VIII's numerous marriages led to several complications over succession. Henry VIII was first married to Catherine of Aragon, by whom he had a daughter named Mary. His second marriage, to Anne Boleyn, resulted in a daughter named Elizabeth. Henry VIII had a son, Edward, by his third wife, Jane Seymour. An Act of Parliament passed in 1533 declared Mary illegitimate; another passed in 1536 did the same for Elizabeth. Though the two remained illegitimate, an Act of Parliament passed in 1544 allowed reinserting them, providing further "that the King should and might give, will, limit, assign, appoint or dispose the said imperial Crown and the other premises … by letters patent or last will in writing." Mary and Elizabeth, under Henry VIII's will, were to be followed by descendants of the King's deceased sister Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk (he, however, excluded his niece Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk). This will also excluded from the succession the descendants of Henry's eldest sister Margaret Tudor, who were the rulers of Scotland. When Henry VIII died in 1547, the young Edward succeeded him, becoming Edward VI. Edward VI was the first Protestant Sovereign to succeed to the rule of England. He attempted to divert the course of succession in his will to prevent his Catholic half-sister, Mary, from inheriting the throne. He excluded Mary and Elizabeth, settling on the Duchess of Suffolk's daughter, Lady Jane Grey. Jane was also originally excluded on the premise that no woman could reign over England. Nonetheless, the will, which originally referred to Jane's heirs-male, was amended to refer to Jane and her heirs-male. Upon Edward VI's death in 1553, Jane was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland. She was not universally recognised and after nine days she was overthrown by the popular Mary. As Henry VIII's will had been approved by an Act of Parliament in 1544, Edward's contravening will was unlawful and ignored. Mary was succeeded by her half-sister, Elizabeth, who broke with the precedents of many of her predecessors, and refused to name an heir. Whilst previous monarchs (including Henry VIII) had specifically been granted authority to settle uncertain successions in their wills, the Treasons Act 1571 asserted that Parliament had the right to settle disputes, and made it treason to deny Parliamentary authority. Wary of threats from other possible heirs, Parliament further passed the Act of Association 1584, which provided that any individual involved in attempts to murder the Sovereign would be disqualified from succeeding. (The Act was repealed in 1863.) The House of Stewart (later Stuart) had ruled in Scotland since 1371. It had followed strict rules of primogeniture until the deposition and exile of Mary I in 1567; even then she was succeeded by her son, James VI. Elizabeth I of England and Ireland was succeeded by King James VI of Scotland, her first cousin twice removed, even though his succession violated Henry VIII's will, under which Lady Anne Stanley, heiress of Mary Tudor, Duchess of Suffolk, was supposed to succeed. James asserted that hereditary right was superior to statutory provision, and as King of Scotland was powerful enough to deter any rival. He reigned as James I of England and Ireland, thus effecting the Union of the Crowns, although England and Scotland remained separate sovereign states until 1707. His succession was rapidly ratified by Parliament. James's eldest surviving son and successor, Charles I, was overthrown and beheaded in 1649. The monarchy itself was abolished. A few years later, it was replaced by the Protectorate under Oliver Cromwell, effectively a monarch with the title of Lord Protector rather than King. Cromwell had the right to name his own successor, which he exercised on his deathbed by choosing his son, Richard Cromwell. Richard was ineffective, and was quickly forced from office. Shortly afterwards, the monarchy was restored, with Charles I's son Charles II as King. James II and VII, a Roman Catholic, followed his brother Charles II, despite efforts in the late 1670s to exclude him in favour of Charles's illegitimate Protestant son, the Duke of Monmouth. James was deposed when his Protestant opponents forced him to flee from England in 1688. Parliament then deemed that James had, by fleeing the realms, abdicated the thrones and offered the Crowns not to the King's infant son James but to his Protestant daughter Mary and to her husband William, who as James's nephew was the first person in the succession not descended from him. The two became joint Sovereigns (a unique circumstance in British history) as William III of England and Ireland (and II of Scotland) and Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland. William had insisted on this unique provision as a condition of his military leadership against James. The English Bill of Rights passed in 1689 determined succession to the English, Scottish and Irish Thrones. First in the line were the descendants of Mary II. Next came Mary's sister Princess Anne and her descendants. Finally, the descendants of William by any future marriage were added to the line of succession. Only Protestants were allowed to succeed to the Thrones, and those who married Roman Catholics were excluded. After Mary II died in 1694, her husband continued to reign alone until his own death in 1702. The line of succession provided for by the Bill of Rights was almost at an end; William and Mary never had any children, and Princess Anne's children had all died. Therefore, Parliament passed the Act of Settlement. The Act maintained the provision of the Bill of Rights whereby William would be succeeded by Princess Anne and her descendants, and thereafter by his own descendants from future marriages. The Act, however, declared that they would be followed by James I & VI's granddaughter Sophia, Electress Dowager of Hanover (the daughter of James's daughter Elizabeth Stuart), and her heirs. As under the Bill of Rights, non-Protestants and those who married Roman Catholics were excluded. Upon William's death, Anne became Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland. Because the Parliament of England settled on Sophia as Anne's heir-presumptive without consulting Scottish leaders, the Estates of Scotland retaliated by passing the Scottish Act of Security. The Act provided that, upon the death of Anne, the Estates would meet to select an heir to the throne of Scotland, who could not be the same person as the English Sovereign unless numerous political and economic conditions were met. Anne originally withheld the Royal Assent, but was forced to grant it when the Estates refused to raise taxes and sought to withdraw troops from the Queen's army. England's Parliament responded by passing the Alien Act 1705, which threatened to cripple Scotland's economy by cutting off trade with them. Thus, Scotland had little choice but to unite with England to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707; the Crown of the new nation (along with the Crown of Ireland) was subject to the rules laid down by the English Act of Settlement. Anne was predeceased by Sophia, Electress Dowager of Hanover, and was therefore succeeded by the latter's son, who became George I in 1714. Attempts were made in the risings of 1715 and 1745 to restore Stuart claimants to the Throne, supported by those who recognised the Jacobite succession. The House of Hanover nonetheless remained undeposed, and the Crown descended in accordance with the appointed rules. In 1801, following the Acts of Union 1800, the separate crowns of Great Britain and Ireland were merged and became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Between 1811 and 1820, when George III was deemed unfit to rule, the Prince of Wales (later George IV) acted as his regent. Some years later the Regency Act 1830 made provision for a change in the line of succession had a child been born to William IV after his death, but this event did not come about. On the death of William IV in 1837, his 18-year-old niece Victoria succeeded to the throne. After a 63-year reign, often known as the Victorian era, she was succeeded in 1901 by her eldest son Edward VII. On his death, his second son acceded to the throne as George V (Edward's first son Prince Albert Victor died during an influenza pandemic in 1892). Edward VIII was proclaimed King on the death of his father, George V, in January 1936, Edward opened Parliament in November, but abdicated in December 1936, and was never crowned. Edward had desired to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee, but the Church of England, of which the British Sovereign is Supreme Governor, would not authorize the marriage of divorcees. Consequently, Parliament passed His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, by which Edward VIII ceased to be Sovereign "immediately upon" his royal assent as King being signified in Parliament on 11 December. The Act provided that he and his descendants, if any, were not to have any "right, title or interest in or to the succession to the Throne". Edward died childless in 1972. Edward's abdication was "a demise of the Crown" (in the words of the Act), and the Duke of York, his brother who was then next in the line, immediately succeeded to the throne and to its "rights, privileges, and dignities", taking the regnal name George VI. He in turn was succeeded in 1952 by his own elder daughter, Elizabeth II. By that time the monarch of the United Kingdom no longer reigned in the greater part of Ireland (which had become a republic in 1949), but was the monarch of a number of independent sovereign states (Commonwealth realms). By the terms of the Statute of Westminster 1931, each of the Commonwealth realms has the same person as monarch and, to maintain that arrangement, they have agreed to continue the same line of succession; some realms do so through domestic succession laws, while others stipulate whoever is monarch of the United Kingdom will also be monarch of that realm. In February 1952, on her accession, Elizabeth II was proclaimed as sovereign separately throughout her realms. In October 2011, the heads of government of all 16 realms agreed unanimously at a meeting held in Perth, Australia, to proposed changes to the royal succession laws that would see the order of succession for people born after 28 October 2011 governed by absolute primogeniture—wherein succession passes to an individual's children according to birth order, regardless of sex—instead of male-preference primogeniture. They also agreed to lift a ban on those who marry Roman Catholics. The ban on Catholics themselves was retained to ensure that the monarch would be in communion with the Church of England. The changes came into effect across the Commonwealth realms on 26 March 2015, after legislation was made according to each realm's constitution. Following the changes coming into effect, the positions of the first 27 in line remained unchanged, including Princess Anne and her children and grandchildren, until the birth of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge on 2 May 2015. The first to be affected by the changes, on the day they came into effect in March, were the children of Lady Davina Lewis—her son Tāne (born 2012) and her daughter Senna (born 2010)—who were reversed in the order of succession, becoming 29th and 28th in line respectively. The Bill of Rights and the Act of Settlement (restated by the Acts of Union) still govern succession to the throne. They were amended in the United Kingdom by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, which was passed mainly "to make succession to the Crown not depend on gender" and "to make provision about Royal Marriages" (according to its long title), thereby implementing the Perth Agreement in the UK and in those realms that, by their laws, have as their monarch automatically whoever is monarch of the UK. Other realms passed their own legislation. Anyone ineligible to succeed is treated as if they were dead. That person's descendants are not also disqualified, unless they are personally ineligible. The Act of Settlement 1701 provides that Protestant "heirs of the body" (that is, legitimate descendants) of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, are eligible to succeed to the throne, unless otherwise disqualified. The meaning of heir of the body is determined by the common law rules of male preference primogeniture (the "male-preference" criterion is no longer applicable, in respect of succession to the throne, to persons born after 28 October 2011), whereby older children and their descendants inherit before younger children, and a male child takes precedence over a female sibling. Children born out of wedlock and adopted children are not eligible to succeed. Illegitimate children whose parents subsequently marry are legitimated, but remain ineligible to inherit the Crown. The Royal Marriages Act 1772 (repealed by the Succession to the Crown Act 2013) further required descendants of George II to obtain the consent of the reigning monarch to marry. (The requirement did not apply to descendants of princesses who married into foreign families, as well as, from 1936, any descendants of Edward VIII, of whom there are none.) The Act provided, however, that if a dynast older than twenty-five years notified the Privy Council of his or her intention to marry without the consent of the Sovereign, then he or she may have lawfully done so after one year, unless both houses of Parliament expressly disapproved of the marriage. A marriage that contravened the Royal Marriages Act was void, and the resulting offspring illegitimate and thus ineligible to succeed, though the succession of the dynast who failed to obtain consent was not itself affected. This also had the consequence that marriage to a Roman Catholic without permission was void, so that the dynast was not disqualified from succeeding on account of being married to a Roman Catholic. Thus when the future George IV attempted to marry the Roman Catholic Maria Fitzherbert in 1785 without obtaining permission from George III he did not disqualify himself from inheriting the throne in due course. A marriage voided by the 1772 act prior to its repeal remains void "for all purposes relating to the succession to the Crown" under the 2013 act. The constitutional crisis arising from Edward VIII's decision to marry a divorcee in 1936 led to His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936, which provided that Edward VIII and his descendants would have no claim to the throne. The Act is no longer applicable, because Edward died in 1972 without issue. Under the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act, the first six persons in line to the throne must obtain the sovereign's approval before marrying. Marriage without the Sovereign's consent disqualifies the person and the person's descendants from the marriage from succeeding to the Crown, but the marriage is still legally valid. Rules relating to eligibility established by the Bill of Rights are retained under the Act of Settlement. The preamble to the Act of Settlement notes that the Bill of Rights provides "that all and every person and persons that then [at the time of the Bill of Right's passage] were, or afterwards should be reconciled to, or shall hold communion with the See or Church of Rome, or should profess the popish religion, or marry a papist, should be excluded." The Act of Settlement continues, providing "that all and every Person and Persons who shall … is, are or shall be reconciled to or shall hold Communion with the See or Church of Rome or shall profess the Popish religion or shall marry a papist shall be subject to such Incapacities" as the Bill of Rights established. The clause precludes a Roman Catholic from succeeding to the throne. Under the Act of Settlement the monarch is required to be in communion with the Church of England, so it is not only Catholics who are barred from the throne. The Act of Settlement further provided that anyone who married a Roman Catholic was ineligible to succeed. The Act did not require that the spouse be Anglican; it only barred those who marry Roman Catholics. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 removed the ban on individuals who marry Roman Catholics, though not on Roman Catholics themselves, because the monarch is Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Under the Treason Act 1702 and the Treason (Ireland) Act 1703, it is treason to "endeavour to deprive or hinder any person who shall be the next in succession to the crown ... from succeeding ... to the imperial crown of this realm". Since the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, the maximum penalty has been life imprisonment. In the Commonwealth realms, upon the death of a sovereign, the heir apparent or heir presumptive succeeds to the throne immediately, with no need for confirmation or further ceremony. Nevertheless, the Accession Council meets and decides upon the making of the accession proclamation, which by custom has for centuries been ceremonially proclaimed in public places, in London, York, Edinburgh and other cities. The anniversary is observed throughout the sovereign's reign as Accession Day, including royal gun salutes in the United Kingdom. Formerly, a new sovereign proclaimed his or her own accession. But on the death of Elizabeth I an Accession Council met to proclaim the accession of James I to the throne of England. James was then in Scotland and reigning as King James VI of Scotland. This precedent has been followed since. Now, the Accession Council normally meets in St James's Palace. Proclamations since James I's have usually been made in the name of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, the Privy Council, the Lord Mayor, Aldermen and citizens of the City of London and "other principal Gentlemen of quality", though there have been variations in some proclamations. The proclamation of accession of Elizabeth II was the first to make mention of representatives of members of the Commonwealth. Upon his or her accession, a new sovereign is required by law to make and subscribe several oaths. The Bill of Rights of 1689 first required the sovereign to make a public declaration of non-belief in Roman Catholicism. This declaration, known as the Accession Declaration, is required to be taken either at the first meeting of parliament of his or her reign (i.e. during the State Opening of Parliament) or at his or her coronation, whichever occurs first. The current wording of this declaration was adopted in 1910 as the previous wording was deemed to be controversial and overtly anti-Catholic. Rather than denouncing Roman Catholicism, the sovereign now declares him or herself to be a Protestant and that he or she will "uphold and maintain" the Protestant succession. In addition to the Accession Declaration, the new sovereign is required by the Acts of Union 1707 to make an oath to "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland. This oath is normally made at the sovereign's first meeting of the Privy Council following his or her accession. According to the Regency Act 1937, should the sovereign be under the age of 18, such oaths and declarations required to be taken by the sovereign shall be made upon attainment of that age. After a period of mourning, the new sovereign is usually consecrated and crowned in Westminster Abbey. Normally, the Archbishop of Canterbury officiates, though the sovereign may designate any other bishop of the Church of England. A coronation is not necessary for a sovereign to reign; for example, Edward VIII was never crowned, yet during his short reign was the undoubted king. Blackstone, William (1765). "Chapter 3: Of The King, and His Title". Commentaries on the Laws of England, Vol. 1. Oxford: Clarendon Press., Bogdanor, Vernon (1995). The Monarchy and the Constitution. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ., Bryant, A. (1975). A Thousand Years of British Monarchy. London: Collins. Text of the Bill of Rights 1689, Text of the Act of Settlement 1701, Full text of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013., "Royal Family tree and line of succession" at the BBC website, 29 June 2018. Biographies of the Queen's descendants in order of their place in the line of succession., British line of succession on any date back to 1820. The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional monarchy of the United Kingdom, its dependencies (the Bailiwick of Guernsey, the Bailiwick of Jersey and the Isle of Man) and its overseas territories. The current monarch and head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who ascended the throne in 1952. The monarch and their immediate family undertake various official, ceremonial, diplomatic and representational duties. As the monarchy is constitutional, the monarch is limited to non-partisan functions such as bestowing honours and appointing the prime minister. The monarch is commander-in-chief of the British Armed Forces. Though the ultimate executive authority over the government is still formally by and through the monarch's royal prerogative, these powers may only be used according to laws enacted in Parliament and, in practice, within the constraints of convention and precedent. The British monarchy traces its origins from the petty kingdoms of early medieval Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England, which consolidated into the kingdoms of England and Scotland by the 10th century. England was conquered by the Normans in 1066, after which Wales too gradually came under control of Anglo-Normans. The process was completed in the 13th century when the Principality of Wales became a client state of the English kingdom. Meanwhile, Magna Carta began a process of reducing the English monarch's political powers. From 1603, the English and Scottish kingdoms were ruled by a single sovereign. From 1649 to 1660, the tradition of monarchy was broken by the republican Commonwealth of England, which followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. The Act of Settlement 1701 excluded Roman Catholics, or those who married them, from succession to the English throne. In 1707, the kingdoms of England and Scotland were merged to create the Kingdom of Great Britain, and in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland joined to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The British monarch was the nominal head of the vast British Empire, which covered a quarter of the world's surface at its greatest extent in 1921. In the early 1920s the Balfour Declaration recognised the evolution of the Dominions of the Empire into separate, self-governing countries within a Commonwealth of Nations. After the Second World War, the vast majority of British colonies and territories became independent, effectively bringing the Empire to an end. George VI and his successor, Elizabeth II, adopted the title Head of the Commonwealth as a symbol of the free association of its independent member states. The United Kingdom and fifteen other independent sovereign states that share the same person as their monarch are called Commonwealth realms. Although the monarch is shared, each country is sovereign and independent of the others, and the monarch has a different, specific, and official national title and style for each realm. In the uncodified Constitution of the United Kingdom, the monarch (otherwise referred to as the sovereign or "His/Her Majesty", abbreviated H.M.) is the head of state. The Queen's image is used to signify British sovereignty and government authority—her profile, for instance, appearing on currency, and her portrait in government buildings. The sovereign is further both mentioned in and the subject of songs, loyal toasts, and salutes. "God Save the Queen" (or, alternatively, "God Save the King") is the British national anthem. Oaths of allegiance are made to the Queen and her lawful successors. The monarch takes little direct part in government. The decisions to exercise sovereign powers are delegated from the monarch, either by statute or by convention, to ministers or officers of the Crown, or other public bodies, exclusive of the monarch personally. Thus the acts of state done in the name of the Crown, such as Crown Appointments, even if personally performed by the monarch, such as the Queen's Speech and the State Opening of Parliament, depend upon decisions made elsewhere: Legislative power is exercised by the Queen-in-Parliament, by and with the advice and consent of Parliament, the House of Lords and the House of Commons., Executive power is exercised by Her Majesty's Government, which comprises ministers, primarily the prime minister and the Cabinet, which is technically a committee of the Privy Council. They have the direction of the Armed Forces of the Crown, the Civil Service and other Crown Servants such as the Diplomatic and Secret Services (the Queen receives certain foreign intelligence reports before the prime minister does)., Judicial power is vested in the various judiciaries of the United Kingdom, who by constitution and statute have judicial independence of the Government., The Church of England, of which the monarch is the head, has its own legislative, judicial and executive structures., Powers independent of government are legally granted to other public bodies by statute or Statutory Instrument such as an Order in Council, Royal Commission or otherwise. The sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non- partisan functions, such as granting honours. This role has been recognised since the 19th century. The constitutional writer Walter Bagehot identified the monarchy in 1867 as the "dignified part" rather than the "efficient part" of government. Whenever necessary, the monarch is responsible for appointing a new prime minister (who by convention appoints and may dismiss every other Minister of the Crown, and thereby constitutes and controls the government). In accordance with unwritten constitutional conventions, the sovereign must appoint an individual who commands the support of the House of Commons, usually the leader of the party or coalition that has a majority in that House. The prime minister takes office by attending the monarch in private audience, and after "kissing hands" that appointment is immediately effective without any other formality or instrument. In a hung parliament where no party or coalition holds a majority, the monarch has an increased degree of latitude in choosing the individual likely to command the most support, though it would usually be the leader of the largest party. Since 1945, there have only been three hung parliaments. The first followed the February 1974 general election when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister after Edward Heath resigned following his failure to form a coalition. Although Wilson's Labour Party did not have a majority, they were the largest party. The second followed the May 2010 general election, in which the Conservatives (the largest party) and Liberal Democrats (the third largest party) agreed to form the first coalition government since World War II. The third occurred shortly thereafter, in June 2017, when the Conservative Party lost its majority in a snap election, though the party remained in power as a minority government. In 1950 the King's Private Secretary Sir Alan "Tommy" Lascelles, writing pseudonymously to The Times newspaper asserted a constitutional convention: according to the Lascelles Principles, if a minority government asked to dissolve Parliament to call an early election to strengthen its position, the monarch could refuse, and would do so under three conditions. When Harold Wilson requested a dissolution late in 1974, the Queen granted his request as Heath had already failed to form a coalition. The resulting general election gave Wilson a small majority. The monarch could in theory unilaterally dismiss the prime minister, but in practice the prime minister's term nowadays comes to an end only by electoral defeat, death, or resignation. The last monarch to remove the prime minister was William IV, who dismissed Lord Melbourne in 1834. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 removed the monarch's authority to dissolve Parliament; however the Act specifically retained the monarch's power of prorogation, which is a regular feature of the parliamentary calendar. Some of the government's executive authority is theoretically and nominally vested in the sovereign and is known as the royal prerogative. The monarch acts within the constraints of convention and precedent, exercising prerogative only on the advice of ministers responsible to Parliament, often through the prime minister or Privy Council. In practice, prerogative powers are exercised only on the prime minister's advice – the prime minister, and not the sovereign, has control. The monarch holds a weekly audience with the prime minister; no records of these audiences are taken and the proceedings remain fully confidential. The monarch may express his or her views, but, as a constitutional ruler, must ultimately accept the decisions of prime minister and the Cabinet (providing they command the support of the House). In Bagehot's words: "the sovereign has, under a constitutional monarchy ... three rights – the right to be consulted, the right to encourage, the right to warn." Although the royal prerogative is extensive and parliamentary approval is not formally required for its exercise, it is limited. Many Crown prerogatives have fallen out of use or have been permanently transferred to Parliament. For example, the monarch cannot impose and collect new taxes; such an action requires the authorisation of an Act of Parliament. According to a parliamentary report, "The Crown cannot invent new prerogative powers", and Parliament can override any prerogative power by passing legislation. The royal prerogative includes the powers to appoint and dismiss ministers, regulate the civil service, issue passports, declare war, make peace, direct the actions of the military, and negotiate and ratify treaties, alliances, and international agreements. However, a treaty cannot alter the domestic laws of the United Kingdom; an Act of Parliament is necessary in such cases. The monarch is the Head of the Armed Forces (the Royal Navy, the British Army, and the Royal Air Force), and accredits British High Commissioners and ambassadors, and receives heads of missions from foreign states. It is the prerogative of the monarch to summon and prorogue Parliament. Each parliamentary session begins with the monarch's summons. The new parliamentary session is marked by the State Opening of Parliament, during which the sovereign reads the Speech from the throne in the Chamber of the House of Lords, outlining the Government's legislative agenda. Prorogation usually occurs about one year after a session begins, and formally concludes the session. Dissolution ends a parliamentary term, and is followed by a general election for all seats in the House of Commons. A general election is normally held five years after the previous one under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, but can be held sooner if the prime minister loses a motion of confidence, or if two-thirds of the members of the House of Commons vote to hold an early election. Before a bill passed by the legislative Houses can become law, the royal assent (the monarch's approval) is required. In theory, assent can either be granted (making the bill law) or withheld (vetoing the bill), but since 1707 assent has always been granted. The monarch has a similar relationship with the devolved governments of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The sovereign appoints the First Minister of Scotland on the nomination of the Scottish Parliament, and the First Minister of Wales on the nomination of the National Assembly for Wales. In Scottish matters, the sovereign acts on the advice of the Scottish Government. However, as devolution is more limited in Wales, in Welsh matters the sovereign acts on the advice of the prime minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom. The sovereign can veto any law passed by the Northern Ireland Assembly, if it is deemed unconstitutional by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. The sovereign is deemed the "fount of justice"; although the sovereign does not personally rule in judicial cases, judicial functions are performed in his or her name. For instance, prosecutions are brought on the monarch's behalf, and courts derive their authority from the Crown. The common law holds that the sovereign "can do no wrong"; the monarch cannot be prosecuted for criminal offences. The Crown Proceedings Act 1947 allows civil lawsuits against the Crown in its public capacity (that is, lawsuits against the government), but not lawsuits against the monarch personally. The sovereign exercises the "prerogative of mercy", which is used to pardon convicted offenders or reduce sentences. The monarch is the "fount of honour", the source of all honours and dignities in the United Kingdom. The Crown creates all peerages, appoints members of the orders of chivalry, grants knighthoods and awards other honours. Although peerages and most other honours are granted on the advice of the prime minister, some honours are within the personal gift of the sovereign, and are not granted on ministerial advice. The monarch alone appoints members of the Order of the Garter, the Order of the Thistle, the Royal Victorian Order and the Order of Merit. Following Viking raids and settlement in the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex emerged as the dominant English kingdom. Alfred the Great secured Wessex, achieved dominance over western Mercia, and assumed the title "King of the English". His grandson Æthelstan was the first king to rule over a unitary kingdom roughly corresponding to the present borders of England, though its constituent parts retained strong regional identities. The 11th century saw England become more stable, despite a number of wars with the Danes, which resulted in a Danish monarchy for one generation. The conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, was crucial in terms of both political and social change. The new monarch continued the centralisation of power begun in the Anglo-Saxon period, while the Feudal System continued to develop. William was succeeded by two of his sons: William II, then Henry I. Henry made a controversial decision to name his daughter Matilda (his only surviving child) as his heir. Following Henry's death in 1135, one of William I's grandsons, Stephen, laid claim to the throne and took power with the support of most of the barons. Matilda challenged his reign; as a result, England descended into a period of disorder known as the Anarchy. Stephen maintained a precarious hold on power but agreed to a compromise under which Matilda's son Henry would succeed him. Henry accordingly became the first Angevin king of England and the first monarch of the Plantagenet dynasty as Henry II in 1154. The reigns of most of the Angevin monarchs were marred by civil strife and conflicts between the monarch and the nobility. Henry II faced rebellions from his own sons, the future monarchs Richard I and John. Nevertheless, Henry managed to expand his kingdom, forming what is retrospectively known as the Angevin Empire. Upon Henry's death, his elder son Richard succeeded to the throne; he was absent from England for most of his reign, as he left to fight in the Crusades. He was killed besieging a castle, and John succeeded him. John's reign was marked by conflict with the barons, particularly over the limits of royal power. In 1215, the barons coerced the king into issuing Magna Carta (Latin for "Great Charter") to guarantee the rights and liberties of the nobility. Soon afterwards, further disagreements plunged England into a civil war known as the First Barons' War. The war came to an abrupt end after John died in 1216, leaving the Crown to his nine-year- old son Henry III. Later in Henry's reign, Simon de Montfort led the barons in another rebellion, beginning the Second Barons' War. The war ended in a clear royalist victory and in the death of many rebels, but not before the king had agreed to summon a parliament in 1265. The next monarch, Edward Longshanks, was far more successful in maintaining royal power and responsible for the conquest of Wales. He attempted to establish English domination of Scotland. However, gains in Scotland were reversed during the reign of his successor, Edward II, who also faced conflict with the nobility. In 1311, Edward II was forced to relinquish many of his powers to a committee of baronial "ordainers"; however, military victories helped him regain control in 1322. Nevertheless, in 1327, Edward was deposed by his wife Isabella. His 14-year- old son became Edward III. Edward III claimed the French Crown, setting off the Hundred Years' War between England and France. His campaigns conquered much French territory, but by 1374, all the gains had been lost. Edward's reign was also marked by the further development of Parliament, which came to be divided into two Houses. In 1377, Edward III died, leaving the Crown to his 10-year-old grandson Richard II. Like many of his predecessors, Richard II conflicted with the nobles by attempting to concentrate power in his own hands. In 1399, while he was campaigning in Ireland, his cousin Henry Bolingbroke seized power. Richard was deposed, imprisoned, and eventually murdered, probably by starvation, and Henry became king as Henry IV. Henry IV was the grandson of Edward III and the son of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster; hence, his dynasty was known as the House of Lancaster. For most of his reign, Henry IV was forced to fight off plots and rebellions; his success was partly due to the military skill of his son, the future Henry V. Henry V's own reign, which began in 1413, was largely free from domestic strife, leaving the king free to pursue the Hundred Years' War in France. Although he was victorious, his sudden death in 1422 left his infant son Henry VI on the throne and gave the French an opportunity to overthrow English rule. The unpopularity of Henry VI's counsellors and his belligerent consort, Margaret of Anjou, as well as his own ineffectual leadership, led to the weakening of the House of Lancaster. The Lancastrians faced a challenge from the House of York, so called because its head, a descendant of Edward III, was Richard, Duke of York. Although the Duke of York died in battle in 1460, his eldest son, Edward IV, led the Yorkists to victory in 1461. The Wars of the Roses, nevertheless, continued intermittently during his reign and those of his son Edward V and brother Richard III. Edward V disappeared, presumably murdered by Richard. Ultimately, the conflict culminated in success for the Lancastrian branch led by Henry Tudor, in 1485, when Richard III was killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field. Now King Henry VII, he neutralised the remaining Yorkist forces, partly by marrying Elizabeth of York, a Yorkist heir. Through skill and ability, Henry re-established absolute supremacy in the realm, and the conflicts with the nobility that had plagued previous monarchs came to an end. The reign of the second Tudor king, Henry VIII, was one of great political change. Religious upheaval and disputes with the Pope led the monarch to break from the Roman Catholic Church and to establish the Church of England (the Anglican Church). Wales – which had been conquered centuries earlier, but had remained a separate dominion – was annexed to England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Henry VIII's son and successor, the young Edward VI, continued with further religious reforms, but his early death in 1553 precipitated a succession crisis. He was wary of allowing his Catholic elder half-sister Mary I to succeed, and therefore drew up a will designating Lady Jane Grey as his heiress. Jane's reign, however, lasted only nine days; with tremendous popular support, Mary deposed her and declared herself the lawful sovereign. Mary I married Philip of Spain, who was declared king and co-ruler, pursued disastrous wars in France and attempted to return England to Roman Catholicism, burning Protestants at the stake as heretics in the process. Upon her death in 1558, the pair were succeeded by her Protestant half-sister Elizabeth I. England returned to Protestantism and continued its growth into a major world power by building its navy and exploring the New World. In Scotland, as in England, monarchies emerged after the withdrawal of the Roman empire from Britain in the early fifth century. The three groups that lived in Scotland at this time were the Picts in the north east, the Britons in the south, including the Kingdom of Strathclyde, and the Gaels or Scotti (who would later give their name to Scotland), of the Irish petty kingdom of Dál Riata in the west. Kenneth MacAlpin is traditionally viewed as the first king of a united Scotland (known as Scotia to writers in Latin, or Alba to the Scots). The expansion of Scottish dominions continued over the next two centuries, as other territories such as Strathclyde were absorbed. Early Scottish monarchs did not inherit the Crown directly; instead the custom of tanistry was followed, where the monarchy alternated between different branches of the House of Alpin. As a result, however, the rival dynastic lines clashed, often violently. From 942 to 1005, seven consecutive monarchs were either murdered or killed in battle. In 1005, Malcolm II ascended the throne having killed many rivals. He continued to ruthlessly eliminate opposition, and when he died in 1034 he was succeeded by his grandson, Duncan I, instead of a cousin, as had been usual. In 1040, Duncan suffered defeat in battle at the hands of Macbeth, who was killed himself in 1057 by Duncan's son Malcolm. The following year, after killing Macbeth's stepson Lulach, Malcolm ascended the throne as Malcolm III. With a further series of battles and deposings, five of Malcolm's sons as well as one of his brothers successively became king. Eventually, the Crown came to his youngest son, David I. David was succeeded by his grandsons Malcolm IV, and then by William the Lion, the longest-reigning King of Scots before the Union of the Crowns. William participated in a rebellion against King Henry II of England but when the rebellion failed, William was captured by the English. In exchange for his release, William was forced to acknowledge Henry as his feudal overlord. The English King Richard I agreed to terminate the arrangement in 1189, in return for a large sum of money needed for the Crusades. William died in 1214, and was succeeded by his son Alexander II. Alexander II, as well as his successor Alexander III, attempted to take over the Western Isles, which were still under the overlordship of Norway. During the reign of Alexander III, Norway launched an unsuccessful invasion of Scotland; the ensuing Treaty of Perth recognised Scottish control of the Western Isles and other disputed areas. Alexander III's unexpected death in a riding accident in 1286 precipitated a major succession crisis. Scottish leaders appealed to King Edward I of England for help in determining who was the rightful heir. Edward chose Alexander's three-year-old Norwegian granddaughter, Margaret. On her way to Scotland in 1290, however, Margaret died at sea, and Edward was again asked to adjudicate between 13 rival claimants to the throne. A court was set up and after two years of deliberation, it pronounced John Balliol to be king. Edward proceeded to treat Balliol as a vassal, and tried to exert influence over Scotland. In 1295, when Balliol renounced his allegiance to England, Edward I invaded. During the first ten years of the ensuing Wars of Scottish Independence, Scotland had no monarch, until Robert the Bruce declared himself king in 1306. Robert's efforts to control Scotland culminated in success, and Scottish independence was acknowledged in 1328. However, only one year later, Robert died and was succeeded by his five-year-old son, David II. On the pretext of restoring John Balliol's rightful heir, Edward Balliol, the English again invaded in 1332. During the next four years, Balliol was crowned, deposed, restored, deposed, restored, and deposed until he eventually settled in England, and David remained king for the next 35 years. David II died childless in 1371 and was succeeded by his nephew Robert II of the House of Stuart. The reigns of both Robert II and his successor, Robert III, were marked by a general decline in royal power. When Robert III died in 1406, regents had to rule the country; the monarch, Robert III's son James I, had been taken captive by the English. Having paid a large ransom, James returned to Scotland in 1424; to restore his authority, he used ruthless measures, including the execution of several of his enemies. He was assassinated by a group of nobles. James II continued his father's policies by subduing influential noblemen but he was killed in an accident at the age of thirty, and a council of regents again assumed power. James III was defeated in a battle against rebellious Scottish earls in 1488, leading to another boy-king: James IV. In 1513 James IV launched an invasion of England, attempting to take advantage of the absence of the English King Henry VIII. His forces met with disaster at Flodden Field; the King, many senior noblemen, and hundreds of soldiers were killed. As his son and successor, James V, was an infant, the government was again taken over by regents. James V led another disastrous war with the English in 1542, and his death in the same year left the Crown in the hands of his six-day-old daughter, Mary I. Once again, a regency was established. Mary, a Roman Catholic, reigned during a period of great religious upheaval in Scotland. As a result of the efforts of reformers such as John Knox, a Protestant ascendancy was established. Mary caused alarm by marrying her Catholic cousin, Lord Darnley, in 1565. After Lord Darnley's assassination in 1567, Mary contracted an even more unpopular marriage with the Earl of Bothwell, who was widely suspected of Darnley's murder. The nobility rebelled against the Queen, forcing her to abdicate. She fled to England, and the Crown went to her infant son James VI, who was brought up as a Protestant. Mary was imprisoned and later executed by the English queen Elizabeth I. Elizabeth I's death in 1603 ended Tudor rule in England. Since she had no children, she was succeeded by the Scottish monarch James VI, who was the great-grandson of Henry VIII's older sister and hence Elizabeth's first cousin twice removed. James VI ruled in England as James I after what was known as the "Union of the Crowns". Although England and Scotland were in personal union under one monarch – James I became the first monarch to style himself "King of Great Britain" in 1604 – they remained two separate kingdoms. James I's successor, Charles I, experienced frequent conflicts with the English Parliament related to the issue of royal and parliamentary powers, especially the power to impose taxes. He provoked opposition by ruling without Parliament from 1629 to 1640, unilaterally levying taxes and adopting controversial religious policies (many of which were offensive to the Scottish Presbyterians and the English Puritans). His attempt to enforce Anglicanism led to organised rebellion in Scotland (the "Bishops' Wars") and ignited the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. In 1642, the conflict between the King and English Parliament reached its climax and the English Civil War began. The Civil War culminated in the execution of the king in 1649, the overthrow of the English monarchy, and the establishment of the Commonwealth of England. Charles I's son, Charles II, was proclaimed King of Great Britain in Scotland, but he was forced to flee abroad after he invaded England and was defeated at the Battle of Worcester. In 1653, Oliver Cromwell, the most prominent military and political leader in the nation, seized power and declared himself Lord Protector (effectively becoming a military dictator, but refusing the title of king). Cromwell ruled until his death in 1658, when he was succeeded by his son Richard. The new Lord Protector had little interest in governing; he soon resigned. The lack of clear leadership led to civil and military unrest, and for a popular desire to restore the monarchy. In 1660, the monarchy was restored and Charles II returned to Britain. Charles II's reign was marked by the development of the first modern political parties in England. Charles had no legitimate children, and was due to be succeeded by his Roman Catholic brother, James, Duke of York. A parliamentary effort to exclude James from the line of succession arose; the "Petitioners", who supported exclusion, became the Whig Party, whereas the "Abhorrers", who opposed exclusion, became the Tory Party. The Exclusion Bill failed; on several occasions, Charles II dissolved Parliament because he feared that the bill might pass. After the dissolution of the Parliament of 1681, Charles ruled without a Parliament until his death in 1685. When James succeeded Charles, he pursued a policy of offering religious tolerance to Roman Catholics, thereby drawing the ire of many of his Protestant subjects. Many opposed James's decisions to maintain a large standing army, to appoint Roman Catholics to high political and military offices, and to imprison Church of England clerics who challenged his policies. As a result, a group of Protestants known as the Immortal Seven invited James II's daughter Mary and her husband William III of Orange to depose the king. William obliged, arriving in England on 5 November 1688 to great public support. Faced with the defection of many of his Protestant officials, James fled the realm and William and Mary (rather than James II's Catholic son) were declared joint Sovereigns of England, Scotland and Ireland. James's overthrow, known as the Glorious Revolution, was one of the most important events in the long evolution of parliamentary power. The Bill of Rights 1689 affirmed parliamentary supremacy, and declared that the English people held certain rights, including the freedom from taxes imposed without parliamentary consent. The Bill of Rights required future monarchs to be Protestants, and provided that, after any children of William and Mary, Mary's sister Anne would inherit the Crown. Mary died childless in 1694, leaving William as the sole monarch. By 1700, a political crisis arose, as all of Anne's children had died, leaving her as the only individual left in the line of succession. Parliament was afraid that the former James II or his supporters, known as Jacobites, might attempt to reclaim the throne. Parliament passed the Act of Settlement 1701, which excluded James and his Catholic relations from the succession and made William's nearest Protestant relations, the family of Sophia, Electress of Hanover, next in line to the throne after his sister-in-law Anne. Soon after the passage of the Act, William III died, leaving the Crown to Anne. After Anne's accession, the problem of the succession re-emerged. The Scottish Parliament, infuriated that the English Parliament did not consult them on the choice of Sophia's family as the next heirs, passed the Act of Security 1704, threatening to end the personal union between England and Scotland. The Parliament of England retaliated with the Alien Act 1705, threatening to devastate the Scottish economy by restricting trade. The Scottish and English parliaments negotiated the Acts of Union 1707, under which England and Scotland were united into a single Kingdom of Great Britain, with succession under the rules prescribed by the Act of Settlement. In 1714, Queen Anne was succeeded by her second cousin, and Sophia's son, George I, Elector of Hanover, who consolidated his position by defeating Jacobite rebellions in 1715 and 1719. The new monarch was less active in government than many of his British predecessors, but retained control over his German kingdoms, with which Britain was now in personal union. Power shifted towards George's ministers, especially to Sir Robert Walpole, who is often considered the first British prime minister, although the title was not then in use. The next monarch, George II, witnessed the final end of the Jacobite threat in 1746, when the Catholic Stuarts were completely defeated. During the long reign of his grandson, George III, Britain's American colonies were lost, the former colonies having formed the United States of America, but British influence elsewhere in the world continued to grow, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was created by the Acts of Union 1800. From 1811 to 1820, George III suffered a severe bout of what is now believed to be porphyria, an illness rendering him incapable of ruling. His son, the future George IV, ruled in his stead as Prince Regent. During the Regency and his own reign, the power of the monarchy declined, and by the time of his successor, William IV, the monarch was no longer able to effectively interfere with parliamentary power. In 1834, William dismissed the Whig Prime Minister, William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, and appointed a Tory, Sir Robert Peel. In the ensuing elections, however, Peel lost. The king had no choice but to recall Lord Melbourne. During William IV's reign, the Reform Act 1832, which reformed parliamentary representation, was passed. Together with others passed later in the century, the Act led to an expansion of the electoral franchise and the rise of the House of Commons as the most important branch of Parliament. The final transition to a constitutional monarchy was made during the long reign of William IV's successor, Victoria. As a woman, Victoria could not rule Hanover, which only permitted succession in the male line, so the personal union of the United Kingdom and Hanover came to an end. The Victorian era was marked by great cultural change, technological progress, and the establishment of the United Kingdom as one of the world's foremost powers. In recognition of British rule over India, Victoria was declared Empress of India in 1876. However, her reign was also marked by increased support for the republican movement, due in part to Victoria's permanent mourning and lengthy period of seclusion following the death of her husband in 1861. Victoria's son, Edward VII, became the first monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1901. In 1917, the next monarch, George V, changed "Saxe-Coburg and Gotha" to "Windsor" in response to the anti-German sympathies aroused by the First World War. George V's reign was marked by the separation of Ireland into Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom, and the Irish Free State, an independent nation, in 1922. During the twentieth century, the Commonwealth of Nations evolved from the British Empire. Prior to 1926, the British Crown reigned over the British Empire collectively; the Dominions and Crown Colonies were subordinate to the United Kingdom. The Balfour Declaration of 1926 gave complete self-government to the Dominions, effectively creating a system whereby a single monarch operated independently in each separate Dominion. The concept was solidified by the Statute of Westminster 1931, which has been likened to "a treaty among the Commonwealth countries". The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, although it is often still referred to as "British" for legal and historical reasons and for convenience. The monarch became separately monarch of the United Kingdom, monarch of Canada, monarch of Australia, and so forth. The independent states within the Commonwealth would share the same monarch in a relationship likened to a personal union. George V's death in 1936 was followed by the accession of Edward VIII, who caused a public scandal by announcing his desire to marry the divorced American Wallis Simpson, even though the Church of England opposed the remarriage of divorcées. Accordingly, Edward announced his intention to abdicate; the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and of other Commonwealth countries granted his request. Edward VIII and any children by his new wife were excluded from the line of succession, and the Crown went to his brother, George VI. George served as a rallying figure for the British people during World War II, making morale-boosting visits to the troops as well as to munitions factories and to areas bombed by Nazi Germany. In June 1948 George VI relinquished the title Emperor of India, although remaining head of state of the Dominion of India. At first, every member of the Commonwealth retained the same monarch as the United Kingdom, but when the Dominion of India became a republic in 1950, it would no longer share in a common monarchy. Instead, the British monarch was acknowledged as "Head of the Commonwealth" in all Commonwealth member states, whether they were realms or republics. The position is purely ceremonial, and is not inherited by the British monarch as of right but is vested in an individual chosen by the Commonwealth heads of government. Member states of the Commonwealth that share the same person as monarch are informally known as Commonwealth realms. In 1155 the only English pope, Adrian IV, authorised King Henry II of England to take possession of Ireland as a feudal territory nominally under papal overlordship. The pope wanted the English monarch to annex Ireland and bring the Irish church into line with Rome, despite this process already underway in Ireland by 1155. An all-island kingship of Ireland had been created in 854 by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid. His last successor was Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, who had become King of Ireland in early 1166, and exiled Diarmait Mac Murchada, King of Leinster. Diarmait asked Henry II for help, gaining a group of Anglo-Norman aristocrats and adventurers, led by Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, to help him regain his throne. Diarmait and his Anglo- Norman allies succeeded and he became King of Leinster again. De Clare married Diarmait's daughter, and when Diarmait died in 1171, de Clare became King of Leinster. Henry was afraid that de Clare would make Ireland a rival Norman kingdom, so he took advantage of the papal bull and invaded, forcing de Clare and the other Anglo-Norman aristocrats in Ireland and the major Irish kings and lords to recognise him as their overlord. English lords came close to colonising the entire island, but a Gaelic resurgence from the 1260s resulted in the island divided between Gaelic-Irish and Anglo-Irish lords by 1400. Many of the latter became completely Gaelicised, and did not recognise England's kings except perhaps nominally. Some, such as Manus O'Donnell and Conn O'Neill, 1st Earl of Tyrone, were kings themselves. By 1541, King Henry VIII of England had broken with the Church of Rome and declared himself Supreme Head of the Church of England. The pope's grant of Ireland to the English monarch became invalid, so Henry summoned a meeting of the Irish Parliament to change his title from Lord of Ireland to King of Ireland. However much of the island was beyond English control, resulting in the extended Tudor conquest of Ireland that only made the Kingdom of Ireland a reality in 1603, at the conclusion of the Nine Years' War (Ireland). Nevertheless, Ireland retained its own parliament, becoming an independent state in 1642-1649 (Confederate Ireland), and again in 1688-91. Only warfare such as the Williamite War in Ireland and subsequent occupation enabled the English crown from 1692, and successive British states from 1707, to retain the country. In 1800, as a result of the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the Act of Union merged the kingdom of Great Britain and the kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The whole island of Ireland continued to be a part of the United Kingdom until 1922, when what is now the Republic of Ireland won independence as the Irish Free State, a separate Dominion within the Commonwealth. The Irish Free State was renamed Éire (or "Ireland") in 1937, and in 1949 declared itself a republic, left the Commonwealth and severed all ties with the monarchy. Northern Ireland remained within the Union. In 1927, the United Kingdom changed its name to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, while the monarch's style for the next twenty years became "of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India". In the 1990s, republicanism in the United Kingdom grew, partly on account of negative publicity associated with the Royal Family (for instance, immediately following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales). However, polls from 2002 to 2007 showed that around 70–80% of the British public supported the continuation of the monarchy. This support has remained constant since then—according to a 2018 survey, a majority of the British public across all age groups still support the monarchy's continuation. The sovereign is the Supreme Governor of the established Church of England. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by the monarch, on the advice of the prime minister, who chooses the appointee from a list of nominees prepared by a Church Commission. The Crown's role in the Church of England is titular; the most senior clergyman, the Archbishop of Canterbury, is the spiritual leader of the Church and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The monarch takes an oath to preserve the Church of Scotland and he or she holds the power to appoint the Lord High Commissioner to the Church's General Assembly, but otherwise plays no part in its governance, and exerts no powers over it. The sovereign plays no formal role in the disestablished Church in Wales or Church of Ireland. The relationship between the Commonwealth realms is such that any change to the laws governing succession to the shared throne requires the unanimous consent of all the realms. Succession is governed by statutes such as the Bill of Rights 1689, the Act of Settlement 1701 and the Acts of Union 1707. The rules of succession may only be changed by an Act of Parliament; it is not possible for an individual to renounce his or her right of succession. The Act of Settlement restricts the succession to the legitimate Protestant descendants of Sophia of Hanover (1630–1714), a granddaughter of James I. Upon the death of a sovereign, their heir immediately and automatically succeeds (hence the phrase "The king is dead, long live the king!"), and the accession of the new sovereign is publicly proclaimed by an Accession Council that meets at St James's Palace. Upon their accession, a new sovereign is required by law to make and subscribe several oaths: the Accession Declaration as first required by the Bill of Rights, and an oath that they will "maintain and preserve" the Church of Scotland settlement as required by the Act of Union. The monarch is usually crowned in Westminster Abbey, normally by the Archbishop of Canterbury. A coronation is not necessary for a sovereign to reign; indeed, the ceremony usually takes place many months after accession to allow sufficient time for its preparation and for a period of mourning. When an individual ascends to the throne, it is expected they will reign until death. The only voluntary abdication, that of Edward VIII, had to be authorised by a special Act of Parliament, His Majesty's Declaration of Abdication Act 1936. The last monarch involuntarily removed from power was James VII and II, who fled into exile in 1688 during the Glorious Revolution. Succession was largely governed by male-preference cognatic primogeniture, under which sons inherit before daughters, and elder children inherit before younger ones of the same gender. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2011 that all 16 Commonwealth realms, including the United Kingdom, had agreed to abolish the gender-preference rule for anyone born after the date of the meeting, 28 October 2011. They also agreed that future monarchs would no longer be prohibited from marrying a Roman Catholic – a law which dated from the Act of Settlement 1701. However, since the monarch is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the law which prohibits a Roman Catholic from acceding to the throne remains. The necessary UK legislation making the changes received the royal assent on 25 April 2013 and was brought into force in March 2015 after the equivalent legislation was approved in all the other Commonwealth realms. Though Catholics are prohibited from succeeding and are deemed "naturally dead" for succession purposes, the disqualification does not extend to the individual's legitimate Protestant descendants. The Regency Acts allow for regencies in the event of a monarch who is a minor or who is physically or mentally incapacitated. When a regency is necessary, the next qualified individual in the line of succession automatically becomes regent, unless they themselves are a minor or incapacitated. Special provisions were made for Queen Elizabeth II by the Regency Act 1953, which stated that the Duke of Edinburgh (the Queen's husband) could act as regent in these circumstances. Since reaching adulthood (in November 1966), Charles, Prince of Wales, has been first in line for the regency. During a temporary physical infirmity or an absence from the kingdom, the sovereign may temporarily delegate some of his or her functions to Counsellors of State, the monarch's spouse and the first four adults in the line of succession. The present Counsellors of State are: the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Cambridge, the Duke of Sussex and the Duke of York. Until 1760 the monarch met all official expenses from hereditary revenues, which included the profits of the Crown Estate (the royal property portfolio). King George III agreed to surrender the hereditary revenues of the Crown in return for the Civil List, and this arrangement persisted until 2012. An annual Property Services grant-in-aid paid for the upkeep of the royal residences, and an annual Royal Travel Grant-in-Aid paid for travel. The Civil List covered most expenses, including those for staffing, state visits, public engagements, and official entertainment. Its size was fixed by Parliament every 10 years; any money saved was carried forward to the next 10-year period. From 2012 until 2020, the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid are to be replaced with a single Sovereign Grant, which will be set at 15% of the revenues generated by the Crown Estate. The Crown Estate is one of the largest property owners in the United Kingdom, with holdings of £7.3 billion in 2011. It is held in trust, and cannot be sold or owned by the sovereign in a private capacity. In modern times, the profits surrendered from the Crown Estate to the Treasury have exceeded the Civil List and Grants-in-Aid. For example, the Crown Estate produced £200 million in the financial year 2007–8, whereas reported parliamentary funding for the monarch was £40 million during the same period. Like the Crown Estate, the land and assets of the Duchy of Lancaster, a property portfolio valued at £383 million in 2011, are held in trust. The revenues of the Duchy form part of the Privy Purse, and are used for expenses not borne by the parliamentary grants. The Duchy of Cornwall is a similar estate held in trust to meet the expenses of the monarch's eldest son. The Royal Collection, which includes artworks and the Crown Jewels, is not owned by the sovereign personally and is held in trust, as are the occupied palaces in the United Kingdom such as Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. The sovereign is subject to indirect taxes such as value-added tax, and since 1993 the Queen has paid income tax and capital gains tax on personal income. Parliamentary grants to the sovereign are not treated as income as they are solely for official expenditure. Republicans estimate that the real cost of the monarchy, including security and potential income not claimed by the state, such as profits from the duchies of Lancaster and Cornwall and rent of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, is £334 million a year. Estimates of the Queen's wealth vary, depending on whether assets owned by her personally or held in trust for the nation are included. Forbes magazine estimated her wealth at US$450 million in 2010, but no official figure is available. In 1993, the Lord Chamberlain said estimates of £100 million were "grossly overstated". Jock Colville, who was her former private secretary and a director of her bank, Coutts, estimated her wealth in 1971 at £2 million (the equivalent of about £ today). The sovereign's official residence in London is Buckingham Palace. It is the site of most state banquets, investitures, royal christenings and other ceremonies. Another official residence is Windsor Castle, the largest occupied castle in the world, which is used principally at weekends, Easter and during Royal Ascot, an annual race meeting that is part of the social calendar. The sovereign's official residence in Scotland is the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. The monarch stays at Holyrood for at least one week each year, and when visiting Scotland on state occasions. Historically, the Palace of Westminster and the Tower of London were the main residences of the English Sovereign until Henry VIII acquired the Palace of Whitehall. Whitehall was destroyed by fire in 1698, leading to a shift to St James's Palace. Although replaced as the monarch's primary London residence by Buckingham Palace in 1837, St James's is still the senior palace and remains the ceremonial Royal residence. For example, foreign ambassadors are accredited to the Court of St James's, and the Palace is the site of the meeting of the Accession Council. It is also used by other members of the Royal Family. Other residences include Clarence House and Kensington Palace. The palaces belong to the Crown; they are held in trust for future rulers, and cannot be sold by the monarch. Sandringham House in Norfolk and Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire are privately owned by the Queen. The present Sovereign's full style and title is "Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith". The title "Head of the Commonwealth" is held by the Queen personally, and is not vested in the British Crown. Pope Leo X first granted the title "Defender of the Faith" to King Henry VIII in 1521, rewarding him for his support of the Papacy during the early years of the Protestant Reformation, particularly for his book the Defence of the Seven Sacraments. After Henry broke from the Roman Church, Pope Paul III revoked the grant, but Parliament passed a law authorising its continued use. The sovereign is known as "His Majesty" or "Her Majesty". The form "Britannic Majesty" appears in international treaties and on passports to differentiate the British monarch from foreign rulers. The monarch chooses his or her regnal name, not necessarily his or her first name – King George VI, King Edward VII and Queen Victoria did not use their first names. If only one monarch has used a particular name, no ordinal is used; for example, Queen Victoria is not known as "Victoria I", and ordinals are not used for English monarchs who reigned before the Norman conquest of England. The question of whether numbering for British monarchs is based on previous English or Scottish monarchs was raised in 1953 when Scottish nationalists challenged the Queen's use of "Elizabeth II", on the grounds that there had never been an "Elizabeth I" in Scotland. In MacCormick v Lord Advocate, the Scottish Court of Session ruled against the plaintiffs, finding that the Queen's title was a matter of her own choice and prerogative. The Home Secretary told the House of Commons that monarchs since the Acts of Union had consistently used the higher of the English and Scottish ordinals, which in the applicable four cases has been the English ordinal. The prime minister confirmed this practice, but noted that "neither The Queen nor her advisers could seek to bind their successors". Future monarchs will apply this policy. The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom are "Quarterly, I and IV Gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or [for England]; II Or a lion rampant within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules [for Scotland]; III Azure a harp Or stringed Argent [for Ireland]". The supporters are the Lion and the Unicorn; the motto is "Dieu et mon droit" (French: "God and my Right"). Surrounding the shield is a representation of a Garter bearing the motto of the Chivalric order of the same name; "Honi soit qui mal y pense". (Old French: "Shame be to him who thinks evil of it"). In Scotland, the monarch uses an alternative form of the arms in which quarters I and IV represent Scotland, II England, and III Ireland. The mottoes are "In Defens" (an abbreviated form of the Scots "In My Defens God Me Defend") and the motto of the Order of the Thistle; "Nemo me impune lacessit". (Latin: "No-one provokes me with impunity"); the supporters are the unicorn and lion, who support both the escutcheon and lances, from which fly the flags of Scotland and England. The monarch's official flag in the United Kingdom is the Royal Standard, which depicts the Royal Arms in banner form. It is flown only from buildings, vessels and vehicles in which the sovereign is present. The Royal Standard is never flown at half-mast because there is always a sovereign: when one dies, his or her successor becomes the sovereign instantly. When the monarch is not in residence, the Union Flag is flown at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Sandringham House, whereas in Scotland the Royal Standard of Scotland is flown at Holyrood Palace and Balmoral Castle. States headed by Elizabeth II Ashley, Mike (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens. London: Robinson. ., Bagehot, Walter; edited by Paul Smith (2001). The English Constitution. Cambridge University Press., Brazier, Rodney (1997). Ministers of the Crown. Oxford University Press., Brock, Michael (September 2004; online edition, January 2008). "William IV (1765–1837)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 22 April 2008 (subscription required)., Castor, Helen (2010). She-Wolves: the Women who Ruled England Before Elizabeth. Faber and Faber., Cannon, John; Griffiths, Ralph (1988). The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Monarchy. Oxford: Oxford University Press., Crabbe, V.C.R.A.C. (1994). Understanding Statutes. Cavendish Publishing., Flanagan, M. T. (2004). "Mac Murchada, Diarmait (c.1110–1171)" and Clare, Richard fitz Gilbert de, second earl of Pembroke (c.1130–1176)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 October 2008 (subscription required)., Fraser, Antonia (Editor) (1975). The Lives of the Kings & Queens of England. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ., Ives, E. W. (September 2004; online edition, January 2008). "Henry VIII (1491–1547)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 April 2008 (subscription required)., Matthew, H. C. G. (2004). "Edward VIII (later Prince Edward, duke of Windsor) (1894–1972)" and "George VI (1895–1952)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 14 October 2008 (subscription required)., Pimlott, Ben. The Queen: A Biography of Elizabeth II. (1998), Sayers, Jane E. (2004). "Adrian IV (d. 1159)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 April 2008 (subscription required)., Tomkins, Adam (2003). Public Law. N.Y.: Oxford University Press (Clarendon Law ser.)., Waldron, Jeremy (1990). The Law. Routledge., Weir, Alison (1996). Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy. (Revised edition). London: Pimlico. . Official website of the British Monarchy, Official YouTube channel, Official Facebook Page Franz, Duke of Bavaria (German: Franz Bonaventura Adalbert Maria Herzog von Bayern; born 14 July 1933) is head of the House of Wittelsbach, the former ruling family of the Kingdom of Bavaria. His great-grandfather King Ludwig III was the last ruling monarch of Bavaria until deposed in 1918. Franz was born in Munich. During the Second World War, the Wittelsbachs were anti-Nazi. The family initially left Nazi Germany for Hungary but were eventually arrested when Germany invaded the country in 1944. Franz was only 11 at the time. He spent time in several Nazi concentration camps, including Oranienburg and Dachau. After the war, he was a student at the University of Munich and became a collector of modern art. Franz succeeded as head of the House of Wittelsbach, and as pretender to the Bavarian throne, on the death of his father in 1996. He lives at the Nymphenburg Palace in Munich. Franz is not married. Were it not for the Act of Settlement 1701, Franz would be the successor to the British crowns of the House of Stuart. This is not a claim he has advanced, however. Franz was born on 14 July 1933 in Munich, the son of Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, and his morganatic wife, Countess Maria Draskovich of Trakostjan of the House of Drašković, a Croatian noble family. On 18 May 1949, when Franz was 15, his grandfather Crown Prince Rupprecht recognised the marriage of Franz's parents as dynastic, and Franz became a prince of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty were opposed to the Nazi regime in Germany, and in 1939, Franz's father Albrecht took his family to Hungary. They lived in Budapest for four years before moving to their Castle at Sárvár in late 1943. In March 1944, Nazi Germany occupied Hungary, and on 6 October 1944 the entire family, including the 11-year-old Franz, were arrested. They were sent to a series of Nazi concentration camps, including Oranienburg and Dachau. At the end of April 1945, they were liberated by the United States Third Army. After the war, Franz received his high-school education at the Benedictine Abbey of Ettal. He then studied business management at the University of Munich and in Zurich. Franz developed a passion for collecting modern art. Items from his private collection are on permanent loan to the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. He is also an honorary trustee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. His 80th birthday party, in 2013, was held at the Schleissheim Palace near Munich. The party was attended by 2,500 guests, including the then-incumbent Minister-President of Bavaria, Horst Seehofer. In 2016, he became the donor of the project of restoration of the Statue of St. John of Nepomuk in Divina, Slovakia, realised under auspices of the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Slovakia. The project was honoured by patronage of Norodom Sihamoni, the king of Cambodia and Simeon II, the last tsar of Bulgaria. The project was completed in the year 2017. Franz has never married. The heir presumptive to the headship of the House of Wittelsbach is his brother Prince Max, Duke in Bavaria. Because Max has five daughters but no sons, he is followed in the line of succession by his and Franz's first cousin Prince Luitpold and, in the next generation, by the latter's son Prince Ludwig Heinrich of Bavaria (b. 1982). Franz is a direct descendant of the House of Stuart. Were it not for the Act of Settlement 1701, Franz would be the successor to the British crowns of the Stuart kings. His spokesman has, however, made it clear that this is a purely ‘hypothetical’ issue and not a claim which Franz pursues. Franz uses the titles Duke of Bavaria, of Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine of the Rhine, plus the style "His Royal Highness". 14 July 1933 – 8 July 1996: His Royal Highness Prince Franz of Bavaria, (in Germany): Franz Prinz von Bayern, 8 July 1996 – present: His Royal Highness The Duke of Bavaria, (in Germany): Franz Herzog von Bayern, (by Jacobites): His Majesty King Francis II of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, (by Othonists): His Majesty King Frangiskos I of Greece Franz was styled Prinz von Bayern at birth. In 1996, after the death of his father, he changed his style to Herzog von Bayern ('Duke of Bavaria'). : Commander's cross (Großes Verdienstkreuz) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, : Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Protector Bailiff Knight Grand Cross of Obedience of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, 1st Class, Sovereign Military Order of Malta: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, : Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, House of Habsburg: Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece He is a Hereditary Senator of the University of Munich and an Honorary Member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. He holds many honorary positions in civic and religious organisations in Bavaria. He supports charitable enterprises helping orphans in Romania. 1. Otto I, Count of Scheyern, c. 1020–1072 2. Eckhard I, Count of Scheyern, ?–1091 3. Otto IV, Count of Scheyern, c. 1083–1156 4. Otto I, Duke of Bavaria, 1117–1183 5. Louis I, Duke of Bavaria, 1173–1231 6. Otto II, Duke of Bavaria, 1206–1253 7. Louis II, Duke of Bavaria, 1229–1294 8. Rudolf I, Duke of Bavaria, 1274–1319 9. Adolf, Count Palatine of the Rhine, 1300–1327 10. Rupert II, Elector Palatine, 1325–1398 11. Rupert, King of Germany, 1352–1410 12. Stephen, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken, 1385–1459 13. Louis I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1424–1489 14. Alexander, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1462–1514 15. Louis II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1502–1352 16. Wolfgang, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1526–1569 17. Charles I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, 1560–1600 18. Christian I, Count Palatine of Birkenfeld-Bischweiler, 1598–1654 19. Christian II, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Birkenfeld, 1637–1717 20. Christian III, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1674–1735 21. Frederick Michael, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken, 1724–1767 22. Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria, 1756–1825 23. Ludwig I of Bavaria, 1786–1868 24. Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria, 1821–1912 25. Ludwig III of Bavaria, 1845–1921 26. Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, 1869–1955 27. Albrecht, Duke of Bavaria, 1905–1996 28. Franz, Duke of Bavaria, b. 1933 Line of succession to the former Bavarian throne, Monarchism in Bavaria after 1918 Adalbert, Prinz von Bayern. Die Wittelsbacher: Geschichte unserer Familie. München: Prestel, 1979.

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The Lord of the Rings is an epic high-fantasy novel written by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 fantasy novel The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling novels ever written, with over 150 million copies sold. The title of the novel refers to the story's main antagonist, the Dark Lord Sauron, who had in an earlier age created the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power as the ultimate weapon in his campaign to conquer and rule all of Middle-earth. From quiet beginnings in the Shire, a hobbit land not unlike the English countryside, the story ranges across Middle-earth, following the course of the War of the Ring through the eyes of its characters, most notably the hobbits Frodo Baggins, Sam, Merry and Pippin. Although generally known to readers as a trilogy, the work was initially intended by Tolkien to be one volume of a two- volume set, the other to be The Silmarillion, but this idea was dismissed by his publisher. For economic reasons, The Lord of the Rings was published in three volumes over the course of a year from 29 July 1954 to 20 October 1955. The three volumes were titled The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King. Structurally, the novel is divided internally into six books, two per volume, with several appendices of background material included at the end. Some editions combine the entire work into a single volume. The Lord of the Rings has since been reprinted numerous times and translated into 38 languages. Tolkien's work has been the subject of extensive analysis of its themes and origins. Although a major work in itself, the story was only the last movement of a larger epic Tolkien had worked on since 1917, in a process he described as mythopoeia. Influences on this earlier work, and on the story of The Lord of the Rings, include philology, mythology, religion and the author's distaste for the effects of industrialization, as well as earlier fantasy works and Tolkien's experiences in World War I. The Lord of the Rings in its turn is considered to have had a great effect on modern fantasy; the impact of Tolkien's works is such that the use of the words "Tolkienian" and "Tolkienesque" has been recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary. The enduring popularity of The Lord of the Rings has led to numerous references in popular culture, the founding of many societies by fans of Tolkien's works, and the publication of many books about Tolkien and his works. The Lord of the Rings has inspired, and continues to inspire, artwork, music, films and television, video games, board games, and subsequent literature. Award-winning adaptations of The Lord of the Rings have been made for radio, theatre, and film. In 2003, it was named Britain's best novel of all time in the BBC's The Big Read. Thousands of years before the events of the novel, the Dark Lord Sauron had forged the One Ring to rule the other Rings of Power and corrupt those who wore them: three for Elves, seven for Dwarves, and nine for Men. Sauron was defeated by an alliance of Elves and Men led by Gil-galad and Elendil, respectively. In the final battle, Isildur, son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger, causing Sauron to lose his physical form. Isildur claimed the Ring as an heirloom for his line, but when he was later ambushed and killed by the Orcs, the Ring was lost in the River Anduin. Over two thousand years later, the Ring was found by one of the river-folk called Déagol. His friend Sméagol fell under the Ring's influence and strangled Déagol to acquire it. Sméagol was banished and hid under the Misty Mountains. The Ring gave him long life and changed him over hundreds of years into a twisted, corrupted creature called Gollum. Gollum lost the Ring, his "precious", and as told in The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins found it. Meanwhile, Sauron assumed a new form and took back his old realm of Mordor. When Gollum set out in search of the Ring, he was captured and tortured by Sauron. Sauron learned from Gollum that "Baggins" of the Shire had taken the Ring. Gollum was set loose. Sauron, who needed the Ring to regain his full power, sent forth his powerful servants, the Nazgûl, to seize it. The story begins in the Shire, where the hobbit Frodo Baggins inherits the Ring from Bilbo Baggins, his cousin and guardian. Neither hobbit is aware of the Ring's nature, but Gandalf the Grey, a wizard and an old friend of Bilbo, suspects it to be Sauron's Ring. Seventeen years later, after Gandalf confirms his guess, he tells Frodo the history of the Ring and counsels him to take it away from the Shire. Frodo sets out, accompanied by his gardener, servant and friend, Samwise "Sam" Gamgee, and two cousins, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck and Peregrin "Pippin" Took. They are nearly caught by the Black Riders, but shake off their pursuers by cutting through the Old Forest. There they are aided by Tom Bombadil, a strange and merry fellow who lives with his wife Goldberry in the forest. The hobbits reach the town of Bree, where they encounter a Ranger named Strider, whom Gandalf had mentioned in a letter. Strider persuades the hobbits to take him on as their guide and protector. Together, they leave Bree after another close escape from the Black Riders. On the hill of Weathertop, they are again attacked by the Black Riders, who wound Frodo with a cursed blade. Strider fights them off and leads the hobbits towards the Elven refuge of Rivendell. Frodo falls deathly ill from the wound. The Black Riders nearly capture him at the Ford of Bruinen, but flood waters summoned by Elrond, master of Rivendell, rise up and overwhelm them. Frodo recovers in Rivendell under Elrond's care. The Council of Elrond discusses the history of Sauron and the Ring. Strider is revealed to be Aragorn, Isildur's heir. Gandalf reports that the chief wizard Saruman has betrayed them and is now working to become a power in his own right. The Council decides that the Ring must be destroyed, but that can only be done by sending it to the Fire of Mount Doom in Mordor, where it was forged. Frodo takes this task upon himself. Elrond, with the advice of Gandalf, chooses companions for him. The Company of the Ring are nine in number: Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf, and the Man Boromir, son of Denethor, the Ruling Steward of the land of Gondor. After a failed attempt to cross the Misty Mountains over the Redhorn Pass, the Company take the perilous path through the Mines of Moria. They learn of the fate of Balin and his colony of Dwarves. After surviving an attack, they are pursued by Orcs and by a Balrog, an ancient fire demon. Gandalf faces the Balrog, and both of them fall into the abyss. The others escape and find refuge in the Elven forest of Lothlórien, where they are counselled by its rulers, Galadriel and Celeborn. With boats and gifts from Galadriel, the Company travel down the River Anduin to the hill of Amon Hen. There, Boromir tries to take the Ring from Frodo, but Frodo puts it on and disappears. Frodo chooses to go alone to Mordor, but Sam guesses what he intends and goes with him. Orcs sent by Saruman and Sauron kill Boromir and capture Merry and Pippin. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas debate which pair of hobbits to follow. They decide to pursue the Orcs taking Merry and Pippin to Saruman. In the kingdom of Rohan, the Orcs are slain by a company of Rohirrim. Merry and Pippin escape into Fangorn Forest, where they are befriended by Treebeard, the oldest of the tree-like Ents. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas track the hobbits to Fangorn. There they unexpectedly meet Gandalf. Gandalf explains that he slew the Balrog. Darkness took him, but he was sent back to Middle-earth to complete his mission. He is clothed in white and is now Gandalf the White, for he has taken Saruman's place as the chief of the wizards. Gandalf assures his friends that Merry and Pippin are safe. Together they ride to Edoras, capital of Rohan. Gandalf frees Théoden, King of Rohan, from the influence of Saruman's spy Gríma Wormtongue. Théoden musters his fighting strength and rides with his men to the ancient fortress of Helm's Deep, while Gandalf departs to seek help from Treebeard. Meanwhile, the Ents, roused by Merry and Pippin from their peaceful ways, attack Isengard, Saruman's stronghold, and trap the wizard in the tower of Orthanc. Gandalf convinces Treebeard to send an army of Huorns to Théoden's aid. Gandalf brings an army of Rohirrim to Helm's Deep, and they defeat the Orcs, who flee into the forest of Huorns, never to be seen again. Gandalf offers Saruman a chance to turn away from evil. When Saruman refuses to listen, Gandalf strips him of his rank and most of his powers. After Saruman crawls back to his prison, Wormtongue drops a sphere to try to kill Gandalf. Pippin picks it up. It is revealed to be a palantír, a seeing-stone that Saruman used to speak with Sauron and through which Saruman was ensnared. Pippin is seen by Sauron. Gandalf rides for Minas Tirith, chief city of Gondor, taking Pippin with him. Frodo and Sam capture Gollum, who has followed them from Moria. They force him to guide them to Mordor. They find that the Black Gate of Mordor is too well guarded, so instead they travel to a secret way Gollum knows. On the way, they encounter Faramir, who, unlike his brother Boromir, resists the temptation to seize the Ring. Gollum – who is torn between his loyalty to Frodo and his desire for the Ring – betrays Frodo by leading him to the great spider Shelob in the tunnels of Cirith Ungol. Frodo falls to Shelob's sting. But with the help of Galadriel's gifts, Sam fights off the spider. Believing Frodo to be dead, Sam takes the Ring to continue the quest alone. Orcs find Frodo; Sam overhears them and learns that Frodo is still alive. Sauron sends a great army against Gondor. Gandalf arrives at Minas Tirith to warn Denethor of the attack, while Théoden musters the Rohirrim to ride to Gondor's aid. Minas Tirith is besieged. Denethor is deceived by Sauron and falls into despair. He burns himself alive on a pyre, nearly taking his son Faramir with him. Aragorn, accompanied by Legolas, Gimli and the Rangers of the North, takes the Paths of the Dead to recruit the Dead Men of Dunharrow, who are bound by a curse which denies them rest until they fulfil their ancient forsworn oath to fight for the King of Gondor. Following Aragorn, the Army of the Dead strikes terror into the Corsairs of Umbar invading southern Gondor. Aragorn defeats the Corsairs and uses their ships to transport the men of southern Gondor up the Anduin, reaching Minas Tirith just in time to turn the tide of battle. Théoden's niece Éowyn, who joined the army in disguise, slays the Lord of the Nazgûl with help from Merry. Together, Gondor and Rohan defeat Sauron's army in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, though at great cost. Théoden is killed, and Éowyn and Merry are wounded. Meanwhile, Sam rescues Frodo from the tower of Cirith Ungol. They set out across Mordor. Aragorn leads an army of men from Gondor and Rohan to march on the Black Gate to distract Sauron from his true danger. His army is vastly outnumbered by the great might of Sauron. Frodo and Sam reach the edge of the Cracks of Doom, but Frodo cannot resist the Ring any longer. He claims it for himself and puts it on his finger. Gollum suddenly reappears. He struggles with Frodo and bites off Frodo's finger with the Ring still on it. Celebrating wildly, Gollum loses his footing and falls into the Fire, taking the Ring with him. When the Ring is destroyed, Sauron loses his power forever. All he created collapses, the Nazgûl perish, and his armies are thrown into such disarray that Aragorn's forces emerge victorious. Aragorn is crowned King of Arnor and Gondor, and weds Arwen, daughter of Elrond. The four hobbits make their way back to the Shire, only to find that it has been taken over by men directed by one "Sharkey" (whom they later discover to be Saruman). The hobbits raise a rebellion and liberate the Shire, though 19 hobbits are killed and 30 wounded. Frodo stops the hobbits from killing the wizard after Saruman attempts to stab Frodo, but Gríma turns on Saruman and kills him in front of Bag End, Frodo's home. He is slain in turn by hobbit archers, and the War of the Ring comes to its true end on Frodo's very doorstep. Merry and Pippin are celebrated as heroes. Sam marries Rosie Cotton and uses his gifts from Galadriel to help heal the Shire. But Frodo is still wounded in body and spirit, having borne the Ring for so long. A few years later, in the company of Bilbo and Gandalf, Frodo sails from the Grey Havens west over the Sea to the Undying Lands to find peace. In the appendices, Sam gives his daughter Elanor the Red Book of Westmarch, which contains the story of Bilbo's adventures and the War of the Ring as witnessed by the hobbits. Sam is then said to have crossed west over the Sea himself, the last of the Ring-bearers. Tolkien presents The Lord of the Rings within a fictional frame-story where he is not the original author, but merely the translator of part of an ancient document, the Red Book of Westmarch. Various details of the frame-story appear in the Prologue, its 'Note on Shire Records', and in the Appendices, notably Appendix F. In this frame-story, the Red Book is also the source of Tolkien's other works relating to Middle-earth: The Hobbit, The Silmarillion, and The Adventures of Tom Bombadil. The Lord of the Rings started as a sequel to J. R. R. Tolkien's work The Hobbit, published in 1937. The popularity of The Hobbit had led George Allen & Unwin, the publishers, to request a sequel. Tolkien warned them that he wrote quite slowly, and responded with several stories he had already developed. Having rejected his contemporary drafts for The Silmarillion, putting on hold Roverandom, and accepting Farmer Giles of Ham, Allen & Unwin thought more stories about hobbits would be popular. So at the age of 45, Tolkien began writing the story that would become The Lord of the Rings. The story would not be finished until 12 years later, in 1949, and would not be fully published until 1955, when Tolkien was 63 years old. Persuaded by his publishers, he started "a new Hobbit" in December 1937. After several false starts, the story of the One Ring emerged. The idea for the first chapter ("A Long-Expected Party") arrived fully formed, although the reasons behind Bilbo's disappearance, the significance of the Ring, and the title The Lord of the Rings did not arrive until the spring of 1938. Originally, he planned to write a story in which Bilbo had used up all his treasure and was looking for another adventure to gain more; however, he remembered the Ring and its powers and thought that would be a better focus for the new work. As the story progressed, he also brought in elements from The Silmarillion mythology. Writing was slow, because Tolkien had a full-time academic position teaching linguistics (with a focus on languages with linguistic elements he incorporated into his books, such as Old English). "I have spent nearly all the vacation-times of seventeen years examining [...] Writing stories in prose or verse has been stolen, often guiltily, from time already mortgaged..." Tolkien abandoned The Lord of the Rings during most of 1943 and only restarted it in April 1944, as a serial for his son Christopher Tolkien, who was sent chapters as they were written while he was serving in South Africa with the Royal Air Force. Tolkien made another concerted effort in 1946, and showed the manuscript to his publishers in 1947. The story was effectively finished the next year, but Tolkien did not complete the revision of earlier parts of the work until 1949. The original manuscripts, which total 9,250 pages, now reside in the J. R. R. Tolkien Collection at Marquette University. The influence of the Welsh language, which Tolkien had learned, is summarized in his essay English and Welsh: "If I may once more refer to my work. The Lord of the Rings, in evidence: the names of persons and places in this story were mainly composed on patterns deliberately modelled on those of Welsh (closely similar but not identical). This element in the tale has given perhaps more pleasure to more readers than anything else in it." The Lord of the Rings developed as a personal exploration by Tolkien of his interests in philology, religion (particularly Catholicism), fairy tales, Norse and general Germanic mythology, and also Celtic, Slavic, Persian, Greek, and Finnish mythology. Tolkien acknowledged, and external critics have verified, the influences of George MacDonald and William Morris and the Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf. The question of a direct influence of Wagner's The Nibelung's Ring on Tolkien's work is debated by critics. Tolkien included neither any explicit religion nor cult in his work. Rather the themes, moral philosophy, and cosmology of The Lord of the Rings reflect his Catholic worldview. In one of his letters Tolkien states, "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism." Some locations and characters were inspired by Tolkien's childhood in Birmingham, where he first lived near Sarehole Mill, and later near Edgbaston Reservoir. There are also hints of the Black Country, which is within easy reach of northwest Edgbaston. This shows in such names as "Underhill", and the description of Saruman's industrialization of Isengard and The Shire. It has also been suggested that The Shire and its surroundings were based on the countryside around Stonyhurst College in Lancashire where Tolkien frequently stayed during the 1940s. The work was influenced by the effects of his military service during World War I, to the point that one critic diagnosed Frodo as suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder, which was called "shell-shock" at the Battle of the Somme, in which Tolkien served. A dispute with his publisher, George Allen & Unwin, led to the book being offered to Collins in 1950. Tolkien intended The Silmarillion (itself largely unrevised at this point) to be published along with The Lord of the Rings, but A&U; were unwilling to do this. After Milton Waldman, his contact at Collins, expressed the belief that The Lord of the Rings itself "urgently wanted cutting", Tolkien eventually demanded that they publish the book in 1952. Collins did not; and so Tolkien wrote to Allen and Unwin, saying, "I would gladly consider the publication of any part of the stuff", fearing his work would never see the light of day. For publication, the book was divided into three volumes to minimize any potential financial loss due to the high cost of type-setting and modest anticipated sales: The Fellowship of the Ring (Books I and II), The Two Towers (Books III and IV), and The Return of the King (Books V and VI plus six appendices). Delays in producing appendices, maps and especially an index led to the volumes being published later than originally hoped – on 29 July 1954, on 11 November 1954 and on 20 October 1955 respectively in the United Kingdom. In the United States, Houghton Mifflin published The Fellowship of the Ring on 21 October 1954, The Two Towers on 21 April 1955, and The Return of the King on 5 January 1956. The Return of the King was especially delayed due to Tolkien revising the ending and preparing appendices (some of which had to be left out because of space constraints). Tolkien did not like the title The Return of the King, believing it gave away too much of the storyline, but deferred to his publisher's preference. He suggested the title The Two Towers in a deliberately ambiguous attempt to link the unconnected books III and IV, and as such the eponymous towers could be either Orthanc and Barad-dûr, or Minas Tirith and Barad-dûr, or Orthanc and Cirith Ungol. Tolkien was initially opposed to titles being given to each two- book volume, preferring instead the use of book titles: e.g. The Lord of the Rings: Vol. 1, The Ring Sets Out and The Ring Goes South; Vol. 2, The Treason of Isengard and The Ring Goes East; Vol. 3, The War of the Ring and The End of the Third Age. However these individual book titles were later scrapped, and after pressure from his publishers, Tolkien initially suggested the titles: Vol. 1, The Shadow Grows; Vol. 2, The Ring in the Shadow; Vol. 3, The War of the Ring or The Return of the King. Because the three-volume binding was so widely distributed, the work is often referred to as the Lord of the Rings "trilogy". In a letter to the poet W. H. Auden (who famously reviewed the final volume in 1956), Tolkien himself made use of the term "trilogy" for the work though he did at other times consider this incorrect, as it was written and conceived as a single book. It is also often called a novel; however, Tolkien also objected to this term as he viewed it as a heroic romance. The books were published under a profit-sharing arrangement, whereby Tolkien would not receive an advance or royalties until the books had broken even, after which he would take a large share of the profits. It has ultimately become one of the best-selling novels ever written, with 50 million copies sold by 2003 and over 150 million copies sold by 2007. The book was published in the UK by Allen & Unwin until 1990 when the publisher and its assets were acquired by HarperCollins. In the early 1960s Donald A. Wollheim, science fiction editor of the paperback publisher Ace Books, claimed that The Lord of the Rings was not protected in the United States under American copyright law because Houghton Mifflin, the US hardcover publisher, had neglected to copyright the work in the United States. Then, in 1965, Ace Books proceeded to publish an edition, unauthorized by Tolkien and without paying royalties to him. Tolkien took issue with this and quickly notified his fans of this objection. Grass-roots pressure from these fans became so great that Ace Books withdrew their edition and made a nominal payment to Tolkien. Authorized editions followed from Ballantine Books and Houghton Mifflin to tremendous commercial success. Tolkien undertook various textual revisions to produce a version of the book that would be published with his consent and establish an unquestioned US copyright. This text became the Second Edition of The Lord of the Rings, published in 1965. The first Ballantine paperback edition was printed in October that year, and sold a quarter of a million copies within ten months. On September 4, 1966, the novel debuted on New York Times' Paperback Bestsellers list as number three, and was number one by December 4, a position it held for eight weeks. Houghton Mifflin editions after 1994 consolidate variant revisions by Tolkien, and corrections supervised by Christopher Tolkien, which resulted, after some initial glitches, in a computer-based unified text. In 2004, for the 50th Anniversary Edition, Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, under supervision from Christopher Tolkien, studied and revised the text to eliminate as many errors and inconsistencies as possible, some of which had been introduced by well-meaning compositors of the first printing in 1954, and never been corrected. The 2005 edition of the book contained further corrections noticed by the editors and submitted by readers. Further corrections were added to the 60th Anniversary Edition in 2014. Several editions, notably the 50th Anniversary Edition, combine all three books into one volume, with the result that pagination varies widely over the various editions. From 1988 to 1992 Christopher Tolkien published the surviving drafts of The Lord of The Rings, chronicling and illuminating with commentary the stages of the text's development, in volumes 6–9 of his History of Middle-earth series. The four volumes carry the titles The Return of the Shadow, The Treason of Isengard, The War of the Ring, and Sauron Defeated. The novel has been translated, with various degrees of success, into at least 56 languages. Tolkien, an expert in philology, examined many of these translations, and made comments on each that reflect both the translation process and his work. As he was unhappy with some choices made by early translators, such as the Swedish translation by Åke Ohlmarks, Tolkien wrote a "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings" (1967). Because The Lord of the Rings purports to be a translation of the fictitious Red Book of Westmarch, with the English language representing the Westron of the "original", Tolkien suggested that translators attempt to capture the interplay between English and the invented nomenclature of the English work, and gave several examples along with general guidance. While early reviews for The Lord of the Rings were mixed, reviews in various media have been, on the whole, highly positive and acknowledge Tolkien's literary achievement as a significant one. The initial review in the Sunday Telegraph described it as "among the greatest works of imaginative fiction of the twentieth century". The Sunday Times echoed this sentiment, stating that "the English-speaking world is divided into those who have read The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and those who are going to read them". The New York Herald Tribune also seemed to have an idea of how popular the books would become, writing in its review that they were "destined to outlast our time". W. H. Auden, an admirer of Tolkien's writings, regarded The Lord of the Rings as a "masterpiece", further stating that in some cases it outdid the achievement of John Milton's Paradise Lost. Kenneth F Slater wrote in Nebula Science Fiction, April 1955, "... if you don’t read it, you have missed one of the finest books of it’s type ever to appear" New York Times reviewer Judith Shulevitz criticized the "pedantry" of Tolkien's literary style, saying that he "formulated a high-minded belief in the importance of his mission as a literary preservationist, which turns out to be death to literature itself". Critic Richard Jenkyns, writing in The New Republic, criticized the work for a lack of psychological depth. Both the characters and the work itself are, according to Jenkyns, "anemic, and lacking in fibre". Even within Tolkien's literary group, The Inklings, reviews were mixed. Hugo Dyson complained loudly at its readings. However, another Inkling, C. S. Lewis, had very different feelings, writing, "here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron. Here is a book which will break your heart." Despite these reviews and its lack of paperback printing until the 1960s, The Lord of the Rings initially sold well in hardback. In 1957, The Lord of the Rings was awarded the International Fantasy Award. Despite its numerous detractors, the publication of the Ace Books and Ballantine paperbacks helped The Lord of the Rings become immensely popular in the United States in the 1960s. The book has remained so ever since, ranking as one of the most popular works of fiction of the twentieth century, judged by both sales and reader surveys. In the 2003 "Big Read" survey conducted in Britain by the BBC, The Lord of the Rings was found to be the "Nation's best-loved book". In similar 2004 polls both Germany and Australia also found The Lord of the Rings to be their favourite book. In a 1999 poll of Amazon.com customers, The Lord of the Rings was judged to be their favourite "book of the millennium". It may seem that the characters in The Lord of the Rings are "all either black or white", but Tolkien's friend C. S. Lewis observed that the writing is richer than that: some of the 'good' characters have darker sides, and likewise some of the villains have "good impulses". Although The Lord of the Rings was published in the 1950s, Tolkien insisted that the One Ring was not an allegory for the atomic bomb, nor were his works a strict allegory of any kind, but were open to interpretation as the reader saw fit. A few critics have found what they consider racial elements in the story, which are generally based upon their views of how Tolkien's imagery depicts good and evil, characters' race (e.g. Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit, Southron, Númenórean, Orc), and how the characters' race is seen as determining their behaviour. On the contrary, counter-arguments note that race-focused critiques often omit relevant textual evidence, cite imagery from adaptations rather than the work itself, ignore the absence of evidence of racist attitudes or events in the author's personal life, and claim that the perception of racism is itself a marginal view. The opinions that pit races against each other most likely reflect Tolkien's criticism of war rather than a racist perspective. In The Two Towers, the character Samwise sees a fallen foe, a man of color, and considers the humanity of this fallen Southron. Director Peter Jackson, in the director's commentary of this scene, argues that Tolkien isn't projecting negativity towards the individual soldier because of his race, but against the evil authority that is driving them. These sentiments, Jackson argues, arose from Tolkien's experience in the Great War and found their way into his writings to show the evils of war itself, not of other races. Critics have also seen social class rather than race as being the determining factor in the portrayal of good and evil. Commentators such as science fiction author David Brin have interpreted the work to hold unquestioning devotion to a traditional elitist social structure. In his essay "Epic Pooh", science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock critiques the world-view displayed by the book as deeply conservative, in both the "paternalism" of the narrative voice and the power-structures in the narrative. Tom Shippey cites the origin of this portrayal of evil as a reflection of the prejudices of European middle-classes during the inter-war years towards the industrial working class. Other observers have cited Christian, specifically Catholic, themes in The Lord of the Rings. The book has been read as fitting the model of Joseph Campbell's "monomyth". The Lord of the Rings has been adapted for film, radio and stage. The book has been adapted for radio four times. In 1955 and 1956, the BBC broadcast The Lord of the Rings, a 13-part radio adaptation of the story. In the 1960s radio station WBAI produced a short radio adaptation. A 1979 dramatization of The Lord of the Rings was broadcast in the United States and subsequently issued on tape and CD. In 1981, the BBC broadcast The Lord of the Rings, a new dramatization in 26 half-hour instalments. This dramatization of The Lord of the Rings has subsequently been made available on both tape and CD both by the BBC and other publishers. For this purpose it is generally edited into 13 one-hour episodes. Following J. R. R. Tolkien's sale of the film rights for The Lord of the Rings to United Artists in 1969, rock band The Beatles considered a corresponding film project and approached Stanley Kubrick as a potential director; however, Kubrick turned down the offer, explaining to John Lennon that he thought the novel could not be adapted into a film due to its immensity. The eventual director of the film adaptation Peter Jackson further explained that a major hindrance to the project's progression was Tolkien's opposition to the involvement of the Beatles. British director John Boorman also tried to make an adaptation of The Lord of the Rings for United Artists in 1970. After the script was written, which included many changes to the story and the characters, the production company scrapped the project, thinking it too expensive and too risky. Two film adaptations of the book have been made. The first was J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1978), by animator Ralph Bakshi, the first part of what was originally intended to be a two-part adaptation of the story; it covers The Fellowship of the Ring and part of The Two Towers. A three-issue comic book version of the movie was also published in Europe (but not printed in English), with illustrations by Luis Bermejo. When Bakshi's investors shied away of financing the second film that would complete the story, the remainder of the story was covered in an animated television special by Rankin-Bass. Stylistically, the two segments are very different. The second and more commercially successful adaptation was Peter Jackson's live action The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, produced by New Line Cinema and released in three instalments as (2001), (2002), and (2003). All three parts won multiple Academy Awards, including consecutive Best Picture nominations. The final instalment of this trilogy was the second film to break the one-billion-dollar barrier and won a total of 11 Oscars (something only two other films in history, Ben-Hur and Titanic, have accomplished), including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. The Hunt for Gollum, a fan film based on elements of the appendices to The Lord of the Rings, was released on the internet in May 2009 and has been covered in major media. Born of Hope, written by Paula DiSante, directed by Kate Madison, and released in December 2009, is a fan film based upon the appendices of The Lord of the Rings. In November 2017, Amazon acquired the global television rights to The Lord of the Rings, committing to a multi-season television series. The series will not be a direct adaptation of the books, but will instead introduce new stories that are set before The Fellowship of the Ring. Amazon said the deal included potential for spin-off series as well. The press release referred to "previously unexplored stories based on J.R.R. Tolkien's original writings". Amazon will be the producer in conjunction with the Tolkien Estate and The Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Television. According to a 2018 report, it will be the most expensive TV show ever produced. In early July 2019, the New Zealand Economic Development Minister David Parker confirmed that a large part of the series would be produced in New Zealand following negotiations between Amazon and the New Zealand Government. On 18 September 2019, Amazon Studios confirmed that they would be filming at three locations near Auckland. The cost is estimated at US$1.3 billion, making it the most expensive television series ever made. In January 2020, the cast was announced including Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers and Daniel Weyman. In 1990, Recorded Books published an audio version of The Lord of the Rings, with British actor Rob Inglis – who had previously starred in his own one-man stage productions of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings – reading. A large- scale musical theatre adaptation, The Lord of the Rings was first staged in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 2006 and opened in London in June 2007. The enormous popularity of Tolkien's work expanded the demand for fantasy fiction. Largely thanks to The Lord of the Rings, the genre flowered throughout the 1960s, and enjoys popularity to the present day. The opus has spawned many imitators, such as The Sword of Shannara, which Lin Carter called "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read". Dungeons & Dragons, which popularized the role-playing game (RPG) genre in the 1970s, features many races found in The Lord of the Rings, most notably halflings (another term for hobbits), elves, dwarves, half-elves, orcs, and dragons. However, Gary Gygax, lead designer of the game, maintained that he was influenced very little by The Lord of the Rings, stating that he included these elements as a marketing move to draw on the popularity the work enjoyed at the time he was developing the game. Because D&D; has gone on to influence many popular role-playing video games, the influence of The Lord of the Rings extends to many of them as well, with titles such as Dragon Quest, the Ultima series, EverQuest, the Warcraft series, and the Elder Scrolls series of games as well as video games set in Middle-earth itself. Research also suggests that some consumers of fantasy games derive their motivation from trying to create an epic fantasy narrative which is influenced by The Lord of the Rings. In 1965, songwriter Donald Swann, who was best known for his collaboration with Michael Flanders as Flanders & Swann, set six poems from The Lord of the Rings and one from The Adventures of Tom Bombadil ("Errantry") to music. When Swann met with Tolkien to play the songs for his approval, Tolkien suggested for "Namárië" (Galadriel's lament) a setting reminiscent of plain chant, which Swann accepted. The songs were published in 1967 as The Road Goes Ever On: A Song Cycle, and a recording of the songs performed by singer William Elvin with Swann on piano was issued that same year by Caedmon Records as Poems and Songs of Middle Earth. Rock bands of the 1970s were musically and lyrically inspired by the fantasy embracing counter-culture of the time; British 70s rock band Led Zeppelin recorded several songs that contain explicit references to The Lord of the Rings, such as mentioning Gollum in "Ramble On", the Misty Mountains in "Misty Mountain Hop", and Ringwraiths in "The Battle of Evermore". In 1970, the Swedish musician Bo Hansson released an instrumental concept album based on the book titled Sagan om ringen (translated as "The Saga of the Ring", which was the title of the Swedish translation of The Lord of the Rings at the time). The album was subsequently released internationally as Music Inspired by Lord of the Rings in 1972. The songs "Rivendell" and "The Necromancer" by the progressive rock band Rush were inspired by Tolkien. Styx also paid homage to Tolkien on their album Pieces of Eight with the song "Lords of the Ring", while Black Sabbath's song, "The Wizard", which appeared on their debut album, was influenced by Tolkien's hero, Gandalf. Progressive rock group Camel paid homage to the text in their lengthy composition "Nimrodel/The Procession/The White Rider", and progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest was inspired by the character Galadriel to write a song by that name, and used "Bombadil", the name of another character, as a pseudonym under which their 1972 single "Breathless"/"When the City Sleeps" was released; there are other references scattered through the BJH oeuvre. Later, from the 1980s to the present day, many heavy metal acts have been influenced by Tolkien. Blind Guardian has written many songs relating to Middle-earth, including the full concept album Nightfall in Middle Earth. Almost the entire discography of Battlelore are Tolkien-themed. Summoning's music is based upon Tolkien and holds the distinction of the being the only artist to have crafted a song entirely in the Black Speech of Mordor. Gorgoroth, Cirith Ungol and Amon Amarth take their names from an area of Mordor, and Burzum take their name from the Black Speech of Mordor. The Finnish metal band Nightwish and the Norwegian metal band Tristania have also incorporated many Tolkien references into their music. American heavy metal band Megadeth released two songs titled "This Day We Fight!" and "How the Story Ends", which were both inspired by The Lord of the Rings. German folk metal band Eichenschild is named for Thorin Oakenshield, a character in The Hobbit, and naturally has a number of Tolkien- themed songs. They are not to be confused with the '70s folk rock band Thorin Eichenschild. In 1988, Dutch composer and trombonist Johan de Meij completed his Symphony No. 1 "The Lord of the Rings", which encompassed 5 movements, titled "Gandalf", "Lothlórien", "Gollum", "Journey in the Dark", and "Hobbits". In 1989 the symphony was awarded the Sudler Composition Award, awarded biennially for best wind band composition. The Danish Tolkien Ensemble have released a number of albums that feature the complete poems and songs of The Lord of the Rings set to music, with some featuring recitation by Christopher Lee. Enya wrote an instrumental piece called "Lothlórien" in 1991, and composed two songs for the film —"May It Be" (sung in English and Quenya) and "Aníron" (sung in Sindarin). The Lord of the Rings has had a profound and wide-ranging impact on popular culture, beginning with its publication in the 1950s, but especially throughout the 1960s and 1970s, during which time young people embraced it as a countercultural saga. "Frodo Lives!" and "Gandalf for President" were two phrases popular amongst United States Tolkien fans during this time. Parodies like the Harvard Lampoon Bored of the Rings, the VeggieTales episode "Lord of the Beans", the South Park episode "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers", the Futurama film , episode "Lights! Camera! Danger!", The Big Bang Theory episode "The Precious Fragmentation", and the American Dad! episode "The Return of the Bling" are testimony to the work's continual presence in popular culture. In 1969, Tolkien sold the merchandising rights to The Lord of The Rings (and The Hobbit) to United Artists under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000 plus a 7.5% royalty after costs, payable to Allen & Unwin and the author. In 1976, three years after the author's death, United Artists sold the rights to Saul Zaentz Company, who now trade as Tolkien Enterprises. Since then all "authorized" merchandise has been signed-off by Tolkien Enterprises, although the intellectual property rights of the specific likenesses of characters and other imagery from various adaptations is generally held by the adaptors. Outside any commercial exploitation from adaptations, from the late 1960s onwards there has been an increasing variety of original licensed merchandise, from posters and calendars created by illustrators such as Pauline Baynes and the Brothers Hildebrandt, to figurines and miniatures to computer, video, tabletop and role-playing games. Recent examples include the Spiel des Jahres award-winning (for "best use of literature in a game") board game The Lord of the Rings by Reiner Knizia and the Golden Joystick award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game, by Turbine, Inc.. The Lord of the Rings has been mentioned in numerous songs including "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" by Leonard Nimoy, Led Zeppelin's "Misty Mountain Hop", "Over the Hills and Far Away", "Ramble On", and "The Battle of Evermore", Genesis' song "Stagnation" (from Trespass, 1970) was about Gollum, Rush included the song "Rivendell" on their second studio album Fly by Night, and Argent included the song "Lothlorien" on the 1971 album Ring of Hands. Steve Peregrin Took (born Stephen Ross Porter) of British rock band T. Rex took his name from the hobbit Peregrin Took (better known as Pippin). Took later recorded under the pseudonym 'Shagrat the Vagrant', before forming a band called Shagrat in 1970. On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed The Lord of the Rings on its list of the 100 most influential novels. Le Monde 100 Books of the Century, Norse mythology in popular culture, 1954 in literature, 1955 in literature, Literature of the United Kingdom Foster, Robert (1978). The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth: from "The Hobbit" through "The lord of the Rings" and Beyond. Rev. and enl. ed. Ballantine Books. N.B.: An alphabetical dictionary of personages and lore in this body of works by J. R. R. Tolkien. hdbk., Glyer, Diana Pavlac (2007). The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community. Kent State University Press. ., Christina Scull and Wayne G. Hammond, The J. R. R. Tolkien Companion and Guide (2006),, Christopher Tolkien (ed.), The History of The Lord of the Rings, 4 vols (1988–1992)., J. R. R. Tolkien, On Fairy Stories Tolkien website of Harper Collins (the British publisher), Tolkien website of Houghton Mifflin (the American publisher), The Encyclopedia of Arda: An Interactive Guide to the Works of J.R.R. Tolkien, The Tolkien Library The One Ring is an artefact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings (1954–55). It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit (1937), as a magic ring of invisibility. In the sequel, The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien ascribes to the Ring a darker character, with malevolent power going far beyond conferring invisibility: it was created by Sauron the Dark Lord as part of his design to win dominion over Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings concerns the quest to destroy the Ring to keep Sauron from fulfilling his design. In The Lord of the Rings and the posthumously published The Silmarillion, Tolkien provides a detailed internal development from the forging of the Ring to its destruction. In the fictional context of Middle-earth, these events take place during several thousand years in the Second and Third Age of Arda. The One Ring was forged by the Dark Lord Sauron during the Second Age to gain dominion over the free peoples of Middle-earth. In disguise as Annatar, or "Lord of Gifts", he aided the Elven smiths of Eregion and their leader Celebrimbor in the making of the Rings of Power. He then forged the One Ring himself in the fires of Mount Doom. Sauron intended it to be the most powerful of all Rings, able to rule and control those who wore the others. Since the other Rings were themselves powerful, Sauron was obliged to place much of his own power into the One to achieve his purpose. Creating the Ring simultaneously strengthened and weakened Sauron's power. On the one hand, as long as Sauron had the Ring, he could control the power of all the other Rings, and thus he was significantly more powerful after its creation than before; and putting such a great portion of his own power into the Ring ensured Sauron's continued existence so long as the Ring existed. On the other hand, by binding his power within the Ring, Sauron became dependent on it—without it, his power was significantly diminished. The Ring seemed to be made simply of gold, but it was impervious to damage. It could be destroyed only by throwing it into the pit of the volcanic Mount Doom where it was originally forged. Unlike other rings, the One Ring was not susceptible to dragon fire, but it could still be heated to some extent, as Isildur’s hand was burnt when he took the Ring for the first time, because it was hot. Like some lesser rings forged by the Elves as "essays in the craft"—but unlike the other Rings of Power—the One Ring bore no gem. Its identity could be determined by a little-known but simple test: when placed in a fire, it displayed a fiery Tengwar inscription in the Black Speech of Mordor, with two lines from a rhyme of lore describing the Rings: Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. The lines inscribed on the Ring (in boldface above) were pronounced by Sauron when he forged the Ring. The Elven smiths heard him chanting them, and thereupon became aware of his purpose and took off their own Rings to foil his plan. A person wearing the Ring would enter a shadowy world revealing the physical world from a different aspect, from which physical objects were harder to see. The wearer was mostly invisible to ordinary beings, such as Men, but visible to the Nazgûl. The Ring dimmed the wearer's sight, while at the same time sharpening the other senses. The enigmatic Tom Bombadil appeared to be unaffected by the Ring; when he wore the Ring, he did not become invisible, nor did Frodo wearing the Ring become invisible to Bombadil. Tom played with the Ring like a conjurer borrowing someone's watch for a trick, seemingly making it disappear and reappear. But Gandalf maintained that while the Ring had no effect on Bombadil, Bombadil could not unmake it or alter its power on others. The Ring slowly but inevitably corrupted its bearer, regardless of the bearer's initial intent. This corrupting power was apparently stronger on individuals more inclined to evil and selfishness: it took almost immediate hold of Sméagol as soon as he saw it, and corrupted Boromir after a few months of near proximity, while its effects were only starting to be seen in Bilbo Baggins after possessing it for 60 years. Even the Wise such as Gandalf, Elrond, and Galadriel were not immune; Gandalf refused Frodo's offer of the Ring for fear that he would succumb to its influence. Rather than wielding it, therefore, the Wise determined that it should be destroyed. The Ring had the ability to change size, and perhaps its weight too. As well as adapting to fingers of varying size, from Sauron's to Frodo's, it sometimes suddenly expanded to escape from its wearer. For this reason, Frodo attached the Ring to a chain around his neck to avoid losing it. The words of the ring-inscription are in Black Speech, a language devised by Sauron and used in the land of Mordor. The inscription reflects the One Ring's power to control the other Rings of Power. The writing uses Elvish letters (tengwar), in a mode (i.e. orthography) adapted to the Black Speech. Normally the One Ring appeared perfectly plain and featureless, but when heated its inscription appeared in fiery letters. A drawing of the inscription and a translation provided by Gandalf appears in Book I, Chapter 2 of The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past". Gandalf speaks the words in Black Speech in Book II, Chapter 2, "The Council of Elrond": Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. Translated, the words mean: One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them,One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. When Isildur took the Ring from Sauron's hand, it was burning hot, so the letters were legible. Isildur was able to transcribe the inscription before it faded as the Ring cooled. This transcription survived in a document Isildur left in Gondor before marching north to the Gladden Fields, where he was killed and the Ring lost in the River Anduin. Gandalf learned of the Ring's inscription when he read Isildur's account. When Gandalf subsequently heated the ring that Bilbo Baggins had left to Frodo, the inscription reappeared. The wizard then had no doubt that Frodo's ring was the One Ring. When Gandalf recited the inscription in Black Speech at the Council of Elrond, everyone trembled: The change in the wizard's voice was astounding. Suddenly it became menacing, powerful, harsh as stone. A shadow seemed to pass over the high sun, and the porch for a moment grew dark. All trembled, and the Elves stopped their ears. The first Ballantine paperback edition of The Fellowship of the Ring printed the inscription upside-down. Some recent editions accidentally omit the first half of the translation in Book I, Chapter 2. This error was corrected in the 50th Anniversary edition. The term Ring-bearer is used in The Lord of the Rings to describe a person who has possessed the One Ring. The term is also used to refer to bearers of other Rings of Power. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins was appointed Ring- bearer by the Council of Elrond in Rivendell. His task was to carry the One Ring from Rivendell to the Crack of Doom in Mordor and to destroy it before Sauron or his servants could recover it. During this journey, Frodo's companion Sam Gamgee also carried the Ring briefly while Frodo was held captive in the Tower of Cirith Ungol. Near the onset of this journey the Ring was handled also by Tom Bombadil, upon whom the Ring had no apparent effect, and by Gandalf, who cast it into Frodo's fireplace to verify that it was the One Ring. Frodo inherited the Ring from his uncle Bilbo Baggins. In Tolkien's earlier novel, The Hobbit, Bilbo found the Ring in the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains. It had been lost in the caverns by Gollum, who used the invisibility it conferred to hunt orcs to eat. Gollum, a hobbit previously known as Sméagol, had kept the Ring for hundreds of years. He had murdered his relative Déagol to get the Ring shortly after Déagol found it in the river Anduin. Many centuries earlier the Ring had betrayed Isildur and fallen from his finger into the Anduin as he was eluding Orcs—who killed him when he became visible. Isildur in turn had cut the Ring from the hand of Sauron, who had made the Ring and let much of his power flow into it. Sauron was the Ring's true master, and the only being who could bend it completely to his will. Though Déagol and Gandalf had handled the Ring, the only individuals ever to wear it were Sauron, Isildur, Gollum, Bilbo, Frodo, Tom Bombadil, and Sam. None but Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam are actually called "Ring-bearers" in any of Tolkien's works. As Ring-bearers, they were granted passage to the Undying Lands, though Sam lived in the Shire for many years after the departure of Bilbo and Frodo before making the journey himself. After its original forging (about ) Sauron waged the War of the Elves and Sauron against the Elves and all who opposed him. Sauron invaded and destroyed Eregion, and killed Celebrimbor, the maker of the three rings of the Elves. However, King Tar-Minastir of Númenor sent a great fleet to Middle-earth, and with this aid Gil-galad destroyed Sauron's army and forced Sauron to return to Mordor. In S.A. 3261, Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful king of Númenor, landed at Umbar at the head of an immense army to do battle with Sauron. The sheer size and might of the Númenórean army was enough to force Sauron's armies to flee. Sauron surrendered to Ar-Pharazôn and was taken back to Númenor as a prisoner. Tolkien, in a letter written in 1958 (#211) wrote that the surrender was both "voluntary and cunning" so he could gain access to Númenor. Sauron was able to use the Númenóreans' fear of death as a way to turn them against the Valar, and manipulate them into worshipping his master, Morgoth, and performing human sacrifice. Although Sauron's body was destroyed in the Fall of Númenor, his spirit was able to travel back to Middle-earth and wield the One Ring in his renewed war against the Last Alliance of Elves and Men between S.A. 3429 and 3441. Tolkien emphasized that Sauron used the Ring in Númenor to gain complete control over its people; and while Sauron's body perished in the Fall, the Ring somehow made it back to Middle-earth. Tolkien wrote, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended." (letter #211). Gil-galad and Elendil destroyed Sauron’s physical form at the end of the Last Alliance, at the cost of their own lives. Elendil's son, Isildur, cut the Ring from Sauron’s hand on the slopes of Mount Doom. Though counselled to destroy the Ring, he was swayed by its power and kept it safe instead, "as weregild for my father, and my brother". A few years later, Isildur was ambushed by Orcs by the River Anduin near the Gladden Fields; he put on the Ring to escape, but it slipped from his finger as he swam across the river, and, suddenly visible, he was killed by the Orcs. Since the Ring indirectly caused Isildur's death, it was known in Gondorian lore as "Isildur's Bane". The Ring remained hidden on the river bed for almost two and a half millennia, until it was discovered on a fishing trip by a Stoor hobbit named Déagol. His friend and relative Sméagol, who had gone fishing with him, was immediately ensnared by the Ring's power and demanded that Déagol give it to him as a "birthday present"; when Déagol refused, Sméagol strangled him and took it for himself. The Ring corrupted his body and mind, turning him into the creature known as Gollum. The Ring, which Sauron had endowed with a will of its own, manipulated Gollum into hiding in a cave under the Misty Mountains near Mirkwood, where Sauron was beginning to resurface. There Gollum remained for nearly 500 years, using the Ring to hunt goblins, until the Ring tired of him and fell off his finger. As is told in The Hobbit, Bilbo found the Ring shortly afterward while lost in the tunnels near Gollum's lair. When The Hobbit was written, Tolkien had not yet conceived of the Ring's sinister history. Thus, in the first edition of The Hobbit, Gollum offers to surrender the Ring to Bilbo as a reward for winning the Riddle Game. When Tolkien revised the nature of the Ring for The Lord of the Rings, he realized that the Ring's grip on Gollum would never permit him to give it up willingly. Tolkien therefore revised the second edition of The Hobbit: after losing the Riddle Game to Bilbo, Gollum went to get his "Precious" (as he always called it) so he could kill and eat Bilbo, but flew into a rage when he found the Ring missing. Deducing from Bilbo's last question—"What have I got in my pocket?"—that Bilbo had found the Ring, Gollum chased him through the caves, not realizing that Bilbo had discovered the Ring's powers of invisibility and was following him to the cave's exit. Bilbo escaped Gollum and the goblins by remaining invisible, but when he rejoined Gandalf and the dwarves he was travelling with, he decided not to tell them that the Ring had made him invisible. In fact he told them a story that closely followed the first edition of The Hobbit: that Gollum had given him the Ring and showed him the way out. Gandalf was not convinced, and later forced the real story from Bilbo; he was thus immediately suspicious of the Ring. Gollum eventually left the Misty Mountains to track down and reclaim the Ring. He wandered for decades, and was drawn to Mordor, where he was captured by Sauron's forces. He was tortured and interrogated by Sauron himself, who learned that the Ring had been found and was currently held by one "Baggins" in the land of "Shire". In , the Ring was beginning to strain Bilbo, leaving him feeling "stretched-out and thin", and so he decided to leave the Shire, intending to pass the Ring to his adopted heir Frodo Baggins. He briefly gave in to the Ring's power, even calling it "my precious"; alarmed, Gandalf spoke harshly to his old friend to persuade him to give it up, which Bilbo eventually did, becoming the first Ring-bearer to surrender it willingly. By this time Sauron had regained much of his power, and the Dark Tower in Mordor had been rebuilt. Gollum, released from Mordor, was captured by Gandalf and Aragorn, and from him Gandalf learned that Sauron now knew where to find the Ring. To prevent Sauron from reclaiming his Ring, Frodo and eight other companions set out from Rivendell for Mordor in an attempt to destroy the Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. During the quest, Frodo gradually became more and more susceptible to the Ring's power, and feared that it was going to corrupt him. When he and his faithful companion Sam Gamgee discovered Gollum on their trail and "tamed" him into guiding them to Mordor, Frodo began to feel a strange bond with the wretched, treacherous creature, while Gollum warmed to Frodo's kindness and made at least some effort to keep his promise. Gollum eventually gave in to the Ring's temptation, however, and betrayed them to the spider Shelob. Believing Frodo to be dead, Sam bore the Ring himself for a short time and experienced the temptation it induced; he wore it briefly twice, but never succumbed to it. Sam rescued Frodo from a band of Orcs at the Tower of Cirith Ungol. The Hobbits, followed by Gollum, eventually arrived at Mount Doom, where Frodo was overcome by the Ring's power and claimed it for himself. At that moment, however, Gollum attacked him and bit off his finger, taking back the Ring. Gollum was too close to the edge: as he gloated over his prize he fell into the fires of Mount Doom, taking the Ring with him, thus destroying it and Sauron's power. The Ring's primary power was control of the other Rings of Power and domination of the wills of their users. The Ring also conferred power to dominate the wills of other beings whether they were wearing Rings or not—but only in proportion to the user's native capacity. In the same way, it amplified any inherent power its owner possessed. A mortal wearing the Ring became effectively invisible except to those able to perceive the non-physical world, with only a thin, shaky shadow discernible in the brightest sunlight. The Ring would also extend the life of a mortal possessor indefinitely by preventing natural aging. Gandalf explained that it does not "grant new life", but that the possessor merely "continues" until life becomes unbearably wearisome. However, the Ring could not protect its bearer from destruction; Gollum perished in the Crack of Doom while in possession of the Ring, and even Sauron himself could not preserve his body from destruction during the downfall of Númenor. Likewise, the Ring could not protect its bearer from physical harm; Frodo was seriously injured by the Witch-king of Angmar on Weathertop, and lost a finger when Gollum bit it off—on both occasions while wearing the Ring. Sauron himself suffered the death of his physical body at the hands of Gil-galad and Elendil while wearing the Ring. Like the Nine Rings, the One Ring could physically corrupt mortals who wore it for extended periods of time, eventually transforming them into wraiths. Hobbits were more resistant to this process than Men: Gollum, who possessed the ring for 500 years, did not become wraith-like because he did not wear the Ring often after taking it to the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. The Ring might also have given its wielder the ability to read minds, as Galadriel suggested to Frodo when he wondered why he could not read the thoughts of others as she did. Within the land of Mordor where it was forged, the Ring's power increased so significantly that even without wearing it the bearer could draw upon it, and could acquire an aura of terrible power. When Sam encountered an Orc in the Tower of Cirith Ungol while holding the Ring, he appeared to the Orc as a powerful warrior cloaked in shadow "[holding] some nameless menace of power and doom". The Orc was so terrified that it fled. Similarly at Mount Doom, when Frodo and Sam were attacked by Gollum, Frodo grabbed the Ring and appeared as "a figure robed in white... [that] held a wheel of fire". Frodo told Gollum "in a commanding voice" that "If you touch me ever again, you shall be cast yourself into the Fire of Doom", a statement fulfilled when Gollum fell into Mount Doom with the Ring. As the Ring contained a large part of Sauron's power, it was endowed with a malevolent sentience of sorts. While separated from Sauron, the Ring would strive to return to him by manipulating its bearer to claim ownership of it, or by abandoning the bearer at an opportune moment. For example, it slipped from Isildur's finger during the ambush at Gladden Fields; moments later he was killed by Orcs, leaving the Ring's whereabouts unknown to Sauron's enemies. It also slipped off Gollum's finger when the time was right for it to be brought back into the world at large. Warned by Bilbo of the Ring's tendency to slip off, Frodo carried the Ring on a chain. To master all of the Ring's capabilities, a Ring wielder would need a disciplined and well-trained mind, a strong will, and great native power. Those with weaker minds, such as Hobbits and lesser Men, would gain little benefit from the Ring, let alone realize its full potential. Even for someone with the necessary strength, it would have taken time to master the Ring's power to the point where he was strong enough to overthrow Sauron. The prospect of mastery is the main appeal that the Ring holds for those who come in contact with it. The Ring appears as a symbol of hope, offering the power to defeat Sauron and bring peace to the world. Yet in the end, its inherent malevolence would twist its bearer into another Dark Lord as evil as Sauron, regardless of one's intentions at the outset. Despite its power, the Ring did not render its bearer omnipotent. Three times Sauron suffered military defeat while bearing the Ring, first by Gil-galad in the War of Sauron and the Elves, again by Ar-Pharazôn when Númenórean power so overawed his armies that they deserted him, and again at the end of the Second Age with his personal defeat by Gil-galad and Elendil. Tolkien indicates, however, that such a defeat would not have been possible in the waning years of the Third Age, when the strength of the free peoples was greatly diminished. There were no remaining heroes of the stature of Gil-galad, Elendil, or Isildur; the strength of the Elves was fading and they were departing to the Blessed Realm; the Dwarves had been driven out of Moria and would have been unwilling to concentrate their strength in any event; and the Númenórean kingdoms had either declined or been destroyed, and had few allies. Of the several bearers of the One Ring, three were still alive following the Ring's destruction, the hobbits Bilbo Baggins, Frodo Baggins, and Samwise Gamgee. Bilbo, having borne the Ring longest of the three, had reached a very advanced age for a hobbit. Frodo suffered both physical and psychological scars from his strenuous quest to destroy the Ring. Samwise, having only briefly kept the Ring, was affected the least and simply carried on a normal life following the Ring's destruction. In consideration of the trials the Ring-bearers had endured, special dispensation was granted them by the Valar to travel to the Undying Lands, where it was hoped they could find rest and healing. At the close of The Return of the King, Bilbo and Frodo embark for the voyage to the West along with Galadriel, Elrond, and many of their folk, as well as Gandalf. Near the end of his life, Samwise is also said to have been taken to the Undying Lands, after living in the Shire for many years and raising a large family. Tolkien emphasized that the restorative sojourn of the Ring-bearers in the Undying Lands would not have been permanent. As mortals, subject to the Gift of Men, they would eventually die and leave the world of Eä. Tolkien wrote the following about the idea behind the One Ring: "I should say that it was a mythical way of representing the truth that potency (or perhaps potentiality) if it is to be exercised, and produce results, has to be externalized and so as it were passes, to a greater or lesser degree, out of one's direct control." (Letter #211, 1958). Tolkien always strongly held that The Lord of the Rings was not allegorical, particularly in reference to political events of his time such as World War II or the Cold War. At the same time he conceded "applicability" as being within the "freedom" of the reader, and indeed many people have been inclined to view the One Ring as a symbol or metaphor. The notion of a power too great for humans to safely possess is an evocative one, and already in the 1930s there were technologies available to suggest the idea. By the time the work was published, though not when most of it was written, the existence of nuclear power and nuclear weapons were common knowledge, and the Ring was often taken as symbolic of them. However, Tolkien specifically rejected the idea of the One Ring being an allegory of nuclear weapons and noted that, had that been his intention, the book would not have ended with the Ring being destroyed but rather with an arms race in which various powers would try to obtain such a Ring for themselves – creating a bleak world in which such creatures as Hobbits would be trampled underfoot and have little hope of survival. The effect of the Ring and its physical and spiritual after-effects on Bilbo and Frodo are obsessions that have been compared with drug addiction; actor Andy Serkis, who played Gollum in Peter Jackson’s film trilogy, cited drug addiction as an inspiration for his performance. Parallels have been drawn between the literary device of Tolkien's Ring and the titular ring in Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Tolkien dismissed critics' direct comparisons to Wagner, telling his publisher, "Both rings were round, and there the resemblance ceases." According to Humphrey Carpenter's biography of Tolkien, the author held Wagner's interpretation of the relevant Germanic myths in contempt. In the contrary sense, some critics hold that Tolkien's work borrows so liberally from Wagner that Tolkien's work exists in the shadow of Wagner's. Others, such as Tom Shippey and Gloriana St. Clair, attribute the resemblances to the fact that Tolkien and Wagner have created homologue works based in the same sources. However, Shippey and other researchers have written on an intermediary position, stating that both the authors, indeed, used the same source materials but that Tolkien was, in fact, indebted to some of the original developments, insights and artistic uses made upon those sources that first appeared in Wagner, and sought to improve upon them. In the 1981 BBC Radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, the Nazgûl chant the Ring-inscription; it is also recited by them in part during Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, specifically during the film The Battle of the Five Armies. In The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the wearer of the Ring is always portrayed as moving through a shadowy realm where everything is distorted. In the book, neither Bilbo Baggins nor Frodo Baggins ever mentioned anything about this while using the Ring, but when Sam puts on the Ring at the end of The Two Towers he does experience something similar to this. Sam never wore the Ring on screen in Jackson's films. The actual Ring for the movies was designed and created by Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith in Nelson, New Zealand, and was based on a simple wedding ring. Ring of Gyges, Ring of the Nibelung The Lord of the Rings is a film series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel written by J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled (2001), (2002) and (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films, it is an international venture between New Zealand and the United States. The films feature an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Sean Bean. Set in the fictional world of Middle-earth, the films follow the hobbit Frodo Baggins as he and the Fellowship embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring, to ensure the destruction of its maker, the Dark Lord Sauron. The Fellowship eventually splits up and Frodo continues the quest with his loyal companion Sam and the treacherous Gollum. Meanwhile, Aragorn, heir in exile to the throne of Gondor, along with Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin and the wizard Gandalf, unite to rally the Free Peoples of Middle-earth in the War of the Ring in order to aid Frodo by weakening Sauron's forces. The three films were shot simultaneously and entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand from 11 October 1999 until 22 December 2000, with pick-up shots done from 2001 to 2004. It was one of the biggest and most ambitious film projects ever undertaken, with a budget of $281 million. An extended edition of each film was released on home video a year after its theatrical release. The Lord of the Rings is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential film series ever made. It was a major financial success and is among the highest- grossing film series of all time with over $2.9 billion in worldwide receipts. Each film was critically acclaimed and heavily awarded, winning 17 out of their 30 Academy Award nominations. The following is a list of cast members who voiced or portrayed characters appearing in the extended version of the films. Jackson began storyboarding and screenwriting the series with Christian Rivers, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens in 1997 and assigned his crew to begin designing Middle-earth at the same time. He then hired long-time collaborators Jim Rygiel and Richard Taylor to lead Weta Workshop on five major design elements: armour, weapons, prosthetic makeup, creatures, and miniatures. They were also visual effects supervisors. In November 1997, famed Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined the project; most of the imagery in the films is based on their various illustrations. Production designer Grant Major was charged with the task of converting Lee and Howe's designs into architecture, creating models of the sets, while Dan Hennah worked as art director, scouting locations and organizing the building of sets. Principal photography for all three films was conducted concurrently in many locations within New Zealand's conservation areas and national parks. Filming took place between 11 October 1999 and 22 December 2000 with Andrew Lesnie serving as director of photography. Pick-up shoots were conducted annually from 2001 to 2004. The series was shot at over 150 different locations, with seven different units shooting, as well as soundstages around Wellington and Queenstown. Along with Jackson directing the whole production, other unit directors included John Mahaffie, Geoff Murphy, Fran Walsh, Barrie M. Osborne, Rick Porras, and any other assistant director, producer, or writer available. Jackson, Walsh, and Boyens did not write each film to correspond exactly to its respective book, opting instead to write a three-part adaptation with some sequences missing, some sequences created from scratch, and some sequences moved from one area to another regardless of its placement in the books. To allow the story to be clearer for viewers, Jackson takes a more chronological approach to the story than did Tolkien. During shooting, the screenplays continued to evolve, in part due to contributions from cast members looking to further explore their characters. Each film had the benefit of a full year of post-production time before its respective December release, often finishing in October–November, with the crew immediately going to work on the next film. To avoid pressure, Jackson hired a different editor for each film. John Gilbert worked on the first film, Michael J. Horton on the second and Jamie Selkirk on the third. Daily rushes would often last up to four hours, with scenes being done throughout 1999–2002 for the rough (4½ hours) assemblies of the films. In total, 1828 km (six million feet) of film was edited down to the 11 hours and 26 minutes (686 minutes) of extended running time. Howard Shore composed, orchestrated, conducted, and produced the trilogy's music. He was hired in August 2000 and visited the set, and watched the assembly cuts of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. In the music, Shore included many (85 to 110) leitmotifs to represent various characters, cultures, and places – the largest catalogue of leitmotifs in the history of cinema, surpassing – for comparison – that of the entire Star Wars film series. For example, there are multiple leitmotifs just for the hobbits and the Shire. Although the first film had some of its score recorded in Wellington, virtually all of the trilogy's score was recorded in Watford Town Hall and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Jackson planned to advise the score for six weeks each year in London, though for The Two Towers he stayed for twelve. The score is primarily played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, ranging from 93 to 120 players throughout the recording. London Voices, the London Oratory School Schola boy choir, and many artists such as Ben Del Maestro, Enya, Renée Fleming, James Galway, Annie Lennox and Emilíana Torrini contributed. Even actors Billy Boyd, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto (extended cuts only for the latter two), and Peter Jackson (for a single gong sound in the second film) contributed to the score. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens served as librettists, writing lyrics to various music and songs, which David Salo translated into Tolkien's languages. The third film's end song, "Into the West", was a tribute to a young filmmaker Jackson and Walsh befriended named Cameron Duncan, who died of cancer in 2003. Shore composed a main theme for The Fellowship rather than many different character themes, and its strength and weaknesses in volume are depicted at different points in the series. On top of that, individual themes were composed to represent different cultures. Infamously, the amount of music Shore had to write every day for the third film increased dramatically to around seven minutes. The music for the series has been voted best movie soundtrack of all time for the six years running, passing Schindler's List (1993), Gladiator (2000), Star Wars (1977), and Out of Africa (1985) respectively. The trilogy's online promotional trailer was first released on 27 April 2000, and set a new record for download hits, registering 1.7 million hits in the first 24 hours of its release. The trailer used a selection from the soundtrack for Braveheart and The Shawshank Redemption among other cuts. In 2001, 24 minutes of footage from the series, primarily the Moria sequence, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, and was very well received. The showing also included an area designed to look like Middle-earth. The Lord of the Rings trilogy received universal acclaim and is constantly ranked among the greatest film trilogies ever made. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "the trilogy will not soon, if ever, find its equal", while Todd McCarthy of Variety described the films as "one of the most ambitious and phenomenally successful dream projects of all time". The Fellowship of the Ring was voted the greatest fantasy movie of all time in a reader's poll conducted by American magazine Wired in 2012, while The Two Towers and The Return of the King placed fourth and third respectively. The series appears in the , Times All-Time 100 Movies, and James Berardinelli's Top 100. In 2007, USA Today named the series as the most important films of the past 25 years. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Bringing a cherished book to the big screen? No sweat. Peter Jackson's trilogy — or, as we like to call it, our preciousssss — exerted its irresistible pull, on advanced Elvish speakers and neophytes alike." Paste named it one of the 50 Best Movies of the Decade (2000–2009), ranking it at No. 4. In another Time magazine list, the series ranks second in "Best Movies of the Decade". In addition, six characters and their respective actors made the list of 'The 100 Greatest Movie Characters', also compiled by Empire, with Viggo Mortensen's portrayal of Aragorn ranking No. 15, Ian McKellen's portrayal of Gandalf ranking No. 30, Ian Holm's portrayal of Bilbo Baggins (shared with Martin Freeman for his portrayal of the same character in The Hobbit films) ranking No. 61, Andy Serkis' portrayal of Gollum ranking No. 66, Sean Astin's portrayal of Samwise Gamgee ranking No. 77, and Orlando Bloom's portrayal of Legolas ranking No. 94. The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, both records for any movie trilogy. The Fellowship of the Ring earned 13 nominations, the most of any film at the 74th Academy Awards, winning four; The Two Towers won two awards from six nominations at the 75th Academy Awards; The Return of the King won in every category in which it was nominated at the 76th Academy Awards, setting the current Oscar record for the highest clean sweep, and its 11 Academy Awards wins ties the record held by Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997). The Return of the King also became only the second sequel to win the Oscar for Best Picture (after The Godfather Part II). As well as Academy Awards, each film in the series won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, the MTV Movie Award for Movie of the Year, and the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film. The first and third films also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film. The New York Film Critics Circle awarded The Return of the King its Best Picture Award at the 2003 Awards Ceremony, hosted by Andrew Johnston, chair of the organization at that time, who called it "a masterful piece of filmmaking." The film series provoked both positive and negative reaction from fans and scholars of the novels, and was sometimes seen as changing parts Tolkien felt thematically necessary in terms of characters, themes, events and subtlety. Some fans of the book who disagreed with such changes have released fan edits of the films such as The Lord of the Rings: The Purist Edition, which removed many of the changes to bring them closer to the original. It was rumoured that the Tolkien family became split on the series, with Christopher Tolkien and his son Simon Tolkien feuding over whether or not it was a good idea to adapt. Christopher has since denied these claims, saying, "My own position is that The Lord of the Rings is peculiarly unsuitable to transformation into visual dramatic form. The suggestions that have been made that I 'disapprove' of the films, even to the extent of thinking ill of those with whom I may differ, are wholly without foundation." He added that he had never "expressed any such feeling". In 2012, however, he described the films as having "eviscerated" the book, and criticized the resulting "commercialisation" of his father's work. Various changes to characters such as Gandalf, Aragorn, Arwen, Denethor, Faramir, Gimli, and Frodo, when considered together, were seen by some to alter the tone and themes found in the books. Several critics contend that the portrayal of women, especially Arwen, in the films is thematically faithful to (or compatible with) Tolkien's writings despite some differences. Wayne G. Hammond, a Tolkien scholar, said of the first two films that he found them to be "travesties as adaptations... faithful only on a basic level of plot" and that many characters had not been depicted faithfully to their appearance in the novel. Janet Brennan Croft criticized the films using Tolkien's own terms "anticipation" and "flattening", which she used in critiquing a proposed film script. She contrasts Tolkien's subtlety with Jackson's tendency to show "too much too soon". Other critics have argued that Tolkien's characters were weakened and misinterpreted by their portrayal in the films. Changes to events, such as the Elves participating at the Battle of Helm's Deep, Faramir taking the hobbits to Osgiliath, and the deletion of the chapter "The Scouring of the Shire", are also seen as changing Tolkien's themes. Supporters of the series assert that it is a worthy interpretation of the book and that most of the changes were necessary. Many who worked on the series are fans of the book, including Christopher Lee, who (alone among the cast) had actually met Tolkien in person, and Boyens once noted that no matter what, it is simply their interpretation of the book. Jackson once said that to simply summarize the story on screen would be a mess, and in his own words, "Sure, it's not really The Lord of the Rings... but it could still be a pretty damn cool movie." Other fans also claim that, despite any changes, the films serve as a tribute to the book, appealing to those who have not yet read it, and even leading some to do so. The Movie Guide for The Encyclopedia of Arda (an online Tolkien encyclopedia) states that Jackson's films were exceptional since filming the whole story of The Lord of the Rings was probably impossible. This notion is partially supported by a review published in 2005 that otherwise criticized a lack of "faithfulness to Tolkien's spirit and tone." Douglas Kellner argues that the conservative community spirit of Tolkien's Shire is reflected in Jackson's films as well as the division of the Fellowship into "squabbling races". In a 2006 review, film theorist Kristin Thompson was critical about the fact that film studies were undertaken by literary researchers and about the frequent denigration of Jackson's work in the collected essays. The first two films were released on standard two-disc edition DVDs containing previews of the next film. The success of the theatrical cuts brought about four-disc extended editions, with new editing, added special effects and music. The extended cuts of the films and the included special features were spread over two discs, and a limited collector's edition was also released. The Fellowship of the Ring was released on 12 November 2002, containing 30 minutes more footage, an Alan Lee painting of the Fellowship entering Moria, and the Moria Gate on the back of the sleeve; an Argonath-styled bookend was included with the Collector's Edition. The Two Towers, released on 18 November 2003, contained 46 minutes extra footage and a Lee painting of Gandalf the White's entrance; the Collector's Edition contained a Sméagol statue, with a crueller-looking statue of his Gollum persona available by order for a limited time. The Return of the King was released on 14 December 2004, having 52 minutes more footage, a Lee painting of the Grey Havens and a model of Minas Tirith for the Collector's Edition, with Minas Morgul available by order for a limited time. The Special Extended DVD Editions also had in-sleeve maps of the Fellowship's travels. They have also played at cinemas, most notably for a 16 December 2003 marathon screening (dubbed "Trilogy Tuesday") culminating in a late afternoon screening of the third film. Attendees of "Trilogy Tuesday" were given a limited edition keepsake from Sideshow Collectibles containing one random frame of film from each of the three movies. Both versions were put together in a Limited Edition "branching" version, plus a new feature-length documentary by Costa Botes. The complete series was released in a six-disc set on 14 November 2006. Warner Bros. released the trilogy's theatrical versions on Blu-ray in a boxed set on 6 April 2010. An extended edition Blu-ray box set was made available for pre-order from Amazon.com in March 2011 and was released on 28 June 2011. Each film's extended Blu-ray version is identical to the extended DVD version; the total running time is longer due to added credit sequence listing the names of "The Lord of the Rings fan-club members" who contributed to the project. In 2014, brand new Blu-ray steelbook editions of the five-disc Extended Editions were released. The first, The Fellowship of the Ring, was released on 24 March 2014. The discs are identical to those found in the previous five-disc Blu-ray set. The release of the films saw a surge of interest in The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's other works, vastly increasing his impact on popular culture. The success of the films spawned numerous video games and many other kinds of merchandise. As a result of the series' success, Peter Jackson has become a major figure in the film business in the mould of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, in the process befriending some industry heavyweights like Bryan Singer and Frank Darabont. Jackson has since founded his own film production company, Wingnut Films, as well as Wingnut Interactive, a video game company. He was also finally given a chance to remake King Kong in 2005. The film was a critical and box office success, although not as successful as The Lord of the Rings series. Jackson has been called a "favourite son" of New Zealand. In 2004, Howard Shore toured with The Lord of the Rings Symphony, playing two hours of the score. Along with the Harry Potter films, the series has renewed interest in the fantasy film genre. Tourism in New Zealand is up, possibly due to its exposure in the series, with the country's tourism industry waking up to an audience's familiarity. In December 2002, opened at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington. As of 2007, the exhibition has travelled to seven other cities around the world. A musical adaptation of the book was launched in Toronto, Canada, in 2006, but it closed after mostly poor reviews. A shortened version opened in London, United Kingdom, in the summer of 2007. The legacy of The Lord of the Rings is also that of court cases over profits from the trilogy. Sixteen cast members (Noel Appleby, Jed Brophy, Mark Ferguson, Ray Henwood, Bruce Hopkins, William Johnson, Nathaniel Lees, Sarah McLeod, Ian Mune, Paul Norell, Craig Parker, Robert Pollock, Martyn Sanderson, Peter Tait and Stephen Ure) sued over the lack of revenue from merchandise bearing their appearance. The case was resolved out of court in 2008. The settlement came too late for Appleby, who died of cancer in 2007. Saul Zaentz also filed a lawsuit in 2004 claiming he had not been paid all of his royalties. The next year, Jackson himself sued the studio over profits from the first film, slowing development of the Hobbit prequels until late 2007. The Tolkien Trust filed a lawsuit in February 2008, for violating Tolkien's original deal over the rights that they would earn 7.5% of the gross from any films based on his works. The Trust sought compensation of $150 million. A judge denied them this option, but allowed them to win compensation from the act of the studio ignoring the contract itself. On 8 September 2009, the dispute was settled. Numerous video games were released to supplement the film series. They include: , Pinball, , , , , , , , The Lord of the Rings Online, , , , Lego The Lord of the Rings, Guardians of Middle-earth, , and . The success of The Lord of the Rings trilogy led to Jackson directing a trilogy of prequels based on Tolkien's children's book The Hobbit. The films, which were released between 2012 and 2014, used much of the cast and crew of The Lord of the Rings, including Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Elijah Wood, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Orlando Bloom who reprised their roles. Although the Hobbit films were commercially successful, they received mixed reviews from critics. The Hobbit (1977 film), The Lord of the Rings (1978 film), The Return of the King (1980 film), List of longest films, List of films featuring miniature people

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I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is an American television film based on the autobiography of the same name by Maya Angelou, first aired April 28, 1979 on CBS. Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay, and the movie was directed by Fielder Cook. Constance Good played the young Maya Angelou. Also appearing were Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair. Filming took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The movie traces Maya's life from when she and her brother move in with their grandmother to the trauma of being raped as a young girl by one of her mother's boyfriends and the several years of silence that came after the attack. Two scenes in the movie differed from events described in the book. Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight. In it, he expresses his feelings of redemption after Louis defeats a white opponent. Angelou also presents her eighth-grade graduation differently in the film. In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the black audience in the Negro national anthem. In the movie, Maya conducts these activities. Paul Benjamin ... Freeman, Diahann Carroll ... Vivian, Ruby Dee ... Grandmother Baxter, Roger E. Mosley ... Bailey Sr., Esther Rolle ... Momma, Madge Sinclair ... Miss Flowers, Constance Good ... Maya, John Driver ... Bailey Jr. (as John M. Driver II), Sonny Jim Gaines ... Uncle Willie, Art Evans ... Principal, J. Don Ferguson ... Mr. Donleavy, Georgia Allen ... Mrs. Gurney, Darleen Taylor ... 1st Girl, Darryl Antony Williams ... Tommy Valdon (as Darryl Williams), Tonea Stewart ... Lillie (as Tommie Stewart), Shaunery Stevens ... Policeman, Monica Kyles ... Julie, Frankie Mitchell ... 2nd Mrs. Fletcher, Rick Salassi ... Parmenian (as Richard Salassi), Lewis Liddell ... Tommy, Sammy Liddell ... Ira, Sylvester Spann ... Tutti, Hosie Phillips ... Preacher, Myra Jo Arvin ... Red, George Cummins ... Sheriff Rogers, Torain ... Teacher, Laurie Waters ... Tall Girl, Mose Lee Williams ... 1st Mrs. Fletcher, M.L. Breeland ... Mr. Peters, Angela Brown ... Kitty, Abbie Burns ... Mary, Johnny Lewis ... 1st Picker, John L. Patterson ... Man, James Peters ... 2nd Man, Melvin Kennerly ... 3rd Man, Shirley Perkins ... Woman, John C. Roper Jr. ... White Man, Terri Ann Ross ... Small Girl, I.D. Thompson ... Black Man I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a 1969 autobiography describing the early years of American writer and poet Maya Angelou. The first in a seven-volume series, it is a coming-of-age story that illustrates how strength of character and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma. The book begins when three-year-old Maya and her older brother are sent to Stamps, Arkansas, to live with their grandmother and ends when Maya becomes a mother at the age of 16. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya transforms from a victim of racism with an inferiority complex into a self-possessed, dignified young woman capable of responding to prejudice. Angelou was challenged by her friend, author James Baldwin, and her editor, Robert Loomis, to write an autobiography that was also a piece of literature. Reviewers often categorize Caged Bird as autobiographical fiction because Angelou uses thematic development and other techniques common to fiction, but the prevailing critical view characterizes it as an autobiography, a genre she attempts to critique, change, and expand. The book covers topics common to autobiographies written by Black American women in the years following the Civil Rights Movement: a celebration of Black motherhood; a critique of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou uses her autobiography to explore subjects such as identity, rape, racism, and literacy. She also writes in new ways about women's lives in a male-dominated society. Maya, the younger version of Angelou and the book's central character, has been called "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America". Angelou's description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the book, although it is presented briefly in the text. Another metaphor, that of a bird struggling to escape its cage, is a central image throughout the work, which consists of "a sequence of lessons about resisting racist oppression". Angelou's treatment of racism provides a thematic unity to the book. Literacy and the power of words help young Maya cope with her bewildering world; books become her refuge as she works through her trauma. Caged Bird was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970 and remained on The New York Times paperback bestseller list for two years. It has been used in educational settings from high schools to universities, and the book has been celebrated for creating new literary avenues for the American memoir. However, the book's graphic depiction of childhood rape, racism, and sexuality has caused it to be challenged or banned in some schools and libraries. Before writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings at the age of forty, Angelou had a long and varied career, holding jobs such as composer, singer, actor, civil rights worker, journalist, and educator. In the late 1950s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met a number of important African-American authors, including her friend and mentor James Baldwin. After hearing civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak for the first time in 1960, she was inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. She organized several benefits for him, and he named her Northern Coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She worked for several years in Ghana, West Africa, as a journalist, actress, and educator. She was invited back to the US by Malcolm X to work for him shortly before his assassination in 1965. In 1968, King asked her to organize a march, but he too was assassinated on April 4, which also happened to be her birthday. For many years, Angelou responded to King's murder by not celebrating her birthday, instead choosing to meet with, call, or send flowers to his widow, Coretta Scott King. Angelou was deeply depressed in the months following King's assassination, so to help lift her spirits, Baldwin brought her to a dinner party at the home of cartoonist Jules Feiffer and his wife Judy in late 1968. The guests began telling stories of their childhoods and Angelou's stories impressed Judy Feiffer. The next day she called Robert Loomis at Random House, who became Angelou's editor throughout her long writing career until he retired in 2011, and "told him that he ought to get this woman to write a book". At first, Angelou refused, since she thought of herself as a poet and playwright. According to Angelou, Baldwin had a "covert hand" in getting her to write the book, and advised Loomis to use "a little reverse psychology", and reported that Loomis tricked her into it by daring her: "It's just as well", he said, "because to write an autobiography as literature is just about impossible". Angelou was unable to resist a challenge, and she began writing Caged Bird. After "closeting herself" in London, it took her two years to write it. She shared the manuscript with her friend, writer Jessica Mitford, before submitting it for publication. Angelou subsequently wrote six additional autobiographies, covering a variety of her young adult experiences. They are distinct in style and narration, but unified in their themes and stretch from Arkansas to Africa, and back to the US, from the beginnings of World War II to King's assassination. Like Caged Bird, the events in these books are episodic and crafted as a series of short stories, yet do not follow a strict chronology. Later books in the series include Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom & Me & Mom (2013, at the age of 85). Critics have often judged Angelou's later autobiographies "in light of the first", and Caged Bird generally receives the highest praise. Beginning with Caged Bird, Angelou used the same "writing ritual" for many years. She would get up at five in the morning and check into a hotel room, where the staff were instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She wrote on yellow legal pads while lying on the bed, with a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget's Thesaurus, and the Bible, and left by the early afternoon. She averaged 10–12 pages of material a day, which she edited down to three or four pages in the evening. Lupton stated that this ritual indicated "a firmness of purpose and an inflexible use of time". Angelou went through this process to give herself time to turn the events of her life into art, and to "enchant" herself; as she said in a 1989 interview with the BBC, to "relive the agony, the anguish, the Sturm und Drang". She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even during traumatic experiences like her rape in Caged Bird, to "tell the human truth" about her life. Critic Opal Moore says about Caged Bird: "...Though easily read, [it] is no 'easy read'". Angelou stated that she played cards to reach that place of enchantment, to access her memories more effectively. She has stated, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in "telling the truth". When selecting a title, Angelou turned to Paul Laurence Dunbar, an Afro- American poet whose works she had admired for years. Jazz vocalist and civil rights activist Abbey Lincoln suggested the title. According to Lyman B. Hagen, the title pulls Angelou's readers into the book while reminding them that it is possible to both lose control of one's life and to have one's freedom taken from them. Angelou has credited Dunbar, along with Shakespeare, with forming her "writing ambition". The title of the book comes from the third stanza of Dunbar's poem "Sympathy": I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,When he beats his bars and would be free;It is not a carol of joy or glee,But a prayer that he sends from his heart's deep core,But a plea, that upward to Heaven he flings – I know why the caged bird sings. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings follows Marguerite's (called "My" or "Maya" by her brother) life from the age of three to seventeen and the struggles she faces – particularly with racism – in the Southern United States. Abandoned by their parents, Maya and her older brother Bailey are sent to live with their paternal grandmother (Momma) and disabled uncle (Uncle Willie) in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya and Bailey are haunted by their parents' abandonment throughout the book – they travel alone and are labeled like baggage. Many of the problems Maya encounters in her childhood stem from the overt racism of her white neighbors. Although Momma is relatively wealthy because she owns the general store at the heart of Stamps' Black community, the white children of their town hassle Maya's family relentlessly. One of these "powhitetrash" girls, for example, reveals her pubic hair to Momma in a humiliating incident. Early in the book, Momma hides Uncle Willie in a vegetable bin to protect him from Ku Klux Klan raiders. Maya has to endure the insult of her name being changed to Mary by a racist employer. A white speaker at her eighth grade graduation ceremony disparages the Black audience by suggesting that they have limited job opportunities. A white dentist refuses to treat Maya's rotting tooth, even when Momma reminds him that she had loaned him money during the Depression. The Black community of Stamps enjoys a moment of racial victory when they listen to the radio broadcast of Joe Louis's championship fight, but generally, they feel the heavy weight of racist oppression. A turning point in the book occurs when Maya and Bailey's father unexpectedly appears in Stamps. He takes the two children with him when he departs, but leaves them with their mother in St. Louis, Missouri. Eight-year-old Maya is sexually abused and raped by her mother's boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. He is found guilty during the trial, but escapes jail time and is murdered, presumably by Maya's uncles. Maya feels guilty and withdraws from everyone but her brother. Even after returning to Stamps, Maya remains reclusive and nearly mute until she meets Mrs. Bertha Flowers, "the aristocrat of Black Stamps," who encourages her through books and communication to regain her voice and soul. This coaxes Maya out of her shell. Later, Momma decides to send her grandchildren to their mother in San Francisco, California, to protect them from the dangers of racism in Stamps. Maya attends George Washington High School and studies dance and drama on a scholarship at the California Labor School. Before graduating, she becomes the first Black female streetcar conductor in San Francisco. While still in high school, Maya visits her father in southern California one summer and has some experiences pivotal to her development. She drives a car for the first time when she must transport her intoxicated father home from an excursion to Mexico. She experiences homelessness for a short time after a fight with her father's girlfriend. During Maya's final year of high school, she worries that she might be a lesbian (which she confuses due to her sexual inexperience with the belief that lesbians are also hermaphrodites). She ultimately initiates sexual intercourse with a teenage boy. She becomes pregnant, which on the advice of her brother, she hides from her family until her eighth month of pregnancy in order to graduate from high school. Maya gives birth at the end of the book. Angelou's prose works, while presenting a unique interpretation of the autobiographical form, can be placed in the long tradition of African-American autobiography. Her use of fiction-writing techniques such as dialogue, characterization, and thematic development, however, often lead reviewers to categorize her books, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, as autobiographical fiction. Other critics, like Lupton, insist that Angelou's books should be categorized as autobiographies because they conform to the genre's standard structure: they are written by a single author, they are chronological, and they contain elements of character, technique, and theme. In a 1983 interview with African-American literature critic Claudia Tate, Angelou calls her books autobiographies. At first, Angelou intended to return to poetry and play-writing after completing Caged Bird and write no more autobiographies, but she chose the genre as her primary mode of expression because of its challenge and so that she could "change it, to make it bigger, richer, finer, and more inclusive in the twentieth century". In a 1989 interview, she stated, "I think I am the only serious writer who has chosen the autobiographical form to carry my work, my expression". As she told journalist George Plimpton during a 1990 interview, "Autobiography is awfully seductive; it’s wonderful". She also told Plimpton that like the tradition begun by Frederick Douglass in slave narratives, she used the literary technique of "speaking in the first-person singular talking about the first- person plural, always saying I meaning 'we'". As critic Susan Gilbert states, Angelou was reporting not one person's story, but the collective's. Scholar Selwyn R. Cudjoe agrees, and sees Angelou as representative of the convention in African-American autobiography as a public gesture that speaks for an entire group of people. Scholar Joanne M. Braxton sees Caged Bird as "the fully developed black female autobiographical form that began to emerge in the 1940s and 1950s". The book presents themes that are common in autobiography by Black American women: a celebration of Black motherhood; a criticism of racism; the importance of family; and the quest for independence, personal dignity, and self-definition. Angelou introduces a unique point of view in American autobiography by revealing her life story through a narrator who is a Black female from the South, at some points a child, and other points a mother. Writer Hilton Als calls Angelou one of the "pioneers of self- exposure", willing to focus honestly on the more negative aspects of her personality and choices. For example, Angelou was worried about her readers' reactions to her disclosure in her second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, that she was a prostitute. She went through with it, anyway, after her husband Paul Du Feu advised her to be honest about it. Angelou has recognized that there are fictional aspects to her books, and that she tends to "diverge from the conventional notion of autobiography as truth". Angelou discussed her writing process with Plimpton, and when asked if she changed the truth to improve her story, she admitted that she had. She stated, "Sometimes I make a diameter from a composite of three or four people, because the essence in only one person is not sufficiently strong to be written about." Although Angelou has never admitted to changing the facts in her stories, she has used these facts to make an impact with the reader. As Hagen states, "One can assume that 'the essence of the data' is present in Angelou's work". Hagen also states that Angelou "fictionalizes, to enhance interest". For example, Angelou uses the first-person narrative voice customary with autobiographies, told from the perspective of a child that is "artfully recreated by an adult narrator". Angelou uses two distinct voices, the adult writer and the child who is the focus of the book, whom Angelou calls "the Maya character". Angelou reports that maintaining the distinction between herself and the Maya character is "damned difficult", but "very necessary". Scholar Liliane Arensberg suggests that Angelou "retaliates for the tongue-tied child's helpless pain" by using her adult self's irony and wit. As such, Caged Bird has been called a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story; critic Mary Jane Lupton compares it to other Bildungsromans like George Eliot's novel The Mill on the Floss. According to Lupton, the two books share the following similarities: a focus on young strong-willed heroines who have solid relationships with their brothers, an examination of the role of literature in life, and an emphasis on the importance of family and community life. When Angelou wrote I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings at the end of the 1960s, one of the necessary and accepted features of literature, according to critic Pierre A. Walker, was thematic unity. One of Angelou's goals was to create a book that satisfied this criterion, in order to achieve her political purposes, which were to demonstrate how to resist racism in America. The structure of the text, which resembles a series of short stories, is not chronological but rather thematic. Walker, in his 1993 article about Caged Bird, "Racial Protest, Identity, Words, and Form", focuses on the book's structure, and describes how it supports her presentation of racism. According to Walker, critics had neglected analyzing its structure, choosing to focus instead on its themes, which he feels neglects the political nature of the book. He states, "One serves Angelou and Caged Bird better by emphasizing how form and political content work together". Angelou structures her book so that it presents a series of lessons about how to resist racism and oppression. The progression Maya goes through thematically unifies the book, something that "stands in contrast to the otherwise episodic quality of the narrative". The way in which Angelou constructs, arranges, and organizes her vignettes often undermined the chronology of her childhood by "juxtaposing the events of one chapter with the events of preceding and following ones so that they too comment on each other". For example, the incident with the "powhitetrash" girls takes place in chapter 5, when Maya was ten years old, well before Angelou's recounting of her rape in chapter 12, which occurred when Maya was 8. Walker explains that Angelou's purpose in placing the vignettes in this way is that it followed her thematic structure. Angelou's editor, Robert Loomis, agrees, stating that Angelou could rewrite any of her books by changing the order of her facts to make a different impact on the reader. Hagen sees Angelou's structure somewhat differently, focusing on Maya's journey "to establish a worthwhile self-concept", and states that she structures the book into three parts: arrival, sojourn, and departure, which occur both geographically and psychologically. However, Hagen notes that instead of beginning Caged Bird chronologically, with Maya and Bailey's arrival in Stamps, Angelou begins the book much later chronologically by recounting an embarrassing experience at church, an incident that demonstrates Maya's diminished sense of self, insecurity, and lack of status. Hagen explains that Angelou's purpose is to demonstrate Maya's journey from insecurity to her feelings of worth gained by becoming a mother at the end of the book. In the course of Caged Bird, Maya, who has been described as "a symbolic character for every black girl growing up in America", goes from being a victim of racism with an inferiority complex to a self-aware individual who responds to racism with dignity and a strong sense of her own identity. Feminist scholar Maria Lauret states that the "formation of female cultural identity" is woven into the book's narrative, setting Maya up as "a role model for Black women". Scholar Liliane Arensberg calls this presentation Angelou's "identity theme" and a major motif in Angelou's narrative. Maya's unsettled life in Caged Bird suggests her sense of self "as perpetually in the process of becoming, of dying and being reborn, in all its ramifications". African- American literature scholar Dolly McPherson agrees, stating that Angelou creatively uses Christian mythology and theology to present the Biblical themes of death, regeneration, and rebirth. As Lauret indicates, Angelou and other female writers in the late 1960s and early 1970s used autobiography to reimagine ways of writing about women's lives and identities in a male- dominated society. Up until this time, Black women were not depicted realistically in African-American fiction and autobiography, meaning that Angelou was one of the first Black autobiographers to present, as Cudjoe put it, "a powerful and authentic signification of [African-American] womanhood in her quest for understanding and love rather than for bitterness and despair". Lauret sees a connection between Angelou's autobiographies, which Lauret calls "fictions of subjectivity" and "feminist first-person narratives", and fictional first-person narratives (such as The Women's Room by Marilyn French and The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing) written during the same period. As French and Lessing do in their novels, Angelou employs the narrator as protagonist and depends upon "the illusion of presence in their mode of signification". As a displaced girl, Maya's pain is worsened by an awareness of her displacement. She is "the forgotten child", and must come to terms with "the unimaginable reality" of being unloved and unwanted; she lives in a hostile world that defines beauty in terms of whiteness and that rejects her simply because she is a Black girl. Maya internalizes the rejection she has experienced – her belief in her own ugliness was "absolute". McPherson believes that the concept of family, or what she calls "kinship concerns", in Angelou's books must be understood in the light of the children's displacement at the beginning of Caged Bird. Being sent away from their parents was a psychological rejection, and resulted in a quest for love, acceptance, and self-worth for both Maya and Bailey. Angelou uses her many roles, incarnations, and identities throughout her books to illustrate how oppression and personal history are interrelated. For example, in Caged Bird, Angelou demonstrates the "racist habit" of renaming African Americans, as shown when her white employer insists on calling her "Mary". Angelou describes the employer's renaming as the "hellish horror of being 'called out of [one's] name'". Scholar Debra Walker King calls it a racist insult and an assault against Maya's race and self-image. The renaming emphasizes Maya's feelings of inadequacy and denigrates her identity, individuality, and uniqueness. Maya understands that she is being insulted and rebels by breaking Mrs. Cullinan's favorite dish, but feels vindicated when, as she leaves her employer's home, Mrs. Cullinan finally gets her name right. Another incident in the book that solidifies Maya's identity is her trip to Mexico with her father, when she has to drive a car for the first time. Contrasted with her experience in Stamps, Maya is finally "in control of her fate". This experience is central to Maya's growth, as is the incident that immediately follows it, her short period of homelessness after arguing with her father's girlfriend. These two incidents give Maya a knowledge of self-determination and confirm her self-worth. Scholar Mary Burgher believes that female Black autobiographers like Angelou have debunked the stereotypes of African-American mothers as "breeder[s] and matriarch[s]", and have presented them as having "a creative and personally fulfilling role". Lupton believes that Angelou's plot construction and character development were influenced by the same mother/child motif as is found in the work of Harlem Renaissance poet Jessie Fauset. For the first five years of her life, Maya thinks of herself as an orphan and finds comfort in the thought that her mother is dead. Maya's feelings for and relationship with her own mother, whom she blames for her abandonment, express themselves in ambivalence and "repressed violent aggression". For example, Maya and her brother destroy the first Christmas gifts sent by their mother. These strong feelings are not resolved until the end of the book, when Maya becomes a mother herself, and her mother finally becomes the nurturing presence for which Maya has longed. The two main maternal influences on Maya's life change as well; Vivian becomes a more active participant, while Momma becomes less effective as Maya, by becoming a mother herself, moves from childhood to adulthood. Stamps, Arkansas, as depicted in Caged Bird, has very little "social ambiguity": it is a racist world divided between Black and white, male and female. Als characterizes the division as "good and evil", and notes how Angelou's witness of the evil in her society, which was directed at Black women, shaped Angelou's young life and informed her views into adulthood. Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird struggling to escape its cage, described in Paul Laurence Dunbar's poem, as a prominent symbol throughout her series of autobiographies. Like elements within a prison narrative, the caged bird represents Angelou's confinement resulting from racism and oppression. The caged bird metaphor also invokes the "supposed contradiction of the bird singing in the midst of its struggle". Scholar Ernece B. Kelley calls Caged Bird a "gentle indictment of white American womanhood"; Hagen expands it further, stating that the book is "a dismaying story of white dominance". Caged Bird has been called "perhaps the most aesthetically satisfying autobiography written in the years immediately following the Civil Rights era". Critic Pierre A. Walker expresses a similar sentiment, and places it in the African-American literature tradition of political protest. Angelou demonstrates, through her involvement with the Black community of Stamps, as well as her presentation of vivid and realistic racist characters and "the vulgarity of white Southern attitudes toward African Americans", her developing understanding of the rules for surviving in a racist society. Angelou's autobiographies, beginning with Caged Bird, contain a sequence of lessons about resisting oppression. The sequence she describes leads Angelou, as the protagonist, from "helpless rage and indignation to forms of subtle resistance, and finally to outright and active protest". Walker insists that Angelou's treatment of racism is what gives her autobiographies their thematic unity and underscores one of their central themes: the injustice of racism and how to fight it. For example, in Angelou's depiction of the "powhitetrash" incident, Maya reacts with rage, indignation, humiliation, and helplessness, but Momma teaches her how they can maintain their personal dignity and pride while dealing with racism, and that it is an effective basis for actively protesting and combating racism. Walker calls Momma's way a "strategy of subtle resistance" and McPherson calls it "the dignified course of silent endurance". Angelou portrays Momma as a realist whose patience, courage, and silence ensured the survival and success of those who came after her. For example, Maya responds assertively when subjected to demeaning treatment by Mrs. Cullinan, her white employer, and, later on in the book, breaks the race barrier to become the first black streetcar operator in San Francisco. In addition, Angelou's description of the strong and cohesive black community of Stamps demonstrates how African Americans subvert repressive institutions to withstand racism. Arensberg insists that Angelou demonstrates how she, as a Black child, evolves out of her "racial hatred", common in the works of many contemporary Black novelists and autobiographers. At first Maya wishes that she could become white, since growing up Black in white America is dangerous; later she sheds her self-loathing and embraces a strong racial identity. Angelou's description of being raped as an eight-year-old child overwhelms the autobiography, although it is presented briefly in the text. Scholar Mary Vermillion compares Angelou's treatment of rape to that of Harriet Jacobs in her autobiography Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. Jacobs and Angelou both use rape as a metaphor for the suffering of African Americans; Jacobs uses the metaphor to critique slaveholding culture, while Angelou uses it to first internalize, then challenge, twentieth-century racist conceptions of the Black female body (namely, that the Black female is physically unattractive). Rape, according to Vermillion, "represents the black girl's difficulties in controlling, understanding, and respecting both her body and her words". Arensberg notes that Maya's rape is connected to the theme of death in Caged Bird, as Mr. Freeman threatens to kill Maya's brother Bailey if she tells anyone about the rape. After Maya lies during Freeman's trial, stating that the rape was the first time he touched her inappropriately, Freeman is murdered (presumably by one of Maya's uncles) and Maya sees her words as a bringer of death. As a result, she resolves never to speak to anyone other than Bailey. Angelou connects the violation of her body and the devaluation of her words through the depiction of her self-imposed, five-year-long silence. As Angelou later stated, "I thought if I spoke, my mouth would just issue out something that would kill people, randomly, so it was better not to talk". African-American literature scholar Selwyn R. Cudjoe calls Angelou's depiction of the rape "a burden" of Caged Bird: a demonstration of "the manner in which the Black female is violated in her tender years and ... the 'unnecessary insult' of Southern girlhood in her movement to adolescence". Vermillion goes further, maintaining that a Black woman who writes about her rape risks reinforcing negative stereotypes about her race and gender. When asked decades later how she was able to survive such trauma, Angelou explained it by stating, "I can't remember a time when I wasn't loved by somebody." When asked by the same interviewer why she wrote about the experience, she indicated that she wanted to demonstrate the complexities of rape. She also wanted to prevent it from happening to someone else, so that anyone who had been raped might gain understanding and not blame herself for it. As Lupton points out, all of Angelou's autobiographies, especially Caged Bird and its immediate sequel Gather Together in My Name, are "very much concerned with what [Angelou] knew and how she learned it". Lupton compares Angelou's informal education with the education of other Black writers of the twentieth century, who did not earn official degrees and depended upon the "direct instruction of African American cultural forms". Angelou's quest for learning and literacy parallels "the central myth of black culture in America": that freedom and literacy are connected. Angelou is influenced by writers introduced to her by Mrs. Flowers during her self-imposed muteness, including Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare. Angelou states, early in Caged Bird, that she, as the Maya character, "met and fell in love with William Shakespeare". Critic Mary Vermillion sees a connection between Maya's rape and Shakespeare's "The Rape of Lucrece", which Maya memorizes and recites when she regains her speech. Vermillion maintains that Maya finds comfort in the poem's identification with suffering. Maya finds novels and their characters complete and meaningful, so she uses them to make sense of her bewildering world. She is so involved in her fantasy world of books that she even uses them as a way to cope with her rape, writing in Caged Bird, "...I was sure that any minute my mother or Bailey or the Green Hornet would bust in the door and save me". According to Walker, the power of words is another theme that appears repeatedly in Caged Bird. For example, Maya chooses to not speak after her rape because she is afraid of the destructive power of words. Mrs. Flowers, by introducing her to classic literature and poetry, teaches her about the positive power of language and empowers Maya to speak again. The importance of both the spoken and written word also appears repeatedly in Caged Bird and in all of Angelou's autobiographies. Referring to the importance of literacy and methods of effective writing, Angelou once advised Oprah Winfrey in a 1993 interview to "do as West Africans do ... listen to the deep talk", or the "utterances existing beneath the obvious". McPherson says, "If there is one stable element in Angelou's youth it is [a] dependence upon books". The public library is a "quiet refuge" to which Maya retreats when she experiences crisis. Hagen describes Angelou as a "natural story-teller", which "reflect[s] a good listener with a rich oral heritage". Hagen also insists that Angelou's years of muteness provided her with this skill. Angelou was also powerfully affected by slave narratives, spirituals, poetry, and other autobiographies. Angelou read through the Bible twice as a young child, and memorized many passages from it. African-American spirituality, as represented by Angelou's grandmother, has influenced all of Angelou's writings, in the activities of the church community she first experiences in Stamps, in the sermonizing, and in scripture. Hagen goes on to say that in addition to being influenced by rich literary form, Angelou has also been influenced by oral traditions. In Caged Bird, Mrs. Flowers encourages her to listen carefully to "Mother Wit", which Hagen defines as the collective wisdom of the African-American community as expressed in folklore and humor. Angelou's humor in Caged Bird and in all her autobiographies is drawn from Black folklore and is used to demonstrate that in spite of severe racism and oppression, Black people thrive and are, as Hagen states, "a community of song and laughter and courage". Hagen states that Angelou is able to make an indictment of institutionalized racism as she laughs at her flaws and the flaws of her community and "balances stories of black endurance of oppression against white myths and misperceptions". Hagen also characterize Caged Bird as a "blues genre autobiography" because it uses elements of blues music. These elements include the act of testimony when speaking of one's life and struggles, ironic understatement, and the use of natural metaphors, rhythms, and intonations. Hagen also sees elements of African American sermonizing in Caged Bird. Angelou's use of African-American oral traditions creates a sense of community in her readers, and identifies those who belong to it. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is the most highly acclaimed of Angelou's autobiographies. The other volumes in her series of seven autobiographies are judged and compared to Caged Bird. It became a bestseller immediately after it was published. Angelou's friend and mentor, James Baldwin, maintained that her book "liberates the reader into life" and called it "a Biblical study of life in the midst of death". According to Angelou's biographers, "Readers, especially women, and in particular Black women, took the book to heart". By the end of 1969, critics had placed Angelou in the tradition of other Black autobiographers. Poet James Bertolino asserts that Caged Bird "is one of the essential books produced by our culture". He insists that "[w]e should all read it, especially our children". It was nominated for a National Book Award in 1970, has never been out of print, and has been published in many languages. It has been a Book of the Month Club selection and an Ebony Book Club selection. In 2011, Time Magazine placed the book in its list of 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923. Critic Robert A. Gross called Caged Bird "a tour de force of language". Edmund Fuller insisted that Angelou's intellectual range and artistry were apparent in how she told her story. Caged Bird catapulted Angelou to international fame and critical acclaim, was a significant development in Black women's literature in that it "heralded the success of other now prominent writers". Other reviewers have praised Angelou's use of language in the book, including critic E. M. Guiney, who reported that Caged Bird was "one of the best autobiographies of its kind that I have read". Critic R. A. Gross praised Angelou for her use of rich and dazzling images. By the mid-1980s, Caged Bird had gone through 20 hardback printings and 32 paperback printings. The week after Angelou recited her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at President Bill Clinton's 1993 inauguration, sales of the paperback version of Caged Bird and her other works rose by 300–600 percent. Caged Bird had sold steadily since its publication, but it increased by 500 percent. The 16-page publication of "On the Pulse of Morning" became a best-seller, and the recording of the poem was awarded a Grammy Award. The Bantam Books edition of Caged Bird was a bestseller for 36 weeks, and they had to reprint 400,000 copies of her books to meet demand. Random House, which published Angelou's hardcover books and the poem later that year, reported that they sold more of her books in January 1993 than they did in all of 1992, marking a 1,200 percent increase. The book's reception has not been universally positive; for example, author Francine Prose considers its inclusion in the high school curriculum as partly responsible for the "dumbing down" of American society. Prose calls the book "manipulative melodrama", and considers Angelou's writing style an inferior example of poetic prose in memoir. She accuses Angelou of combining a dozen metaphors in one paragraph and for "obscuring ideas that could be expressed so much more simply and felicitously". Many parents throughout the U.S. have sought to ban the book from schools and libraries for being inappropriate for younger high school students, for promoting premarital sex, homosexuality, cohabitation, and pornography, and for not supporting traditional values. Parents have also objected to the book's use of profanity and to its graphic and violent depiction of rape and racism. When Caged Bird was published in 1969, Angelou was hailed as a new kind of memoirist, one of the first African-American women who was able to publicly discuss her personal life. Up to that point, Black women writers were marginalized to the point that they were unable to present themselves as central characters. Writer Julian Mayfield, who called Caged Bird "a work of art that eludes description", has insisted that Angelou's autobiographies set a precedent for African-American autobiography as a whole. Als insisted that Caged Bird marked one of the first times that a Black autobiographer could, as Als put it, "write about blackness from the inside, without apology or defense". Through the writing of her autobiography, Angelou became recognized as a respected spokesperson for blacks and women. Caged Bird made her "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Although Als considers Caged Bird an important contribution to the increase of Black feminist writings in the 1970s, he attributes its success less to its originality than to "its resonance in the prevailing Zeitgeist" of its time, at the end of the American Civil Rights Movement. Angelou's writings, more interested in self-revelation than in politics or feminism, freed many other women writers to "open themselves up without shame to the eyes of the world". Angelou's autobiographies, especially the first volume, have been used in narrative and multicultural approaches to teacher education. Jocelyn A. Glazier, a professor at George Washington University, has used Caged Bird and Gather Together in My Name when training teachers to appropriately explore racism in their classrooms. Angelou's use of understatement, self-mockery, humor, and irony causes readers of Angelou's autobiographies to wonder what she "left out" and to be unsure how to respond to the events Angelou describes. These techniques force white readers to explore their feelings about race and their privileged status in society. Glazier found that although critics have focused on where Angelou fits within the genre of African- American autobiography and her literary techniques, readers react to her storytelling with "surprise, particularly when [they] enter the text with certain expectations about the genre of autobiography". Educator Daniel Challener, in his 1997 book Stories of Resilience in Childhood, analyzed the events in Caged Bird to illustrate resiliency in children. Challener states that Angelou's book provides a useful framework for exploring the obstacles many children like Maya face and how a community helps these children succeed as Angelou did. Psychologist Chris Boyatzis has used Caged Bird to supplement scientific theory and research in the instruction of child development topics such as the development of self-concept and self-esteem, ego resilience, industry versus inferiority, effects of abuse, parenting styles, sibling and friendship relations, gender issues, cognitive development, puberty, and identity formation in adolescence. He has called the book a highly effective tool for providing real-life examples of these psychological concepts. Caged Bird has been criticized by many parents, causing it to be removed from school curricula and library shelves. The book was approved to be taught in public schools and was placed in public school libraries through the U.S. in the early-1980s, and was included in advanced placement and gifted student curricula, but attempts by parents to censor it began in 1983. It has been challenged in fifteen U.S. states. Educators have responded to these challenges by removing it from reading lists and libraries, by providing students with alternatives, and by requiring parental permission from students. Some have been critical of its sexually explicit scenes, use of language, and irreverent religious depictions. Caged Bird appeared third on the American Library Association (ALA) list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990–2000, sixth on the ALA's 2000–2009 list, and one of the ten books most frequently banned from high school and junior high school libraries and classrooms. A made-for-TV movie version of I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings was filmed in Mississippi and aired on April 28, 1979 on CBS. Angelou and Leonora Thuna wrote the screenplay; the movie was directed by Fielder Cook. Constance Good played young Maya. Also appearing were actors Esther Rolle, Roger E. Mosley, Diahann Carroll, Ruby Dee, and Madge Sinclair. Two scenes in the movie differed from events described in the book. Angelou added a scene between Maya and Uncle Willie after the Joe Louis fight; in it, he expresses his feelings of redemption and hope after Louis defeats a white opponent. Angelou also presents her eighth grade graduation differently in the film. In the book, Henry Reed delivers the valedictory speech and leads the Black audience in the Negro national anthem. In the movie, Maya conducts these activities. Angelou, Maya (1969). I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Random House., Arensberg, Liliane K. (1999). "Death as Metaphor for Self". In Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook, Joanne M. Braxton, ed. New York: Oxford Press., Baisnée, Valérie (1994). Gendered Resistance: The Autobiographies of Simone de Beauvoir, Maya Angelou, Janet Frame and Marguerite Duras. Amsterdam: Rodopi., Bertolino, James (1996). "Maya Angelou is Three Writers". In Modern Critical Interpretations: Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Harold Bloom, ed. New York: Chelsea House Publishers., Bloom, Harold, ed. (2004). Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. New York: Chelsea House Publishers., Bloom, Harold. "Summary and Analysis", pp. 18–51, Smith, Sidonie Ann. "Angelou's Quest for Self-Acceptance", pp. 52–54, Braxton, Joanne M. (2004). "Black Autobiography", pp. 63–64, Braxton, Joanne M., ed. (1999). Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: A Casebook. New York: Oxford Press., Braxton, Joanne M. "Symbolic Geography and Psychic Landscapes: A Conversation with Maya Angelou", pp. 3–20, Moore, Opal. "Learning to Live: When the Bird Breaks from the Cage", pp. 49–58, Vermillion, Mary. "Reembodying the Self: Representations of Rape in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", pp. 59–76, Tate, Claudia (1999). "Maya Angelou: An Interview", pp. 149–158, Burgher, Mary (1979). "Images of Self and Race in the Autobiographies of Black Women". In Sturdy Black Bridges, Roseann P. Bell, et al., ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday., Cudjoe, Selwyn (1984). "Maya Angelou and the Autobiographical Statement". In Black Women Writers (1950–1980): A Critical Evaluation, Mari Evans, ed. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday ., Cullinan, Bernice E. & Diane Goetz Person, eds. "Angelou, Maya". In The Continuum Encyclopedia of Children's Literature. Continuum International Publishing Group (2003). ., Foerstel, Herbert N. (2002). Banned in the U.S.A.: A Reference Guide to Book Censorship in Schools and Public Libraries. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press., Gillespie, Marcia Ann, Rosa Johnson Butler, and Richard A. Long (2008). Maya Angelou: A Glorious Celebration. New York: Random House., Hagen, Lyman B. (1997). Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou. Lanham, Maryland: University Press., King, Debra Walker (1998). Deep Talk: Reading African American Literary Names. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia., Lauret, Maria (1994). Liberating Literature: Feminist Fiction in America. New York: Routledge., Lupton, Mary Jane (1998). Maya Angelou: A Critical Companion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press., McPherson, Dolly A. (1990). Order out of Chaos: The Autobiographical Works of Maya Angelou. New York: Peter Lang Publishing., Walker, Pierre A. (October 1995). "Racial Protest, Identity, Words, and Form in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings". In Bloom's Modern Critical Views: Maya Angelou. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. The themes encompassed in African-American writer Maya Angelou's seven autobiographies include racism, identity, family, and travel. Angelou (1928–2014) is best known for her first autobiography, the critically acclaimed I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). The rest of the books in her series are Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986), A Song Flung Up to Heaven (2002), and Mom & Me & Mom (2013). Beginning with Caged Bird and ending with her final autobiography, Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird (which represents the confinement of racism and depression) struggling to escape its cage, as described in the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem "Sympathy". Angelou's autobiographies can be placed in the African-American literature tradition of political protest. Their unity underscores one of Angelou's central themes: the injustice of racism and how to fight it. According to scholar Pierre A. Walker, all of Angelou's books describe "a sequence of lessons about resisting racist oppression". In the course of her autobiographies, her views about Black-white relationships changed and she learned to accept different points of view. Angelou's theme of identity was established from the beginning of her autobiographies, with the opening lines in Caged Bird, and like other female writers in the late 1960s and early 1970s, she used the autobiography to reimagine ways of writing about women's lives and identities in a male-dominated society. Her original goal was to write about the lives of Black women in America, but it evolved in her later volumes to document the ups and downs of her own personal and professional life. The theme of family and family relationships—from the character-defining experience of Angelou's parents' abandonment in Caged Bird to her relationships with her son, husbands, friends, and lovers—are important in all of her books. As in American autobiography generally and in African- American autobiography specifically, which has its roots in the slave narrative, travel is another important theme in Angelou's autobiographies. Scholar Yolanda M. Manora called the travel motif in Angelou's autobiographies, beginning in Caged Bird, "a central metaphor for a psychic mobility". Angelou's autobiographies "stretch time and place", from Arkansas to Africa and back to the US, and span almost forty years, beginning from the start of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. Before writing I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings at the age of forty, Maya Angelou had a long and varied career, holding jobs such as composer, singer, actor, civil rights worker, journalist, and educator. In the late 1950s, she joined the Harlem Writers Guild, where she met a number of important African- American authors, including her friend and mentor James Baldwin. After hearing civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speak for the first time in 1960, she was inspired to join the Civil Rights Movement. She organized several benefits for him, and he named her Northern Coordinator of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. She worked for several years in Ghana, West Africa, as a journalist, actress, and educator. She was invited back to the US by Malcolm X to work for him shortly before his assassination in 1965. In 1968, King asked her to organize a march, but he too was assassinated on April 4, which also happened to be her birthday. Angelou was deeply depressed in the months following King's assassination, so to help lift her spirits, Baldwin brought her to a dinner party at the home of cartoonist Jules Feiffer and his wife Judy in late 1968. The guests began telling stories of their childhoods and Angelou's stories impressed Judy Feiffer. The next day she called Robert Loomis at Random House, who became Angelou's editor throughout her long writing career until he retired in 2011, and "told him that he ought to get this woman to write a book". At first, Angelou refused, since she thought of herself as a poet and playwright. According to Angelou, Baldwin had a "covert hand" in getting her to write the book, and advised Loomis to use "a little reverse psychology", and reported that Loomis tricked her into it by daring her: "It's just as well", he said, "because to write an autobiography as literature is just about impossible". Angelou was unable to resist a challenge, and she began writing Caged Bird. Angelou did not write Caged Bird with the intention of writing a series of autobiographies, however critics have "judged the subsequent autobiographies in light of the first", with Caged Bird generally receiving the highest praise. Angelou's autobiographies have a distinct style, and "stretch over time and place", from Arkansas to Africa and back to the U.S. They take place from the beginnings of World War II to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. According to scholar Mary Jane Lupton, Angelou's autobiographies have been characterized as autobiographical fiction, but Lupton disagrees, stating that they conform to the genre's standard structure: they are written by a single author, they are chronological, and they contain elements of character, technique, and theme. Angelou's use of themes, especially that of racism, connects all seven autobiographies. One of her goals, beginning with Caged Bird, was to incorporate "organic unity" into them, and the events she described were episodic, crafted like a series of short stories, and were placed to emphasize the themes of her books. Through the writing of her life stories in her autobiographies, Angelou became recognized and highly respected as a spokesperson for Blacks and women. According to scholar Joanne Braxton, it made her "without a doubt ... America's most visible black woman autobiographer". Beginning with Caged Bird, Angelou used the same "writing ritual" for many years, for most of her books and poetry. She would get up at five in the morning and check into a hotel room, where the staff were instructed to remove any pictures from the walls. She wrote on yellow legal pads while lying on the bed, with a bottle of sherry, a deck of cards to play solitaire, Roget's Thesaurus, and the Bible, and left by the early afternoon. She averaged 10–12 pages of material a day, which she edited down to three or four pages in the evening. Lupton stated that this ritual indicated "a firmness of purpose and an inflexible use of time". Angelou went through this process to give herself time to turn the events of her life into art, and to "enchant" herself; as she said in a 1989 interview with the BBC, to "relive the agony, the anguish, the Sturm und Drang". She placed herself back in the time she wrote about, even during traumatic experiences like her rape in Caged Bird, to "tell the human truth" about her life. Critic Opal Moore says about Caged Bird: "...Though easily read, [it] is no 'easy read'". Angelou stated that she played cards to reach that place of enchantment, to access her memories more effectively. She has stated, "It may take an hour to get into it, but once I'm in it—ha! It's so delicious!" She did not find the process cathartic; rather, she found relief in "telling the truth". Angelou uses the metaphor of a bird struggling to escape its cage described in the Paul Laurence Dunbar poem "Sympathy" throughout all of her autobiographies; she uses the metaphor in the titles of both I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and her sixth autobiography A Song Flung Up to Heaven. Like elements within a prison narrative, the "caged bird" represents Angelou's confinement resulting from racism and oppression. This metaphor also invokes the "supposed contradiction of the bird singing in the midst of its struggle". Reviewer Hilton Als observed that Angelou's witnessing of the evil in her society, as directed towards Black women, shaped Angelou's young life and informed her views into adulthood. Scholar Lynn Z. Bloom asserted that Angelou's autobiographies and lectures, which she called "ranging in tone from warmly humorous to bitterly satiric", have gained a respectful and enthusiastic response from the general public and critics. Reviewer Daisy Aldan of World Literature Today criticized Angelou for harboring "a fanatic hostility expressed toward all white people", but writer Lyman B. Hagen disagreed, stating that like Angelou's friend and mentor Langston Hughes, Angelou explained and illuminated the conditions of African Americans, but without alienating her readers of any race. Hagen also argued that Angelou promotes the importance of hard work, a common theme in slave narratives, throughout all her autobiographies, in order to break stereotypes of laziness associated with African-Americans. For instance, Angelou's description of the strong and cohesive Black community of Stamps demonstrates how African Americans have subverted repressive institutions to withstand racism. Angelou evolved from wishing that she could become white in Caged Bird to being "forced to contend with her blackness". Critic Pierre A. Walker placed Angelou's autobiographies in the African-American literature tradition of political protest written in the years following the American Civil Rights Movement. He emphasized that the unity of Angelou's autobiographies underscored one of her central themes: the injustice of racism and how to fight it. Angelou's autobiographies, beginning with Caged Bird, consisted of "a sequence of lessons about resisting racist oppression". This sequence led Angelou, as the protagonist, from "helpless rage and indignation to forms of subtle resistance, and finally to outright and active protest". In the course of her work, Angelou changed her views about Black-white relationships and learned to accept different points of view. It was the changes in how she regarded race and her views of white people that provided Angelou with freedom. According to Hagen, one of Angelou's themes was that humans tend to be more alike than different. Angelou's goal, beginning with Caged Bird, was to "tell the truth about the lives of black women". Like her other autobiographies, she described her living arrangements, how she coped within the context of a larger white society, and the ways that her story played out within that context. Critic Selwyn Cudjoe stated that in Angelou's second autobiography, Gather Together in My Name, Angelou was concerned with the questions of what it meant to be a Black woman in the U.S. in the years immediately following World War II. Written three years after Caged Bird, Gather Together "depicts a single mother's slide down the social ladder into poverty and crime". It begins with a prologue describing the confusion and disillusionment of the African-American community during that time, which matched the alienated and fragmented nature of the main character's life. According to critic Dolly A. McPherson, African Americans were promised a new racial order that never materialized. Angelou also compares and contrasts how she and her grandmother dealt with racism; Angelou with defiance and the pragmatic take of her grandmother, who had learned that defiance was dangerous. In 1971, Angelou published her first volume of poetry, Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie (1971), which became a bestseller and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. (It was Angelou's early practice to alternate a prose volume with a poetry volume.) Angelou's third autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas (1976) marked the first time a well-known African-American woman writer had expanded her life story into a third autobiography. She marries a white man, and comes into intimate contact with whites who were very different from the racists she encountered in her childhood. She discovered that her distrust of whites had developed to protect herself from their cruelty and indifference. As McPherson indicated, "Conditioned by earlier experiences, Angelou distrusts everyone, especially whites. Nevertheless, she is repeatedly surprised by the kindness and goodwill of many whites she meets, and, thus, her suspicions begin to soften into understanding". Cudjoe wrote that in Singin' and Swingin', Angelou effectively demonstrated "the inviolability of the African American personhood", as well as her own closely guarded defense of it. In order for her to have any positive relationships with whites and people of other races; however, McPherson insisted that Angelou "must examine and discard her stereotypical views about Whites". Scholar Lyman B. Hagen agreed and pointed out that Angelou had to re-examine her lingering prejudices when faced with a broader world full of different kinds of white people. The stories she tells in Singin' and Swingin' contain "strong forceful statements that convey firmly her indignation and ire about black displacement". For example, when she marries Tosh Angelos against her mother's advice and wishes, she experiences negative reactions from others. Although Tosh treated her and her son Guy well at the beginning of their marriage, he quickly tired of their relationship and she felt used and betrayed by another white man. Angelou moved between the white and Black worlds, both defining herself as a member of her community and encountering whites in "a much fuller, more sensuous manner". She describes the tension she experienced as a Black woman entertainer, functioning in the white-dominated world of the 1950s. Her perceptions of relationships between Blacks and whites had to be constantly modified, despite the attitudes and ideas about whites she learned from her mother and grandmother. Angelou's feelings about race and racism were ambivalent as she began to have increasingly positive experiences with white people. By the time Angelou's fourth autobiography, The Heart of a Woman, was published in 1981, the success of her previous autobiographies and the publication of three volumes of poetry had brought Angelou a considerable amount of fame. The book opens with Angelou and her son Guy living in an experimental commune with whites, in an attempt to participate in the new openness between Blacks and whites. She was not completely comfortable with the arrangement, however; as Lupton pointed out, Angelou was still distrustful of whites and never named or described the characters of her roommates. For the most part, Angelou freely interacts with white people in this book, but she occasionally encounters prejudice reminiscent of her early years, such as when she requires the assistance of white friends to rent a home in a segregated neighborhood. Lupton stated that compared to her other books, Angelou had come "a long way" in her interactions with whites and people of other races. She remained suspicious of white liberals, but reported on Dr. Martin Luther King's optimism about race relations and other positive interactions with whites. Angelou maintains her indictment of the white power structure, and her protests against racial injustice became a theme throughout all her books. Instead of offering solutions, however, she simply reports on, reacts to, and dramatizes events. Angelou became more "politicized" in The Heart of Woman, and developed a new sense of Black identity. McPherson argued that even Angelou's decision to leave show business was political, and regarded this book as "a social and cultural history of Black Americans" during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Angelou saw herself as a historian of both the Civil Rights movement and the Black literary movement. She became more attracted to the causes of Black militants, both in the U.S. and in Africa, to the point of entering into a relationship with South African freedom fighter Vusumzi Make, and became more committed to activism. She became an active political protestor during this period, and she used the autobiographical form to demonstrate how the Civil Rights movement influenced one person involved in it. According to Hagen, her contributions to civil rights as a fundraiser and SCLC organizer were successful and effective. According to Lupton, "Angelou's exploration of her African and African- American identities" was an important theme in her fifth autobiography All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986). McPherson called Travelling Shoes "a mixture of Maya Angelou's personal recollection and a historical document of the time in which it is set", the early 1960s. This was the first time that many Black Americans, due to the independence of Ghana and other African states, as well as the emergence of African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah, were able to view Africa in a positive way. Ghana was "the center of an African cultural renaissance" and of Pan-Africanism during this time. The alliances and relationships with the people Angelou met in Ghana contributed to her identity and growth. Her experiences as an expatriate helped her come to terms with her personal and historical past, and by the end of the book she is ready to return to America with a deeper understanding of both the African and American parts of her character. McPherson called Angelou's parallels and connections between Africa and America her "double-consciousness", which contributed to her understanding of herself. In Traveling Shoes, Angelou is able to recognize similarities between African and African-American culture; as Lupton put it, the "blue songs, shouts, and gospels" she has grown up with in America "echo the rhythms of West Africa". Marcia Ann Gillespie and her colleagues, writing in A Glorious Celebration, published in 2008 for Angelou's 80th birthday, agreed, stating that Angelou recognized the connections between African and American Black cultures, including the children's games, the folklore, the spoken and non-verbal languages, the food, sensibilities, and behavior. She connects the behavior of many African mother figures, especially their generosity, with her grandmother's actions. In one of the most significant sections of Traveling Shoes, Angelou recounts an encounter with a West African woman who recognized her, on the basis of her appearance, as a member of the Bambara group of West Africa. These and other experiences in Ghana demonstrated Angelou's maturity, as a mother able to let go of her adult son, as a woman no longer dependent upon a man, and as an American able to "perceive the roots of her identity" and how they affected her personality. Also in Traveling Shoes, Angelou comes to terms with her difficult past, both as a descendant of Africans taken forcibly to America as slaves and as an African America who had experienced segregation and Jim Crow racism. As she told an interviewer, she brought her son to Ghana to protect him from the negative effects of racism because she did not think he had the tools to withstand them. For the first time in their lives, she and Guy did not "feel threatened by racial hate" in Ghana. The theme of racism was still an important theme in Traveling Shoes, but Angelou had matured in the way she dealt with it. As Hagen stated, Angelou was "not yet ready to toss off the stings of prejudice, but tolerance and even a certain understanding can be glimpsed". This was demonstrated in Angelou's treatment of the "genocidal involvement of Africans in slave-trading", something that has often been overlooked or misrepresented by other Black writers. Angelou was taught an important lesson about combating racism by Malcolm X, who compared it to a mountain in which everyone's efforts were needed to overcome it. Angelou learned about herself and about racism throughout Traveling Shoes, even during her brief tour of Venice and Berlin for the revival of The Blacks, the play by Jean Genet that Angelou had originally performed in 1961; reuniting with the play's original cast, she revived her passion for African-American culture and values, "putting them into perspective" as she compared them with Germany's history of racial prejudice and military aggression. The verbal violence of the folk tales shared during her luncheon with her German hosts and Israeli friend was as significant to Angelou as physical violence, to the point that she became ill. Angelou's experience with fascism in Italy, her performances with 'The Blacks cast, and the reminders of the holocaust in Germany, "help[ed] shape and broaden her constantly changing vision" regarding racial prejudice, clarified her perceptions of African Americans, and "contribute to her reclaiming herself and her evolution as a citizen of the world". The theme of identity was established from the beginning of Angelou's series of autobiographies, with the opening lines in Caged Bird, which "foretell Angelou's autobiographical project: to write the story of the developing black female subject by sharing the tale of one Southern Black girl's becoming". Angelou and other female writers in the late 1960s and early 1970s used the autobiography to reimagine ways of writing about women's lives and identities in a male-dominated society. Feminist scholar Maria Lauret has made a connection between Angelou's autobiographies, which Lauret called "fictions of subjectivity" and "feminist first-person narratives", with fictional first- person narratives (such as The Women's Room by Marilyn French and The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing) written during the same period. Both genres employed the narrator as protagonist and used "the illusion of presence in their mode of signification". Scholar Yolanda M. Manora agreed, stating that Angelou broke stereotypes of African-American women by describing these images and stereotypes, and then disproving them, which set the stage for Angelou's identity development in her later autobiographies. As a Black woman, Angelou demonstrates the formation of her own cultural identity throughout her narratives, and has used her many roles, incarnations, and identities to connect the layers of oppression within her personal history. Angelou also presents herself as a role model for African-American women more broadly by reconstructing the Black woman's image through themes of individual strength and the ability to overcome. Throughout her work, Angelou explores the women who influenced her evolution and growth. According to Manora, three characters in Caged Bird, Angelou's mother Vivian, her grandmother Annie Henderson, and Mrs. Flowers (who helps Angelou find her voice again after her rape), collaborated to "form a triad which serves as the critical matrix in which the child is nurtured and sustained during her journey through Southern Black girlhood". Angelou's original goal was to write about the lives of Black women in America, but her voluminous work documents the ups and downs of her own life as well. Angelou's autobiographies provide a historical overview of the places she has lived and how she coped within the context of a racist white society. In her third autobiography, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas, Angelou successfully demonstrates the integrity of the African-American character as she began to experience more positive interactions with whites. In Angelou's second volume, Gather Together in My Name, she was concerned with what it meant to be a Black female in the U.S., through the lens of her own experience. Writer Selwyn Cudjoe said regarding her second autobiography: "It is almost as though the incidents in the text were simply 'gathered together' under the name of Maya Angelou". According to scholar Dolly McPherson, the theme of family and family relationships, which she called "kinship concerns", in Angelou's books begins with "a preoccupation with the traditional nuclear family", despite Angelou's experience of being abandoned by her parents in Caged Bird. Eventually, however, Angelou's concept of family expands to the extended family in which "trust is the key to a display of kinship concerns". Scholar Mary Jane Lupton insists that the concept of family must be understood in light of Maya and Bailey's displacement. Angelou's description of close familial relationships, such as her relationships with her parents and son (which Lupton called "the mother-child pattern") was a unifying theme that connected all of her autobiographies. Motherhood was a recurring theme, explored through Angelou's experiences as a single mother, a daughter, and a granddaughter. Lupton believed that Angelou's plot construction and character development were influenced by the mother/child motif found in the work of Harlem Renaissance poet Jessie Fauset. Scholar Yolanda M. Manora insisted that three women in Caged Bird—the "hybridized mother" of Angelou's grandmother, her mother, and her friend Mrs. Flowers—taught her how to be a mother to her son Guy. Although Angelou's grandmother died early in the series, Angelou quotes her grandmother extensively in her third autobiography Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas. Angelou's desire for security for Guy drove her to marry Tosh Angelos in Singin' and Swingin', and drove many of her other decisions, job choices, and romantic relationships as well. Scholar Siphokazi Koyana stated that due to Angelou's race and economic background, her "experience of motherhood is inseparably intertwined with work". According to Koyana, "... Black motherhood always encompassed work". Angelou's long list of occupations attests to the challenges, especially in her second autobiography Gather Together in My Name, she faced as a working teenager mother, which often led Angelou to "quick and easy" decisions. Koyana stated that it was not until Angelou was able to take advantage of opportunities, such as her role in Porgy and Bess, when she was able to fully support herself and her son Guy, and the quality of her life and her contribution to society improved. It was impossible, however, for Angelou to become successful without her extended family to provide childcare; for example, she left Guy in the care of his grandmother in spite of the conflict and guilt she experienced as a result (something Koyana insisted was imposed on her by the larger society), a pattern established in Caged Bird by her own mother when she left Angelou and her brother in the care of Angelou's grandmother. Black women autobiographers like Angelou have debunked stereotypes surrounding African-American mothers, such as "breeder and matriarch", and have presented them as having more creative and satisfying roles. According to scholar Sondra O'Neale, Angelou's autobiographies presented Black women differently from their literary portrayals up to that time. O'Neale maintained that "no Black woman in the world of Angelou's books are losers", and that Angelou was the third generation of intelligent and resourceful women who overcame the obstacles of racism and oppression. Koyana recognized that Angelou depicted women and "womanist theories" in an era of cultural transition, and that her books described one Black woman's attempts to create and maintain a healthy self- esteem. Angelou's experiences as a working-class single mother challenged traditional and Western viewpoints of women and family life, including the nuclear family structure. Angelou described societal forces, strategies of economic survival, and differential experiences of family structure. Travel is a common theme in American autobiography as a whole; as McPherson stated, it is something of a national myth to Americans as a people. This was also the case for African-American autobiography, which was rooted in and developed out of the slave narrative tradition. Like the narratives that focused on the writers' search for freedom from bondage, modern African- American autobiographers like Angelou sought to develop "an authentic self" and the freedom to find it in their community. Scholar Yolanda M. Manora called the travel motif in Angelou's autobiographies "fluidity". This fluidity began in Caged Bird and was a metaphor for Angelou's psychological growth, influenced by her displacement and trauma throughout the book, something Manora states that Angelou had to escape in order to transcend. As Hagen stated, Angelou structured Caged Bird into three parts: arrival, sojourn, and departure, with both geographic and psychological aspects. As McPherson stated, "The journey to a distant goal, the return home, and the quest which involves the voyage out, achievement, and return are typical patterns in Black autobiography." For Angelou, this quest took her from her childhood and adolescence, as described in her first two books, into the adult world. The setting in Angelou's first two autobiographies was limited to three places (Arkansas, Missouri, and California), but the "setting breaks open" in Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas to include Europe as she traveled with her Porgy and Bess company. McPherson saw Angelou's third autobiography as "a sunny tour of Angelou's twenties", from early years marked by disappointments and humiliation, into the broader world and international community. This period described "years of joy", as well as the start of Angelou's great success and fulfillment as an entertainer. Lupton stated that Angelou's travel narrative in Singin' and Swingin', which took up approximately 40 percent of the book, gave the book its organized structure. However, Angelou's observations about race, gender, and class made the book more than a simple travel narrative. As a Black American, her travels around the world put her in contact with many nationalities and classes, expanded her experiences beyond her familiar circle of community and family, and complicated her understandings of race relations. Angelou continued to expand the settings of her autobiographies in her subsequent volumes. The Heart of a Woman had three primary settings—the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City, and Egypt—and two secondary ones—London and Accra. Lupton stated that like all of Angelou's books, the structure of The Heart of a Woman was based upon a journey. Angelou emphasized the theme of movement by opening the book with a spiritual ("The ole ark's a moverin'"), stating, "That ancient spiritual could have been the theme song of the United States in 1957". This spiritual, which contains a reference to Noah's ark, presents Angelou as a type of Noah and demonstrates her spirituality. Angelou also mentions Allen Ginsberg and On the Road, the 1951 novel by Jack Kerouac, thus connecting her own journey and uncertainty about the future with the journeys of other literary figures. Although the reason Angelou traveled to Africa is an eventual failed relationship, she made a connection with the continent, both in this book and in the one that follows it, All God's Children Need Traveling Shoes. As Lupton stated, "Africa is the site of her growth". Angelou's time in Africa made her more aware of her African roots. Lupton insisted, however, that although Angelou journeys to many places in the book, the most important journey she described is "a voyage into the self". The travel motif is a recurring theme in Traveling Shoes, as evidenced in the book's title, but Angelou's primary motivation for living in Africa, as she told interviewer George Plimpton in 1990, was "trying to get home". Angelou not only related her own journey of an African-American woman searching for a home, but the journeys of other Black expatriates at the time, and white expatriates in Europe in the 1920s, much like writers such as Ernest Hemingway and Henry James did. Angelou's issues were resolved at the end of Traveling Shoes when she decided to return to America. She called her departure a "second leave-taking", and compared it to the last time she left her son with his grandmother in Singin' and Swingin' when he was a child, and to the forced departure from Africa by her ancestors. As Lupton states, "Angelou's journey from Africa back to America is in certain ways a restatement of the historical phase known as mid-passage, when slaves were brutally transported in ships from West Africa to the so-called New World". Even though Angelou's sixth autobiography A Song Flung Up to Heaven took place in her home country, the travel motif continued. Reviewer Patricia Elam described Song as a "journey through an authentic and artistic life". Cudjoe, Selwyn (1984). "Maya Angelou and the Autobiographical Statement". In Black Women Writers (1950–1980): A Critical Evaluation, Mari Evans, ed. Garden City, N.Y: Doubleday., Hagen, Lyman B. (1997). Heart of a Woman, Mind of a Writer, and Soul of a Poet: A Critical Analysis of the Writings of Maya Angelou. Lanham, Maryland: University Press., Lupton, Mary Jane (1998). Maya Angelou: A Critical Companion. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press., Manora, Yolanda M. (2005). "'What You Looking at Me For? I Didn't Come to Stay': Displacement, Disruption and Black Female Subjectivity in Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings." Women's Studies 34, no. 5: 359–375, McPherson, Dolly A. (1990). Order Out of Chaos: The Autobiographical Works of Maya Angelou. New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

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Total Drama Island (sometimes shortened to TDI) is a Canadian animated television series which premiered in Canada on Teletoon on July 8, 2007. This is the first season of the Total Drama series and has 26 episodes, each 22 minutes in duration with a special 44 minute episode at the end. The season is mostly a parody of the series Survivor, and features 22 campers in an elimination-based competition. On Cartoon Network, airing in the United States, some content has been removed from the episodes by censors in order to keep the rating open to a younger audience; for example, putting in words instead of long bleeps, and censoring of sensitive body parts, for the episodes "That's Off the Chain" and "Trial by Tri-Armed Triathlon". The fourth season, , takes place on the same island as this season, but with an all-new cast. Total Drama Island was created by Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch with their production studio, Fresh TV, which also created their previous animated series, 6teen. Total Drama Island is set in the fictional titular reality show, which follows the competition of 22 unsuspecting and unknowing teenagers at Camp Wawanakwa, the most rundown, bug-infested, disgusting island located in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. The campers participate in competitions and challenges which get more insane and dangerous each week to avoid being voted off the island by their fellow campers and teammates. At the end of the series, the winning contestant will receive . The competition is hosted by Chris McLean, assisted by the camp's chef, Chef Hatchet, who is also Chris' best friend despite being mistreated at times. Egotistical and immoral, unless something affects him legally, Chris places the show's contestants in various life-threatening challenges. At the beginning of the season, the twenty-two 16-year-old campers are placed into two groups of eleven, the "Screaming Gophers" and the "Killer Bass". In each episode, the teams participate in a challenge, in which one or more campers can win invincibility for their team. The losing team is called to the campfire that night, where they vote one of their members off the island. The camper with the most votes is eliminated from the competition. At this campfire, McLean passes out marshmallows to the campers who have not been voted off, while the one who does not get a marshmallow must walk down the Dock of Shame to the Boat of Losers, which will take them away from the island and they will "never, never, never, ever, ever, ever, come back, ever" according to Chris (this was proved a lie in "No Pain, No Game", when he brought Eva and Izzy back into the game). About halfway through the season, the teams are disbanded, so it is every camper for themselves, after which the challenges continue; the winner of each challenge then only receives invincibility for him or herself, whereupon the rest of the campers vote one camper without invincibility off the island. This process of elimination continued on until two players remain on the island. These two players were then subject to a final contest. Total Drama Island is a parody of the reality show Survivor. Host Chris McLean is very similar to Survivor host Jeff Probst. This is the first season in which the winner does not get to keep the money, due to it being eaten by a shark in the episode "Total Drama Drama Drama Drama Island". Total Drama Island is a Canadian animated television series which premiered on July 8, 2007, on the Teletoon channel. This season has 26 episodes, each 22 minutes in duration, and two special episodes. It was the third Cartoon Network show outside of Adult Swim and Toonami to have the U.S. rating of either "TV-PG" or "TV-PG-D", and a parental-guidance warning after every commercial break and at the beginning of the show (the first two being Sunday Pants and IGPX). Its rating in Canada was initially "G" while current broadcasts are rated "PG". There are 22 original contestants who competed in Total Drama Island. They are Beth, Bridgette, Cody, Courtney, DJ, Duncan, Eva, Ezekiel, Geoff, Gwen, Harold, Heather, Izzy, Justin, Katie, Leshawna, Lindsay, Noah, Owen, Sadie, Trent, and Tyler. Many of the characters return in later seasons either as contestants or as guests. For every season, the show's producers create two alternate endings for the final episode, such that the winner seen in one country's broadcasts is the runner-up in other countries (and vice versa) where the show airs. Owen is the original winner in Canada, but he is also shown as the winner in Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Croatia, Denmark, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Latin America (Cartoon Network), the Middle East, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States. Gwen is the original runner-up in Canada, but she is also the winner in Finland, Latin America (Boomerang and TBS) Norway, Poland, Romania, and Sweden. Total Drama Island was developed and produced by Fresh TV, starting in 2006, with an early name for the series being Camp TV. The season was animated at Elliott Animation and was directed by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton. It was primarily targeted at eight-to-twelve-year-olds, and the creators, Tom McGillis and Jennifer Pertsch, studied what tweens liked and disliked about reality television shows in the writing process. McGillis said that they used a "countrywide online research project" to determine this demographic's likes. Fresh TV Inc. partners McGillis, Pertsch, Elliott and Irving produced the series. The budget for the series was $8 million. It was animated in Flash, at Elliott Animation's studio in Toronto. Every cast and crew member on Total Drama Island had to sign a confidentiality agreement not to disclose who the winner was. All the characters were designed by Kauffman. Voice actors from the FreshTV series 6teen have lent their voices for Total Drama Island: Christian Potenza, who played the character Jude on 6teen, played the role of host Chris McLean. Potenza said that the best part of the job was that his character could not be voted off the show. Emilie-Claire Barlow plays a recurring role as Chrissy on 6teen and plays Courtney on Total Drama Island. Barlow stated that Courtney was her favorite character that she had ever played. Other voice actors from 6teen include Julia Chantrey as Eva; Drew Nelson (Kai) as Duncan; Megan Fahlenbock (Jen) as Gwen; Adam Reid (Wayne) as Justin; Stephanie Anne Mills (Kirsten) as Lindsay and Katie; and Rachel Wilson (Melinda Wilson) as Heather. Carole Bonneau, the Vice President of programming of Teletoon Canada stated that Total Drama Island, along with Fresh TV's 6teen were "consistently top performers" for audiences of ages 6–11, and also helped to bring in older viewers as well. When Total Drama Island aired on the American Cartoon Network, it performed very well; The Toronto Star reported that, "in some ages groups [Total Drama Island showed] a 500 per cent ratings increase in [its] time slot." On December 11, 2008, Total Drama Island garnered 3.5 million viewers. That year, the series was the top "regularly scheduled Thursday night program at 9 p.m. on all television throughout third quarter among boys 2-11, 6-11 and 9-14," according to the Animation World Network. On Memorial Day weekend of 2009, a marathon of Total Drama Island increased viewership in age groups 2-11, 6-11, and 9-14, each by 20% or more compared to the same week in 2008. As of 2011, Total Drama Island has aired in over 188 countries. Total Drama Island has received critical acclaim. Common Sense Media gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "[c]lever cartoon reality show spoof", even though it also describes it as too intense for young children to watch. The series was nominated for a Gemini Award for "Best Animated Program or Series", shared by Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, George Elliott and Brian Irving. Debi Enker of The Age gave a negative review of the season's last episode, calling the art, design and writing "lamentable." Total Drama Island received a score of 8.2 on Metacritic from users. A DVD was released by Cartoon Network on August 18, 2009 in the United States. It contains all of the 27 episodes (including TDI Rundown) of season one of this series in a 4 disc set, for a total of 594 minutes long. In addition, its bonus features (entitled as X-tras) are the audition tapes of twenty two campers, as well as Izzy's second audition tape and her exclusive interview with Chris. In Australia, Total Drama Island is on Region 4 DVD as separate volumes. This series of discs contains the widescreen version with uncut scenes and original dialogue, as seen on Teletoon and ABC3. In reviewing the DVD for season, Matthew Price of The Oklahoman wrote that while the show started out "unbelievably slowly," the series became more interesting as campers began getting voted off. Price also praised the parody of reality shows. In another review of the DVD, Jeffrey Kauffman of DVD Talk wrote that the character development was compelling and that the parody of reality shows were very funny. Mac McEntire of DVD Verdict praised the character development as well, but noted that the show sometimes sinks to "lowbrow gross-outs". Both Kauffman and McEntire recommended the series DVD. Total Drama Island Interactive was an online game in Canada marketed in conjunction with the television series. It was produced by Xenophile Media. By registering a free account, the player could play games using a customizable avatar to earn points for marshmallows. Marshmallows are used as money in the game so the player can buy in-game items. The player who earned the most points had their avatar make a cameo appearance in the season finale. The games were based on the challenges in the show. Total Drama Island Interactive was nominated for an Interactive Emmy Award in 2007. However, the website is currently no longer available, as it has been replaced by Total Drama Online and by the Teletoon official site. Official Total Drama Island blog, Total Drama Island Interactive, totaldramaisland.com, Fresh TV announces Total Drama: The Musical Total Drama: Revenge of the Island (also called TDROTI for short) is the fourth season of the Total Drama franchise. The series' extension was commissioned by Teletoon from the producers, Fresh TV Inc. It is a sequel to Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour and is a parody of reality TV shows, with this series taking the contestants back to Camp Wawanakwa (the original setting of the first season), only this time the island is radioactive. Previous contestants from past seasons no longer compete in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island since this season features an entire new cast. The thirteen new contestants who are introduced in here are Anne Maria, B, Brick, Cameron, Dakota, Dawn, Jo, Lightning, Mike, Sam, Scott, Staci, and Zoey. This new season has new friendships, new rivalries, and new relationships. However, the season is only half the length of any previous seasons, with just 13 episodes. The season introduced the new cast to what previous contestants have gone through before and prepared them for Total Drama All-Stars. Such a change occurred again in . Like Total Drama Island, this season is a fictional reality show that follows the competition of thirteen new 16-year-old contestants at Camp Wawanakwa, a summer camp on a fictional island located in an unspecified area in Muskoka, Ontario. However, since the island has been forgotten and left alone for the past two seasons, the island has been used as a toxic nuclear waste dump, transforming it into the perfect location for the most dramatic and brutal challenges yet. The new cast of campers must then participate in competitions to avoid being voted off the island as they all try to get ready to compete with some of the most popular original contestants in the fifth season. They spend almost 2 weeks (13 days) in this camp competing in challenges for immunity and at the end of the season, one winning contestant will have the chance to win one million Canadian dollars. The competition is hosted by Chris McLean (Christian Potenza), who is assisted by the camp's chef, Chef Hatchet (Clé Bennett). At the beginning of the season, the thirteen campers are placed onto two teams, the Mutant Maggots and the Toxic Rats. In each episode, the teams participate in a challenge, in which one or more campers can win invincibility for their team. The losing team is called to the elimination ceremony at night, where they vote one of their own members off the island. At the ceremony, Chris declares which contestants are safe by calling their name and giving them a marshmallow, while the one whose name is not called is eliminated from the game and given a radioactive marshmallow. The eliminated camper is then taken to the Hurl of Shame and catapulted to the Playa de Losers. However, an eliminated camper can still come back to the game if they find a wooden Chris head. About halfway through the season, the Toxic Rats and the Mutant Maggots are disbanded, after which the challenges continue; the winner of each challenge then only receives invincibility for him or herself, whereupon a camper without invincibility is voted off the island. This process of elimination is continued on until two players (Cameron and Lightning) remain on the island, where then they are subject to a final contest. At the end of the season, Lightning is crowned winner of the season and is given the million dollars by Chris. Cameron however, wins in the alternate ending, which airs only in the United States. Total Drama: Revenge of the Island premiered on both Teletoon and Cartoon Network 2012. Teletoon has aired Total Drama: Revenge of the Island on Canada on Thursday nights at 7:00 p.m. EST from January 5, 2012, to April 12, 2012, while on June 5, 2012, the U.S. started airing it on Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. EST on Cartoon Network. However, the first worldwide airing for this season was in France via Canal+ Family. The contestant pool consists of 13 new characters, while several characters from the first three seasons make cameo appearances throughout the season. Other than Chris McLean and Chef Hatchet, this season featured an entirely new cast of characters. Another new character featured this season was Beverly (referred to as B). However, although he appeared in four episodes, he had no lines during any of his appearances. Several characters from previous seasons also made cameo appearances in this season. Unlike previous seasons, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island features a new set of contestants, which are Anne Maria, B, Brick, Cameron, Dakota, Dawn, Jo, Lightning, Mike, Sam, Scott, Staci, and Zoey. All of the new contestants have their own audition tapes for the new season. They can be seen online on Teletoon's official website, online on Cartoon Network's official website, or on YouTube. Lightning, known as the Athletic Overachiever, is strong and athletic, while being an over-achiever who says that he always wins and never loses. However, Lightning is very arrogant and doesn't want to help his team. Also, Lightning loves to talk about himself. Lightning always loves saying "-sha" in mostly every word he says. Despite his athletic prowess, he isn't very intelligent and even believes that Jo is a boy since she is the only one who can really keep up with him. His jersey is similar to the jerseys issued to the San Diego Chargers. In the original ending, his competitive drive causes him to get to the end of the season for the final challenge both him and Cameron compete in gladiator match end up in a stalemate until he loses and refuses to believe he lost to Cameron, saying he's sorry he let down his pops. However, in the alternate ending (which aired only in the United States), he wins by dumb luck. Lightning then decides he will use the money to build a football stadium to prepare for the season, Chris however says to save it for physiotherapy, Lightning disagrees until shortly after he breaks his leg. Voiced by Tyrone Savage., Cameron, known as the Wide-eyed Bubble Boy, is the main geek of the show. Because he had an "overprotective" mother, he spent all his life in an inflatable bubble and he was also home-schooled. It's because of this that he is shown to be very weak, short and looks a lot younger than his actual age. However, what he lacks in strength he is able to make up for with brains and he is shown to be extremely smart which helped his team win many challenges. As the season progressed Cameron became a much more physical player which greatly helped him all the way to the final where he faced off against Lightning in a fight dubbed "Brains vs. Brawn". Although Lightning was the more powerful of the two, Cameron with his intelligence was able to construct a metal suit (similar to that of Iron Man). He wins in the original ending but he decides he doesn't need his bubble anymore and chooses to share the prize money with everyone. In the alternate ending, he loses but decides that even though he didn't win, he was able to survive without his bubble, he decides he doesn't need it to be inflated (since Cameron's mom said he needed the money to inflate his bubble with the money). Voiced by Kevin Duhaney. Anne Maria, known as the Jersey Shore Reject, is a parody of Snooki from the MTV series, Jersey Shore. She is involved in a love triangle with Mike and Zoey and always worries about her hair and general appearance. Voiced by Athena Karkanis., B, known as the Strong Silent Genius, is really smart and strong, making him very helpful for his team during challenges, but unfortunately B does not speak at all. Since B is very useful throughout the challenges, Scott finds him as a threat and causes his elimination. B's full name is Beverly, as revealed in the second episode of the season. B is modeled after an older design for DJ when the first season was in its beta stage, Camp TV. B is a parody of Silent Bob from Clerks. He was voiced by Jordan Smith., Brick, known as the Cadet, is a military cadet who is always interested in serving the army. He sees himself as a very athletic and coordinated person, and wishes to be a great sergeant in the future. However, Brick is rather clumsy and always fails to do things right. Voiced by Jon Cor., Dakota, known as the Fame Monger, is a parody of Paris Hilton, and is the heiress to a wealthy family. She is a girl who will do anything to get famous (even though she's already very rich), meaning that the only reason why she joined the show is to get some screen time on television, even though Chris stops any attempt from Dakota for her to get famous. Dakota thinks that she is the most perfect and prettiest girl in the world and calls "regular people" ugly, although later it is revealed that she has a big heart. She was second to be voted off but managed to get back on due to her father bribing Chris, but Chris made her an intern instead of a contestant, to her horror. Exposure to the toxic waste caused Dakota to mutate into an enraged 10-foot tall, green haired monster called the "Dakotazoid", but this only served to make her even more attractive to Sam. Voiced by Carleigh Beverly., Dawn, known as the Moonchild, is a hippie environmentalist who is often shy and is frequently seen meditating. She usually studies witchcraft which makes her hold special powers (like reading people's minds and feelings) and tries to help her teammates along the way. Dawn is mostly based on the character, Luna Lovegood from the Harry Potter series. Voiced by Caitlynne Medrek., Jo, known as the Take-no-prisoners Jockette, is very strong, athletic and dog-eat-dog, but also never feminine, causing Lightning to think that she is a male. She is based on Sue Sylvester from Glee. Voiced by Laurie Elliot., Mike, known as the Multiple Personality Disorder, unfortunately has a disorder called DID (dissociative identity disorder) which causes him to have split personalities. Mike is the host of his "alters" which are: Chester (an old man), Svetlana (a Russian female gymnast), Vito (a parody of Michael Sorrentino), Manitoba Smith (an Australian adventurer who is a parody of Indiana Jones and Steve Irwin) and Mal (Mike's evil personality) who will be introduced in the next season. Mike has a relationship with Zoey, and while Vito is fronting he's with Anne Maria, though in the end he overwhelmed his personalities and stayed with Zoey for which it makes Mike uncomfortable for their (his alters and his) body to be in two separate relationships. For Zoey, Mike's shared body and brain is hot and smart (as confessed by Zoey in the episode, "Ice Ice Baby"). Mike has headspace (a term most with DID have for all their alters to talk together in their head), which is presented in scenes where there is multiple "Mike"'s. Everyone with DID has headspace differently. Voiced by Cory Doran., Sam, known as the Nice Guy Gamer, is a video game expert but also an addict. He is always seen playing video games as Dakota is always seen on her cellphone, eventually causing Sam and Dakota to get together. He is a parody of Seth Rogen. Voiced by Brian Froud., Scott, known as the Devious Guy, is a farm boy with a rosy complexion and the main antagonist of the season. He is very devious, doing anything from taking advantage of his teammates to eventually getting them eliminated with his manipulative strategies. He also deals with multiple attacks from a mutated shark named Fang, who wishes to eat him after he unintentionally takes one of his teeth. Lightning then takes over Scott's role as the villain after his own eventual elimination, due to Cameron stealing immunity from Lightning. He is based off real life Survivor contestant Russell Hantz who was one of the most notorious villains on the show. Voiced by James Wallis., Staci, known as the Compulsive Liar, is known for her compulsive lies about her ancestors when she continues to talk and lie for a long time, making everyone around her get annoyed really fast, causing her to be the first eliminated. She became permanently bald after touching the toxic marshmallow. Voiced by Ashley Peters., Zoey, known as the Indie Chick, is a nice and friendly redhead who tries to be friends with everyone. Throughout the entire season, she mostly has a relationship with Mike which causes both her and Mike to fall in love with each other, but when Mike gets eliminated, Zoey goes into a mental breakdown and changes her personality into an evil side of herself called "Commando Zoey", for both the eleventh and twelfth episodes. She later reverts to her nice girl self thanks to Cameron. Voiced by Barbara Mamabolo. There are two teams again in this season, which are the Toxic Rats and the Mutant Maggots. Here are the original members for each team as of Episode 1: Toxic Rats: B, Dakota, Dawn, Lightning, Sam, Scott, and Staci., Mutant Maggots: Anne Maria, Brick, Cameron, Jo, Mike, and Zoey. Note that at the start of the season, Brick was on the Mutant Maggots but then switched to the Toxic Rats in Episode 4, while in Episode 6 Jo and Scott volunteered to swap teams with one another, and in Episode 7 Dakota was brought back to replace Anne Maria (who quit) and placed on the Maggots. In the early production stages, the character lineup had twelve contestants, and most of them had body shapes, colors, clothing, heights, hair styles and faces that were completely different from the final designs. The thirteenth character who was added later was 'Jo'. His design was similar to that of the character used in the Total Drama Island special as the man in the car when Courtney "discovered" civilization. That character also happened to be DJ's prototype from the original Camp T.V. promos. Jo was later renamed to B (which stands for Beverly) while also getting his final design. The only other character to have their name changed was Mary; she ended up using the name 'Jo'. Despite the rename, this character underwent the least amount of change in design. Anne Maria, Brick, Lightning and Scott had minor modifications made to their outfits. Sam and Scott had different facial hair. The characters who had the most changes made to their designs were Dakota, Staci, and Zoey. Mike and Cameron had their ethnicities changed. Dawn, who was not in the original lineup, replaced an unused character named 'Molly'. Cameron's initial design would be reused for Jay and Mickey on . Although the original contestants did not compete again in this season (according to Chris, they had outlived their usefulness), nine of them still had cameo appearances throughout the season: Bridgette, DJ, Duncan, Ezekiel, Gwen, Heather, Izzy, Lindsay, and Owen. However, at the beginning of the season, all of the original contestants (except for Blaineley) were seen together on a yacht, revealing their status after Total Drama World Tour. They were all last seen (except for the nine who cameo) leaving on the yacht right before the new contestants were first introduced. A list of all the cameos in Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and their roles during their cameos are shown below: The fifteen original contestants who no longer appeared after the first episode of the fourth season were Alejandro, Beth, Cody, Courtney, Eva, Geoff, Harold, Justin, Katie, Leshawna, Noah, Sadie, Sierra, Trent, and Tyler. Harold was thought to have a cameo as soon as Brian Froud was confirmed to be part of the cast, but it turned out that Brian voices Sam instead. Out of all the cameos, Ezekiel is the only original contestant who made cameos in more than one episode in the season (he appeared in three episodes), while DJ is the only cameoing character who has the same voice actor as a main character (Chef) already with a major role. Total Drama: Revenge of the Island was developed and produced by Fresh T.V. Inc. and distributed by Cake Entertainment. Since all the characters in this season are completely new, the studio had to hire several new voice actors to come and voice the new characters, but Brian Froud (the voice actor of Harold) has returned to voice Sam, one of the new characters. This season was directed by Keith Oliver and Chad Hicks, and Todd Kauffman had a small role in the making of this season. Production started in early 2010 when the season was first announced as Total Drama Reloaded, and the new characters were first released to the public by then. Production continued for almost a year well on schedule for a 2011 release date. However, major delays in 2011 caused the season's air date to be pushed back to 2012, since many scenes consisting of radioactive material had to be cut out or edited. There were some other things that did not make the final cut also, like some backgrounds, extra scenes, a flying squirrel concept and an episode about Dakota hosting the show when she locks Chef and Chris in a closet. As revealed by Christian Potenza on the Total Drama: Live Action Panel at Canada's 2011 Fan Expo, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island was originally scheduled to air in July 2011 in the United States and in September 2011 in Canada, but due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear accident which caused many Japanese citizens to receive radiation poisoning, many staff members found some of the season's scenes of radioactive material and creatures to be considered insensitive to victims of the disaster. This initiated the producers decision to modify the storyline of the season in order to remove some of the radioactive references, leading to many scenes being edited out. This process of re-editing the entire season required more production time, causing the U.S. air date to be delayed until September 2011 (the time when Canada was originally supposed to air the season), but failure to complete the full season by then (with many scenes that still had to be changed) now caused more delay for both the U.S. and Canada, until the season was fully finished by late 2011 for an early French airing. Now, Total Drama: Revenge of the Island aired three months later on Canada than originally expected on January 5, 2012, while the new rescheduled air date for the U.S. was not until June 5, 2012 (eleven months later than the original air date of July 2011). However, France has aired the entire season in just 8 days from December 21, 2011 to December 29, 2011, becoming the only country in the world to air the season still in 2011. Although, they only aired the French spoken version of the season that did not include the voices from the original voice actors (except Chris and Chef). On May 28, 2012, Australia also began to air the season almost as fast as France did (one episode per weekday), but this time in English. Italy started to air the season on January 9, 2012, while Cartoon Network also aired the season in the Netherlands, Romania, Scandinavia and Hungary starting on March 5, 2012, Russia and Bulgaria on March 6, 2012, Poland and Africa on March 8, 2012 and Latin America on April 2, 2012. Originally, the season finale was set to air in the U.S. on September 11, 2012, but was instead pulled up to August 28 (two weeks from original date) due to that date being a national memorial holiday. The final two episodes were then combined into a one-hour full-length season finale. On March 25, 2011, all the shapes of all the 13 contestants were revealed in this video. On March 27, 2011, all the names and personalities of the contestants were revealed in a press release. On April 5, 2011, Christian Potenza posted a YouTube video of him recording the first line of Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. The quote was: This line is used for the promotional trailer that Teletoon showed at the end of the Total Drama World Tour finale, which was first released on April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday). On June 1, 2011 Christian Potenza released on his Facebook the new season logo along with more final designs of the characters. On June 3, 2011 there were snapshots of radioactive Camp Wawanakwa. On August 25, 2011 the new Total Drama: Revenge of the Island flipbook was released. On August 28, 2011, the first official cast image was released to the public via Facebook. On September 24, 2011, the third official trailer was released which contained new scenes and confirmed the team assignments. On September 27, 2011, at the Total Drama: Live Action Panel at Canada's 2011 Fan Expo, Cory Doran confirmed all of Mike's personalities, and Christian Potenza said that the team name for the Radioactive Rats was scrapped. On October 13, 2011, Christian Potenza revealed some stuff about the intro of the season and said that promos will be out soon. On November 28, 2011 the official Canadian air date for the season was announced for January 5, 2012. On December 14, 2011 an animated interview with Chris McLean and a fan was released and revealed that the new team name is now "Toxic Rats". On December 18, 2011, the official Canadian TDRI website was launched that includes interactive menus and biographies of all the new contestants, as well as videos and season descriptions. On December 21, 2011, France began to air the season's episodes, two weeks before Canada. On Christmas 2011, all of the auditions of the 13 new characters were released on Teletoon's official Total Drama site. Cartoon Network viewers were able to vote for Zoey before the finale due to them airing Episode 12 and 13 in the same day. Total Drama: Revenge of the Island has received mostly mixed to positive reviews. In the United States, over 3.3 million people have viewed the season, with over 51% growth over last year, making Total Drama: Revenge of the Island the #1 telecast of the year for Cartoon Network. Tom McGillis said in an interview that both Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama Island are the highest rated shows on the series. This season has been viewed in over 100 countries, worldwide. On Metacritic, the season currently holds a 7.3, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". Madman Entertainment is set to release Part 1 of Season 4 of Total Drama on August 1, 2014 on a Region 4 DVD in Australia with plans to release Part 2 in the fall. The trailer for TDRI (Teletoon), Season 4 Page Cake Entertainment, The third TDRI trailer Total Drama is a Canadian animated comedy television series that began airing on Teletoon in 2007 in Canada and on Cartoon Network in 2008 in the United States. The first season, titled Total Drama Island, follows twenty-two contestants on a reality show of the same name. A second season, titled Total Drama Action, began airing in 2009, this time following fourteen (later fifteen) returning contestants. The third season, Total Drama World Tour, began in June 2010, and follows fifteen returning contestants along with two (later three) new contestants. The show's fourth season, , began airing in 2012, and was the first season to feature an entirely new set of contestants. The fifth season began airing in 2014, and was split into two parts, Total Drama All-Stars and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. The first part features contestants from the first four seasons, while the second part introduces new contestants. A spin-off, titled , began airing on Cartoon Network Canada, in 2016. Like the original series, it follows contestants of a reality game show, The Ridonculous Race. Four contestants from Total Drama compete in the spin- off, while three other characters make silent cameos. Another spin-off series, titled Total DramaRama, premiered in September 2018. It features several returning characters from Total Drama and one character from ‘’6teen’’ which includes six males (Duncan, Harold, Cody, Jude, Owen, and Noah) and six females (Leshawna, Gwen, Bridgette, Courtney, Izzy, and Beth). Courtney is voiced by Rochelle Wilson from 1x01 to 1x02. Emilie-Claire Barlow began voicing her in 1x03. Christian "Chris" McLean (voiced by Christian Potenza) is the first host of the Total Drama series. While in the beginning of the series, Chris prefers to remain out of the challenges and act more impartial, as the series progressed he involved himself more. He becomes obsessed with getting views, and his narcissism causes him to do more stuff focusing on him (such as making Total Drama Action's symbol of immunity be a "gilded Chris award"). He also made the challenges progressively more dangerous, believing it would bring in more viewers. At the end of , he is arrested for hosting the show at a toxic island, and is released one year later where he immediately starts the next season. At the end of Total Drama: Pahkitew Island, he takes a vacation., Chef Hatchet (voiced by Clé Bennett and later Deven Mack in Total DramaRama) is the co-host of the Total Drama series. While not considered the show's official host, he has hosted on several occasions. During the third season, he makes another illegal alliance, this time with Blaineley having approached him. This alliance is much more short-lived, however., Don (voiced by Terry McGurrin) is the host of . Unlike his Total Drama counterpart, Don seems to want to remain more impartial during challenges. Also, he seems to show concern for the contestants' safety when in dangerous situations. Although not to the same extent as Chris, Don has shown to have a slight ego, often adding in small comments about his looks. Beth (voiced by Sarah Gadon) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action. She appears geeky with big glasses, a side ponytail, and braces, then later being removed between seasons. She usually is very friendly but has gotten agitated before. She has a fear of bugs, which is revealed through the Phobia Factor Challenge. She initially forms an alliance with Heather, but breaks it off due to Heather's bossy attitude., Bridgette (voiced by Kristin Fairlie) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour. She is somewhat a surfer chick and is a vegetarian, refusing to eat any meat, and is passionate about tending animals, even healing a wild bear in Siberia. She also possesses a fear of being alone in the woods. She ends up hooking up with Geoff after both are eliminated from Total Drama Island (She is eliminated after a hide and seek challenge). She is eliminated along with Geoff during Total Drama Action because of their constant making out, then they become the Aftermath hosts. During World Tour, Bridgette is succumbed by Alejandro into kissing a frozen pole, straining her relationship ship with Geoff and eliminated shortly thereafter. She does fix her relationship with Geoff during an Aftermath episode., Cody Anderson (voiced by Peter Oldring and later Wyatt White on Total DramaRama) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama World Tour. He tries to be the cool guy but fails. He has a crush on Gwen but put it aside to help Trent. He has a fear of defusing a time bomb under pressure. He was voted off during the first season after getting mauled by a bear since his injuries would be detrimental to his team. During World Tour, he is freaked out by Sierra's creepy devotion to him, but accepts her as a friend at the end of the season. He, Harold, Trent and Justin became a band known as the Drama Boys between Action and World Tour., Courtney (voiced by Emilie-Claire Barlow) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and Total Drama All-Stars. She is highly uptight and is very strict. She has boasted about being an actual C.I.T which annoys everyone and has given herself an urge to take the leadership role from time to time. She forms a relationship with Duncan, and is wrongfully eliminated in the first season when Harold tampered with the votes, which prompts her to lawsuit the show, getting her on Season 2, where she got voted out in the final four. In season 3, she becomes friends with Gwen but both the friendship with Gwen and relationship with Duncan ends after Duncan cheats on her with Gwen, is seduced by Alejandro and is booted., DJ (voiced by Clé Bennett) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour. He is kind and considerate to others, and loves animals. In season 2 he forges an alliance with Chef Hatchet to make him tougher. The alliance is short lived and ended in DJ quitting the game. In the third season, DJ develops bad luck and starts accidentally injuring animals during his challenges. Despite his attempts to eliminate himself to save the creatures, he ends up as the last one of his team before losing the game., Duncan (voiced by Drew Nelson) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and Total Drama All-Stars. He's a former ex-convict from juvenile detention. In Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action, he is Courtney's boyfriend but they broke up, Then he ended up kissing Gwen on Total Drama World Tour and they start dating., Eva (voiced by Julia Chantrey) is a contestant on Total Drama Island. A tough girl who lifts dumbbells and has a fiery temper which causes her to be voted off the island in the third episode of Total Drama Island, after losing her iPod. She accused all of her teammates but Heather who purposely stole it returns it to see Eva voted off., Ezekiel (voiced by Peter Oldring) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama World Tour. He is a homeschooled farm boy and is the first one voted off for making sexist comments about the female contestants. In World Tour, he is voted off first once again when he costs his team the challenge, but he secretly stays on the plane and transforms into a monstrous being in the process., Geoff (voiced by Dan Petronijevic) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and . He has a positive attitude, loves people, and is always up for a party. During the first season, he develops a crush on Bridgette and the two become a couple. After being one of the first ones eliminated in the second season, he becomes the host of Total Drama Aftermath, where they interview the eliminated contestants. The fame of the show starts to get to his head, but he eventually changes back thanks to some help from Bridgette and his co-stars. He continues to host the show in season 3, where he's forced to deal with the rude and disruptive Blainley., Gwen (voiced by Megan Fahlenbock) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and Total Drama All-Stars. A gothic girl who is Trent's girlfriend in Total Drama Action but broke up due to Trent being clingy. She becomes friends with Duncan in season 2 which causes his girlfriend Courtney to become jealous. In season 3, she becomes friends with Courtney, but Gwen destroys their friendship by kissing Duncan while he was still with Courtney. She then dates Duncan until season 5 where she dumps him after realizing he still has feelings for Courtney., Harold Norbert Cheever Doris McGrady (voiced by Brian Froud) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour., Heather (voiced by Rachel Wilson) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and Total Drama All-Stars. A mean and snobby girl who won't stop at anything to win the million dollar cash prize and acts as the main antagonist until the introduction of Alejandro. In Total Drama Island, she forms an alliance with Beth and Lindsay but is disbanded when Beth stood up for herself when Heather is mean to her one too many times., Izzy (voiced by Katie Crown) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour. A zany girl who is very hyperactive. In the episode "Phobia Factor" She and Owen share their fear of airplanes. In Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action, she and Owen become boyfriend and girlfriend., Justin (voiced by Adam Reid) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action. A handsome Hawaiian boy who makes girls, boys and animals swoon when he stares into their eyes. Katie and Sadie has huge crushes on him during the scavenger hunt to find the $1,000,000 cash prize and is annoyed when they followed him. In Total Drama Action, he changes to a vain person and kept worrying about his appearance., Katie (voiced by Stephanie Anne Mills) is a contestant on Total Drama Island. She and her bestie Sadie dress alike but she is skinnier with a tan. She was voted off for causing their team to lose a camping challenge., Leshawna (voiced by Novie Edwards) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, and Total Drama World Tour. She is a sassy, bold African Canadian girl who quickly dislikes Heather and becomes her enemy. She becomes Gwen's best friend on the show., Lindsay (voiced by Stephanie Anne Mills) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and Total Drama All-Stars. A beautiful girl who has dyed blonde hair, blue eyes and a large bust which is the representation the stereotypical dumb blonde. In Total Drama Island, she and Beth are part of an alliance with Heather. After Beth stood up to Heather in the paintball challenge, the two girls become best friends. She and Tyler start to become boyfriend and girlfriend before his elimination. She loves fashion, makeup and reading magazines. In Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, she made a guest appearance as a judge for a modeling challenge., Noah (voiced by Carter Hayden) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama World Tour, and The Ridonculous Race. He is very smart, sarcastic, and unathletic. He is voted off quickly on TDI, stays towards the middle of the pack on TDWT, and forms a relationship with Emma during The Ridonculous Race., Owen (voiced by Scott McCord) is a contestant on Total Drama Island, Total Drama Action, Total Drama World Tour, and The Ridonculous Race. A very obese contestant who loves to eat. In the Total Drama Island, he won but gave up the $100,000 cash prize for the $1,000,000 cash prize. In the Total Drama Island episode "Phobia Factor", it is revealed that he and Izzy are both afraid of airplanes. He dates Izzy until she broke up with him on Total Drama World Tour. In Total Drama Aftermath, his mom bought him a cellar made out of various cheeses as a welcome home gift which is $50,000 which put his family in debt. Chris offers to help his family out of their predicament and is back after elimination on Total Drama Action. He is used as a mole and use the other contestants strengths and weaknesses against themselves but fails and is eliminated twice., Sadie (voiced by Lauren Lipson) is a contestant on Total Drama Island. She dresses like her best friend Katie but is slightly heavier and with a lighter complexion., Trent (voiced by Scott McCord) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action. A guitar player with a crush on Gwen. They become a couple at the end of TDI, but Gwen breaks up with him after he becomes too clingy in TDA., Tyler (voiced by Peter Oldring) is a contestant on Total Drama Island and Total Drama World Tour. A boy who loves sports and thinks that he's good at them even though he's uncoordinated. He and Lindsay are boyfriend and girlfriend until his elimination. In Total Drama World Tour, Lindsay didn't even remember his name until their avalanche challenge when he yells that Lindsay finally remembers his name which causes an avalanche. Alejandro Burromuerto (voiced by Marco Grazzini in TDWT and Alex House in TDAS) is a contestant on Total Drama World Tour and Total Drama All-Stars. A handsome contestant who uses his charm to woo the girls as part of his scheme to eliminate them one by one., Blaineley Andrews O'Halloran (voiced by Carla Collins) is a host and was briefly a contestant on Total Drama World Tour., Sierra (voiced by Annick Obonsawin) is a contestant on Total Drama World Tour and Total Drama All-Stars. A Total Drama fan girl with a massive obsession on Cody. Anne Maria (voiced by Athena Karkanis) is a contestant on . She uses lots of cans of hairspray., B is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. A smart but quiet individual., Brick McArthur (voiced by Jon Cor) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. A military cadet that always follows his creed. He likes all his friends. Even though he is a disciplined cadet, it is shown that he has aracnophobia., Cameron Corduroy Wilkins (voiced by Kevin Duhaney) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. A skinny, nerdy bubble boy. Due to his physique resembling that of Cody, Sierra obsessed over him and offen called him CamCody. He won Total Drama: Revenge of the Island, despite being in the final against Lightning who clearly had the physical advantage., Dakota Milton (voiced by Carleigh Beverly) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. A pretty girl who's more interested in publicity. She then turned into a big creature after a toxic makeover., Dawn (voiced by Caitlynne Medrek) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. She is a wise contestant who tells everyone about how they are. She loves animals and her friends., Jo (voiced by Laurie Elliott) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. A competitive girl who's willing to go to any lengths to win., Mike (voiced by Corey Doran) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. A boy who has multiple personalities. Among them is Chester, a crotchety old man who appears when Mike is frustrated, Svetlana, a Russian gymnast, Vito, an New Jersey tough guy who appears when Mike's shirt is taken off, Manitoba Smith, an adventurous treasure hunter similar to Indiana Jones who appears when Mike wears any hat, and Mal, an evil personality known as the Malevolent One., Rudolph "Lightning" Jackson (voiced by Tyrone Savage) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. An arrogant jock. He thought all along that Jo was a boy., Sam (voiced by Brian Froud) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. A gamer who develops a relationship with Dakota. He has a crush on Dakota., Scott (voiced by James Wallis (voice actor)|James Wallis) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. A crafty and scheming farmboy who sabotaged his own team., Staci (voiced by Ashley Peters) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island. An extremely talkative girl who exaggerates about her family and lies saying that they invented everything., Zoey (voiced by Barbara Mamabolo) is a contestant on Total Drama: Revenge of the Island and Total Drama All-Stars. An all around nice girl. Amy (voiced by Bryn McAuley) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is Samey's, twin sister who is the mean twin., Beardo (voiced by Clé Bennett) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He makes lots of sound effect and has very big hair., Dave (voiced by Daniel DeSanto) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He is unconscious of people. He had a crush on Sky., Ella (voiced by Sunday Muse) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is very sweet, she is a big fan of Total Drama World Tour and she was singing on the show, in an episode she got eliminated for singing., Jasmine (voiced by Katie Bergin) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is an Australian girl and survivalist. She has a crush on Shawn., Leonard (voiced by Clé Bennett) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island and . He is a wizard., Max (voiced by Bruce Dow) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He is a slightly mean guy who declares himself evil., Rodney (voiced by Ian Ronningen) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He is attracted to a lot of girls, such as Jasmine, Amy (mistaken for Samey) and Scarlett., Sammy/Samey (voiced by Bryn McAuley) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is Amy's twin sister who is the nice twin., Scarlett (voiced by Kristi Friday) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is a nerdy girl with glasses, but is revealed that she is evil., Shawn (voiced by Zachary Bennett) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He is a training guy that believes zombies are real. He has a crush on Jasmine., Sky (voiced by Sarah Podemski) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is training to be in the Olympics., Sugar (voiced by Rochelle Wilson) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. She is an overweight girl, who says she's the crown of pageant, she is mean to Ella., Topher (voiced by Christopher Jacot) is a contestant on Total Drama: Pahkitew Island. He was a huge fan of Chris, but Chris didn't appreciate him. He said to the producers to eliminate him, but Chris was pretending to be the producer. Brody (voiced by Scott McCord) is a contestant on . He competed with Geoff as The Surfer Dudes team. At the beginning of the race, he didn't really take the race seriously. After working with the Police Cadets, he began to get a crush on MacArthur. After being eliminated and brought back by the Best Friends, he and Geoff agree to try to win for them and start to take the race more seriously., Carrie and Devin (voiced by Kristin Fairlie and Jeff Geddis) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They competed as The Best Friends team. In the beginning of the season, they are best friends, however, it's soon revealed that Carrie has been in love with Devin since the third grade, but Devin has a girlfriend. After calling Shelley and found out she is now dating her tennis instructor, Devin begins to go through the stages of heart break. After a while, he realizes he loves Carrie, however she has given up hope of ever being with him. Finally they admit their feelings and begin to date, however, Devin gets severely injured, causing them to have to quit the race. They bring back the Surfer Dudes team to take their place in the race., Chet and Lorenzo (voiced by Darren Frost and Carlos Díaz) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Stepbrothers team. Before the race, Chet's mother marries Lorenzo's father, and the two hate each other ever since. In an attempt to get them to get along better, they force them to join the race. At first, it just makes them argue more, however after needing to work together to stay in the race, they begin to form a close bond (even creating their own theme song)., Crimson and Ennui (voiced by Stacey DePass and Carter Hayden) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Goths team. They have been dating for months before the race, however, they have never seen each other's faces without makeup. Once in the race, they put in minimal effort at first, however after their make up comes off, they decide to quit the race. After looking at each other without makeup, they decide they still love each other even when not goth, and decide to stay in the race. While in Australia they adopt a bunny and name him Loki., Dwayne, Sr. and Junior (voiced by Neil Crone and Jacob Ewaniuk) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Father and Son team. Junior is usually embarrassed by his father, who tries to act cool and younger than he is. Junior eventually develops a crush on Carrie. After Dwayne's attempts to impress his son fail, they end up closer, with Junior appreciating his father's attempts., Ellody and Mary (voiced by Emilie-Claire Barlow and Katie Griffin) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Geniuses team. They met a convention where they both brought pi chart pies. During the race they often let their need to plan slow them down, and eventually cause their downfall., Emma and Kitty (voiced by Stacey DePass and Stephanie Anne Mills) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Sisters team., Gerry and Pete (voiced by David Huband and Adrian Truss) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Tennis Rivals team., Jacques and Josee (voiced by Scott McCord and Julie Lemieux) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Ice Dancers team., Jay and Mickey (voiced by Lyon Smith) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Adversity Twins team., Jen and Tom (voiced by Ashley Botting and Jeff Geddis) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Fashion Bloggers team., Kelly and Taylor (voiced by Julie Lemieux and Bryn McAuley) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Mother & Daughter team., Laurie and Miles (voiced by Emilie-Claire Barlow and Katie Griffin) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Vegans team., Rock and Spud (voiced by Carlos Díaz and Carter Hayden) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Rockers team., Ryan and Stephanie (voiced by Joseph Motiki and Nicki Burke) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Daters team., Sanders and MacArthur Escobar (voiced by Nicole Stamp and Evany Rosen) are contestants on The Ridonculous Race. They compete as The Police Cadets team., Tammy (voiced by Nicki Burke) is a contestant on The Ridonculous Race. She competed with Leonard as The LARPERs team. This contestant has to return to the competition after being previously eliminated to earn this placement. Other characters appear briefly to interact with the main cast. These include Chris's unnamed interns, who test challenges before use and serve as Chris's personal assistants; contestants' family members appearing in video messages and calls; special guests from the aftermath episodes of Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour; and a variety of animals, from pets to challenge obstacles. Various family members are often mentioned in passing by the contestants. The final five in Total Drama Island receives video messages from home sent by their family members (and a friend in Leshawna's case), who appears in the tapes. In the finale of , both Cameron and Lightning talk to their parents via video chat. Leshaniqua (voiced by Novie Edwards) is Leshawna's cousin who visits her as part of a reward. While they're together, they trash talk the rest of the cast, causing them to lose trust for Leshawna upon finding out., José Burromuerto (voiced by Alex House) is Alejandro's brother who has bullied him growing up. During the finale of Total Drama World Tour, Alejandro slows down when Heather calls him José, and then again when Cody keeps calling him "Al" (a nickname given to him by his José). He makes his official debut during the boxing challenge, where he fights Alejandro. While at first he is winning, after insulting Heather, Alejandro manages to beat him., DJ's mother (voiced by Clé Bennett), refers to as Mama by the contestants, appears to support her son after quitting the competition. She later allows the contestants to use her bus to stop the cast of Total Drama Dirtbags., Jerd McLean (voiced by Christian Potenza) is Chris' cousin and has a thick Newfoundland accent that is very difficult to understand, with Chris being the only character to fully comprehend him. Alejandro is also able to partially understand him, but has difficulty figuring out what Jerd was saying. He appears in "Newf Kids on the Rock" and plays a role in the challenge when the contestants have to translate a sentence he dictated. Jerd apparently dislikes Noah stating that he is "as smart as a bag of rocks." Each time Jerd speaks, music from Sea Shanty Mix is played., Owen's mother (voiced by Lauren Lipson) tells Owen that she spent fifty thousand dollars on a giant cheese cellar, which excites Owen and makes him want to come home, even though their family is broke from this expense. She eventually tells Owen to come home because his family misses him. She resembles Sadie despite her blonde hair, and is voiced by the same voice actor. Owen does a shout-out to her mother at the end of Total Drama All-Stars., Owen's father makes an appearance in his video message from home. He appears to be very proud of his son., Heather's mother (voiced by Julie Lemieux), and Heather's father appear in her video message from home. They are seen partying and moving out all of Heather's belongings in her absence., Duncan's father and mother are seen with his parole officer in his video message from home. While his mother attempts to show support and reassurance that she loves him, his father questions if they do because "the boy's a criminal.", Gwen's mother and brother appear in her video message from home where it is revealed her mother paid their neighbor to act as Gwen in her absence., Cameron's mother (voiced by Kevin Duhaney) is mentioned in Cameron's audition tape that she is very protective of him. She is later seen in a video call from home in "Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown", where she tells him he has to win to fuel the air for his bubble. She calls her son "Cammy Bear". In terms of appearance, she greatly resembles her son., Lightning's father is seen in a video call from home in "Brain vs. Brawn: The Ultimate Showdown", though his face is not shown. He does not appear to be very affectionate, never even turning to look at his son in the video call. Mr. Coconut is a coconut that Owen drew a face on after being left in isolation for too long. After becoming too attached, Chris "eliminated" Mr. Coconut to help Owen return to reality. The coconut doesn't appear again for a very long time, but in Total Drama All-Stars, Mr. Coconut appears in the season intro inside a submerged treasure chest. It also appears again in the season finale. Christian Potenza says that Mr. Coconut is one of his favorite characters in the show., The escaped psycho killer with a chainsaw and a hook (voiced by Scott McCord in Total Drama Island and Brian Froud in Total Drama All-Stars) is a serial killer who escapes and ends up at Camp Wawanakwa. Thinking he is part of the horror movie challenge, Gwen taunts him. Upon realizing he is not, she kick him repeatedly in the face, causing him to leave. Chris later use him as part of the fake cast of Total Drama Dirtbags. At some point after he is arrested., Josh (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is the co-host of Celebrity Manhunt who interviews the cast of Total Drama Island and Total Drama Action., Brady (voiced by Dan Petronijevic) is Beth's boyfriend. He is supposedly a made-up person by Beth to make her seem cool, but at the end of the final episode, he is in both endings followed by Heather saying "Not only is he real. He's really handsome" and Justin saying "Is it not bad enough that this show made me into a goblin? Now I got his 'gorgeousity' making me come off as even more hideous, great." in the original version and "Now I wish I didn't vote for her [Beth]." in the alternate ending. He only has one line in the original ending which is "Oh, was I supposed to bring a prize?", Emily's debut appearance is in the episode, "Celebrity Manhunt's TDA Reunion Special" when Chris and Chef are at the airport in the ending. In Total Drama World Tour, she is the main flight attendant who serves the contestants that are in first-class., Jasmine is Leshawna's friend who "auditioned" for Total Drama Action, but never competes in the season. She explains that she has attended McGillis Talent Agency, a drama class, and lives in a rough neighborhood on a peninsula, in which she calls it a "Total Drama Peninsula". She is unique because the other videos show family members, but this shows a best friend, which implies Jasmine is like family to Leshawna. Jasmine is the first family-like figure in Leshawna's life to make an appearance. There are also many notable non-human characters in the series that serve as obstacles in the challenges while other characters serve as pets owned by some contestants. Sasquatchanakwa is a yeti who appears in every season. During the first season, a group of Sasquatchanakwas is seen staring at a sleeping Owen, and later he attacks the contestants after they stay in the woods overnight. During the second season he appears as part of a challenge, and seems to have much more human-like qualities (even talking and using the confessional). He appears as part of the fake cast of Total Drama Dirtbags. During the third season, he is again placed in challenges by Chris to attack the contestants. During the fourth season, he kidnaps Lindsay after he begins to feel insecure. In the fifth season, he is brought to Chris by Zoey as part of a challenge, and in the second half of the season he is frozen solid. In the spin-off, a frozen Sasquachanakwa is seen taking a picture with Kitty, and later a Sasquatchanakwa with white fur appears., Bruno is a bear Bridgette rescues after its paw is injured. After helping him, he follows her back to Hawaii where he refuses to let Geoff get too close to Bridgette, attacking him whenever he did. After Blaineley, who is in a full body cast, is thrown into the water, Bruno saved her, and began using her as a chew toy, distracting him from Geoff and allowing Bridgette and Geoff to reunite., Fang is a mutant shark obsessed with Scott. After eating him, Scott knocked out Fang's tooth, causing Fang to start chasing him to get it back. At the end of the fourth season, Fang gets his tooth back and mauls Scott. During the following season he still hates Scott, hurting him at any chance he gets. After Mike knocks out his tooth and gives it to Alejandro and Heather, Fang begins to chase instead., Larry is Chris's pet Venus fly trap that he left on the island before renting it out to a toxic waste disposal company. During the fifth season, Larry has babies, causing Zoey to question if Larry is actually a Laurie., Loki is a bunny adopted by Crimson and Ennui during the race. He often helps them during the challenges, being dubbed by Don as the unofficial third member of the team. He is kidnapped by the Ice Dancers later in the season, and causes Crimson and Ennui to lose the race., Scruffy is Duncan's pet spider. He is sent to Duncan from home in "2008: A Space Owen", along with the other cast members' packages from home. However, Scruffy is accidentally killed in the same episode by Harold, when he is smashed while Harold is riding The Vomit Comet., Irene is DJ's pet fish that he owns during "Newf Kids on the Rock" and "Jamaica Me Sweat", but then found out that Alejandro is using her to trick him., Leshawna Jr. was Harold's pet snail in Total Drama Action. Harold first found her upon waking up in after Duncan puts the snail in Harold's blanket as a prank. Harold then feels an attachment to the snail, due to the fact he believes that she looks like Leshawna, and then stores her in a match box for safekeeping. Later on, Leshawna Jr. is eliminated by Chris so it heads out packing. While Leshawna Jr. travels out into nature, Chris says that if Leshawna Jr. will ever make it out of the film lot before the year 2020. This gives Leshawna Jr. a little over a year left to get there., Cody Jr. is a baby condor that hatches out of one of Sierra's condor eggs that she is carrying for the challenge. Sierra then considers Cody Jr. as her and Cody's child because they are "married". However, due to Heather being the first thing Cody Jr. ever saw, it considers Heather to be its mother, much to both Heather and Sierra's annoyance. There are also special guests who appear in the aftermath episodes of Total Drama Action and Total Drama World Tour. Ginger (voiced by Sarah Gadon) is Trent's obsessed fan from Sudbury, Ontario. She told Trent that she would have loved it if he "went psycho-crazy" over her, referring to Gwen's dislike of his strange behavior. He looks a bit uncomfortable, whether it is about the subject of him going crazy, or because of Ginger's overly strong crush on him. She resembles Beth to an extent and is voiced by Sarah Gadon., Gordon (voiced by Adam Reid) is a furious young man from London, Ontario, who wants to be a chef. He has anger management issues and frequently swears. He attempts to figure out what the secret ingredient is in DJ's food. He seems to be a parody of the world-renowned British chef, Gordon Ramsay, who is famous for his constant swearing at contestants on shows such as Hell's Kitchen and Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares., Kelsey (voiced by Kristin Fairlie) from Kamloops, British Columbia, is another Trent fan, a bit more obsessed than the last one, Ginger, and possibly proves herself to be somewhat unsound. Her voice actor is unknown as of yet. She has a stuffed doll of Trent that she kissed in the video nine times. Trent is terrified of her, due to her obsessiveness., Harvey, from Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, asks Leshawna if she is in a relationship with Harold, to which she replies that they are just friends. Throughout the interview, Harvey hints that he has a crush on Leshawna, too. Harvey is somewhat similar to Harold in terms of personality, but has many physical differences like braces, a different pair of glasses, and a different hair color., Willy, from Wiarton, Ontario, apparently Bridgette's "biggest" fan, goes on the webcam, at Bridgette's request. Willy, resembling Harvey from a previous aftermath, tells Bridgette that he doesn't want to be too obvious and ask Bridgette about footwear or catching waves. Willy then states that there's something he really wants to know about Bridgette, takes out a pole, and asks her if she would kiss it. This upsets Bridgette and causes her to snap. Chester (voiced by Corey Doran) is an old man personality who appears whenever Mike is frustrated. He seems to have no respect for Mike, constantly making fun of him when in control of the body. After Mike beats his personalities, Chester begins to respect him more, and later teams up with him to stop Mal. Eventually, he is wiped from existence with the other personalities., Svetlana (voiced by Corey Doran) is a Russian gymnast who appears whenever Mike is unable to complete a physical challenge. She seems to dislike that Mike is in control of the body the most, but after Mike beats his personalities, grows to respect him. She later teams up with Mike to stop Mal, and eventually is wiped from existence with the other personalities., Vito (voiced by Corey Doran) is a parody of "The Situation" from Jersey Shore who appears whenever Mike is shirtless. He seems to give Mike the most problems when he begins dating Anne Maria, despite Mike dating Zoey. After Mike beats his alternate personalities, he gains respect for him. Eventually, he is wiped from existence after teaming up to help Mike to defeat Mal., Manitoba Smith (voiced by Corey Doran) is a parody of Indiana Jones who appears whenever Mike puts on a fedora. He often flirts with the female contestants. After Mike beats his alternate personalities, he seems to respect him. Later he teams up with Mike to stop Mal, and is wiped from existence in the process., The Malevolent One "Mal" (voiced by Corey Doran) is Mike's secret fifth personality. He is able to take control of the body seemingly randomly, but gains full control of the body. After trapping all the other personalities in his head, they team up under Mike's leadership to stop Mal, and eventually, they successfully wipe him from existence. Across the entire series, the interns help out Chris with the competition by testing out the challenges before the main competitors use them, and they act as Chris' personal assistants and slaves who do the maintenance work that Chris doesn't want to do. In Total Drama Island, the main intern starts as a pizza delivery guy who is later hired. In the finale, a new intern is hired., In Total Drama Action, the pizza delivery guy appears once again along with a larger intern. Another blonde intern appears as the season's main intern. Additionally, several interns' arms are seen applying makeup to the contestants in the confessional., In Total Drama World Tour, the blonde intern returns, along with two new burly interns, as the main interns. Several interns with the same or similar design as the blonde intern are also seen, as well as a female intern. Starting in this season, all the interns wear shirts similar to Chris's., In , four new interns appear. One who is short and chubby, one with long black hair, a female intern, and an intern named Josh. Dakota also briefly works as an intern, before returning to the competition. Josh ends up falling into the toxic waste, causing him to no longer work for the show. The other three interns stay on as the main interns in Total Drama All-Stars and Total Drama: Pahkitew Island., In , Don mentions an intern named Andrew died while testing the first challenge. An eskimo appears in the first season after a mound of snow and a sled falls on Courtney, followed by the eskimo falling on the sled. He appears as part of the fake cast of Total Drama Dirtbags. In the spin-off, he is shown with a female eskimo, and the two kiss., The mime is a character that Trent has to face in the phobia challenge. After jumping in the water, Trent convinces him to leave, stating his make-up would run. He appears in exclusive clips in both the third and fifth seasons, and during the spin-off he steals the Best Friends's travel tip., The ninjas appear in the phobia challenge as Harold's fear., There are many bears that appear in the series, but the most notable one is the brown bear that appears many times throughout the season, mostly scaring the contestants. Izzy has appeared in a brown bear costume as part of a prank. There is also a polar bear that appears in the Yukon and a black bear calls Bruno, who is Bridgette's best friend., A sumo wrestler appears in the phobia challenge as Heather's fear. During the third season, two sumo wrestlers are seen in an exclusive clip when Harold lands in one of their loin cloths., The Canadian military are characters who extract Izzy after she becomes smart in the third season., The Canadian government are characters who appear in the fourth season and attempt to arrest Chris, which they successfully do at the end of the season., An elderly Chinese woman gives Sierra advice and also "love me tea", which Sierra uses on Cody and accidentally poisons him., A fireworks salesman gives Sierra fireworks for free to help Cody win in the third season., Guards are seen outside the London tower. As part of the challenge, the contestants must strip the guards and find the clue hidden in their clothes., Throughout the series, various sharks appear in the water-based challenges to scare away the contestants., The Hawaiian natives appear in the finale of the third season to warn them about throwing pineapples into the volcano. They are seen again in a cameo in the spin-off., The Zing-Zings are a group of natives in the Amazon rainforest. They capture Heather, replacing her missing tooth with a gold tooth. It is revealed they are actors filming a scene., Erin Tapley (voiced by Erin Tapley) is a fan who interviews Chris in an exclusive clip., The butler is a character who works at the McLean Spa Hotel during the fifth season. He often brings the contestants what they want in a matter of seconds., Chris's promo bots (voiced by Christian Potenza) are robots of Chris that he uses to promote the show instead of going to each location himself. After Scarlett takes over the island, she makes the promo bots attack the other contestants, prompting Shawn to destroy them. Aliens appear at Area 51 in Total Drama World Tour. They attack Alejandro and Tyler, and return in an Aftermath episode, when they attack Noah., Area 51 soldiers appear when the cast brake into Area 51, attempting to hunt down the contestants., Cody's clones are clones of Cody that appear after he touches an alien pod., The Colonel of the United States Military is Chris's friend who allows him access to use Area 51 as a challenge.

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The men's single figure skating competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held on 16 and 17 February 2018 at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, South Korea. The short program was held on 16 February and the free skating was held on 17 February. This medal event was the 1000th medal event in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. With his victory at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Yuzuru Hanyu became the first male figure skater to win two consecutive gold medals after Dick Button, who did so in 1952. Fellow countryman Shoma Uno won the silver medal, and Spain's Javier Fernández won the bronze medal. Fernández won Spain's first figure skating medal and fourth medal at the Winter Olympics. After the short program, Hanyu, Fernández, Uno, and Jin Boyang were first, second, third, and fourth respectively. Nathan Chen, originally one of the favorites for the podium, skated an uncharacteristically poor short program that placed him at 17th, but fought back to win the free skating with a score of 215.08--8.91 points above the second place free skating by Hanyu. He ended up fifth overall. In the free program, Jin Boyang overtook Chen by less than a point overall, and placed fourth. In the victory ceremony, the medals were presented by Tsunekazu Takeda, member of the International Olympic Committee, accompanied by Alexander Lakernik, ISU Figure Skating Vice President. Vincent Zhou landed the first quadruple lutz at the Olympics. Nathan Chen became the first to ever land six quads, five clean. He also landed the first quadruple flip at the Olympics. With these jumps he holds the new record for highest free skating technical score. For complete list of figure skating records, see list of highest scores in figure skating. A total of 30 skaters qualified to compete for the event, with each country allowed to only enter a maximum of three. 24 quotas were handed out during the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships and the remaining six were given out at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Each country decided the entry of its teams, and athletes winning the quota were not necessarily granted the right to compete. All athletes competing must have met the minimum total elements score, which does not include component scores. For the short program this was 25.00 and the free skating 45.00. The short program was held on 16 February 2018. The free skating was held on 17 February 2018. The skaters were ranked according to their overall score. Figure skating has been part of the Olympic Games since 1908 and has been included in 25 Olympic Games. There have been 271 medals (91 gold, 90 silver, and 90 bronze) awarded to figure skaters representing 29 representing National Olympic Committees. Six events have been contested but one, men's special figures, was discontinued after a single Olympics. Canadian ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the only figure skaters to win five Olympic medals (3 gold, 2 silver). Swedish figure skater Gillis Grafström (3 gold, 1 silver) and Russian figure skater Evgeni Plushenko (2 gold, 2 silver) each have four medals. Seventeen figure skaters have won three medals. The only skaters with three consecutive titles are Grafström in men's singles, Sonja Henie (Norway) in ladies' singles, and Irina Rodnina (Soviet Union) in pairs. Sixteen figure skaters have earned two golds within the same discipline and five skaters have earned gold in two separate Olympic events. On two occasions, there has been a podium sweep. Russian figure skaters hold the unique record for earning gold medals in all six Olympic figure skating events. Three skaters won Olympic medals in multiple figure skating disciplines. Men's special figures was only included in one Olympic Games before being discontinued. The sole winner of the event was Russian Nikolai Panin, who gave his country its first ever Olympic gold medal. The team event is the newest Olympic figure skating event, first contested in the 2014 Games. It combines the four Olympic figure skating disciplines (men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance) into a single event; gold is awarded to the team that earns the most placement points. Gillis Grafström earned the most medals in a single event: four medals, three of which gold, in men's singles. The only other skaters to have earned three golds in a single discipline are Sonja Henie in ladies' singles and Irina Rodnina in pairs. Counting multiple events, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir hold the record for the most medals, with a total of five medals including two golds in ice dance and one team event gold. Evgeni Plushenko earned four medals, including a gold in men's singles and a team event gold. Figure skaters who won three or more medal at the Olympics are listed below: The only skaters with three consecutive titles are Gillis Grafström in men's singles, Sonja Henie in ladies' singles, and Irina Rodnina in pairs. The most consecutive titles in ice dance is two, which has only been achieved by Oksana Grishuk and Evgeny Platov. In addition, one ladies' singles skater, three men's singles skaters, and five pairs skaters have earned consecutive titles. Two ice dancers and three pair skaters have earned non-consecutive titles. Five skaters have won Olympic gold medals in multiple events. Evgeni Plushenko won gold in men's singles in 2006 and team event gold in 2014. Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov were the first skaters to win multiple events at a single Olympics, winning both pairs and the team event. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir matched this feat four years later, earning golds in ice dance and the team event. Only three skaters have won Olympic medals in multiple figure skating disciplines. All other multi-event medalists won medals in their discipline plus the team event (which, while being a separate event, is not considered its own skating discipline). In 1908, Madge Syers became the first skater to medal in multiple figure skating disciplines at a single Olympics. The only skater to match this feat was Ernst Baier in 1936. The only other skater to medal in multiple disciplines was Beatrix Loughran who did so at separate Olympics. No skater has won gold medals in multiple disciplines. The team event was introduced at the 2014 Winter Olympics. It allowed skaters to medal twice while skating one discipline. On 9 February 2014, Evgeni Plushenko became the first skater to win multiple figure skating events. On 12 February 2014, Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov became the first skaters to win multiple events at a single Olympics. Four years later, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir matched this feat. The below table lists all skaters who have medaled in their own discipline and in the team event. (Team event medals are indicated by "T" in the gold, silver, and bronze columns.) Since figure skating was held during the Summer Olympic Games in 1908 and 1920 before being moved to the Winter Olympic Games, three skaters medaled in figure skating in both the Summer and Winter Games. Men's singles skater Gillis Grafström's first gold medal was earned at the 1920 Summer Olympics. His other three medals were won at the 1924–1932 Winter Games. Pair skaters Ludowika Jakobsson and Walter Jakobsson also earned gold during the 1920 Summer Olympics. They later medaled at the 1924 Winter Games. From 1964 to 2006, Russian figure skaters—representing the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, or Russia—won the gold medal in the pairs event, in what is the longest series of victories for one country in one winter event. Russian figure skaters, counting both Russian Federation (IOC code RUS) and Russian Empire (IOC code RU1), hold the unique record for earning gold medals in all six Olympic figure skating events. Since men's special figures was discontinued, this record can not be matched. Russia (IOC code RUS) is the only NOC to have earning gold medals in all five current Olympic figure skating events. Canada has earned gold medals in four of the events (all except men's singles). Great Britain, Unified Team, and United States have earned gold medals in three of the events. Russia and the Unified Team are the only NOCs to have won three events at the same Olympics, at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 1992 Winter Olympics respectively. No NOC has won more than three figure skating events at a single Olympics. There has been two podium sweeps in Olympic figure skating history. This is when athletes from one NOC win all three medals in a single event. Figure skating at the Olympic Games, List of Olympic medalists in figure skating by age, World Figure Skating Championships, Major achievements in figure skating by nation General ISU – Olympic Games Figure Skating results:, 1908–2002 Men Ladies Pairs Ice dance, 2006 2010 2014 2018 Specific List of Olympic medalists in men's figure skating: photos and autographs The pair skating competition of the 2018 Winter Olympics was held at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung, South Korea. The short program was held on 14 February and the free skating on 15 February 2018. Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot became Olympic champions after finishing fourth in the short program and setting a record with their score in the free program to take the gold by 0.43 points. Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, leading after the short program, made a couple of mistakes in the free program and won silver. Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford were third. This was the second Olympics since 1964 that a Soviet or Russian pair did not win a medal. Chinese judge Huang Feng was investigated by the ISU and banned for mark manipulation. For a complete list of figure skating records, see list of highest scores in figure skating. The following new best score was set during this competition: A total of 22 teams qualified to compete for the event, with each country allowed to only enter a maximum of three. Originally only 20 spots were available, but due to the invitation of the North and South Korean teams, the quota jumped to 22. 16 quotas were handed out during the 2017 World Figure Skating Championships and four were given out at the 2017 CS Nebelhorn Trophy. Each country decided the entry of its teams, and athletes winning the quota were not necessarily granted the right to compete. The South Korean were given an additional quota as host nation, after they failed to qualify through the World Championships or Nebelhorn Trophy. North Korea, who originally qualified at the Nebelhorn Trophy, did not register its athletes in time. However, after the country agreed to participate in the games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed the pair to compete. All pairs competing must have met the minimum total elements score, which does not include component scores. For the short program this was 20.00 and the free skate 36.00. The short program was held on 14 February. The free skating was held on 15 February. The skaters are ranked according to their overall score.

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Movable type (US English; moveable type in British English) is the system and technology of printing and typography that uses movable components to reproduce the elements of a document (usually individual alphanumeric characters or punctuation marks) usually on the medium of paper. The world's first movable type printing technology for printing paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around 1040 AD in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990–1051). The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type, Jikji, was printed in Korea in 1377 during the Goryeo dynasty. The diffusion of both movable-type systems was, to some degree, limited to primarily East Asia. The development of the printing press in Europe may have been influenced by various sporadic reports of movable type technology brought back to Europe by returning business people and missionaries to China. Some of these medieval European accounts are still preserved in the library archives of the Vatican and Oxford University among many others. However, none of these early European accounts before Gutenberg discuss printing. Around 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the metal movable-type printing press in Europe, along with innovations in casting the type based on a matrix and hand mould. The small number of alphabetic characters needed for European languages was an important factor. Gutenberg was the first to create his type pieces from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony—and these materials remained standard for 550 years. For alphabetic scripts, movable-type page setting was quicker than woodblock printing. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type in Europe and the use of printing presses spread rapidly. The printing press may be regarded as one of the key factors fostering the Renaissance and due to its effectiveness, its use spread around the globe. The 19th-century invention of hot metal typesetting and its successors caused movable type to decline in the 20th century. The technique of imprinting multiple copies of symbols or glyphs with a master type punch made of hard metal first developed around 3000 BC in ancient Sumer. These metal punch types can be seen as precursors of the letter punches adapted in later millennia to printing with movable metal type. Cylinder seals were used in Mesopotamia to create an impression on a surface by rolling the seal on wet clay. They were used to "sign" documents and mark objects as the owner's property. Cylinder seals were a related form of early typography capable of printing small page designs in relief (cameo) on wax or clay—a miniature forerunner of rotogravure printing used by wealthy individuals to seal and certify documents. By 650 BC the ancient Greeks were using larger diameter punches to imprint small page images onto coins and tokens. The designs of the artists who made the first coin punches were stylized with a degree of skill that could not be mistaken for common handiwork—salient and very specific types designed to be reproduced ad infinitum. Unlike the first typefaces used to print books in the 13th century, coin types were neither combined nor printed with ink on paper, but "published" in metal—a more durable medium—and survived in substantial numbers. As the portable face of ruling authority, coins were a compact form of standardized knowledge issued in large editions, an early mass medium that stabilized trade and civilization throughout the Mediterranean world of antiquity. Seals and stamps may have been precursors to movable type. The uneven spacing of the impressions on brick stamps found in the Mesopotamian cities of Uruk and Larsa, dating from the 2nd millennium BC, has been conjectured by some archaeologists as evidence that the stamps were made using movable type. The enigmatic Minoan Phaistos Disc of 1800–1600 BC has been considered by one scholar as an early example of a body of text being reproduced with reusable characters: it may have been produced by pressing pre-formed hieroglyphic "seals" into the soft clay. A few authors even view the disc as technically meeting all definitional criteria to represent an early incidence of movable- type printing. Recently it has been alleged by Jerome Eisenberg that the disk is a forgery. The Prüfening dedicatory inscription is medieval example of movable type stamps being used. Following the invention of paper in the 2nd century AD during the Chinese Han Dynasty, writing materials became more portable and economical than the bones, shells, bamboo slips, metal or stone tablets, silk, etc. previously used. Yet copying books by hand was still labour-consuming. Not until the Xiping Era (172–178 AD), towards the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty did sealing print and monotype appear. It was soon used for printing designs on fabrics, and later for printing texts. Woodblock printing, invented by about the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty, worked as follows. First, the neat hand-copied script was stuck on a relatively thick and smooth board, with the front of the paper, which was so thin that it was nearly transparent, sticking to the board, and characters showing in reverse, but distinctly, so that every stroke could be easily recognized. Then carvers cut away the parts of the board that were not part of the character, so that the characters were cut in relief, completely differently from those cut intaglio. When printing, the bulging characters would have some ink spread on them and be covered by paper. With workers' hands moving on the back of paper gently, characters would be printed on the paper. By the Song Dynasty, woodblock printing came to its heyday. Although woodblock printing played an influential role in spreading culture, there remained some apparent drawbacks. Firstly, carving the printing plate required considerable time, labour and materials; secondly, it was not convenient to store these plates; and finally, it was difficult to correct mistakes. Bi Sheng (毕昇/畢昇) (990–1051) developed the first known movable-type system for printing in China around 1040 AD during the Northern Song dynasty, using ceramic materials. As described by the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (沈括) (1031–1095): In 1193, Zhou Bida, an officer of Southern Song Dynasty, made a set of clay movable-type method according to the method described by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays, and printed his book Notes of The Jade Hall (《玉堂雜記》). The claim that Bi Sheng's clay types were "fragile" and "not practical for large-scale printing" and "short lived" was refuted by facts and experiments. Bao Shicheng (1775–1885) wrote that baked clay moveable type was "as hard and tough as horn"; experiments show that clay type, after being baked in an oven, becomes hard and difficult to break, such that it remains intact after being dropped from a height of two metres onto a marble floor. The length of clay movable types in China was 1 to 2 centimetres, not 2mm, thus hard as horn. But similar to metal type, ceramic type did not hold Chinese ink well, and had an added disadvantage of uneven matching of the type which could sometimes result from the uneven changes in size of the type during the baking process. There has been an ongoing debate regarding the success of ceramic printing technology as there have been no printed materials found with ceramic movable types. However, it is historically recorded to have been used as late as 1844 in China from the Song dynasty through the Qing dynasty. Bi Sheng (990–1051) also pioneered the use of wooden movable type around 1040 AD, as described by the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (1031–1095). However, this technology was abandoned in favour of clay movable types due to the presence of wood grains and the unevenness of the wooden type after being soaked in ink. In 1298, Wang Zhen (王祯/王禎), a Yuan dynasty governmental official of Jingde County, Anhui Province, China, re-invented a method of making movable wooden types. He made more than 30,000 wooden movable types and printed 100 copies of Records of Jingde County (《旌德縣志》), a book of more than 60,000 Chinese characters. Soon afterwards, he summarized his invention in his book A method of making moveable wooden types for printing books. Although the wooden type was more durable under the mechanical rigors of handling, repeated printing wore down the character faces, and the types could only be replaced by carving new pieces. This system was later enhanced by pressing wooden blocks into sand and casting metal types from the depression in copper, bronze, iron or tin. This new method overcame many of the shortcomings of woodblock printing. Rather than manually carving an individual block to print a single page, movable type printing allowed for the quick assembly of a page of text. Furthermore, these new, more compact type fonts could be reused and stored. The set of wafer-like metal stamp types could be assembled to form pages, inked, and page impressions taken from rubbings on cloth or paper. In 1322，a Fenghua county officer Ma Chengde (馬称德) in Zhejiang, made 100,000 wooden movable types and printed the 43-volume Daxue Yanyi (《大學衍義》). Wooden movable types were used continually in China. Even as late as 1733, a 2300-volume Wuying Palace Collected Gems Edition (《武英殿聚珍版叢書》) was printed with 253,500 wooden movable types on order of the Qianlong Emperor, and completed in one year. A number of books printed in Tangut script during the Western Xia (1038–1227) period are known, of which the Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union that was discovered in the ruins of Baisigou Square Pagoda in 1991 is believed to have been printed sometime during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Western Xia (1139–1193). It is considered by many Chinese experts to be the earliest extant example of a book printed using wooden movable type. If one used movable type to produce multiple copies of the same document, the speed of printing would increase relatively. At least 13 material finds in China indicate the invention of bronze movable type printing in China no later than the 12th century, with the country producing large-scale bronze-plate-printed paper money and formal official documents issued by the Jin (1115–1234) and Southern Song (1127–1279) dynasties with embedded bronze metal types for anti-counterfeit markers. Such paper-money printing might date back to the 11th-century jiaozi of Northern Song (960–1127). The typical example of this kind of bronze movable type embedded copper-block printing is a printed "check" of the Jin Dynasty with two square holes for embedding two bronze movable-type characters, each selected from 1,000 different characters, such that each printed paper note has a different combination of markers. A copper-block printed note dated between 1215 and 1216 in the collection of Luo Zhenyu's Pictorial Paper Money of the Four Dynasties, 1914, shows two special characters – one called Ziliao, the other called Zihao – for the purpose of preventing counterfeiting; over the Ziliao there is a small character (輶) printed with movable copper type, while over the Zihao there is an empty square hole – apparently the associated copper metal type was lost. Another sample of Song dynasty money of the same period in the collection of the Shanghai Museum has two empty square holes above Ziliao as well as Zihou, due to the loss of the two copper movable types. Song dynasty bronze block embedded with bronze metal movable type printed paper money was issued on a large scale and remained in circulation for a long time. The 1298 book Zao Huozi Yinshufa (《造活字印书法》/《造活字印書法》) by the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) official Wang Zhen mentions tin movable type, used probably since the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), but this was largely experimental. It was unsatisfactory due to its incompatibility with the inking process.. But by the late 15th century these concerns were resolved and bronze type was widely used in Chinese printing. During the Mongol Empire (1206–1405), printing using movable type spread from China to Central Asia. The Uyghurs of Central Asia used movable type, their script type adopted from the Mongol language, some with Chinese words printed between the pages – strong evidence that the books were printed in China. During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Hua Sui in 1490 used bronze type in printing books. In 1574 the massive 1000-volume encyclopedia Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era (《太平御览》/《太平御覧》) was printed with bronze movable type. In 1725 the Qing Dynasty government made 250,000 bronze movable-type characters and printed 64 sets of the encyclopedic Gujin Tushu Jicheng (《古今图书集成》/《古今圖書集成》, Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times). Each set consisted of 5,040 volumes, making a total of 322,560 volumes printed using movable type. In 1234 the first books known to have been printed in metallic type set were published in Goryeo Dynasty Korea. They form a set of ritual books, Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun, compiled by Choe Yun-ui. While these books have not survived, the oldest book in the world printed in metallic movable types is Jikji, printed in Korea in 1377. The Asian Reading Room of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. displays examples of this metal type. Commenting on the invention of metallic types by Koreans, French scholar Henri-Jean Martin described this as "[extremely similar] to Gutenberg's". However, Korean movable metal type printing differed from European printing in the materials used for the type, punch, matrix, mould and in method of making an impression. The techniques for bronze casting, used at the time for making coins (as well as bells and statues) were adapted to making metal type. The Joseon dynasty scholar Seong Hyeon (성현, 成俔, 1439–1504) records the following description of the Korean font-casting process: A potential solution to the linguistic and cultural bottleneck that held back movable type in Korea for 200 years appeared in the early 15th century—a generation before Gutenberg would begin working on his own movable-type invention in Europe—when Sejong the Great devised a simplified alphabet of 24 characters (hangul) for use by the common people, which could have made the typecasting and compositing process more feasible. But Korea's cultural elite, "appalled at the idea of losing hanja, the badge of their elitism", stifled the adoption of the new alphabet. A "Confucian prohibition on the commercialization of printing" also obstructed the proliferation of movable type, restricting the distribution of books produced using the new method to the government. The technique was restricted to use by the royal foundry for official state publications only, where the focus was on reprinting Chinese classics lost in 1126 when Korea's libraries and palaces had perished in a conflict between dynasties. Scholarly debate and speculation has occurred as to whether Eastern movable type spread to Europe between the late 14th century and early 15th centuries. For example,authoritative historians Frances Gies and Joseph Gies claimed that "The Asian priority of invention movable type is now firmly established, and that Chinese-Korean technique, or a report of it traveled westward is almost certain." However, Joseph P.McDermott claimed that "No text indicates the presence or knowledge of any kind of Asian movable type or movable type imprint in Europe before 1450. The material evidence is even more conclusive." Johannes Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, is acknowledged as the first to invent a metal movable-type printing system in Europe: the printing press. Gutenberg, as a goldsmith, knew techniques of cutting punches for making coins from moulds. Between 1436 and 1450 he developed hardware and techniques for casting letters from matrices using a device called the hand mould. Gutenberg's key invention and contribution to movable-type printing in Europe, the hand mould, was the first practical means of making cheap copies of letterpunches in the vast quantities needed to print complete books, making the movable-type printing process a viable enterprise. Before Gutenberg, scribes copied books by hand on scrolls and paper, or print-makers printed texts from hand-carved wooden blocks. Either process took a long time; even a small book could take months to complete. Because carved letters or blocks were flimsy and the wood susceptible to ink, the blocks had a limited lifespan. Gutenberg and his associates developed oil-based inks ideally suited to printing with a press on paper, and the first Latin typefaces. His method of casting type may have differed from the hand-mould used in subsequent decades. Detailed analysis of the type used in his 42-line Bible has revealed irregularities in some of the characters that cannot be attributed to ink spread or type wear under the pressure of the press. Scholars conjecture that the type pieces may have been cast from a series of matrices made with a series of individual stroke punches, producing many different versions of the same glyph. It has also been suggested that the method used by Gutenberg involved using a single punch to make a mould, but the mould was such that the process of taking the type out disturbed the casting, causing variants and anomalies, and that the punch- matrix system came into use possibly around the 1470s. This raises the possibility that the development of movable type in the West may have been progressive rather than a single innovation. Gutenberg's movable-type printing system spread rapidly across Europe, from the single Mainz printing press in 1457 to 110 presses by 1480 – 50 of them in Italy. Venice quickly became the center of typographic and printing activity. Significant contributions came from Nicolas Jenson, Francesco Griffo, Aldus Manutius, and other printers of late 15th-century Europe. Gutenberg's movable type printing system offered a number of advantages over previous movable types The lead-antimony-tin alloy used by Gutenberg had half the melting temperature of bronze, making it easier to cast the type and aided the use of reusable metal matrix molds instead of the expendable sand and clay molds. The use of antimony alloy increased hardness of the type compared to lead and tin for improved durability of the type. The reusable metal matrix allowed a single experienced worker to produce 4,000 to 5,000 individual types a day, while Wang Chen had artisans working 2 years to make 60,000 wooden types Type-founding as practiced in Europe and the west consists of three stages. Punchcutting: If the glyph design includes enclosed spaces (counters) then a counterpunch is made. The counter shapes are transferred in relief (cameo) onto the end of a rectangular bar of mild steel using a specialized engraving tool called a graver. The finished counterpunch is hardened by heating and quenching (tempering), or exposure to a cyanide solution (case hardening). The counterpunch is then struck against the end of a similar rectangular steel bar—the letterpunch—to impress the counter shapes as recessed spaces (intaglio). The outer profile of the glyph is completed by scraping away with a graver the material outside the counter spaces, leaving only the stroke or lines of the glyph. Progress toward the finished design is checked by successive smoke proofs; temporary prints made from a thin coating of carbon deposited on the punch surface by a candle flame. The finished letter punch is finally hardened to withstand the rigors of reproduction by striking. One counterpunch and one letterpunch are produced for every letter or glyph making up a complete font. Matrix: The letterpunch is used to strike a blank die of soft metal to make a negative letter mould, called a matrix. Casting: The matrix is inserted into the bottom of a device called a hand mould. The mould is clamped shut and molten type metal alloy consisting mostly of lead and tin, with a small amount of antimony for hardening, is poured into a cavity from the top. Antimony has the rare property of expanding as it cools, giving the casting sharp edges. When the type metal has sufficiently cooled, the mould is unlocked and a rectangular block approximately long, called a sort, is extracted. Excess casting on the end of the sort, called the tang, is later removed to make the sort the precise height required for printing, known as "type height". The type-height was quite different in different countries. The Monotype Corporation Limited in London UK produced moulds in various heights: : United Kingdom, Canada, U.S., : France, Germany, Switzerland and most other European countries, : Belgium height, : Dutch height A Dutch printers manual mentions a tiny difference between French and German Height: 62.027 points Didot = = English height, 62.666 points Didot = = French height, 62.685 points Didot = = German height, 66.047 points Didot = = Dutch Height Tiny differences in type-height will cause quite bold images of characters. At the end of the 19th century there were only two typefoundries left in the Netherlands: Johan Enschedé & Zonen, at Haarlem, and Lettergieterij Amsterdam, voorheen Tetterode. They both had their own type-height: Enschedé: 65 23/24 points Didot, and Amsterdam: 66 1/24 points Didot. Enough difference to prevent a combined use of fonts of both typefoundries: Enschede would be to light, or otherwise the Amsterdam-font would print rather bold. A perfect way of binding clients. In 1905 the Dutch governmental , later: "State-printery" () decided during a reorganisation to use a standard type-height of 63 points Didot. , actually Belgium-height, but this fact was not widely known. Modern, factory-produced movable type was available in the late 19th century. It was held in the printing shop in a job case, a drawer about 2 inches high, a yard wide, and about two feet deep, with many small compartments for the various letters and ligatures. The most popular and accepted of the job case designs in America was the California Job Case, which took its name from the Pacific coast location of the foundries that made the case popular. Traditionally, the capital letters were stored in a separate drawer or case that was located above the case that held the other letters; this is why capital letters are called "upper case" characters while the non-capitals are "lower case". Compartments also held spacers, which are blocks of blank type used to separate words and fill out a line of type, such as em and en quads (quadrats, or spaces. A quadrat is a block of type whose face is lower than the printing letters so that it does not itself print.). An em space was the width of a capital letter "M" – as wide as it was high – while an en space referred to a space half the width of its height (usually the dimensions for a capital "N"). Individual letters are assembled into words and lines of text with the aid of a composing stick, and the whole assembly is tightly bound together to make up a page image called a forme, where all letter faces are exactly the same height to form a flat surface of type. The forme is mounted on a printing press, a thin coating of viscous ink is applied and impressions made on paper under great pressure in the press. "Sorts" is the term given to special characters not freely available in the typical type case, such as the "@" mark. Sometime it is erroneously stated that printing with metal type replaced the earlier methods. In the industrial era printing methods would be chosen to suit the purpose. For example, when printing large scale letters in posters etc. the metal type would have proved too heavy and economically unviable. Thus, large scale type was made as carved wood blocks as well as ceramics plates. Also in many cases where large scale text was required, it was simpler to hand the job to a sign painter than a printer. Images could be printed together with movable type if they were made as woodcuts or wood engravings as long as the blocks were made to the same type height. If intaglio methods, such as copper plates, were used for the images, then images and the text would have required separate print runs on different machines. History of printing in East Asia, History of Western typography, Letterpress printing, Odhecaton – the first sheet music printed with movable type, Spread of European movable type printing, Type foundry, Typesetting, Style guides Nesbitt, Alexander. The History and Technique of Lettering (c) 1957, Dover Publications, Inc. , Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 57-13116. The Dover edition is an abridged and corrected republication of the work originally published in 1950 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. under the title Lettering: The History and Technique of Lettering as Design., The classic manual of hand-press technology is International Printing Museum Web site, – Articles related to typographical symbols The history of printing starts as early as 3500 BC, when the Persian and Mesopotamian civilizations used cylinder seals to certify documents written in clay. Other early forms include block seals, pottery imprints and cloth printing. Woodblock printing on paper originated in China around 200 AD. It led to the development of movable type in the eleventh century and the spread of book production in East Asia. Woodblock printing was also used in Europe, but it was in the fifteenth century that European printers developed a process for mass-producing metal type to support an economical book publishing industry. This industry enabled the communication of ideas and sharing of knowledge on an unprecedented scale. Alongside the development of text printing, new and lower-cost methods of image reproduction were developed, including lithography, screen printing and photocopying. Hand stencils, made by blowing pigment over a hand held against a wall, have been found in Asia and Europe dating from over 35,000 years ago, and later prehistoric dates in other continents. After that stencilling has been used as a historic painting technique on all kinds of materials. Stencils may have been used to colour cloth for a very long time; the technique probably reached its peak of sophistication in Katazome and other techniques used on silks for clothes during the Edo period in Japan. In Europe, from about 1450 they were commonly used to colour old master prints printed in black and white, usually woodcuts. This was especially the case with playing-cards, which continued to be coloured by stencil long after most other subjects for prints were left in black and white. Stencils were used for mass publications, as the type did not have to be hand-written. In China seals were used since at least the Shang dynasty. In the Western Zhou, sets of seal stamps were encased in blocks of type and used on clay moulds for casting bronzes. By the end of the 3rd century BC seals were also used for printing on pottery. In the Northern dynasties textual sources contain references to wooden seals with up to 120 characters. The seals had a religious element to them. Daoists used seals as healing devices by impressing therapeutic characters onto the flesh of sick people. They were also used to stamp food, creating a talismanic character to ward off disease. The first evidence of these practices appeared under a Buddhist context in the mid 5th century. Centuries later seals were used to create hundreds of Buddha images. Stone and bronze blocks have been used to print fabric. Archaeological evidence of them have been unearthed at Mawangdui and in the tomb of the King of Nanyue, while block printed fabrics have been discovered at Mashan zhuanchang in Jiangling, Hubei. In the 4th century the practice of creating paper rubbings of stone carvings such as calligraphic models and texts took hold. Among the earliest evidence of this is a stone inscription cut in mirror image from the early 6th century. Woodblock printing (diaoban yinshua 雕版印刷), known as xylography today, was the first method of printing applied to a paper medium. It became widely used throughout East Asia both as a method for printing on textiles and later, under the influence of Buddhism, on paper. As a method of printing on cloth, the earliest surviving examples from China date to about 220. Ukiyo-e is the best known type of Japanese woodblock art print. Most European uses of the technique on paper are covered by the term woodcut (see below), except for the block-books produced mainly in the fifteenth century. According to southern Chinese histories, in the 480s, a man named Gong Xuanxuan styled himself Gong the Sage and 'said that a supernatural being had given him a "jade seal jade block writing," which did not require a brush: one blew on the paper and characters formed.' He then used his powers to mystify a local governor. Eventually he was dealt with by the governor's successor, who presumably executed Gong. Timothy Hugh Barrett postulates that Gong's magical jade block was actually a printing device, and Gong was one of the first, if not the first printer. The semi-mythical record of him therefore describes his usage of the printing process to deliberately bewilder onlookers and create an image of mysticism around himself. The rise of printing was greatly influenced by Mahayana Buddhism. According to Mahayana beliefs, religious texts hold intrinsic value for carrying the Buddha's word and act as talismanic objects containing sacred power capable of warding off evil spirits. By copying and preserving these texts, Buddhists could accrue personal merit. As a consequence the idea of printing and its advantages in replicating texts quickly became apparent to Buddhists, who by the 7th century, were using woodblocks to create apotropaic documents. These Buddhist texts were printed specifically as ritual items and were not widely circulated or meant for public consumption. Instead they were buried in consecrated ground. The earliest extant example of this type of printed matter is a fragment of a dhāraṇī (Buddhist spell) miniature scroll written in Sanskrit unearthed in a tomb in Xi'an. It is called the Great spell of unsullied pure light (Wugou jingguang da tuoluoni jing 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經) and was printed using woodblock during the Tang dynasty, c. 650-670. A similar piece, the Saddharma pundarika sutra, was also discovered and dated to 690 to 699. This coincides with the reign of Wu Zetian, under which the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, which advocates the practice of printing apotropaic and merit making texts and images, was translated by Chinese monks. Evidence of woodblock printing appeared in Korea and Japan soon afterward. The Great Dharani Sutra () was discovered at Bulguksa, South Korea in 1966 and dated between 704 and 751 in the era of Later Silla. The document is printed on a mulberry paper scroll. A dhāraṇī sutra was printed in Japan around AD 770. One million copies of the sutra, along with other prayers, were ordered to be produced by Empress Shōtoku. As each copy was then stored in a tiny wooden pagoda, the copies are together known as the Hyakumantō Darani (百万塔陀羅尼, "1,000,000 towers/pagodas Darani"). The oldest extant evidence of woodblock prints created for the purpose of reading are portions of the Lotus Sutra discovered at Turpan in 1906. They have been dated to the reign of Wu Zetian using character form recognition. The oldest text containing a specific date of printing was discovered in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang in 1907 by Aurel Stein. This copy of the Diamond Sutra is 14 feet long and contains a colophon at the inner end, which reads: Reverently [caused to be] made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 13th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong [i.e. 11 May, AD 868 ]. It is considered the world's oldest securely-dated woodblock scroll. The Diamond sutra was closely followed by the earliest extant printed almanac, the Qianfu sinian lishu (乾符四年曆書), dated to 877. From 932 to 955 the Twelve Classics and an assortment of other texts were printed. During the Song dynasty, the Directorate of education and other agencies used these block prints to disseminate their standardized versions of the Classics. Other disseminated works include the Histories, philosophical works, encyclopedias, collections, and books on medicine and the art of war. In 971 work began on the complete Tripiṭaka Buddhist Canon (Kaibao zangshu 開寶藏書) in Chengdu. It took 10 years to finish the 130,000 blocks needed to print the text. The finished product, the Sichuan edition of the Kaibao canon, also known as the Kaibao Tripitaka, was printed in 983. In 989 Seongjong of Goryeo sent the monk Yeoga to request from the Song a copy of the complete Buddhist canon. The request was granted in 991 when Seongjong's official Han Eongong visited the Song court. In 1011, Hyeonjong of Goryeo issued the carving of their own set of the Buddhist canon, which would come to be known as the Goryeo Daejanggyeong. The project was suspended in 1031 after Heyongjong's death, but work resumed again in 1046 after Munjong's accession to the throne. The completed work, amounting to some 6,000 volumes, was finished in 1087. Unfortunately the original set of woodblocks was destroyed in a conflagration during the Mongol invasion of 1232. King Gojong ordered another set to be created and work began in 1237, this time only taking 12 years to complete. In 1248 the complete Goryeo Daejanggyeong numbered 81,258 printing blocks, 52,330,152 characters, 1496 titles, and 6568 volumes. Due to the stringent editing process that went into the Goryeo Daejanggyeong and its surprisingly enduring nature, having survived completely intact over 760 years, it is considered the most accurate of Buddhist canons written in Classical Chinese as well as a standard edition for East Asian Buddhist scholarship. Prior to the introduction of printing, the size of private collections in China had already seen an increase since the invention of paper. Fan Ping (215-84) had in his collection 7,000 rolls (juan), or a few hundred titles. Two centuries later, Zhang Mian owned 10,000 juan, Shen Yue (441-513) 20,000 juan, and Xiao Tong and his cousin Xiao Mai both had collections of 30,000 juan. Emperor Yuan of Liang (508-555) was said to have had a collection of 80,000 juan. The combined total of all known private book collectors prior to the Song dynasty number around 200, with the Tang alone accounting for 60 of them. Following the maturation of woodblock printing, official, commercial, and private publishing businesses emerged while the size and number of collections grew exponentially. The Song dynasty alone accounts for some 700 known private collections, more than triple the number of all the preceding centuries combined. Private libraries of 10-20,000 juan became commonplace while six individuals owned collections of over 30,000 juan. The earliest extant private Song library catalogue lists 1,937 titles in 24,501 juan. Zhou Mi's collection numbered 42,000 juan, Chen Zhensun's collection lists 3,096 titles in 51,180 juan, and Ye Mengde (1077-1148) as well as one other individual owned libraries of 6,000 titles in 100,000 juan. The majority of which were secular in nature. Texts contained material such as medicinal instruction or came in the form of a leishu (類書), a type of encyclopedic reference book used to help examination candidates. Imperial establishments such as the Three Institutes: Zhaowen Institute, History Institute, and Jixian Institute also followed suit. At the start of the dynasty the Three Institutes' holdings numbered 13,000 juan, by the year 1023 39,142 juan, by 1068 47,588 juan, and by 1127 73,877 juan. The Three Institutes were one of several imperial libraries, with eight other major palace libraries, not including imperial academies. According to Weng Tongwen, by the 11th century, central government offices were saving tenfold by substituting earlier manuscripts with printed versions. The impact of woodblock printing on Song society is illustrated in the following exchange between Emperor Zhenzong and Xing Bing in the year 1005: In 1076, the 39 year old Su Shi remarked upon the unforeseen effect an abundance of books had on examination candidates: Woodblock printing also changed the shape and structure of books. Scrolls were gradually replaced by concertina binding (經摺裝) from the Tang period onward. The advantage was that it was now possible to flip to a reference without unfolding the entire document. The next development known as whirlwind binding (xuanfeng zhuang 旋風裝) was to secure the first and last leaves to a single large sheet, so that the book could be opened like an accordion. Around the year 1000, butterfly binding was developed. Woodblock prints allowed two mirror images to be easily replicated on a single sheet. Thus two pages were printed on a sheet, which was then folded inwards. The sheets were then pasted together at the fold to make a codex with alternate openings of printed and blank pairs of pages. In the 14th century the folding was reversed outwards to give continuous printed pages, each backed by a blank hidden page. Later the sewn bindings were preferred rather than pasted bindings. Only relatively small volumes (juan 卷) were bound up, and several of these would be enclosed in a cover called a tao, with wooden boards at front and back, and loops and pegs to close up the book when not in use. For example, one complete Tripitaka had over 6,400 juan in 595 tao. Despite the productive effect of woodblock printing, historian Endymion Wilkinson notes that it never supplanted handwritten manuscripts. Indeed, manuscripts remained dominant until the very end of Imperial China: Not only did manuscripts remain competitive with imprints, they were even preferred by elite scholars and collectors. The age of printing gave the act of copying by hand a new dimension of cultural reverence. Those who considered themselves real scholars and true connoisseurs of the book did not consider imprints to be real books. Under the elitist attitudes of the time, "printed books were for those who did not truly care about books." However, copyists and manuscript only continued to remain competitive with printed editions by dramatically reducing their price. According to the Ming dynasty author Hu Yinglin, "if no printed edition were available on the market, the hand-copied manuscript of a book would cost ten times as much as the printed work," also "once a printed edition appeared, the transcribed copy could no longer be sold and would be discarded." The result is that despite the mutual co-existence of hand-copied manuscripts and printed texts, the cost of the book had declined by about 90 percent by the end of the 16th century. As a result, literacy increased. In 1488, the Korean Choe Bu observed during his trip to China that "even village children, ferrymen, and sailors" could read, although this applied mainly to the south while northern China remained largely illiterate. In Buddhism, great merit is thought to accrue from copying and preserving texts. The 4th-century master listed the copying of scripture as the first of ten essential religious practices. The importance of perpetuating texts is set out with special force in the longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, which urges the devout not only to hear, learn, remember and study the text but to obtain a good copy and to preserve it. This "cult of the book" led to techniques for reproducing texts in great numbers, especially the short prayers or charms known as dhāraṇīs. Stamps were carved for printing these prayers on clay tablets from at least the 7th century, the date of the oldest surviving examples. Printing with a press was practiced in Christian Europe as a method for printing on cloth, where it was common by 1300. Images printed on cloth for religious purposes could be quite large and elaborate, and when paper became relatively easily available, around 1400, the medium transferred very quickly to small woodcut religious images and playing cards printed on paper. These prints were produced in very large numbers from about 1425 onwards. Around the mid-century, block-books, woodcut books with both text and images, usually carved in the same block, emerged as a cheaper alternative to manuscripts and books printed with movable type. These were all short heavily illustrated works, the bestsellers of the day, repeated in many different block-book versions: the Ars moriendi and the Biblia pauperum were the most common. There is still some controversy among scholars as to whether their introduction preceded or, the majority view, followed the introduction of movable type, with the range of estimated dates being between about 1440–1460. Movable type is the system of printing and typography using individual pieces of type. Movable-type was invented in the Northern Song dynasty around the year 1041 by the commoner Bi Sheng. Bi Sheng's movable-type was fired in porcelain. After his death, the ceramic movable-type passed onto his descendants. The next mention of movable-type occurred in 1193 when a Southern Song chief counselor, Zhou Bida (周必大), attributed the movable-type method of printing to Shen Kuo. However Shen Kuo did not invent the movable-type but credited it to Bi Sheng in his Dream Pool Essays. The ceramic movable-type was also mentioned by Kublai Khan's councilor Yao Shu, who convinced his pupil Yang Gu to print language primers using this method. The ceramic type did not hold the watery Chinese ink well, and had the additional disadvantage of the size of the type sometimes changing during the baking process, resulting in uneven matching of the type, and preventing it from becoming popular. Bi Sheng also developed wooden movable type, but it was abandoned in favor of ceramic types due to the presence of wood grains and the unevenness of the wooden type after being soaked in ink. However wooden movable type had evidently reached the Tangut Western Xia to the west by the 12th century. There, the Tanguts printed the Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union, a 449-page text considered to be the earliest extant example of a text printed using the wooden movable type. Wang Zhen, who lived in the Yuan dynasty, also described the wooden movable type in his Book of Agriculture (Nongshu 農書) of 1313. Wang Zhen used two rotating circular tables as trays for laying out his type. The first table was separated into 24 trays in which each movable type was categorized based on a number corresponding with a rhyming pattern. The second table contained miscellaneous characters. Using more than 30,000 wooden movable types, Wang Zhen printed a hundred copies of his county gazetteer, Records of Jingde County (Jingde xianzhi 旌德縣志), a text containing more than 60,000 characters. Wooden movable type printing became relatively common during the Ming dynasty and became widespread during the Qing era. Metal movable type appeared in the late Song and Yuan dynasties. Bronze movable types were used to print banknotes and official documents by both the Song and Jin. In the Jin dynasty, copper-block prints were slotted with two square holes for embedding bronze movable type characters, each selected from 1000 different characters, such that each printed paper money had a different combination of markers. A copper block printed paper banknote dated between 1215–1216 in the collection of Luo Zhenyu's Pictorial Paper Money of the Four Dynasties, 1914, shows two special characters: one called Ziliao, the other called Zihao, for the purpose of preventing counterfeit. Over the Ziliao there is a small character (輶) printed with movable copper type, while over the Zihao there is an empty square hole; apparently the associated copper metal type was lost. Another sample of Song dynasty money of the same period in the collection of Shanghai Museum has two empty square holes above Ziliao as well as Zihou, due to the loss of two copper movable types. In 1234, cast metal movable type was used in Goryeo (Korea) to print the 50-volume Prescribed Texts for Rites of the Past and Present, but no copies survived to the present. The oldest extant book printed with movable metal type is the Jikji of 1377. This form of metal movable type was described by the French scholar Henri-Jean Martin as "extremely similar to Gutenberg's". Tin movable type is mentioned in Wang Zhen's Zao Huozi Yinshufa (造活字印書法) of 1298, but it was considered unsatisfactory due to incompatibility with the inking process. Only in the late 15th century did bronze movable type begin to be widely used in China. Movable type printing was hardly used for the first 300 years after its invention by Bi Sheng. Even in Korea where metal movable type was most widespread, it still never replaced woodblock printing. Indeed, even the promulgation of Hangeul was done through woodblock prints. The general assumption is that movable type did not replace block printing in places that used Chinese characters due to the expense of producing more than 200,000 individual pieces of type. Even woodblock printing was not as cost productive as simply paying a copyist to write out a book by hand if there was no intention of producing more than a few copies. Although Sejong the Great introduced Hangeul, an alphabetic system, in the 15th century, Hangeul only replaced Hanja in the 20th century. And unlike China, the movable type system was kept mainly within the confines of a highly stratified elite Korean society: Only during the Ming and Qing dynasties did wooden and metal movable types see any considerable use, but the preferred method remained woodblock. Usage of movable type in China never exceeded 10 percent of all printed materials while 90 percent of printed books used the older woodblock technology. In one case an entire set of wooden type numbering 250,000 pieces was used for firewood. Woodblocks remained the dominant printing method in China until the introduction of lithography in the late 19th century. In Japan the use of printing beyond its Buddhist origins was insignificant for centuries after its introduction. Printing of secular materials did not pick up until the late 16th century. The Setsuyō-shū, a two-volume Chinese-Japanese dictionary printed in 1591, was the first secular book to be printed in Japan. Only after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasions of Korea, which brought back artisans and printing equipment in 1593, did Japan acquire its own wooden type font. Under Emperor Go-Yōzei's orders, the Confucian Analects were printed using metal movable type in 1598. It is generally considered to be the earliest extant Japanese text printed using metal movable type. The popularity of movable type in Japan was short lived. By the 1640s woodblock printing had reasserted itself as the dominant mode of printing in Japan. Traditionally it has been assumed that the prevalence of woodblock printing in East Asia as a result of Chinese characters led to the stagnation of printing culture and enterprise in that region. S. H. Steinberg describes woodblock printing in his Five Hundred Years of Printing as having "outlived their usefulness" and their printed material as "cheap tracts for the half-literate, ... which anyway had to be very brief because of the laborious process of cutting the letters." John Man's The Gutenberg Revolution makes a similar case: "wood-blocks were even more demanding than manuscript pages to make, and they wore out and broke, and then you had to carve another one - a whole page at a time." Recent commentaries on printing in China using contemporary European observers with first hand knowledge complicate the traditional narrative. T. H. Barrett points out that only Europeans who had never seen Chinese woodblock printing in action tended to dismiss it, perhaps due to the almost instantaneous arrival of both xylography and movable type in Europe. The early Jesuit missionaries of late 16th century China, for instance, had a similar distaste for wood based printing for very different reasons. These Jesuits found that "the cheapness and omnipresence of printing in China made the prevailing wood-based technology extremely disturbing, even dangerous." Matteo Ricci made note of "the exceedingly large numbers of books in circulation here and the ridiculously low prices at which they are sold." Two hundred years later the Englishman John Barrow, by way of the Macartney mission to Qing China, also remarked with some amazement that the printing industry was "as free as in England, and the profession of printing open to everyone." The commercial success and profitability of woodblock printing was attested to by one British observer at the end of the nineteenth century, who noted that even before the arrival of western printing methods, the price of books and printed materials in China had already reached an astoundingly low price compared to what could be found in his home country. Of this, he said: Other modern scholars such as Endymion Wilkinson hold a more conservative and skeptical view. While Wilkinson does not deny "China's dominance in book production from the fourth to the fifteenth century," he also insists that arguments for the Chinese advantage "should not be extended either forwards or backwards in time." Eastern metal movable type was spread to Europe between the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Authoritative historians Frances Gies and Joseph Gies claimed that "The Asian priority of invention movable type is now firmly established, and that Chinese-Korean technique, or a report of it traveled westward is almost certain." However, Joseph P. McDermott claimed that "No text indicates the presence or knowledge of any kind of Asian movable type or movable type imprint in Europe before 1450. The material evidence is even more conclusive." It is traditionally surmised that Johannes Gutenberg, of the German city of Mainz, developed European movable type printing technology with the printing press around 1439 and in just over a decade, the European age of printing began. However, the evidence shows a more complex evolutionary process, spread over multiple locations. Also, Johann Fust and Peter Schöffer experimented with Gutenberg in Mainz. Compared to woodblock printing, movable type page-setting was quicker and more durable. The metal type pieces were more durable and the lettering was more uniform, leading to typography and fonts. The high quality and relatively low price of the Gutenberg Bible (1455) established the superiority of movable type, and printing presses rapidly spread across Europe, leading up to the Renaissance, and later all around the world. Today, practically all movable type printing ultimately derives from Gutenberg's movable type printing, which is often regarded as the most important invention of the second millennium. Gutenberg is also credited with the introduction of an oil-based ink which was more durable than previously used water-based inks. Having worked as a professional goldsmith, Gutenberg made skillful use of his knowledge of metals. He was also the first to make his type from an alloy of lead, tin, and antimony, known as type metal, printer's lead, or printer's metal, which was critical for producing durable type that produced high-quality printed books, and proved to be more suitable for printing than the clay, wooden or bronze types used in East Asia. To create these lead types, Gutenberg used what some considered his most ingenious invention: a special matrix which enabled the moulding of new movable types with an unprecedented precision at short notice. Within a year of printing the Gutenberg Bible, Gutenberg also published the first coloured prints. The invention of the printing press revolutionized communication and book production, leading to the spread of knowledge. Printing was rapidly spread from Germany by emigrating German printers, but also by foreign apprentices returning home. A printing press was built in Venice in 1469, and by 1500 the city had 417 printers. In 1470 Johann Heynlin set up a printing press in Paris. In 1473 Kasper Straube published the Almanach cracoviense ad annum 1474 in Kraków. Dirk Martens set up a printing press in Aalst (Flanders) in 1473. He printed a book about the two lovers of Enea Piccolomini who became Pope Pius II. In 1476 a printing press was set up in England by William Caxton. The Italian Juan Pablos set up an imported press in Mexico City in 1539. The first printing press in Southeast Asia was set up in the Philippines by the Spanish in 1593. The Rev. Jose Glover intended to bring the first printing press to England's American colonies in 1638, but died on the voyage, so his widow, Elizabeth Harris Glover, established the printing house, which was run by Stephen Day and became The Cambridge Press. The Gutenberg press was much more efficient than manual copying. It remained largely unchanged in the eras of John Baskerville and Giambattista Bodoni, over 300 years later. By 1800, Lord Stanhope had constructed a press completely from cast iron, reducing the force required by 90% while doubling the size of the printed area. While Stanhope's "mechanical theory" had improved the efficiency of the press, it was only capable of 250 sheets per hour. German printer Friedrich Koenig was the first to design a non-manpowered machine—using steam. He moved to London in 1804, and met Thomas Bensley; he secured financial support for his project in 1807. With a patent in 1810, Koenig designed a steam press "much like a hand press connected to a steam engine." The first production trial of this model occurred in April 1811. A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring an image. The systems involved were first assembled in Germany by the goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century. Printing methods based on Gutenberg's printing press spread rapidly throughout first Europe and then the rest of the world, replacing most block printing and making it the sole progenitor of modern movable type printing. As a method of creating reproductions for mass consumption, the printing press has been superseded by the advent of offset printing. Johannes Gutenberg's work in the printing press began in approximately 1436 when he partnered with Andreas Dritzehen—a man he had previously instructed in gem-cutting—and Andreas Heilmann, owner of a paper mill. It was not until a 1439 lawsuit against Gutenberg that official record exists; witnesses testimony discussed type, an inventory of metals (including lead) and his type mold. Others in Europe were developing movable type at this time, including goldsmith Procopius Waldfoghel of France and Laurens Janszoon Coster of the Netherlands. They are not known to have contributed specific advances to the printing press. While the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition had attributed the invention of the printing press to Coster, the company now states that is incorrect. Early printing houses (near the time of Gutenberg) were run by "master printers." These printers owned shops, selected and edited manuscripts, determined the sizes of print runs, sold the works they produced, raised capital and organized distribution. Some master printing houses, like that of Aldus Manutius, became the cultural center for literati such as Erasmus. Print shop apprentices: Apprentices, usually between the ages of 15 and 20, worked for master printers. Apprentices were not required to be literate, and literacy rates at the time were very low, in comparison to today. Apprentices prepared ink, dampened sheets of paper, and assisted at the press. An apprentice who wished to learn to become a compositor had to learn Latin and spend time under the supervision of a journeyman., Journeyman printers: After completing their apprenticeships, journeyman printers were free to move employers. This facilitated the spread of printing to areas that were less print-centred., Compositors: Those who set the type for printing., Pressmen: the person who worked the press. This was physically labour-intensive. The earliest-known image of a European, Gutenberg-style print shop is the Dance of Death by Matthias Huss, at Lyon, 1499. This image depicts a compositor standing at a compositor's case being grabbed by a skeleton. The case is raised to facilitate his work. At the right of the printing house a bookshop is shown. According to court records from the city of Mainz, Johannes Fust was for some time Gutenberg's financial backer. By the 16th century jobs in printing were becoming increasingly specialized. Structures supporting publishers were more and more complex, leading to division of labour. In Europe between 1500 and 1700 the role of the Master Printer was dying out and giving way to the bookseller—publisher. During this period, printing had a stronger commercial imperative than previously. Risks associated with the industry however were substantial, although dependent on the nature of the publication. Bookseller publishers negotiated at trade fairs and at print shops. Jobbing work appeared: some printers performed menial tasks at the beginning of their careers to support themselves. From 150 to 1700 publishers developed several new methods of funding projects: 1. Cooperative associations/publication syndicates—a number of individuals shared the risks associated with printing and shared in the profit. This was pioneered by the French. 2. Subscription publishing: pioneered by the English in the early 17th century. A prospectus for a publication was drawn up by a publisher to raise funding. The prospectus was given to potential buyers who signed up for a copy. If there were not enough subscriptions the publication did not go ahead. Lists of subscribers were included in the books as endorsements. If enough people subscribed, there might be a reprint. Some authors used subscription publication to bypass the publisher entirely. 3. Installment publishing: books were issued in parts until a complete book had been issued. This was not necessarily done within a fixed time period. It was an effective method of spreading the cost over a period of time. It also allowed earlier returns on investment to help cover the production costs of subsequent installments. The Mechanick Exercises, by Joseph Moxon, in London, 1683, was said to be the first publication in installments. Publishing trade organizations allowed publishers to organize business concerns collectively. These arrangements included systems of self-regulation. For example, if one publisher did something to irritate other publishers he would be controlled by peer pressure. Such systems are known as cartels, and are in most countries now considered to be in restraint of trade. These arrangements helped deal with labour unrest among journeymen, who faced difficult working conditions. Brotherhoods predated unions, without the formal regulations now associated with unions. In most cases, publishers bought the copyright in a work from the author, and made some arrangement about the possible profits. This required a substantial amount of capital in addition to that needed for the physical equipment and staff. Alternatively, an author with some capital available would sometimes keep the copyright himself, and simply pay the printer to print the book. In a rotary printing press, the impressions are carved around a cylinder so that the printing can be done on long continuous rolls of paper, cardboard, plastic, or a large number of other substrates. Rotary drum printing was invented by Richard March Hoe in 1843 and patented in 1847, and then significantly improved by William Bullock in 1863. Intaglio () is a family of printmaking techniques in which the image is incised into a surface, known as the matrix or plate. Normally, copper or zinc plates are used as a surface, and the incisions are created by etching, engraving, drypoint, aquatint or mezzotint. Collographs may also be printed as intaglio plates. To print an intaglio plate the surface is covered in thick ink and then rubbed with tarlatan cloth to remove most of the excess. The final smooth wipe is usually done by hand, sometimes with the aid of newspaper or old public phone book pages, leaving ink only in the incisions. A damp piece of paper is placed on top and the plate and paper are run through a printing press that, through pressure, transfers the ink from the recesses of the plate to the paper. Invented by Bavarian author Aloys Senefelder in 1796, lithography is a method for printing on a smooth surface. Lithography is a printing process that uses chemical processes to create an image. For instance, the positive part of an image would be a hydrophobic chemical, while the negative image would be water. Thus, when the plate is introduced to a compatible ink and water mixture, the ink will adhere to the positive image and the water will clean the negative image. This allows for a relatively flat print plate which allows for much longer runs than the older physical methods of imaging (e.g., embossing or engraving). High-volume lithography is used today to produce posters, maps, books, newspapers, and packaging — just about any smooth, mass- produced item with print and graphics on it. Most books, indeed all types of high-volume text, are now printed using offset lithography. In offset lithography, which depends on photographic processes, flexible aluminum, polyester, mylar or paper printing plates are used in place of stone tablets. Modern printing plates have a brushed or roughened texture and are covered with a photosensitive emulsion. A photographic negative of the desired image is placed in contact with the emulsion and the plate is exposed to ultraviolet light. After development, the emulsion shows a reverse of the negative image, which is thus a duplicate of the original (positive) image. The image on the plate emulsion can also be created through direct laser imaging in a CTP (Computer-To-Plate) device called a platesetter. The positive image is the emulsion that remains after imaging. For many years, chemicals have been used to remove the non-image emulsion, but now plates are available that do not require chemical processing. According to Michael Sullivan, the earliest known example of color printing "is a two-color frontispiece to a Buddhist sutra scroll, dated 1346". Color printing continued to be used in China throughout the Ming and Qing Dynasty. Chromolithography became the most successful of several methods of colour printing developed by the 19th century; other methods were developed by printers such as Jacob Christoph Le Blon, George Baxter and Edmund Evans, and mostly relied on using several woodblocks with the colors. Hand-coloring also remained important; elements of the official British Ordnance Survey maps were colored by hand by boys until 1875. Chromolithography developed from lithography and the term covers various types of lithography that are printed in color. The initial technique involved the use of multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, and was still extremely expensive when done for the best quality results. Depending on the number of colors present, a chromolithograph could take months to produce, by very skilled workers. However much cheaper prints could be produced by simplifying both the number of colors used, and the refinement of the detail in the image. Cheaper images, like the advertisement illustrated, relied heavily on an initial black print (not always a lithograph), on which colors were then overprinted. To make an expensive reproduction print as what was once referred to as a "’chromo’", a lithographer, with a finished painting in front of him, gradually created and corrected the many stones using proofs to look as much as possible like the painting in front of him, sometimes using dozens of layers. Aloys Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, introduced the subject of colored lithography in his 1818 Vollstaendiges Lehrbuch der Steindruckerey (A Complete Course of Lithography), where he told of his plans to print using color and explained the colors he wished to be able to print someday. Although Senefelder recorded plans for chromolithography, printers in other countries, such as France and England, were also trying to find a new way to print in color. Godefroy Engelmann of Mulhouse in France was awarded a patent on chromolithography in July 1837, but there are disputes over whether chromolithography was already in use before this date, as some sources say, pointing to areas of printing such as the production of playing cards. Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free. Screenprinting has its origins in simple stencilling, most notably of the Japanese form (katazome), used who cut banana leaves and inserted ink through the design holes on textiles, mostly for clothing. This was taken up in France. The modern screenprinting process originated from patents taken out by Samuel Simon in 1907 in England. This idea was then adopted in San Francisco, California, by John Pilsworth in 1914 who used screenprinting to form multicolor prints in a subtractive mode, differing from screenprinting as it is done today. Flexography (also called "surface printing"), often abbreviated to "flexo", is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging (labels, tape, bags, boxes, banners, and so on). A flexo print is achieved by creating a mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material. A measured amount of ink is deposited upon the surface of the printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. The print surface then rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink. Originally flexo printing was basic in quality. Labels requiring high quality have generally been printed Offset until recently. In the last few years great advances have been made to the quality of flexo printing presses. The greatest advances though have been in the area of PhotoPolymer Printing Plates, including improvements to the plate material and the method of plate creation. —usually photographic exposure followed by chemical etch, though also by direct laser engraving. A dot matrix printer or impact matrix printer is a type of computer printer with a print head that runs back and forth on the page and prints by impact, striking an ink-soaked cloth ribbon against the paper, much like a typewriter. Unlike a typewriter or daisy wheel printer, letters are drawn out of a dot matrix, and thus, varied fonts and arbitrary graphics can be produced. Because the printing involves mechanical pressure, these printers can create carbon copies and carbonless copies. Each dot is produced by a tiny metal rod, also called a "wire" or "pin", which is driven forward by the power of a tiny electromagnet or solenoid, either directly or through small levers (pawls). Facing the ribbon and the paper is a small guide plate (often made of an artificial jewel such as sapphire or ruby ) pierced with holes to serve as guides for the pins. The moving portion of the printer is called the print head, and when running the printer as a generic text device generally prints one line of text at a time. Most dot matrix printers have a single vertical line of dot-making equipment on their print heads; others have a few interleaved rows in order to improve dot density. The first dot-matrix printers were invented in Japan. In 1968, Japanese manufacturer Epson released the EP-101, the world's first dot-matrix printer. The same year, Japanese manufacturer OKI introduced the first serial impact dot matrix printer (SIDM), the OKI Wiredot. A thermal printer (or direct thermal printer) produces a printed image by selectively heating coated thermochromic paper, or thermal paper as it is commonly known, when the paper passes over the thermal print head. The coating turns black in the areas where it is heated, producing an image. The laser printer, based on a modified xerographic copier, was invented at Xerox in 1969 by researcher Gary Starkweather, who had a fully functional networked printer system working by 1971. Laser printing eventually became a multibillion-dollar business for Xerox. The first commercial implementation of a laser printer was the IBM model 3800 in 1976, used for high-volume printing of documents such as invoices and mailing labels. It is often cited as "taking up a whole room," implying that it was a primitive version of the later familiar device used with a personal computer. While large, it was designed for an entirely different purpose. Many 3800s are still in use. The first laser printer designed for use with an individual computer was released with the Xerox Star 8010 in 1981. Although it was innovative, the Star was an expensive ($17,000) system that was only purchased by a small number of laboratories and institutions. After personal computers became more widespread, the first laser printer intended for a mass market was the HP LaserJet 8ppm, released in 1984, using a Canon engine controlled by HP software. The HP LaserJet printer was quickly followed by other laser printers from Brother Industries, IBM, and others. Most noteworthy was the role the laser printer played in popularizing desktop publishing with the introduction of the Apple LaserWriter for the Apple Macintosh, along with Aldus PageMaker software, in 1985. With these products, users could create documents that would previously have required professional typesetting. Inkjet printers are a type of computer printer that operates by propelling tiny droplets of liquid ink onto paper. A dye-sublimation printer (or dye-sub printer) is a computer printer which employs a printing process that uses heat to transfer dye to a medium such as a plastic card, printer paper or poster paper. The process is usually to lay one color at a time using a ribbon that has color panels. Most dye-sublimation printers use CMYO colors which differs from the more recognised CMYK colors in that the black dye is eliminated in favour of a clear overcoating. This overcoating (which has numerous names depending on the manufacturer) is effectively a thin laminate which protects the print from discoloration from UV light and the air while also rendering the print water-resistant. Many consumer and professional dye-sublimation printers are designed and used for producing photographic prints. Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on a physical surface, such as common or photographic paper or paperboard-cover stock, film, cloth, plastic, vinyl, magnets, labels etc. It can be differentiated from litho, flexography, gravure or letterpress printing in many ways, some of which are; Every impression made onto the paper can be different, as opposed to making several hundred or thousand impressions of the same image from one set of printing plates, as in traditional methods., The Ink or Toner does not absorb into the substrate, as does conventional ink, but forms a layer on the surface and may be fused to the substrate by using an inline fuser fluid with heat process (toner) or UV curing process (ink)., It generally requires less waste in terms of chemicals used and paper wasted in set up or makeready (bringing the image "up to color" and checking position)., It is excellent for rapid prototyping, or small print runs which means that it is more accessible to a wider range of designers and more cost effective in short runs. Frescography is a method for reproduction/creation of murals using digital printing methods, invented in 1998 by Rainer Maria Latzke, and patented in 2000. The frescography is based on digitally cut-out motifs which are stored in a database. CAM software programs then allow to enter the measurements of a wall or ceiling to create a mural design with low resolution motifs. Since architectural elements such as beams, windows or doors can be integrated, the design will result in an accurately and tailor-fit wall mural. Once a design is finished, the low resolution motifs are converted into the original high resolution images and are printed on canvas by Wide-format printers. The canvas then can be applied to the wall in a wall-paperhanging like procedure and will then look like on-site created mural. Three-dimensional printing is a method of converting a virtual 3D model into a physical object. 3D printing is a category of rapid prototyping technology. 3D printers typically work by 'printing' successive layers on top of the previous to build up a three dimensional object. 3D printers are generally faster, more affordable and easier to use than other additive fabrication technologies. Woodcut is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges. The areas to show 'white' are cut away with a knife or chisel, leaving the characters or image to show in 'black' at the original surface level. The block is cut along the grain of the wood (unlike wood engraving where the block is cut in the end-grain). In Europe beechwood was most commonly used; in Japan, a special type of cherry wood was popular. Woodcut first appeared in ancient China. From 6th century onward, woodcut icons became popular and especially flourished in Chinese Buddhism. Since the 10th century, woodcut pictures appeared as illustrations in Chinese books, on banknotes such as Jiaozi (currency), and as single sheet images. Woodcut New Year pictures are also very popular with the Chinese. In China and Tibet printed images mostly remained tied as illustrations to accompanying text until the modern period. The earliest woodblock printed book, the Diamond Sutra contains a large image as frontispiece, and many Buddhist texts contain some images. Later some notable Chinese artists designed woodcuts for books, the individual print develop in China in the form of New Year picture as an art-form in the way it did in Europe and Japan. In Europe, woodcut is the oldest technique used for old master prints, developing about 1400, by using on paper existing techniques for printing on cloth. The explosion of sales of cheap woodcuts in the middle of the century led to a fall in standards, and many popular prints were very crude. The development of hatching followed on rather later than in engraving. Michael Wolgemut was significant in making German woodcut more sophisticated from about 1475, and Erhard Reuwich was the first to use cross-hatching (far harder to do than in engraving or etching). Both of these produced mainly book-illustrations, as did various Italian artists who were also raising standards there at the same period. At the end of the century Albrecht Dürer brought the Western woodcut to a level that has never been surpassed, and greatly increased the status of the single-leaf (i.e. an image sold separately) woodcut. Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold or steel are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing images on paper, which are called engravings. Engraving was a historically important method of producing images on paper, both in artistic printmaking, and also for commercial reproductions and illustrations for books and magazines. It has long been replaced by photography in its commercial applications and, partly because of the difficulty of learning the technique, is much less common in printmaking, where it has been largely replaced by etching and other techniques. Other terms often used for engravings are copper-plate engraving and Line engraving. These should all mean exactly the same, but especially in the past were often used very loosely to cover several printmaking techniques, so that many so- called engravings were in fact produced by totally different techniques, such as etching. In antiquity, the only engraving that could be carried out is evident in the shallow grooves found in some jewellery after the beginning of the 1st Millennium B.C. The majority of so-called engraved designs on ancient gold rings or other items were produced by chasing or sometimes a combination of lost-wax casting and chasing. In the European Middle Ages goldsmiths used engraving to decorate and inscribe metalwork. It is thought that they began to print impressions of their designs to record them. From this grew the engraving of copper printing plates to produce artistic images on paper, known as old master prints in Germany in the 1430s. Italy soon followed. Many early engravers came from a goldsmithing background. The first and greatest period of the engraving was from about 1470 to 1530, with such masters as Martin Schongauer, Albrecht Dürer, and Lucas van Leiden. Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal (the original process—in modern manufacturing other chemicals may be used on other types of material). As an intaglio method of printmaking it is, along with engraving, the most important technique for old master prints, and remains widely used today. Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates ones it is continuous tone imagery through the use of equally spaced dots of varying size. 'Halftone' can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process. The idea of halftone printing originates from William Fox Talbot. In the early 1850s he suggested using "photographic screens or veils" in connection with a photographic intaglio process. Several different kinds of screens were proposed during the following decades, but the first half-tone photo-engraving process was invented by Canadians George- Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo Jr. On October 30, 1869, Desbarats published the Canadian Illustrated News which became the world's first periodical to successfully employ this photo-mechanical technique; featuring a full page half-tone image of His Royal Highness Prince Arthur, from a photograph by Notman. Ambitious to exploit a much larger circulation, Debarats and Leggo went to New York and launched the New York Daily Graphic in March 1873, which became the world's first illustrated daily. The first truly successful commercial method was patented by Frederic Ives of Philadelphia in 1881. But although he found a way of breaking up the image into dots of varying sizes he did not make use of a screen. In 1882 the German George Meisenbach patented a halftone process in England. His invention was based on the previous ideas of Berchtold and Swan. He used single lined screens which were turned during exposure to produce cross-lined effects. He was the first to achieve any commercial success with relief halftones. Xerography (or electrophotography) is a photocopying technique developed by Chester Carlson in 1938 and patented on October 6, 1942. He received for his invention. The name xerography came from the Greek radicals xeros (dry) and graphos (writing), because there are no liquid chemicals involved in the process, unlike earlier reproduction techniques like cyanotype. In 1938 Bulgarian physicist Georgi Nadjakov found that when placed into electric field and exposed to light, some dielectrics acquire permanent electric polarization in the exposed areas. That polarization persists in the dark and is destroyed in light. Chester Carlson, the inventor of photocopying, was originally a patent attorney and part-time researcher and inventor. His job at the patent office in New York City required him to make a large number of copies of important papers. Carlson, who was arthritic, found this a painful and tedious process. This prompted him to conduct experiments with photoconductivity. Carlson experimented with "electrophotography" in his kitchen and in 1938, applied for a patent for the process. He made the first "photocopy" using a zinc plate covered with sulfur. The words "10-22-38 Astoria" were written on a microscope slide, which was placed on top of more sulfur and under a bright light. After the slide was removed, a mirror image of the words remained. Carlson tried to sell his invention to some companies, but because the process was still underdeveloped he failed. At the time multiple copies were made using carbon paper or duplicating machines and people did not feel the need for an electronic machine. Between 1939 and 1944, Carlson was turned down by over 20 companies, including IBM and GE, neither of which believed there was a significant market for copiers. History of the alphabet, History of writing, History of paper, Phaistos disc (a stamping technology considered by some researchers to be a precursor of printing), History of graphic design, Publishing, Global spread of the printing press, History of books (alk. paper) Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press, a process by which many copies are produced by repeated direct impression of an inked, raised surface against sheets or a continuous roll of paper. A worker composes and locks movable type into the "bed" or "chase" of a press, inks it, and presses paper against it to transfer the ink from the type which creates an impression on the paper. In practice, letterpress also includes other forms of relief printing with printing presses, such as wood engravings, photo-etched zinc "cuts" (plates), and linoleum blocks, which can be used alongside metal type, or wood type, in a single operation, as well as stereotypes and electrotypes of type and blocks. With certain letterpress units it is also possible to join movable type with slugs cast using hot metal typesetting. In theory, anything that is "type high" or .918 inches can be printed using letterpress. Letterpress printing was the normal form of printing text from its invention by Johannes Gutenberg in the mid-15th century until the 19th century and remained in wide use for books and other uses until the second half of the 20th century. Letterpress printing remained the primary means of printing and distributing information until the 20th century, when offset printing was developed, which largely supplanted its role in printing books and newspapers. All forms of data collection were affected by the invention of letterpress printing, as were many careers such as teachers, preachers, physicians and surgeons and artist-engineers. More recently, letterpress printing has seen a revival in an artisanal form. Johannes Gutenberg is credited with the development in the western hemisphere, in about 1440, of modern movable type printing from individually cast, reusable letters set together in a form (frame or chase). Movable type was first invented in China using ceramic type in 1040 AD. Gutenberg also invented a wooden printing press, based on the extant wine press, where the type surface was inked with leather-covered ink balls and paper laid carefully on top by hand, then slid under a padded surface and pressure applied from above by a large threaded screw. It was Gutenberg's "screw press" or hand press that was used to print 180 copies of the Bible. At 1,282 pages, it took him and his staff of 20 almost 3 years to complete. 48 copies remain intact today. This form of presswork gradually replaced the hand-copied manuscripts of scribes and illuminators as the most prevalent form of printing. Printers' workshops, previously unknown in Europe before the mid-15th century, were found in every important metropolis by 1500. Later metal presses used a knuckle and lever arrangement instead of the screw, but the principle was the same. Ink rollers made of composition made inking faster and paved the way for further automation. With the advent of industrial mechanisation, inking was carried out by rollers that passed over the face of the type, then moved out of the way onto an ink plate to pick up a fresh film of ink for the next sheet. Meanwhile, a sheet of paper slid against a hinged platen (see image), which then rapidly pressed onto the type and swung back again as the sheet was removed and the next sheet inserted. As the fresh sheet of paper replaced the printed paper, the now freshly inked rollers ran over the type again. Fully automated 20th-century presses, such as the Kluge and "Original" Heidelberg Platen (the "Windmill"), incorporated pneumatic sheet feed and delivery. Rotary presses were used for high-speed work. In the oscillating press, the form slid under a drum around which each sheet of paper got wrapped for the impression, sliding back under the inking rollers while the paper was removed and a new sheet inserted. In a newspaper press, a papier-mâché mixture called a flong used to make a mould of the entire form of type, then dried and bent, and a curved metal stereotype plate cast against it. The plates were clipped to a rotating drum and could print against a continuous reel of paper at the enormously high speeds required for overnight newspaper production. This invention helped aid the high demand for knowledge during this time period. Letterpress printing was introduced in Canada in 1752 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by John Bushell in the newspaper format. This paper was named the Halifax Gazette and became Canada's first newspaper. Bushell apprenticed under Bartholomew Green in Boston. Green moved to Halifax in 1751 in hopes of starting a newspaper, as it did not exist in the area. Two weeks and a day after the press he was going to use for this new project arrived in Halifax, Green died. Upon receiving word about what happened, Bushell moved to Halifax and continued what Green had started. The Halifax Gazette was first published on March 23, 1752, making Bushell the first letterpress printer in Halifax, and eventually Canada. There is only one known surviving copy, which was found in the Massachusetts Historical Society. One of the first forms of letterpress printing in the United States was Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick started by Benjamin Harris. This was the first form of a newspaper with multiple pages in the Americas. The first publication of Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick was September 25, 1690. Letterpress started to become largely out-of-date in the 1970s because of the rise of computers and new self-publishing print and publish methods. Many printing establishments went out of business from the 1980s to 1990s and sold their equipment after computers replaced letterpress's abilities more efficiently. These commercial print shops discarded presses, making them affordable and available to artisans throughout the country. Popular presses are, in particular, Vandercook cylinder proof presses and Chandler & Price platen presses. In the UK there is particular affection for the Arab press, built by Josiah Wade in Halifax. Letterpress recently has had a rebirth in popularity because of the "allure of hand-set type" and the differences today between traditional letterpress and computerized printed text. Letterpress is unique and different from standard printing formats that we are currently used to. Letterpress commonly features a relief impression of the type, although this was considered bad printing in traditional letterpress. Letterpress's goal before the recent revival of letterpress was to not show any impression. The type touched the paper slightly to leave a transfer of ink, but did not leave an impression. This is often referred to as "the kiss" An example of this former technique would be newspapers. Some letterpress practitioners today have the distinct goal of showing the impression of type, to distinctly note that it is letterpress but many printers choose to maintain the integrity of the traditional methods. Printing with too much impression is destructive to both the machines and to the type. Since its revival letterpress has largely been used for fine art and stationery as its traditional use for newspaper printing is no longer relevant for use. Letterpress is considered a craft as it involves using a skill and is done by hand. Fine letterpress work is crisper than offset litho because of its impression into the paper, giving greater visual definition to the type and artwork, although it is not what letterpress traditionally was meant for. Today, many of these small letterpress shops survive by printing fine editions of books or by printing upscale invitations, stationery, and greeting cards. These methods often use presses that require the press operator to feed paper one sheet at a time by hand. Today, the juxtaposition of this technique and offbeat humor for greeting cards has been proven by letterpress shops to be marketable to independent boutiques and gift shops. Some of these printmakers are just as likely to use new printing methods as old, for instance by printing using photopolymer plates on restored vintage presses. Letterpress publishing has recently undergone a revival in the US, Canada, and the UK, under the general banner of the "Small Press Movement". Renewed interest in letterpress was fueled by Martha Stewart Weddings magazine, which began using pictures of letterpress invitations in the 1990s. In 2004 they state "Great care is taken in choosing the perfect wedding stationery – couples ponder details from the level of formality to the flourishes of the typeface. The method of printing should be no less important, as it can enliven the design exquisitely. That is certainly the case with letterpress." In regards to having printed letterpress invitations, the beauty and texture became appealing to couples who began wanting letterpress invitations instead of engraved, thermographed, or offset-printed invitations. The movement has been helped by the emergence of a number of organizations that teach letterpress such as Columbia College Chicago's Center for Book and Paper Arts, Art Center College of Design and Armory Center for the Arts both in Pasadena, Calif., New York's Center for Book Arts, Studio on the Square and The Arm NYC, the Wells College Book Arts Center in Aurora, New York, the San Francisco Center for the Book, Bookworks, Seattle's School of Visual Concepts, Olympia's The Evergreen State College, Black Rock Press, North Carolina State University, Washington D.C's Corcoran College of Art and Design, Penland School of Crafts, the Minnesota Center for Book Arts, the International Printing Museum in Carson, CA, Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, and the Bowehouse Press at VCU in Richmond, VA. Affordable copper, magnesium and photopolymer platemakers and milled aluminum bases have allowed letterpress printers to produce type and images derived from digital artwork, fonts and scans. Economical plates have encouraged the rise of "digital letterpress" in the 21st century, allowing a small number of firms to flourish commercially and enabling a larger number of boutique and hobby printers to avoid the limitations and complications of acquiring and composing metal type. At the same time there has been a renaissance in small- scale type foundries to produce new metal type on Monotype equipment, Thompson casters and the original American Type Founders machines. The process of letterpress printing consists of several stages: composition, imposition and lock-up, and printing. In a small shop, all would occur in a single room, whereas in larger printing plants, such as with urban newspapers and magazines, each might form a distinct department with its own room, or even floor. Composition, or typesetting, is the stage where pieces of movable type are assembled to form the desired text. The person charged with composition is called a "compositor" or "typesetter", setting letter by letter and line by line. Traditionally, as in manual composition, it involves selecting the individual type letters from a type case, placing them in a composing stick, which holds several lines, then transferring those to a larger type galley. By this method the compositor gradually builds out the text of an individual page letter by letter. In mechanical typesetting, it may involve using a keyboard to select the type, or even cast the desired type on the spot, as in hot metal typesetting, which are then added to a galley designed for the product of that process. The first keyboard-actuated typesetting machines to be widely accepted, the Linotype and the Monotype, were introduced in the 1890s. The Ludlow Typograph Machine, for casting of type-high slugs from hand-gathered brass matrices, was first manufactured in Chicago in 1912 and was widely used until the 1980s. Many are still in use and although no longer manufactured, service and parts are still available for them. After a galley is assembled to fill a page's worth of type, the type is tied together into a single unit so that it may be transported without falling apart. From this bundle a galley proof is made, which is inspected by a proof-reader to make sure that the particular page is accurate. Broadly, imposition or imposing is the process by which the tied assemblages of type are converted into a form (or forme) ready to use on the press. A person charged with imposition is a stoneman or stonehand, doing their work on a large, flat imposition stone (though some later ones were instead made of iron). In the more specific modern sense, imposition is the technique of arranging the various pages of type with respect to one another. Depending on page size and the sheet of paper used, several pages may be printed at once on a single sheet. After printing, these are cut and trimmed before folding or binding. In these steps, the imposition process ensures that the pages face the right direction and in the right order with the correct margins. Printing formes are commonly put together in multiples of 4 pages so that when the sheet of paper – after being printed, folded, and cut – will fall into place each page with the print product. Other types of print materials can be imposed on a front-verse binary imposition scheme, and products with page count and/or outside standards also use personalized imposition The stonehand arranges the pages in such a way that the folios (page numbers) of facing pages add up to the form's total + 1 (12 + 1 = 13, 24 + 1 = 25 etc.) Low- height pieces of wood or metal furniture are added to make up the blank areas of a page. The printer uses a mallet to strike a wooden block, which ensures tops (and only the tops) of the raised type blocks are all aligned so they will contact a flat sheet of paper simultaneously. Lock-up is the final step before printing. The printer removes the cords that hold the type together, and turns the quoins with a key or lever to lock the entire complex of type, blocks, furniture, and chase (frame) into place. This creates the final forme, which the printer takes to the printing press. In a newspaper setting, each page needs a truck to be transported – 2 pages need 2 trucks hence the term double truck. The first copy is proofed again for errors before starting the printing run. The working of the printing process depends on the type of press used, as well as any of its associated technologies (which varied by time period). Hand presses generally required two people to operate them: one to ink the type, the other to work the press. Later mechanized jobbing presses require a single operator to feed and remove the paper, as the inking and pressing are done automatically. The completed sheets are then taken to dry and for finishing, depending on the variety of printed matter being produced. With newspapers, they are taken to a folding machine. Sheets for books are sent for bookbinding. You can distinguish a traditional letterpress printer from a digital printer by its debossed lettering. A traditional letterpress printer made a heavy impression into the stock and producing any indentation at all into the paper would have resulted in the print run being rejected. Part of the skill of operating a traditional letterpress printer was to adjust the machine pressures just right so that the type just kissed the paper, transferring the minimum amount of ink to create the crispest print with no indentation. This was very important as when the print exited the machine and was stacked having too much wet ink and an indentation would have increased the risk of set-off (ink passing from the front of one sheet onto the back of the next sheet on the stack). The letterpress printing process remained virtually unchanged until the 1950s when it was replaced with the more efficient and commercially viable offset printing process. The labor-intensive nature of the typesetting and need to store vast amounts of lead or wooden type resulted in the letterpress printing process falling out of favour. In the 1980s dedicated letterpress practitioners revived the old craft by embracing a new manufacturing method which allowed them to create raised surface printing plates from a negative and a photopolymer plate. Photopolymer plates are light sensitive. On one side the surface is cured when it is exposed to ultraviolet light and other side is a metal or plastic backing that can be mounted on a base. The relief printing surface is created by placing a negative of the piece to be printed on the photosensitive side of the plate; the light passing through the clear regions of the negative causes the photopolymer to harden. The unexposed areas remain soft and can be washed away with water. With these new printing plates, designers were no longer inhibited by the limitations of handset wooden or lead type. New design possibilities emerged and the letterpress printing process experienced a revival. Today it is in high demand for wedding stationery however there are limitations to what can be printed and designers must adhere to some design for letterpress principles. The invention of ultra-violet curing inks has helped keep the rotary letterpress alive in areas like self-adhesive labels. There is also still a large amount of flexographic printing, a similar process, which uses rubber plates to print on curved or awkward surfaces, and a lesser amount of relief printing from huge wooden letters for lower-quality poster work. Rotary letterpress machines are still used on a wide scale for printing self-adhesive and non-self-adhesive labels, tube laminate, cup stock, etc. The printing quality achieved by a modern letterpress machine with UV curing is on par with flexo presses. It is more convenient and user friendly than a flexo press. It uses water-wash photopolymer plates, which are as good as any solvent-washed flexo plate. Today even CtP (computer-to-plate) plates are available making it a full-fledged, modern printing process. Because there is no anilox roller in the process, the make-ready time also goes down when compared to a flexo press. Inking is controlled by keys very much similar to an offset press. UV inks for letterpress are in paste form, unlike flexo. Various manufacturers produce UV rotary letterpress machines, viz. Dashen, Nickel, Taiyo Kikai, KoPack, Gallus, etc. – and offer hot/cold foil stamping, rotary die cutting, flatbed die cutting, sheeting, rotary screen printing, adhesive side printing, and inkjet numbering. Central impression presses are more popular than inline presses due to their ease of registration and simple design. Printing of up to nine colours plus varnish is possible with various online converting processes. But as the letterpress machines are the same like a decade before, they can furthermore only be used with one colour of choice simultaneously. If there are more colours needed, they have to be exchanged one after the other. Letterpress can produce work of high quality at high speed, but it requires much time to adjust the press for varying thicknesses of type, engravings, and plates called makeready. The process requires a high degree of craftsmanship, but in the right hands, letterpress excels at fine typography. It is used by many small presses that produce fine, handmade, limited-edition books, artists' books, and high-end ephemera such as greeting cards and broadsides. Because of the time needed to make letterpress plates and to prepare the press, setting type by hand has become less common with the invention of the photopolymer plate, a photosensitive plastic sheet that can be mounted on metal to bring it up to type high. To bring out the best attributes of letterpress, printers must understand the capabilities and advantages of what can be a very unforgiving medium. For instance, since most letterpress equipment prints only one color at a time, printing multiple colors requires a separate press run in register with the preceding color. When offset printing arrived in the 1950s, it cost less, and made the color process easier. The inking system on letterpress equipment is the same as offset presses, posing problems for some graphics. Detailed, white (or "knocked out") areas, such as small, serif type, or very fine halftone surrounded by fields of color can fill in with ink and lose definition if rollers are not adjusted correctly. However, a skilled printer overcomes most of these problems. However, a letterpress provides the option of a wider range of paper, including handmade, organic, and tree-free. Letterpress printing provides a wide range of production choices. The classic feel and finish of letterpress papers takes printing back to an era of quality and craftsmanship. Even the smell of the ink, more apparent on a letterpress-printed page than with offset, may appeal to collectors. While less common in contemporary letterpress printing, it is possible to print halftone photographs, via photopolymer plates. However, letterpress printing's strengths are crisp lines, patterns, and typography. Creating files for letterpress is similar to conventional printing. Ink Color: Files are created using spot colors, or CMYK not RGB. A spot color is specified for each color used., Paper Color: Dark ink on a light paper gives the best image. Inks are translucent and the paper color shows through. For light colors on dark paper, printers use foil stamping or engraving instead of letterpress. To build up color density, letterpress pieces can be run through the press two times using the same color., Screens: Gray-scale images can be used if made with a coarse screen (85 line or less). A second color should be used instead of screening a color in most cases., Thickness: Art must be above ¼ point and with no hairlines., Fonts: Type must be five points or larger for best results. For reversed type the point size should be 12-point or larger, as smaller type with its thin stroke can fill in, or plug. An outline stroke is often applied to allow for ink gain., Solids: Letterpress solids print differently than conventionally printed lithographic solids. While letterpress does lay down a thick film of ink, the process tends to show the texture of the sheet. Also, solid areas do not give the appearance of depth that fine type and thin lines do. Solid areas can also cause the paper to ripple, especially on thinner sheets., Registration: Letterpress does register well, however, it does not have the capabilities of modern offset printing. Trapping and key lines do not work well in letterpress printing. A blank area should be incorporated between colors. Black and very dark colors may be overprinted over lighter colors., Depth: The type depth is dependent on the paper. Typically, letterpress papers are thick and soft so the type creates a deep impression. When making fold-over items, the printer typically backs off the pressure to avoid embossing the backside of the piece., Image and File Prep: Letterpress excels at line copy and type, so vector images work well. Crop marks should be shown as a register color. Images need to bleed (extend past the trim line)., Die cut, Emboss and Scores: These effects work well with most Letterpress paper. Images to emboss or die cut are called out in a different color layer (typically magenta). Scores are typically indicated with a cyan line. Any intricate shapes or patterns should be reviewed with the printer. For thick cover stocks many printers use a "kiss cut" (partially through the stock) rather than a score., Envelopes: It is best to print on the flap of a ready-made envelope. Other areas of the ready-made envelopes can be printed, but bruising can occur on the other side of the envelope. Several dozen colleges and universities around the United States have either begun or re-activated programs teaching letterpress printing in fully equipped facilities. In many cases these letterpress shops are affiliated with the college's library or art department, and in others they are independent, student-run operations or extracurricular activities sponsored by the college. The College & University Letterpress Printers' Association (CULPA) was founded in 2006 by Abigail Uhteg at the Maryland Institute College of Art to help these schools stay connected and share resources. Many universities offer degree programs such as: Oregon College of Art and Craft, Southwest School of Art, Middle Tennessee State University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Indiana University, Miami University, Corcoran College of Art and Design, and Rochester Institute of Technology. The current renaissance of letterpress printing has created a crop of hobby press shops that are owner- operated and driven by a love of the craft. Several larger printers have added an environmental component to the venerable art by using only wind-generated electricity to drive their presses and plant equipment. Notably, a few small boutique letterpress shops are using only solar power. In Berkeley, California, letterpress printer and lithographer David Goines maintains a studio with a variety of platen and cylinder letterpresses as well as lithography presses. He has drawn attention both from commercial printers and fine artists for his wide knowledge and meticulous skill with letterpress printing. He collaborated with restaurateur and free speech activist Alice Waters, the owner of Chez Panisse, on her book 30 Recipes Suitable for Framing. He has created strikingly colorful large posters for such Bay Area businesses and institutions as Acme Bread and UC Berkeley. In London, St Bride Library houses a large collection of letterpress information in its collection of 50,000 books: all the classic works on printing technique, visual style, typography, graphic design, calligraphy and more. This is one of the world's foremost collections and is located off Fleet Street in the heart of London's old printing and publishing district. In addition, regular talks, conferences, exhibitions and demonstrations take place. The St Bride Institute, Edinburgh College of Art, Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, The Arts University Bournemouth, Plymouth University, University for the Creative Arts Farnham, London College of Communication and Camberwell College of the Arts London run short courses in letterpress as well as offering these facilities as part of their Graphic Design Degree Courses. The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, houses one of the largest collections of wood type and wood cuts in the world inside one of the Hamilton Manufacturing Company's factory buildings. Also included are presses and vintage prints. The museum holds many workshops and conferences throughout the year and regularly welcomes groups of students from universities from across the United States. In 2011 John Bonadies, and Jeff Adams, and Molly Poganski created a virtual letterpress that runs on an iPad (and later the Mac) and replicates each step of the letterpress process. LetterMpress was funded from a Kickstarter campaign enabling the developers to collect and digitize wood type from around the world. The app's press is modeled after a Vandercook SP-15 (considered to be a top-of-the-line proof press in its time, and coveted by artists and designers today). In 2015 a renaissance of letterpress printing by artists is widely acknowledged. Amateur press association, List of stationery topics, Offset ink, Punchcutter, St Bride Library Blumenthal, Joseph. (1973) Art of the printed book, 1455–1955., Blumenthal, Joseph. (1977) The Printed Book in America., Jury, David (2004). Letterpress: The Allure of the Handmade., Lange, Gerald. (1998) Printing digital type on the hand-operated flatbed cylinder press., Ryder, John (1977), "Printing for Pleasure, A Practical Guide for Amateurs", Stevens, Jen. (2001). Making Books: Design in British Publishing since 1940., Ryan, David. (2001). Letter Perfect: The Art of Modernist Typography, 1896–1953., Drucker, Johanna. (1997). The Visible Word : Experimental Typography and Modern Art, 1909–1923., Auchincloss, Kenneth. "The Second Revival: Fine Printing since World War II". In Printing History No. 41: pp. 3–11., Cleeton, Glen U. & Pitkin, Charles W. with revisions by Cornwell, Raymond L. (1963) "General Printing – An illustrated guide to letterpress printing, with hundreds of step-by-step photos". Introduction to Letterpress Printing, Bibliography of Letterpress Printing, British Letterpress: information for hobby printers, and specific UK letterpress machines, The Fine Press Book Association, Early Rollers and Composition Rollers, Letterpress Studio Directory, Letterpress Printing Nostalgia, Letterpress in Russia Heidelberg Windmill Letterpress Printing demo, Firefly Press demo, Chandler and Price 10 x 15 letterpress demo

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Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is located on the west bank of the Hudson River approximately south of its confluence with the Mohawk River and approximately north of New York City. Albany is known for its rich history, commerce, culture, architecture, and institutions of higher education. Albany constitutes the economic and cultural core of the Capital District of New York State, which comprises the Albany–Schenectady–Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With a 2013 Census-estimated population of 1.1 million the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state. As of the 2010 census, the population of Albany was 97,856. The area that later became Albany was settled by Dutch colonists who, in 1614, built Fort Nassau for fur trading and, in 1624, built Fort Orange. In 1664, the English took over the Dutch settlements, renaming the city as Albany, in honor of the then Duke of Albany, the future James II of England and James VII of Scotland. The city was officially chartered in 1686 under English rule. It became the capital of New York in 1797 following formation of the United States. Albany is one of the oldest surviving settlements of the original British thirteen colonies, and is the longest continuously chartered city in the United States. During the late 18th century and throughout most of the 19th, Albany was a center of trade and transportation. The city lies toward the north end of the navigable Hudson River, was the original eastern terminus of the Erie Canal connecting to the Great Lakes, and was home to some of the earliest railroad systems in the world. In the 1920s, a powerful political machine controlled by the Democratic Party arose in Albany. In the latter part of the 20th century, Albany experienced a decline in its population due to urban sprawl and suburbanization; however, the New York State Legislature approved a $234 million building and renovation plan for the City in the 1990s that spurred renovation and building projects around the downtown area. In the early 21st century, Albany has experienced growth in the high-technology industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector. Albany is one of the oldest surviving European settlements from the original thirteen colonies and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States. The Hudson River area was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Mohican (Mahican), who called it Pempotowwuthut-Muhhcanneuw, meaning "the fireplace of the Mohican nation." Based to the west along the Mohawk River, the Iroquoian-speaking Mohawk referred to it as Sche-negh-ta-da, or "through the pine woods," referring to the path they took there. The Mohawk were one of the Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee, and became strong trading partners with the Dutch and English. It is likely the Albany area was visited by European fur traders, perhaps as early as 1540, but the extent and duration of those visits has not been determined. Permanent European claims began when Englishman Henry Hudson, exploring for the Dutch East India Company on the Half Moon (), reached the area in 1609, claiming it for the United Netherlands. In 1614, Hendrick Christiaensen built Fort Nassau, a fur-trading post and the first documented European structure in present-day Albany. Commencement of the fur trade provoked hostility from the French colony in Canada and among the natives, all of whom vied to control the trade. In 1618, a flood ruined the fort on Castle Island, but it was rebuilt in 1624 as Fort Orange. Both forts were named in honor of the leading family of the Dutch Revolt, members of the House of Orange-Nassau. Fort Orange and the surrounding area were incorporated as the village of Beverwijck () in 1652. In these early decades of trade, the Dutch, Mohican and Mohawk developed relations that reflected differences among their three cultures. When New Netherland was captured by the English in 1664, the name was changed from Beverwijck to Albany in honor of the Duke of Albany (later James II of England and James VII of Scotland). Duke of Albany was a Scottish title given since 1398, generally to a younger son of the King of Scots. The name is ultimately derived from Alba, the Gaelic name for Scotland. The Dutch briefly regained Albany in August 1673 and renamed the city Willemstadt; the English took permanent possession with the Treaty of Westminster (1674). On November 1, 1683, the Province of New York was split into counties, with Albany County being the largest. At that time the county included all of present New York State north of Dutchess and Ulster Counties in addition to present-day Bennington County, Vermont, theoretically stretching west to the Pacific Ocean; Albany became the county seat. Albany was formally chartered as a municipality by provincial Governor Thomas Dongan on July 22, 1686. The Dongan Charter was virtually identical in content to the charter awarded to the city of New York three months earlier. Dongan created Albany as a strip of land wide and long. Over the years Albany would lose much of the land to the west and annex land to the north and south. At this point, Albany had a population of about 500 people. In 1754, representatives of seven British North American colonies met in the Stadt Huys, Albany's city hall, for the Albany Congress; Benjamin Franklin of Pennsylvania presented the Albany Plan of Union there, which was the first formal proposal to unite the colonies. Although it was never adopted by Parliament, it was an important precursor to the United States Constitution. The same year, the French and Indian War, the fourth in a series of wars dating back to 1689, began; it ended in 1763 with French defeat, resolving a situation that had been a constant threat to Albany and held back its growth. In 1775, with the colonies in the midst of the Revolutionary War, the Stadt Huys became home to the Albany Committee of Correspondence (the political arm of the local revolutionary movement), which took over operation of Albany's government and eventually expanded its power to control all of Albany County. Tories and prisoners of war were often jailed in the Stadt Huys alongside common criminals. In 1776, Albany native Philip Livingston signed the Declaration of Independence at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. During and after the Revolutionary War, Albany County saw a great increase in real estate transactions. After Horatio Gates defeated John Burgoyne at Saratoga in 1777, the upper Hudson Valley was generally at peace as the war raged on elsewhere. Prosperity was soon seen all over Upstate New York. Migrants from Vermont and Connecticut began flowing in, noting the advantages of living on the Hudson and trading at Albany, while being only a few days' sail from New York City. Albany reported a population of 3,498 in the first national census in 1790, an increase of almost 700% since its chartering. On November 17, 1793, a large fire broke out, destroying 26 homes on Broadway, Maiden Lane, James Street, and State Street. The fire originated at a stable belonging to Leonard Gansevoort and was suspected to be arson set by disgruntled slaves. Three slaves were arrested and charged with arson: a male slave named Pompey, owned by Matthew Visscher; a 14-year old slave girl named Dinah, owned by Volkert P. Douw; and a 12-year old slave girl named Bet, owned by Philip S. Van Rensselaer. On January 6, 1794, the three were tried and sentenced to death. For reasons unknown, Governor George Clinton issued a temporary stay of execution, but the slave girls were executed by hanging on March 14, and Pompey on April 11, 1794. In 1797, the state capital of New York was moved permanently to Albany. From statehood to this date, the Legislature had frequently moved the state capital between Albany, Kingston, Hurley, Poughkeepsie, and the city of New York. Albany is the tenth-oldest state capital in the United States, but is the second-oldest city that is a state capital, after Santa Fe, New Mexico. Albany has been a center of transportation for much of its history. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Albany saw development of the turnpike and by 1815, Albany was the turnpike center of the state. Simeon De Witt developed a grid block system in 1794, and renamed streets that had honored British royalty, using names of birds and mammals instead. This grid was intersected by the major arterials coming out of Albany, which cut through the city at unexpected angles. The construction of the turnpike across the state, in conjunction with canal and railroad systems, made Albany the hub of transportation for pioneers going to Buffalo and the Michigan Territory in the early- and mid-19th century. In 1807, Robert Fulton initiated a steamboat line from New York to Albany, the first successful enterprise of its kind anywhere in the world. By 1810, with 10,763 people, Albany was the 10th-largest urban place in the nation. The town and village north of Albany known as "the Colonie" was annexed in 1815. In 1825 the Erie Canal was completed, forming a continuous water route from the Great Lakes to New York City. Unlike the current Barge Canal, which ends at nearby Waterford, the original Erie Canal ended at Albany; Lock 1 was north of Colonie Street. The Canal emptied into a man-made lagoon called the Albany Basin, which was Albany's main port from 1825 until the Port of Albany-Rensselaer opened in 1932. In 1829, while working as a professor at the Albany Academy, Joseph Henry, widely regarded as "the foremost American scientist of the 19th century", built the first electric motor. Three years later, he discovered electromagnetic self- induction (the SI unit for which is now the henry). He went on to be the first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. In the 1830 and 1840 censuses, Albany was ranked as the 9th-largest urban place in the nation; it dropped back to 10th in 1850. This was the last time the city was one of the top ten largest urban places in the nation. Albany also has significant history with rail transport, as the location of two major regional railroad headquarters. The Delaware and Hudson Railway was headquartered in Albany at what is now the SUNY System Administration Building. In 1853, Erastus Corning, a noted industrialist and Albany's mayor from 1834 to 1837, consolidated ten railroads stretching from Albany to Buffalo into the New York Central Railroad (NYCRR), headquartered in Albany until Cornelius Vanderbilt moved it to New York City in 1867. One of the ten companies that formed the NYCRR was the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad, which was the first railroad in the state and the first successful steam railroad running regularly scheduled service in the country. While the key to Albany's economic prosperity in the 19th century was transportation, industry and business also played a role. Largely thanks to the city's Dutch and German roots, beer was one of its biggest commodities. Beverwyck Brewery, originally known as Quinn and Nolan (Nolan being mayor of Albany 1878–1883), was the last remaining brewer from that time when it closed in 1972. The city's location at the east end of the Erie Canal gave it unparalleled access to both raw products and a captive customer base in the west. Albany was known for its publishing houses, and to some extent, still is. Albany was second only to Boston in the number of books produced for most of the 19th century. Iron foundries in both the north and south ends of the city attracted thousands of immigrants to the city for industrial jobs. To this day, one can see many intricate wrought-iron details that were constructed in those years on what are now historic buildings. The iron industry waned by the 1890s due to increased costs associated with a newly unionized workforce and the opening of mines in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota. Albany's other major exports during the 18th and 19th centuries were furs, wheat, meat, and lumber. By 1865, there were almost 4,000 saw mills in the Albany area and the Albany Lumber District was the largest lumber market in the nation. The city was also home to a number of banks. The Bank of Albany (1792–1861) was the second chartered bank in New York. The city was the original home of the Albank (founded in 1820 as the Albany Savings Bank), KeyBank (founded in 1825 as the Commercial Bank of Albany), and Norstar Bank (founded as the State Bank of Albany in 1803). American Express was founded in Albany in 1850 as an express mail business. In 1871, the northwestern portion of Albany—west from Magazine Street—was annexed to the neighboring town of Guilderland after the town of Watervliet refused annexation of said territory. In return for this loss, portions of Bethlehem and Watervliet were added to Albany. Part of the land annexed to Guilderland was ceded back to Albany in 1910, setting up the current western border. Albany opened one of the first commercial airports in the world, and the first municipal airport in the United States, in 1908. Originally on a polo field on Loudon Road, it moved to Westerlo Island in 1909 and remained there until 1928. The Albany Municipal Airport—jointly owned by the city and county—was moved to its current location in Colonie in 1928. By 1916 Albany's northern and southern borders reached their modern courses; Westerlo Island, to the south, became the second-to-last annexation, which occurred in 1926. Erastus Corning 2nd, arguably Albany's most notable mayor (and great-grandson of the former mayor of the same name), was elected in 1941. Although he was one of the longest-serving mayors of any city in United States history (1942 until his death in 1983), one historian describes Corning's tenure as "long on years, short on accomplishments." Grondahl cited Corning's preference for maintaining the status quo as a factor that held back potential progress during his tenure. While Corning brought stability to the office of mayor, it is said even those who admire him greatly cannot come up with a sizable list of "major concrete Corning achievements." Corning is given credit for saving—albeit somewhat unintentionally—much of Albany's historic architecture. During the 1950s and 1960s, a time when federal aid for urban renewal was plentiful, Albany did not have growth in its economy or infrastructure. It lost more than 20 percent of its population during the Corning years, as people moved to newer housing in the suburbs, followed by most of the downtown businesses moving there as well. While cities across the country grappled with similar issues, the problems were magnified in Albany: interference from the Democratic political machine hindered progress considerably. In 1960, the mayor sold the city's stake in the airport to the county, citing budget issues. It was known from then on as Albany County Airport until a massive upgrade and modernization project between 1996 and 1998, when it was rechristened Albany International Airport. Governor Nelson Rockefeller (1959–1973) (R) tried to stimulate the city with new monumental architecture and large, government-sponsored building projects; he drove construction of the Empire State Plaza, SUNY Albany's uptown campus, and much of the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus. Albany County Republican Chairman Joseph C. Frangella once quipped, "Governor Rockefeller was the best mayor Albany ever had." Corning, although opposed to the project, was responsible for negotiating the payment plan for the Empire State Plaza. Rockefeller did not want to be limited by the Legislature's power of the purse, so Corning devised a plan to have the county pay for the construction and have the state sign a lease-ownership agreement. The state paid off the bonds until 2004. It was Rockefeller's only viable option, and he agreed. Due to the clout Corning gained from the situation, he gained inclusion of the State Museum, a convention center, and a restaurant, back in the plans—ideas which Rockefeller had originally vetoed. The county gained $35 million in fees and the city received $13 million for lost tax revenue. Having the state offices in the city enabled it to keep good jobs and retain middle-class residents. Another major project of the 1960s and 1970s was Interstate 787 and the South Mall Arterial. Construction began in the early 1960s. One of the project's main results, since regretted, was separating the city from the Hudson River, its source of development. Corning has been described as shortsighted with respect to use of the waterfront, as he could have used his influence to change the location of I-787, which now cuts the city off from "its whole raison d'être". Much of the original plan never came to fruition, however: Rockefeller had wanted the South Mall Arterial to pass through the Empire State Plaza. The project would have required an underground trumpet interchange below Washington Park, connecting to the (eventually cancelled) Mid-Crosstown Arterial. To this day, evidence of the original plan is still visible. In 1967 the hamlet of Karlsfeld was the last annexation by the city, taken from the Town of Bethlehem. When Corning died in 1983, Thomas Whalen assumed the mayorship and was reelected twice. He encouraged redevelopment of historic structures and helped attract federal dollars earmarked for that purpose. What Corning had saved from destruction, Whalen refurbished for continued and new uses. The Mayor's Office of Special Events was created in an effort to increase the number of festivals and artistic events in the city, including a year-long Dongan Charter tricentennial celebration in 1986. Whalen is credited for an "unparalleled cycle of commercial investment and development" in Albany due to his "aggressive business development programs". Prior to the recession of the 1990s, downtown Albany was home to four Fortune 500 companies. After the death of Corning and the retirement of Congressman Sam Stratton, the political environment changed. Long-term office holders became rare in the 1980s. Local media began following the drama surrounding county politics (specifically that of the newly created county executive position); the loss of Corning (and eventually the machine) led to a lack of interest in city politics. The election of Gerald Jennings was a surprise, and he served as Mayor from 1994 until his retirement at the end of 2013. His tenure essentially ended the political machine that had been in place since the 1920s. During the 1990s, the State Legislature approved the $234 million "Albany Plan", "a building and renovation project [that] was the most ambitious building project to affect the area since the Rockefeller era." Under the Albany Plan, renovation and new building projects were initiated around the downtown area. Many state workers were relocated from the Harriman State Office Campus to downtown, helping its retail businesses and vitality. Fortune 500 companies with offices in Albany include American Express, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, International Paper, and Key Bank. Albany won the All-America City Award in both 1991 and 2009. Albany is about north of New York City on the Hudson River. It has a total area of , of which is land and (1.8%) is water. The city is bordered on the north by the town of Colonie (along with the village of Menands), on the west by the town of Guilderland, and on the south by the town of Bethlehem. The Hudson River represents the city's eastern border. Patroon Creek, along the northern border, and the Normans Kill, along the southern border, are the two major streams in the city. The former Foxes Creek, Beaver Kill, and Rutten Kill still exist, but were diverted underground in the 19th century. There are four lakes within city limits: Buckingham Lake; Rensselaer Lake at the mouth of the Patroon Creek; Tivoli Lake, which was formed as a reservoir and once connected to the Patroon Creek; and Washington Park Lake, which was formed by damming the Beaver Kill. The highest natural point in Albany is a USGS benchmark near the Loudonville Reservoir off Birch Hill Road, at above sea level. The lowest point is sea level at the Hudson River (the average water elevation is ), which is still technically an estuary at Albany and is affected by the Atlantic tide. The interior of Albany consists of rolling hills which were once part of the Albany Pine Bush, an area of pitch pine and scrub oak, and has arid, sandy soil that is a remnant of the ancient Lake Albany. Due to development, the Pine Bush has shrunk from an original today. A preserve was set up by the State Legislature in 1988 and is on the city's western edge, spilling into Guilderland and Colonie; it is the only sizable inland pine barrens sand dune ecosystem in the United States, and is home to many endangered species, including the Karner Blue butterfly. Albany is in the humid continental climate zone (Köppen climate classification: Dfa), and features cold, snowy winters, and warm, humid summers; the city experiences four distinct seasons. Albany is in plant hardiness zone 6a near downtown and along the shore of the Hudson and 5b at its western end. Albany receives of precipitation per year, with 138 days of at least of precipitation each year. Snowfall is significant, totaling annually, but with less accumulation than the lake effect areas to the north and west, as it is farther from Lake Ontario. However, Albany is close enough to the Atlantic coast to receive heavy snow from Nor'easters and the city occasionally receives Alberta clippers. Winters can be very cold with fluctuating conditions; temperatures drop to or below on nine nights per annum. Summers in Albany can contain stretches of excessive heat and humidity, with temperatures of or hotter on nine days per year. Record temperature extremes range from , on January 19, 1971, to on July 4, 1911. New York has an effective statewide crime rate of 385/100,000 people . Albany's violent crime rate is nearly on a par with Rochester (1028 violent crimes/100,000 population vs 968/100,000 in Rochester) and much lower than Buffalo at 1514/100,000. By comparison, New York City's violent crime rate was 639/100,000 in 2013. The neighborhoods of Albany include Arbor Hill; Center Square, "[an] eclectic mix of residential and commercial [buildings], including bars, night clubs, restaurants, and stores"; Pine Hills; and the South End. Albany has more than 60 public parks and recreation areas. Washington Park was organized as the Middle Public Square in 1806. Its current location has been public property since the Dongan Charter of 1686 gave the city title to all property not privately owned. Washington Park was designed by John Bogart and John Cuyler in 1870, and opened for public use the following year. The original lake house, designed by Frederick W. Brown, was added in 1876. The park had previously been used as a cemetery; its graves were moved to Albany Rural Cemetery. Washington Park is a popular place to exercise and play sports; skate during the winter; people-watch during Tulip Fest; and attend plays at the amphitheater during the summer. Other parks in Albany include Lincoln Park, Buckingham Park, the Corning Preserve, and the Pine Bush. Lincoln Park, southwest of the Empire State Plaza, was organized in 1886 and was originally known as Beaver Park. Today, the park has a pool that is open during the summer months. Buckingham Lake Park is between Manning Boulevard and Route 85 in the Buckingham Pond neighborhood; it contains a pond with fountains, a footpath, a playground, and picnic tables. The Albany Riverfront Park at the Corning Preserve has an 800-seat amphitheatre that hosts events in non-winter months, most notably the Alive at 5 summer concert series. The Preserve's visitors center details the ecology of the Hudson River and the local environment. The park has a bike trail and boat launch and was effectively separated from downtown by Interstate 787 until the opening of the Hudson River Way in 2002. Other public parks include Westland Hill Park, Hoffman Park, Beverwyck Park, and Liberty Park, today a small circular grassy patch in downtown on Hudson Avenue, which is Albany's oldest park. Ridgefield Park is home to the clay courts of the Albany Tennis Club, one of the oldest tennis clubs in the United States. The municipal golf course, New Course at Albany, was constructed in 1929 as the Albany Municipal Golf Course, later renamed the Capital Hills at Albany, and remodeled in 1991. The Empire State Plaza, a collection of state agency office buildings, dominates almost any view of Albany. Built between 1965 and 1978 at the hand of Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and architect Wallace Harrison, the complex is a powerful example of late American modern architecture and remains a controversial building project both for displacing city residents and for its architectural style. The most recognizable aspect of the complex is the Erastus Corning Tower, the tallest building in New York outside of New York City. Juxtaposed at the north end of the Plaza is the 19th-century New York State Capitol, the seat of the New York State Legislature and the home of the Governor's office. Albany's initial architecture incorporated many Dutch influences, followed soon after by those of the English. Quackenbush House, a Dutch Colonial brick mansion, was built c. 1736; Schuyler Mansion, a Georgian- style mansion, was built in 1765; and the oldest building in Albany is the 1728 Van Ostrande-Radliff House at 48 Hudson Avenue. Albany's housing varies greatly, with mostly row houses in the older sections of town, closer to the river. Housing type quickly changes as one travels westward, beginning with two-family homes of the late 19th century, and one-family homes built after World War II in the western end of the city. Albany City Hall, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, was opened in 1883. The New York State Capitol was opened in 1899 (after 32 years of construction) at a cost of $25 million, making it the most expensive government building at the time. Albany's Union Station, a major Beaux-Arts design, was under construction at the same time; it opened in 1900. In 1912, the Beaux-Arts styled New York State Department of Education Building opened on Washington Avenue near the Capitol. It has a classical exterior, which features a block-long white marble colonnade. The 1920s brought the Art Deco movement, which is illustrated by the Home Savings Bank Building (1927) on North Pearl Street and the Alfred E. Smith Building (1930) on South Swan Street, two of Albany's tallest high-rises. Architecture from the 1960s and 1970s is well represented in the city, especially at the W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus (1950s and 1960s) and on the uptown campus of the University at Albany (1962–1971). The state office campus was planned in the 1950s by governor W. Averell Harriman to offer more parking and easier access for state employees. The uptown SUNY campus was built in the 1960s under Governor Rockefeller on the site of the city-owned Albany Country Club. Straying from the popular open campus layout, SUNY Albany has a centralized building layout with administrative and classroom buildings at center surrounded by four student housing towers. The design called for much use of concrete and glass, and the style has slender, round-topped columns and pillars reminiscent of those at Lincoln Center in New York City. Downtown has seen a revival in recent decades, often considered to have begun with Norstar Bank's renovation of the former Union Station as its corporate headquarters in 1986. The Times Union Center (TU Center) was originally slated for suburban Colonie, but was instead built downtown and opened in 1990. Other development in downtown includes the construction of the State Dormitory Authority headquarters at 515 Broadway (1998); the State Department of Environmental Conservation building, with its iconic green dome, at 625 Broadway (2001); the State Comptroller headquarters on State Street (2001); the Hudson River Way (2002), a pedestrian bridge connecting Broadway to the Corning Preserve; and 677 Broadway (2005), "the first privately owned downtown office building in a generation". Historically, Albany's population has been mixed. First dominated by Dutch and Germans, it was overtaken by the English in the early 19th century. Irish immigrants soon outnumbered most other ethnicities by the mid-19th century, and were followed by Italians and Poles. In the mid-to-late 20th century, the African-American population increased with thousands of people from the rural South, as part of the Great Migration. As historian (and Albany Assemblyman) John McEneny puts it, Until after the Revolution, Albany's population consisted mostly of ethnic Dutch descendants. Settlers migrating from New England tipped the balance toward British ethnicity in the early 19th century. Jobs on the turnpikes, canals, and railroads attracted floods of Irish immigrants in the early 19th century, especially in the 1840s during the Irish potato famine, solidifying the city's Irish base. Albany elected its first Irish Catholic mayor (Michael Nolan) two years before Boston did. Polish and Italian immigrants began arriving in Albany in the wave of immigration in the latter part of the 19th century. Their numbers were smaller than in many other eastern cities mainly because most had found manufacturing jobs at General Electric in Schenectady. The Jewish community had been established early, with Sephardic Jewish members as part of the Beverwijck community. Its population rose during the late 19th century, when many Ashkenazi Jews immigrated from eastern Europe. In that period, there was also an influx of Chinese and east Asian immigrants, who settled in the downtown section of the city. Many of their descendants have since moved to suburban areas. Immigration plummeted after the Immigration Act of 1924. Albany was also a destination of internal migration, as many African Americans moved north in their Great Migration from the rural South before and after World War I to fill industrial positions and find new opportunities. In the early years, they lived together with Italians, Jews and other immigrants in the South End, where housing was older and less expensive. The black community has grown as a proportion of the population since then: African Americans made up 3 percent of the city's population in 1950, 6 percent in 1960, 12 percent in 1970, and 30 percent in 2010. The change in proportion is related mostly to middle-class white families moving to the suburbs, and black families remaining within city limits during the same time period. Since 2007 the number of Burmese refugees has increased, who are mostly of the Karen ethnicity; an estimated 5,000 reside in Albany . As of the 2010 census, there were 97,856 people living in the city. The population of the census area in 2009 was estimated to be 1,170,483. The population density in 2010 was 4,572.7 per square mile (1,779.2/km²). There were 46,362 housing units at an average density of 2,166.4 per square mile (842.9/km²); 5,205 of these units (11.2%) were vacant. The racial makeup of the city residents was 52.3% white; 27% black or African American; 0.06% Native American or Native Alaskan; 7.4% Asian; 0.1% Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander; .06% from other races; and 3.6% from two or more races. A total of 9.2% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Non-Hispanic Whites were 52.0% of the population in 2010, compared to 87.0% in 1970. As of the 2000 census, the top five ancestry groups in the city were African (27%), Irish (18.1%), Italian (12.4%), German (10.4%), and English (5.2%); (33.1%) of the population reported "other ancestries". Albany is home to a Triqui language-speaking community of Mexican-Americans. The population had 20.0% under the age of 18, 19.3% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 18.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.5 males. Some 81.3% of the population had completed high school or earned an equivalency diploma. There were 40,709 households in 2000, out of which 22.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 25.3% were married couples living together, 16.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.8% were non-families. 41.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.95. The median income for a household in the city in 2000 was $, and the median income for a family was $ (male, year-round worker) and $ (female, year-round worker). The per capita income for the city was $. About 16.0% of families and 21.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.8% of those under age 18 and 12.5% of those age 65 or over. The rate of reported violent crimes for 2008 (1,095 incidents per 100,000 residents) were more than double the rate for similarly sized US cities. Reported property crimes (4,669 incidents per 100,000 residents) were somewhat lower. Demographically speaking, the population of Albany and the Capital District mirrors the characteristics of the United States consumer population as a whole better than any other major municipality in the country. According to a 2004 study conducted by the Acxiom Corporation, Albany and its environs are the top-ranked standard test market for new business and retail products. Albany, Rochester, and Syracuse all scored within the top five. Albany's geographic situation—roughly equidistant between New York City to the south and Montreal to the north, as well as approximately 4.5 hours east of Buffalo, and 2.5 hours west of Boston—makes it a convenient stop for nationally touring artists and acts. The Palace Theatre and The Egg provide mid-sized forums for music, theater, and spoken word performances, with the Capital Repertory Theatre filling the small-sized niche. The TU Center serves as the city's largest musical venue for nationally and internationally prominent bands. It also hosts trade shows, sporting events, and other large- scale community gatherings. While some praise the cultural contributions of Albany and the greater Capital District, others suggest the city has a "cultural identity crisis" due to its widespread geography, which requires a car (and driving time) to experience most of what the area has to offer, a necessity not seen in larger and more densely populated metropolitan areas such as New York and Boston. In recent years, the city's government has invested resources to cultivate venues and neighborhoods that attract after- hours business. Madison Avenue, Pearl Street, Delaware Avenue and Lark Street serve as the most active entertainment areas in the city. Many restaurants, clubs, and bars have opened since the mid-1990s, revitalizing numerous areas that had once been abandoned; various establishments have reclaimed old row houses, businesses, and even a pump station. The bar scene generally incorporates three main strips. The downtown scene is focused on Pearl Street, stretching about two blocks. Up State Street, past the business district, is the Lark Street strip, home to smaller bars that fit into the neighborhood's artistic and eclectic style. Lastly, the midtown strip, with several bars on Western and Madison Avenues, centers around the campuses of the College of Saint Rose and SUNY Albany's downtown campus. The midtown strip generally draws a younger crowd, as it is popular to the local college students. Last call in Albany is 4:00 am nightly; New York law sets that time as last call throughout the state by default, and although counties may set an earlier time, individual municipalities may not. More than half of the state's counties have an earlier closing time, but Albany County, as with all counties in the Capital District, has retained the 4:00 am last call time. Alive at 5 is a free, weekly concert series held downtown during the summer on Thursdays; with 10 concerts in 2010, total attendance was roughly 100,000. The Tulip Festival is set in Washington Park and celebrates the city's Dutch heritage. This traditional Albany event marks the beginning of spring as thousands of tulips bloom in the park in early May; attendance to the Tulip Festival in 2010 was approximately 80,000. Another large festival in Albany is the Capital Pride Parade and Festival, a major gay pride event held each June, attended by an estimated 30,000 spectators annually from across Upstate New York. The Price Chopper Fabulous Fourth and Fireworks Festival at the Empire State Plaza celebrates Independence Day with musical performances and the region's largest fireworks display. Freihofer's Run for Women is a 5-kilometer run through the city that draws more than 4,000 participants from across the country; it is an annual event that began in 1978.The Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival: Wine & Dine for the Arts is an annual Festival that hosts more than 3500 people over 3 days. The Festival showcases more than 70 Regional Chefs & Restaurants, 250 Global Wines & Spirits, a NYS Craft Beer Pavilion, 4 competitions (The Signature Chef Invitational, Rising Star Chef, Barista Albany and Battle of the Bartenders) and one Grand Gala Reception, Dinner & Auction featuring 10 f Albany's Iconic Chefs. The Albany Chefs' Food & Wine Festival donates all net proceeds to deserving Albany Arts Organizations and is held the Thursday-Saturday preceding Martin Luther King Weekend. Smaller events include the African American Family Day Arts Festival each August at the Empire State Plaza; the Latin Fest, held each August at the Corning Preserve; the Albany Jazz Festival, an annual end-of-summer event held at the Corning Preserve; and Lark Fest, a music and art festival held each fall. Because of Albany's historical and political significance, the city has numerous museums, historical buildings, and historic districts. Albany is home to the New York State Museum, the New York State Library and the New York State Archives; all three facilities are in the Cultural Education Center at the south end of Empire State Plaza and are free to the public. The USS Slater (DE-766), a decommissioned World War II destroyer escort that was restored in 1998, is a museum ship docked in the Hudson River at Quay Street. It is the only ship of its kind still afloat. The Albany Heritage Area Visitors Center, at the corner of Clinton Avenue and Broadway at Quackenbush Square, hosts a museum, gift shop, and the Henry Hudson Planetarium. In early 2012, the Irish American Heritage Museum opened in downtown Albany. The museum is home to exhibits highlighting the contributions of the Irish people in America. The Albany Institute of History and Art, on Washington Avenue near the Center Square Neighborhood and State Capitol, is "dedicated to collecting, preserving, interpreting and promoting interest in the history, art, culture of Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley region." The museum's most notable permanent exhibits include an extensive collection of paintings by the Hudson River School and an exhibit on Ancient Egypt featuring the Institute's "Albany Mummies." Albany is home to 57 listings on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and five National Historic Landmarks. The Ten Broeck Mansion, a 1797 Federal-style mansion (later renovated in the Greek-Revival style) built for Abraham Ten Broeck (mayor of Albany 1779–1783 and 1796–1798) is a historic house museum and the headquarters of the Albany County Historical Association; it was added to the NRHP in 1971. Later known as "Arbor Hill", it gave the current neighborhood its name. Albany has been the subject, inspiration, or location for many written and cinematic works. Many non-fiction works have been written on the city. One of the city's more notable claims to fame is Ironweed (1983), the 1984 Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Albany native William Kennedy. Ironweed was the third in a series of books by Kennedy known as the "Albany Cycle". The elusive author Trevanian also grew up in Albany and wrote The Crazyladies of Pearl Street (2005), about a North Albany neighborhood along Pearl Street. The book is considered a semi-autobiographical memoir. In 1987, the film version of Ironweed premiered at the Palace Theatre. The movie starred Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, each of whom were nominated for Academy Awards for their performances; much of the filming was done on location in Albany. Most recently the downtown area was the site of filming for the action-thriller Salt, starring Angelina Jolie, and the action-comedy The Other Guys, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. Authors Herman Melville and Henry James lived with their families in Albany when young, before their careers. James identified his character Isabel Archer, the heroine of his novel The Portrait of a Lady, as being from Albany. Gregory Maguire, author of (adapted for the Broadway hit Wicked), grew up in North Albany and graduated from SUNY Albany. The City School District of Albany (CSDA) operates the city's public school system, which consists of 17 schools and learning centers; in addition, there are 7 charter schools, including Green Tech Charter High School, and Albany Leadership High School. In the 2015–2016 school year, over 9,000 students were enrolled in the public school system. The district had an average class size of 18, an 81-percent graduation rate, and a 5-percent dropout rate. The district's 2010–11 budget is $202.8 million. Although considered by the state to be one of the lowest-achieving high schools in New York, Albany High was listed as the nation's 976th best high school in a 2010 Newsweek/Washington Post report. Albany also has a number of private schools, including the coed Bishop Maginn High School and Albany Free School; the all-boys Albany Academy; and the all-girls Academy of the Holy Names and Albany Academy for Girls. Albany has a prominent history in higher education and was ranked third in a Forbes survey called "The Best Places with the Best Education" in 2005; it ranked top on Forbes' "IQ Campuses" list as part of its 150 Cheap Places to Live series in 2006. The Albany Medical College (private), today part of Albany Medical Center, was founded in 1838. Albany Law School (private) is the oldest law school in New York and the fourth-oldest in the country; it was opened in 1851. President William McKinley was an alumnus. The Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (private) is the second-oldest pharmacy school in New York and the fifteenth-oldest in the United States. The New York State Normal School, one of the oldest teachers colleges in the United States, opened in 1844; it was later known as the State Teachers College. It eventually evolved into the University at Albany, also known as SUNY Albany (public), which inherited the Normal School's original downtown campus on Western Avenue. The center of the campus moved to its current Uptown Campus in the west end of the city in 1970. SUNY Albany is a unit of the State University of New York and one of only four university centers in the system. Other colleges and universities in Albany include Empire State College, The College of Saint Rose, Excelsior College, Maria College, Mildred Elley, and Sage College of Albany. Nearby Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) fills the community college niche in the Albany-Troy area. The effect of the campuses on the city's population is substantial: Combining the student bodies of all the aforementioned campuses (except HVCC) results in 63,149 students, or almost 70 percent of the 2008 estimate of Albany's permanent population. Albany's economy, along with that of the Capital District in general, is heavily dependent on government, health care, education, and more recently, technology. Because of these typically steady economic bases, the local economy has been relatively immune to national economic recessions in the past. More than 25 percent of the city's population works in government- related positions. Albany's estimated daytime population is more than 162,000. Companies based in Albany include Trans World Entertainment and Clough Harbour. Albany has the fourth highest amount of lawyers in its employment pool (7.5 lawyers per 1,000 jobs) compared to the rest of the nation, behind Washington, D.C., Trenton, New Jersey, and New York City, respectively. Since the 2000s, the economy of Albany and the surrounding Capital District has been redirected toward a high technology focus. Tech Valley is a marketing name for the eastern part of New York State, encompassing Albany, the Capital District, and the Hudson Valley. Originated in 1998 to promote the greater Albany area as a high-tech competitor to regions such as Silicon Valley and Boston, it has since grown to represent the counties in the Capital District and extending to 19 counties from IBM's Westchester County plants in the south to the Canada–US border in the north. The area's high technology ecosystem is supported by technologically focused academic institutions including Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute. Tech Valley encompasses 19 counties straddling both sides of the Adirondack Northway and the New York Thruway, and with heavy state taxpayer subsidy, has experienced significant growth in the computer hardware side of the high-technology industry, with great strides in the nanotechnology sector, digital electronics design, and water- and electricity- dependent integrated microchip circuit manufacturing. In 2012, the Albany- Schenectady area was listed fourth on Forbes Magazine's annual "Best Cities for Jobs" list, noting that job losses in state and local government were overcome by expansion of the high-tech field. Albany has a mayor-council form of government, which functions under the Dongan Charter, which was granted by colonial governor Thomas Dongan in 1686 when Albany was incorporated as a city. A revised charter was adopted by referendum in 1998, but was legally reckoned as an amendment to the Dongan Charter. This gives Albany the distinction of having the oldest active city charter in the United States and "arguably the longest-running instrument of municipal government in the Western Hemisphere." The mayor, who is elected every four years, heads the executive branch of city government. The current mayor, Kathy Sheehan, was first elected in 2013. She replaced former mayor Gerald Jennings who was mayor for 20 years from 1994 to 2013. The Common Council represents the legislative branch of city government and is made up of fifteen council members (each elected from one ward) and an at-large Common Council President. The current president is Corey Ellis; he began his term in January 2018. While Albany has its own city government, it has also been the seat of Albany County since the county's formation in 1683 and the capital of New York since 1797. As such, the city is home to all branches of the county and state governments, as well as its own. Albany City Hall sits on Eagle Street, opposite the State Capitol, and the Albany County Office Building is on State Street. The state government has offices scattered throughout the city. Albany is in the 20th Congressional district, represented by Paul Tonko (D) in the United States House of Representatives. The city is represented by Chuck Schumer (D) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in the United States Senate. On the state level, the city is in the 44th district in the New York Senate, represented by Neil Breslin (D). In the New York Assembly, western Albany is in the 109th district, represented by Patricia Fahy (D) while downtown and eastern Albany are in the 108th district, represented by John T. McDonald III (D). As the seat of Albany County, the city is the location of the county's courts including Family Court, County Court, Surrogate Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Appeals. Albany is the site of a United States district court for the Northern District of New York courthouse. Albany's politics have been dominated by the Democratic Party since the 1920s; Daniel (Uncle Dan) O'Connell established a political machine in the city with the election of William Stormont Hackett as mayor in 1922. Prior to that, William Barnes Jr. had set up a Republican machine in the 1890s. Barnes' success is attributed to the fact that he owned two newspapers in Albany and that he was the grandson of Thurlow Weed, the influential newspaper publisher and political boss. O'Connell's organization overcame Barnes' in 1922 and survived well into the 1980s (even after his death), as the machine put forth candidates for whom the electorate dutifully voted. In many instances, votes were outright bought; it was not uncommon for the machine to "buy poor folks' loyalty and trust with a fiver". Gerald Jennings' upset in the 1993 Democratic mayoral primary over Harold Joyce, who had the Democratic Party's formal endorsement and had only recently been its county chairman, is often cited as the end of the O'Connell era in Albany. Albany continues to be dominated by the Democratic party as enrollment in the city was 38,862 in 2009 compared to Republican enrollment of 3,487. This gives Democrats a 10–1 advantage in the general election. Every elected city position has been held by a Democrat since 1931. In November 2013, Kathy Sheehan became the first woman to be elected Mayor of Albany. Like most cities of comparable age and size, Albany has well-established Orthodox Christian, Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish communities. Albany is home to the oldest Christian congregation in Upstate New York and the Mother Churches of two Christian dioceses. , eight churches or religious buildings in the city were listed on the National Register of Historic Places, one of which—St. Peter's Episcopal Church on State Street—is a National Historic Landmark. Established in 1642, the congregation of the First Church in Albany (Reformed), also known as the North Dutch Church (lon North Pearl Street), is the second-oldest Reformed Church in America. The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception (Eagle Street and Madison Avenue, built 1852) is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic diocese, led by Bishop Edward Scharfenberger, and the Cathedral of All Saints (South Swan Street and Elk Street, built 1888) is the cathedral of the Episcopal diocese, led by Bishop William Love. The city is home to eleven Catholic churches and six Episcopal churches. A significant Jewish presence has existed in Albany as early as 1658, and today includes many synagogues; there are two Conservative, a Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox, and two Reform synagogues. Albany is also home to one of the few Karaite synagogues outside Israel. The city has a membership of between 12,000 and 13,000. Exact numbers on religious denominations in Albany are not readily available. Demographic statistics in the United States depend heavily on the United States Census Bureau, which cannot ask about religious affiliation as part of its decennial census. It does compile some national and statewide religious statistics, but these are not representative of a city the size of Albany. One report from 2000 offers religious affiliations for Albany County. According to the data, 59.2% of Albany County residents identified as Christian: 47% are Roman Catholic, 8.4% are mainline Protestants, 2.7% are Evangelical Protestants, and 1.1% are Eastern or Oriental Orthodox Christians. Residents who practice Judaism make up 4.2% of the population and Muslims represent 0.2%. Note that these values are county-wide; city values could be significantly different. The Times Union is Albany's primary daily newspaper and the only one based close to the city; its headquarters moved from within city limits to suburban Colonie in the 1960s after a dispute with Mayor Corning over land needed for expansion. Its circulation totals about 73,000 on weekdays and 143,000 on Sundays. Serving Albany to a lesser degree are The Daily Gazette, based in Schenectady, and The Record, of Troy. Metroland is the alternative newsweekly in the area, publishing each Thursday, while The Business Review is a business weekly published each Friday. The Legislative Gazette, another weekly newspaper, focuses exclusively on issues related to the Legislature and the state government. The Albany-Schenectady-Troy media market is the 63rd-largest in the country in terms of radio and the 57th-largest in terms of television audiences. It is a broadcast market with historical significance. The pioneering influence of General Electric in Schenectady directly contributed to the area emerging as the birthplace of station-based television with WRGB; the station was also the first affiliate of NBC. In 1947, the region was home to the first independently owned and operated commercial FM radio station in the United States: W47A. WGY was the second commercial radio station in New York and the twelfth in the nation. The Capital District is home to ABC affiliate WTEN 10, CBS affiliate WRGB 6 (also operating CW affiliate WCWN 45), Fox affiliate WXXA 23, NBC affiliate WNYT 13 (also operating MyNetworkTV affiliate WNYA 51), and PBS member station WMHT 17. Charter Communications hosts Spectrum News Capital Region, the area's only local 24-hour news channel. The area has numerous radio stations. The Northway (Interstate 87 north of the New York State Thruway) connects Albany by car to Canada at Champlain; Autoroute 15 continues into Quebec, linking Albany to Montreal. Interstate 90 connects Albany to both Buffalo and Boston, via the New York State Thruway and the Massachusetts Turnpike respectively, both of which use I-90 (the NYS Thruway partially, the Massachusetts Turnpike fully). South of Albany, I-87 becomes part of the Thruway and ends at Interstate 278 in the Bronx. Albany is literally at the crossroad of I-87 and I-90, creating a junction between Buffalo and Boston, and Montreal and New York. Interstate 787 links Albany to Watervliet, Colonie, and Menands; by way of Route 7, I-787 connects to the Northway, offering Saratoga County residents a rather direct, albeit congested route to and from Albany during rush hour. With the closure of Union Station on Broadway, area passenger-rail service is provided by Amtrak at the Albany-Rensselaer station across the river in Rensselaer. In 2009, the station saw more than 720,000 passengers, making it Amtrak's second-busiest in New York, behind New York's Penn Station. Amtrak provides service south to New York City; north to Montreal, and Rutland (Vermont); west to Niagara Falls, Toronto and Chicago; and east to Boston. Albany's major airport is Albany International Airport in Colonie. Major airline service to Albany includes service by: American Airlines, Cape Air, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, JetBlue Airlines, and United Air Lines; Million Air is the local fixed-base operator. In 2010, Albany had the highest average airfare in New York, though the per-mile cost on its busiest routes was second-lowest in the state. The Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) provides bus service throughout Albany and the surrounding area, including Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga Springs. The city was once served by an urban streetcar service maintained by the United Traction Company. As in many American cities, after the advent of the automobile, light rail services declined in Albany and were replaced by bus and taxi services. Greyhound Lines, Trailways, Peter Pan, Short Line, Vermont Translines, and Yankee Trails buses all serve a downtown terminal. Brown Coach provides commuter service. Low-cost curbside bus service from the SUNY Albany campus and the Rensselaer station is also provided by Megabus, with direct service to New York City. Albany, long an important Hudson River port, today serves domestic and international ships and barges through the Port of Albany-Rensselaer, on both sides of the river. The port has the largest mobile harbor crane in the state of New York. The New York State Barge Canal, the ultimate successor of the Erie Canal, is in use today, largely by tourist and private boats. Albany has no major league professional sports teams, and minor league teams typically have low support. The Albany Devils were a minor league ice hockey team that moved to the city for the 2010–11 season. They played in the American Hockey League and were affiliated with the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League. The Devils replaced the Albany River Rats, who played in the Capital Region from 1990 to 2010, when they relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina. The Albany Devils moved to Binghamton, New York in 2017. The Albany Empire began play in the Arena Football League in 2018 and played at the Times Union Center through the 2019 season before the league folded. Previous teams include the Albany Firebirds who played in the AFL from 1990 to 2000 and a second team originally known as the Albany Conquest and later the Firebirds who played in af2, the AFL's developmental league, from 2002 to 2009. The Tri-City ValleyCats short season minor league baseball team have played at the Joseph L. Bruno Stadium on the Hudson Valley Community College campus in North Greenbush since 2002. Prior to the ValleyCats' arrival, the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs (1995–2002) played at Heritage Park in Colonie; due to financial pressures, and facing impending competition from the ValleyCats, the franchise folded in 2002. The Albany Legends (International Basketball League), played in the Washington Avenue Armory from 2010 to 2014 before moving to Schenectady. The Albany Patroons have played at the Armory on and off since 1982 and currently play in The Basketball League. With the large number of local colleges and universities around Albany, college sports are popular. The University at Albany's Great Danes play at the Division I level in all sports. The football team is a member of the Colonial Athletic Association while all other sports teams play as members of the America East Conference. In 2006, UAlbany became the first SUNY-affiliated school to send a team to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament. The Siena Saints saw a rise in popularity after their men's basketball team made it to the NCAA Tournament in 2008, 2009, and 2010. All 18 Saints teams are Division I and play in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Although Siena's campus is in nearby Colonie, the men's basketball team plays at the Times Union Center. UAlbany has hosted the New York Giants training camp since 1996. Albany has five official sister city agreements and two other twin-city relationships. The city of Nijmegen, Netherlands connected with Albany following World War II. With the help of the Catholic university in Albany, the Catholic University of Nijmegen (Radboud University Nijmegen) rebuilt its partly destroyed library, with over 50,000 books being donated to the Dutch university. To show its gratitude for post-war assistance, the city sent Albany 50,000 tulip bulbs in 1948; this act led to the establishment of the annual Tulip Festival. Most of the other connections were made in the 1980s during Mayor Whalen's term in office as part of his cultural expansion program. The official sister cities are: Nassau, Bahamas;, Nijmegen, Netherlands;, Quebec City, Canada;, Tula, Russia; and, Verona, Italy. The additional twin-city relationships are with: Ghent, Belgium, Extremadura (region), Spain. List of capitals in the United States, List of cities in New York, List of incorporated places in New York's Capital District, List of people associated with Albany County, New York, National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New York, Neighborhoods of Albany, New York The neighborhoods of Albany, New York are listed below. Arbor Hill is an historic neighborhood in northeastern Albany near the Hudson River. Arbor Hill encompasses the area from Clinton Avenue (formerly called Patroon Street) north to the Livingston Avenue Railroad Bridge (where North Albany begins) and from the Hudson River west to Henry Johnson Boulevard. Arbor Hill was outside Albany's first boundaries as set up in the Dongan Charter of 1686. The original name of the area was Colonie. Incorporated as a village on April 9, 1804, Arbor Hill was annexed by the city in 1815, at which time Patroon Street became Clinton Avenue. The name "Arbor Hill" comes from the nickname of the Ten Broeck Mansion, an important cultural and historical destination in the neighborhood. Arbor Hill includes Dudley Heights, a residential neighborhood north of Livingston Avenue that was the first location of the Dudley Observatory. Demographically, Arbor Hill is predominantly African-American. The Buckingham Lake neighborhood is bordered by Western Avenue on the north, Route 85 on the west, Krumkill Road and New Scotland Avenues on the south, and South Manning Boulevard on the east. Center Square contains many buildings of architectural significance and is locally famous for its nightlife, entertainment, culture, and dining. Center Square includes the area bounded by Lark Street on the west, Spring Street on the north, South Swan Street on the east and Jay Street on the south, as well as the upper portion of Lancaster Street between Lark Street and Willett Street. It is included in its entirety within the Center Square/Hudson–Park Historic District. Center Square is also notable for its close proximity to Washington Park. Center Square and the Hudson/Park neighborhood to the south are often compared to New York City's Greenwich Village for their eclectic mix of residential and commercial uses, including bars, night clubs, restaurants, and unique stores. Albany's gay culture is vibrant in this area. Eagle Hill is a residential neighborhood in western Albany near the Town of Guilderland that is named for the Eagle Hill Cemetery. Eagle Hill is a large neighborhood "bounded by the [W. Averell Harriman State Office Building Campus] to the north, parts of Krumkill Road and the State Thruway (Interstate 87) to the south, an assortment of streets to the west (including Arch Avenue, North Bridge Drive and Wood Street), and Route 85 and the Buckingham Lake neighborhood to the east." Eagle Hill is an ethnically diverse community that has been described as "a tranquil, pretty place with narrow, tree-lined streets and small city lots with a mix of housing styles." While Manning Boulevard runs for several miles from the north side of Albany to the south side of the city, the Manning Boulevard neighborhood "encompasses the area on both sides of Manning Boulevard between Washington and Western Avenues." This small neighborhood is unusual in the City of Albany because of the carriage paths that run on either side of this stretch of Manning Boulevard. According to the Manning Boulevard Neighborhood Association, these carriage paths were created in the late nineteenth century. Melrose is a neighborhood east of the State Office Campus which features mostly one-family homes and includes Rosemont Park. Located in western Albany, Melrose is roughly bounded by Washington Avenue to the north, Western Avenue to the south, Brevator Street to the west, and Manning Boulevard to the east. Melrose Avenue itself is built on the right-of-way of the first passenger railroad in the state of New York, which ran from Albany to Schenectady. The historic Jesse Buel House is located in Melrose. Melrose has been described as "a cute family neighborhood with some history" and "a quiet, pretty place with older houses in a wide assortment of styles." The Normanskill neighborhood draws its name from the Normans Kill, a creek that forms part of Albany's southern boundary. Normanskill includes the former Hamlets of Hurstville and Karlsfeld, which were annexed from the Town of Bethlehem in 1967. Normansville, New York is also named for the Normans Kill. Normansville is a very small neighborhood that lies within and along the banks of the ravine formed by the Normans Kill. Located in the southeastern portion of the city, Normansville was originally a hamlet in the neighboring town of Bethlehem. The City of Albany annexed the portion of Normansville that lies north of the Normans Kill; the portion of Normansville lying south of the Normans Kill remains in the Town of Bethlehem. The Albany portion of Normansville is located in on a brick road off of Delaware Avenue south of the New York State Thruway; it is largely rural and forested. The park has the largest of Albany's community gardens, a dog park, hiking trails, a working farm, historic farm buildings, and a historic whipple truss bridge from 1867. The Albany Mounted Police Unit's draft horses are also kept here. A nineteenth- century bridge connects the Albany and Bethlehem portions of Normansville, but is closed to vehicular traffic. North Albany was settled in the mid-17th century by the Patroon of Rensselaerswyck and his tenants and later became a hamlet in the town of Watervliet. North Albany is located roughly between the Town of Colonie, New York and Village of Menands, New York to the north, the Livingston Avenue railroad bridge to the south, the Hudson River to the east, and Van Rensselaer Boulevard to the west. Tucked between University Heights and the southern edge of Washington Park, the small neighborhood of Park South underwent urban renewal efforts in the early 21st century, with existing housing units being removed or renovated and new office, commercial, and apartment buildings being added. The Pine Hills neighborhood is roughly bounded by Washington Avenue to the north, South Lake Avenue to the east, Woodlawn Avenue and Cortland Street to the south, and South Manning Boulevard to the west. Pine Hills received its name from the Albany Land Improvement Company in 1891. The neighborhood consists mainly of freestanding multi-unit, duplex, and semi-detached houses and is home to Albany High School, the LaSalle School, the College of St. Rose, and the Alumni Quad of the University at Albany. The area of Pine Hills east of Main Avenue and north of Myrtle Avenue is commonly referred to as the "student ghetto" due to its predominant population of college students, many from Long Island or New York City. A large and diverse area of Albany, the South End consists of several smaller neighborhoods. Neighborhoods within the South End include the following: Delaware Avenue is a main entrance to the city from the south, specifically the Bethlehem/Delmar area. The Delaware Avenue neighborhood is located southwest of the Empire State Plaza. Delaware Avenue is the western border of the South End. Only a small part of Delaware Avenue is considered the "Delaware Neighborhood". In recent years, Federal stimulus money was invested into the neighborhood to build new streets, lighting, trees, and contribute to safety. The Mansion neighborhood is dominated by the Governor's Mansion for which it is named. In the Mansion neighborhood, all major 19th-century architectural styles are represented. Italianate is the most widely represented style in the district, and it is present in many levels of sophistication. A number of buildings use elements of both the Greek Revival and Italianate styles, but there are also some highly refined examples of these individual styles. There are also some unusual examples of the application of Gothic Revival decoration to rowhouse construction. The Dunes is a neighborhood located in the long, narrow western protrusion of Albany known as the Pine Bush, west of Crossgates Mall. According to the City of Albany website, "the neighborhood has a distinctly suburban feel." The Rapp Road Community Historic District is a 14-acre (5.7 ha) residential area that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. The District is a rare intact example of a chain migration community from the Great Migration—the movement of 6 million African-Americans out of the rural Southern United States to the urban Northeast, Midwest, and West that occurred between 1916 and 1970. The Rapp Road Community Historic District lies along Rapp Road between Pine Lane and the South Frontage Road of Washington Avenue Extension. The District lies just north of the boundary between the City of Albany and the Town of Guilderland. University Heights is home to the Albany College of Pharmacy, Albany Law School, Sage College of Albany, and Albany Medical College, which is part of the Albany Medical Center. West Hill stretches from Central Avenue north to Tivoli Hollow, and from Henry Johnson Boulevard west to Manning Boulevard. A low-income neighborhood, West Hill is dominated by Central Avenue, which is Albany's "Main Street" and an important thoroughfare into Albany, and by Clinton and Livingston Avenues. West Hill is a primarily African-American neighborhood. Beverwyck, Helderberg, Hudson/Park, New Scotland/Woodlawn, Pastures, Sheridan Hollow, Washington Square, West Hill, Whitehall History of Albany, New York, National Register of Historic Places listings in Albany, New York, Streets of Albany, New York, Washington Park Historic District (Albany, New York) Neighborhood Map, map of the various neighborhood association boundaries -Link Broken., Google Maps overlay, various neighborhood associations boundaries New Albany is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio, just northeast of the state capital of Columbus. Most of the city is located in Franklin County and a small portion extends into adjacent Licking County. The population was 7,724 at the 2010 census. Founded in 1837, it is now a growing suburb in the Columbus area. New Albany is a very wealthy community, with a per capita income that ranks 12th out of 1,065 places in the state of Ohio. The mayor of New Albany is Republican Sloan Spalding who was elected in 2015. New Albany is located at (40.078643, −82.820618), northeast of Columbus at an elevation of 1,024 feet (312 m). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , of which is land and is water. New Albany is situated in the headwaters of the Rocky Fork Creek, a tributary of the Big Walnut Creek. The Rocky Fork Rose Run and Rocky Fork Sugar Run meander throughout the city. Blacklick Creek runs through the eastern end of the city. The land that was to become the city was founded in the center of Plain Township in 1837 by Nobel Landon and William Yantis. Land was split into lots measuring by and sold to new settlers. One theory about the name "New Albany" is that some of the original settlers migrated from the Albany, New York area. During its history, the community has also been known by the name of "Hope." In 1856, New Albany was incorporated with a population of 50, and the first mayor (S. Ogden) was elected. The Wilkins Lumber Mill, later renamed the New Albany Mill, opened in 1881. In 1922, Mrs. Edward Babbitt was elected the first female mayor of New Albany. In 1970, New Albany was much smaller than it is today, only consisting of a small part of Plain Township that did not even touch Columbus. The first annual New Albany Founders' Day Celebration was held in 1976. As late as 1980, the census only listed 414 residents in the village. Rapid growth in New Albany began in the 1990s, much due to the expansion of the Les Wexner clothing empire and Wexner's construction of his mansion (the 2nd largest in central Ohio behind the Longaberger mansion) off Kitzmiller Road in the village. State Route 161 and access to 161 from I-270 was reconfigured around this time, allowing freeway access into and out of town. In 2008, the New Albany Mill closed 119 years after its downtown opening. The original sawmill had been converted to a hardware store, and was a staple in the lives of many of the residents of New Albany. The 2009 Fathima Rifqa Bary controversy occurred in New Albany, and made national headlines. New Albany teen Bary (raised Muslim but a convert to Christianity) ran away from home to Florida, claiming that as a convert she feared that she would be killed by her family, a claim her parents called untrue. As of the census of 2010, there were 7,724 people, 2,406 households, and 2,138 families living in the village. The population density was . There were 2,653 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 87.7% White, 3.1% African American, 0.1% Native American, 6.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population. There were 2,406 households of which 58.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 80.6% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 11.1% were non-families. 9.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 2.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.21 and the average family size was 3.43. The median age in the village was 37.9 years. 36.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.8% were from 25 to 44; 28.3% were from 45 to 64; and 6.5% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 49.6% male and 50.4% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 3,711 people, 1,263 households, and 1,030 families living in the village. The population density was 415.7 people per square mile (160.5/km²). There were 1,424 housing units at an average density of 159.5 per square mile (61.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 94.18% White, 1.56% African American, 0.32% Native American, 2.75% Asian, 0.35% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.81% of the population. There were 1,263 households out of which 46.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 75.1% were married couples living together, 4.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 18.4% were non-families. 15.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.94 and the average family size was 3.30. In the village the population was spread out with 33.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 26.6% from 45 to 64, and 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the village was $102,180, and the median income for a family was $119,171. Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $36,563 for females. The per capita income for the village was $62,131. About 1.2% of families and 1.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over. New Albany has a sizable Jewish population as a percentage of total population, second only to Bexley in central Ohio. New Albany is home to Temple Beth Shalom, the Columbus Jewish Day School, the Chabad Center for a Jewish Tomorrow, and central Ohio's newest Jewish Community Center. In the center of the city, three main roads cross: Dublin-Granville, U.S. Route 62/Johnstown Road, and New Albany-Reynoldsburg/Ohio Route 605/New Albany-Condit. These three roads divide the city into six roughly equal sections. In the southwest section is the New Albany Country Club, much of the club's golf course (designed by Jack Nicklaus), and Market Square. The south- central section contains the remainder of the golf course, with the rest mostly residential. The northwest section houses New Albany Schools and the performing arts center. The New Albany Links golf course (designed by Barry Serafin) and the surrounding neighborhoods are in the north-central section, along with Bevelhymer Park and the headquarters of Tween Brands. Lastly, the northeast section contains the Mt. Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital and the new headquarters of Bob Evans Farms, Inc.. The city is divided into many subdivisions. North of Dublin-Granville Road are: Asbury Ridge, Cedarbrook, Hampstead Green, Hampstead Heath, New Albany Links, Tidewater, Upper Clarenton, and Windsor. South are the neighborhoods of: Alban Mews, Albany Park, Ashberry Ridge, Brandon, Clivdon, Crescent, Edge of Woods, The Farms, Fenway, Hawksmoor, Lambton Park, Lansdowne, North Of Woods, Planter's Grove, the Reserve, Tensweep, Upper Brandon, The Preserve, The Woods at the Preserve, Waterston, and Wiveliscombe The New Albany Market Square, a popular community gathering place in the center of the city, is home to many businesses, including: Starbucks, Learning Express, New Albany Realty, Rusty Bucket Corner Tavern, and the New Albany Branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Notable companies headquartered in New Albany include Abercrombie & Fitch (part of the retail clothing conglomerate built by Les Wexner) and Commercial Vehicle Group. The former is the leading employer within the city boundaries. On March 10, 2011, Bob Evans Farms, Inc. announced plans to move their corporate headquarters (and almost 400 corporate employees) from the south side of Columbus to New Albany. Construction on their headquarters was completed in 2013. Other employers in the city include Discover Financial Services, Aetna Life Insurance, American Electric Power, UBS, New Albany-Plain Local School District, and the Mount Carmel New Albany Surgical Hospital. Most of the large office buildings housing these employers lie in a corridor between Route 161 and Central College Road to the north. Facebook plans to build a data center in New Albany, expected to be completed in 2019. Google has followed suit. The New Albany community has shown strong support for the performing arts. Located in the city are the New Albany Symphony Orchestra and the New Albany Ballet Company. In 2002, the New Albany Community Foundation approached the Columbus Metropolitan Library (CML) to see if CML would build a library branch in New Albany if the Foundation would donate the book collections and computers. After a fundraising campaign, the library was built in the Market Square area. Inspired by the success of the library, the Village of New Albany, Plain Township, and the New Albany-Plain Local School District partnered together in the development of the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, named after the late wife of John G. McCoy and mother of John B. McCoy. The brick building (located contiguous to the downtown learning campus containing the district schools) contains a 786-seat auditorium with balcony seating, a rehearsal studio, a dance studio, a scene shop, and classrooms dedicated to the performing arts. Land for the $15 million facility was donated by The New Albany Company. Each May since 1976, New Albany residents celebrate Founders Day with a parade, festival, rides, vendors and street performers. Taste of New Albany is an annual culinary event (each August since 2002) that draws thousands to Market Square in downtown New Albany to sample (for an entry fee) food from dozens of restaurants. The proceeds from this event benefit the New Albany Chamber of Commerce. The New Albany Walking Classic is a 10K walking event held annually in early September in New Albany since 2005. It draws thousands of walkers from the Ohio area and beyond, and had over 2,600 finishers in the 2009 race. The event was named the country's best walking event in 2008 by Walk magazine, and is now the country's largest walk-only race. The New Albany Classic is a USEF/FEI-sanctioned equestrian event held each September since 1998 on the estate of Les Wexner and his wife Abigail, founder of the event. The event raises money for the Columbus Coalition Against Family Violence. The related Family Day has many activities, including a concert, amusement rides, and displays of animals from the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. Teen band New Hollow is based in New Albany; the members of the band met in New Albany schools. Julia DeVillers, author of books for girls, David Goodman, Director, Ohio Department of Commerce, former state senator, Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, professional hockey player in the National Hockey League (NHL), Bill Hemmer, Fox News Channel, Darron Lee, professional football player in the National Football League (NFL), Bobby Rahal, IndyCar Series team owner, 3-time IndyCar Series Champion, 1986 Indianapolis 500 Winner, 14-times Indy 500 starter and Formula One driver, Graham Rahal, IndyCar driver and son of Bobby Rahal; 2011 24 Hours of Daytona Winner, Kiefer Sherwood, professional hockey player in the NHL, Les Wexner, founder and CEO of L Brands City website, Village of New Albany Economic Development, New Albany - Plain Local School District, New Albany Area Chamber of Commerce, Demographic Info

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Survivor is the American version of the international Survivor reality competition television franchise, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson created by Charlie Parsons which premiered in 1997. The American series premiered on May 31, 2000, on CBS. It is hosted by television personality Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer along with Mark Burnett and original creator, Parsons. The television show places a group of strangers in an isolated location, where they must provide food, fire, and shelter for themselves. The contestants compete in challenges for rewards and immunity from elimination. The contestants are progressively eliminated from the game as they are voted out by their fellow contestants, until only one remains and is given the title of "Sole Survivor" and is awarded the grand prize of US$1,000,000. The American version has been very successful. From the 2000–01 through the 2005–06 television seasons, its first eleven seasons (competitions) rated among the top ten most watched shows. It is commonly considered the leader of American reality TV because it was the first highly rated and profitable reality show on broadcast television in the U.S., and is considered one of the best shows of the 2000s (decade). The series has been nominated for several Emmy Awards, including winning for Outstanding Sound Mixing in 2001, Outstanding Special Class Program in 2002, and was subsequently nominated four times for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program when the category was introduced in 2003. Probst won the award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program four consecutive times after the award was introduced in 2008. In 2007, the series was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all time. In 2013, TV Guide ranked it at #39 on its list of the "60 Best Series of All Time". Season 39, , premiered on September 25, 2019. The series' 40th season is set to premiere on February 12, 2020, during the 20th anniversary of the show. The first U.S. season of Survivor followed the same general format as the Swedish series. Sixteen or more players, split between two or more "tribes", are taken to a remote isolated location (usually in a tropical climate) and are forced to live off the land with meager supplies for 39 days (42 in ). Frequent physical and mental challenges are used to pit the teams against each other for rewards, such as food or luxuries, or for "immunity", forcing the other tribe to attend "Tribal Council", where they must vote off one of their tribemates. Signaling the halfway point in the game, survivors from both tribes come together to live as one, making it to the "merge". At this point, survivors will compete against each other to win Individual Immunity; winning immunity prevents that player from being voted out at Tribal Council. Most players that are voted out after the merge form the game's "jury". Once the group gets down to three people, a final Tribal Council is held where the remaining players plead their case to the jury members. The jury then votes for which player should be considered the "Sole Survivor" and win the show's grand prize. In all seasons for the United States version, this has included a $1-million prize in addition to the Sole Survivor title; some seasons (particularly earlier seasons) have included additional prizes, such as a car. The U.S. version has introduced numerous modifications, or "twists", on the core rules in order to keep the players on their toes and to prevent players from relying on strategies that succeeded in prior seasons. These changes have included tribal switches, seasons starting with more than two tribes, the ability to exile a player from a tribe for a short time, unannounced returning players, hidden immunity idols that players can use to save themselves or others at Tribal Council, special voting powers which can be used to influence the result at Tribal Council, chance to return to regular gameplay after elimination through the "Redemption Island," "Edge of Extinction" or "The Outcast Tribe" twists, and a final four fire-making challenge as of season 35. The United States version is produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Jeff Probst. Each competition is called a season, has a unique name, and lasts from 13 to 16 episodes. The first season, , was broadcast as a summer replacement show in 2000. Starting with , there have been two seasons aired during each U.S. television season. In the first season, there was a 75-person crew. By season 22, the crew had grown to 325 people. A total of 590 contestants have competed on Survivors 39 seasons. The original idea of Survivor was developed by Charlie Parsons in 1994 under the name Castaway. Parsons formed Planet24 with Bob Geldof to produce the show and tried to have the BBC broadcast it, but the network turned it down. Parsons went to Swedish television and was able to find a broadcaster, ultimately producing Expedition Robinson in 1997. The show was a success, and plans for international versions were made. Mark Burnett intended to be the person to bring the show to the United States, though he recognized that the Swedish version was a bit crude and mean-spirited. Burnett retooled the concept to use better production values, based on his prior Eco-Challenge show, and wanted to focus more on the human drama experienced while under pressure. Burnett spent about a year trying to find a broadcaster that would take the show, retooling the concept based on feedback. On November 24, 1999, Burnett made his pitch to Les Moonves of CBS, and Moonves agreed to pick up the show. The first season, , was filmed during March and April 2000, and was first broadcast on May 31, 2000. The first season became a ratings success, leading to its current ongoing run. The American version of Survivor has been shot in many locations around the world since the first season, usually favoring warm and tropical climates. Starting with , two seasons have filmed back-to-back in the same location, to be aired in the same broadcast year. Since , the show has filmed in the Mamanuca Islands of Fiji. Since The Australian Outback, the announcement of each season's winner and subsequent reunion have been broadcast live in front of a studio audience, usually alternating between the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City (home to the CBS' Late Show franchise) and CBS Television City or the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. Survivor has consistently been one of the top 20 most watched shows through its first 23 seasons. Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of the United States version of Survivor on CBS. Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps. Notes At the end of each U.S. Survivor season from onward, various Survivor props and memorabilia are auctioned online for charity. The most common recipient has been the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Most recently, proceeds have gone toward The Serpentine Project, a charity founded by Jeff Probst, dedicated to helping those transitioning out of foster care upon emancipation at 18 years of age. Items up for auction have included flags, mats, tree mails, contestant torches, contestant clothing, autographed items, immunity idols and the voting urn. In February 2001, Stacey Stillman filed a lawsuit claiming that producers interfered in the process of by persuading two members of her tribe (Sean Kenniff and Dirk Been) to vote her off instead of Rudy Boesch., During a reward trip on , Colby Donaldson removed coral from the Great Barrier Reef and, on the same trip, a helicopter involved with the production crew flew around protected seabird rookeries. Both acts violated Australian law and the incidents could have resulted in fines up to A$110,000. Mark Burnett, the executive producer, issued an apology on behalf of Donaldson and the Survivor production team., At the tribal immunity challenge for the final four players on , host Jeff Probst asked which female player in their season had no piercings. Kim Johnson answered Kelly Goldsmith, got the point, and went on to win the challenge, which put her through to the final three and ultimately (after winning another immunity challenge) the final two. Unbeknownst to the producers, another contestant on "Africa", Lindsey Richter, also had no piercings. Lex van den Berghe's answer had been Lindsey, but the show did not award him a point, which could have significantly changed the outcome of the challenge and the overall game. CBS later paid van den Berghe and Tom Buchanan, who had finished in fourth place, a settlement., In the fifth episode of , a naked Richard Hatch came into contact with Sue Hawk after she blocked his path during an immunity challenge. Hatch was voted out that day for other reasons, but Hawk quit the game two days later as a result of what had happened. Hawk considered filing a lawsuit against the parties involved, but appeared with Hatch on The Early Show the morning after the sixth episode aired, stating she opted out of legal action because CBS had helped her "deal with the situation"., Rupert Boneham, a contestant on Pearl Islands and All-Stars, was extremely popular with television audiences, but finished eighth and fourth, respectively, in his appearances on the show. As part of a special on the All-Stars reunion (Survivor: America's Tribal Council), a contest for the 18 players was created, where the winner would be selected by the viewing audience to receive a $1 million prize. Boneham unsurprisingly won this prize, with more than 80% of the votes cast. Many fans of the show saw this as a way of diluting the overall concept of the show, that instead of outwitting, outplaying and outlasting your fellow tribe members to win the game, a player could now play specifically just to gain popularity with the show's audience, regardless of how well they played the game, and still be rewarded with a large prize., In January 2006, Richard Hatch, the winner of the first season of Survivor, was charged and found guilty of failing to report his winnings to the IRS to avoid taxes. He was sentenced to four years and three months in prison., In the beginning of , the tribes were grouped according to their race. Probst claimed the choice came from the criticism that Survivor was "not ethnically diverse enough", but several long-term sponsors, including Campbell's Soup, Procter & Gamble, Home Depot, and Coca-Cola dropped their support of the show shortly after this announcement, leading to speculation that the decisions were in response to the controversy. Each company has either denied the link to the controversy or declined to comment., The selection process for the 14th season came under fire when it was revealed that, of the entire cast, only Gary Stritesky had gone through the application process for the show; the rest of the contestants were recruited. Probst defended the process, citing finding diversity of cast as a reason., At the reunion show, Denise Martin told producers and the audience that she had been demoted to a janitor from a lunch lady due to the distraction she was to students from her appearance on the show. Because of her misfortune, Burnett awarded Martin $50,000. But Martin would later recant her story after the school district she worked for publicly stated that she had taken the custodial position before appearing on the show. Martin then decided to donate the $50,000 to charity., A brief uncensored shot of Marcus Lehman's genitals during the premiere episode of led to the show and network being asked to apologize for the incident., Jim Early (aka Missyae), who was a user on one of the fan forums for Survivor, was sued by Burnett, his production company, and CBS in August 2010, for allegedly releasing detailed spoiler information for and . Early revealed that he was getting his information from Russell Hantz, a contestant on both seasons, through both phone calls and emails. Early complied in the lawsuit by providing such evidence, eventually leading to its dismissal in January 2011. Although legal action has yet to be taken against Hantz, the contract for a player in Survivor includes a liability of up to $5 million for the premature revealing of a season's results. Hantz has stated that the claim is false., Contestants that did not make the jury in were not allowed on stage for the reunion show. While Jeff Probst claimed that the new stage could not accommodate all 18 of the attending contestants, the format change was panned because the show's fans and fellow contestants felt that it was unfair for them to be left out in the audience. Erik Reichenbach, who finished 5th and did not even get a chance to speak at the reunion, called out the producers for their treatment of the contestants. Calling it a farce, he criticized how the reunion show left so many unanswered questions about the other contestants and his own evacuation during the season finale. He also criticized how the pre-jury members were completely left out in favor of featuring the show's former contestants, like Rob Mariano and Rudy Boesch., In the sixth episode of , Jeff Varner revealed at Tribal Council that fellow contestant Zeke Smith was a transgender man. This caused an immediate uproar amongst his tribemates and host Jeff Probst, which led to Varner's immediate elimination. The incident was covered by various news outlets, with fans heavily criticizing Varner's actions. Varner explained himself following the episode's airdate and expressed regret for his actions. Varner was also fired from his real estate job after the episode aired., Before the premiere of , contestant Alec Merlino posted a photo of himself on Instagram with fellow contestant Kara Kay containing the caption "F**, it". This action broke Merlino's NDA agreement with the show and was consequently stripped of all appearance fees and banned from the live reunion show. Due to this, Merlino did not have to pay the standard $5 million penalty for breaking the agreement., In the eighth episode of the 39th season , contestant Dan Spilo was issued a warning by producers for inappropriately touching fellow contestants including Kellee Kim. Contestants Elizabeth Beisel and Missy Byrd came under fire for their misuse of this situation as a strategic tool in voting out Kim later that episode. This moment has since been criticized by various news outlets for the reactions of Beisel and Byrd as well as the handling of the situation by producers. Beisel and Byrd later apologized, along with fellow contestants Lauren Beck and Aaron Meredith. Jeff Probst, CBS, and MGM released a statement about what happened and the production's reaction as well. Dan was later removed from the game at the end of episode 12 after "a report of another incident, which happened off-camera and did not involve a player". This is the first time a contestant has been ejected from the show by production. Spilo apologized to all involved for his behavior following the finale's broadcast. Because of the incident, the season's finale was not shown live but instead from an earlier live-to-tape recording, the first time since the live finale format was introduced. Further, CBS and Survivor announced they will revamp the show's rules and production to focus more on earlier detection and prevention of this type of inappropriate behavior, and strict penalties for castaways that engage in it, to be fully in place by the 41st season. The success of Survivor spawned a wide range of merchandise from the very first season. While early items available were limited to buffs, water bottles, hats, T-shirts, and other typical souvenir items, the marketability of the franchise has grown tremendously. Today, fans can find innumerable items, including computer and board games, interactive online games, mugs, tribal-themed jewelry, beach towels, dog tags, magnets, multi-function tools, DVD seasons, Survivor party kits, insider books, soundtracks, and more. Best of Full seasons Seasons 1, 2, 7, 8, 9 and 10 were released in stores. The remaining seasons have been released exclusively on Amazon.com through their CreateSpace manufacture on demand program. Select seasons have also been released on Blu- ray. CBS All Access All seasons are available on CBS All Access, the network's over-the-top subscription streaming service in both the United States and Australia (where the service is branded as 10 All-Access - due to the service's affiliation to the CBS owned Network 10). In the 2001 PC video game , developed by Magic Lantern and published by Infogrames, it allows players to play and create characters for the game based on the Borneo or Australian Outback cast members. The game also includes a character creation system for making custom characters. Gameplay consists of choosing survivors' skills (fishing, cooking, etc.), forming alliances, developing relationships with other tribe members, and voting off competitors at tribal council. The game was very poorly received by critics. GameSpot gave the game a 'Terrible' score of 2.0 out of 10, saying "If you're harboring even a tiny urge to buy this game, please listen very carefully to this advice: Don't do it." Likewise, IGN gave the game a 'Painful' 2.4 out of 10, stating "It is horribly boring and repetitive. The graphics are weak and even the greatest Survivor fan would break the CD in two after playing it for 20 minutes." The game was the recipient of Game Revolution's lowest score of all time, an F-. An 'interactive review' was created specially for the game, and features interactive comments like "The Survival periods are about as much fun as" followed by a drop-down menu, "watching paint dry/throbbing hemorrhoids/staring at air/being buried alive." On November 4, 2009, it was announced that a second video game adaptation would be released for the Wii and Nintendo DS. The game would require players to participate in various challenges like those in the reality shows in order to win. Various soundtracks have been released featuring music composed by Russ Landau, including soundtracks for seasons 9 through 27 (with the exception of season 14). The Tiki Twirl thrill ride at California's Great America in Santa Clara, California was originally called Survivor: The Ride. The ride includes a rotating platform that moves along an undulating track. Riders can be sprayed by water guns hidden in oversized tribal masks. Theme elements included drums and other familiar Survivor musical accents playing in the background, Survivor memorabilia throughout the queue and other merchandise for sale in nearby gift shops. Endurance, Pirate Master, Redneck Island, Total Drama, List of longest-running U.S. primetime television series Survivor Philippines: Celebrity Doubles Showdown is the fourth and final season of the Philippine version of the reality television series Survivor. Richard Gutierrez reprised his hosting stint for the second time after . Unlike the previous season, and any other celebrity and non-celebrity seasons in any Survivor franchise, this installment would feature celebrities grouped as couples with preexisting relationships. Teasers of castaways' identities were partially revealed in the third week of October 2011. A week after the teasers were revealed, the identities of the celebrity castaways were then fully identified. The show was entirely shot in San Vicente, Palawan, the first time the Philippine franchise has filmed in their home country. The show premiered on GMA Network on November 14, 2011. Initial tribe names were Bulan ("moon" in Cuyonon and Visayan languages) and Tala (archaic Tagalog term for "star"), termed in-show to be names of goddesses of the moon and stars respectively. In the eventual merge, the new tribe was named Apolaki, after the Tagalog god of the sun and also the god of the warriors. Though the game is a doubles format, it was revealed in the first episode that only one will remain as the Celebrity Sole Survivor who will win ₱3,000,000. This season is noted to be the one with the most number of quitters, as five separate contestants left the game voluntary during the first six days of the game due to mostly moral reasons. It also has a gender imbalance because there were nine males and eleven females. The season was won by Albert "Betong" Sumaya, Jr. with the vote of 4–2–1, defeating Mara Yokohama and Stef Prescott. Aside from its biggest twist, which is the "doubles" concept, this season also featured old and new twists and changes into the game. Temptation Reward: The winning tribe in a Reward Challenge would choose one or two of their own to partake in the Temptation Reward. After being shown the reward, the chosen one/s were then also presented with the consequence that comes upon accepting the Temptation Reward. Declining from the Temptation Reward is also an option, if those chosen would deem accepting it be too harmful for their life in the game., Tribal Shuffle: Occurring on Cycle 4, this ended the "doubles" format, as the pairs were broken down, with one going to Bulan and the other to Tala., Second Reward Challenge in a Cycle: Also used in , this occurred on Cycle 11 when the castaways fought for a car. Cycles in this article refer to the three-day periods in the game (unless indicated), composed of at least the Immunity Challenge and the subsequent Tribal Council. Except on the first cycle, every cycle begins at the end of the previous Tribal Council. So any events that occurred after a Tribal Council will be chronicled in the next cycle. Pair Reward Challenge: Castaways must free themselves from a water cage, and swim to the shore. Along the way are mystery sacks that may contain items that are useful in any way during their stay in the island which they could retrieve at their discretion. Upon reaching the shore, the castaways must first bind themselves with their respective partners. After that, they must hit the containers hung onto a tree using a long bamboo stick. Inside two of those containers each contain two immunity bracelets. When a pair finds the immunity bracelets, they must run to the flag to finish the game. The first two pairs to have the immunity bracelets wins the Reward Challenge., Reward: Immunity bracelet, Tribal Reward/Immunity Challenge: Six climbers must climb several A frames, bringing with them three abaca ropes. Before climbing to the next A frame, all the members of the tribe must be completed and should station themselves on a designated mat. They would repeat this sequence until the tribe had reached the last mat. After the climbers had completed the A frame obstacle, they needed to carry a crate to a starting point (in a form of another mat) for the next part of the challenge. When the tribe had reached the starting point, they need to tie the crate using the rope that they brought along with them. After that, they would put the crate in a long sliding platform, and pull it until it reached the other three members of the tribe who are assigned to solve a puzzle located inside the crate. The first tribe to finish the puzzle and reading aloud its contents wins reward and immunity., Reward: Shelter materials, flint, and a hammock, Temptation Reward: Immunity bracelet for each member of the pair., Temptation Consequence: One member must transfer to the opposing tribe. If one member would be voted out in a Tribal Council, the partner would have to be eliminated as well. Day 1: After undergoing a mud ritual, the castaways were put on a water cage, of which was meters away from the shore. Host Richard Guttierez arrived via seaplane and introduced them to the game and to their first challenge. In the challenge, many of the castaways prioritized looking for the necklaces rather than gathering supplies. The Philippine Volcanoes pair of Arnold & John and former love team Isabel & Chuckie were first to retrieve the necklaces. The castaways then inspected the supplies they gathered during the challenge. Through a schoolyard pick, the two tribes were formed. The Volcanoes duo, the first two members of Bulan, were joined by dating partners Gino & Stef, ex- couple KC & Geneva, mother and daughter Maribel & Mara, and friends Alyssa & Aifha. On the other hand, Isabel & Chuckie's tribe Tala had cousins Carlo & Arthur, couple Ellen & Filo, friends Jackie & Angelicopter, and comedic duo Betong & Maey as its members. The tribes were then directed to their camps, where they started to gather food and build shelter. At Bulan, as the rest of the tribe worked, Gino saw the Volcanoes making alliances with KC. KC was also able to make fire using only bamboo, something the entire Tala tribe were not able to achieve after several tries. Although still early, tribal life had already started to take its emotional toll on Geneva and Aifha, with Geneva already airing her intention to quit. In the evening, a remark by Aifha caused an argument between her and Alyssa. Day 2: As tribal life went on in Bulan, Geneva was still stressed and was crying. After KC answered to the producer that he wanted to continue the game alone, Geneva decided to quit after having an argument with KC and with the resident psychologist about the ethics of the game. However, the producers decided to give KC the chance to stay in the game as a solo contestant. Difficulties faced by Bulan en route to the challenge area due to the weather and emerging swells forced the producers to postpone the challenge to the next day. Day 3: In the Reward/Immunity Challenge, Bulan initially led up to the puzzle part, where Tala caught up. Maribel already had the answer to the puzzle, Tagumpay ng isa ay tagumpay ng lahat ("The success of one is the success of all"), while her tribe's puzzle was still unfinished. This enabled Tala to overtake Bulan and complete their puzzle, winning the challenge. After Bulan left, Tala was told of the Temptation Reward. After much deliberation, the tribe chose Angelicopter and Jackie, who stayed behind to see the temptation reward. After weighing their options and their tribe's welfare, the two decided not to accept the temptation and returned to camp, where they discussed about the temptation reward and why they did not accept it. At Bulan, upon noticing a large beehive near camp and the size of the bees that inhabited it, the tribe decided to move their camp to a safer location. At Tala, after several tries using their flint, the tribe finally had a small flame which petered out moments later, forcing the tribe to spend their third straight night without fire. Back at Bulan, after the tribe had a brief mock fire dance to amuse themselves, Maribel apologized to her tribemates about what happened during the Reward/Immunity Challenge. She also expressed wanting to come back to her comfort zone, being the oldest in the tribe. Day 4: At Tala, after several failed attempts by her tribemates, Jackie finally made a large sustainable flame for her tribe. At Bulan, Maribel and Mara were already presumed that they were already next due to Maribel's desires to go home. Maribel even wanted to tell her tribe to vote her out. Later, while everybody frolicked at the beach, Arnold lost his immunity bracelet in the wave, making him concerned on his life in the game. But he was assured by his alliance, particularly KC, that the loss of the bracelet was already minor compared to the strength of the alliance itself. At Tribal Council, Richard regarded the game as one not for the weak and Geneva's resignation from the game as a "waste" of a spot for the show. Talk then turned to the strengths and weaknesses of the tribe. It was then announced that, instead of a single person, a pair would be voted out instead. In the end, rather than follow Maribel's wish, the Volcanoes, KC, Gino, and Stef decided to keep Maribel and Mara and instead send Alyssa and Aifha home, 7–2. Reward Challenge: One member would play as a goalkeeper floating on their own raft, while the rest would ride with connected rafts. Using paddles with two holes, they would scoop a ball and either pass it to a teammate or fling it to the opposing tribe's goal. Participants should not use their hands to pick up or throw their ball; they could only use their hands to maneuver their rafts. A participant who falls off their raft would temporarily be out of the game until they lift themselves back to their raft. First tribe to score three points would win the reward., Reward: Fishing materials, snorkeling gear, condiments, and two large lapu-lapu., Temptation Reward: Immunity bracelet for each member of the pair., Temptation Consequence: If accepted, one member must transfer to the opposing tribe. But this time, if one member would be voted out in a Tribal Council, it wouldn't affect their partner as long as they still have their own immunity bracelet., Immunity Challenge: In a series of matches, each team had to push a large ball across a mud field into their opponents' goal, while preventing their opponents from doing the same. One ball per tribe would be deployed in each match. Opponents could only hold each other on the waist and riding on the ball and pinning or hitting the opponent were not allowed. First tribe to score three points would win immunity. Day 5: The two tribes faced off in a heated Reward Challenge where, along with the removal of goalkeepers and one pair per tribe, Tala scored the first two points. With several members of Bulan deciding to paddle with their hands, they eventually tied with Tala, then stole another goal for the win, 3-2. Bulan chose Mara and her mother Maribel to stay for the Temptation Reward. After much mother-daughter talk and taking in the pros and cons, especially on Maribel's and the Bulan tribe's welfare and the possibility of a tribal shuffle, Mara and Maribel accepted the bracelets with the latter deciding to be part of Tala, wanting to weaken it further. Naturally, Bulan was surprised to see Mara alone upon return to camp. Mara then divulged to Gino her mother's transfer to Tala, which she eventually told to the rest of the tribe except Stef. Meanwhile, at Tala, the tribe was also shocked and horrified to see Maribel becoming one of their own, with Maribel acting like she was forced to switch tribes, to the point that several members, notably Jackie, Angelicopter, and Ellen, were already intimidated by her. Maribel made further fabrications about a tribal shuffle, making Isabel and Chuckie think about giving up their immunity bracelets to whoever would be transferred to Bulan. Later that night, Chuckie and Ellen talked about stealing Maribel's immunity bracelet, not immediately believing Maribel's story of how she produced hers. Day 6: At Tala, the women took advantage of Maribel's absence to look for her immunity bracelet among her belongings while she was talking to Carlo. They were not successful, not knowing she had already hid the bracelet in her underwear even before she arrived at camp. The two tribes met again in the Immunity Challenge, where, despite some roughhousing from both tribes, Bulan swept Tala 3–0. As Bulan celebrated, Jackie noted Maribel gesturing and talking to Mara in Japanese, a language both mother and daughter understood. To Jackie, it was a sign that Maribel already wanted out the game. After a brief stay at camp, Tala proceeded to Tribal Council, where talk initially focused on the roughhousing that went on in the Immunity Challenge, particularly the shouting match that ensued between the Volcanoes duo and several Tala members after Arnold rolled the ball over Carlo. The discussion then turned to the most averse reception Maribel had upon her arrival to Tala. Finally, Richard revealed that in the relatively short history of the Philippine Survivor franchise, Tala was already regarded as the whiniest tribe due to complaints its members had, most importantly on personal safety, to which Richard reminded that anyone who competes in Survivor must endure the rawest nature could offer; those who could not stand the elements and fierceness of the game must quit if they so desire. Just as the tribe was about to vote, Angelicopter and Jackie expressed their decision to leave the game as to them, the current dynamic was already going against their morals, particularly Jackie's. So the host pulled the pair's nametags from their torches and tossed them into the fire, signifying the pair's exit. Reward Challenge: Using materials provided to them, the tribe must devise a five-minute performance number to be presented in front of a panel of judges. The tribe that was adjudged to have the better performance would win the reward., Reward: A breakfast buffet and three egg-laying chickens., Temptation Reward: Hotdog sandwiches and ₱100,000., Temptation Consequence: The reward the tribe earned would be transferred to the other tribe., Immunity Challenge: Standing on a platform, each contestant would hold onto a net filled with a kilogram of seafood on each hand at shoulder level. A belt marker would be worn at each contestant's waist; if either net would go lower than the marker, the contestant would be eliminated. Contestants who are eliminated would then have 10 seconds to choose a tribemate, who would then take their load. Last person standing would win immunity for their tribe., Additional reward: Six kilograms of seafood. Night of Day 6: Soon after Tribal Council ended, Filo and Ellen also decided to quit as well, citing their safety and the game's intensity. Meanwhile, the Tala tribe was instructed to head to the production area instead of their camp due to inclement weather to be brought by Typhoon Pedring; Bulan already evacuated to the production area while Tala was heading to Tribal Council. Day 7: As the rains from Typhoon Pedring poured and the tribes amused themselves to pass the time, Stef was treated for the sunburns she obtained the day before, while Chuckie, Isabel, Betong, and Maey plotted on how to use Chuckie and Isabel's immunity bracelets and/or to steal Maribel's. Later, Richard visited the tribes as they have brought his sister Ruffa Gutierrez and his mother Annabelle Rama, who brought to the tribes materials and instructions for the upcoming Reward Challenge. After much practice, the two tribes faced off in the Reward Challenge, to be overseen by Ruffa and Annabelle as well as a small audience of local children. Although Tala had more members with acting experience, both tribes gave performances that amused Ruffa, Annabelle, and the children. As a result, there was no consensus on which tribe won; instead, Bulan was declared the winner by points of 83.5% while Tala received 66%. After Tala left, Bulan chose the Volcanoes duo to take a peek at the Temptation Reward, which the pair decidedly refused. Day 8: Bulan enjoyed their newfound breakfast reward, while Tala returned to their daily routine, seeing that their camp had withstood the bad weather. Isabel and Maey discussed that they would continue to target Maribel unless they see her immunity bracelet. At Bulan, although camp was also spared, the tribe again relocated it to somewhere drier. The tribes then competed in the Immunity Challenge, the first endurance challenge of the season. Maey accidentally dropped part of her new load, leaving Chuckie to battle against the Volcanoes duo alone. Unable to bear a total of 12 kilos on his hands any longer, Chuckie eventually gave Tala its fourth consecutive loss. While an exchange of hugs ensued between opposing tribe members, Maey saw Gino covertly transfer an immunity bracelet to Maribel's shirt. As Tala was returning to camp, everyone was beginning to be irked by Maribel's continued presence to the point that Carlo had an argument with Isabel and Maribel. Meanwhile, Betong and Maey prepared themselves on their potential department should voting go against them. In this Tribal Council, the host threw Ellen and Filo's nametags at the firepit to signify their quitting just after the recent tribal council. Maribel tried to explain her actions, even denying that she blew the previous two challenges. After the ensuing vote, Maribel as well as Chuckie & Isabel used their immunity bracelets. But with all votes going to either Maribel or the former loveteam, the tribe was forced to vote again which resulted to Maribel being voted out 6-1. Reward Challenge: One member from each tribe would compete in a round. In a round, the two competitors would spin a wheel each. The first wheel contains the names of vegetables and fruits while the second one have different portions from an animal. The both chosen fruit/vegetable and the animal part would be mixed in a blender with bee larvae, worms and water, and be made as a drink. Whoever finishes first would win the round; first tribe to win five rounds would also win the reward., Reward: A barbecue party by a waterfall., Temptation Reward: Two anting-antings; a black and a gold one. The black anting-anting would add one vote while the gold one would subtract a vote in tribal council. The castaway who received it should not use it to himself/herself and only to be used to his/her tribemates., Temptation Consequence: The castaway who received it would not join the barbecue party., Immunity Challenge: In a three-level platform, each tribe would assign a member in each level; whoever was on the highest level would pour water and be drained to the bamboos that would be used as the gutters. The members on the lower levels would support and connect the bamboos so the water will continuously drain in a large barrel. Once the barrel is full of water, it would release the puzzle pieces to be solved by a member. Whoever finishes the puzzle first win the immunity. Day 9: Unaired Day 10: Meeting up for the Reward Challenge, Bulan was shocked that Maribel was voted out, not as they predicted to happen. Richard instructed Mara to give her immunity bracelet back because it works as the twin of Maribel's bracelet as Maribel used hers already. If she don't give it back, she would be also eliminated the same as her mother. At the Reward Challenge, the first round was won by Arthur against John. Seven rounds happened on the challenge with the last round won again by Arthur against KC. With Tala winning the challenge, Carlo volunteered to receive the Temptation Reward without consulting the tribe while Arthur also wanted to get it because he thought he deserved to get it due to him winning the last round. Carlo accepted the temptation, preventing himself from experiencing the reward, as he deemed that the tribe would need it in the merge. Carlo told them about the anting-antings and later on, they leave him for the reward. Being lonely in the camp, Carlo made yellow bracelets for his tribemates and moved their firepit away from their tent. At Bulan, the tribe decided to barbecue one of their three chickens. While sleeping, Stef was bitten possibly by a Philippine cobra and was sent to a hospital in Manila to be treated. At this time, there was still no confirmation if whether or not Stef would still play Survivor. Day 11: The tribes met and thought an immunity challenge would happen but instead, a tribal shuffle was held. Each pair was asked to pick two baskets face-to-face on a table that would contain their new buffs, which determine what tribe they would be. Mara and KC became a pair while any basket Gino picked, the other basket in front of it would be Stef's. When the baskets were opened, it was revealed that the pairs would be broken down with one going to Bulan and the other in Tala. Back at the camps, each tribe welcomed the new members warmly. At Bulan, talks on behind their backs were already circulating with the original Tala members, Arthur and Betong and the original Bulan members, KC, John and Gino in strategies to get rid of the original Bulan or Tala members respectively. At Tala, Arnold and Mara felt the warmth being there at their new tribe. Day 12: At the Immunity Challenge, Bulan chose Gino as the drainer and John as the puzzle solver while Tala chose Chuckie to be the former one and Carlo as the latter one. There was a close race between the tribes as Tala's puzzles were released seconds after Bulan's. Carlo finished the puzzle first but it was put in opposite side so John had time to finish his first, yet Carlo turned his puzzle pieces quickly, winning the immunity for Tala. After winning the challenge, Maey and Chuckie were worried that either Betong or Isabel would be voted out. While in Bulan, talks about their voting started surfacing. The original Bulan members tried to bring Isabel to their side that she mentioned to Betong and Arthur that they would vote out the latter. After the original Bulan tribe's plan was ruined, John tried to talk to Arthur about bringing him to their side. At Tribal Council, the loss of the tribe at the Immunity Challenge and trust was discussed. Richard announced the end of doubles format as only one member would be voted out on every tribal council starting this day. A tie between Gino and Isabel was announced after the votes were revealed, with the members sticking with their old tribemates. A revote was instructed, still resulting to a tie. Gino and Isabel were then instructed to play the fire-making challenge to break the tie. Being the only one to build fire, Gino won the tiebreaker challenge, sending Isabel home. Reward Challenge: The challenge was composed of 3 legs. At the first leg, from the shore, castaways would run to a mudpit, where they would find their own paddle, corresponding their tribe color. Then, they would go to the second leg. There, they would tie a basket at their waist level at their back. Using their paddle and hands, they would find three rope rings in their designated sandpile corresponding their tribe color. Once they found one, they would shoot it at their basket using the paddle. One member from each tribe who finds the three rope rings first would advance to the last leg. At the last leg, from their tribe mat, they would shoot each rope ring to a pole with hoops for each ring. Whoever shot all the rope rings first wins reward for their tribe., Reward: Shower and coffee; immunity bracelet for the person who won it for the tribe; and the opportunity to pick first between Jon Hall and Akihiro Sato, contestants, that would help them for the next immunity challenge., Temptation Reward: ₱100,000, Temptation Consequence: The tribe would not get the shower., Immunity Challenge: A member from each tribe would play in a round. Both of them would slide on a large tarpaulin and would get a numbered ball that was assigned by the host. Once they got the right ball, they would shoot it in their basket attached on a wall. Whoever shoots first wins a point for that round; first tribe to get five points wins immunity. Night of Day 12: Gino comforted Betong and Arthur after the elimination of Isabel. The original Bulan alliance, KC, Gino and John, had planned to lose the immunity challenge so they can vote out Arthur. Day 13: Stef finally came back after she was cured of the cobra's bite. Bulan practiced their throwing after they read the treemail that said throwing would be part of the reward challenge. At the Reward Challenge, Arnold was the first to find a rope ring and it progressed as he found all the three rope rings, that made Tala's third consecutive win. It led him to get an immunity bracelet. Then, Richard called Jon Hall and Akihiro Sato and asked Tala who they want to be part of their tribe. Tala chose Jon Hall as he was considered the biggest threat of the previous season while Akihiro Sato, last season's Celebrity Sole Survivor, went to Bulan. For the Temptation Reward, Arnold volunteered to go and declined the money to strengthen the tribe's trust to him. As a reward, Tala enjoyed their fresh shower and hot coffees. Back to their camps, Akihiro and Jon taught their tribemates how to improve their shelters and gave some advice about playing the game. Day 14: In the Immunity Challenge, at the first round, Akihiro and Jon competed with each other. Jon led first but Akihiro ended up winning the round. Bulan led by winning the first two rounds, but Tala caught up thereafter. After a tight race, Gino ended up winning the last round accidentally, although their goal was not to win. After the challenge, Akihiro and Jon bade their goodbyes. At Tala, instead of worrying for the next day's Tribal Council, they bond together at playing at the sand. At Bulan, Gino reached Betong to join their alliance because they were thinking Arnold and Mara is now in alliance with the original Tala members, especially Carlo. Betong would see if he would join their alliance. Back to Tala, talks about voting out Stef had been going on. Stef had thought she was the next one to be voted out because she was always the one left out when her tribemates were having a group talk. Day 15: The next day, Stef made friendship bracelets so her tribemates wouldn't think of her to vote out. At the Tribal Council, after the voting, Arnold gave his immunity bracelet to Stef, which shocked the original Tala members. Stef used the immunity bracelet and when the votes were revealed, Tala's perceived leader Carlo was blindsided and was sent home without even using or passing his anting-antings, 3-0. Immunity Challenge: Contestants must first traverse over a bamboo wall, then cross a bamboo bridge maze. When one falls off the bamboo maze, they had to restart from the beginning. Next, they would cross through an elastic wall and run through a burlap maze to search for three bags containing three-dimensional puzzle pieces. Once the bags were retrieved, they would run to a table and assemble the puzzle, a replica of the Manunggul Jar. First to finish the puzzle would win immunity. Night of Day 15: After the Tribal Council, Arnold explained his unexpected actions to Maey and Chuckie. They were still horrified of what happened. Stef started crying due to Arnold's deceptive actions in the Tribal Council and her not being informed of the plan to give to her the immunity bracelet. Day 16: The tribes met for a reward challenge, that they didn't know was fake. Richard instructed them to dig a wooden cylinder on the sandpile and go back to their tribe mat for their further instructions. Maey was the first to find a cylinder while John was the last one. They were then instructed to open them and it contained their new merged tribe buffs. Richard later revealed that their tribe would be called Apolaki and also revealed their tribe flag. They were then instructed to go to their merge feast. They ate lechon and their respective favorite foods. They were entertained by the renowned Rachel Lobangco and Puerto Princesa performers. While eating lechon, Mara found an immunity bracelet hidden in the lechon's belly, which was almost nabbed by Stef. Chuckie and Maey talked about what happened at the last Tribal Council to their original Tala alliance while Arnold did the same to his original Bulan alliance. The new tribe used Bulan's camp as their new camp. The original Tala alliance was targeting Stef to be their new alliance member as she was seen as an outcast when she's with her original tribemates. Day 17: They decided to build another camp to accommodate themselves, instead of expanding the old one. They received their first treemail consisting of drawings instead of words, which was later adapted on the next treemails. A sketch of their flag and paints were engraved, citing that they need to decorate their tribe, which was done by Maey and Stef. The Bulan boys started thinking about the closeness of Stef to the Tala alliance, which would definitely bring a tie if she went with them. The castaways competed in the first Individual Immunity Challenge where KC, Stef, and Mara forged ahead while everybody else was stuck at the bamboo maze. KC was the first to finish his puzzle and win immunity. Back at camp, they found that the chicken they were about eat suddenly disappeared. Betong noted Mara's lack of remorse for the missing chicken as she was the one who tied it. Betong felt he had received the full burden when it was lost although he just helped Mara bring it back to the cage. Day 18: Betong saw a fish floating on the waters, in which he and Stef decided to cook. Betong, Maey and Stef cited Mara's lack of consideration as she took the cooked fish first, not letting the others eat it first. The tribe noted Chuckie sleeping and not feeling well (Chuckie himself later attributed this to lifelong intermittent bouts of vertigo). With rain continuously pouring at camp, the nearby stream started to widen into a river, eroding its sandy banks. This forced the tribe to be evacuated to a safer place. Later, the castaways were interviewed by Celebrity Showdown contestant Aubrey Miles about tribal life and their fellow tribemates. At Apolaki's first Tribal Council, Aubrey revealed the results of her survey, surprising the castaways, especially Stef, which received most of the votes when it comes to questions involving deceit. Aubrey also noted Gino's sarcasm when she interviewed him. Talk then turned to how the game had changed the individual dynamics of three of the whole pairs still in the game, Stef and Gino, Betong and Maey and the Volcanoes duo. Despite the negative situation in which Stef was slowly finding herself in, concerns over Chuckie's wellness and perceived weakness prevailed as the tribe made him the first member of the jury, 9–1. Reward Challenge: Contestants were each tied to a rope that was wrapped around a rail. They would need to maneuver themselves around the rail to lengthen the rope to which they can run to platters of varying distance containing coins. Assigned with pouches, they would fill it with coins and run back to their main table to unload their coins. There would be five coin platters for each contestant. The challenge will end when at least one contestant would gather coins from their fifth and farthest platter and return to their main table. If no one would reach their fifth platter within five minutes, an additional two minutes would be allotted for the challenge to end. The one with the highest amount of coins gathered would win the reward., Reward: Steak and mashed potatoes and the power to choose what food would his tribemates receive (between, in descending order, spaghetti, chocolate cake, peanut butter and jelly sandwich, monay (type of bread), tuyo (dried, salted fish), two tofu cubes, a candy and a glass of water)., Immunity Challenge: The castaways would hang onto a pole as long as they can. The last person left wins immunity. Night of Day 18: Upon camp, Stef was starting to doubt about her standing in the game, knowing her Bulan tribemates are gradually abandoning her. Meanwhile, the remaining Tala members planned on how to align with Stef, even though it would still put them on a disadvantage by numbers. Day 19: In the morning, Betong divulged with Maey his worries about their future in the game, to which Maey assured to him about sticking with each as long as they could. The castaways then competed in the first individual reward challenge. No one had reached the fifth platter after five minutes so an additional two minutes were added. KC led up to the fifth platter with Arnold catching up, with KC finishing up the challenge. With him enabling to finish the challenge, he obtained the highest amount of money with ₱7,422.25 while Maey received the lowest with ₱1,189.00. KC received his food and as part of the reward, he chose one-by-one to who gets what. After KC's hard selection, Richard announced that letters from their loved ones would be given but only to KC and the first four who KC selected to receive the first four foods: Maey (spaghetti), Gino (chocolate cake), Arnold (peanut butter and jelly sandwich) and John (monay). Only excerpts from their letters was given to the last four: Stef (tuyo), Mara (tofu cubes), Arthur (candy) and Betong (glass of water). KC was further given an opportunity to pick from the last four who would get a whole letter. He chose Arthur as they have a secret alliance. Back to the camp, each castaway shared their letters to the whole tribe. Stef and Arthur talked about voting out Arnold with KC and the other original Tala members. Arnold and Mara discussed their strong alliance of two till the end. That night, Betong talked about his life to Arnold when he used to be a bagger in a supermarket, which Arnold related to as he used to be a gasoline boy in New Zealand. Day 20: Betong talked with Gino about what he and Arnold had in their conversation last night. Further on, they talked about the closeness between Mara and Arnold. This situation gave way to Gino assuring Betong that he and Maey would replace Mara and Arnold in their alliance and that they would bring the comedic duo to top 5 or 6. They also brought up the topic of voting out Arnold. Gino revealed to Betong that KC was the one who planned to vote out Arnold. Later on, Betong and Maey talked about Stef and how they need to be wary of her as she might be playing them around. Gino told John what he and Betong talked about and planned to bring him and Maey to top 4. They also planned to flirt with Mara to gain her trust, as what Arnold did. In the Immunity Challenge, a series of bribes were given by Richard to determine the winner faster. The first bribe was whoever gets a Survivor logo tattoo would get an immunity in the next tribal council; this was taken by KC, Betong and Stef. After a number of other bribes, the challenge was left between Maey, Mara and Arnold. After 3 hours and 26 minutes, Maey went down. Mara fell down from the pole after 4 hours and 14 minutes and Arnold came to aid her. Not desired by majority of the tribe as they plan to vote him out, Arnold won the immunity challenge. Day 21: That morning, Maey prepared rice with taros, which Betong harvested. Maey brought up the topic that Betong doesn't have a girlfriend, but the latter told that he dated Patricia Javier, a sexy actress, for one week, while KC avoided the conversation. Gino warned Betong and Maey to be wary of Stef and insisted that she's with Arnold and Mara for final three. Maey told Betong and Arthur that Stef heard the conversation of John, Arnold and Mara: that the latter three would vote out three of them one-by- one. Stef and Arthur strategized about how they'll vote out Arnold, Mara and Gino, with KC as their leader. Betong went back in his daily job, which is picking firewood. The Bulan boys caught some crabs and decided to build a trap to catch other crabs. At Tribal Council, talks about the tribemates that they trust the most and least were discussed. The original Bulan members, even Stef, stuck to their first plan: to vote out Tala members one-by-one; and Arthur was sent to the jury, 6-3. Reward Challenge: Standing almost 140 feet away from a giant sling/catapult, the castaways would try to catch balls released from the sling/catapult using their baskets. First castaway to catch three balls would win the reward., Reward: All afternoon in a spa with two chosen companions., Immunity Challenge: The castaways would use two metal handles to hold a metal bar in tension above a tile. The last castaway to keep tension on the bar and keep it from breaking the tile would win immunity. Day 22: Early in the morning, the castaways discovered that the crab trap they made the day before worked. On the other hand, Maey and Betong tried not to think that they might be next voted out, being the remaining original Tala members. At the Reward Challenge, after a series of jostles, John won the reward, who took Arnold and Betong with him. While at the spa, the trio sealed an alliance. Back at camp, Stef and Mara confronted one another about their feelings with each other. That night, John, Arnold and Betong came back, with their tribemates becoming jealous in how they smelled fresh and sweet. Day 23: A psychic visited them and went to determine their aura. She gave some advice in terms of what would happen in the future, not answering them straightforwardly. Mara thought that Stef was the one who suggested to the original Tala members to vote her out in the last tribal council. In line with this, Arnold interrogated Stef, which directed into a dispute. Gino went to stop it with him calming Stef down. At the Immunity Challenge, after a couple of drops, it was left between KC, Arnold and Gino. KC discovered a trick to lift his metal bar higher. Gino tried to do the same, but failed, resulting to his metal bar sliding furthermore with only half of his handles now supporting it. After 15 minutes, KC tried to do the trick again but it slid down completely, eliminating him out of the challenge. After 21 minutes and 45 seconds, Gino's bar finally slid down, concluding the challenge with Arnold winning immunity back-to-back. Back at camp, John let KC know that he might be voted out, as the plan to vote Arnold out was cancelled. John made up a new plan to save KC, with Mara as the target, provided that the latter does not use her immunity bracelet. On the other hand, Betong and Maey, as original Tala members, felt that they were not in the midst of being voted out. At Tribal Council, Richard questioned the status of the original Bulan alliance. This alliance was indeed tarnished when one of its members, John, despite using his intuition as what the psychic told him, was blindsided and became the third member of the jury, 4-2-1-1. Reward Challenge: Each team, composing of a contestant and their loved one, would collect mud from a mud pit using their bodies and deposit the mud to a bucket in five minutes. The team with the most mud as determined by weight would win the reward., Reward: An overnight stay at a resort with their loved one, along with two other castaway-loved one pair., Immunity Challenge: The challenge consists of two stations. At the first station, the loved ones would dig in the sand to find a round peg. Then, they would use it to decipher a table maze. Once finished, they would break a tile, signalling the takeover of their paired castaway on the challenge. From that point, the castaways would climb to a giant wall using climbing pegs. Upon reaching the top, they then must solve a word puzzle. First castaway to finish the puzzle wins immunity. Night of Day 23: The castaways talked about John's unexpected ouster, which led to discussions on their dealings with John and a common conclusion that he double-crossed everyone, including Arnold. Day 24: Before competing in the reward challenge, the castaways were reunited with red buff-wearing loved ones: Gino's sister, Maey's sister, Betong's sister, Stef's mother, and Mara's father (who brought his newly finished surfboard), as well as KC's brother Troy (in the latter's second appearance in the franchise as a loved one) and Arnold's Volcanoes teammate Chris Hitch. By default, the castaways were told that their loved ones, regardless of the result, would stay with them at camp and would help them in challenges before the next Tribal Council. In the Reward Challenge, KC and Troy almost filled their bucket with mud, clearly winning the challenge. KC chose Gino, Betong and the latter two's respective sisters to join him and Troy in the reward. KC was then given another choice of having a loved one among the others who would not accompany their castaway partner at camp, visiting instead the next day for the immunity challenge. Knowing every other loved one present is related to their partner, KC selected Chris since he was the odd man out. The other castaways then went back at camp with their loved ones. The loved ones, upon arriving at camp, became surprised on the current living conditions of the castaways. They were then given instructions on how to live at camp. KC, Troy and their invitees headed to the resort where they ate dinner and had a sleep. Day 25: Before KC, Troy and their invitees went back to camp, different activities were prepared for them, which were ziplining (where Betong's sister sprained her arm), tomcar riding and horseback riding. At the same time in the camp, the castaways and their loved ones (except Arnold's teammate) surfed using the surfboard brought by Mara's father. Instead of heading back to camp after the reward, KC, Troy, and their invitees immediately were brought in the Challenge area. In the Immunity Challenge, KC and Arnold had strong leads over the other castaways. However, they struggled in solving the Filipino word puzzle, resulting to Stef (being the fifth one to reach the top) winning the challenge by solving the word ALYANSA. After the challenge, the castaways said their goodbyes to their loved ones. Back at camp, Mara noticed the disappearance of the surfboard, which went along with his dad. Stef, Maey and Betong enjoyed Stef's new found accessory, the immunity necklace, with Arnold noting that this is an act of showiness. The castaways noticed how Arnold became so nice and hardworking at camp, knowing that the latter is no longer immune. The castaways then spent their night stargazing. Day 26: When Maey was hanging blankets on the clothesline, Arnold and Mara came and offered her Mara's immunity bracelet. After that, Betong, Maey, Arnold and Mara bonded around by the sea and talked about the latter's offer to give the immunity bracelet. KC noticed how the four were having a private talk away from the camp, so he interrupted. But talks about it continued later, with Mara and Arnold assuring them the two spots in the final three, with either him or Mara getting the last spot or be the last jury member. Before Tribal Council, Mara purposely gave her immunity bracelet to Maey, with the latter objecting it. However, Betong told his partner to get it, and so she agreed. At Tribal Council, talks were about their reasons in joining the game. Due to the late change of alliance by Betong and Maey, Gino was blindsided and became the fourth jury member, 4-2-1. Reward Challenge: From the starting point, the castaways would roll their six crates one-by-one until they reach their designated final platform. Once they placed all of their crates, they would assemble a three-step stair puzzle. After the puzzle was checked, the castaway would then drag a rope to reveal their flag. Whoever finishes first, wins the reward., Reward: ₱ 250,000 to their chosen beneficiary., Immunity Challenge: The castaways would balance a small wooden statue on top of a pole. At regular intervals, the player would add an additional section to the bottom of the pole, making the pole longer and harder to balance. The last castaway still holding the wooden statue up would win. Night of Day 26: Mara and Arnold were enthusiastic about what happened at the previous Tribal Council, calling it their best plan currently in the game, while Stef, KC, Maey and Betong just slept, overhearing their remarks. Day 27: The tribe made a meal of crabs with coconut milk, which they considered as a gourmet meal. Betong and Maey found out that the latter was the second option to be voted out if Arnold uses Mara's immunity bracelet, which would result of her and Mara fighting in the tiebreaker challenge. The duo explained to KC why they voted off Gino instead of Arnold, not telling him about the immunity bracelet they received. Without a strong alliance, KC and Stef thought about aligning themselves with Betong and Maey. In the Reward Challenge, videos from their beneficiaries were revealed. The beneficiaries were: KC's maid, Mara's maid, Maey's spiritual adviser, Stef's aunt, Arnold's aunt and Betong's friend. KC and Arnold led the challenge. Afterwards, Stef and Mara started cheering for Betong as his beneficiary has colon cancer, and they felt he needed the money the most. Despite all the support Betong is receiving, Arnold ultimately won the reward, himself feeling some guilt that Betong didn't win. On the other side, he felt that his aunt also needed the money as she also has a disorder. Back at camp, Betong was still depressed about losing the challenge for his friend, to which KC and Arnold offered help after the game. It was later revealed that his friend died in October 28, 2011. Day 28: While preparing their meal, Stef got irritated by Arnold. Stef, Maey and Betong talked about voting Arnold out with Stef not knowing Maey has Mara's immunity bracelet. Maey, Betong, Stef and KC talked about the relationship between Mara and Arnold and also teased about the names of their future children. At the Immunity Challenge, Mara was the first one out. Next was KC and Stef who went at the same time. Then, Betong came next, leaving Arnold and Maey. When Arnold was about to reach the next section of the pole, his statue fell off, giving Maey her dream of beating Arnold in a challenge, and immunity as well. When Mara hugged Maey, she whispered if she can have her immunity bracelet back to her. On the other side, Mara also came to hug Stef, whispering that the latter is the one that the former chose to vote off in the upcoming Tribal Council. After the Immunity Challenge, Mara and Maey decided to climb a coconut tree, to experience it before the game ends. KC and Stef talked about the votes that the latter thought of happening: 4 votes to Arnold and 2 votes against her, with KC advising her to make sure of this with Maey and Betong. Stef went to Maey and Betong and told them what Mara had said to her after the immunity challenge. KC notified Maey that her and Betong's votes would be the deciding point on who would be the next jury member between Arnold and Stef. The castaways then goofed around, having a fashion show between the boys. Maey and Betong went on a disagreement on who to vote out, then told KC of them having Mara's immunity bracelet. Later on, Mara and Arnold tried to steal the immunity bracelet from Maey's and Betong's bags, but stopped soon after as they felt that they can't do it. Mara and Arnold then decided to ask Betong to give it back but was left disappointed of Betong not answering them. At Tribal Council, they had a chat about Gino's ouster, to which Betong concluded as a great plan, as Maey might be voted off if it didn't happen. The conversation continued about who are the threats and what does the word "deserving" mean to them. When they are about to vote, Maey decided to transfer her immunity necklace to Betong. After an intense voting, Richard announced that the use of an immunity bracelet would be valid only until the next tribal council. The votes were then read, with Betong and Maey siding with Stef and KC in voting off Arnold, 4-2. First Reward Challenge: Each castaway is provided a one-arm balance with a small disk at the far end. During the challenge, the host will call out specific dishware that the castaway must take and stack on the far end of the balance. Should any part of a castaway's stack fall, he/she is out of the challenge. Last castaway remaining wins immunity., Reward: Helicopter tour of Palawan, an overnight stay in Flower Island and a visit to a pearl farm in a nearby island., Second Reward Challenge: From the starting point, the blindfolded castaways would go under, over and under three hitching rails to be guided by a rope. At the end, a puzzle table awaits them, which has nine symbols they need to memorize using their sense of touch. After which they would obtain three bags of puzzle pieces and go back to the starting point doing the same routine on the hitching rails. There, another puzzle table awaits, less the symbol pieces, which they must fill using the pieces in their bags. The castaways can repeatedly return to the puzzle guide doing the same routine if it deems necessary. First castaway to finish the puzzle wins reward., Reward: A brand new car and the power to give another car to a fellow castaway., Immunity Challenge: Each castaway would stand on a slanted platform, attached to a large post near a mud pit, holding a rope attached to the post. The rope has four knots in it. Every three minutes, the castaways would transfer their hands a knot farther from the post, leaning back with their feet still in the platform. Last castaway standing wins immunity. Night of Day 28: Mara was crying as they went back to camp after Arnold was ousted. She asked Maey to bring the bracelet back as the former said that it was the only item that will let her survive further in the game. Due to sympathy, Maey decided to bring it back to her. Mara then revealed to Stef that she had her immunity bracelet back. After the handing over of the bracelet, Betong argued to Maey about giving the bracelet back, and about why she didn't use it in the previous Tribal Council as what they had planned. Day 29: Maey and Betong were now okay after talking with each other about their conflict last night. At the Reward Challenge, KC won and took Stef with him in the reward. While enjoying their reward, KC and Stef discussed about taking out Maey, then Betong, the two being the most liked by the jury. Later on, at the pearl farm, they received pearl necklaces as souvenirs. At camp, Mara started to make a letter to Arnold by sewing it to an old treemail. Betong told Maey that he's willing to be voted out if the immunity bracelet is not obtained. Betong and Maey noticed that Mara didn't do any chores and kept sewing all day. At night, while sewing, Mara was disrupted by a centipede and two rats. Day 30: Maey talked to Mara peacefully about the immunity bracelet and if she could get it back, with Mara refusing. Still in the reward, KC and Stef planned to make Mara think about Stef's pearl necklace as having immunity, to make her curious and scared. The two also did snorkeling and kayaking, and received massages. Back at camp, Maey found that the things in her bag were messy and suspected Arnold and Mara as having messed it up hours before the last Tribal Council. Maey and Betong then read the finished letter of Mara to Arnold. They received a treemail, which was a task to find two eggs. Initially thinking that the eggs contain immunity bracelets, they found out that it was actually two ostrich eggs that they can eat. KC and Stef then returned to camp. Maey admitted to everyone that it was her own fault that the immunity bracelet is now with Mara. She even suggested to Mara to throw it out so that everyone would have a fair chance in the top 4. Mara then became curious about Stef's pearl necklace as having immunity. Solenn Heussaff, a finalist from the last season, went to their camp as a celebrity guest. They had a bonfire where she gave tips in playing the game, now that the end is near. She also revealed that she would have an overnight stay on their camp, as well as a one-on-one talk with each castaway. Day 31: Solenn and the castaways left the camp for an activity, which was mangrove planting. After the activity, Solenn bade her goodbyes to the castaways. Back at camp, Betong and Maey noticed how Stef was becoming close to Mara since she and KC got back from the reward. The castaways then headed to the challenge area, which they thought to be an Immunity Challenge. It was actually another Reward Challenge, where KC won a car and gave another one to Maey. The plan of KC, Stef and Mara to vote out Maey became stronger now that the latter has a new car. Day 32: At the Immunity Challenge, on their second knot, Maey fell first. Then, Richard called out to transfer to the third knot that led to Stef's removal from the challenge. All the while, Richard kept telling Mara to lean back and transfer to the designated knot. Betong was eliminated next that left Mara and KC on to the game. Eventually, KC fell, with Mara getting immunity. However, with Mara's continued violations, the producers reviewed the tapes and unanimously gave the immunity necklace to KC. They then went back to camp. While walking, KC stepped on a sharp rock that made his foot bleeding. The show's doctors quickly treated his foot to avoid infection. Betong and Maey now accepted the fact that KC, Stef and Mara have a strong alliance, so they told KC that if ever they were sent to the jury, they would vote for him to become the winner. Before Tribal Council, the castaways used the leftover paints from a previous activity to paint some words and pictures on their arms. At Tribal Council, talks turned to KC being a threat, now winning 6 out of 12 challenges since the merge. Voting then commenced, which led to Maey becoming the sixth jury member, and with Betong, becoming the last pair to be broken up, 3-2. Immunity Challenge: On the sea, the castaways would balance themselves on a post composed of 4 planks. Over time, a plank would be removed one-by-one until what's left is the post. Whoever stays atop the longest would win immunity. Night of Day 32: KC noticed Stef and Mara weren't giving some respect to Betong, who was still on emotions after his partner, Maey, was voted off. Day 33: That morning, Betong made himself busy to not to think about Maey. They later headed to the challenge area early that morning. At the final Immunity Challenge, KC fell off first due to his large feet. Then, Stef came next, which left Mara and Betong still standing. They were also among the final four who have never won an individual challenge before. Then, Betong started to shake and fell off, which led to Mara winning the last challenge of the season, after 2 hours and 11 minutes. That night, KC, Mara and Stef decided to have a dare of running on the beach naked and dancing at Tribal Council if the three of them is announced to be on the top 3. Day 34: KC, Mara and Stef practiced their dancing for the Tribal Council. Betong then talked to KC about voting off Stef with him; this would constitute to a tie and he can have a good fight against Stef in the tiebreaker fire-making challenge, to which KC responded in uncertainty. At Tribal Council, some jury members muttered to and signalled Stef and Mara to vote KC out, to which Mara also signaled Betong on who to vote. Richard noticed this with Gino, who demanded to stop it as it is unfair to the game. When the votes came, KC was blindsided and became the last member of the jury, 3-1. Day 35: Even though KC wasn't part of the final three, the trio still decided to run on the beach naked, which KC had planned. Following Survivor tradition, the final 3 paid tribute to past and voted out castaways. They went on about how each fallen competitor has contributed to their journey towards the end. That night, a "Final 3" feast was prepared for them. Day 36: Richard went to camp for the first and last time, telling the Final 3 that they will now leave the camp area for good, burning all that will be left in it. At the final Tribal Council, the final 3 were targeted by the mostly averse jury: Stef for mainly being a follower, Mara for being only a sidekick to Arnold, and Betong for incorporating pity into the game. After voting took place, following Survivor tradition, Richard picked up the voting urn and left the Tribal Council area. Months later, in front of a live audience in Manila, Betong was proclaimed the Celebrity Sole Survivor by the jury, with a vote of 4-2-1 over Mara and Stef respectively. He was awarded a check worth three million pesos and this season's immunity necklace to symbolize the title. Tribal Council (TC) numbers are almost the same as Cycle numbers as a Tribal Council occurs at the end of each cycle; eliminations that happen outside a Tribal Council do not bear a Tribal Council number, but count towards a cycle. Episode numbers denote the episode(s) when the voting and subsequent revelation of votes and elimination during a Tribal Council took place. They can also denote the episode wherein a contestant officially left the game for any reason. On the February 6 episode, a controversial Tribal Council had occurred. Maey and Gino, both jury members, signaled Mara, Stef and Betong to vote out KC. Later, KC Montero in Twitter revealed that it weren't only Maey and Gino who signaled, it was almost all of the jury members, but due to little time, only Maey and Gino were shown. According to the rules of Survivor, jury members are not allowed to speak or interact with the remaining castaways during a Tribal Council except on the Final Tribal Council. After the said episode, many viewers became dismayed about the incident and began posting their reactions in different social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter. Celebrities who did the same included KC's brother, Troy Montero, former castaways Marlon Carmen, Aubrey Miles, Solenn Heussaff and Michelle Madrigal, and Rhian Ramos, Maxene Magalona and Denise Laurel. Based on the previous episodes, Betong was intended to be voted out and the jury had influenced Mara, Stef and Betong to change their votes. Both Mara and Stef intended to vote out Betong, while the latter would vote out Stef. After the live finale, where the supposedly eliminated Betong ultimately won, Rappler interviewed a GMA Network representative about the incident and answered that they consulted with the representatives of the "international Survivor franchise", which was probably the Castaway Television Productions, and they were advised to just continue the game. This decision was also revealed on the reunion special of this season on February 19, 2012. Official website, Official Fanzila homepage Survivors of Incest Anonymous (SIA) is a twelve-step fellowship for recovery from the consequences of childhood sexual abuse. SIA was founded in 1982 in Baltimore, Maryland by women survivors who believed their experience in other twelve-step fellowships (Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Overeaters Anonymous (OA) and Al-Anon) could assist in recovery from sexual trauma. In SIA, incest is defined broadly as any sexual encounter by a family member, or by an extended family member that damaged the child. "Extended family member" means a person that the child or their family has known over a period of time. This may be any family member, a family friend, clergy, another child, or anyone who betrayed the child's innocence and trust. SIA maintains that incest survivors were affected by the abuse whether it occurred once or many times since the damage was incurred immediately. In SIA, "abuse" is defined as any sexual behavior or contact with a child. Sexual contact may include verbal and/ or physical behaviors; penetration is not necessary for the experience to be defined as incest or sexual abuse. Covert incest within the family is also a theme many survivors explore in SIA. In 1982, SIA was founded by three, women survivors of childhood sexual abuse in Baltimore, Maryland. Today, SIA operates from Hartford County, Maryland as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. It helps survivors to connect with one another and carries a message of recovery to those who still suffer. For several years, SIA speakers have presented workshops at the Maryland Governor’s annual Conference on Child Abuse and Neglect. In addition to open and mixed gender meetings, SIA designates some meetings as "women only" or "men only." SIA meetings are not open to past or current perpetrators of child sexual abuse. SIA traditionally defines a perpetrator as, "a family member or trusted individual who violates that position by seducing, or otherwise manipulating a child with overt or covert sexual behavior." For a complete list of SIA meetings see the website siawso.org. List of twelve-step groups Survivors of Incest Anonymous: World Service Office

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Charles Lindbergh McGill, Jr., is a fictional character who appears in the crime drama television series Better Call Saul, a spin-off prequel of Breaking Bad. He is portrayed by Michael McKean, and was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Chuck was born in Cicero, Illinois and is the eldest son of Ruth and Charles McGill Sr. He is the older brother of fellow lawyer and titular character Jimmy McGill ("Saul Goodman"). Chuck is a successful attorney, who runs his own law firm, Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM), with partner Howard Hamlin. Chuck has become semi-reclusive and believes that he suffers from electromagnetic hypersensitivity. He was amicably divorced from his wife, Rebecca Bois, a few years before the events of Better Call Saul. Although he initially seemed supportive of Jimmy, Chuck harbored resentful feelings toward his brother. His betrayal of and opposition to Jimmy, and his subsequent death, serve as a catalyst for Jimmy's transformation into Saul Goodman. Chuck's life and death also deeply affect Howard Hamlin and Kim Wexler, Jimmy's law partner and girlfriend. Chuck's character development and McKean's performance throughout the first three seasons received critical acclaim, with many critics claiming that McKean gave the best performance on television in 2017. Chuck McGill was born and raised in Cicero, Illinois, United States. He graduated valedictorian from Francis Xavier High School at the age of 14, making him the youngest graduate in the history of that school. He later attended the University of Pennsylvania and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center. After clerking at both the Delaware Court of Chancery and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, Chuck joined George Hamlin's solo practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over the next twenty-three years, the two men, along with George's son Howard, built up their law firm, Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill (HHM). Early in his career, Chuck excelled in criminal law, famously arguing and winning the precedent-setting case of State v. Gonzalez. Ten years before the start of the series, when his younger brother Jimmy faced serious charges after defecating through the sunroof of a romantic rival's BMW - unaware the man's children were in the backseat - Chuck bailed him out on the condition that Jimmy abandon his career as a con artist and work a legitimate job in HHM's mailroom. Around the time of his divorce from his wife, Rebecca Bois, Chuck took a leave of absence from HHM after apparently developing electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Jimmy, who had quit HHM to practice law after he passed his bar exam but was refused a job by the firm, took over Chuck's care, including buying and delivering his groceries and newspapers. In the pilot episode, Howard tries to offer a token payment as a buyout of Chuck's share of HHM. Jimmy angrily confronts Howard and demands that if HHM buys Chuck out, they pay Chuck its full US$17 million value. Jimmy later stages the phony rescue of a billboard worker to draw attention to his legal practice, and steals Chuck's morning paper in order to prevent him from reading about the "rescue". Chuck runs outside to take a neighbor's copy (for which he leaves a $5 bill as payment) and reads about Jimmy's act. After the neighbor reports Chuck for stealing the newspaper, the police force entry into his home. Chuck is tasered, arrested and hospitalized. A doctor tries to have Jimmy commit Chuck to a mental institution, but Jimmy convinces her that he is fully capable of looking after Chuck in his own home; the doctor advises Jimmy that Chuck's "disease" is entirely psychosomatic. Chuck aids Jimmy in his investigation of the Sandpiper Crossing retirement community, which has been grossly overcharging its elderly residents. At a meeting between the McGill brothers and Sandpiper's attorneys, Chuck demands that they pay $20 million to settle the case. Sandpiper's attorneys refuse, and Chuck and Jimmy make preparations for a trial. During their work at Chuck's house, an exhausted Jimmy leaves some paperwork in his car. Preoccupied with his preparation, Chuck casually leaves his house to retrieve the paperwork without taking the usual precautions he believes protect him from electricity, and both Chuck and Jimmy are stunned to realize that Chuck has gone outside and suffered no symptoms. After the Sandpiper case becomes too big for them, they offer it to HHM. Howard agrees to accept the case but not Jimmy's continued involvement. Jimmy realizes that Chuck used Howard to not only secretly cut him out of the case, but to block Jimmy's hire after Jimmy was admitted to the bar. Jimmy confronts Chuck, who angrily confesses that he doesn't regard his brother as a "real lawyer", suspecting Jimmy hasn't changed his criminal, short-cutting ways. Jimmy cuts ties with Chuck, and obtains Howard's agreement to continue caring for him. Howard visits Chuck and expresses concern about Jimmy's employment at Davis & Main. Chuck announces his suspicions about the legality of Jimmy's solicitation of potential class members for the Sandpiper lawsuit by approaching a bus full of Sandpiper residents on their way to lunch. In a flashback, Jimmy visits Chuck's house shortly after moving to Albuquerque, where he meets Chuck's wife, Rebecca (Ann Cusack). Jimmy charms Rebecca, which makes Chuck uncomfortable. Kim is still relegated to document review work at HHM. In a conversation about Jimmy she has with Chuck, he relates a story claiming that when they lived in Cicero, Jimmy embezzled money from their father's business, which led to its eventual collapse. Chuck then promises to try to get Kim reinstated. Kim leaves HHM and takes Mesa Verde Bank as a client. Chuck then arranges a meeting with Mesa Verde's president and counsel, where he masterfully damns Kim with faint praise and persuades them to stay with HHM. Chuck appears normal during the meeting, but the strain of hiding his electromagnetic sensitivity symptoms causes him to collapse afterwards. At a subsequent meeting of the New Mexico Banking Board, the new branch application Chuck submits contains incorrect information, creating a six-week delay in the planned opening. Dissatisfied with Chuck's performance, Mesa Verde hires Kim as their outside counsel. A humiliated Chuck immediately and correctly suspects Jimmy is responsible for the sabotage. In a flashback, Chuck and Jimmy are beside their comatose mother's hospital bed. Jimmy leaves to buy sandwiches for himself and Chuck, who has not eaten for days. While Chuck is alone with his mother she wakes and calls Jimmy's name twice before dying. Jimmy returns to find his mother's room empty, and asks Chuck if their mother awakened before she died or had any last words. Chuck falsely says she did not. Kim infers Jimmy's guilt, and tells him that if he left any evidence, Chuck is smart enough to find it. Jimmy returns to the copy store where he altered the Mesa Verde documents and observes Ernesto speaking with the clerk. Having searched all night copy stores at Chuck's request until he found the right one, Ernesto leaves to pick up Chuck and bring him back to interview the clerk. In the interim, Jimmy bribes the clerk to say he doesn't remember Jimmy. Chuck arrives with Ernesto and begins to question the clerk, but his EHS symptoms overwhelm him and he faints, hitting his head on the way down. Jimmy rushes across the street and into the copy store to aid Chuck, and orders the clerk to call an ambulance. In the hospital, Chuck, now stable, wonders how it was possible for Jimmy to come to his assistance when Chuck was unconscious for less than a minute, correctly deducing that Jimmy had bribed the clerk and then stayed nearby to observe Chuck question him. Ernesto covers for Jimmy, falsely saying that before bringing Chuck to the store, he called Jimmy out of concern for Chuck's health. Howard calls Jimmy to advise that Chuck has quit HHM. Jimmy rushes to Chuck's house, where he finds his brother covering the walls, floor and ceiling of his living room with foil sheets and reflective insulation panels. Chuck explains that the walls of his home were doing nothing to deflect electromagnetic rays, leading to mental deterioration, which is why he made the mistake with the Mesa Verde documents. Feeling guilty about his deception and Chuck's decision to abandon practicing law, Jimmy confesses to tampering with the documents and bribing the copy store clerk. After Jimmy leaves, Chuck unveils a tape recorder he had hidden and activated prior to Jimmy's arrival. Jimmy helps Chuck remove the foil from his wall and reminisces over a book they read together during their youth; Chuck is quick to end the nostalgia and remind him that his actions won't be forgotten or forgiven. Chuck plays Jimmy's confession to Howard, who warns him that the tape has no legal or public value, but Chuck assures him that it has a use. Chuck later arranges for a key part of the tape to be played by Ernesto in a way that appears to Ernesto to be accidental. Chuck makes Ernesto promise not to repeat anything that he heard. As Chuck expected, Ernesto tells Kim about the tape. Kim relays this to Jimmy and advises him that the tape is no legal threat. Unsure of Chuck's plan, she counsels Jimmy to wait for Chuck to make the first move. Jimmy suppresses his feelings of anger and betrayal in front of Kim, but later drives to Chuck's house, breaks in, berates him and destroys the tape. Jimmy reacted as Chuck anticipated he would, and reveals that the tape was bait and Howard and a private investigator witnessed Jimmy's break-in. Jimmy is arrested, represents himself in court, pleads not guilty, and posts bail. Jimmy later explains what happened during his break-in and tells Kim to work on Mesa Verde while he works his own legal battle, to which she flatly agrees. The prosecutor in Jimmy's case, Hay, meets with Chuck and tells him that she doesn't plan to let Jimmy off easy. Chuck says he wishes to seek a "better solution for everyone": Jimmy can avoid jail time, but will have to confess to his felony break-in and submit his confession to the New Mexico Bar Association, which will likely result in disbarment. Kim convinces Jimmy to let her help him fight Chuck's plot. Jimmy, Kim, Howard, Chuck and ADA Hay meet in order to finalize Jimmy's confession, with Jimmy agreeing to have it reviewed by the bar association. After the meeting, Kim confronts Chuck, telling him that she suspects he has a copy of the tape Jimmy destroyed. Chuck confirms her suspicions and states that he plans to submit the tape as evidence in Jimmy's disciplinary hearing. Kim then relays the information to Jimmy, revealing that having Chuck admit the existence of the second tape was part of their plan. In a flashback ("Chicanery"), Chuck invites Rebecca over for dinner and comes up with an elaborate lie about the power to his house being cut so he doesn't have to reveal his EHS to her. However, Rebecca answers her cell phone, causing Chuck to knock it out of her hands in a panic. He refuses to explain his actions and forbids Jimmy to reveal the truth. In the present, Jimmy meets with Caldera to acquire the services of "someone with a light touch." Both sides gear up for Jimmy’s bar association hearing, which does not seem to go well for Jimmy. Rebecca enters the courtroom, leaving Chuck both stunned. Knowing it's a ploy by Jimmy to throw him off balance, Chuck tries to remain calm. Jimmy shows evidence of Chuck’s bizarre living conditions, using the photos Mike Ehrmantraut took while pretending to be a repairman hired to fix Chuck's front door. Jimmy cross-examines Chuck about the circumstances of the recording, Rebecca’s presence and his illness. Jimmy reveals that Chuck has been carrying a fully charged cell phone battery planted by Huell for the entire hearing, contradicting the EHS symptoms Chuck claimed to have and suggesting he has a mental illness. This triggers a sudden tirade from Chuck in which he vents all his frustrations about Jimmy. Chuck realizes, too late, that his outburst has shocked the entire courtroom, including the committee. Jimmy is given a year's suspension, but not disbarred. While he and Kim celebrate, Rebecca asks Jimmy to help with Chuck, who has shuttered himself in his home, but Jimmy refuses, saying Chuck is no longer his brother. Chuck later admits Howard into his home. Howard suggests to Chuck that he forget about Jimmy and look to the future, which Chuck appears to agree to. However, Chuck is later seen walking through the streets of Albuquerque, and calling Dr. Cruz, the doctor who diagnosed his condition, over a payphone. He admits that the disciplinary hearing demonstrated that his EHS may not be real. Dr. Cruz agrees to help Chuck, and he is able learn to tolerate electromagnetism, including walking to a store on his own to buy groceries. Kim feels regret for destroying Chuck's reputation. While having dinner with Jimmy, she wonders whether they did the right thing and Jimmy replies what happened to Chuck was his own fault and that she should forget about him. Desperate for funds to keep up his end of office expenses, Jimmy meets with a representative of his insurance company to request a refund on his malpractice policy. The agent is unable to grant the refund and mentions that due to his suspension, when he resumes practicing law, his premium will rise by 150%. Jimmy is visibly shaken and starts to cry. When the agent reacts sympathetically, Jimmy seizes the opportunity to "accidentally" mention Chuck's mental illness before leaving, knowing that the insurance company will act on the information. The insurance company's representatives meet with Howard and Chuck and give them an ultimatum: either they can have HHM's malpractice insurance premiums raised, or have another attorney supervise Chuck at all times. Chuck refuses to negotiate and decides to fight the insurance company in court. This proves to be the last straw for Howard, who informs Chuck that he will be forced to retire since his judgment can no longer be trusted. Chuck responds by suing HHM for $8 million, the value of his share of the practice. Howard calls Chuck's bluff by making the first of three installment payments out of his own pocket, ending Chuck's association with the firm. Jimmy tries to make amends with Chuck, but Chuck coldly cuts ties. After forcing Jimmy away, Chuck's EHS symptoms begin to re-emerge, and he becomes obsessed with disabling all the electronic devices in his home, to the point of tearing walls open to remove the wiring in a search for whatever device is causing his electric meter to continue running. He reaches a breaking point and intentionally knocks a gas lantern over, setting fire to his house while he is still inside. Upon hearing the news of Chuck's death, Jimmy and Kim race over, just as the coroner's van is leaving with Chuck's corpse. Jimmy knows that Chuck seemed well five days prior, showing no signs of his electromagnetic hypersensitivity, but since then, all of his electronics had been thrown out, meaning he must have relapsed and set the fire on purpose. Jimmy falls into a deep depression. Howard helps to arrange for Chuck's funeral, which many of Chuck's former legal associates attend. After the funeral, Howard approaches Jimmy and Kim and takes the blame for Chuck's death, having forced Chuck out of HHM due to the liability insurance rate hike. Jimmy doesn't reveal his role in informing the insurance company of Chuck's illness, and lets Howard take the blame, immediately regaining his happy-go-lucky composure. Chuck leaves his house to his ex-wife and most of his estate to various charities and civic endeavors, with a $5,000 bequest for Jimmy—just enough to prevent him from contesting the will. He also leaves an unsigned, undated letter he purportedly wrote to Jimmy when they were on better terms. Kim gives it to Jimmy, and after reading it to her, he dismissively calls it "nice", but Kim is visibly upset after hearing Chuck's praise for Jimmy. Chuck also appears in two flashbacks. In the first, set 10 years before the show's 2003 present, the staff at HHM congratulate pre-illness Chuck after he argues obscure case law to successfully close a lucrative case for the firm. The reception Chuck receives serves as a catalyst for Jimmy's subsequent legal studies, which he carries out in secret. In the second, Chuck appears before the board of bar examiners during the admission of new attorneys in 1998, and provides Jimmy's ritual introduction and character reference. Following the ceremony, Chuck attends a celebration for Jimmy at a karaoke bar, and brings Jimmy home after the party. When Jimmy picks up his token $5,000 inheritance check, he discovers HHM is experiencing declining business and layoffs. Howard admits to trouble paying out to Chuck's estate and says the events of recent years have damaged the firm's reputation and cost it clients. Howard seems subdued and uninterested because of his guilt over Chuck's death, and Jimmy tries a "tough love" speech to rouse him to action. By the time Jimmy is ready to appeal for reinstatement to the bar in 2004, Howard has finished grieving over Chuck, and announces that HHM is back on its feet. Michael McKean's portrayal of Chuck McGill has received critical acclaim. The first season episode "Pimento" received critical acclaim, with many critics praising the performances from Bob Odenkirk and Michael McKean. Roth Cornet of IGN gave the episode a 9.0 rating, concluding, "Better Call Saul revealed the betrayal that may very well be at the heart of what turns Jimmy McGill into Saul Goodman, as this stunningly crafted story continues to unfold." The third season episode "Chicanery", received universal acclaim from critics, with some considering it to be a series-best. Terri Schwartz of IGN awarded the episode a perfect 10 out of 10, describing it as "the best episode of Better Call Saul to date". It currently holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes with an average score of 9.5/10 based on 12 reviews. The site consensus reads: "The war between Jimmy and Chuck comes to an unprecedented climax in the heartbreaking, sober, and defining 'Chicanery', an episode that clearly cements Better Call Saul as essential television." TVLine named Michael McKean the "Performer of the Week" for his performance in this episode, writing it was the "finest showcase yet for his fascinatingly layered performance as Jimmy's brother Chuck McGill." Donna Bowman of The A.V. Club, who gave the episode an "A" rating, praised the courtroom scene, saying "it isn’t just to give us the satisfaction of a courtroom drama, the neat ending where the truth comes out. The brilliance of this structure is to give us a slow-motion view of the heavens falling, an outcome methodically pursued by Kim and Jimmy, which nevertheless seems to give them no satisfaction." Many critics were disappointed when McKean, who was said to have given "one of the best performances by anyone in TV all year", failed to secure an Emmy nomination in 2017 while his co-star Jonathan Banks did. For his performances as Chuck McGill, Michael McKean won a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2018 at the 22nd Satellite Awards. McKean later received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series nomination for his guest appearance in the fourth season. Matt Zoller Seitz of Vulture considers him to be the Better Call Saul equivalent of Breaking Bad character Skyler White. Chuck McGill at AMC The fourth season of the American television drama series Better Call Saul premiered on August 6, 2018, and concluded on October 8, 2018. The fourth season consists of 10 episodes and aired on Mondays at 9:00 pm (Eastern) in the United States on AMC. A spin-off prequel of Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul was created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, both of whom also worked on Breaking Bad. The first and second seasons mainly took place in 2002, with season three advancing the storyline to 2003. The fourth season also takes place mainly in 2003, with the last three episodes taking place in 2004. In season four, Jimmy (Bob Odenkirk) and Kim (Rhea Seehorn) struggle to cope with Chuck's (Michael McKean) death. Howard Hamlin (Patrick Fabian) believes that he is responsible for Chuck's death, and suffers with depression and disengagement from work. Mike (Jonathan Banks) begins security inspections at Madrigal, disregarding the fact that his consulting contract was supposed to be only a paper transaction. Gus (Giancarlo Esposito) is suspicious of Nacho (Michael Mando) after Hector's (Mark Margolis) stroke. Nacho becomes a mole for Gus inside the Salamanca organization. Gus hires an engineer and construction crew to begin construction of the meth "superlab" under the industrial laundry. Lalo Salamanca (Tony Dalton) arrives to begin running the family's drug business. The fourth season of Better Call Saul received acclaim from critics and audiences, and six nominations for the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Drama Series. AMC renewed the series for a 10-episode fourth season in June 2017. Better Call Saul is set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the same location as its predecessor. Filming for the fourth season of Better Call Saul began in January 2018. The first episode was directed by Minkie Spiro. Production wrapped on May 30, 2018. In the first scene of the season, Jimmy is using his Gene Takovic alias while working at a Cinnabon in a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska. The Cinnabon scenes in Better Call Saul are set in Omaha, but filmed at the Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mark Margolis, who plays drug kingpin Hector Salamanca, required brain surgery after suffering severe head injuries in an accidental fall during filming. The episode "Piñata" was directed by Andrew Stanton, who is better known for writing and directing several Pixar films, including Finding Nemo and WALL-E. During a conversation with Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein, the show's executive producers, he was given the suggestion that he accept an opportunity to direct a Better Call Saul episode, which he jumped at, as he had already been a fan of both Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and wanted the opportunity to work with the creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould. Bob Odenkirk returns as Jimmy McGill, Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, Michael Mando as Nacho Varga, and Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring. Michael McKean (Chuck McGill), who was credited as a main cast member in previous seasons, does not return as a series regular following Chuck's death in the third season finale. In a June 2017 interview following the third-season finale, McKean commented on the possibility of returning to the series, stating "I know they want to bring me in for some flashbacks this coming season." McKean made a guest appearance in a flashback sequence at the beginning of the sixth episode, "Piñata", and again in the season finale, "Winner". In May 2018, it was reported that Stefan Kapičić would have a recurring role in the fourth season. Kapičić stated, "I'm thrilled that I have a chance to become a part of Better Call Saul family. It is one of my favorite shows on TV and it's a dream come true be a part of the Breaking Bad universe." It has also been confirmed that a character, Lalo, portrayed by Tony Dalton, who was mentioned in the Breaking Bad episode "Better Call Saul" would appear during this season. The episode "Something Beautiful" marks the first Better Call Saul appearance of Gale Boetticher, a supporting character from Breaking Bad played by David Costabile. Costabile had been in Albuquerque filming Dig while Better Call Sauls team was wrapping up production of the first season. He met with co-producer Peter Gould, and they agreed to have Gale appear on Better Call Saul. Costabile was able to work in filming for Better Call Saul between filming on Billions, but had only about a week to memorize both his dialogue and the lyrics to Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" which he had to sing karaoke-style in his scenes. This short period contrasted with his past singing performances on Breaking Bad, when he had more time to learn the lyrics. The death of Jimmy's brother Chuck serves as a catalyst for his further transformation into Saul Goodman, and Jimmy's entrance into the criminal world puts a strain on his relationship with Kim and his future as a lawyer. Chuck's death also deeply affects Kim and Howard. Mike becomes a contracted security consultant for Madrigal. Nacho's attempted murder of Hector Salamanca causes Hector's stroke and disability, and affects the operations of Don Eladio's drug cartel and Gus Fring's plot to take it over. Series showrunner Vince Gilligan said in January 2018 that Better Call Saul "gets darker this season", and Bob Odenkirk (Jimmy McGill) said that the fourth season would go to "another level." Bob Odenkirk as Jimmy McGill, an attorney who explores the criminal world after his law license is suspended during a dispute with his now-deceased brother Chuck., Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, a security consultant for Madrigal Electromotive, now working closer with Gustavo Fring., Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, a lawyer who is Jimmy's girlfriend and confidant., Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin, sole managing partner of Hamlin, Hamlin & McGill after Chuck's death. Since Chuck's death, Hamlin has been suffering from insomnia and depression., Michael Mando as Nacho Varga, a criminal working for the Salamanca drug ring, who gets co-opted by Gustavo Fring after trying to kill Hector Salamanca., Giancarlo Esposito as Gus Fring, a methamphetamine distributor who uses his fast food restaurant chain Los Pollos Hermanos as a front, and blackmails Nacho into working for him. Mark Margolis as Hector Salamanca, a drug kingpin who is part of the same cartel as Gus, and also Gus' principal competition., Kerry Condon as Stacey Ehrmantraut, Mike's widowed daughter-in-law and the mother of Kaylee Ehrmantraut., Jeremiah Bitsui as Victor, Gus' henchman., Vincent Fuentes as Arturo, a criminal associate of Hector Salamanca., Ann Cusack as Rebecca Bois, Chuck's ex-wife., Dennis Boutsikaris as Rich Schweikart, the attorney for Sandpiper Crossing in the class action lawsuit Jimmy develops., Andrew Friedman as Mr. Neff, manager of Neff Copiers., Poorna Jagannathan as Dr. Maureen Bruckner, a Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon secretly paid by Gus to oversee Hector's treatment., Daniel and Luis Moncada as Leonel and Marco Salamanca, Tuco's cousins and Hector's nephews, who are hitmen for the cartel., Javier Grajeda as Juan Bolsa, a Mexican drug cartel boss, Ray Campbell as Tyrus Kitt, a henchman on Gus Fring's payroll., Juan Carlos Cantu as Manuel Varga, Nacho's father, who is the owner of an upholstery shop., Abigail Zoe Lewis as Kaylee Ehrmantraut, Mike's granddaughter., Rex Linn as Kevin Wachtell, the CEO of Mesa Verde and one of Kim's clients., Cara Pifko as Paige Novak, the senior counsel of Mesa Verde and one of Kim's clients., Franc Ross as Ira, a burglar Jimmy hires, and the owner of Vamonos Pest., Keiko Agena as Viola Goto, the paralegal of Kim Wexler., Tommy Nelson as Rocco, the leader of a group of thugs who mugs Jimmy., Carlin James as Zane, a thug who mugs Jimmy., Cory Chapman as Jed, a thug who mugs Jimmy., Eileen Fogarty as Mrs. Nguyen, owner of a nail salon where Jimmy rents the back room., David Costabile as Gale Boetticher, a cheerful, friendly chemist Gus helps pay to educate, and later consults with., Rainer Bock as Werner Ziegler, an engineer hired by Gus to plan and oversee construction of his meth "superlab.", Stefan Kapičić as Casper, a member of Werner Ziegler's team for the construction of Gus' meth "superlab"., Ben Bela Böhm as Kai, a member of Werner Ziegler's team for the construction of Gus' meth "superlab" who Mike grows suspicious of., Lavell Crawford as Huell Babineaux, a professional pickpocket hired by Jimmy., Michael McKean as Charles Lindbergh "Chuck" McGill, Jr., Jimmy's deceased elder brother and a founding partner of HHM. Chuck committed suicide at the end of the third season, appears in flashbacks., Josh Fadem as Camera Guy, a film student who helps Jimmy on various projects and schemes., Hayley Holmes as Drama Girl, a film student who helps Jimmy on various projects and schemes., Tony Dalton as Eduardo "Lalo" Salamanca, a member of the Salamanca family who arrives to assist with running Hector's drug business. Ed Begley Jr. as Clifford Main, founder of the law firm Davis & Main, where Jimmy worked as an attorney in the second season., Laura Fraser as Lydia Rodarte-Quayle, a Madrigal Electromotive executive and associate of Gus Fring., JB Blanc as Barry Goodman, a doctor on Gus Fring's payroll., Joe DeRosa as Dr. Caldera, a veterinarian who serves as Mike and Jimmy's liaison to the criminal underworld., Tamara Tunie as Anita, a member of Mike's support group, whom he befriends., Tina Parker as Francesca Liddy, Jimmy's receptionist., Peter Diseth as Bill Oakley, a deputy district attorney., Max Arciniega as Domingo "Krazy-8" Molina., Brandon K. Hampton as Ernesto, Chuck's assistant who works at HHM, appears in a flashback. The fourth season, much like the previous three, has received critical acclaim, particularly for its pacing and character development. On Metacritic, the season has a score of 87 out of 100 based on 16 critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has a 99% approval rating with an average score of 8.86 out of 10 based on 30 reviews. The site's critical consensus states, "Well- crafted and compelling as ever, Better Call Saul deftly balances the show it was and the one it will inevitably become." Based on the first three episodes of season four, Liz Shannon Miller of IndieWire gave the series a highly positive review with an "A" grade. She wrote that season four is "better, deeper, and more daring" and that it is "one of the most subtle and brilliant shows on TV." In 2018, Better Call Saul was named one of the top 10 television programs of the year by the American Film Institute. The series won the award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama at the 35th TCA Awards. For the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, the series received six nominations–for Outstanding Drama Series, Bob Odenkirk for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Jonathan Banks and Giancarlo Esposito each for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, Michael McKean for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, and Thomas Schnauz and Peter Gould for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for the episode "Winner". The fourth season was released on Blu-ray and DVD in region 1 on May 7, 2019. The set contains all 10 episodes, plus audio commentaries for every episode and several behind-the-scenes featurettes. Better Call Saul is an American television drama series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, a prequel spin-off of Breaking Bad (2008–2013). The series premiered on AMC on February 8, 2015. The series was renewed for a fifth season in July 2018, which is scheduled to premiere on February 23, 2020. In January 2020, the series was renewed for a sixth and final season, which will consist of 13 episodes and air in 2021. List of Breaking Bad episodes

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Avan Tudor Jogia (; born February 9, 1992) is a Canadian-British actor, singer, activist, director, and writer. He is known for his television roles Beck Oliver in the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious, Danny Desai in the ABC Family drama Twisted, Roman Mercer in the Syfy paranormal action series Ghost Wars, and Ulysses Zane in the Starz comedy Now Apocalypse. Jogia first came to prominence with his portrayal of Danny Araujo in the 2006 biographical television film . After moving to the United States in his late teens, he landed various television roles within series such as Caprica (2009–2010), and the miniseries Tut (2015). Jogia's numerous credits in television and cinema include Spectacular! (2009), Finding Hope Now (2010), Rags (2012), Ten Thousand Saints (2015), I Am Michael (2015) and (2019). His directorial debut came in 2011 with the short film Alex, which was followed by the 2016 web series Last Teenagers of the Apocalypse. In 2011, Jogia co-founded the LGBT online organization Straight But Not Narrow, which seeks to shape the viewpoints of teenagers and adults on matters pertaining to the LGBT community. In 2019, Jogia published his first book, Mixed Feelings, a series of short stories and poems about multiracial identity. Avan Tudor Jogia was born on February 9, 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Jogia's father is British Indian, and his mother is of English, German, and Welsh descent. He is the younger brother of Ketan, a music producer in London. Besides English, Jogia speaks some Gujarati and French. According to The Start, Jogia was a student at Killarney Secondary School until age 17 when he left to pursue acting full-time, having already gained a number of small television credits. In an interview, he said that his parents withdrew him from middle school in favor of home schooling. He moved to Los Angeles, California on the trial-basis that he would land a role within a six-month period – or return to schooling. Jogia has cited British actor Tim Curry as one of his early acting inspirations, particularly Curry's role as Long John Silver in the 1996 musical adventure comedy film, Muppet Treasure Island. British actor Sir Ben Kingsley is another of Jogia's inspirations; the two would later appear in the 2015 miniseries Tut, and work together on the 2016 short film Of Dogs and Men. His first role came in 2006, when he portrayed Danny Araujo–the younger brother of teenage transgender woman Gwen Araujo–in the biographical television film , directed by Agnieszka Holland. In 2007, he had a recurring role in The CW television sitcom Aliens in America as the character Sam, and also appeared in the Canadian horror television movie Devil's Diary. Jogia next appeared in the 2008 Nickelodeon network original film , as Champ Sinclair, a role opposite actor Christopher Meloni. He returned to the network the following year, starring in the 2009 film Spectacular! as Tajid, alongside future Victorious co-star Victoria Justice. From 2009 to 2010, Jogia had a recurring role in the television series Caprica, a spin-off of Battlestar Galactica, on Syfy. He had been cast in the role of Ben Stark in August 2008, with production of the series' pilot episode completed by the conclusion of that year. In late 2009, Jogia joined the cast of Nickelodeon television program Victorious. Starring alongside Victoria Justice, Ariana Grande, and Elizabeth Gillies, Jogia played Beck Oliver, the boyfriend of Jade West (Gillies). This was the actor's first main role in a television series; a role, which lasted from the series' inception in March 2010, through to the conclusion of the fourth and final season of the show in 2013. Jogia sang background vocals on several cast songs in the show's soundtrack, and had a brief prominent part in the song "Finally Falling" in the episode "Tori the Zombie". Jogia also appeared as Beck in the Nickelodeon film, iParty with Victorious, a Victorious crossover movie with iCarly. Throughout his tenure on Victorious, Jogia starred in various films. In 2010, he appeared in the drama film Triple Dog, and the gang-crime film Finding Hope Now (filmed in 2009) as the lead character, Santos Delgado. Jogia later directed and starred in Alex, a short film; this marked his first project he directed. During the following year, he appeared in the 2012 Nickelodeon television movie Rags, along with Keke Palmer and Drake Bell, where Jogia portrayed Finn Covington. Jogia was cast in the lead role of Danny Desai on the ABC Family mystery–thriller series Twisted (originally titled Socio), in October 2012. The role saw Jogia opposite main cast members Maddie Hasson and Kylie Bunbury, and supporting cast members including Denise Richards, Sam Robards and Kimberly Quinn. The series pilot was greenlit in August 2012, and was filmed in October in New York City. In February 2013, ABC Family ordered the show as a series and production commenced in Studio City the following month, on April 3, 2013. On the themes of the series, Jogia remarked, "Twisted is similar to Pretty Little Liars in that it's about trying to find out who did it, but it's more about the human relationships between characters and the strain that things can put on them. It's also a little bit of a social commentary piece, because it covers very timely issues." The series premiered on June 11, 2013, and ran for 19 episodes; for his role as Desai, Jogia received two nominations at the 2013 and 2014 Teen Choice Awards, in the categories "Summer TV Star: Male" and "Actor: Drama", respectively. ABC Family opted not to renew Twisted for a second season, in August 2014. In 2014, Jogia was cast in the Spike TV miniseries, Tut, alongside English actor Sir Ben Kingsley. In the lead role of the titular Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Jogia was reunited with Twisted actress Kylie Bunbury, who portrayed Suhad –Tutankhamun's love interest. On the casting of Bunbury, Jogia noted that, "[i]t was cool to be able to work with someone [Bunbury] you have built-in chemistry with. Going into this situation, I had no idea what it was going to be like, so knowing I was taking this on with someone I knew really helped." The miniseries, filmed in Morocco, premiered on Spike on July 19, 2015, and concluded on July 21, 2015. Jogia returned to cinema, after joining the cast of multiple films throughout 2014. In February of that year, Deadline reported that Jogia would star in Ten Thousand Saints, an adaption of the 2011 novel of the same name by Eleanor Henderson. Released in 2015, the film also starred Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld and Ethan Hawke. In August 2014, he landed a role in I Am Michael. Based on Benoit Denizet-Lewis' New York Times Magazine article "My Ex-Gay Friend" in 2011, the film's cast includes James Franco, Zachary Quinto and Emma Roberts, along with Jogia who portrays Nico, a gay Buddhist the protagonist (Franco) briefly falls in love with. Principal photography on the film commenced on August 11, 2014, in New York City and concluded later that month. The film was released at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, before a limited release and through video on demand in January 2017. Later in 2015, Jogia appeared as Dark in the short film, Here Now. Further in 2015, he released a trailer for a horror–thriller short film he directed, entitled Of Dogs and Men. The short film had appearances by Sir Ben Kingsley, who previously worked with Jogia on Tut. Jogia's next credit was the 1970s–based crime drama film Shangri–La Suite (also known as Killing the King), together with Luke Grimes and Emily Browning. The film follows two young lovers (Grimes and Browning) who go on a journey to Los Angeles with the intent of killing Elvis Presley; Jogia starred as Teijo Littlefoot, an old friend of the protagonist (Grimes), who joins the duo's journey in search of a sex change. The film was released in late 2016. He appeared as Bones, in the 2016 web series short Last Teenagers of the Apocalypse. The four-part series, which was released on April 21, 2016, was produced and directed by Jogia. In 2017, he starred in the psychological thriller The Drowning (previously, Border Crossing), directed by Bette Gordon, with Julia Stiles and Josh Charles. Adapted from Pat Barker's 2001 novel Border Crossing, Jogia portrayed the central character, Danny, who was rescued from drowning by the man (Charles) who aided his conviction for murder 12 years earlier. Jogia starred in the comedy film The Outcasts, alongside lead actress Victoria Justice. Later, Jogia appeared in The Year of Spectacular Men, a film directed by Lea Thompson. Thompson is the mother of Zoey Deutch, who also appears in the film opposite Jogia. He played Sebastian, the "loving boyfriend" of a movie star (Deutch), followed by a role in A Midsummer Night's Dream, a contemporary film adaption of the comedy of the same name written by William Shakespeare. Jogia starred in Syfy's 13-episode series titled Ghost Wars that premiered in 2017, and it was filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but it was canceled at the beginning of 2018. Jogia also landed a co-lead role with Eve Hewson in Rebecca Addelman's directorial debut, Paper Year. Production on the project commenced in October 2016, and was released in 2018. He portrays Matt in the 2018 romantic comedy, The New Romantic, which stars Jessica Barden and Camila Mendes. That year, Jogia was also cast in the upcoming dramatic film The Artist's Wife, together with Bruce Dern and Lena Olin. The film is scheduled to premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival in December 2019. In June 2018, Jogia was chosen to lead the Starz comedy series Now Apocalypse, alongside Kelli Berglund, Beau Mirchoff, and Roxane Mesquida. Jogia portrayed Ulysses Zane, who, along with his friends "are on various quests pursing love, sex and fame while navigating the strange and oftentimes bewildering city of Los Angeles." The series, which marked Jogia's second project with writer and director Gregg Araki (after Now Here), aired in March 2019, and was later cancelled after one season. That same year, he appeared in Shaft, and co- starred in the sequel . In September 2019, Jogia published a book on growing up with a mixed-race identity and whether there is a correlation in the experiences of those with mixed-races. Titled Mixed Feelings, the book comprises a series of personal stories and poems about Jogia's life. On the book, Jogia noted that "there was a massive appetite for this conversation", and having reached out to his social media following, he "was able to sort of communicate with these people, interview with them, sort of to take parts of their stories [...] and mash them up within the book." Jogia describes himself as "spiritual", having spent months as a Buddhist and has roots in Hinduism. Jogia maintains that he has "looked at all kinds of ways of being, because I'm curious about what it takes to be human." He is a dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom. Jogia has a number of tattoos; one on his chest, leg, upper leg, shoulder, back, and his lower arm. He was in a relationship with Zoey Deutch for five years, from 2012 to 2017. Jogia co-founded the online PSA organization Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN) in 2011, with Heather Wilk and Andre Pochon, in conjunction with the support of fellow actor, Josh Hutcherson. The non-profit organization is aimed towards changing the attitudes and viewpoints of heterosexuals about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. Jogia believed, "[t]here was no one making straight youth responsible for their apathy. When you see a bully beating up a kid and you stand idle, that's as loud, or louder, than the actual oppression", and thus established the organization. The Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly centers on Carly Shay, who creates her own web show with her best friends Sam and Freddie. The series stars Miranda Cosgrove as Carly, Jennette McCurdy as Sam, Nathan Kress as Freddie, Jerry Trainor as Spencer, and Noah Munck as Gibby. The series was created by Dan Schneider, who also serves as executive producer. Carlotta "Carly" Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) starts as a 13-year-old girl who lives with her older brother, Spencer Shay, in Seattle, Washington. They live in the Bushwell Plaza apartment building. Carly's best friends are Sam Puckett, Freddie Benson (who lives in the same apartment building), and Gibby Gibson. In "iPilot", Carly takes the blame for one of Sam's pranks and has to oversee people who want to be in the school's talent show as her punishment. When Carly, Sam, and Freddie's suggestions are completely ignored, they decide to make a web show named iCarly upon Freddie's suggestion, with the 'i' standing for 'Internet' and Carly's name since she will be the host of the show. Carly is a smart, pretty girl who gets good grades, going for straight A's in one episode. She is kind, easygoing, and naive at times, wanting to believe the best in people. She has her moments when she proves just how crazy she can be. Yet in many ways, she is more grown up than her adult brother. She has occasionally wondered why she and Sam are friends as Sam tends to get her into trouble. Freddie has a crush on Carly, of which everyone is aware. However, she does not feel the same way (which she has told him many times). Despite this, in "iSaved Your Life", Carly wants Freddie to become more than friends because Freddie pushed her out of the way of a truck, getting hit himself instead. Although he was originally eager about their new relationship, Sam later advises him to break up with her. Freddie does so but regrets it later. In "iSpace Out" and "iSam's Mom", it is revealed that Carly is claustrophobic. She is the daughter of Colonel Steven Shay. He is stationed on a Navy submarine; their mother has never been seen and was only spoken of once when it was stated that she was in the armed forces. Carly is a kind and easygoing person who would do anything for her friends, although "iDate a Bad Boy" shows that she can be shallow, as she had a dislike of Griffin's hobby of collecting Pee Wee Babies (a parody of Beanie Babies). Also, when pushed too far, like in "iHave My Principals", Carly has proven to be just as devious as Sam, which catches most people by surprise because of her nice demeanor and the little-known, but generally assumed, fact that she has never pulled a prank by herself until "iGet Pranky" (which she did with Spencer's help). Carly is not tough, and even when furious, she has rarely physically attacked anyone on-screen (exceptions include when she tried to tackle Freddie in an angry manner in "iThink They Kissed" and "iPromise Not to Tell"). However, on occasion, she will confront someone, even bullies and teachers, as shown in "iHave a Lovesick Teacher" and "iMake Sam Girlier". She was also part of a girl mob (Sam and Shelby Marx) that beat up Nevel in "iFight Shelby Marx" although Nevel was not scared of her. Carly shows singing ability in "iDo", when she sings "Shakespeare", and in "iPie", when she tries to get people at a funeral to sing "Amazing Grace". In at least one episode, it is shown that she wears a mask to keep her from snoring, implying that she has sleep apnea as well as asthma, despite not having an asthma attack since she was seven, as confirmed by Spencer in "iWanna Stay with Spencer". In "iMeet the First Lady", it is revealed her father's pet name for her is "Snug Bug." She moves with her father to Florence, Italy in the series finale. Although not present as a character, Carly was mentioned in the spin-off series Sam & Cat. Samantha "Sam" Puckett (Jennette McCurdy) is Carly Shay's best friend and in later episodes the ex-girlfriend of Freddie Benson. She co-hosts the iCarly webshow with Carly, and also handles the sound effect remote control. Sam has an identical twin sister named Melanie. Their mother is Pam Puckett (Jane Lynch). Sam also stated she and her twin sister Melanie were born on a bus due to poor planning by their mother. She is a tomboy and often uses aggression against people who upset her. Sam enjoys pranks, mooching off her friends, and hates working, but is still considered a nice girl in-universe. It is mentioned in the series that she has been arrested three times. In "iWon't Cancel the Show", Sam gets arrested a fourth time after a man cuts in front of her in a market and she shoved a hot chili dog down his pants, only to find out he was the Mexican ambassador and as a result, she is sentenced to juvie for seven days (this is the only episode where Sam does not appear at all). Sam is also portrayed as gluttonous, with a particular love for meat (i.e. fried chicken, ham, bacon, steak, ribs, and pork). One time, she went on a meat patch. She had at least 7 of them on her arm, but still she could not resist eating a meatball. There is a running gag in the show where Sam is prone to say bacon. It was revealed in "iGot a Hot Room" that Sam speaks fluent Italian and she said she can play a trombone (or at least took 3 years of lessons). Sam has many pictures of boy celebrities on her locker, including Drake Bell, Patrick Stump, Pete Wentz, Joe Trohman, and Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy. Sam loves to dance, as shown in "iWas a Pageant Girl", when she did a dance with her former dance coach for the talent portion. Sam reveals that she has a small crush on Spencer and that was what was keeping her from beating him up after he performed numerous pranks on her and others. She has a "rabid" three-legged cat named "Frothy". In "iParty with Victorious", it is shown that Sam is a skilled rapper. She occasionally refers to herself as "Momma." In the episode "iWant to Date Freddie", it is stated by Carly that Sam never lies but in the same episode she promised not to tell on Valerie even though she did. Despite her laziness and unhealthy diet, Sam is physically fit and several episodes show her flipping over full grown men or carrying Freddie over her shoulder with ease. She lives with her mother, although she often stays with Carly at her apartment, as she is dissatisfied with her home life. In the episode "iParty with Victorious", Sam reveals that her father promised his family he would return, but still has not come back since. He is never seen or heard. Sam admits she used to compete in beauty pageants (and came in second in 19 of them) but got suspended for seven years due to her being suspected of "pushing" a candidate, Leann Carter, down a flight of stairs. Sam pushes Carly into doing the pageant when she finds out that Leann is going for her 100th straight win. At the pageant, Sam finds out she can compete because it has been seven and a half years since the ban. Sam tends to insult any other girl who has a crush on Freddie. Despite having dated boys before, she shares her first kiss with Freddie. In "iSaved Your Life", she gets upset when she tells Spencer that Freddie got hit by a taco truck. In "iOMG", it is revealed that she is in love with Freddie, as she kisses him with passion. "iLost My Mind" features them finally together, continuing "iOMG" when Carly saw Freddie and Sam kissing. In "iLost My Mind", Sam checks herself into a mental hospital because she thinks she is insane for being in love with Freddie. When Carly, Sam, and Freddie had to tape a show of iCarly in the hospital, Carly wanted to get the iCarly fans to see if Sam and Freddie should go out. After the iCarly fans say that Sam and Freddie should go out, Freddie records himself saying that no one has asked how he feels. Sam thinks this is his chance to get back at her and embarrass her. In the middle of yelling at him, Freddie walks over to her and kisses her. Then in "iDate Sam and Freddie", they kept arguing, while Carly helped them get along, and eventually they would make-up and kiss afterwards. When Sam and Freddie go on their date, they get in an argument again. Carly tries to settle it but she gets frustrated, and tells them maybe they are not meant to be, leaving the episode a cliffhanger. In "iCan't Take it", Gibby and Freddie's mom try to break Sam and Freddie up. They did not break up, but they did get in an argument which caused Freddie to think that he should break up with her. But Carly convinces Freddie that Sam would never try to hurt him. Freddie and Sam make-up and kiss. In "iLove You", Sam and Freddie try each other's hobbies. Freddie invites Sam to hang out with him at his club "Training Bros", but Sam gets Freddie kicked out by accident. So Sam invites Freddie to see her uncle Carmine and cousin Chaz in prison, but Freddie causes Carmine and Chaz to get sent away by the police. After that, Sam and Freddie overhear Carly talking to Spencer and his girlfriend Jenna about their relationship. Freddie and Sam feel as if Carly was talking about their relationship, and they come to closure on the past episodes "iKiss", "iOMG", and "iLost my Mind". They decide to break-up with the possibility of reuniting later on if they ever become mature about a relationship. Freddie tells Sam that he loves her for the first time. Sam tells him she loves him too, and they kiss. When Freddie sees what time it is (10:30 p.m.), Sam suggests they break-up at midnight so they can have an excuse to kiss for the last time. In the series finale, "iGoodbye", Sam and Carly take a break from their web show while Carly moves to Italy. Sam then became a lead character in the spin-off series Sam & Cat, in which she moves to Los Angeles and becomes friends with Cat Valentine (a character originally from Victorious) after rescuing her from a garbage truck. Fredward "Freddie" Benson (Nathan Kress) is the technical producer for the web-show iCarly which stars his friends Carly Shay and Sam Puckett. He is often the scapegoat when it comes to Sam's bad ideas. It is revealed that he has had a crush on Carly since the 6th grade, but Carly generally regards him as one of her best friends. However, in "iSaved Your Life", Carly falls for him after he saves her from getting run over by a taco truck. Freddie breaks up with her and says that if Carly still loves him and would still want to be his girlfriend when "the whole hero thing dies down", he would "be very psyched about it." At the end of this episode, Freddie is shown in the elevator asking himself, "What did I do?". Like Carly, Freddie is shown to get high grades in school, although his talents are on a more technological basis; thus, he is somewhat of a nerd. When explaining a certain technology that Carly and Sam do not know about, he tends to speak in terms that neither Carly nor Sam can comprehend, and thus, this is one of the sources of Sam's constant ridicule of Freddie. He is shown as being a very effective producer, though he is given little credit for iCarly's popularity. Sam eventually somewhat realizes his vital role to the webcast when a girl named Valerie makes him her technical producer instead, and iCarly is greatly hindered as a result. It is also known that Freddie is interested in studying multiple foreign languages, including French, Spanish, and Portuguese. From the second season on, he is frequently heard exclaiming phrases in Spanish. Freddie's relationship with his mother, Marissa Benson, is a very strained one. She means well, but can be overprotective, although they love each other. In iGo to Japan, it is revealed that he has a GPS chip in his head that his mother had implanted in him in Venezuela due to her overprotective behavior. Her constant overbearing eventually drove Freddie to temporarily move out of their apartment, and he remained there until his mother begged him to come back. Freddie agreed as long as she unblocked his favorite channels and left him alone in public. Freddie's relationship with Sam in the first season shows a strong dislike for each other. They have become more civil to one another as the series progresses to the point of them only arguing when they are around other people. Freddie constantly finds himself on the wrong end of Sam's demeanor and his near-psychotic mother's over-protectiveness. Throughout the series, Sam insults him, causes physical harm to him, or pulls pranks on him without hesitation, and also insults any girl who is attracted to him. But they both care for each other. Freddie gradually gets used to this so much so that in "iKiss", he stated that "his life would feel too weird if she didn't make him miserable all the time" and kisses Sam after they mutually compromise to "get their first kiss over with". In "iReunite With Missy", Sam asks for Freddie's help and when Carly finds out she says to Freddie, "You care about Sam" which shows that despite her constant abuse, he sees her as a good friend. In "iOMG", Freddie has a new app that tells people what mood they are in. Freddie tests it on Sam, and it said she was in love. He assumes it is their new intern, Brad, and tells Carly. But at the end of the episode Sam kisses Freddie, revealing she was in love with him. When the kiss is over Sam says, "Sorry." Freddie then says, "It's cool," with mixed emotions of confusion and gladness on his face. The episode ends with Freddie unsure of his feelings for Sam. "iLost My Mind" features them finally together, continuing "iOMG", when Carly sees Freddie and Sam kissing. Freddie kisses her live on iCarly at the end of the episode showing that he does, in fact, reciprocate Sam's feelings. Then in "iDate Sam and Freddie", they kept arguing, while having Carly help them get along. They eventually made up afterwards. In "iCan't Take It", Gibby and Freddie's mom try to break Sam and Freddie up by revealing to Freddie that Sam sabotaged his application for NERD (New Electronics Research and Development) Camp, thus ruining his chances of getting in. They did not break up, but Freddie was devastated, leading him to seriously consider a break up. Carly (feeling guilty about helping Mrs. Benson and Gibby and not wishing for her best friends to be unhappy) convinces Freddie that Sam would never try to hurt him and that she loves him. Freddie changes his mind and the two make up. In "iLove You", Sam and Freddie try each other's hobbies, which ends in disaster. They mutually decide to break-up, but decided that if they ever become mature about a relationship, they'll get back together, and kiss for the last time. In "iGoodbye", Freddie first assumes that Sam wants to reunite with him as a couple when she calls him, but then turns his attention to making Carly happy by offering to take her to the Father-Daughter Dance with Gibby, although both of them are rejected by Carly's sobbing. After Colonel Shay appears and escorts her to and back from the event, he announces he has to leave, eventually leading Carly to decide upon moving to Florence, Italy with him. In the studio, Freddie packs up his equipment, and starts telling Carly about helping Gibby take care of his new pet weasel when Carly places her hand on his. The two of them end up sharing a final kiss before she leaves. In February 2014, Freddie guest stars in the crossover spin-off Sam & Cat episode "#TheKillerTunaJump". Spencer Shay (Jerry Trainor) is Carly's immature, childish, hyperactive, older brother. When Carly's dad was called overseas, she went to live with Spencer, who turned their loft into both a workspace and gallery for his wacky sculptures. Spencer is off-beat and rarely acts his age, but acts responsibly and seriously when necessary. Though often spontaneous and unreliable, Spencer has been shown as being extremely protective of Carly, especially in episodes such as "iQuit iCarly", when he sees Carly about to fall off a window washer platform and sprints to her rescue, and "iLook Alike", when he would not approve her going to a mixed martial arts fight, and "iDate a Bad Boy", when he adamantly disapproved of Carly dating Griffin. In "iWanna Stay with Spencer", when Carly was being sent to live with her grandfather against her and Spencer's wishes, Spencer gives their grandfather Carly's asthma inhaler, despite her not having an asthma attack since she was seven. He tells their grandfather that he had kept all these years in case she needed it and demands he takes it with them, but after seeing how much Spencer really cares about Carly by keeping the inhaler all this time, their grandfather allows her to stay with him. In the alternate reality shown in "iChristmas," it is revealed that if Spencer was born "normal," Carly would have never met Sam and Freddie, Sam would be stuck in a juvenile detention center, Spencer would be engaged to Marissa Benson, and iCarly would not exist. In addition to making sculptures, Spencer has been shown to be an incredibly talented artist; while trying to teach Carly to draw in "iMust Have Locker 239", he quickly draws a professional-looking rabbit without looking at the pad, much to Carly's amazement. However, when Spencer tries to get involved in something besides sculpting, it tends to spontaneously burst into flames as a running gag, despite the object usually not being flammable. He is often the focus of the subplot for each episode, in which he usually finds himself in a strange situation. An odd interest of his is dressing up like a woman, as seen in "iWant My Website Back" and in "iLost My Mind". He also enjoys drinking milk in the shower, as stated in the episode "iGot A Hot Room". In several episodes, it is stated that Spencer went to law school (because of his father's wishes) for three days before dropping out. Spencer did not tell his father that, claiming that he is busy. His dad eventually finds out in "iGoodbye". Spencer is sometimes attacked, pranked, and tormented by Chuck Chambers, a trouble-making boy who lives in the apartment building. The conflict started when Spencer was covering for the doorman Lewbert in "iHurt Lewbert". Chuck has been seen in several episodes as a worthy enemy, because of his "sweet" personality, and martial arts skills. Spencer has also had numerous girlfriends throughout the series, including Veronica from a grocery store in "iMake Sam Girlier" and a very high class woman in "iWon't Cancel The Show". It is revealed that Spencer pulled numerous pranks during his youth in "iGet Pranky". After helping Carly pull a prank, his love for it was reignited, and he soon began to set up constant pranks at the expense of almost everyone, especially Carly. At her wit's end, Carly calls some of his old school friends (all of whom that came were victims from one of his pranks) to talk him out of his refueled habit. When Carly leaves, however, they resort to beating up Spencer since they still have not forgiven him for it. Despite this, Spencer gets the message. In "iParty with Victorious", it is shown that Spencer has a book club with only ladies. To Carly, Sam, and Freddie's amazement they think that it is not the most manly thing in the world, Spencer also agrees. In "iLost my Mind", this book club reappears, exchanging fruit tart recipes, however he is later kicked out after setting a box of books on fire. Orenthal Cornelius "Gibby" Gibson (Noah Munck) is a friend and classmate of Carly, Sam, and Freddie and the show's breakout character. Due to his odd personality and chubby appearance, he is an outcast at school, although he does have a few friends. He used to be known for taking off his shirt in almost all episodes he appeared in. Since season 4, he has not taken his shirt off and stated in "iStill Psycho" that he takes it off "less frequently now". He often appears on iCarly to assist Carly, Sam, and Freddie. Gibby started off as an occasional recurring character of the show, but was promoted to a main character by season 4. Gibby has a little brother named Guppy, played by Munck's younger brother. In "iMove Out", he has a pet bulldog named Grubbles. Gibby also has a pet cat which he apparently likes to film, mentioned by his girlfriend Tasha in "iEnrage Gibby". A running gag in many episodes usually has many characters yelling "Gibby!" to him, either when they are aggravated or annoyed by him. Since becoming a series regular, Gibby often announces his presence upon entering a room with his own name deepened voice: "Gibbeh!" It was revealed in the episode, "iStill Psycho", that his birth name is Orenthal Gibson. Much like Freddie, he is often a victim of Sam's pranks, but she has shown to have more respect for him. In "iSpeed Date", his last name is revealed as Gibson on his house's postbox, which read "The Gibsons". The episode also reveals he has a girlfriend named Tasha. A very attractive girl, she only has a small part in the episode. This surprised Carly, Sam, and Freddie, because they feel that Tasha is somewhat out of Gibby's league. In "iEnrage Gibby", Tasha returns and has a larger role, showing much affection towards Gibby. In this episode, Gibby is shown to be ruthless and jealous, but in a comedic way. He is also shown to be a skilled kickboxer. Gibby is portrayed to be a very capable fighter, almost to the level of Sam, as shown in "iPsycho", where he succeeds in smashing down a barricaded door. In the episode "iCan't Take It", Gibby is shown to be a strong singer when he serenades Sam and Freddie after he has a change of heart about trying to break them up. He also reveals in "iMeet the First Lady" that he thought Spencer was Carly's father. He says this again in "iGoodbye". His mother's name is Charlotte. His parents are divorced. He also has some emotional problems because he is the main target for most bullies (mostly Sam in the first three seasons). He is a very good friend with Spencer. In "iKiss", he became Carly's replacement in Spencer's football training. In "iCarly Awards", Spencer gave him the awards and he gave them to Carly and Sam. In "iQuit iCarly", he became Spencer's "boat boy" and he helped him defeat the Pirates. In "iPsycho", Spencer finds out that Gibby is not allowed to go to the camp anymore, so he cheers him up by inviting him to "Camp Spencer". In "iGot a Hot Room", his grandpa gives Spencer a haircut. In "iOMG", Gibby felt bad about hurting Spencer in an experiment. In "iParty with Victorious", he revealed he is skilled in massage therapy by aiding Spencer, so Spencer refused to drive the rest of the gang to Los Angeles unless Gibby was allowed to accompany them. Gibby also hosts the show with Carly and Sam doing things with sets. Gibby also proclaims in "iSaved Your Life" that he and his family do not have cable television. Gibby imagines his fantasy marriage to Cat Valentine as a rabbi- officiated culturally Jewish wedding ceremony, with Gibby's stand-in wearing a yarmulke and breaking the glass. Marissa Benson (Mary Scheer) is Freddie's stereotypically overprotective, and sensitive safe-cautious mom, first appearing in "iWanna Stay with Spencer". She is very neurotic and constantly treats her son like a child. She is worried about him getting hurt or having relationships with girls (especially Carly), but in "iWill Date Freddie", she wanted Carly to love him. Marissa constantly embarrasses Freddie in public, often by making him follow all of her strange rules. She does not seem to care about other people's apologies as seen in the special "iSaved Your Life". She has a somewhat negative relationship with Carly and Spencer, except for "iParty with Victorious," when she and Carly actually have a nice conversation. She also has a fear of germs shown in "iToe Fat Cakes" and "iCan't Take It". Lewbert Sline (Jeremy Rowley) is the rude and psychotic doorman of Carly's apartment. He has a large, noticeable wart on his left cheek. In "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", he reveals that the wart developed from stress caused by his abusive ex-girlfriend, Marta. Her over-obsessiveness caused Lewbert to take her on a cruise and to jump overboard and swam to shore and make him change his last name, lose his good looks, his job as a supermodel, move to Seattle, and essentially lose his mind. He is later sent to jail for 30 days and 6 months (by smacking a police officer on the face and "admitting" that he was the one who was stealing TV remotes from the apartments) so he can escape Marta. He is featured on the bit "Messin' with Lewbert" on iCarly, in which Carly, Sam and Freddie pull pranks on him, once going so far that they accidentally blew his wart off his face with an "exploding muffin basket", made to shoot confetti, but blew up as an explosive. Afterwards, he had a short-lived romance with Freddie's mother. However, this did not last because of his attitude after Freddie fell down the stairs while wearing "open-toed shoes", which was actually a ruse by Carly and Sam to end the relationship. Lewbert is loosely based on an enraged, psychotic customer Rowley played in a "Blockblister" segment on The Amanda Show. Lewbert appears throughout the first three seasons (he was not seen in "iEnrage Gibby" but his voice was heard, and is later mentioned in the Season 4 episode, "iHire an Idiot." He is not seen or mentioned in season 5 but he returns in the sixth-season premiere, "iApril Fools" and the series finale, "iGoodbye". Terrence "T-Bo" Bo () is the manager at the Groovy Smoothie. He often hassles his customers to buy random foods (as well as smoothies), such as bagels, bell peppers, doughnuts and pickles. These foods are always skewered on a stick. T-Bo says he has a degree in "Smoothology". He is a close friend of Carly, Spencer, and the rest of the gang. After "iQ", he rents a room from Mrs. Benson. He first appears in the season-two episode "iWant my Website Back", and continues to appear throughout subsequent seasons. Socko is a friend of Spencer who is mentioned in several episodes, though is never seen in person. He and Spencer were friends in high school. He is known most for making all of Spencer's brightly colored, light-up socks, first seen in "iWant More Viewers". All members of Socko's family mentioned have names that match their jobs or hobbies; such as Tyler, who makes ties; Otto, a used car salesman; Rob, a professional thief; Penny, who creates Penny-Tees; Isaac, an optometrist; Taylor, a tailor; Bernie, a professional welder; Boomer, who sells explosives; and Ryder, who is a motorcycle rider. Most of his family members have never been seen in the show in person except for Rob who stole back Carly and Spencer's couch and Bernie who burnt a pickle on iCarly. In "iParty with Victorious" Spencer is seen at the doorway collecting keys from Socko, who is represented in the form of an arm that extends to hand Spencer the keys. Spencer then closes the door so no more of Socko can be seen. Nevel Amadeus Papperman (Reed Alexander) is one of the most reoccurring antagonists in the iCarly series, running the popular review website Nevelocity.com and tending to have a "posh" personality which includes dressing formally all the time. First appearing in "iNevel", Nevel reveals to have a crush on Carly and initially offered to interview her in order to get close to her, but got rejected by her and has since made it his secondary goal to destroy the iCarly gang with complex plans that hide his involvement at first. Despite his intelligence, most of his plans fail with him suffering in some manner. It is revealed in the episode "iGive Away a Car" that his dream is to open his own haberdashery. While absent from season 3 except for archived footage from "iBloop", Nevel returns in the season 4 episode "iPity The Nevel" where he pleas the iCarly gang to restore his reputation after a video of him yelling at a little girl goes viral. They help him, but another video of Nevel losing his temper with a man in a wheelchair goes viral and ruins his image. Resurfacing in "iHalfoween", the iCarly gang not helping him with the backlash from the second viral video, Nevel exacts revenge by giving Carly and Sam candies that made their voices very deep, and later framed Freddie for it. However, after Freddie was punished, Carly states that she now acknowledges that Nevel's attack on them today was provoked, and after being nice to Nevel and making his two bodyguards disappear, he is finally punished himself. He also appears in the iCarly video game. He made a guest appearance on Sam and Cat and was placed in a psychiatric ward by his mom because he got Porcupox. He helped Sam and Cat find their friend Dice who got captured by iCarly's obsessive fan, Nora Dershlit. At the end of the episode it showed that Nevel escaped the psychiatric ward and was eating dinner with Gibby at a restaurant. Chuck Chambers (Ryan Ochoa) first made an appearance in "iHurt Lewbert", when playing racquetball in the lobby, which Spencer got him grounded by his father for two days. Later in the episode, when Spencer is out of earshot, he uses the CB radio that Spencer is using to upset two truckers, and gives the truckers the location so that they can come and get Spencer. Since then, Chuck and Spencer became rivals and have clashed on several more occasions, each time ending with Spencer winning and Chuck getting in trouble with his father except in "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love". In "iReunite With Missy," he was grounded once again for trapping Spencer in the basement for two days and getting revenge. He also appears in "iTwins". He has a wide variety of what Spencer describes as "suspicious liquids" such as a substance he squirted Spencer with and a jelly-like goo which he put into Spencer's motorcycle helmet. He makes his on-screen final appearance in "iBeat the Heat", where he comes to the Shays' apartment with his dad and sister, Gia, who Spencer finds attractive. As revealed in "iBattle Chip", Chuck and some of his 8th grade thug buddies' latest prank on Spencer got him sent to military school and so he told his younger brother Chip to fill in as the secondary antagonist. His sibling appeared in "iBattle Chip". Guppy Gibson (Ethan Munck) is Gibby's younger brother. He first appears in "iPsycho" when he visits Gibby, who is staying with Spencer and Carly. Guppy later frees the iCarly gang from a recording booth while Gibby distracts Nora (the girl who trapped the iCarly gang). Guppy is played by Noah Munck's real- life brother, Ethan. Like Gibby, Guppy likes taking his shirt off, but unlike Gibby, he rarely talks and is mostly shown speaking into Gibby's ears. In addition to "iPsycho", Guppy also appears in "iSell Penny Tees" when he was on the iCarly webcast, "iDo" when he was riding in his little flame car that is attached to Gibby's bike, and in "iStart A Fan War" in which he, Gibby, and their grandfather are driving to Webicon. His signature phrase (towards Gibby) is, "Happy birthday!"; when Carly, Sam, and Freddie are trapped in Nora's basement in "iPsycho", they make a code and send it to Gibby, in which "every fourth word" is a code phrase. He also appears to have psychological problems; in "iStart A Fan War" he says he "hears voices again". He reappears two seasons later in the episode "iBust a Thief". Charlotte Gibson (Deena Dill) is Gibby and Guppy's mother. She was dating Spencer in "iFix a Pop Star", but he broke up with her because he thinks she looks too much like her son Gibby, which made her become aware of his resemblance to Carly. She appears also in "iGo Nuclear" when Sam gives Gibby a wedgie and she needed to give him his new underwear, "iPsycho" when she took Guppy to visit Gibby at Spencer and Carly's loft, and in "iEnrage Gibby" offering Gibby a snack while he was punching a punching bag. Principal Ted Franklin (Tim Russ) is the school principal, who is fond of Carly and Freddie. Principal Franklin is sometimes fond of Sam because he loves iCarly. As seen in "iHave My Principals", Principal Franklin has a daughter named Emily who is an iCarly fan. Principal Franklin appears in "iPilot", "iPromise Not To Tell", "iGot Detention", "iOwe You", "iMust Have Locker 239", "iHave My Principals", and his voice was heard in "iSpeed Date" and "iOMG". He makes a return in the season 6 episode "iOpen a Restaurant" where he allows Gibby to keep the restaurant he opened in the old school basement after denying Mr. Howard's request to have it closed. Miss Francine Briggs (Mindy Sterling) is a mean English teacher that Carly and her friends like to tease. She is also one of Spencer's former teachers. She first appeared in "iPilot". It is revealed in the episode "iSpy A Mean Teacher" that she likes to exercise in her swimsuit and she is obsessed with Randy Jackson. She returned in season 3's episode "iHave My Principals" and makes a brief appearance in "iBelieve in Bigfoot". She plays the bagpipes, much to the hatred of the students, and feels that iCarly is bad for the young society. She has a bullhorn, and commonly uses it in the school hallways. Miss Briggs does not return to the series for seasons 4 and 5, but she returns in the season six premiere, "iApril Fools". As mentioned in "iTwins", she is in love with Mr. Howard; they like to kiss in the teacher's lounge in their spare time after school. Mr. Howard (David St. James) is a mean math teacher and detention moderator with an extremely unpleasant personality. A vindictive, hateful, perpetually angry person that hates practically everything – laughter, children, and even his wife. Everyone at Ridgeway, including Carly and her friends as well as Principal Franklin, dislike him, and the feeling is mutual. In later episodes, however, he has shown some respect towards Carly, Freddie, and Gibby. He appears in "iParty with Victorious", in which he seems very fond of Steven, Carly's boyfriend. He also caught Carly and Sam texting in his class. As punishment, he makes them read their text messages. He returns in the episode "iOpen a Restaurant" where he finds out about the secret restaurant Gibby had opened in the old school basement. He convinces Principal Franklin (who is there enjoying himself) to close it down, to which Franklin agrees to do. It is not until Mr. Howard leaves the basement that Principal Franklin blind-sides his request and tells Gibby to keep it open. He is in love with Miss Briggs. Mr. Devlin (Adrian Neil) is a British history teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. He is known for being snotty and very strict to his students (according to Freddie), even in his former position as lunchroom monitor where he gave Spencer detention for playing with his fruit. He also despises 3-hole punched paper, as revealed to Carly in the episode "iPromise Not to Tell", when he gives her a "B" on a history paper instead of an "A" because it was written on 3-hole paper. He teaches very fast, and if ever asked to slow down, he says no and keeps talking. He also made an appearance in the episode "iKiss", when he embarrassed Freddie in front of the entire school by announcing to everyone that Freddie had never kissed a girl. He also tells the kids to stop laughing at Freddie. Miss Lauren Ackerman (Jessica Makinson) is a emotionally unstable, verbally abusive history teacher at Ridgeway. She appears in the episode "iHave A Lovesick Teacher", where she dates Spencer. While dating Spencer, however, she is kind and giddy, even suggesting that her class go ice skating. She is often possessive, needing to know where Spencer is at all times during the day. When Spencer breaks up with her, she goes back to being mean to the students. She is arrested after Carly, Sam and Freddie get her to admit on iCarly that she illegally downloaded 500 songs from the Internet as a present for Spencer. Mr. Stern (Joseph Buttler) is a teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. He is very strict and usually seen coming out of the teacher's lounge when there is an emergency. Not much of his personal life is revealed, although in "iSpy A Mean Teacher", it is learned that he went to a rock concert and crowdsurfed (and wore shorts, which according to Carly, teachers should never do). In addition to that episode, he was in "iLike Jake", "iDon't Want to Fight", "iGot Detention", "iMake Sam Girlier", and "iSaved Your Life". Mr. Henning (Andrew Hill Newman) is a hippie science teacher at Ridgeway Middle School. Spencer once had him as a science teacher, but complained that Mr. Henning was like a freaky weirdo and smelled like rotting wood. Henning stresses the importance of being environmentally friendly, but does so in the wrong ways, and as a result, he tends to give the majority of his students poor grades because they were doing what is supposed to be correct, but not correct by his standards (e.g. in "iGo Nuclear", Freddie created a high-tech and expensive composting machine, but he received a "D minus" for polluting the air by importing worms from Portugal). He is later mentioned in "iBeat the Heat". Superintendent Harold Gorman (Weston Blakesley) is a Superintendent at Ridgeway Middle School and Principal Franklin's boss, and appeared in "iHave My Principals". He has an abnormally low voice, which at first, stunned and impressed Sam. He also appears to have a strong hatred of fun, and fires Franklin simply for appearing on iCarly and playing one of their games, something he feels is below a principal. He rehires Franklin later in the episode. Missy Robinson (Haley Ramm) was Carly's best friend, because both of their fathers were stationed at the same naval base at Seal Beach when they were 7, before Carly met Sam. In "iReunite with Missy", she returns and constantly tries to get rid of Sam so she can be Carly's best friend again. She gives Sam the address to a piñata factory while she and Carly went on a helicopter ride, and then gives Sam expired chocolates which makes her sick. Missy even fills in for Sam on iCarly that same night. Carly finds out about her plan and ends her friendship with her. Missy left for a six-month sea cruise, which Freddie originally won and then gave to her to end her threat to iCarly. The cruise wasn't glamorous the ocean liner was actually a Cargo Ship and Missy vomited because of seasickness. Valerie (Carly Bondar) was Freddie's girlfriend in "iWill Date Freddie", but was actually using him as help in creating her own webshow so that it could overshadow iCarly. When Sam and Carly found out about this, Freddie did not believe them, but later talked to Valerie, who revealed the truth. She was able to manipulate people; her actions were evident in attempting to use Sam as well for her webshow, and trying to get Carly to give up her show. At the end of the episode, on her webshow (called The Valerie Show), Valerie was supposed to show her recent trip from Idaho, but the television monitor fell on her head, and she said "I don't know what to do now." She was not seen after that, but was mentioned in "iKiss". Jeremy (Nathan Pearson) is a sickly boy who is known as "Germy" because he has been constantly sneezing and coughing since first grade. Like Freddie, he is also fascinated with electronics, and was the tech-producer and cameraman for iCarly in "iWill Date Freddie" when Freddie briefly left to be the tech- producer on Valerie's web show. He is seen in the episode "iNevel", restraining and sneezing on Nevel to force him to tell the truth on camera about his negative review on iCarly. Jeremy is then seen in "iDon't Want to Fight", when he buys Peacock feather tissues from Rip-off Rodney. Jeremy is not seen after Season 1. Wendy (Mary Ann Springer) is one of Carly and the gang's friends on the show. She was seen in "iReunite with Missy", where she told Carly that Freddie gave up a six-month cruise so that Missy would not bother Sam anymore, and in "iDate a Bad Boy", where she came to Carly's home to study. She also appeared in "iTake on Dingo" and "iFight Shelby Marx", as well as the Christmas episode when she claimed that Carly's boyfriend Nevel was looking for her. Wendy is known to gossip about the newest things around the school. She can be seen in the background of Ridgeway when the bell rings. Wesley (Colin Spencer (Season 1), Victor Kelso (Season 7) ) is one of Freddie's friends. He is very skilled in beat boxing, which he frequently does, much to other people's annoyance. He helps the iCarly gang in iGot Detention by creating a distraction so that a webcast can continue in the school. Wesley also appears in the episode "iGo Nuclear" of Season 2. Ripoff Rodney (Christopher David III) is a student at Ridgeway who sells random items at high prices. He was seen selling burritos in "iGot Detention", he sells Jeremy (Germy) a box of tissues made of peacock feathers, and he traded Sam tickets to see Cuttlefish (a fictional band) for the iCarly T-shirt Carly made in "iDon't Want to Fight". He is never seen after "iGot Detention". Duke (Doug Brochu) is an aggressive student in Ridgeway who likes to wrestle. He appeared in "iHatch Chicks" as Freddie's lab partner, and in "iLike Jake", when Freddie got pushed around while Duke and his friend were fighting. He is incredibly strong, as he was shown capable of lifting and moving a refrigerator as well as being able to burst his head though a wall. He also appeared in "iSpy on a Mean Teacher." Duke is never seen after Season 1. Jocelyn (Cynthia Dallas) is a rude senior who appears in "iMake Sam Girlier". She is seen bullying the students in Ridgeway and torturing them (e.g. holding a younger student by his legs for not saying "bless you" after she sneezed). Later in the episode, she loses a fight against Sam in the Groovy Smoothie. Jonah (Aaron Albert) was Sam's boyfriend in "iHate Sam's Boyfriend." He was shown to be just as obnoxious and rude as Sam, a personality which made Sam fall in love with him. Sam broke up with Jonah after he tried to kiss Carly. Jonah also ruined Spencer's claymation movie, making him cut it down to only 10 seconds long, when it was originally supposed to be 10 minutes long. Carly and Sam got revenge by wedgie bouncing Jonah on iCarly. He is never seen or mentioned after that. Jake Krandle (Austin Butler) is Carly's first love interest in "iLike Jake". Almost every other girl in Carly's school has a crush on Jake too. When Carly invites him over to sing on iCarly, the iCarly gang realizes he has a terrible voice. Freddie fixes the problem by digitally altering his voice to make it sound better, and Jake gets back together with his girlfriend the next day. He is never seen nor mentioned after this. Magic Malika (Skyler Day) only appeared in "iSpeed Date" as a date for Freddie to the Girls' Choice dance. She had a very odd personality, and is a skilled magician. Pete (Graham Patrick Martin) is Sam's love interest in "iMake Sam Girlier". He praised Sam for being tough and aggressive during her birthday party, which made Sam want to change into a more girlier image. Pete tells her later on that he prefers dating a girl who can kiss well and beat someone up when she needs to, rather than dating a "daffodil." Pete is never seen nor mentioned after this episode. Shane (James Maslow) was Carly and Sam's crush in "iSaw Him First", who Carly and Sam found very attractive. He fell down an elevator shaft after he tried to storm out of the room after he got tired of Carly and Sam's arguing over him. He was shown to survive with major injuries. He was not seen or mentioned again in the show. Shannon Mitchell (Annamarie Kenoyer) was Gibby's crush in "iWin a Date". In turn, she had a major crush on Freddie, but Freddie wanted nothing to do with her. She is not seen or mentioned again after this episode. Shawn (Matthew Moy) is a friend of Carly, Sam, and Freddie who is also part of the Mathletes club with Freddie in "iMeet Fred". He also appeared in "iHave My Principals," "iFight Shelby Marx" and "iBelieve in Bigfoot". He appears to have a crush on Carly in iHave My Principals. Simon Kendall (Simon Bernal) was a boy who could squirt milk out of his eye. He appeared in "iPilot" and "iCarly Awards". Rueben (Gary Pease) was Gibby's best friend who had a crush on Sam since he first saw her. He was known for speaking in strange metaphors that only Gibby could understand. Sam did not like him at all and eventually grew tired of him, frustrated with his way of speaking. During their date, Sam shouted a nonsensical metaphor to mock him, saying that she was on a date with "an Australian Eskimo who's got ointment all over his bumbleberry". He then ran away while crying. He only appeared in "iWin a Date". Officer Carl (Christopher Michael) is a police officer that appeared in "iWant More Viewers" and "iMove Out". He arrests Spencer in "iWant More Viewers" due to a bright billboard sign that he and Freddie made, which caused a series of automobile accidents. The sign also malfunctioned and spelled out "Pee on Carl", which Officer Carl thought was targeted at him. In "iMove Out," he refuses to arrest pet photographers for vandalizing the iCarly studio because they took pictures of his daughter's bunny for free. He is also revealed to still be mad about the "Pee on Carl" incident after he told Spencer to watch his attitude because he still hasn't forgotten about it. Aspartamay (Jack Black) is Spencer's online video game rival in "iStart a Fan War". He and Spencer come face-to-face at Webicon. At the end of the show, Aspartamay was "killed" by Carly by stealing his jewel revealing that it is his life force. He sings a song before his "death" and falls to the ground. Pam Puckett (Jane Lynch) is the mother of Sam Puckett and her sister Melanie. Pam appears only in "iSam's Mom". She was frequently mentioned throughout the first three seasons, but had never been seen in person. Whenever Sam mentioned her, it was either something negative, or something disturbing and gross. She is described as "poor", "desperate", and "hostile". Generally, she is indeed hostile to Sam, in which, Sam is hostile in the same manner. It is shown in "iSam's Mom" that she is somewhat desperate since she asks a stranger if he would like to marry her. She likes Melanie more than Sam, seeing the highly noticeable difference between the two. This gets on Sam's nerves when she compares her to Melanie, which causes another argument. She is known for her "frequent dating" (something mentioned by Sam in nearly every episode) and "driving issues", as shown in "iMust Have Locker 239". It is also revealed that she has a love interest for Italian men, as mentioned by Sam in "iGot a Hot Room". At the end of "iSam's Mom", Sam and her mother make up and reconcile their differences. She reappears onscreen in the episode "iShock America" wearing a bikini, but only the lower-half of her body is seen and she has no dialogue. Krustacia (Irina Voronina) is Spencer's date in the episode "iSell Penny Tees". She is a foreign woman from Uzbekistan. She speaks no English, so Spencer has to use hand motions to communicate with her. At the end of the episode, Gibby invites his Uzbek bus driver named Foogtor to Carly and Spencer's loft to teach Spencer Uzbek. It turns out Foogtor's brother is the one who can translate causing Spencer to yell "well why didn't you ask the brother?". Krustacia and Foogtor walk out of the loft and do not make any further appearances. Gordon Birch (J. D. Walsh) and Jodi Flooger (Rakefet Abergel) are a couple from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They only appear in the episode "iDo". Gordon asks Jodi to marry him live on an iCarly episode, Jodi says yes, and Gordon wants to sing Miranda Cosgrove's song "Shakespeare". He tries to sing it both on iCarly and at the wedding but both times, he got nervous and urinated on himself. At the wedding, Carly sings the song for Gordon. Spencer walks in on iCarly when Gordon proposes to Jodi, and she immediately falls in love with Spencer after already telling Gordon she would marry him. Jodi loves the song Gordon wrote for her, so at the end of "iDo" she decides to marry him. At the wedding, Carly and Sam are the bridesmaids, and Freddie is Gordon's best man. Harper (Leon Thomas III) is the leader of the band that played in "iCarly Saves TV." He played the piano on the TV show and sang a song on guitar on the webshow. Greg Horvath (Kevin Symons) is the CEO of the DAKA Shoe Company (also mentioned in Drake & Josh) in "iPromote Techfoots". He hires the iCarly children to endorse their new athletic shoe, the Techfoot, on their webshow. After the children discover that the shoes have many defects, they try to get the company to recall their product. Instead, Horvath threatens to sue iCarly for breach of contract. Spencer discovers a loophole in the contract, which requires the iCarly gang to only say "positive" things about the Techfoots. The children then proceed to highlight all the shoe's defects on the show, in a sarcastic but positive matter. Realizing that he has been outsmarted, Horvath is forced to buy out the contract. If he refused, he would be countersued for tricking the children into advertising the faulty shoes. Mr. Galini was the Italian owner of Galini's Pie Shop, featured in "iPie". He was hospitalized for unknown reasons, and died a few days later. He was 97 years old at the time of his death, and was survived by his granddaughter, Trudy. The iCarly gang went to Mr. Galini's memorial service a few days later, in the hopes of finding his pie recipes, which Trudy had told them was "in his computer," at least according to her grandfather (although Trudy was never able to find them). Spencer and Carly provided a distraction while Sam and Freddie tried to find the recipes in the computer. During an argument, Sam and Freddie wound up knocking over the computer and breaking it. Then, Carly discovered that the pie recipes were hidden, literally, in the computer itself. With the recipes recovered, the pie shop was saved from being closed. Mario (Jim Pirri) is an Italian immigrant friend of Mr. Galini who works at Galini's pie shop. He told Carly and the gang that Mr. Galini died. His only appearance was in "iPie". Mario had worked at the pie shop as a cashier for twenty years. When Mr. Galini died, he was about to close down the pie shop, until the iCarly trio found the pie recipe. Mario then kept the business operational with Galini's granddaughter Trudy. Trudy Galini (Wendy Haines) is the granddaughter of Mr. Galini, seen in the episode "iPie". She is very awkward and weird, and seems to lead a depressing life. Her habits include eating packets of sweetener, twirling her hair, and attempting to kiss Spencer, with whom she went out only once. However, Spencer's motive in dating her was only to be able to get Mr. Galini's pie recipe after he had died. She aspires to become an actress, but at the end of the episode, decides to give up that dream to re-open the pie shop and run it. Shelby Marx (Victoria Justice) appears only in "iFight Shelby Marx". She is the youngest champion in the CFC and becomes a friend of Carly, Sam and Freddie. After Nevel tricks her into believing Carly meant to tackle her grandmother, she, Freddie, Carly, Gibby and Sam get their revenge on him. Victoria Justice later made an appearance in "iParty with Victorious" starring as her Tori Vega character from Victorious. In regards to the Tori character, Sam says to Carly: "She looks like that Shelby Marx chick you fought". Ginger Fox (Betsy Rue) only appears in "iFix a Popstar". She is a parody of singer Britney Spears. She was once a Pop Music Award-winner but is revealed to have lost her talent and gone crazy, often throwing forks at people when she is angry. Ginger has a 6-month- old son named Billy, is divorced, and tries to teach her rabbit to do tricks. Ginger fired her director because "he kept telling [her] what to do". The iCarly crew were hired to make a music video for her comeback, and despite Ginger's lack of talent, they were successful, which left the iCarly group shocked. She is not seen after this but her songs can be heard in the background of iCarly and Victorious. Her songs are also sung by cast members of both shows. Shadow Hammer (Aaron Aguilera) is a criminal who appears in "iSam's Mom". He had never been caught on video because he sneaks in before robbing a place and disables the cameras. This changes when Freddie uses his spy glasses and catches him, but when T-Bo and a newscaster talk about what he did, Freddie worries that Shadow Hammer will find him and beat him down. Spencer fixes the problem by changing the sign at his apartment to 8H instead of 8D. At the end of the episode, Shadow Hammer looks for apartment 8D, and leaves when he sees the sign at Freddie's apartment reading 8H. Chip Chambers (Jacob Bertrand) is the more menacing younger brother of Chuck Chambers. When Chuck was put in military school for snatching Spencer's clothes, Chip took over as Spencer's nemesis. He attacked him with fruit and weapons, hogtied him with an apple in his mouth, and played loud music to ruin the web show annoy the gang while trying to have peace and quiet without Chuck causing trouble. While Chip was preparing for a prank with another boy, Gibby's phaser is thrown by them, overloading in the process. It explodes, causing Chip to get stuck to the wall. Spencer sprays cream on Chip's butt as revenge for his pranks and leaves. Chip only appears in "iBattle Chip". Mrs. Papperman (Wendy Braun) is Nevel's mother. She is only seen in "iNevel," in which she forced Nevel to remove a bad review he wrote about iCarly. Only her voice is heard in later episodes, including "iRue The Day" and "iFight Shelby Marx". The Dorfmans (Dalton O'Dell, Shane Partlow, Casey Williams, and Stephanie C. Allen) are Carly's dorky cousins whom she despises due to them being uncontrollably annoying. The family consists of Carly's Uncle Barry, Aunt Tess, and cousins Ozlottis and Faye. Ozlottis wears a cone around his neck because he has a scab on his chin. They only appear in "iFence", where Carly asks Sam to eat with her while they visit from Fresno, California, but as soon as Sam meets them herself, she hates them too. Carly tells her to stay since Spencer is not home yet and she cannot spend two hours with them, but Sam claims it cannot be that bad. Carly was forced to make a green-colored vegetable pudding for them, which tasted horrible to her. Kyoko and Yuki (Ally Maki and Harry Shum, Jr.) are two Japanese webstars whom iCarly competed against in iGo to Japan. They attempted to ruin iCarly's chances of winning the iWeb Awards by stranding them in the middle of nowhere. Ultimately, iCarly makes it to the awards and retaliates by sabotaging their presentation, winning the awards and revealing their evil plan in the process. As a result, they are arrested for kidnapping Carly, Sam and Freddie. Mystery Girl is a little girl (Anna Clark) who appears in "iSpace Out". She arrives at Spencer and Carly's apartment while Carly is away at space camp. Spencer thought the girl was a figment of his imagination because he missed Carly so much, but at the end of the episode, Carly could see her too. The girl leaves the apartment at the end. It is unknown what her true name is and why only she appears to Carly and Spencer. Gunsmoke (Anthony Vitale) is a bodyguard who appears in "iSam's Mom". Mrs. Benson hires him to protect Freddie when she worries about the Shadow Hammer. However, he tends to get overprotective, as shown when he intercepts and interrogates Carly when she enters her apartment. Gunsmoke also constantly attacks Spencer when he comes near Freddie, and breaks Spencer's snow-cone machine, assuming that it had something dangerous in it. He claims to have fought in three wars and is fond of Full House. Marta Trundel (Kit Pongetti) is Lewbert's former girlfriend. Carly, Sam, and Freddie try to reunite Marta and Lewbert to put an end to Lewbert's attitude in "iFind Lewbert's Lost Love", only to find out that they broke up after 5 weeks of dating because of Marta's obsessiveness and that she is the presumed cause of Lewbert becoming an irritable person. Wade Collins (Alex Schemmer) is a British-Canadian aspiring singer and a shouter who refers to Americans as "hobknockers". Due to interference by the iCarly gang, he lost the final round of America Sings (parody of American Idol). The group offered to make a music video for him, only to discover he is a surly and egotistical man. He steals the video after it is complete, but the iCarly gang gets revenge by showing everyone what an awful person he is and telling them where he is staying. He is mentioned again in "iFix a Popstar", where it is revealed the music video they made for him was one of the top ten most watched videos of all time. Doug Toder (Daniel Samonas) is Spencer's old archrival who only appears in "iFence". He challenged Freddie to a fencing competition, only to be beaten by him and Ms. Benson. Veronica (Valerie Azlynn) was Spencer's date in "iMake Sam Girlier", but their relationship happened only because she liked his tuxedo. She returns in "iEnrage Gibby", to express condolence when she thinks Spencer is dead. Detective Stuart 'Spanky' Stimbler (Ryan Bollman) is a childhood bully of Spencer who only appears in "iStakeout." His nickname "Spanky" refers to the fact that he likes to spank unsuspecting people as a joke. He has a troublesome son and works for the Seattle Police Department. He and his partner use Carly and Spencer's apartment as a stakeout in an attempt to catch a video pirate. When the investigation was over, Spencer was able to trap Stimbler's son in a plastic transparent tube, and handcuffed Stimbler himself to the couch. Spencer then proceeded to get revenge by spanking Stimbler on the buttocks with one of his brooms much to the enjoyment of his son. Tasha (Emily Ratajkowski) is Gibby's girlfriend. She had a minor role in "iSpeed Date" and a major role in "iEnrage Gibby". In the latter episode, Gibby temporally breaks up with her after believing that she was cheating on him with Freddie and trying to kiss him, causing him to become enraged and plan to fight Freddie for revenge. After Freddie proves to Gibby that he was not trying to steal his girlfriend and that she had just tripped and fallen on him, Gibby and Tasha reconcile. Harry Joyner (Oliver Muirhead) is Spencer's favorite sculptor who appears in "iHeart Art." According to Joyner, he has made a sculpture out of every substance known to man, and when he met Spencer for the first time, he was planning to make a human sculpture. When meeting Spencer, he saw many of his pieces, and made negative comments. Spencer was heartbroken and considered giving up art. Carly went to Joyner and demanded he apologize to her brother. At first, he declined, but when Carly points out how Spencer became depressed with Harry's negative criticism of his art, Harry feels guilty and decides to go tell Spencer the real reason that he made the remarks; he was jealous of Spencer's sculptures because he felt they were better than anything that he "has done in a real long time". The two artists made amends and started to make a sculpture of a jaw for a local dentist. He is not mentioned in any other episodes. Amber Tate (Rachel G. Fox) is a spoiled child actress that appears in "iCarly Saves TV", in which she is rude to the iCarly gang. She has a small dog who vomits on Freddie. Granddad Shay (Greg Mullavey) is a lawyer and Carly and Spencer's paternal grandfather who lives in Yakima, Washington. In "iWanna Stay With Spencer", he attempted to get Carly to move with him because he thought Spencer was an irresponsible guardian. In the end, he allowed Carly to stay with Spencer after realizing he was responsible. He loves to exercise and can do a handstand while walking. In "iWant a World Record", he appears for a few seconds on the web show, and is mentioned several times in the show. He reappears in the episode, "iHire An Idiot". Col. Steven Shay (David Chisum) is Carly and Spencer's father who is a Colonel in the United States Air Force. He has appeared in a few episodes, but has mostly been stationed on a base in Italy. In the final episode, Carly left Seattle to stay with him in Italy. Amanda "Mandy" Valdez (Aria Wallace) is an obsessed fan of iCarly and only appears in "iAm Your Biggest Fan" and "iWant My Website Back". She is loud and outgoing, and is considered insane and annoying by the iCarly gang. She has an awkward habit of wearing duck masks and making loud quacking sounds in people's faces. It appears she switches fandoms very quickly, going from iCarly to the band Spencer was in, claiming to be their biggest fan. She is gullible, as shown in "iWant My Website Back" when she accidentally gives away the iCarly site to Nevel. Nora Dershlit () is a psychotic and lonely girl who is a crazy fan of iCarly and has no friends except for her chicken Maurice and her equally psychotic parents leaving her to her own devices. She first appears in "iPsycho" (season 3), where she kidnaps Carly, Sam, and Freddie after they helped her become popular with the children at her school. After a lengthy fight with Gibby while his brother frees the iCarly gang, Nora is knocked out by Sam pressing a pressure point in her shoulder (the fictional Vulcan nerve pinch) and is arrested soon after. Nora returns two seasons later in the sequel, "iStill Psycho", having been paroled from the past incident and seemingly a normal person now. However, it was a ruse to trap the iCarly gang, with her parents helping her take Spencer hostage so they can endlessly repeat her 16th birthday party. However, Mrs. Benson and T-Bo came to the rescue with Nora again arrested for her parole violation, along with her parents as co-conspirators. She reappears in an episode of Sam & Cat when she kidnapped Dice and held him hostage in a wishing well and kidnapped Cat as well. Griffin (Drew Roy) is a bad boy that Carly dates in "iDate a Bad Boy". Griffin steals Spencer's motorcycle and Spencer takes him under his wing. Carly is not comfortable with Griffin hanging around the loft until she falls for him, of which Spencer does not approve. At the middle of the episode, Carly and Griffin argue, but it is revealed that it was just a trick to get Spencer to think she is over him. They officially break up at the end of the episode after Carly and Sam make fun of his obsession with a series of plush toys called "Pee Wee Babies" and he overhears them. He returns in "iBeat the Heat", where he tries to kiss Carly and comes to the Shays' air conditioned loft because his Pee Wee Babies cannot be in extreme hot or cold air or they will become misshapen. Sasha Striker (Lorena York) is the world's best Pak-Rat (parody of Pac-Man) player who appeared in "iStage an Intervention". When Spencer becomes obsessed with Pak-Rat (not wanting to stop playing until he defeats her record), the iCarly gang track her down via their web-show. She is considered beautiful by the reporters who are covering Spencer's attempt to beat her score. After Spencer defeats her, they flirt briefly, and she is never seen in the series again. Jackson Colt (Terrell Lee) is a top 10 MMA fighter and appears only in "iLook Alike". He has a son named Kevin Colt who introduced him to the iCarly gang. Although Jackson Colt is kindhearted, he is very sensitive when he does not get what he wants, and occasionally becomes unexpectedly violent. He is a fan of Carly's comedy on the show, especially '"Random Dancing". Hazel (Sherry Weston) is an elderly woman that Gibby met while riding down the street on his bike in "iDo". Once he sees her, he asks her if she can help him retrieve a five-dollar bill that he spotted in a tree. She accepts the offer, but only after Gibby promises her they will go get coffee afterwards. She helps him get the bill by letting him get on her shoulders. After retrieving the bill, she falls down and Gibby drives off and forgets about her. She is last seen on the ground mumbling "Are we still going to get coffee?". Cal (Jake Siegel) was Carly's assistant in "iGo Nuclear". He was helping her with a school science project for her teacher, Mr. Henning. Cal was actually a criminal because he built illegal nuclear projects using black market uranium. His criminal history is revealed at the end of the episode. Mitch (Danny Woodburn) appears in "iChristmas." He is the guardian angel who granted Carly's wish for Spencer to become normal. When this affects her entire life, however, she soon regrets it and wants everything changed back. Having learned her lesson, Mitch returns Carly's life to normal. In the end, Carly sees a vision of Mitch earning his "wings" (in this case, a bucket of chicken wings). Fleck and Dave (Daven Wilson and Joey Luthman) are two teenage boys who cohost a web show, and appear in "iQuit iCarly." The two are good friends, but have very differing opinions, such as the personalities of Carly and Sam. Fleck believes that comedy is more important than safety, like Sam, and Dave is responsible and takes care of everything, like Carly. Their friendship is threatened when Fleck paints Dave's father’s car purple for a bit in one of their shows featuring the iCarly gang. An argument breaks out which results in Fleck and Dave separating. Carly and Sam try to patch the problem, but Fleck and Dave both make Sam and Carly think about how the two treat one another. This results in the separation of Carly and Sam. When Spencer helps Sam save Carly's life, they all become friends again. In the end, the webshow hosts, along with Freddie, make a trailer for a fake movie called "The Blowing." Cort and Ashley (Daniel Booko and Teresa Castillo) are two teenagers hired as interns in the episode "iHire An Idiot". Cort was hired by Carly and Sam without Freddie's approval. Ashley was another intern hired by Freddie without Carly or Sam's permission, and this leads to Carly and Sam trying to get him to fire Ashley. Freddie proclaims that Carly and Sam have to fire Cort first and then he will fire Ashley, but this does not happen until the end of the episode. At the end, it is revealed that Cort was kicked out of college because he was claimed to be dangerously stupid. It is also revealed that, unlike Cort, Ashley is actually intelligent and works at the Brilliance Bar at the local Pear Computers store (Freddie makes her act stupid to trick Carly and Sam into firing Cort). Cort is later mentioned in "iOMG". It is implied that Cort and Ashley dated after the end of "iHire an Idiot". Steven Carson () is Carly and Tori's ex-boyfriend on "iParty with Victorious." Carly searches Steven's name, and after she sees a picture of him with his arm around another girl (Tori Vega), Carly, Sam, Freddie, Gibby, and Spencer go to Kenan Thompson's party to find out if Steven is cheating. In disguise, Carly sees Steven give Tori a charm bracelet and says "It's one of a kind, just like you," then kisses her which is exactly what he did with Carly. After the iCarly gang take off their disguises, Carly explains the situation to Tori, and they agree to get revenge. When Steven walks into the closet where he and Tori are supposed to have their 100-day kiss, he is surprised to find Kenan Thompson who blows a loud horn in his ear. Meanwhile, Carly, and Tori are doing a live iCarly webcast and announce that Steven is a cheater. Goopy Gilbert (Jeremy Dozier) is an extreme Seddie fan best known for shouting "SEDDIE!" He is first seen in "iStart a Fanwar" as a Seddier in the crowd. In "iLost My Mind", he is the second videochatter debating whether or not Sam and Freddie should be together. He loves spaghetti and his bedroom is decorated with pictures of Sam and Freddie. Rex Powers from Victorious appeared in two episodes of iCarly, "iBloop 2 Electric Bloopoo", and "iApril Fools", as well as the crossover episode "iParty with Victorious". Porkchop and Sledgehammer are two truck drivers who appear in "iHurt Lewbert". Spencer is seen talking to them on a CB Radio, while filling in for Lewbert. However, Spencer upsets and angers them repeatedly and they threaten to find him. When Spencer leaves the room momentarily, Chuck Chambers, seeking revenge on Spencer for getting him grounded, grabs the radio and gives them the location. However a few days later, Lewbert takes his job back and the truckers enter the building. Mistaking Lewbert for Spencer, the furious truckers beat him up. This is a list of characters from the Nickelodeon sitcom Victorious. The series centers on Tori Vega, a student of Hollywood Arts, who gets into wacky unpredictable situations with her friends. Tori Vega (portrayed by Victoria Justice) is the younger sister of Trina Vega and attends Hollywood Arts, a performing arts high school, along with her sister. When Trina experiences an allergic reaction to a Chinese herb before a big showcase at school, Tori is volunteered by Andre to take her place, since she knew the piece meant to be played. Tori performs "Make it Shine" (the Victorious theme song) and everyone is impressed with her performance, including the principal, who offers her enrollment to the school. She accepts and is admitted to Hollywood Arts. Initially feeling out of place at Hollywood Arts, Tori makes new, supportive friends and becomes more comfortable. From there onward, the show details Tori's journey through school as she gets into wacky situations, has differences and adventures with her friends. She is one of the favorite students of her teacher, Sikowitz. She is depicted as creative, nice, caring, forgiving, responsible, positive, easy-going, and friendly, though she can be sneaky and vindictive, going as low as to manipulate her friends and family (especially Trina), but will always do the right thing in the end. Tori is shown to care for her friends and family a lot and is willing to help them no matter what, even when hesitant to. Tori is friends with Beck, Cat, Robbie and is the closest to Andre. She often considers Jade as her friend, even though Jade herself does not. In some episodes, the two seem to be friends, although most of the time, Jade seems to be "frenemies" with Tori. In later episodes, Tori is shown to wear glasses when at home and while at school she wears contacts. Andre Harris (portrayed by Leon Thomas III) is Tori's best friend. Andre is an aspiring musician who loves to perform and write his own songs. He can play many instruments, including the guitar, keyboard, piano, and the French horn, but prefers the keyboard and piano. Andre takes his music seriously and is usually seen playing at all of Tori's performances. He is a talented singer and songwriter, having co-written nearly every song Tori has sung. He also often gets Tori to sing back-up for him at his own performances. Andre is shown to be witty and kind and Tori often relies on him for support in her time of need, and he is always there for her, although he is easily distracted at times. Tori often asks him for help or advice. He also likes to make jokes, but none of the other characters find him humorous. Andre has a grandmother who is mentally unstable. He also has a cousin who works as an actor, and an uncle who is a real estate agent, who once sold a house to Kenan Thompson. In "Jade Gets Crushed", Andre develops feelings for Jade after they work together on a song for a project and Andre hears her sing. At the end of episode, he tells Tori that it seems that he is over Jade, but his former crush on Jade is mentioned again in "Tori Fixes Beck and Jade" . Robert "Robbie" Shapiro (portrayed by Matt Bennett) is one of Tori's friends at Hollywood Arts. He speaks along with a puppet, Rex Powers, whom he and all others speak to as if it were an actual person. Robbie is a skilled ventriloquist, but he was un-credited for his talent until the episode "Freak the Freak Out". In the episode, Robbie does not understand why he was referred to as a "ventriloquist", which either jokingly indicates that Rex has a mind of his own and is not controlled by Robbie at all or (in a more serious matter) that Robbie suffers a schizophrenic disorder, therefore considering Rex a real person. He is said to have had Rex since he was little and the two are almost always seen together. Robbie personifies Rex, which leads to many an argument about Rex's true sentience. He constantly argues that Rex is not a puppet or dummy when told otherwise. Robbie is closest to Rex and affectionate towards him, though Rex ridicules him often. Robbie is considered extremely nerdy, shy, and socially awkward, but a good, loyal, and honest friend to others. Robbie has a great deal of trouble with relationships and attracting girls. It is often hinted that Robbie may be in love with Cat, and is proven true in the episode "The Blonde Squad" in which Robbie writes and sings the song "I Think You're Swell" for her. The song is about what a great person she is, and how they get along so well, and that she is all he thinks about. She however, does not appear to get the true feelings behind it, though she does appear to greatly enjoy the song. He is also shown to be the only one who knows Cat's full name, Caterina. He does not seem to have a sense of privacy. His only relative who has ever been seen is his grandmother. It is revealed that Robbie is intolerant to gluten, otherwise known as Celiac Disease. It is revealed in "Wok Star" Robbie is Jewish because he spent his Bar Mitzvah money on leather pants and male make-up. He is also mistaken for a girl in a couple episodes such as "Locked Up", in which he is put on the wrong side of the fence in a jail, splitting the girls' side from the boys' side. In "The Blonde Squad", Cat tells Robbie that he does not "know how guys think". Robbie appeared in the Sam & Cat episode "TheKillerTunaJump" (without Rex) where he is called in by Jade to flirt with Sam Puckett after Cat had called Freddie Benson to Burbank to flirt with her. When Sam kisses him, Cat is greatly angered and upset by it. Rex Powers (physically portrayed by a ventriloquist dummy named Christopher Cane, performed by Matt Bennett, voiced by an uncredited Jake Farrow) is Robbie's alter ego, who is a dummy that Robbie carries around everywhere. Robbie has had Rex since he was young. Since Robbie is too shy to speak for himself most of the time, he talks as Rex, using him to voice his actual feelings and thoughts. The others treat Rex as a real person, and both Robbie and Rex dislike it when Rex is called a "dummy" or "puppet". Rex is obsessed with "Northridge Girls", dumb, talentless and 'easy' girls from a Los Angeles neighborhood. In "Rex Dies" he gets sucked into a wind machine and is taken to a hospital, even though he is a dummy. Rex is shown to have a huge crush on Tori and constantly flirts with her, though she is annoyed by his affection. Robbie often turns to Rex for advice and insight, though Rex's advice is almost always off-beat. Rex is sarcastic and mean, especially to Robbie, though it is shown that neither can stay without the other. In the first 3 seasons, Rex is always in Robbie's company. In season 4 for unexplained reasons, Robbie is frequently seen without Rex. Part 2 of "Freak the Freak Out" was the first episode not to feature Rex. In 2011, Rex hosted a bloopers episode of Victorious titled "Blooptorious" in which he interviewed cast members and showed outtakes from the series. In the episode, Rex is named Christopher Cane and is not accompanied by Robbie. As Christopher Cane, he also hosted a 2011 blooper episode of iCarly titled "iBloop 2: Electric Bloopaloo". Rex later appeared in the 2015 Game Shakers episode "Tiny Pickles" (Season 1, Episode 5) where he is a truck driver. Jade West (portrayed by Elizabeth Gillies) is a frenemy of Tori from Hollywood Arts. She has a gothic sense of style—always wearing dark clothes with eyebrow piercings and different colors of streaks in her hair—and is the long-time girlfriend of Beck Oliver. She is very possessive of her boyfriend and is known to lash out at anyone who she views as a threat to their relationship. She shows very little affection for anyone. In the pilot episode, Jade mistakenly believes that Tori is flirting with Beck, so she later pours coffee onto Tori’s head during an acting class. Tori later gets even with her by defeating her in an alphabetical improv game and kissing Beck as they were the only two actors remaining in the scene. Jade has been known to take obsession in triumphing over any enemies or rivals she may find, and occasionally has been known to take an interest in bizarre, dark, or unusual things that usually would repulse or frighten other people. She has a fascination with scissors, as she is sometimes seen holding scissors and her locker is decorated with them. In "Ice Cream for Ke$ha", it is revealed that her childhood was a dark and unhappy one, her favorite play toy being a hammer, and that she had been raised by an unsupportive and similarly emotionless father and a mother she could not emotionally connect with. She is also seen to be an amazing singer and actress, which are her main talents that got her into Hollywood Arts. In the season 1 episode "Jade Dumps Beck", it is revealed that they had been dating for nearly two years. However, they break up in the episode "The Worst Couple" after non-stop fighting, although it becomes clear that Jade still has feelings for him. After taking some time apart, the two make amends in the episode "Tori Fixes Beck and Jade" when Jade sings a song that is implied to be dedicated to Beck, leading them to admit that they have missed each other and get back together. Jade later appeared in the Sam & Cat episode "#TheKillerTunaJump" where she ends up meeting Sam Puckett and befriending her, whereas Cat had thought that the two girls would kill each other upon first sight due to their similar personalities. It is Sam and Jade's friendship that makes Cat jealous enough to call Freddie Benson to Burbank so that she can flirt with him. Catarina "Cat" Valentine (portrayed by Ariana Grande) is one of Tori's strangest friends from Hollywood Arts. She is fun, energetic, and at times oblivious. As seen in some episodes, she is revealed to be somewhat smart, just a little air headed. In a video on TheSlap she reveals that her full first name is Catarina but only her grandmother calls her by her full name. It was also revealed by Robbie in "The Blonde Squad" when he yelled "Catarina Valentine, I will not sit here anymore and listen to you talk bad about yourself!" She is relatively friendly and liked by all of the students. She is sweet, naive, bubbly and happy, often unsuspecting of what is really going on around her. She has a playful nature, and has a very short attention span, so she can easily be distracted with colorful items by the others when they want her out of the way. She can be somewhat of a drama queen, and does not take criticism very well. She often screams "What's that supposed to mean!?" when offended, which is very often and has become her catchphrase. Cat often says random and strange things which leaves the others, especially Jade, confused or annoyed. Cat is also an extremely talented singer and actress, as seen in "Freak The Freak Out" where she sings a duet with Jade, and in the crossover episode "iParty with Victorious" where she shows a high vocal range. A running gag of the series is Cat often telling her friends or strangers about her brother, who seems to have many unnatural problems, all of which Cat does not seem to find strange or abnormal. She has bright red hair that she dyed to resemble her favorite snack, a red velvet cupcake. Andre's nickname for her is "Little Red", which she took offense to at first, but then called it "creative". She is occasionally seen carrying stuffed animals. Through the series, she has become more ditzy and over the top, with a higher-pitched voice and her abnormal conversations. In January 2013 in the episode "Star- Spangled Tori", Cat's parents move away to Idaho to be with her mentally ill brother for between 6 months and 2 years where the doctors can make sure he gets lots of mental relaxation and cannot escape and keep him institutionalized. Their parents wanted her to live with her and her brother's Uncle Walter and Aunt Pearl, while they are in Idaho but according to Cat, they are very strict and mean. They do not like her red hair, they only eat vegetables, they said she cannot have unlimited texting, and they will not let her flush the toilet unless it is "absolutely necessary". This caused Cat to run away and take refuge in the attic of Hollywood Arts' blackbox theater, where her living habits were discovered by Robbie and Jade. After Jade called up Cat's parents, Cat goes to live with her grandmother – who turned out to be living in Venice, California and not Venice, Italy as Cat had initially thought – until her parents and brother return. She refers to her grandmother as "Nona". When Victorious airs its final season, Cat becomes a co-lead character on the crossover spin-off Sam & Cat, a sitcom that began airing in 2013 and concluded in 2014. Sam and Cat become roommates when Cat's Nona (portrayed by Maree Cheatham) goes to live in Elderly Acres. Sam and Cat previously met each other in the 2011 iCarly crossover episode "iParty with Victorious", but neither of them made much contact. In the spin-off, Sam officially meets Cat after saving her from the garbage truck. The next day, Sam and Cat set up a babysitting service to raise some extra cash after watching some kids. Sam and Cat's home is stated to be "the poshest apartment in the building". Beck Oliver (portrayed by Avan Jogia) is Jade's boyfriend. He has been together with Jade for over two years and, unlike everyone else, is completely unafraid of her (even laughing when Andre admitted to being scared of her) and often likes to tease and make her jealous because of her reactions, which he finds amusing. Beck seems to be the only one who can calm Jade down when she becomes angry and has some control over her as seen throughout the series. Beck is seen as soft-spoken, friendly, laid back, modest, open and caring. Although he is shown to get annoyed and even lose his temper, usually by Robbie or Trina, he is normally calm and collected. Because of his good looks and personality, he is possibly the most popular guy at Hollywood Arts and attracts almost all females and girls like Trina, sometimes even older women. He seems to be aware of the effect he has on girls, sometimes using his looks to his advantage. He and Andre are close friends. His school locker is transparent, which is his way of saying that he has no secrets, which is revealed to Tori when she was attempting to find a decorative idea for her own locker. He lives in a trailer that is parked in his parents' driveway, being told if he lived with them then he would have to go by their rules, and he stated "my roof, my rules". In the season 2 premiere, Jade mentions that Beck is Canadian. It is shown in "Beck Falls For Tori" and "iParty with Victorious" that Beck has never felt true terror nor has he ever been scared by anything, a fact backed up by Jade who calls him "unscareable". He usually tries to keep peace in the group and hold everyone together. Beck breaks up with Jade in the season 3 episode "The Worst Couple" after getting tired of constantly fighting with her. In the episode "Tori Goes Platinum" Beck tries to kiss Tori, revealing that he has romantic feelings for her, but she rejects him because she viewed it as a betrayal to Jade to kiss her ex-boyfriend. In the episode, Tori Fixes Beck and Jade, Beck tries dating a girl named Meredith, who wants to do anything he wants, causing him to realize how he prefers dating a girl who "fights back" and "has a big mouth" because it is not easy and that an easy relationship to him is "boring". This causes him to see how much he misses being with Jade and that he loves her, bringing the two back together again. Following this, their relationship is stronger and more stable. It is later mentioned in Sam & Cat that the two are still in a relationship. Trina Vega (portrayed by Daniella Monet) is Tori's older sister, who also attends Hollywood Arts. Trina's allergic reaction to a Chinese herb gargle in the pilot episode forces Tori to fill in for her in the school's big showcase, which leads to Tori being offered admission to Hollywood Arts. Trina believes that acting and singing is her destiny, and is oblivious to her actual lack of any talent. The only reason Trina is in Hollywood Arts in is because Sikowitz had a coconut-induced hallucination during Trina's audition, which turned her performance into a psychedelic extravaganza for him, and every other judge was out at the time. Trina is quite selfish and shallow most of the time, and is portrayed as being extremely difficult to deal with, sometimes even being called a "monster" in "Freak the Freak Out." However, before she was admitted to Hollywood Arts, she was depicted at her audition as a shy, sweet, nerdy girl. Despite Trina's shallow personality, she can be concerned about her sister when she wants to be and it is shown that she does look out for Tori a lot. Later in the series, she showed some minor character growth, such as in "Locked Up!" when she tries to get Tori out of a Yerbanian prison when she was accused of "attacking" the unnamed Yerbanian Chancellor and showed genuine concern for her well being. Other examples of this are evidenced in the episodes "Tori the Zombie", "Beggin' On Your Knees", and "Tori Gets Stuck". Trina also seems to have bad luck, as she often gets hurt. Some examples include: Falling from the ceiling, a wall falling on her, getting hit in the face with flour, and getting hit with a box of shoes. By the final episode "Victori-yes", Trina has landed a role on a Spanish-language television show titled Divertisimo, which she boasts is "a high-quality television show with top-notch acting". She is eventually shown portraying a giant piece of cheese being tormented by children in mouse costumes. Sinjin Van Cleef (portrayed by Michael Eric Reid) is a strange, interesting and questionable student at Hollywood Arts. He is nerdy, disturbing, and very weird, often considered stranger than even Robbie or Cat; his locker has his chewed up food on it and he also likes to collect the teeth of past presidents' relatives. He is usually used as a fake date or bribed to fake date someone, including Cat. He usually interrupts conversations with weird comments that do not make sense. He is a fan of disco music and has a huge crush on Tori and Jade, despite the fact that both show more irritation than interest in his presence. Sinjin is skilled in the background work on the school's productions and performances. He is shown to be proficient with audio, lighting, and making props, and is the apparent leader of the technical team. He appears in almost every episode of the series, except for "Stage Fighting"," "Cat's New Boyfriend," "Sleepover at Sikowitz's," "Locked Up!", "Tori Tortures Teacher, "Jade Gets Crushed", "Terror on Cupcake Street", "The Breakfast Bunch", "Andre's Horrible Girl", "Car, Rain and Fire" and "Driving Tori Crazy". It is revealed in "A Christmas Tori" that he has a sister named Courtney (played by Dominique Grund) who also attends Hollywood Arts. Erwin Sikowitz (pronounced "psycho-wits") (portrayed by Eric Lange) is the hippie-like acting teacher at Hollywood Arts. His habits might be interpreted as weird and his methods are shown to be often very strange (such as throwing a ball at Cat while she was performing), but at times very effective. He often walks around barefoot, which is the supposed trait of the hippies. He likes to enter the class through a window and is almost always seen drinking from a coconut because, as Jade says, "the milk gives him visions". Tori gave him two dollars on her first day at Hollywood Arts, thinking he was homeless. He also gave Cat, Jade, Beck, Andre, and Robbie permission to start a fake ping-pong team to make money and have a fancy dinner. He claims to be 34 years old in "The Diddly-Bops". He appears in "Pilot", "The Bird Scene", "Beck's Big Break", "The Great Ping Pong Scam", "Cat's New Boyfriend", "Freak The Freak Out", "Rex Dies", "The Diddly-Bops", "Sleepover at Sikowitz's", "Beck Falls for Tori", "Tori Gets Stuck", "Prom Wrecker", "Locked Up!", "iParty with Victorious", "Helen Back Again", "Tori Tortures Teacher", "Terror on Cupcake Street", "A Christmas Tori", The Gorilla Club, Tori & Jade's Playdate, April Fools Blank, How Trina Got In, Tori Goes Platinum (parts 1-2), Crazy Ponnie, Cell Block, Robbie Sells Rex, Star Spangled Tori and Victori-yes. "Pilot" is the only episode where he is referred to as Mr. Sikowitz. In all other episodes, he is just called Sikowitz. In "Sleepover at Sikowitz's", it is revealed that he has a nephew named Jason, who went out on a date with Cat, although the results are not mentioned. His catchphrase is "Good Gandhi!" As strange as Sikowitz is, he is the favorite teacher of Tori, Cat, Jade, Beck, Andre, and Robbie, and is very open and comfortable with them, to the point he says that he is their friend in a few episodes. Sikowitz is regularly seen drinking from a coconut (he once drank fermented coconut milk and had visions during Trina's audition). In one episode when Tori goes to him asking for help, he is hanging upside down from the ceiling, and in another he stored his grandmother in the corner before slinging her over his shoulder and taking her to the hospital. He has an extremely strange house as revealed in "Sleepover at Sikowitz's". At the Hollywood Arts Prom he brought a pile of tires, matches and a bottle of fuel, thinking for unknown reasons that they were going to have a bonfire of tires. Sikowitz appeared in the Sam & Cat episode "#MommaGoomer." He is seen teaching his students about backward acting when Sam and Cat comes in. Sikowitz scolds Cat for showing up very late with class being almost over. When the bell rings, Sam and Cat tell Sikowitz that they would like to use his classroom for a charity called "The Salvation Goomers" (which was a cover-up for Goomer claiming to his mother that he is a history teacher). During Goomer's teaching of history to Sam, Cat, Dice, Goomer's mom, and the local shruggers, Sikowitz comes in stating that he had gone to Charityosity.com where he found nothing about "The Salvation Goomers." After Goomer confessed to his mother that he is actually an MMA Fighter, Sikowitz uses an electric shaver to get the fake pit hair off of Dice's armpits claiming that he grew them too soon. In the same series, Cat has a picture of Sikowitz near her bed in the room that she shares with Sam. Lane Alexander (portrayed by Lane Napper) is the guidance counselor for Hollywood Arts. Lane is a good guidance counselor, and often helps students with their problems and resolves their arguments, but sometimes can be reluctant at times, asking students "Why Me?". He is usually the one making the big announcements at school. He appears to either hate dry skin or is obsessed with lotion (as seen in "The Wood"), as he can be seen frequently applying lotion to his hands. He has a nephew named Devon, as seen in "The Diddly-Bops". Lane is the one who made a reality television series, The Wood, leave the school because it was becoming an issue with the students and disrupting the learning environment. He tends to be a bit extreme in his dealings such as when he issued a two-week detention to Tori for a supposed accidental hit on Jade during a stage fighting practice, made Robbie and Trina cover for Festus after accidentally injuring him, and having Tori and Jade take Festus home after unknowingly wrecking his car which was similar to one of the janitors' car. He appears in "Pilot", "The Bird Scene", "Stage Fighting", "Tori The Zombie", "Robarazzi", "Beck's Big Break", "The Great Ping Pong Scam", "Cat's New Boyfriend", "The Diddly Bops", "The Wood", "Tori Gets Stuck", "iParty With Victorious", "Helen Back Again", "Who Did It to Trina?", "Tori Tortures Teacher", "Jade Gets Crushed", "The Worst Couple", "How Trina Got In", "Crazy Ponnie" and "One Thousand Berry Balls". As revealed on his profile on TheSlap.com, Lane's last name is Alexander. David and Holly Vega (portrayed by Jim Pirri and Jennifer Carta) are the parents of Tori and Trina. David works as a police officer while Holly's job was never revealed. They appear in "Pilot", "The Birthweek Song", "Sleepover at Sikowitz's", "Locked Up", and "Jade Gets Crushed" though their mother appeared in "Robarazzi", "A Film by Dale Squires", "Helen Back Again", "Driving Tori Crazy", "Tori Goes Platinum", "Crazy Ponnie", "Cell Block", "The Bad Roommate" and "Star Spangled-Tori", and their dad appears in "Freak the Freak Out" and "Car, Rain and Fire". They are shown to be caring and loving parents, but when their daughters get too out of control, they tend to stay out of it and go off doing something else, which is indicating that they are very unhelpful parents. For example, in "Freak the Freak Out", Trina gets her wisdom teeth removed and their parents decide to go out of town so they would not have to take care of her, knowing she would get violent. Tori likes to point out at times that her father is a cop, usually to Sinjin, but also to others, especially if someone is annoying her. David Vega works as with LAPD and is originally from Puerto Rico. Charlotte Harris (portrayed by Marilyn Harris) is Andre's grandmother. She is mentally unstable and often paranoid about things. She is shown to be afraid of nearly everything, including various sensible objects such as clocks and mirrors. In the episode "Wi-Fi in the Sky" she gets scared after seeing her reflection in a mirror, and screams "Andre, there's another 'me' on the wall!". When she is greeted by new people, she hides behind anything she can find, while simultaneously shouting out "I don't know you!" Andre tells Tori in the "Pilot" episode that her coming to see Trina perform "Make it Shine" is the first time in six years that she has left her house. He also mentions in "Survival of the Hottest" that before she lost her mind, she used to tell him, "Andre, no matter how bad things get, you can always make it better by singing a song". She often snaps at Andre, and is possibly the only way she communicates with anyone. In "Wi-Fi in the Sky," she yells at Andre for "talking to himself" when he was in reality video chatting with Tori, Cat, and Beck, then freaks out and punches Andre's computer. During an interview on a video on TheSlap.com in which Andre read off her crazy text messages, her first name is revealed to be Charlotte. She has appeared in "Pilot", "Wi-Fi in the Sky", "Sleepover At Sikowitz's", "iParty With Victorious", "Driving Tori Crazy", "Tori Fixes Beck and Jade" and "The Bad Roommate". Mrs. Lee (portrayed by Susan Chuang) is the owner of Tori's favorite Chinese restaurant Wok Star, who volunteers to pay to produce Jade's play. But things get complicated when Mrs. Lee makes drastic changes to the script, and wants to put her daughter, Daisy, in the play. Mrs. Lee returns in the episode "Andre's Horrible Girl", now operating a Sushi bar called Nozu after Wok Star burns down. This prompts Tori to ask if she is actually Chinese or Japanese, which she answers with a smack to Tori's head. She later appears in the third- season episode "How Trina Got In", making Tori and Robbie chop a pile of squid after they cannot pay their bill. After the bill was worked off, Robbie accidentally breaks some dishes, causing Mrs. Lee to have Robbie work off the damages with one of the jobs being rubbing her chef Kwakoo's feet. She also appeared in the fourth-season episode "The Hambone King" where she praises Robbie's hamboning skills. Kwakoo (portrayed by Née Léau) is a worker at Nozu that works for Mrs. Lee as a chef as seen in "How Trina Got In." In "The Hambone King," Kwakoo asked Robbie for his autograph after seeing Robbie's hambone video. Festus (portrayed by Marco Aiello) is the proprietor of The Grub Truck, a food truck located at the school. He appears in "Beck's Big Break" "The Wood", and "Locked Up!". He either has or may have a habit of lying to customers. In "Beck's Big Break" when Tori asked for a sandwich he said he only served burritos but gave her a sandwich anyway. In the same episode, he is also shown to scream at people who are not there when in the Grub Truck. In "The Wood", he was injured by Robbie and Trina and they were forced by Lane to replace him for a short time. Tori and Jade accidentally destroyed his car in the same episode upon mistaking for one of the cars belonging to one of Hollywood Arts' janitors and had to take him home in a wheelbarrow. In "Locked Up!", he tells Tori about his home country Yerba and how she and her friends could stay there if they perform a song every day and the country would pay for the hotel rooms. It is also revealed that he has a brother named Sgrodis (portrayed by Winston Story) who is the hotel manager. Burf (portrayed by Darsan Solomon) is a student who goes to Hollywood Arts and always hangs out with Sinjin. He is first seen in the episode "Tori & Jade's Playdate", spying on Tori and Jade for Sikowitz so they cannot escape Nozu. He then appears in "Driving Tori Crazy" when Cat offers him a bag of rags. He also appears in "The Blonde Squad", and in "Tori Goes Platinum", when he sends in a video of himself singing for a contest. He also appears in the season 4 episode, "Wanko's Warehouse". Principal Eikner (portrayed by David Starzyk) is the former principal of Hollywood Arts. Though he is rarely seen in the show, he is mentioned in many episodes. He appears in "Pilot" and "Helen Back Again". In "Helen Back Again", he resigns as principal after announcing his engagement to a Tahitian woman and plans to move to Tahiti. He is also seen in the episode "How Trina Got In," where he appears in the flashbacks of Andre, Jade, Beck, and Sikowitz. Cat frequently mentions her brother, whose name is never revealed. He is often mentioned as a focal point of bizarre off-screen antics, which either happen to him or which he causes himself. Examples include eating Cat's charm bracelet, getting stabbed in Japan, biting Cat on the foot, falling from a terrace onto a shuttle bus, being shot by a clown, painting his body purple for a job interview, and somehow procuring twelve gallons of real blood for Jade's play. On TheSlap, Cat revealed he is not allowed outside by himself and that he plays "hide and seek" with the police. His favorite flavor of ice cream is "Funky Nut Blast", as revealed in "Ice Cream for Ke$ha". In "Car, Rain and Fire", Tori, Cat, and Jade borrow Cat's brother's car which had unusual features such as a coverless roof, rope for a seat belt and a bag of prosthetic feet in the trunk. In the episode, Cat says her brother is "pretty weird." She also mentions that he has a turtle with "special" problems. Ryder Daniels (portrayed by Ryan Rottman) is a male student at Hollywood Arts who dated Tori for a short time. He is in the episode "Beggin' on Your Knees" where Tori found out from her friends that he uses girls to get good grades and then soon after breaks up with them. Tori then humiliates him in front of the whole school by singing "Beggin' on Your Knees" to him. Hayley Ferguson (portrayed by Jillian Clare) is a girl who competed against Cat and Jade in a karaoke contest with her friend Tara Ganz in "Freak The Freak Out". They won the contest against Jade and Cat because her father is the owner of the Karaoke Dokie club and the judge of the karaoke contest. Before the contest she started flirting with Beck which started a feud between her and Jade. She has a very mean and snobbish attitude especially toward Jade. Hayley and Tara were easily defeated when Tori performed her new song, "Freak the Freak Out" under the disguise of Louise Nordoff, and after she and Tara lost the bet to Tori, was forced to "babysit" Trina, who had recently gotten her wisdom teeth removed and made it really hard to take care of her. David saw the antics of them trying to restrain Trina when he got home and told Holly to get back into the car. Tara Ganz (portrayed by Jamie Snow) is a girl who competed against Cat and Jade in a karaoke contest with her friend Hayley Ferguson in "Freak The Freak Out". Before the contest, she flirted with Andre. Tara also appears in "Tori Goes Platinum", in which she tried out for a contest but lost. Principal Helen Dubois (portrayed by Yvette Nicole Brown) is the current principal of Hollywood Arts. She only appears in "Helen Back Again". All students had to reaudition for her, and the least worthy students would be kicked out of Hollywood Arts. Due to Helen's unnamed assistant mixing up Tori with Trina, Tori had to come up with a plan that involved Robbie dressing up as a robber where he would be beaten up by Trina using her karate skills. After that plan worked, Helen allowed Trina to stay at Hollywood Arts. It has been mentioned by Dan Schneider that she would have been a recurring character if the show had not stopped production. Note: Helen was originally a character on Drake & Josh, and her role on that series is referenced in Victorious when she says that she had previously managed the Premiere movie theater in San Diego. Even though Helen is from Drake & Josh, Tori mentions in the episode "Who Did It to Trina?" that Drake & Josh is a television show. Helen also made an appearance in Game Shakers, as a television show host. Mamaw (portrayed by Renée Taylor) is Robbie's grandmother who has a strong dislike of Cat; she only appeared in "The Birthweek Song". She lives with her husband Maury. She is very computer illiterate and constantly has to ask Robbie for help to the point where he is annoyed and convinces her that the internet has been cancelled. The role mirrors Taylor's previous role as Sylvia Fine in The Nanny, such as encouraging her grandchild to have a successful love life, a loud voice, and even a loud, unseen husband whose name is Morty. Her dislike for Cat stems from her dyeing her hair a bright, artificial shade of red; she specifically says that "a girl doesn't dye her hair that color unless she has psychological problems!". Dickers (portrayed by Rob Riggle) is the vice principal of Hollywood Arts, who appears in "The Breakfast Bunch". He is the one who gave detention to Tori and the gang after they end up late in class. Dickers is also very strict and constantly yells at the gang when they talk to him, even to apologize. His role is based on Paul Gleason's character Richard Vernon, the vice principal in The Breakfast Club. Mona Patterson (portrayed by Shirley Jones) is one of Cat's favorite actresses. She appears in "Car, Rain and Fire". Patterson is best known for her role in a 1960s television show titled I Married My Mom. Thinking that Patterson had died, Cat, Tori, and Jade go on a road trip to the actress' house in San Diego to honor her and leave a candle on her doorstep. However, they discover that Patterson is not actually dead but was cast in a new television show titled The Dead, in which she plays David Schwimmer's wife. Mona's reaction toward Cat, Tori, and Jade was very unwelcoming, to the point that Mona took out a water gun and sprayed them away from her property, even though they were already wet from rain. Her house caught on fire because of Cat's candle, which was left on the front porch. Patterson was rushed to a hospital where she was resting very uncomfortably. The reporter covering this incident also mentioned that Mona had muttered something about a "cat with red hair." When Tori and Cat found out, Cat is shocked and Tori gives Cat a gesture to never speak of this to anyone. Hope Quincy (portrayed by Meagan Holder) is a girl who dated Andre in the "Andre's Horrible Girl". She is very pushy and controlling to Andre, often forcing him to do things such as wear the clothes she wants him to wear. Andre and Tori perform the song, "Countdown, at her birthday party, which is held at Nozu. She throws a fit when there is no spicy tuna at her party. She also gets knocked out as she tries to save her presents when an earthquake hits. Mason Thornesmith (Charles Shaughnessy) is the head of an unnamed record company and the producer of the Platinum Music Awards. He appears in the episodes "Tori Goes Platinum" and "Robbie Sells Rex". He tried to make Tori dress outrageously and to act very mean and obnoxious to many people to make hype for her. Mason also threatened to cancel her performance on the Platinum Music Awards if she did not obey him. He has a bratty son named Francis who Mason wanted to buy Rex from Robbie for. Ponnie (portrayed by Jennette McCurdy) appears once in "Crazy Ponnie" where she befriends Tori Vega, but Ponnie keeps disappearing from everyone else with Tori, making the other Hollywood Arts students think Tori has gone crazy. She has lunch in the girls' bathroom and tells Tori that she was in the spring showcase with Tori, that she has been going to Hollywood Arts for three years and that she was kicked out because they needed to make room for Tori. In reality, she was expelled because she is completely crazy. According to Sikowitz, her real name is Fawn Lebowitz and that "she stole things, carried weird stuff in her backpack, and called everyone Debbie." She was arrested and taken away. In a twist ending, Tori and Trina were driven home by a cop who actually turned out to be Ponnie who escaped from the police. Moose (portrayed by Brandon Jones) is a boy who is friends with Beck and is from Canada. He was first seen in the episode "Three Girls and a Moose" when Tori, Cat, and Jade try to win the affection of him. Tori tries to impress him with hockey trivia. Jade tries to impress him with their mutual favorite movie, The Scissoring. Cat tries to impress him by cooking burgers. At the end, Moose then explains that he likes Canadian girls because they like hockey, are much bigger, and are not as weird as "L.A. girls". After Cat and Tori sing a song titled "L.A. Boys", Jade tries to take him to Karaoke Dokie but stops her car and they make out. Kojeezy (portrayed by Kool Kojak) is a man who is a music producer at Neutronium Records and is in the episode "The Bad Roommate". Tori stole Andre's beat and he got mad so Tori invited him to make some lyrics with her so they can sing it for him tomorrow. The next day, they perform their brand new song "Faster than Boyz" which Kojeezy likes and will maybe produce and buy. Andre and Tori are thrilled when Kojeezy suddenly states that they have to pass "The Baby Test" which is a test to see if the baby will cry (which means won't produce and buy) or smile (which means will produce and buy). The baby ended up crying so Kojeezy won't be producing and buying the song. Francis Thornesmith (portrayed by Cole Jensen) is Mason Thornesmith's 12-year- old only son. He appears in the episode "Robbie Sells Rex" when he offers Robbie $2,000 if he can keep Rex. He trades Robbie the $2,000 dollars and his puppet Gonther (voiced by Dan Schneider) which Robbie hates because he does not bully him like Rex does. Robbie and Tori try to get Rex back by hiring a 12-year-old girl, Rhoda Hellberg, to kiss him which Rhoda does. He enjoys it and throws Rex on the ground which means that he does not care about Rex anymore. He also states that "I don't need a stupid puppet, I got me a woman!". Rhoda Hellberg (portrayed by Mackenzie Brook Smith) is a 12-year-old girl who only appears in the episode "Robbie Sells Rex". Her mother took her to Hollywood Arts so Rhoda can apologize to Sikowitz for hitting him with an egg while in the shower. She has an attitude and attacked Tori after Mrs. Hellberg's latest complaint towards Sikowitz had involved the police visiting the Hellberg house after Rhoda's latest egg attack on Sikowitz. Rhoda was hired to kiss Francis Thornesmith so Robbie can get Rex back since he sold it to Francis who gave him his puppet Gunther and $2,000.

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The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of the league's original eight teams, the Celtics play their home games at TD Garden, which they share with the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Boston Bruins. The Celtics are regarded as the most successful basketball team in NBA history; the franchise has won the most championships in the NBA with 17 (accounting for 23.9 percent of all NBA championships since the league's founding), and currently hold the record for the most recorded wins of any NBA team. The Celtics have a notable rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers, who have won 16 NBA championships, second behind the Celtics. The rivalry was heavily highlighted throughout the 1960s and 1980s. The franchise has played the Lakers a record 12 times in the NBA Finals (including their most recent appearances in 2008 and 2010), of which the Celtics have won nine. Four Celtics players (Bob Cousy, Bill Russell, Dave Cowens and Larry Bird) have won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award for an NBA record total of 10 MVP awards. Both the nickname "Celtics" and their mascot "Lucky the Leprechaun" are a nod to Boston's historically large Irish population. The Celtics' rise to dominance began in the late 1950s, after acquiring center Bill Russell in a draft day trade in 1956, who would become the cornerstone of the Celtics dynasty. Led by Russell and superstar point guard Bob Cousy, the Celtics won their first NBA championship in 1957. Russell, along with a talented supporting cast of future Hall of Famers including John Havlicek, Tom Heinsohn, K. C. Jones, Sam Jones, Satch Sanders, and Bill Sharman, would usher the Celtics into the greatest period in franchise history, winning eight consecutive NBA championships throughout the 1960s. After the retirement of Russell in 1969, the Celtics entered a period of rebuilding. Led by center Dave Cowens and point guard JoJo White, the Celtics returned to championship caliber, winning two NBA titles in 1974 and 1976. The Celtics again returned to dominance in the 1980s. Led by the "Big Three" that featured Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, the Celtics won the 1981, 1984, and 1986 championships. After winning 16 championships throughout the 20th century, the Celtics, after struggling through the 1990s, rose again to win a championship in 2008 with the help of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen in what was known as the new "Big Three" era. The Celtics returned to the championship in 2010, only to lose to the Lakers in a seven game series. In the following season the Celtics were unable to attain the same degree of prowess. By the start of the 2013 season none of the "Big Three" were still signed - Ray Allen having already left a season prior - ushering in a new era for the team. With the help of newly hired head coach Brad Stevens, the team began rebuilding. In his second season, Stevens led the Celtics on a return to the playoffs in 2015. During the following season, the Celtics clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the Conference Finals. This prompted an aggressive rebuild in 2017, where the team acquired All-Stars Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward. However, the pair struggled with injuries throughout the 2017–18 season, and the team was again defeated in the Eastern Conference Finals, despite pushing the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games. The Boston Celtics were formed on June 6, 1946, by Boston Garden-Arena Corporation president Walter A. Brown as a team in the Basketball Association of America, and became part of the National Basketball Association after the absorption of the National Basketball League by the BAA in the fall of 1949. In 1950, the Celtics signed Chuck Cooper, becoming the first NBA franchise to draft a black player. The Celtics struggled during their early years, until the hiring of coach Red Auerbach. In the franchise's early days, Auerbach had no assistants, ran all the practices, did all the scouting—both of opposing teams and college draft prospects—and scheduled all road trips. One of the first great players to join the Celtics was Bob Cousy, whom Auerbach initially refused to draft out of nearby Holy Cross because he was "too flashy." Cousy's contract eventually became the property of the Chicago Stags, but when that franchise went bankrupt, Cousy went to the Celtics in a dispersal draft. After the 1955–56 season, Auerbach made a stunning trade, sending perennial All-Star Ed Macauley to the St. Louis Hawks along with the draft rights to Cliff Hagan for the second overall pick in the draft. After negotiating with the Rochester Royals—a negotiation that included a promise that the Celtics owner would send the highly sought-after Ice Capades to Rochester if the Royals would let Russell slide to #2—Auerbach used the pick to select University of San Francisco center Bill Russell. Auerbach also acquired Holy Cross standout, and 1957 NBA Rookie of the Year, Tommy Heinsohn. Russell and Heinsohn worked extraordinarily well with Cousy, and they were the players around whom Auerbach would build the champion Celtics for more than a decade. With Bill Russell, the Celtics advanced to the 1957 NBA Finals and defeated the St. Louis Hawks in seven games, the first of a record 17 championships. Russell went on to win 11 championships, making him the most decorated player in NBA history. In 1958, the Celtics again advanced to the NBA Finals, this time losing to the Hawks in 6 games. However, with the acquisition of K.C. Jones that year, the Celtics began a dynasty that would last for more than a decade. In 1959, the Celtics won the NBA Championship after sweeping the Minneapolis Lakers, the first of their record eight consecutive championships. During that time, the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals five times, starting an intense and often bitter rivalry that has spanned generations. In 1964, the Celtics became the first NBA team to have an all African-American starting lineup. On December 26, 1964, Willie Naulls replaced an injured Tommy Heinsohn, joining Tom 'Satch' Sanders, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, and Bill Russell in the starting lineup. The Celtics defeated St. Louis 97–84. Boston won its next 11 games with Naulls starting in place of Heinsohn. The Celtics of the late 1950s–1960s are widely considered as one of the most dominant teams of all time. Auerbach retired as coach after the 1965–66 season and Russell took over as player-coach, which was Auerbach's ploy to keep Russell interested. With his appointment Russell became the first African-American coach in any U.S. pro sport. Auerbach would remain the general manager, a position he would hold well into the 1980s. However, the Celtics' string of NBA titles ended when they lost to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1966 Eastern Conference Finals. The aging team managed two more championships in 1968 and 1969, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers each time. Russell retired after the 1969 season, effectively ending a Celtics dynasty that had garnered an unrivaled 11 NBA titles in 13 seasons. The team's run of 8 consecutive is the longest championship streak in U.S. professional sports history. The 1970 season was a rebuilding year, as the Celtics had their first losing record since the 1949–50 season. However, with the acquisition of Paul Silas and future Hall of Famers Dave Cowens and Jo Jo White, the Celtics soon became dominant again. After losing in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1972, the Celtics regrouped and came out determined in 1973 and posted an excellent 68–14 regular season record. But the season ended in disappointment, as they were upset in seven games by the New York Knicks in the Conference Finals. John Havlicek injured his right shoulder in game six and was forced to play game seven shooting left handed. The Celtics returned to the playoffs the next year, defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals in 1974 for their 12th NBA Championship. Boston took a 3-2 series lead and had a chance to claim the title on their home court. However, the Bucks won Game Six in Boston when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nestled in a hook shot with 3 seconds left in the game's second overtime, and the series returned to Milwaukee. Cowens was the hero in Game 7, scoring 28 points as the Celtics brought the title back to Boston for the first time in five years. In 1976, the team won yet another championship, defeating the Phoenix Suns in six games. The Finals featured one of the greatest games in NBA history. With the series tied at two games apiece, the Suns trailed early in the Boston Garden, but came back to force overtime. In double overtime, a Gar Heard turn-around jumper at the top of the key sent the game to a third overtime, at which point the Celtics prevailed. After the 1976 championship and a playoff appearance in 1977, Boston went into another rebuilding phase. In the 1977 NBA draft, the Celtics drafted a young forward from UNC Charlotte named Cedric Maxwell. "Cornbread" Maxwell did not contribute much in his rookie season, but he showed promise. Auerbach's job became even tougher following the 1977–78 season in which they went 32–50 as Havlicek, the Celtics' all-time leading scorer, retired after 16 seasons. The Celtics owned two of the top eight picks in the 1978 NBA draft. Auerbach took a risk by selecting junior Larry Bird of Indiana State with the sixth overall pick, knowing that Bird would stay in college for his senior year but believing that his potential would make him worth the wait. The team retained Bird's rights for one year and signed him soon after he led Indiana State to the NCAA Championship game. In 1978, Celtics owner Irv Levin traded franchises with Buffalo Braves owner John Y. Brown Jr.. Two weeks before the swap of franchises was made official, details of a six-player trade between the two teams were reported. Boston sent Freeman Williams, Kevin Kunnert, and Kermit Washington to the Braves for "Tiny" Archibald, Billy Knight, and Marvin Barnes. The move turned Boston fans against Brown, both because Kunnert and Washington were seen as key pieces of the team's future and because Auerbach publicly stated that he was not consulted about the trade. The relationship between Brown and Auerbach worsened with Brown's decision to acquire Bob McAdoo in February 1979 in exchange for three first-round draft picks that Auerbach had planned to use to rebuild the franchise. Again, Brown made the trade without consulting Auerbach. Auerbach almost left Boston to take a job with the New York Knicks as a result. With public support strongly behind Auerbach, Brown sold the team to Harry Mangurian in 1979 rather than run the risk of losing his famed general manager. The Celtics would struggle through the season, going 29–53. Newcomers Chris Ford, Rick Robey, Cedric Maxwell and Nate Archibald failed to reverse the team's momentum. Larry Bird debuted for the Celtics during the 1979–80 season. With a new owner in place, Auerbach made a number of moves that would bring the team back to prominence. He almost immediately traded McAdoo, a former NBA scoring champion, to the Detroit Pistons for guard M. L. Carr, a defensive specialist, and two first- round picks in the 1980 NBA draft. He also picked up point guard Gerald Henderson from the CBA. Carr, Archibald, Henderson and Ford formed a highly competent backcourt, blending in well with the talented frontcourt of Cowens, Maxwell and Bird. With Bird winning NBA Rookie of the Year honors the team went 61–21, a 32-game improvement from the previous season. Playing strong in the playoffs, the Celtics fell to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals. After the season, Auerbach completed one of the most lopsided trades in NBA history, garnering a pair of future Hall of Famers for a pair of first-round draft picks. Seeking to improve the team immediately, Auerbach sent the team's two first-round draft picks to the Golden State Warriors for both center Robert Parish and the Warriors' first round pick. He then used the pick the Celtics obtained from Golden State to select University of Minnesota power forward Kevin McHale. The "Big Three" of Bird, McHale and Parish played together for the Celtics until 1992, won three NBA championships together, and were later described as the best NBA frontcourt of all time. Despite losing center Dave Cowens to retirement late in training camp, the Celtics went 62–20 under coach Bill Fitch in 1980–81. Once again, the Celtics faced the 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals, falling behind 3-1 before coming back to win Game Seven, 91–90. The Celtics went on to win the 1981 NBA Championship over the Houston Rockets, with Maxwell being named NBA Finals MVP. Following the 1981–82 NBA season, the Celtics once again met the Sixers in the playoffs. This time, they lost in seven games. In 1983 the Celtics were swept in the playoffs (a first for the franchise) by the Milwaukee Bucks; afterwards, Fitch resigned and the team was sold to new owners led by Don Gaston. In 1983–84, the Celtics, under new coach K. C. Jones, would go 62–20 and return to the NBA Finals after a three-year hiatus. Boston came back from a 2–1 deficit to defeat the Lakers for their 15th championship. Bird renewed his college rivalry with Lakers star Magic Johnson during this series. After the season, Auerbach officially retired as general manager, but maintained the position of team president. He was succeeded by Jan Volk. In 1985, the Lakers and Celtics met again in the Finals, with the Lakers winning. This was the first time the Lakers had defeated the Celtics in the Finals and the only time the team had won a championship at Boston Garden. During the following off- season, the Celtics acquired Bill Walton from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Cedric Maxwell. Walton had been an All-Star and league MVP while leading the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA championship, but injuries had hobbled him since. Considered the best-passing center in NBA history, he stayed healthy and was a big part of the Celtics' success in 1986. The Celtics won the second pick in the 1986 NBA draft and drafted University of Maryland star Len Bias, one of the most heralded prospects of his era. Bias died 48 hours later of an accidental cocaine overdose. Despite the tragedy, the Celtics remained competitive in 1986–87, going 59–23 and again winning the Eastern Conference Championship. They were defeated in the Finals by the Lakers in six games. In 1988, the Celtics lost in six games to eventual NBA champion Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. Following the season, head coach K.C. Jones retired and was replaced by assistant Jimmy Rodgers. Boston's hopes for 1988–89 faded when Bird underwent a procedure to remove bone spurs in his feet early in the season. Bird did not play until after the All-Star break, and the Celtics won just 42 games before a first- round playoff defeat to the Pistons. Bird returned in 1989–90 and led the Celtics to a 52–30 record. In the playoffs, the Celtics collapsed after winning the first two games in a best-of-five series against the New York Knicks, losing three straight games and the series. After the playoffs, Rodgers was fired and replaced by assistant coach and former Celtics player Chris Ford. Under Ford's leadership, the Celtics improved to 56–26 in 1990–91, recapturing the Atlantic Division title even though Bird missed 22 games with several injuries. The Celtics again lost to the Pistons in the playoffs. In 1992, a late-season rally allowed a 51–31 Celtics team to catch the New York Knicks and repeat as Atlantic Division champions. After sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the first round, the Celtics lost a seven-game Eastern Conference Semifinals series to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Back injuries limited Bird to only 45 regular-season games, and just four of ten in the playoffs. After thirteen NBA seasons and a gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics with the Dream Team, continued back trouble led Bird to retire in 1992. The loss of Bird and aging of the team's other veteran stars forced coach Chris Ford into rebuilding mode. Hopes centered on 26-year-old Reggie Lewis, a small forward out of Boston's Northeastern University. In the first round of the 1993 playoffs Lewis fainted during Boston's four-game sweep by the Charlotte Hornets. An examination revealed heart problems, but Lewis was able to get doctors to clear him for a comeback. Before he could make it he died of a heart attack while shooting baskets at Brandeis University during the off- season. The Celtics honored his memory by retiring his number 35. With Kevin McHale having retired after the Celtics' playoff loss to the Hornets, Boston's original Big 3 era came to an end in 1994 upon Robert Parish's signing with Charlotte. The team collapsed, finishing out of the playoffs with a 32–50 mark. In 1994, the Celtics hired former player and legendary towel-waving cheerleader M. L. Carr as the team's new vice president of basketball operations. Working alongside general manager Jan Volk, Carr selected University of North Carolina star Eric Montross with Boston's first round pick in the 1994 NBA draft. Montross became the new heir apparent in the paint, but failed to develop and was eventually traded. 1994–95 was the Celtics' final season in the Boston Garden. The Celtics signed aging Dominique Wilkins as a free agent, who led the team in scoring with 17.8 PPG. Second-year player Dino Rađa, a power forward from Croatia, added an interior presence the team had been lacking in 1993–94. The Celtics made the playoffs, losing to the heavily favored Orlando Magic in 4 games. In 1995, the Celtics moved from the Boston Garden to the Fleet Center (later TD BankNorth, then TD Garden). Carr fired Chris Ford and took the coaching reins himself. After drafting Providence College star Eric Williams, the Celtics struggled to a 33–49 record. Things got worse in 1996–97 as the Celtics lost a franchise record 67 games, setting an unwanted NBA record winning only once against other Atlantic Division teams and just fifteen victories overall. In spite of the emergence of 1st-round draft pick Antoine Walker Carr's coaching stint was deemed a failure, and he took another job in the organization when owner Paul Gaston convinced star college coach Rick Pitino to join the franchise as the team's president, director of basketball operations, and head coach. Pitino's appointment as team president was controversial as Auerbach, the incumbent who had filled that role for more than 25 years, first heard about the change from local media. Unfortunately for the franchise, Pitino was not the savior everyone hoped he'd be. Auerbach bore the insult of being elbowed out with dignity, even as the team failed to improve. The Celtics received the third and sixth draft picks in the 1997 NBA draft, and used the picks to select a brand new backcourt through Chauncey Billups and Ron Mercer. The young team that lost 67 games the year before was dismantled, with David Wesley, Dino Rađa and Rick Fox being let go, and Williams traded to the Denver Nuggets for a pair of second round draft picks (Williams would return to the Celtics in 1999 and played for four years). Walter McCarty was also acquired in a trade with the Knicks. With a promising start, upsetting the defending champions Chicago Bulls at home on opening night, and hard play from the youngsters that led to leaderships in turnovers and steals, the team improved its victories from 15 to 36 despite many losing streaks. Billups was subsequently traded to the Raptors during his rookie year, and Mercer was traded to the Nuggets during his third season. The following year in the 1998 NBA draft, the Celtics drafted Paul Pierce, a college star who had been expected to be drafted much earlier than the Celtics' 10th overall pick. Pierce had an immediate impact during the lockout- shortened 1998–99 NBA season, averaging 19.5 points and being named Rookie of The Month in February as he led the league in steals. However, the Celtics continued to struggle as Pitino failed to achieve meaningful success. After Boston lost to the Toronto Raptors on March 1, 2000, on a buzzer-beater by Vince Carter, Pitino delivered the memorable "Larry Bird is not walking through that door, fans" speech. He resigned in January 2001. Following the resignation of Rick Pitino, the Celtics saw modest improvement under coach Jim O'Brien. Paul Pierce matured into an NBA star and was ably complemented by Antoine Walker and the other players acquired over the years. While the team was 12–21 when Pitino left, O'Brien's record to finish the season was 24–24. Following the 2000–01 season O'Brien was given the job of head coach on a permanent basis. As a result of numerous trades, the Celtics had three picks in the 2001 NBA draft. They selected Joe Johnson, Joe Forte, and Kedrick Brown. Only Johnson managed to succeed in the NBA, becoming a perennial All- Star after leaving the Celtics. The Celtics entered the 2001–02 season with low expectations. The team's success in the latter stages of 2000–01 was largely forgotten, and critics were surprised when the team, along with the New Jersey Nets, surged to the top of the Atlantic Division ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers, who were fresh off a trip to the NBA Finals. The Celtics won a hard-fought 5-game series with the 76ers in the first round, 3–2. Pierce scored 46 points in the series-clinching blowout at the Fleet Center. In the Conference Semifinals, the Celtics defeated the favored Detroit Pistons 4–1. In their first trip to the Eastern Conference Finals since 1988, the Celtics jumped out to a 2–1 series lead over the Nets, after rallying from 21 points down in the fourth quarter to win Game 3, but would lose the next three games to fall 4–2. In 2003, the Celtics were sold by owner Paul Gaston to Boston Basketball Partners L.L.C., led by H. Irving Grousbeck, Wycliffe Grousbeck and Steve Pagliuca. The team made it back to the playoffs but were swept by the Nets in the second round, despite bringing Game 4 to double overtime. Before their elimination, the team hired former Celtics' guard Danny Ainge as general manager, moving Chris Wallace to another position in the organization. Ainge believed the team had reached its peak and promptly sent Antoine Walker to the Dallas Mavericks (along with Tony Delk). In return, the Celtics received the often-injured Raef LaFrentz, Chris Mills, Jiří Welsch, and a first-round pick in 2004. The Celtics made the playoffs, only to be swept in the first round by the Indiana Pacers, losing all 4 games by blowout margins. The Celtics were a young team under new coach Doc Rivers during the 2004–05 season, having drafted youngsters Al Jefferson, Delonte West and Tony Allen in the 2004 Draft. Yet they seemed to have a core of good young players, led by Pierce and rookie Al Jefferson, to go along with a group of able veterans. The Celtics went 45–37 and won their first Atlantic Division title since 1991–92, receiving a boost from returning star Antoine Walker in mid-season. The Pacers defeated them in the first round yet again, with the series culminating in an embarrassing 27-point loss in Game 7 at the Fleet Center. After the season Walker was traded again, this time to the Miami Heat. Despite Pierce's career season, in which he averaged career-highs in points (26.8), the Celtics missed the playoffs with a 33–49 record, owing largely to a young roster and constant roster shuffling, which saw the likes of Marcus Banks, Ricky Davis and Mark Blount traded for underachieving former first-overall pick Michael Olowokandi and former all-star Wally Szczerbiak. The Celtics continued to rebuild in the 2006 NBA draft. The Celtics selected Kentucky point guard Rajon Rondo, who was to become a key piece in the team's revival. In the second round the Celtics added Leon Powe. The 2006–07 season was a gloomy one for the franchise, starting with the death of Red Auerbach at 89. Auerbach was one of the few remaining people who had been a part of the NBA since its inception in 1946. The Celtics went 2–22 from late December 2006 through early February 2007 after losing Pierce to injury, the result of a stress reaction in his left foot. At first, the Celtics received a much needed boost from guard Tony Allen but he tore his ACL and MCL on a needless dunk attempt after the whistle. The Celtics compiled a record of 24–58, second-worst in the NBA, including a franchise record 18-game losing streak. At the end of the season, the Celtics, with the second worst record in the NBA, were at least hopeful that they could secure a high draft pick and select either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant to help rebuild the franchise, but the Celtics fell to fifth in the Draft Lottery. In the summer of 2007, general manager Danny Ainge made a series of moves that returned the Celtics to prominence. On draft night, he traded No. 5 pick Jeff Green, Wally Szczerbiak and Delonte West to Seattle for perennial all-star Ray Allen and Seattle's second-round pick (which the team used to select LSU's Glen "Big Baby" Davis). The Celtics then traded Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair, and a first-round draft pick to the Timberwolves in exchange for superstar power forward Kevin Garnett. These moves created a new "Big Three" of Pierce, Allen, and Garnett. In the 2007-2008 season, Celtics completed the largest single-season turnaround in NBA history. The team went 66–16 in the regular season, a 42-game improvement over its 2006-2007 record. However, the team struggled in the early rounds of the playoffs, needing seven games to defeat the Atlanta Hawks in the first round and another seven to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the conference semifinals. The Celtics then beat the Detroit Pistons in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals, winning two road games. For the 11th time in league history, and for the first time since 1987, the Celtics and the Lakers faced off in the NBA Finals. The Celtics won Game One at home 98–88, fueled by strong play by Garnett and Pierce's dramatic comeback from a second-half knee injury. They won Game Two 108–102 despite nearly blowing a 24-point lead in the fourth quarter. As the series shifted to Los Angeles, the Lakers stifled Pierce and Garnett in Game Three and won 87–81. However, the Celtics would overcome a 24-point deficit in Game 4 to win 97–91, making the largest in-game comeback in NBA Finals history. After again blowing a large lead, the Lakers hung on to win Game 5 103–98, sending the series back to Boston. In Game 6, the Celtics overpowered the Lakers, winning 131–92 and clinching their 17th NBA title. Paul Pierce was named Finals MVP. With the win Celtics set a record for most games a team had ever played in a postseason with 26. The 2008–09 Celtics started off the season at 27–2, the then-best starting record in NBA history. They also had a franchise record 19-game streak. After the All-Star Break, Kevin Garnett was injured in a loss against the Utah Jazz and missed the last 25 games of the season. Garnett was eventually shelved for the playoffs. The 2009 Celtics still finished with 62 victories, but their playoff run would end against the Magic in the second round. In 2009, with the return of Garnett from injury and the additions of Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels, the Celtics started the season 23–5 and at one point had the best record in the NBA. However, Doc Rivers decided to lessen his aging stars' minutes to keep them fresh for the playoffs. As a result, the Celtics sputtered to an even 27–27 record the rest of the way and finished the 2009–10 regular season with a 50–32 record. Despite being the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics managed to make the NBA Finals. Rajon Rondo emerged as a star during postseason play. For the 12th time, the Celtics faced the Lakers in the Finals. After taking a 3–2 lead heading into Los Angeles for Game Six, the Celtics appeared poised to win their 18th title. However, starting center Kendrick Perkins suffered a severe knee injury early in Game Six, and the Celtics went on to lose the series in seven games. During the 2010 offseason, with Perkins expected to be out until February 2011, the Celtics signed two former All-Star centers, Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. Shaquille O'Neal's presence wound up leading to Perkins' departure: the Celtics were 33–10 in games Perkins had missed during the year due to injury and had a 19–3 record in games when O'Neal played over 20 minutes. Consequently, Perkins was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder in February, when the Celtics were 41–14 and led the Eastern Conference despite another rash of injuries. Following the trade, however, they proceeded to win only 15 of their final 27 games. They finished with a 56–26 record, sliding to the third seed. The 2010–11 season still provided three landmarks: The Celtics became the second team to reach 3,000 victories, Paul Pierce became the third Celtic to score 20,000 points (the others are Larry Bird and John Havlicek), and Ray Allen broke the NBA record for most career three-pointers. The 2011 NBA Playoffs started with the Celtics sweeping the New York Knicks 4–0 in the opening round. In the second round, they were ousted by eventual Eastern Conference champions Miami Heat in five games. Shaquille O'Neal, limited to 12 minutes in two games of the second round, retired at the end of the season. The Celtics started the lockout-shortened season 0–3, as Pierce was out with a heel injury. At the All-Star break, the Celtics were below .500 with a 15–17 record. However, they were one of the hottest teams in the league after the break, going 24–10 the rest of the year and winning their fifth division title in a row. The Celtics made the playoffs as the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, the Celtics faced the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, beating them in six games led by strong play from Pierce and Garnett. In the conference semifinals, the Celtics defeated the 76ers in seven games. The Celtics faced the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, losing in seven games to the eventual NBA champions. The 2012 off-season started with the Celtics having only six players under contract. While Kevin Garnett was signed to a new contract, Ray Allen signed with the Miami Heat for less money than the Celtics offered; this move brought the five-year "Big Three" era to a somewhat acrimonious end. The Celtics finished the season with 41 wins. The Celtics trailed the New York Knicks 3-0 in the first round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs before losing the series in six games. In Game Six, the Celtics nearly completed a comeback when they went on a 20–0 run to cut the lead to four. During the off-season, head coach Doc Rivers was allowed to terminate his contract. He departed the Celtics to coach the Los Angeles Clippers, and the Celtics received a 2015 unprotected first-round pick as compensation. A few days later, Pierce, Garnett (who waived a no-trade clause), Jason Terry, and D. J. White, were traded to the Brooklyn Nets for Keith Bogans, MarShon Brooks, Kris Humphries, Kris Joseph, Gerald Wallace, and three future first- round draft picks (2014, 2016, 2018), together with the right to swap 2017 first-round picks with Brooklyn. The deal marked the start of a youth movement for the team. On July 3, 2013, the Celtics announced that Brad Stevens, the head coach of Butler University, would replace Doc Rivers as head coach. Halfway through the season, in January, Rajon Rondo made his return and was named the 15th Team Captain in team history, and the team furthered the youth movement by acquiring two draft picks in a three team trade that sent Jordan Crawford and MarShon Brooks to the Golden State Warriors while the Celtics received the Heat center Joel Anthony. The 2013–14 season marked the Celtics' first missed playoffs since the "Big Three". The next off-season, the Celtics drafted Marcus Smart with the 6th overall pick and James Young with the 17th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, and signed Evan Turner. The 2014–15 season had several roster moves, the most prominent being Rondo and rookie Dwight Powell traded to the Dallas Mavericks for center Brandan Wright, forward Jae Crowder, veteran point guard Jameer Nelson, and future picks. A total of 22 players spent time with the Celtics, leading scorer and rebounder Sullinger suffered a season-ending left metatarsal stress fracture, and the team was only tenth in the East with 28 games remaining. However, midseason acquisition Isaiah Thomas helped the team win 22 of their last 34 games, finishing the season with a 40–42 record, enough for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Celtics were swept by the second seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. In the 2015 NBA draft Boston selected Terry Rozier, R.J. Hunter, Jordan Mickey, and Marcus Thornton with the 16th, 28th, 33rd, and 45th selections respectively. During the off-season, the Celtics signed forward Amir Johnson and traded Gerald Wallace and Chris Babb in exchange for Warriors forward David Lee. The Celtics finished the 2015–16 NBA season with a 48–34 record, earning the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. They played the fourth seed Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the playoffs. After leading by 3 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1, guard Avery Bradley went down with a hamstring injury, making him sit out for the rest of the series. The Celtics lost the series 4–2 to the Hawks, ending their season. On July 8, 2016, the Celtics signed 4-time All-Star Al Horford. The Celtics finished the 2016–17 season with a 53–29 record and clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference. After a hip injury ended Thomas' impressive playoff run in game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics eventually lost to the Cavaliers in five games. For the 2017 NBA draft, the Celtics won the draft lottery, earning them the first pick. They were projected to select freshman guard Markelle Fultz, but the pick was subsequently traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the third pick in the 2017 draft and future picks. The 76ers would go on to draft Fultz, while the Celtics used the third pick to select freshman forward Jayson Tatum. Semi Ojeleye, Kadeem Allen, and Jabari Bird were selected with the 37th, 53rd, and 56th selections, respectively, in the second round. At the start of the off-season, the team signed Tatum and Ante Žižić, among others, with the biggest acquisition being the signing of Gordon Hayward. On August 22, 2017, the Celtics agreed to a deal that sent Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Žižić, and the Brooklyn Nets' 2018 first round draft pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Kyrie Irving. An additional draft pick (Celtics' 2020 second round) was later added to the package from the Celtics to the Cavaliers after doctors revealed that Thomas's injury was more significant than initially anticipated. By the end of the off-season, only 4 Celtics' players remained from the 2016–17 team, with Marcus Smart being the longest tenured Celtic from the 2014 NBA draft. On the team's opening night game in the first quarter against the Cavaliers, Hayward suffered a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle in his left leg, causing him to be ruled out for the rest of the regular season. Despite the loss, the Celtics went on a 16-game winning streak, which also went down as the fourth-longest winning streak in the teams' history. The streak started with a 102–92 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on October 20 and ended on November 22 to the hands of the Miami Heat with a 98–104 loss. The Celtics finished the year with a 55–27 record, good enough for second place in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, they defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in the First Round in seven games, and continued the feat in the Conference Semifinals by defeating the Philadelphia 76ers in five games before losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the Conference Finals. The Celtics finished the 2018–19 season with a 49–33 record. Analysts started questioning team's performance and chances for the championship when the Celtics had a 10–10 record after the first 20 games on November 24, 2018. The Celtics then won the next eight games improving their record to 18–10. During the eight-game win streak, the Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 128–95, the New York Knicks 128–100, and also defeated the Chicago Bulls by 56 points (133–77), setting a record for the largest margin in a victory in franchise history, while also tying the record for largest victory margin by an away team. On February 9, 2019, the Celtics lost 129–128 to the Los Angeles Lakers after former Celtic Rajon Rondo hit the first game- winning shot in his NBA career. The Celtics finished the regular season place fourth in the Eastern Conference. During an April 7 game Marcus Smart injured his hip and was ruled out for the rest of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs. In the 2019 playoffs, the Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in the first round, and then lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in five games. The Celtics held four picks in the 2019 NBA draft. Following a series of transactions, the team landed Romeo Langford with the 14th pick and also added Grant Williams, Carsen Edwards, and Tremont Waters. During the 2019 offseason, Kyrie Irving and Al Horford signed with other teams. On June 30, 2019, the Celtics and point guard Kemba Walker agreed to a four-year maximum contract worth $141 million. On July 6, 2019, the Celtics officially acquired Walker in a sign and trade with the Charlotte Hornets; the Celtics sent guard Terry Rozier and a protected 2020 second-round draft pick to Charlotte in exchange for Walker and a 2020 second-round draft pick. On July 1, 2019, the Celtics agreed to a two-year contract with center Enes Kanter. The rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers involves the two most storied franchises in NBA history. It has been called the NBA's best rivalry. The two teams have met a record twelve times in the NBA Finals, starting with their first Finals meeting in . They would go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and the 1980s, facing each other six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, in 2008, and in 2010. The rivalry had been less intense since the retirements of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird in the early 1990s, but in 2008 it was renewed as the Celtics and Lakers met in the Finals for the first time since 1987, with the Celtics winning the series in six games. They faced off once again in the 2010 NBA Finals which the Lakers won in seven games. The two teams have won the two highest numbers of championships, the Celtics 17, the Lakers 16; together, the 33 championships account for almost half of the 73 championships in NBA history. The Celtics–Hawks rivalry is a rivalry in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association that has lasted for over five decades, although the two teams have played each other since the 1949–50 season, when the then-Tri-Cities Blackhawks joined the NBA as part of the National Basketball League and the Basketball Association of America merger. However, the Blackhawks could not field a truly competitive team until they moved to St. Louis as the St. Louis Hawks after a four-year stopover at Milwaukee. The two teams have faced each other eleven times in the NBA Playoffs, four times in the NBA Finals, with the Celtics winning ten of twelve series against the Hawks, including three out of four NBA Finals. While the Hawks have only defeated the Celtics twice out of eleven series in the NBA Playoffs, they still often managed to make their series with the Celtics memorable. The rivalry intensified in 2016 with Hawks All-Star Center Al Horford spurning the team and joining the Celtics. The Boston Celtics were once rivals of the New Jersey Nets during the early 2000s due to their respective locations and their burgeoning stars. The Nets were led by Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin, while the Celtics were experiencing newfound success behind Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker. The rivalry began to heat up in the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, which was preceded by trash talking from the Celtics who claimed Martin was a "fake" tough guy. Things progressed as the series started, and on-court tensions seemed to spill into the stands. Celtics' fans berated Kidd and his family with chants of "Wife Beater!" in response to Kidd's 2001 domestic abuse charge. When asked about the fan barbs being traded, Kenyon Martin stated, "Our fans hate them, their fans hate us." Bill Walton said at the time that Nets-Celtics was the "beginning of the next great NBA rivalry" during the Eastern Conference Finals in 2002 with the Nets advancing to the NBA Finals, though New Jersey would go on to sweep Boston in the 2003 playoffs. In 2012, the year the Nets returned to New York in the borough of Brooklyn, there were indications that the rivalry might be rekindled when an altercation occurred on the court on November 28, resulting in the ejection of Rajon Rondo, Gerald Wallace, and Kris Humphries. Rondo was suspended for two games in the aftermath, while Wallace and Kevin Garnett were fined. The story was revisited on December 25, when Wallace grabbed Garnett's shorts and the two had to be broken up by referees and players alike. However, the rivalry between the Nets and the Celtics appeared significantly cooled off by the June 2013 blockbuster trade that dealt Celtics stars Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Nets in exchange for Wallace, Humphries, and others. This move was billed as a merger of the two Atlantic Division teams. Celtics announcer Sean Grande said "It's almost as if you found a great home for these guys. You couldn't have found a better place. These guys will be in the New York market, they'll be on a competitive team, they'll stay on national TV. It's funny, because the enemy of my enemy is my friend. So with Celtics fans feeling the way they do about the Heat, feeling the way they do about the Knicks, the Nets are going to become almost the second [Boston] team now." The trade would end up crippling the Nets who posted a record of 151–259 following the trade including three consecutive seasons with fewer than 30 wins from 2016 to 2018. Brooklyn would win just one playoff series with Garnett and Pierce, neither of whom were with the team by the close of the 2014–2015 season. The Celtics would use Brooklyn's draft picks to acquire Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum through the draft in 2016 and 2017 respectively and Kyrie Irving via trade, en route to consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 and 2018. Irving then left to the Nets in the 2019 Free Agency. The rivalry between the Celtics and the Detroit Pistons peaked in the 1980s, featuring players such as Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Isiah Thomas, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman, and Joe Dumars. These teams met in the NBA Playoffs five times in 7 seasons from 1985 to 1991, with the Celtics winning in 1985 and 1987, and the Pistons coming out on top en route to back- to-back Finals appearances in and their championship seasons of and . Led by Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals the Celtics defeated the Pistons in 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals where they went on to beat the Lakers also in 6 games. The rivalry between the Celtics and the New York Knicks stems from the location of the teams, both of which are in the NBA's Atlantic division. It is one of many rivalries between Boston and New York teams. Boston and New York are also the only two original NBA franchises that have remained in the same city for the duration of their existence. The teams have played 512 games against each other during the regular season, with the Celtics winning 276 times. The two teams have also faced each other 61 times during the playoffs, with the Celtics winning 34 times. The Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers are the two teams who have the most meetings in the NBA Playoffs, playing each other in 19 series, of which the Celtics have won 12. The 76ers are considered as the Celtics' biggest rival in the Eastern Conference. The rivalry reached its peak when players Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain of the 76ers played each other from 1965 to 1968. Their play would result in the Celtics not winning every NBA Finals series in the 1960s when the Sixers won in 1967. The most recent and unexpected rivalry that has been created between the Celtics is with the Washington Wizards. Although both teams had engaged in a fight in 1984, the rivalry intensified during the 2015–16 season in a January regular season game after Jae Crowder was given a technical foul. Crowder then began to exchange words with then Wizards coach Randy Wittman. It began to escalate that off-season when the Celtics were trying to sign Al Horford. It was publicly reported that Jae Crowder emphasized that the Celtics beat the Wizards in all of their meetings that season and should sign with them rather than Washington. In their first meeting of the 2016–17 season, Wall hit Marcus Smart in the back-court when they were up by 20 late in the 4th quarter. Wall was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul and was promptly ejected. Smart immediately got back up and began to scuffle with Wall. Their words continued even after being separated with Wall telling Smart to meet him out back after the game. No incident was reported between the two following the game. In their next meeting, the Celtics won 117–108. However, after the game Wall and Crowder exchanged words in front of the Wizards bench. Crowder ended up trying to jab his finger at Wall's nose and Wall tried to fight back with a slap. Teammates and coaches from both sides had to step in and separate the two teams but the players continued to yell while entering their respective locker rooms. Police officers had to be on guard between the two locker rooms to ensure no further confrontation. Otto Porter is quoted as calling the Celtics as dirty. Isaiah Thomas replied "If playing hard is dirty, then I guess we are a dirty team." In their next game in January, the Wizards wore all black to enter the game. The notion was that it is similar to the attire of a funeral. Their decision worked as they defeated the Celtics 123–108. The two teams would go on to meet in the Conference Semifinals in the 2017 Playoffs. In Game 1, Markieff Morris landed on Horford's ankle after shooting a jumpshot. Morris sprained his ankle and had to miss the rest of the game which was a 123–111 loss. Morris believed that Horford did this intentionally. In Game 2, Morris retaliated by grabbing Horford by the waist and pushed him into the seats. In Game 3, Kelly Olynyk set a hard screen on Kelly Oubre. Olynyk's shoulder hit Oubre in the chin causing him to drop to the floor. Oubre angrily rose and pushed Olynyk down onto the floor. Oubre was then assessed a flagrant 2 foul and was ejected while also being suspended for Game 4. No significant altercations erupted in the rest of the seven game series in which the Celtics would go on to win. The rivalry has since dissipated as the Celtics have retooled their roster but their match-ups are still seen as significant as they played on Christmas in 2017. List of the last five seasons completed by the Celtics. For the full season- by-season history, see List of Boston Celtics seasons. Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, % = Winning Percentage; The Celtics have an NBA record 17 Championships including 8 in a row, and 11 championships in 13 years. They also have 56 playoff appearances. The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame have 45 enshrined players who played for the Celtics, and the franchise has retired 22 jersey numbers, more than any other American sports team. FIBA, the body which governs international basketball, has selected two players associated with the Celtics to the FIBA Hall of Fame for contributions to international basketball. The Celtics hold the draft rights to the following unsigned draft picks who have been playing outside the NBA. A drafted player is ostensibly either an international draftee or a college draftee who is not signed by the team that drafted him, is allowed to sign with any non-NBA teams. In this case, the team retains the player's draft rights in the NBA until one year after the player's contract with the non-NBA team ends. This list includes draft rights that were acquired from trades with other teams. Bold denotes still active with team. Italic denotes still active but not with team. Points scored (regular season) (as of the end of the 2018–19 season) 1\. John Havlicek (26,395), 2\. Paul Pierce (24,021), 3\. Larry Bird (21,791), 4\. Robert Parish (18,245), 5\. Kevin McHale (17,335), 6\. Bob Cousy (16,955), 7\. Sam Jones (15,411), 8\. Bill Russell (14,522), 9\. Dave Cowens (13,192), 10\. Jo Jo White (13,188) 11\. Bill Sharman (12,287), 12\. Tom Heinsohn (12,194), 13\. Antoine Walker (11,386), 14\. Don Nelson (9,968), 15\. Satch Sanders (8,766), 16\. Frank Ramsey (8,378), 17\. Cedric Maxwell (8,311), 18\. Reggie Lewis (7,902), 19\. Ed Macauley (7,882), 20\. Dennis Johnson (6,805) 21\. Danny Ainge (6,257), 22\. Kevin Garnett (6,233), 23\. Ray Allen (5,987), 24\. Bailey Howell (5,812), 25\. Rajon Rondo (5,783), 26\. Don Chaney (5,689), 27\. Dee Brown (5,512), 28\. Larry Siegfried (5,420), 29\. K.C. Jones (5,011), 30\. Avery Bradley (5,008) 31\. Kevin Gamble (4,895), 32\. Rick Fox (4,759), 33\. Tiny Archibald (4,550), 34\. Isaiah Thomas (4,422), 35\. Eric Williams (4,248), 36\. Paul Silas (3,744), 37\. Dino Radja (3,733), 38\. Gerald Henderson (3,521), 39\. Jeff Green (3,252), 40\. Brandon Bass (3,216) 41\. Chris Ford (3,194), 42\. Marcus Smart (3,174), 43\. Jim Loscutoff (3,156), 44\. Dana Barros (3,109), 45\. Kyrie Irving (3,062), 46\. Sherman Douglas (2,981), 47\. Ricky Davis (2,940), 48\. Steve Kuberski (2,929), 49\. Kendrick Perkins (2,917), 50\. Jared Sullinger (2,856) Other statistics (regular season) (as of the end of the 2018–19 season) There have been 17 head coaches in Celtics' history. Red Auerbach is the most successful franchise's head coach having won 9 NBA championships with the team. Celtics' legend Bill Russell took coaching duties from Auerbach and led them to 2 NBA championships while playing and coaching at the same time. The other two coaches that won 2 NBA titles with the team are Tom Heinsohn and K. C. Jones. Both Bill Fitch and Doc Rivers led the Celtics to 1 NBA championship the latter being the most recent coach to do so. Brad Stevens is the team's current head coach. The Boston Celtics logo since 1968 features a leprechaun spinning a basketball, named Lucky, originally depicted with a large basketball for a background. It was originally designed by Zang Auerbach, the brother of Celtics head coach Red Auerbach. Through the 1995–96 season, the logo's only colors were black, white and green. Then for the 1996–97 season, celebrating the club's 50th anniversary, the logo got a full-color treatment. Lucky's face and hands were both painted tan, while gold was included on the vest, bow tie and hat, as well as brown on the ball and shillelagh, and black on its pants and shoes. The Celtics also have various alternative logos, with the most popular being a white shamrock with the letters "Celtics" above it, wrapped in a green circle, which has been used since the 1998–99 season. The alternate logo is based on logos used by the Celtics before they used the Zang Auerbach leprechaun. For much of its history, the shamrock was trimmed in gold, as seen in the old team warmup jackets. A new secondary logo, unveiled in 2014, featured a variation of the leprechaun logo, in silhouette form. For much of their history, the Celtics wore green uniforms on the road and white uniforms at home. The basic template of the current Celtics' uniforms were formalized in the 1950s, and along the way they made a few adjustments in the lettering and stripes. Among the more notable changes in the uniforms were the switch from serifed to sans-serif block lettering in 1968, the addition of names in 1972, and the incorporation of the three-leaf shamrock logo in 1998. While the white uniforms remained largely intact, the green uniforms have featured either the city name (1950s–1965; 2014–present) or the team name (1965–2014). When Nike became the NBA's uniform provider in 2017, they decided to eliminate the "home" and "away" uniform designations. Thus the white Celtics uniforms became known as the "Association" uniforms while the green uniforms became the "Icon" uniforms. Both sets are now used regardless of home and road games. In January 2017, the Celtics signed a multi-year deal with General Electric where they became the "exclusive Data and Analytics partner" for the team. As part of the deal, GE agreed to pay the Celtics more than $7 million per year to have the uniforms with a GE logo prominently placed on the left shoulder of jerseys in green and white. This was the first time a corporate logo were placed on the game uniforms. Along with the GE logo, the Nike logo now emblazons the right shoulder of the Celtics' uniforms. From 2005 to 2017, the Celtics wore alternate green uniforms with black lettering and trim featuring the word "Boston" on the front side. One noticeable difference in the alternate uniforms were the black panels with a green shamrock, reminiscent of the original Celtics uniforms worn in the late 1940s. A gray uniform set was also used from 2014 to 2017. Dubbed "Parquet Pride", the uniforms featured sleeves (a prominent figure in Adidas' NBA uniforms), white letters with green trim, the silhouetted leprechaun logo on the shorts, the shamrock logo on the left leg, and a parquet-like pattern on the sides. For 2017 and beyond, the Celtics will wear black "Statement" uniforms (labeled by Nike in reference to the league's third jerseys). Its features include green letters with white trim, green panels with black shamrock and white player names. The team name is prominently featured in front. Between 2006 and 2017, the Celtics wore special St. Patrick's Day uniforms. The initial uniforms were worn from 2006 to 2013 and it strongly resembled their regular green uniforms save for gold and white trim and the city name in front. For 2014 and 2015, the uniforms were sleeved, replaced the city name in front in favor of the team name, and now resembled their green/black alternates. In 2016 and 2017, the uniforms were again sleeveless and featured the city name in front, but kept the previous striping. During the NBA Europe Live Tour prior to the 2007–08 season, the Celtics used the alternate road jerseys in their game against the Toronto Raptors in Rome, except that the words "Boston" on the front side of the jersey and the shamrock on the shorts and on the reverse side of the jersey contained the green, white and red tricolors of the Italian flag. In the second game in London, the regular road jerseys featured a patch containing the Union Jack. At the 2008–09 season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Celtics wore a modified version of their home uniforms, accented with gold, to commemorate last season's championship team. The Celtics have also worn special edition Christmas Day uniforms since the 2008–09 season. For the first four games, they wore their regular green uniforms modified with the NBA logo inside a snowflake. Then in the 2012–13 season, they wore monochrome uniforms with green lettering trimmed in white. For the 2016–17 season, the Celtics wore a special green uniform with a more ornate script lettering, but without the additional striping. Starting with the 2017–18 season, the Celtics wore special edition "City" uniforms designed by Nike. Their first "City" uniforms were in gray and featured a pattern of the parquet floor throughout, a green shamrock with white trim on the left leg, green letters with white trim, Red Auerbach's signature near the uniform tag, and a portion of the 2008 championship banner on the beltline. For the 2018–19 season, the Celtics wore white "City" uniforms with green letters and shamrocks trimmed in gold. It also has Red Auerbach's signature near the uniform tag and a gold-trimmed alternate Celtics logo on the beltline. In addition, the Celtics wore an "Earned" edition uniform exclusive only to the 16 teams that made the 2018 NBA Playoffs. Their rendition is a palette swap of the "City" uniforms with a green base and gold letters and shamrocks with white trim. The Celtics' "City" uniform for the 2019–20 season featured a green base and a stylized "Boston" wordmark and numbers in gold with black trim. A Celtic knot in the shape of a shamrock adorn the beltline. During the 2006–07 season, the Celtics wore a commemorative patch of a black shamrock with the nickname "Red" in green letters on the right top of the jersey in remembrance of Red Auerbach, who died shortly prior to the beginning of the season. The team has honored deceased members of the Celtics family with a commemorative black band on the left shoulder strap of the jersey. It has been featured nine times in the history of the franchise: Walter Brown (1964–65), Bob Schmertz (1975–76), Joan Cohen (1989–90), Johnny Most and Reggie Lewis (1993–94), Dorothy Auerbach (2000–01), Dennis Johnson (2006–07), Jim Loscutoff (2015–16), Jo Jo White (2017–18) and John Havlicek (2018–19). The Celtics also wore a black band for reasons not related to the franchise, such as the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013, and the death of Isaiah Thomas' younger sister during the 2017 NBA Playoffs. The team also had the tradition of wearing black sneakers through most of their history, except during the early 1980s when they wore green sneakers. According to legend, Celtics patriarch Red Auerbach had a problem with the white sneakers, claiming that the white sneakers can easily get dirty; hence starting a long tradition with the black sneakers. But prior to the 2003–04 season, current Celtics general manager Danny Ainge and captain Paul Pierce suggested wearing white sneakers, in due part to a growing number of teams wearing black sneakers. Auerbach gladly accepted and the white sneakers have remained since on home games. They still wore the black sneakers on away games, but in the 2008–09 season, they wore white sneakers with green and gold accents while wearing their St. Patrick's Day jerseys on the road. Most recently, when the Celtics play on Christmas Day, they wore white or green sneakers with red and gold accents. Since the 2009–10 season, the NBA relaxed its rules on specified sneaker colors, and Celtics players are now seen wearing custom-made and personalized sneakers at home and on the road, although for the most part they wear either green, white or black sneakers. The Celtics were the only team to wear warmup jackets with the player names on the back. During the 1980s, this style was dominant in most NBA warmup jackets, but by the late 1990s, this style gradually declined. The Celtics, however, kept the design in keeping with tradition, before discontinuing the practice after the 2011–12 season in favor of a templated jacket design common to all 30 teams. NBC Sports Boston is the Boston Celtics' main television outlet, having aired its games since 1981 when the station was known as PRISM New England. In 1983, it rebranded as SportsChannel New England. Like all the other SportsChannel networks, the New England channel was rebranded as Fox Sports New England when former owner Cablevision entered into a partnership with Liberty Media and News Corporation in 1998. Comcast purchased Cablevision's original network stake in 2001, then acquired the remaining stake in what was now FSN New England in 2007 and rebranded the network as Comcast SportsNet New England. In 2017, all CSN networks (including CSN New England) were renamed as NBC Sports Regional Networks in reference to Comcast's current ownership of NBCUniversal. Mike Gorman provides the play-by-play with former Celtics player and coach Tommy Heinsohn serving as analyst for home games, while former Celtics' player Brian Scalabrine serves as analyst for road games. Abby Chin serves as courtside reporter. All Celtics games are heard on radio through Beasley Broadcast Group's WBZ-FM (98.5, otherwise branded as "The Sports Hub"), with play-by-play from Sean Grande and color commentary from Cedric Maxwell, a deal in place since the 2013–14 season. *Sale not approved by NBA Boston Celtics Communications is a broadcasting division of the Celtics. In September 1989, the team through its owners, Don Gaston, Alan N. Cohen and Paul Dupee acquired radio station WEEI (on the 590 frequency now known as WEZE) from CBS Radio, as well as Fox affiliated station WFXT from Fox Television Stations. The sale was completed on May 10, 1990. CBS discontinued its association with WEEI that year, and they instead joined ABC Direction. WEEI, which had already carried Celtics broadcasts since 1987, expanded its sports programming to cover the Boston Bruins and certain Sports Byline USA and CBS Radio Sports broadcasts. However, WEEI was sold off in 1994, and would later reemerge as the name of an ESPN-radio affiliate, Sportsradio 850 WEEI. WFXT continued to carry the Fox network programming; however, during the team's ownership of the station, they broadcast the team's games and they also had a news share agreement with regional cable news channel New England Cable News in 1993. WFXT meanwhile was reacquired by Fox Television Stations group, and once again was Fox owned-and-operated from 1995. The Auerbach Center, official Celtics practice facility (opened June 2018), The Sports Museum (at TD Garden), Reebok Pro Summer League, a former summer league operated by the Celtics, List of Boston Celtics Head Coaches, Boston Celtics Draft History, Celtics-Lakers Rivalry, Boston Celtics All-Time Roster, Boston Garden, TD Garden, Boston Celtics Radio Network, Sports in Boston The Celtics–Lakers rivalry is a National Basketball Association (NBA) rivalry between the Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics and the Lakers are the two most storied franchises in the NBA, and the rivalry has often been called the most prolific in the NBA. The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers have met a record 12 times in the NBA Finals, starting with their first Finals meeting in . They would both go on to dominate the league in the 1960s and 1980s, facing each other six times in the 1960s, three times in the 1980s, and two times in 2008 and 2010. The two teams have won the two highest numbers of championships in the NBA: the Celtics have won 17, and the Lakers have won 16 (11 as the L.A. Lakers and 5 as the Minneapolis Lakers). Together, they account for 33 of the 72 championships in NBA history. As of 2018, the Celtics and Lakers have a .590 and .596 all-time winning records respectively. As of the end of the 2017–18 season, Boston is the only team with a winning overall record against the Lakers. The rivalry had been less intense since the retirements of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the early 1990s, but in when the two teams met in the Finals for the first time since , with the Celtics winning the series 4–2. They met again in the 2010 NBA Finals, which the Lakers won in 7 games. During the first decade of the NBA in the 1950s, the Minneapolis Lakers had the first NBA dynasty. Minneapolis would win the first ever Championship Series of the newly formed NBA in 1950 (three BAA Finals were played between 1947–1949 and retroactively counted as NBA Championships, one of which was won by the Lakers in 1949). Under Hall of Fame head coach John Kundla, and with the NBA's first superstar in George Mikan, they would win three more titles in 1952, 1953, and 1954. The Celtics would emerge behind early NBA star Bob Cousy by winning the 1957 NBA Finals and losing in 1958. The first NBA Finals match- up between the two teams was in 1959 when on April 9, the Boston Celtics swept the Minneapolis Lakers 4-0 for the first sweep in the history of the NBA Finals. This would mark the first Finals loss for the previously dominant Lakers, and the first of eight straight titles for Boston. The Lakers relocated to Los Angeles in 1960. It was after this move, and during this decade, that the rivalry would truly escalate. The two teams emerged as the strongest in the NBA, featuring greats such as Bill Russell, Tom Heinsohn, John Havlicek, Sam Jones and head coach Red Auerbach for Boston and Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich, and coach/GM Fred Schaus for Los Angeles. However, it would ultimately prove to be the decade of the Celtics, who won the finals every year in the 1960s except for 1967. The Lakers would be the Celtics opponent in six of those series: 1962, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969. The Celtics won all of those match-ups. Three of those series (1962, 1966, and 1969) went seven games. The Celtics win over the Lakers in 1966 marked an unprecedented eight consecutive championships, the longest streak of any North American professional sports team. The Lakers acquired Wilt Chamberlain in 1968, which brought the personal rivalry between him and Bill Russell, previously a feature of the Celtics-76ers rivalry, to Celtics-Lakers. The Lakers posted the best record in the West during the 1968–1969 season. By contrast, the aging Celtics struggled to obtain the fourth seed, with Russell and Jones playing in their final seasons. Despite this, the Celtics upset the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks and made it to the Finals. The Lakers had home court advantage for the first time and won the first two games, but the Celtics rebounded to force and win a dramatic Game 7 at the Los Angeles Forum, defying Laker's owner Jack Kent Cooke's infamous prediction of a Lakers celebration. West was named Finals MVP despite being on the losing team, but it was small consolation in a decade where the Lakers went without a championship, every one of their Finals' losses in that decade coming at the hands of the Celtics. The 1969 Finals also caused a deterioration in the relationship between Russell and Chamberlain, who had previously been friends despite their rivalry, into one of intense loathing, when Chamberlain took himself out of the decisive Game 7 with six minutes left, and Russell thereafter accused Chamberlain of being a malingerer and of "copping out" of the game when it seemed that the Lakers would lose. Chamberlain (whose knee was so bad that he could not play the entire offseason and ruptured it in the next season) was livid at Russell and saw him as a backstabber. The two men did not talk to each other for over 20 years until Russell attempted to patch things up, although he never uttered a genuine apology. When Chamberlain died in 1999, Chamberlain's nephew stated that Russell was the second person he was ordered to break the news to. The Celtics and Lakers both found success in the 1970s, but there would be no rematch between the two teams. The start of the decade saw the Lakers' woes in the NBA Finals continue, with a loss to the New York Knicks in 1970. However, the Lakers rebounded two years later to win the 1972 NBA Finals and their first championship in Los Angeles, also against the Knicks. This would also prove to be Laker great Jerry West's only NBA title. The following year, the Lakers again faced the Knicks in the 1973 NBA Finals and lost. They would not make it to the Finals again in this decade, but in 1975 they acquired Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The Celtics won the NBA Finals in 1974, and won again in 1976, under the leadership of coach Tom Heinsohn and players Dave Cowens, Paul Silas and Jo Jo White. Neither team won another championship until the 1980s. However, the foundation for the renewed Celtics–Lakers rivalry of the 1980s was actually laid down in college basketball of the late 1970s. During the 1978–79 NCAA season, Michigan State was led by Magic Johnson to the championship game of the NCAA Tournament, where they faced Indiana State University, which was led by senior Larry Bird. In what was the most-watched college basketball game ever, Michigan State defeated Indiana State 75–64, and Johnson was voted Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Magic Johnson would go on to be drafted by the Lakers, and Larry Bird by the Celtics. The personal rivalry formed by these two basketball greats during college would transfer to their NBA careers, and reignite the rivalry between the two storied franchises that they came to represent. The Celtics–Lakers rivalry was renewed in the 1980s, in large part due to the personal rivalry between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Magic said of the games against the Celtics, "when the new schedule would come out each year, I'd grab it and circle the Boston games. To me, it was The Two and the other 80." Similarly, Bird said that, "the first thing I would do every morning was look at the box scores to see what Magic did. I didn't care about anything else." The Showtime Lakers struck the first blow, winning the 1980 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. The following year, behind the "Big Three" of future Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish, the Celtics won the 1981 NBA Finals against the Houston Rockets. The Celtics lost the 1982 Eastern Conference Finals to the 76ers, and along with it the possibility of a rematch with the Lakers. However, the final game of that series is memorable to the rivalry because Boston fans chanted for the 76ers, who were just about to eliminate their Celtics, to "Beat L.A.!" Despite the encouragement, the 76ers lost the 1982 NBA Finals to the Lakers, who were led by new head coach Pat Riley. However, the 76ers defeated the Lakers the following year in the 1983 NBA Finals. The 1982–1983 season would also be the rookie year of Laker James Worthy, another Hall of Famer in the storied rivalry. The Celtics would get a new head coach in K.C. Jones, who was also a former Celtics player, and two teams finally had their long-awaited rematch in the 1984 NBA Finals, a grueling seven game series that had many memorable moments, including a 137–104 blowout in Game 3 that led Larry Bird to call his Celtic teammates "sissies", the Kevin McHale takedown of Laker forward Kurt Rambis which led to increased physical aggression by both teams, the sweltering heat of the infamously un-airconditioned Boston Garden in Game 5, and Cedric Maxwell's 24-point performance in Game 7. The Celtics went on to win in seven games, increasing their record of Finals' series victories against the Lakers to 8–0. The following year, the Lakers finally had their revenge, winning the 1985 NBA Finals by taking Game 6 in Boston Garden, becoming the only visiting team to win an NBA championship in that arena. Lakers owner Jerry Buss famously remarked that "this has removed the most odious sentence in the English language. It can never again be said that 'the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics'". The Celtics rebounded the following year to win the 1986 NBA Finals against the Rockets. In the 1987 NBA Finals, the two teams met for a tie- breaker of their 1980s Finals matches, and the Lakers once again emerged victorious in six games, with the iconic image of Magic Johnson's junior sky hook. This series marked the end of an era for the Celtics. They did not reach the Finals again until 2008. The Lakers, meanwhile, went on to win the 1988 NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons, before losing to the Pistons the following year in 1989, and win titles again in 2000, 2001 and 2002, all while the Celtics wallowed in mediocrity. Several journalists hypothesized that the Johnson–Bird rivalry was so appealing because it represented many other contrasts, such as the clash between the Lakers and Celtics, between Hollywood flashiness ("Lakers Showtime") and Boston/Indiana blue collar grit ("Celtic Pride"), and between blacks and whites. A 1984 Converse commercial for its "Weapon" line of basketball shoes (endorsed by both Bird and Johnson) reflected the perceived dichotomy between the two players. In the commercial, Bird is practicing alone on a rural basketball court when Johnson pulls up in a sleek limousine and challenges him to a one-on-one match. Despite their on the court rivalry, the two became friends after filming the commercial together. The rivalry was also significant because it drew national attention to the faltering NBA. Prior to Johnson and Bird's arrival, the NBA had gone through a decade of declining interest and low TV ratings. With the two future Hall of Famers, the league won a whole generation of new fans. The rivalry between Bird, Johnson, and their teams contributed greatly to the success of the league during the decade; according to Bryant Gumbel, "Magic and Larry saved the NBA." Sports journalist Larry Schwartz of ESPN asserted that Johnson and Bird saved the NBA from bankruptcy. In every single NBA Finals series during the 1980s, either the Lakers or the Celtics were present. Playing off their rivalry in the NCAA and NBA, Johnson and Bird reunited to promote Game 5 of the 2018 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers (of which Johnson is a part-owner) and Boston Red Sox. In contrast to the frequent Lakers-Celtics championship match-ups, the Dodgers and Red Sox were meeting in the World Series for the first time (since the Dodgers franchise relocated to Los Angeles). During the 1990s, the rivalry died down. Only the Lakers made an appearance in the NBA Finals that decade, losing the 1991 NBA Finals to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, the first championship in the Bulls' dynasty. This would prove to be a defining moment of the NBA, a changing of the old guard as the Lakers and Celtics fell into mediocrity, while the Bulls won six titles led by Jordan, Scottie Pippen and coach Phil Jackson, who would cement their respective reputations as the greatest player and coach in NBA history. Both teams also faced set backs in the form of personal misfortune. On November 7, 1991, Magic Johnson announced he had tested positive for HIV and would retire immediately. Celtics star Reggie Lewis died of a heart attack in his prime in 1993, further marring the team in tragedy since second overall pick Len Bias died of a drug overdose two days after he was drafted in 1986. In 1994, neither the Lakers nor the Celtics made the playoffs, marking the first time in the history of the NBA that both teams missed the playoffs in the same season. However, the Lakers began the rebuilding process in 1996 by trading for Kobe Bryant, who was drafted from high school that year by the Charlotte Hornets. That same year, the Lakers signed Shaquille O'Neal. Meanwhile, in 1998, the Celtics drafted Paul Pierce, a native of Inglewood, California who had grown up as a Lakers fan. The following year, in 1999, Phil Jackson joined the Lakers as head coach. The Lakers returned to prominence in the early 2000s. Under Jackson's guidance, and with O'Neal and Bryant leading the way, the Lakers won three straight championships in 2000, 2001, and 2002. The Lakers' title in 2000 came against the Indiana Pacers who were coached by Celtic legend Larry Bird. Paul Pierce's nickname, "The Truth", was accorded to him by Shaquille O'Neal after a 112-107 Lakers' victory over the Celtics on March 13, 2001 in which Pierce scored 42 points on 13 of 19 shooting. O'Neal pulled a Boston reporter over and gestured toward his notepad. "Take this down", said O'Neal. "My name is Shaquille O'Neal and Paul Pierce is the [expletive] truth. Quote me on that and don't take nothing out. I knew he could play, but I didn't know he could play like this. Paul Pierce is the truth." In 2002, the Celtics, with Pierce and Antoine Walker, made an impressive run for the Finals and the two teams narrowly missed each other. However, the Celtics eventually fell in six games to the New Jersey Nets in that year's Eastern Conference Finals. The Lakers returned to the Finals in 2004 but lost at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. Thereafter, O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat. Without O'Neal, the Lakers missed the playoffs the following year and failed to advance to the Finals for the next three years. The Celtics likewise made little playoff progress after their near Finals run of 2002. In 2004, they hired head coach Doc Rivers. In 2007, they made blockbuster trades for All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, who complemented career-long Celtics star Paul Pierce and emerging star Rajon Rondo. With the addition of Allen and Garnett alongside Pierce to become the new "Big Three", the Celtics returned to the top of the NBA in the 2007–2008 season by posting the best record in the league and reaching the Finals. The Lakers also returned to the Finals with the help of the mid-season acquisition of Pau Gasol, and the two teams finally met again in the 2008 NBA Finals. The Celtics won in six games with an impressive come-from-behind victory in Game 4 and a blow-out of the Lakers in Game 6. The next season, the Lakers and Celtics played a regular season game on Christmas Day. The Lakers won that game, making Phil Jackson the fastest coach to win 1,000 games. They went on to win the 2009 NBA Finals that season, but the Celtics were eliminated by eventual Eastern Conference champions Orlando Magic. In 2009, the Lakers signed Ron Artest (now Metta World Peace). The summer before the 2009–2010 season, Phil Jackson ran into Paul Pierce and told him, "Get it back, we want to meet you in the Finals." The Lakers ended the season with the West's best record, while the Celtics would enter the playoffs as the number four seed. Build up for a rematch began with the Lakers taking a 2–0 lead over the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals, with chants of "We Want Boston!" erupting in the Staples Center. Likewise, chants of "Beat L.A.!" erupted up in TD Garden as the Celtics took a commanding 3–0 lead over the Magic in the Eastern Conference Finals. Both teams fended off late series surges from their opponents, but won their respective series 4–2, setting up a rematch in the 2010 NBA Finals. The 2010 series had many memorable moments, including impressive performances from Bryant who led in points for six of the seven games, Ray Allen's Finals' record eight 3-pointers in Game 2, Derek Fisher carrying his team to victory and then crying in Game 3, a hard-fought Game 4 where Glen Davis screamed so loud he drooled while Nate Robinson rode on his back, a dominant Lakers performance in Game 6, and a close Game 7 that became the highest rated NBA game since Michael Jordan's second retirement in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. The Lakers won Game 7 against the Celtics for their very first time, bringing their total number of NBA championships to sixteen (they have one NBL championship (1948)), just one fewer than the Celtics' seventeen. The Celtics signed Shaquille O'Neal for the 2010–2011 season to replace the injured Kendrick Perkins, adding to the rivalry by bringing the Shaq-Kobe feud to the Celtics-Lakers. During a game against the Lakers on February 11, 2011, Ray Allen became the all-time NBA leader in total 3-point field goals made. However, both the Lakers and Celtics would be eliminated in the second round of the playoffs that year by the 2011 NBA Finals participants, the Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat, respectively. The following year they would again both be eliminated by the eventual 2012 NBA Finals participants, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat, respectively. With the disbanding of Boston's Big Three, and anticipated changes to the Lakers' roster, some believe that the 2011–12 NBA season was the last chapter of the current Celtics–Lakers rivalry. On February 20, 2013, the Lakers played their first game since the death of long time owner Jerry Buss who had died two days earlier, paying tribute to him at the Staples Center before facing off against the Celtics. The Lakers won 113-99 in a game that saw Steve Nash pass former Lakers star Magic Johnson for fourth on the all-time NBA assist list. On December 30, 2015, the Boston Celtics honored the Los Angeles Lakers' star Kobe Bryant in his final game in TD Garden. The Lakers would beat the Celtics 112-104. Both the Celtics and Lakers missed the playoffs in the 2013–14 season, marking only the second time it has happened in the rivalry's history. With the New York Knicks also failing to make the playoffs that season, it marked the first time in NBA history that neither the Celtics, Lakers nor the Knicks qualified for the playoffs in the same season. But while the Celtics were able to return to the playoffs over the next three seasons and even made the Eastern Conference Finals in 2017 and 2018, the Lakers found themselves in a lengthy rebuilding process. Prior to 2014, the Lakers only missed the playoffs four times since moving to Los Angeles, and five times in franchise history. However, the Lakers proceeded to miss the playoffs a record six consecutive seasons, highlighted by four straight seasons with over 50 losses and a franchise-low 17–65 mark during the 2015–16 season. Nevertheless, the rivalry between the Celtics and the Lakers remained fairly even during this recent period, with the two teams managing a split in the season series four of the last six times. However, battles between the Celtics and the Lakers took a back seat to the emerging rivalry between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors, who met in four consecutive NBA Finals between 2015 and 2018, where the Cavaliers were led by a big three of LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love, while the Warriors were led by a big four of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Notwithstanding the Celtics' success and the Lakers' struggles during this period, both teams would make their presence felt in subsequent offseasons. The Lakers' run of futility rewarded them with several high first-round picks (D'Angelo Russell, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball were selected second overall), while the Celtics benefited from the Brooklyn Nets' ill-fated 2013 trade for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett with their top-three selections of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. In addition, the Celtics went on to sign All-Star free agents Al Horford and Gordon Hayward in addition to acquiring Kyrie Irving from the Cavaliers. The Lakers would counter by signing LeBron James in the 2018 offseason. The two teams continued to retool in the 2019 offseason; the Lakers acquired Anthony Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans while the Celtics brought in Kemba Walker after Irving left to join the Nets. This was the first NBA Finals series between the Lakers and the Celtics, and the only such meeting to occur while the Lakers were still in Minneapolis. Minneapolis hadn't made an appearance in the Finals since winning four of the first five NBA Championships between 1950–1954, while Boston was making its third straight Finals appearance after winning in 1957 and losing in 1958. Minneapolis, led by rookie sensation Elgin Baylor, made the Finals by defeating the defending World Champion St. Louis Hawks. Boston would face a tough seven-game series against the Syracuse Nationals but would eventually emerge victorious, leading Celtic star Bob Cousy to predict that Boston would sweep Minneapolis. Cousy would prove his prediction correct, leading his team with 51 total assists (still a record for a four-game NBA Finals series) to defeat the Minneapolis Lakers in the first 4–0 sweep ever in the NBA Finals. This marked the first of Boston's record eight straight titles. This was the first NBA Finals series between the Lakers and Celtics after the Lakers moved to Los Angeles. Boston would win game one. However, the Lakers would edge out for close victories in Game 2 and Game 3. The Celtics would win Game 4 before the Lakers would come back and win another close victory in Game 5. In the Game 5 victory, Baylor grabbed 22 rebounds and set the still- standing NBA record for points in a finals game with 61, despite fouling out of the game. The Celtics won Game 6 to set up the first Game 7 between the two franchises. In Game 7, Laker Frank Selvy, after making two jumpers in the final 40 seconds to tie the game, missed a potential title-winning 18 foot jump shot in regulation, a miss which he said in June 2010 still haunted him more than 40 years later. Instead, the game went into overtime and the Celtics won by three points. The Lakers and Celtics would meet the following year in 1963. The Celtics would again defeat the Lakers. The Celtics took the first two games, but the Lakers would blow the Celtics out with a 20-point differential in Game 3. Although the Celtics would take Game 4, the Lakers would win Game 5 and fuel speculation that the young Lakers were about to surge past the older Celtics. A defiant Bill Russell denied that any such thing was going to happen. Sure enough, despite several close games, including the decisive game only having a three-point differential once again, the Celtics would only require six games to close out the Lakers this time. This series would also be notable for its future implications in NBA telecasts. When angry crowds showed up in Los Angeles to buy playoff tickets that were not available, the Lakers quieted the crowd by offering closed circuit TV viewing for $2.50 a head. "We were aware we were testing the future of pay television", Lakers general manager Lou Mohs told reporters. The Celtics would make their ninth straight appearance in the NBA Finals and face the Lakers for the fourth time. Celtics founder Walter A. Brown died during the season, and Red Auerbach led the team back to the Finals with his first Coach of the Year award. The Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers to enter the Finals, marked by Johnny Most's famous call of "Havlicek stole the ball!" Unlike their previous two encounters, the Celtics dominated the Lakers, who were playing without an injured Elgin Baylor, and only Game 2 had a close score. The Celtics would win the series in Game 5 with a 129–96 victory over the Lakers. This was the largest margin of victory in a deciding Finals game, and would not be broken until 2008, when the Celtics defeated the Lakers once again by a score of 131–92. This was the Boston Celtics' eighth consecutive NBA Championship, a feat unrivaled in North American professional sports. Despite finishing second in the division standings for the first time in a decade, Boston would return to the Finals for a record tenth straight time . After the Los Angeles Lakers' comeback overtime win in Game 1, Red Auerbach, who had challenged the entire league to topple the Celtics from their reign by announcing he would retire after 1965–1966 before the season had started (thus giving his detractors "one last shot" at him), announced Bill Russell as the Celtics coach for 1966–1967 and beyond, the first African-American coach in the NBA. Laker coach Fred Schaus privately fumed that Red's hiring had taken away all of the accolades his Lakers should have received following their tremendous Game 1 win. The Celtics won the next three games and looked ready to close out L.A. in Game 5. However, behind the efforts of Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich, the Lakers won the next two games, setting the stage for another classic Game 7 in the Boston Garden. The Celtics raced out to a huge lead, but down by 16 entering the fourth quarter, and 10 with a minute and a half to go, the Lakers mounted a furious rally in the closing moments which fell just short. The Celtics fended off the late Los Angeles rally to capture the NBA title and send Red Auerbach out a champion. After they both missed the NBA Finals in 1967, the Lakers and the Celtics would meet again in 1968. Boston's streak of 10 consecutive Finals appearances had been snapped in 1967 by the 76ers. The 1968 Eastern Division Finals rematch between the Celtics and the 76ers was marred by the recent assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., but the decision was made not to delay the series. The Lakers, led by new head coach Butch van Breda Kolff, would actually root for the Celtics to win the series, thinking that Bill Russell would be easier to defeat than 76er Wilt Chamberlain (Chamberlain would become a Laker the following season). The Lakers would get what they wished for and face the Celtics, but ultimately to the same result. The Celtics won Game 1, and the two teams would alternate victories through Game 5. Game 5 was notable for an impressive Lakers' comeback sending it into overtime, but the Celtics would ultimately win that game. In Game 6, the Celtics closed out the Lakers in convincing fashion with a 124–109 victory. With Bill Russell and Sam Jones in their final season, and plagued with injuries, the Celtics struggled to make the NBA playoffs as the fourth and final seed in the Eastern Conference. They upset the 76ers in the first round and postponed New York's finals appearance for another year. Awaiting the Celtics were the powerful Los Angeles Lakers who had a nucleus of Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and newly acquired Wilt Chamberlain. After losing the first two games in the Forum in L.A., no one thought Boston would even pull out a victory. However, they won Game 3 and a buzzer-beater by Sam Jones tied the series up at two games apiece. The home team won Games 5 and 6 which set up a dramatic seventh game. Before the game started, Laker's owner Jack Kent Cooke placed flyers in every seat stating "When, not if, the Lakers win the title, balloons will be released from the raftors, the USC marching band will play "Happy Days Are Here Again" and broadcaster Chick Hearn will interview Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain in that order." Before the game, the Celtics circulated in their locker room a memo about the Lakers' celebration plans. Russell noted the giant net hanging from the ceiling during pregame warmups and said to West, "Those [expletive deleted] balloons are staying up there." West was furious at the balloons for providing the Celtics extra motivation. Boston played tough through the first half and would keep the game close, with a score of 60–60. Remarkably, Boston would pull away and entered the fourth quarter up by 18. It seemed to be over when Lakers center Wilt Chamberlain was injured and replaced by reserve Mel Counts. The Celtics, however, would begin to show their age when they began missing shots and turning the ball over and Laker Jerry West pulled L.A. to within one. Despite having numerous opportunities, the Lakers couldn't get over the hump and Don Nelson would make an incredible foul-line jump-shot which bounced off the back iron and fell in. During this, another battle was heating up off the court between Jack Kent Cooke and Lakers coach Butch Van Breda Kolff. Chamberlain was pleading for Breda Kolff to put him back in, but he refused. Cooke then came down to personally order the defiant coach to insert Wilt, but to no avail. This would prove critical as the Celtics held on and triumphed 108–106. The first ever Finals MVP award was given to Jerry West, despite being on the losing team (thus far the only time this has happened). Despite this, West was inconsolable. In a show of good sportsmanship, Bill Russell held West's hand and John Havlicek said: "I love you, Jerry!" By virtue of a 62–20 record, the Celtics had homecourt advantage over the Lakers who finished the regular season with a 54–28 mark. The Celtics defeated the Lakers four games to three. The Lakers opened the series with a 115–109 victory at the Boston Garden. In Game 2, the Lakers led 113–111 with 18 seconds left when Gerald Henderson stole a James Worthy pass to score a game tying layup and the Celtics eventually prevailed in overtime 124–121. In Game 3, the Lakers raced to an easy 137–104 victory as Magic Johnson dished out 21 assists. After the game, Larry Bird said his team played like "sissies" in an attempt to light a fire under his teammates. In Game 4, the Lakers had a five- point game lead with less than a minute to play, but made several execution errors as the Celtics tied the game and then came away with a 129–125 victory in overtime. The game was also marked by Celtic forward Kevin McHale's takedown of Laker forward Kurt Rambis on a breakaway layup which triggered the physical aspect of the rivalry. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would go after Larry Bird later on in the third quarter, and 1981 Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell further antagonized the Lakers by following a missed James Worthy free throw by crossing the lane with his hands around his own neck, symbolizing that Worthy was "choking" under pressure. In Game 5, the Celtics took a 3–2 series lead as Larry Bird scored 34 points. The game was known as the "Heat Game", as it was played under 97 °F-heat, and without any air conditioning at the infamous Boston Garden. In Game 6, the Lakers evened the series with a 119–108 victory. In the game, the Lakers answered the Celtics rough tactics when Worthy shoved Cedric Maxwell into a basket support. After the game, a Laker fan threw a beer at Celtics guard M.L. Carr as he left the floor, causing him to label the series "all-out-war." In Game 7, the Celtics were led by Cedric Maxwell, who had 24 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists as they came away with a 111–102 victory. In the game the Lakers rallied from a 14-point deficit to three points down with one minute remaining, when Maxwell knocked the ball away from Magic Johnson. Dennis Johnson responded by sinking two free throws to seal the Celtics' victory. Larry Bird was named MVP of the series. The Celtics, looking to repeat as NBA Champions, had homecourt advantage for the second year in a row as they finished the regular season with a 63–19 record while the Lakers compiled a 62–20 record. For the first time, the Finals went to a 2–3–2 format with games one and two in Boston while the next three games were in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Celtics four games to two. Game 1 became known as the "Memorial Day Massacre" as the Celtics soundly beat the Lakers 148–114. Celtic reserve forward Scott Wedman made all 11 out of 11 field goal attempts. The Lakers responded in Game 2 with a 109–102 victory as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had 30 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists, and three blocks. Michael Cooper had 22 points, making 8 out of 9 field goals attempted. In Game 3, the Celtics had a 48–38 lead in the second quarter before the Lakers, led by James Worthy, took a 65–59 lead at halftime and then pulled away in the second half to come away with a 136–111 victory. Worthy had 29 points while Abdul-Jabbar had 26 points and 14 rebounds. The Celtics tied the series in Game 4, 107–105 as Dennis Johnson hit a jumper at the buzzer. In Game 5, the Lakers raced out to a 64–51 lead and stretched it to 89–72 before the Celtics cut the deficit to 101–97 with six minutes remaining. However, Magic Johnson made three shots while Abdul-Jabbar added four more shots, and the Lakers came away with a 120–111 victory to take a 3–2 series lead. Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers with 36 points. The series shifted to Boston with only one full day off for both teams. In Game 6, the Lakers were led by Abdul-Jabbar who scored 29 points as the Lakers defeated the Celtics 111–100. Magic had a triple-double with 15 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds; Worthy had 28 points on 11 for 15 shooting. It was the only time a visiting team claimed an NBA championship in Boston Garden. Kareem Abdul- Jabbar was named MVP of the series, making him the oldest player (38 years, 1 month, 24 days) ever to win the MVP of an NBA Finals series. After being eliminated in the Western Conference Finals a year earlier, the Lakers returned to the NBA Finals and were awarded homecourt advantage as they accumulated a 65–17 record while the Celtics finished the season with a 59–23 record. The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Celtics four games to two. In Game 1, the Los Angeles Lakers came away with a 126–113 victory. Magic Johnson had 29 points, 13 assists, and 8 rebounds, while James Worthy had 33 points, 10 assists, and 9 rebounds. In Game 2, the Lakers took a 2–0 series lead with a 141–122 victory. Magic had 22 points and 20 assists, while Michael Cooper made six three-point shots, then a record for most three-pointers made in a single NBA Finals game. In Game 3, the Celtics posted a 109–103 win, led by Larry Bird, who had 30 points and 12 rebounds. In Game 4, the Celtics had a 16-point lead in the third quarter before the Lakers stormed back into the game. Bird had hit a three-point bomb with 12 seconds remaining to give the Celtics the lead, however, with two seconds remaining, Magic Johnson sank a "junior sky hook" to give the Lakers a 107–106 lead, then Bird missed a 20-foot jumper as time expired, allowing Los Angeles to gain a three games to one lead. In Game 5, the Celtics prevented the Lakers from celebrating in the Boston Garden by coming away with a 123–108 win. Boston guard Danny Ainge made 5 out of 6 three-pointers attempted, including a 45-footer as the first half expired. In Game 6, the Lakers trailed the Celtics 56–51 at halftime, but thanks to an 18–2 run, they regained control of the game with a 30–12 third quarter to cruise to a 106–93 victory and their fourth championship in the decade. Magic Johnson was named unanimous MVP of the series, averaging 26.2 points, 13.0 assists, 8.0 rebounds, and 2.3 steals, leading the Lakers in all four categories. This was the first time the Celtics made the Finals since 1987, while the Lakers' last appearance had been in 2004. Boston was led by their 'Big Three' of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. Los Angeles was led by MVP Kobe Bryant and All-Star Pau Gasol. The Celtics' 66–16 record gave them home court advantage over Los Angeles (57–25). The Celtics won Game 1 98–88, highlighted by a dramatic comeback by Paul Pierce after a third quarter knee injury. In Game 2, the Celtics had a comfortable 24-point lead in the fourth quarter, before Kobe Bryant led a furious Lakers run that cut the lead to two. However the Celtics would hold on to win 108-102, taking the commanding 2–0 series lead. As the series shifted to Los Angeles, the Lakers stifled Pierce and Garnett in Game 3, winning 87–81. They also looked to be in control of Game 4, holding their ground for most of the third quarter, leading by as many as 24 points. However, the Celtics went on a 21–3 run to end the third quarter, closing the deficit to only two points (73–71). With 4:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Celtics took their first lead in the game when Celtics' reserve Eddie House made an 18-foot (5.5 m) jumper. With House's shot, the Celtics were in the lead for good, winning 97–91. The Celtics' victory in Game 4 was the largest comeback in the NBA Finals since 1971. The Lakers would win Game 5 103–98, despite blowing another large lead, and the series shifted back to Boston. However, the Celtics would close out the series in Game 6 with a dominant 131–92 win. The 39-point margin of victory was the largest ever in an NBA championship-clinching game, breaking the old record of 33, also set by the Celtics over the Lakers in Game Five of the 1965 NBA Finals, 129–96. Paul Pierce was named Finals MVP. This was the Celtics' 17th championship, their first since 1986, extending their record for most NBA championships won by a single team. Their win in Game 6 was also a sense of relief. Entering the game, they set a record of most playoff games played in one season, with 26, breaking the previous record of 25 set by both the 1994 New York Knicks, whom Celtics Coach Doc Rivers played for, and the 2005 Detroit Pistons, both of whom lost in their respective finals in seven games (Knicks in , Pistons in ). However, for the 1994 Knicks, the first round was a best-of-five. They also set an NBA record for most playoff games ever needed to win a championship, with 26, surpassing the previous record of 24 by the Lakers in 1988. This was the third straight year in which the L.A. Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals. Much of both rosters had been kept intact since the teams last meeting in 2008 and the Celtics' veterans Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and Rasheed Wallace looked to add to their championship résumés, while Kobe Bryant and the Lakers looked to even the score against the Celtics. The Lakers were the defending champions, having beaten the Orlando Magic 4–1 in the 2009 NBA Finals. This was the first NBA Finals to go the full seven games since , and only the fourth since the NBA switched the Finals to a 2–3–2 format in . The Lakers won Game 1 102–89, led by Kobe Bryant's 30-point performance. However, Ray Allen would respond in Game 2 by scoring 32-points and sinking a record eight 3-pointers, leading the Celtics to a 103–94 victory. Game 3 returned to Boston, where the Lakers took a 2–1 series lead by winning 91–84, again led by Bryant but with strong support from Derek Fisher. Game 4 would prove to be a close and hard-fought game, with the Lakers up by two at the end of the third quarter. However, Boston's bench would prove to be the deciding factor, outscoring the Lakers 13–2 for nearly half the quarter, en route to a 96–89 victory. The Celtics won the game and evened the series. Despite an impressive 38-point performance from Bryant in Game 5, the Celtics would win 92–86 led by Paul Pierce's 27 points, and would take a 3–2 lead heading back to L.A. However, the Lakers opened up a massive lead in Game 6, peaking at 27. The Lakers' bench had outscored Boston's bench 24–0 entering the fourth quarter. The Lakers would win the game 89–67 and set up an epic Game 7. Both Kendrick Perkins of Boston and Andrew Bynum of Los Angeles were injured in this game. However, while Perkins was ruled out because of his injury, Bynum was cleared to play in Game 7. This was the fifth Game 7 between the Lakers and Celtics. Boston had won all previous Game 7 match-ups between the two teams. Kobe Bryant exhibited difficulties for much of the game, shooting only 6-for-24 from the field. However, he would score 10 of his game-high 24 points in the fourth quarter. After the Celtics had built a 13-point lead late in the third quarter, the game was tied at 64 with six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Ron Artest would sink a key 3-pointer for the Lakers and make other clutch moves, leading Phil Jackson to call him the MVP of Game 7. However, the Celtics would not give up, and Rajon Rondo would hit a 3-pointer to make the game 81–79. The Celtics were forced to foul Sasha Vujačić, he went to the line and made both free throws to give the Lakers a definitive 83–79 lead. Rondo would miss his final 3-pointer and the Lakers won Game 7 against the Celtics for the first time in franchise history, clinching their 16th NBA title. Game 7 was the second most-watched game in NBA history, with 28.2 million viewers (No. 1 being Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals). Game 7 was watched by an average audience of 1.1 million viewers on TSN, making it the largest Canadian audience ever recorded for an NBA game. This was also the first time since 2002 that a team has won back-to-back championships; that team was also the Lakers, led by Kobe and Shaquille O'Neal. Kobe Bryant was named Finals MVP for the second straight year. One of the lasting effects on the Lakers–Celtics rivalry was the usage of the famous "Beat L.A.!" chant, sung by fans in opposing arenas whenever a Los Angeles-based team plays in their home venue. The chant originated during Game 7 of the 1982 Eastern Conference Championships at Boston Garden when the Boston fans urged the victorious Philadelphia 76ers to "Beat L.A." In January 2011 before an upcoming Celtic-Lakers regular season matchup, Celtic forward Kevin Garnett with shoe company Anta released a "Beat L.A." green shoe which featured on the tongue the numbers "152–120", which was at the time the Celtics all-time record against the Lakers. The Celtics won the game, 109–96. The results in brackets concern the playoffs games. The following players have played for both the Celtics and the Lakers in their careers: Chucky Atkins – Celtics (), Lakers (), Jim Barnes – Lakers (–), Celtics (–), Brandon Bass – Celtics (–), Lakers (), Mike Bloom – Celtics (1948), Lakers (1948), Vander Blue – Celtics (), Lakers (, ), Avery Bradley – Celtics (–), Lakers (–present), Frank Brickowski – Lakers (), Celtics (), MarShon Brooks – Celtics (), Lakers (), Don Chaney – Celtics (–, –), Lakers (–), Mel Counts – Celtics (–), Lakers (–, –), Ernie DiGregorio – Lakers (), Celtics (), Hank Finkel – Lakers (), Celtics (–), Rick Fox – Celtics (–), Lakers (–), Jumaine Jones – Celtics (), Lakers (), Joe Kleine – Celtics (–), Lakers (), Travis Knight – Lakers (, –), Celtics (), Clyde Lovellette – Lakers (–), Celtics (–), Bob McAdoo – Celtics (), Lakers (–) Chris Mihm – Celtics (), Lakers (–, –), Troy Murphy – Celtics (), Lakers (), Don Nelson – Lakers (–), Celtics (–), Shaquille O'Neal – Lakers (–), Celtics (), Gary Payton – Lakers (), Celtics (), Theo Ratliff – Celtics (), Lakers (), Fred Roberts – Celtics (–), Lakers (), Rajon Rondo – Celtics (–), Lakers (–present), Charlie Scott – Celtics (–), Lakers (), Brian Shaw – Celtics (, –), Lakers (–), Derek Strong – Celtics (), Lakers (), Gene Stump – Celtics (1947–1949), Lakers (), Earl Tatum – Lakers (–), Celtics (), Isaiah Thomas – Celtics (–), Lakers (), Von Wafer – Lakers (), Celtics (), Kermit Washington – Lakers (–), Celtics (), Shammond Williams – Celtics (), Lakers () The following individuals have also played, coached and/or managed both the Celtics and Lakers in their careers: K. C. Jones – Celtics (1958–67 player; 1977–83 assistant coach; 1983–88 head coach); Lakers (1971–72 assistant coach), John Kuester – Celtics (1995–97 assistant coach); Lakers (2011–12 assistant coach), Paul Pressey – Celtics (2004–06 assistant coach); Lakers (2014–16 assistant coach), Bill Sharman – Celtics (1951–61 player); Lakers (1971–76 head coach; 1976–82 general manager; 1982–88 president), Frank Vogel – Celtics (2001–04 assistant coach); Lakers (2019–present head coach), Dave Wohl – Lakers (1982–85; 1998–99 assistant coach); Celtics (2004–07 assistant coach) National Basketball Association rivalries, History of the Boston Celtics, History of the Los Angeles Lakers, Lakers versus Celtics and the NBA Playoffs, a videogame inspired by the rivalry, , a 2017 documentary about the rivalry made by ESPN for its 30 for 30 series The 2008 NBA Finals were held June 5 through June 17, 2008, to decide the winner of the 2007–08 NBA season, and conclude the season's playoffs. The Boston Celtics, top-seeded champions of the Eastern Conference, defeated the Los Angeles Lakers, top-seeded champions of the Western Conference, four games to two in a best-of-seven series. This was Boston's first title since 1986 during the Larry Bird era and 17th overall. 2008 marked the first time since that the top seeds from both conferences met in the Finals and the first time since 2003 that any top seeded team played in the NBA finals. The Lakers appeared in the Finals for the first time since and a record 29th time overall. The Celtics appeared in the Finals for the first time since and second-best 20th time overall. The 2008 Boston Celtics championship team was famously led by the organization's "Big 3" in Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. Prior to acquiring Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics and Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a blockbuster 7-to-1 player trade, Boston had won just 24 of its 82 games in the 2006-07 NBA regular season. The formation of the All-Star trifecta in the summer of 2007 positioned the new- look Celtics as a popular favorite to win the 2008 NBA Finals. Going into the series, the Celtics had won the most championships of all-time with 16, and the Lakers were second with 14. The two most successful teams in NBA history looked to renew a longstanding rivalry 21 years after their last Finals meeting in 1987. They narrowly missed meeting each other in 2002, when the Lakers advanced to the Finals, but the Celtics, who led 2–1 in the Conference Finals, eventually fell to the favored New Jersey Nets 4–2. This was the 11th time the teams met in the championship round; the Celtics won eight of their previous ten Finals meetings against the Lakers, winning in , , , , , , and —the Lakers won in and . The Celtics' 66–16 record gave them home court advantage over Los Angeles (57–25). This was the first time since , when the Chicago Bulls beat the Utah Jazz for the championship, and the only time in the 2000s decade that an Eastern Conference team had the home court advantage. This was also the first NBA Finals series since 1998 to not feature Tim Duncan (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007) or Shaquille O'Neal (2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2006). Rodd Houston narrated the Boston Celtics' championship season documentary on NBA Entertainment. The made-for-TV version of this documentary is narrated by Kevin Harlan. Note teams in Bold won that game The Celtics were making their first NBA Finals appearance since a six-game loss to the Lakers in 1987. Over the next 20 years the Celtics would suffer through several lean years, not making the playoffs in nine of those years. Following the departures of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale the Celtics suffered through several tragedies such as the passing of Reggie Lewis in 1993, a franchise-worst 15-win 1996–97 season, the ill-fated hiring of head coach Rick Pitino, and the deaths of franchise patriarch Red Auerbach and former player Dennis Johnson that culminated in a 24-win 2006–07 season, highlighted by a franchise-worst 18 straight losses. The 2007 off-season saw Celtics GM Danny Ainge acquire Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett to join franchise star Paul Pierce. This new formation was widely regarded as the most talent the Boston Celtics team possessed since the duo of Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce graced the floor of the TD Garden in the early 2000's. The newly formed 'Big Three' led the Celtics to a dramatic 42-game turnaround, finishing with 66 wins. In the playoffs the Celtics were pushed to the brink by the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers, and despite not winning on the road, they managed to prevail in a pair of Game 7s on their home court. The Celtics would finally break their road woes in a six-game win against the perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse Detroit Pistons, earning their first finals berth since 1987. After losing to the Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals despite a talent- laden roster, Phil Jackson abruptly retired. Soon after the Lakers decided to rebuild by trading away Shaquille O'Neal to the Miami Heat for Lamar Odom, Caron Butler and Brian Grant. The 2004–05 season saw the Lakers miss the playoffs for only the fifth time in team history. Even though he had written a book called , going as far as calling Kobe Bryant "uncoachable", Jackson returned to the Lakers for the 2005–06 season. Jackson and Bryant would patch their differences, but after a pair of first-round exits, Bryant demanded, but later retracted, a trade in the off-season. The Lakers' 2007–08 season saw the team win 57 games, along the way adding Spanish forward Pau Gasol in mid- season while Andrew Bynum was recovering from a mid-season knee injury. The Lakers eliminated the Denver Nuggets 4–0, then the Utah Jazz 4–2 and then dethroned the erstwhile defending champion San Antonio Spurs 4–1 in the conference finals, making their 29th NBA Finals appearance. The Boston Celtics won both games in the regular season series: All times listed below are Eastern Daylight Time. Paul Pierce scored 15 points in the third quarter to give Boston the lead for good, and Kevin Garnett paced the Celtic attack with 24 points and 13 rebounds including a powerful two-handed putback dunk late in the game. Kobe Bryant had 24 points. Pierce apparently injured his knee by falling awkwardly on Kendrick Perkins' leg, and was taken off the court in a wheelchair. Despite what Pierce's reaction suggested was a highly debilitating injury, he returned to action minutes later to raucous cheering from the crowd. It was later noted that Pierce just had to use the bathroom. He soon hit two three-pointers on consecutive offensive possessions that gave Boston the lead for good and finished with 22 points. It was later dubbed by some as the "Wheelchair Game". The Lakers, who had had home court advantage throughout the first three rounds and had not trailed a series in that same time, now had to do without both luxuries for the first time. The Lakers jumped out to an early 15–8 first quarter lead, but the Celtics answered with a 10–0 run at the start of the second quarter and ended the first half with a 54–42 lead. The Celtics held a 24-point lead with less than eight minutes to go in the 4th quarter before the Lakers cut the lead to two points with 38.4 seconds to go with a 31–9 run. Paul Pierce and James Posey then closed out the game with two free throws each. The Lakers had a chance to cut into Boston's four-point lead with 14 seconds left, but the ball failed to get into the hands of Kobe Bryant, resulting in a shot by Saša Vujačić that was blocked by Pierce. Bryant finished the game with 30 points and 8 assists. Leon Powe, a second year bench player, scored 21 points on 6–7 shooting from the field and 9–13 from the line in 15 minutes of play, including back-to-back dunks in the last minute of the 3rd quarter. Over the course of the game, Leon Powe shot 13 free throws while the Lakers shot 10. Despite injuries suffered by Pierce (sprained knee) and Kendrick Perkins (high ankle sprain), both players started in Game 2 and appeared to be mostly unhampered by the injuries, especially Pierce who finished with 28 points. Boston finished the game 27-for-38 from the line, while the Lakers were 10-for-10. Some analysts viewed this as favorable treatment toward the Celtics, while others noted that a difference in playing styles may have led to the discrepancy, and that the actual foul discrepancy was only 28–21 in favor of Boston. The Lakers won game 3 on a strong shooting night from regular season MVP Kobe Bryant, who scored a series-high 36 points, leading the Lakers to their first win of the series and adding to their undefeated streak at home in the 2008 post-season. Saša Vujačić scored 20 points in 28 minutes, Paul Pierce had a poor shooting game, making only two of his 14 field goal attempts. Kevin Garnett also had trouble shooting, finishing with only 12 points. Ray Allen was the only member of Boston's Big Three that scored over 13 points, with 25. The Lakers jumped out to a 35–14 lead after the first quarter, which was the largest first-quarter lead in NBA Finals history. The Lakers held their ground for most of the third quarter, leading by as many as 24 points. However, the Celtics went on a 21–3 run to end the third quarter, closing the deficit to only two points (73–71). With 4:07 remaining in the fourth quarter, the Celtics took their first lead in the game when Celtics' reserve Eddie House made an jumper. With House's shot, the Celtics were in the lead for good. The Celtics' victory in Game 4 was the largest comeback in the NBA Finals since . The Celtics bench outscored the Lakers bench 35–15, 29 of those points coming from House and James Posey. Kevin Garnett finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds in support of Allen (19) and Pierce (20). As in Game 4, the Lakers jumped out to an early lead, leading 43–24 with 11 minutes to play in the second quarter. And as in Game 4, the Celtics came back, taking a 62–60 lead behind the strong play of Paul Pierce. The Lakers finally regained their composure, outscoring Boston 24–18 in the 3rd quarter. In previous games, the Lakers were outscored by Boston in the 3rd quarter (22–31 in Game 1, 19–29 in Game 2, 17–25 in Game 3, and 15–31 in Game 4) by a total of 43 points (73–116). The Lakers built a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter, but the Celtics again came back with a 16–2 run to tie the game at 90. With less than one minute left in the game, the Celtics had the ball with the Lakers leading 97–95. Pierce beat Bryant off the drive, but Bryant knocked the ball out of Pierce's hands from behind. Lamar Odom picked up the loose ball and passed downcourt to Bryant for a breakaway dunk, giving the Lakers a 99–95 lead. The Lakers went on to win 103–98, sending the series back to Boston. Kobe Bryant had 25 points, to go with five steals. Pau Gasol contributed 19 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists, Odom 20 points and 11 rebounds. For Boston, Pierce had a memorable 38 point effort, but outside of Allen (16 points) and Garnett (13 points and 14 rebounds) did not receive enough support from his teammates to clinch the championship at Staples. As for the odds stacked against the Lakers to come back from a 3–1 deficit, Jackson said, "We're young enough and dumb enough to do this." Entering Game 6, the Celtics set a record of most playoff games played in one season, with 26, breaking the previous record of 25 set by both the 1994 New York Knicks, whom Celtics Coach Doc Rivers played for, and the 2005 Detroit Pistons, both of whom lost in their respective finals in seven games (Knicks in , Pistons in ). However, for the 1994 Knicks, the first round was a best- of-five. After a rocky first quarter, the Celtics dominated the rest of the game. Maintaining a lead of more than 25 points, the Celtics' Big Three performed phenomenally, while the whole team smothered the Lakers' offense with their tight defense. Boston dominated in numerous statistical categories, including rebounds (48–29, with a 14–2 disparity in offensive boards), turnovers (7–19), steals (18–4), assists (33–16) and blocks (4–0). Five Celtics finished in double figures. Ray Allen hit seven three-pointers to tie what was then the Finals record (which he subsequently broke during the 2010 NBA Finals against the Lakers during game two), Rajon Rondo had an all-around spectacular performance (21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 6 steals), the Celtics only turned the ball over seven times and set a Finals record with 18 steals, and every Boston player who saw action scored. The 39-point margin of victory was the largest ever in an NBA championship-clinching game, breaking the old record of 33, also set by the Celtics over the Lakers in Game Five of the 1965 NBA Finals, 129–96. This lead was close to the Finals point-spread record set in Game 3 in where a Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls team beat the Utah Jazz by 42 points, 96–54. The Celtics also improved their overall record against the Lakers to 9–2 in Finals meetings, beating them in the Finals for the first time since 1984. This was the Celtics' 17th championship, their first since , extending their record for most NBA championships won by a single team. All this capped off the Celtics' best regular season (66–16) since their previous championship season in which they went 67–15. It was also a sense of relief, as the Celtics set an NBA record for most playoff games ever needed to win a championship, with 26, surpassing the previous record of 24 by the Lakers in . The Celtics' win was also seen as an addition to the recent success of Boston-area sports teams, following the wins by the New England Patriots in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX (2001, 2003 and 2004 seasons) and the Red Sox's World Series wins in (death of the Curse of the Bambino) and . Later, the Bruins would win the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the Red Sox would win two more World Series titles in 2013, and in 2018, and the Patriots would win three more Super Bowls XLIX, LI, and LIII (2014, 2016, and 2018 seasons). The Celtics won this series by winning Games 1, 2, 4, and 6; coincidentally, the last time the two teams met in , the Lakers won that series in identical fashion. It was also the same identical fashion when the Celtics won the NBA Finals in before this championship. Boston Celtics | align="left" | || 6 || 6 || 41.0 || .507 || .524 || .867 || 5.0 || 2.5 || 1.3 || 0.7 || 20.3 Los Angeles Lakers | align="left" | || 5 || 0 || 7.0 || .556 || .333 || .500 || 1.8 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 0.2 || 2.6 Aside from ABC (U.S.) and TSN (Canada), other broadcasters across the world covered the Finals: : Canal 7, : ESPN, : Be 1 and Prime Sport 1, : Great Belize Television and Tropical Vision Limited (all games except games 2 and 5 joined in progress; Sunday games covered in full), : OBN, : ESPN Latin America, : TSN, NBA on ABC, : CCTV-5, several provincial broadcasters, : DK4 Sport, : Antena Latina, : Urheilukanava, : Sport+, : Premiere Sport, : Sport+, : Tele Caraibes, : ESPN, Cable TV Hong Kong Sports Channel, Star Sports, TVB HD, : Sport1, Sport2, : ESPN, : ESPN, Jak TV, Star Sports, : Sky sport : Sport 5, : J Sports Plus, NHK BS-1, SkyPerfecTV, : SBS Sports, Star Sports, : LTV7, : TVC, Middle East, North Africa: ART Sport 3, : Sport1, : C/S Sports on RPN, Basketball TV, : Canal+Sport1, : Sport TV 1, : NBA TV, : Canal +, Cuatro, : TV4 AB, : Videoland, : ESPN, : NTV, : Five, : Sport Plus, : Sky TV In the 2008–09 season the Celtics raced to a 27–2 start, the best through 29 games in NBA history, until that fateful finals rematch against the Lakers on Christmas Day ended a franchise-high 19-game winning streak. Then days after the All-Star Game Kevin Garnett injured his right knee, and was lost for the season. The Celtics won 62 games, but the absence of Garnett affected the team as they were eliminated in seven games by the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Lakers rebounded to win 65 games in the aforementioned season, then proceeded to win the NBA title in five games over the Magic. Even though another mid-season injury to Andrew Bynum threatened their title drive, he did come back late in the season. The Lakers became the first team since the 1988–89 Pistons to win the NBA Finals after losing it in the previous year. Both teams would eventually meet again in 2010 where the Lakers defeated the Celtics in seven games. The Celtics' 17th championship raised the total of major professional sports championships in Boston to 32, and it continued a string of championships for the city this decade. The NFL's New England Patriots won the Super Bowl in 2001, 2003 and 2004, and nearly won a fourth on Super Bowl XLII, only to have a perfect season denied by the New York Giants four months earlier. Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox won their second World Series title of the decade eight months earlier, adding their total to seven. With the NHL's Boston Bruins winning the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the city of Boston became the first city to win championships in all four major sports in a seven-year span. The city's total title tally now stands at 37. Celtics–Lakers rivalry, Curse of Len Bias – the alleged curse that had kept the Celtics from winning the NBA Finals since 1986, which was broken in this series.

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The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual professional baseball game sanctioned by Major League Baseball (MLB) contested between the All-Stars from the American League (AL) and National League (NL), currently selected by fans for starting fielders, by managers for pitchers, and by managers and players for reserves. The game usually occurs on either the second or third Tuesday in July, and is meant to mark a symbolic halfway-point in the MLB season (though not the mathematical halfway-point which, for most seasons, is usually found within the previous calendar week). Both of the major leagues share an All-Star break, with no regular-season games scheduled on the day before or two days after the All- Star Game itself. Some additional events and festivities associated with the game take place each year close to and during this break in the regular season. No official MLB All-Star Game was held in 1945 including the official selection of players due to World War II travel restrictions. Two All-Star Games were held each season from 1959 to 1962. The most recent All-Star Game was held on July 9, 2019, at Progressive Field, home of the American League's Cleveland Indians. The 2020 and 2021 All-Star Games are scheduled to be held in Los Angeles and Atlanta, respectively. The first All-Star Game was held on July 6, 1933, as part of the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, at Comiskey Park (1910–1990) and was initiated by Arch Ward, then sports editor for the Chicago Tribune. Initially intended to be a one- time event, its great success resulted in making the game an annual one. The venue for the All-Star Game is chosen by Major League Baseball. The criteria for the venue are subjective; generally, cities with new ballparks and those who have not hosted the game in a long time – or evertend to get selected. Over time, this has resulted in certain cities being selected more often at the expense of others, mainly due to timely circumstances: Cleveland Stadium and the original Yankee Stadium are tied for the most times a venue has hosted the All-Star game, both hosting four games. New York City has hosted more than any other city, having done so nine times in five different stadiums. At the same time, the New York Mets failed to host for 48 seasons (1965–2012), while the Los Angeles Dodgers have not hosted since 1980 () and will do so in 2020. Among current major league teams, the Tampa Bay Rays have yet to host the All- Star game. In the first two decades of the game there were two pairs of teams that shared ballparks, located in Philadelphia and St. Louis. This led to some shorter-than-usual gaps between the use of those venues: The Cardinals hosted the game in 1940, and the Browns in 1948. The Athletics hosted the game in 1943, and the Phillies in 1952. The venues traditionally alternated between the American League and National League every year. This tradition has been broken several times: The first time was in 1951, when the AL Detroit Tigers were chosen to host the annual game as part of the city's 250th birthday (corrected by the NL hosting the next two seasons). The second was when the two-game format during the 1959–1962 seasons resulted in the AL being one game ahead in turn. It was broken when again the NL hosted the four straight games from 2015–2018 (in Cincinnati, San Diego, Miami, and Washington), and will do so once again in 2020-2021 (in Los Angeles & Atlanta, respectively). The "home team" has traditionally been the league in which the host franchise plays its games, but the AL was designated the home team for the 2016 All Star Game, despite its being played in Petco Park, home of the NL's San Diego Padres. This was announced after the 2017 All Star Game was awarded to Miami, marking a third straight game hosted at an NL venue. This was done because, from 2003 to 2016, the league who won the All Star Game was given home field advantage in the World Series, and MLB did not want to allow the NL to have the last at bat in an All Star Game for three straight years. MLB ended this practice in 2017, and the All Star Game reverted to having the host team's league serve as the home team. Since 1934, the managers of the game are the managers of the previous year's league pennant winners and World Series clubs. The coaching staff for each team is selected by its manager. This honor is given to the manager, not the team, so it is possible that the All-Star manager could no longer be with the team with which he won. This happened in 2003, when Dusty Baker managed the National League team despite having moved from the National League champion San Francisco Giants to the Chicago Cubs. This has also included situations where the person is no longer actively managing a team. For the first All-Star Game, intended as a one-time event, Connie Mack and John McGraw were regarded as baseball's venerable managers, and were asked to lead the American and National League teams, respectively. McGraw came out of retirement for that purpose. Dick Williams resigned after managing the Oakland Athletics to the 1973 World Series. In 1974, he became manager of the California Angels, whose uniform he wore for the game. Tony La Russa, who managed the World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in 2011, and retired after the season, came back to manage the National League in 2012. In 1979, Bob Lemon managed the American League team after having been fired by New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Lemon led the Yankees to the 1981 World Series but did not make it to the '82 All-Star Game as manager after again being fired by Steinbrenner, so Billy Martin, skipper of the 1981 AL runner-up Oakland Athletics, led the All-Star squad. There have been some exceptional cases where the usual rule was abandoned. After the 1964 season and the World Series, the managers, Johnny Keane of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees, both left their teams and found new jobs in the other league – Keane was hired to manage the Yankees and Berra became a player-coach with the New York Mets. The Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds had finished in a second-place tie in the NL; the Chicago White Sox had finished second in the AL. Cincinnati's manager, Fred Hutchinson, had died in the off- season, so Gene Mauch of the Phillies and Al López of the White Sox were chosen to be the managers for the 1965 All-Star Game. The rule will need abandoning again in 2020, as the manager of the 2019 American League champion Houston Astros, A.J. Hinch, was suspended for the 2020 season (and subsequently fired by the Astros) for his role in the Astros' scandal involving the usage of video to steal signs. Because of the season-ending 1994–95 MLBPA strike where the season was abandoned without official league champions, the 1995 game featured the "unofficial" league champions, the managers of the clubs leading their respective leagues' won-loss records, Buck Showalter of the New York Yankees and Felipe Alou of the Montreal Expos for the All-Star Game. The All Star game roster size for each league was 18 in 1933, 20 in 1934, 25 in 1939, 30 in 1982, 32 in 2003, 33 in 2009, and 34 in 2010. Since 2018, there have been 34 players on each league's team roster. On April 29, 2010, MLB announced several rules changes for future All-Star games, effective with the 2010 edition. Rosters were expanded by one extra position player, to a total of 34., The designated hitter will be used in all games, even in National League ballparks., Pitchers who start on the Sunday before the game break will be replaced on the roster, but will still be recognized as All-Stars., Each manager may designate a position player who will be eligible for game re-entry if the last position player is injured or ejected. This is in addition to a rule that allows a player to re-enter to replace an injured or ejected catcher. The AL and NL All-Stars are selected through the following process: Fan voting (eight N.L. players; nine A.L. players): Baseball fans vote on the starting position players for the All-Star Game, with ballots formerly distributed at Major League Baseball games before mid-season and, as of 2015, exclusively on the Internet. In games with the designated hitter, the American League DH is also selected in this manner (and the National League DH is selected by the manager). Fan voting has been recently criticized because most of the starting players can come from teams that have large fan bases or passionate fan bases such as the Kansas City Royals and the Chicago Cubs., Player voting (16 players): Eight pitchers (five starters and three relievers) and one back-up player for each position are elected by the players, coaches, and managers. If the top vote-getter at a position has also been selected via fan voting, the second-place finisher in this category is selected., Manager selection (nine N.L. players; eight A.L. players): The manager of each league's All-Star team in consultation with the other managers in his league and the Commissioner's Office will fill his team's roster up to 33 players. The NL manager will also select his team's designated hitter. At this point, it is ensured that every team is represented by at least one player., Final vote (1 player): After the list of 33 players for each league is announced, fans vote (on the Internet) for one additional player, chosen from a list of 5 players that is compiled by the manager of each league's team and the Commissioner's Office., Replacements: After the roster is selected, the All-Star manager and the Commissioner's Office will replace players who are injured, decline to participate, and pitchers who started on the Sunday before the game. Since the first game, American League players have worn their respective team uniforms rather than wearing uniforms made specifically for the game, while National League players waited until the second game to do this. In the first game, the National League All-Star Team wore gray uniforms with navy blue letters spelling "NATIONAL LEAGUE" across the front of the jersey with "NL" caps. During the games of the 1970s and 1980s, alternate jerseys were commonly worn by players from the Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox. When the late 1980s and early 1990s approached, fewer alternates were worn for the games. They were back in use for the 1992 game by White Sox pitcher Jack McDowell and infielder Robin Ventura, and for the final time in the 1997 game by Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. & by San Diego Padres 3rd baseman Ken Caminiti. Under current MLB rules, alternate jerseys are no longer allowed to be worn during the game, as players must wear either their team's white or gray uniforms, depending on which league is the home team. Game-specific uniforms are made every year, but are not worn for the game itself. Instead these uniforms are worn during batting practice and the Home Run Derby. Starting with the 2014 All-Star Game, players began to wear special All-Star Game caps. For the workout, batting practice and Home Run Derby contest, players started using one type of cap with colors corresponding the league. For the All-Star Game day, players started wearing a cap with the team's logo on front and the All-Star Game logo on the right side. In 1933 and 1934, the fans selected the 18 starters for game and the managers chose the rest of the teams players. From 1935 through 1944 and in 1946, the manager of each All-Star squad selected the entire team; in 1945, no MLB All- Star Game was held and no All-Stars were officially named. In 1947, fans were given the opportunity to vote on the eight starting position players, but in 1957, fans of the Cincinnati Reds stuffed the ballot box (see below), and elected a Red to every position except first base. Commissioner Ford Frick stepped in and removed two Reds from the lineup. As a response to this unfairness, fan voting was discontinued; players, coaches, and managers were given the sole authority to elect starting position players, for the next dozen years. Between the lack of fan input and over-exposure due to the double All-Star games in 1959–1962, interest in the game was thought to be waning. As part of the rise of the MLB Promotion Corporation's attempts to modernize marketing of baseball, fan balloting for the starting eight was restored for the 1970 game. Sometime in the 1960s, the distinction between left-fielder, center-fielder, and right-fielder was dropped, and it was provided that the top 3 vote-getters in the outfield category would start regardless of position. Oft-heard remarks prior to this time included ones such as "If you had Clemente, you couldn't have Aaron", and so on. Rico Carty was the first player ever selected to an All-Star team as a write-in candidate by fans, in 1970, the first year that voting was given back to the fans. Steve Garvey was the second player ever selected to an All-Star team as a write-in candidate by fans, in 1974. He was later the Most Valuable Player of that game as well as the National League MVP for that year. Since 2002, the final roster selection has been made by the public via the All-Star Final Vote. Until 2003, reserves and pitchers were chosen by the manager. Player voting was re-introduced in 2003 after the managers were criticized for picking players from their own team over more deserving players from other teams. This was particularly evident in 2002, when National League manager Bob Brenly selected his own catcher, Damian Miller, over the more deserving Paul Lo Duca; while American League manager Joe Torre selected his own third baseman, Robin Ventura, over the Oakland Athletics' Gold Glove and Silver Slugger-winning third baseman Eric Chavez. Before the 2009 game, Major League Baseball announced that an additional pitcher would be added to each roster, bringing the total for each league to 33 players. The following year, MLB announced that an extra position player would be added to each roster for the 2010 game and beyond, bringing the total to 34 for each league. One continuing controversy of the player selection process is the rule that each team has to have at least one representative on its league's All-Star roster. Supporters of the rule point out that this prevents the large-market teams from totally dominating the squad, and keeps fan and media interest in the game, as fans would not be interested in the game if their team did not have any players involved. Opponents of the rule contend that the purpose of the game is to spotlight Major League Baseball's best players, and that some players from stronger teams are left off the roster in favor of possibly less deserving players from weaker teams. Both these arguments were strengthened by the greater urgency of winning the game, due to the former rule that the winning league attains home field advantage in the World Series. A number of compromises were suggested in the sports/news media as measures to mitigate these selection issues, including limiting the number of representatives a particular team could have; or requiring only that a certain percentage of the 30 teams be represented; or expanding the size of the All-Star rosters. The only exception is if a team trades its lone All-Star before the game; in this case, its league's All-Star Game manager is not required to include another player from that team. In 1957, fans of the Cincinnati Reds stuffed the ballot box and elected 7 Reds players to start in the All-Star Game: Johnny Temple (2B), Roy McMillan (SS), Don Hoak (3B), Ed Bailey (C), Frank Robinson (LF), Gus Bell (CF), and Wally Post (RF), and the only non-Red elected to start for the National League was St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Stan Musial. While the Reds were a good offensive team, most baseball observers agreed that they did not deserve seven starters in the All-Star Game. An investigation ordered by Commissioner Ford Frick showed that over half of the ballots cast came from Cincinnati, as the Cincinnati Enquirer had printed up pre-marked ballots and distributed them with the Sunday newspaper to make it easy for Reds fans to vote often for their favorite stars. Commissioner Ford Frick appointed Willie Mays of the New York Giants and Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves to substitute for Reds players Gus Bell and Wally Post, and took fan voting rights away in future games; Bell was kept as a reserve, while Post was injured and would have been unable to play in any event. Managers, players, and coaches picked the entire team until 1969, when the vote for starters again returned to the fans. To prevent a repeat of this incident, from 1970 until the start of internet voting, each team has been given the same number of ballots to hand out. In 1998, that number was roughly 400,000 ballots. The 1988 Game was surrounded by tacit accusations against Oakland A's fans of stuffing the ballot box in favor of catcher Terry Steinbach, whose qualifications as a starter were questioned by some sportswriters. Steinbach wound up being named the game's Most Valuable Player, hitting a home run and a sacrifice fly to get both RBIs in a 2–1 win. Since the dawn of the internet age, online voting has again led to ballot stuffing. In 1999, Chris Nandor, a Red Sox fan, utilized a simple computer program to vote for Nomar Garciaparra over 39,000 times. Upon discovery, MLB rejected the votes. In 2015, Kansas City Royals fans were accused of stuffing the ballot box when eight of their players (Salvador Pérez, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Kendrys Morales, Alex Gordon, and Omar Infante) were leading the ballots at their respective positions before the final tally was taken. Had this result stood, the only non-Royal in the American League's starting lineup would have been Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim player Mike Trout. This also would have been a record for the most players from one team starting in the All-Star game. However, after MLB cancelled 65 million votes deemed to be fraudulent, the final starting roster included only Salvador Pérez, Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, and Alex Gordon (Gordon would be replaced due to injury). The only other Royals to make the final lineup were Mike Moustakas, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis; Moustakas as the winner of the AL All-Star Final Vote while Herrera and Davis, both pitchers, were chosen through either Player Ballots or by Royals and AL Manager, Ned Yost. In 1989, a designated hitter was allowed in the All-Star Game for the first time. Between 1989 and 2010, the designated hitter rule was applied based on the league in which the host team plays; it was used for games played in American League ballparks in each such instance, both teams used a designated hitter while in National League ballparks, managers have scheduled the pitcher to hit, though pinch hitters have almost always been used in practice. This allows a deserving nonstarter to make a plate appearance. In 2010, Major League Baseball announced the designated hitter rule would apply for every All-Star Game; while the 2010 game was already to have the DH, the 2011 game was the first played in a National League park with a DH. The All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award is presented annually to the most outstanding player of each season's All-Star Game. Presented each year beginning in 1962 (two games were held in 1962 and an award was presented for each game), the MVP award was originally called the Arch Ward Memorial Award, after the man who came up with the concept of the All-Star Game in 1933. In 1970, the name was changed to the Commissioner's Trophy (two NL players were presented the award in 1975); however, the name change was reversed in 1985, so that the World Series Trophy (first awarded in 1967) could be renamed the Commissioner's Trophy. In 2002, the trophy itself retained its eponym, while the award itself was dedicated as The Ted Williams Most Valuable Player Award, in honor of former Boston Red Sox player Ted Williams, who had died earlier that year. The first tie in an All-Star Game occurred on July 31, 1961 at Fenway Park in Boston when the game was called at 1–1 after nine innings due to rain; the only other rain-shortened game was in 1952, but the National League defeated the American League, 3–2 in five innings. The 2002 All-Star Game, held in Milwaukee, ended in controversy in the 11th inning when both teams ran out of substitute players available to pitch in relief. At that point, Commissioner Bud Selig (a Milwaukee native and former owner of the Brewers) declared that the game would end after 11 innings, and it ended in a 7–all tie. The crowd booed and threw beer bottles onto the field, and the media were highly critical of this unsatisfactory conclusion. To provide additional incentive for victory, Major League Baseball reached an agreement with the players union to award home-field advantage for the to the champion of the league that won the All-Star Game, for 2003 and 2004. The agreement was extended for both 2005 and 2006, and it remained in place until 2016. Since 2017, home-field advantage has been awarded to the World Series team having the better regular season record. Previously, home-field advantage in the World Series alternated between the two leagues each year. The American League took advantage of the new rule in each of its first seven years: between 2003 and 2009, the American League won four Series and the National League won three. The National League champion benefited from this rule for the first time in 2010. Even with this rule in effect, there was no guarantee that a repeat of the 2002 situation would not occur; to avoid future ties due to lack of available players, managers have been instructed to (and have voluntarily) hold back a few select position players and pitchers. This has resulted in some fan dissatisfaction and controversy when these players are never actually used in the game, such as Tim Wakefield in the 2009 All-Star Game. Such a move has resulted in calls to allow limited re-entry of players who have been replaced during the game (in addition to catchers, which is already allowed), thereby giving the freedom to use all the players on the roster without leaving teams with the situation where no players are available, as was the case in 2002. Since 2010, each league's manager is allowed to designate one position player who can re- enter the game to replace an injured or ejected player at any position, in addition to the existing rule covering catchers. A tie game could also be deemed a "suspended game" in which case it would become a tie if no make-up date was scheduled, but it would be extremely difficult to find such a make-up date in any event as Major League Baseball would have to postpone one or more days of the regular season and/or schedule the make-up date on a travel day during the postseason, the latter which would be unfair to teams involved in the upcoming series. Since 2012, there have been off days for all teams on the Wednesday and Thursday after the All-Star Game, and if necessary, the game could be finished in the morning or afternoon on Wednesday/Thursday if the situation warranted it. Furthermore, various writers have stated that home- field advantage in the World Series should be decided based on the regular season records of the participants, not on an exhibition game such as the All- Star Game played several months earlier. Some writers especially questioned the integrity of this rule after the 2014 All-Star Game, when St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright suggested that he intentionally gave Derek Jeter some easy pitches to hit in the New York Yankees' shortstop's final All- Star appearance before he retired at the end of that season. 90 All-Star Games have been played (including two games per year from 1959–1962), with the AL leading 45–43–2. The All-Star Game has seen several "eras" in which one league tended to dominate. From 1933 to 1949, the American League won 12 of the first 16. The National League dominated from 1950 to 1987, going 33–8–1. This included a stretch from 1963 to 1982 when it won 19 of 20, including 11 in a row from 1972 to 1982. Since 1988, the American League has dominated, going 24–7–1, including a 13-game unbeaten streak (12–0–1) from 1997 to 2009. The AL has a 373–370 run advantage. The longest All-Star Game, in terms of innings, lasted 15 innings, which has occurred twice: 1967 and 2008; the latter of which was the longest game, with a total time of 4 hours and 50 minutes. Since 1963, the All-Star Game has been played on a Tuesday in July, with the following exceptions: In 1969, the game was rained out and moved to Wednesday afternoon, July 23 (making it the last afternoon game)., In 1981, it was moved to Sunday, August 9, because of the MLB players' strike; this was the only game to be played on a weekend, and the most recent game not held in the month of July., In 1983, the game was played on Wednesday night, July 6, at Chicago's Comiskey Park to celebrate the 50th year of the first All-Star Game (July 6, 1933) in the same location. The game was played at night for the first time in 1942, at the Polo Grounds, located in New York City. Since 1970 every ASG has been played under the lights, though when held at venues near enough to the west coast, the game starts in daylight in the late afternoon. In April 1945, with severe wartime travel restrictions in effect, the game scheduled to be played at Boston's Fenway Park was deferred to the next season. There were two All-Star Games played each season from 1959 through 1962. The second game was added to raise money for the MLB players' pension funds, as well as other causes. The experiment was later abandoned on the grounds that having two games watered down the appeal of the event. In 1981, the game was moved from July to August, after the middle portion of the 1981 season, including the scheduled All-Star break, had been erased by the MLB players' strike. To promote the resumption of the season, the game (in Cleveland) was moved from its original July date to August 9. Second-half regular-season play began the next afternoon with a game in Wrigley Field in Chicago. Since 1985, the Home Run Derby, a contest among home run hitters, has been held on the day before the All-Star Game. Since 1999, the All-Star Futures Game has been held during All-Star Week. The two teams, one consisting of young players from the United States and the other consisting of young players from all other nations, are usually chosen based on prospect status in the minor leagues. Since 2001, the All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game pits teams with a mixture of former stars from the host team's past, as well as celebrities from music, film, and television. This game is held during the day prior to the Home Run Derby. (However, it is tape-delayed and broadcast after the Derby.) Since 2002, the ESPY Awards ceremony has been conducted on the Wednesday in July following the game. Because none of the major North American professional leagues have games scheduled for that day the National Basketball Association, National Football League, and National Hockey League are not in-season, MLB does not have games that day, and likewise college sports are on summer vacation major sports figures are available to attend. The show used to air on the subsequent Sunday five days later, with the results announced on ESPN.com and thereafter across media outlets immediately after taping was complete. Since 2010, the ESPY Awards are shown live (the first time was 2003); this helps the network fill airtime that would go unfilled because of the lack of any major league or high-level college sporting events. All-Star firsts First All-Star inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame - Babe Ruth, 1936, First rookie All-Star - Willard Marshall, 1942, First All-Star of African descent - Roy Campanella, Larry Doby, Don Newcombe, and Jackie Robinson: 1949, First All-Star Game MVP - Maury Wills, 1962 All-Star Game records (1959-1962 seasons had two All-Star Games and 1945 season no All-Star Game) Most All-Star Game appearance seasons - Hank Aaron, 21, Most All-Star Games - Hank Aaron, 25, Most All-Star Game MVP Awards - Willie Mays, Steve Garvey, Gary Carter, Cal Ripken, Jr., and Mike Trout: 2, Most All-Star Game hits - Willie Mays, 23, Most All-Star Game runs batted in - Ted Williams, 12, Most All-Star Game home runs - Stan Musial, 6, Most All-Star Game grand slams - Fred Lynn, 1, Most All-Star Game stolen bases - Willie Mays, 6, Most All-Star Game wins - Lefty Gomez, 3, Most All-Star Game strikeouts - Don Drysdale, 19 List of Major League Baseball All-Star Games, List of Major League Baseball All-Star Game broadcasters, Major League Baseball All-Star Game records, Triple-A All-Star Game and its players who have also played in the MLB game Similar events: MLS All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, NFL Pro Bowl Game, NHL All-Star Game All-Star Games by Baseball Almanac : A Midsummer Classic Analysis, Major League Baseball : Events : All-Star Game, The Sporting News: History of the MLB All-Star Game, 165 Home Runs in All-Star Game History, Major League Baseball All-Star Games at Baseball Reference The 1964 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 35th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL), the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 7, 1964, at Shea Stadium in New York City, New York, home of the New York Mets of the National League. The game was a 7–4 victory for the NL. Johnny Callison hit a walk-off home run, the most recent MLB All-Star game to end in such a fashion. National League starter Don Drysdale gave up a leadoff single to Jim Fregosi, who scored on a passed ball and single by Harmon Killebrew. The NL took the lead in the fourth on a pair of home runs by Billy Williams and Ken Boyer off AL reliever John Wyatt, then made it 3–1 in the fifth on a Roberto Clemente single and Dick Groat double off Camilo Pascual. The score was tied in the sixth when Mickey Mantle and Killebrew singled and scored on a Brooks Robinson triple to right-center. The AL regained the lead 4–3 in the seventh. Elston Howard was hit by a pitch by Turk Farrell, took third on a Rocky Colavito double and scored on Fregosi's sacrifice fly. It remained 4–3 until the bottom of the ninth. Dick Radatz issued a leadoff walk to Willie Mays, who stole second. Orlando Cepeda singled him home with the tying run and took second on an error. With Curt Flood pinch-running for Cepeda and Johnny Edwards on first with an intentional walk, Johnny Callison's three-run homer to deep right field ended the game. Players in italics have since been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. x – replaced due to injury y – replacement for injured player Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference.com The 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 87th edition of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The game was hosted by the San Diego Padres and was played at Petco Park on July 12, 2016. It was televised nationally on Fox. The American League All-Stars defeated the National League All-Stars by a score of 4–2 to win home field advantage for the 2016 World Series (which went to the Cleveland Indians). This was also the last time home-field advantage for the World Series was determined by the outcome of the All-Star Game. The host city was announced on January 15, 2015, by then-Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. This was the third time the city of San Diego hosted the All-Star Game and the first time since 1992. Eric Hosmer, an infielder for the Kansas City Royals, was named the 2016 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. The Baltimore Orioles were also in line for hosting the game. Former Commissioner Bud Selig said that Baltimore was a prime candidate to host the event, but the Padres ended up with the game. Petco Park opened in 2004 and hosted the 2006 World Baseball Classic championship round. Because National League parks had been selected to host four straight games from 2015-2018, skipping an American League park in 2016 and 2018 in the traditional alternating system, the AL team was designated as the home team. Balloting for the 2016 All-Star Game starters began online April 24 and ended on June 30. The top vote-getters at each position (including the designated hitter for the American League) and the top three among outfielders, were named the starters for their respective leagues. The results were announced on July 5. Salvador Pérez was the leading vote-getter with 4,965,838 votes. After the rosters are finalized, a second ballot of five players per league was created for the All-Star Final Vote to determine the 34th and final player of each roster. The online balloting was conducted from July 5 through July 8. The winners of the All-Star Final Vote were Michael Saunders of the American League's Toronto Blue Jays and Brandon Belt of the National League's San Francisco Giants. The NL got off to a quick start against Chris Sale when Kris Bryant homered in the top of the first. In the bottom of the second inning, the AL got to Johnny Cueto when Eric Hosmer homered to left to tie the game. Two batters later, Salvador Pérez hit a two-run shot to give the AL a 3–1 lead. In the bottom of the third, after walking, David Ortiz was replaced by Edwin Encarnación and left the field to a standing ovation in his final all-star game. The AL would tack on another run in this inning when Hosmer hit an RBI single off José Fernández, driving in Encarnacion to give the AL a 4–1 lead. The NL shrunk the lead with an RBI single by Marcell Ozuna in the top of the fourth off Aaron Sanchez. However, this would be all the runs scored in the game, as the National League stranded 10 baserunners throughout the game. In the top of the eighth, the NL loaded the bases, but could not capitalize when Aledmys Díaz struck out looking against Will Harris to end the frame. In the ninth, Zach Britton got Nolan Arenado to ground into a double play to secure the 4–2 victory for the American League. Umpires: Home Plate – Mike Winters; First Base – Kerwin Danley; Second Base – Marty Foster; Third Base – Bill Welke; Left Field – Adrian Johnson; Right Field – Dan Bellino; Replay Official – Sam Holbrook Weather: Temperature: , clear; Wind: 9 mph from left to right Time of Game: 3:05 Attendance: 42,386 Prior to the game, The Tenors performed the Canadian national anthem, "O Canada". As in many previous years, the performance of the Canadian anthem was replaced in the Fox broadcast in the United States with commercial break of the Fox broadcast prior to the singing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" in a performance by Rachel Platten, but it was carried on ESPN Radio in the U.S. and Sportsnet in Canada. During a solo, group member Remigio Pereira altered the lyrics to "O Canada" to reference the Black Lives Matter movement, singing "We're all brothers and sisters, all lives matter to the great". The English lyric normally sung at that point is "With glowing hearts we see thee rise, the True North strong and free;" however the remainder of the lyrics sung were in keeping with the official bilingual (English-French) version. Later that evening, Pereira, a co-founder of the group, was denounced by the group as a "lone wolf", leading to an announcement that he would not be performing with The Tenors until further notice. List of Major League Baseball All-Star Games, All-Star Futures Game, Home Run Derby Official website of the All-Star Game, 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at ESPN

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Foreigner is a British–American rock band, originally formed in New York City & London in 1976 by veteran English musician and ex–Spooky Tooth member Mick Jones, and fellow Briton and ex–King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm. Jones came up with the band's name as he, McDonald and Dennis Elliott were British, while Gramm, Al Greenwood and Ed Gagliardi were American. Their biggest hit single, "I Want to Know What Love Is", topped the United Kingdom and United States charts among others. Another one of their hit singles, "Waiting for a Girl Like You", peaked at number two on the US chart for a record-setting 10 weeks. They are one of the world's best-selling bands of all time with worldwide sales of more than 80 million records, including 37.5 million records in the US. Since its beginning, Foreigner has been led by English musician Mick Jones (former member of Nero and the Gladiators, Johnny Hallyday's band, Spooky Tooth and The Leslie West Band). After the collapse of the Leslie West Band in 1976, Jones found himself stranded in New York City; West's manager, Bud Prager, encouraged Jones to continue his songwriting and rehearse a band of his own in some space Prager had near his New York office. Jones got together with New York keyboardist Al Greenwood (who had just played with former Flash members Colin Carter and Mike Hough in a group called Storm), drummer Stan Williams and Louisiana bassist Jay Davis (later with Rod Stewart) and began jamming. Another friend, Stories singer Ian Lloyd, was brought in to sing but Jones decided the chemistry was not quite right and retained only Greenwood as he renewed his search for players. During a session for Ian Lloyd's album, Jones met up with transplanted Englishman and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald and another session for Ian Hunter unearthed another fellow Brit in drummer Dennis Elliott. But after auditioning about forty or fifty singers, the right vocalist was becoming harder to come by until Jones dragged out an old Black Sheep album given to him backstage at a Spooky Tooth concert a few years prior by that group's lead singer, Lou Gramm. Jones put in a call to Gramm, who was back in his hometown of Rochester, New York after Black Sheep's break-up, and sent him a plane ticket to New York City. Gramm proved to be the missing piece of the puzzle and Brooklyn, New York bassist Ed Gagliardi completed the new sextet. A name, "Trigger", was tentatively agreed to and was the name that appeared on their demo tape, but it was passed on by all the record companies it was delivered to. John Kalodner, a former journalist and radio programmer who was working in A&R; at Atlantic Records, happened to spot a tape on Atlantic president Jerry L. Greenberg's desk with the Trigger identification on it. Kalodner had just been to hear an outfit called Trigger and realized that this was not the same band. He convinced Greenberg that at least one of the songs on the tape could be a big hit and to look into signing this group immediately. Because the Trigger name was already taken, Jones came up with the Foreigner moniker from the fact that no matter what country they were in, three would be foreigners, because he, McDonald and Elliott were English, while Gramm, Greenwood and Gagliardi were American. In November 1976, after six months of rehearsals, the newly named Foreigner started recording their debut album with producers John Sinclair and Gary Lyons at The Hit Factory but switched to Atlantic Recording Studios where they finished recording the basic tracks and completed the overdubs. The first attempt at mixing the album was done at Sarm Studios, London. But, because of the band's dissatisfaction with the results, the album was re-mixed back at Atlantic by Mick Jones, Ian McDonald and Jimmy Douglass. Bud Prager signed on as the group's manager, a role he would continue in for the next 17 years. The band's debut, Foreigner, was released in March 1977 and sold more than four million copies in the United States, staying in the Top 20 for a year with such hits as "Feels Like the First Time", "Cold as Ice" and "Long, Long Way from Home". By May 1977, Foreigner was already headlining theaters and had already scored a gold record for the first album. Not long afterwards, they were selling out U.S. basketball arenas and hockey rinks. After a show at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas on May 6, 1977, drummer Elliott injured his hand, prompting the band to call in Ian Wallace (ex-King Crimson) to play alongside Elliott on some of the dates until the hand was healed. After almost a year on the road, the band played before over two hundred thousand people at California Jam II on March 18, 1978 and during the following month, the band toured Europe, Japan and Australia for the first time. Their second album, Double Vision (released in June 1978), co-produced by Keith Olsen, topped their previous, selling five million records and spawned hits in "Hot Blooded", the title track "Double Vision" and "Blue Morning, Blue Day". Album number three, Head Games (September 1979), co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker, which was referred to by Gramm as their "grainiest" album, was also successful because of the thunderous "Dirty White Boy" and another title track hit "Head Games". For Head Games, bassist Ed Gagliardi was replaced by Englishman Rick Wills. In his autobiography, Juke Box Hero (named after the seminal Foreigner song), Gramm explains why the band parted ways with Gagliardi: "He was a little headstrong and had his own ideas that weren't always compatible with what we were trying to accomplish. Ed was obstinate at times, playing the song the way he wanted to play it rather than the way it was drawn up. Jones often had to stop sessions to get Ed back on track. After a while it became tiresome and slowed down the recording process." Gramm went on to say that he was disappointed overall with Head Games and thought it sounded unfinished. It ended up selling about two million fewer than its predecessor. In a 2015 interview with Classicrockrevisited, Gramm explains his thoughts about why Head Games sold less than the first two: "The big change in the band happened after Head Games and before Foreigner 4. We were really aware that Head Games didn't sell nearly as much as the first album or Double Vision. Part of that was because of the cover. The song "Head Games" was banned by a lot of radio stations after the cover of the album came out. Today, that would not have even been a problem. But in the Bible Belt, the cover of the cute little girl in the boys' bathroom erasing her number off the wall...They didn't see the humor in that. It wasn't supposed to even be sexy. She was sexy...she was cute. It was just the time and the place of what she was doing that was supposed to leave the impression. She was erasing her phone number off the wall of the boys' bathroom and that's all it was. A big deal was made out of that and it really hurt our sales." In September 1980 co-founders Al Greenwood and Ian McDonald were sacked as Jones wished to have more control over the band and write most of the music (along with Gramm). In his book, Gramm goes on to talk about this difficult time: "The chemistry that made the band right in the beginning didn't necessarily mean it would always be right. I think a pretty major communication lapse appeared and I don't think anybody really knew what anybody was feeling—the deep, inner belief about the direction of the band and how we were progressing. We had reached a point where there was a lot of dissatisfaction". In the liner notes for the 2000 release, Juke Box Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology, Jones went on to elaborate further: "Ian McDonald, who I consider a great musician and multi-instrumentalist, began to focus more and more on guitar playing, while I believed his true talent lay more in the dimensional and creative imagery he gave the first two albums. Al Greenwood, our keyboard wiz and a very important part of the Foreigner sound at the beginning, had also started to focus more on songwriting. Although both their contributions to the band had been vital, a conflict was developing about the musical direction of the band. I just felt we needed to clarify it. So Lou, Rick, Dennis and I made the decision, and that's when we went down to four." And according to McDonald in a 1999 interview, "Mick and Lou decided they wanted to be the focus of the band. Mick wanted to make it more apparent that it was his group, so he decided to make a smaller group. That was his decision. I wouldn't have left—I loved the group, it was not my decision." McDonald noted that there was much creative compromise working in the band and that he did more than he received credit for, much as he did in King Crimson. McDonald stated that "he had a lot to do with the making of those records and the arrangements and the creating of those songs, more than is probably apparent. I did a lot that went uncredited, which I was happy to do though. When you're in a group you must contribute as much as you can. I was happy to do that. But as I said, it maybe didn't appear that I was doing as much as I in fact was. I had a lot to do with that group... as well as... Mick Jones, obviously, and everyone else—I'm not trying to take all the credit, but I'm just saying that I was there, I was involved, and I loved it." The band was now stripped down to a quartet, with session players brought in as needed to record or tour (see below for complete list of members). Greenwood soon joined Gagliardi to form the AOR band Spys, with John Blanco, Billy Milne and John DiGaudio. The band released two albums, an eponymous debut, and the follow-up Behind Enemy Lines. In the meantime, Foreigner began work on the next album at Electric Lady Studios in New York City with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, engineered by Dave Wittman (currently with Trans-Siberian Orchestra). 4 (released in July 1981) contained the hits "Urgent" (which includes the famous Junior Walker sax solo), "Waiting for a Girl Like You", "Juke Box Hero" and "Break it Up". Before releasing albums of his own, Thomas Dolby played synthesizers on 4 (he contributed the signature synth sound on "Urgent" and played the intro to "Waiting for a Girl Like You"). For their 1981–82 tour in support of 4, the group added Peter Reilich (keyboards, synthesizers, who had played with Gary Wright), former Peter Frampton band member Bob Mayo (keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, backing vocals) and Mark Rivera (sax, flute, keyboards, synthesizers, guitar, backing vocals). Mayo and Rivera had also appeared on the sessions for 4. Reilich was dropped in May 1982 but Mayo and Rivera continued with the band through 1988. Their next album, Agent Provocateur, co-produced by Alex Sadkin, was released successfully in December 1984 and gave them their first and only No. 1 hit in 1985 (in the US, UK, Australia, Norway, Sweden, etc.), "I Want to Know What Love Is", a ballad backed by Jennifer Holliday and the New Jersey Mass Choir. The song was their biggest U.S. hit. "That Was Yesterday" was the next single from the album in early 1985 and proved to be another sizable hit. During their 1985 summer/fall tour, Foreigner appeared at the very first Farm Aid on September 22 in Champaign, Illinois. In between his Foreigner commitments, Jones also started a side career as a producer for such albums as Van Halen's 5150 (1986), Bad Company's Fame and Fortune (1986) and Billy Joel's Storm Front (1989). In December 1987 Foreigner released Inside Information, spawning hits such as "Say You Will" and "I Don't Want to Live Without You". On May 14, 1988 the band headlined Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden, culminating with "I Want to Know What Love Is", in which the likes of Phil Collins, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Roberta Flack and other Atlantic artists joined in, singing in the choir. Later during the summer, the band went back on the road but the touring for Inside Information was limited to Europe, Japan and Australia. For this tour, Rivera and Mayo were not available, so Larry Oakes (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, backing vocals) and Lou Cortelezzi (sax) augmented the quartet of Gramm, Jones, Elliott and Wills. In the late 1980s, Jones and Gramm each put out solo efforts on Atlantic. Gramm released Ready or Not in January 1987 and shortly after its release, rehearsals for Foreigner's next album had started but ground to a halt as Gramm's status with the group was uncertain. But after the promotion and concert dates for Gramm's album were finished, cooler heads prevailed and Lou rejoined Foreigner in the studio for Inside Information, which was out at the end of 1987. Jones had Mick Jones in August 1989, then Gramm followed with his second solo release, Long Hard Look (October 1989), and decided to leave the group in May 1990 while preparing to tour behind Long Hard Look as the opener for Steve Miller Band. After finishing this tour, Gramm went on to form the short-lived band Shadow King, which put out one eponymous album on Atlantic in October 1991. Meanwhile, Jones brought in a new lead singer, Johnny Edwards (formerly of the bands Buster Brown, Montrose, King Kobra, Northrup and Wild Horses). Edwards made his first live appearance with Foreigner at the Long Island club Stephen Talkhouse on August 15, 1990, where he, Jones, Dennis Elliott and Rick Wills appeared, joined by special guests Terry Thomas (on guitar, who produced their next album) and Eddie Mack on harmonica. The new edition of Foreigner released the album Unusual Heat in June 1991. This was at the time their worst-selling album and only climbed as high as No. 117 on the Billboard 200, although "Lowdown and Dirty" was a minor mainstream rock hit, reaching No. 4 on that chart. In July 1991 the new lineup of Foreigner played some European dates then made its official U.S. debut on August 9 performing on the second night of a Billy Joel benefit concert at Deep Hollow Ranch in Montauk, New York to raise funds for the preservation of Montauk Point Lighthouse. For their 1991 tour, Jeff Jacobs, who had played in Joel's band, was brought in as the new keyboardist and Mark Rivera returned. But during the fall leg of this tour, Elliott decided to leave the group after a concert at The Ritz in NYC on November 14, 1991 and embark on a career as a wood sculptor. Larry Aberman was then recruited as a temporary replacement until Mark Schulman arrived in 1992 to hold down the drum throne for the next three years. Scott Gilman (guitar, sax, flute) joined the touring band in 1992 and Thom Gimbel took over from Gilman and Rivera in late 1992 after they departed. When Gimbel went to Aerosmith in 1993, Gilman returned to handle the guitar/sax/flute duties until Gimbel came back permanently in the spring of 1995. During the Los Angeles riots, inside the confines of the Sunset Marquis Hotel in West Hollywood, where Mick Jones had gone to meet with Lou Gramm, they both ended up sequestered by a city curfew. They decided to use their time together resurrecting their partnership. "I flew to Los Angeles, during the riots," says Gramm. "We got flown to John Wayne Airport instead of LAX because they were shooting at the planes. Mick and I were holed up in the Sunset Marquis in L.A., with armed security guards walking around on the roof. It was a little weird, to say the least." Gramm ended up rejoining Foreigner, bringing along his Shadow King bandmate bassist Bruce Turgon to replace bassist Wills (who'd left after the band's 1991 tour after a falling out with Jones) and co- produced the band's second greatest hits album, The Very Best ... and Beyond (September 1992), which included three new songs. In October 1994 Foreigner released what was supposed to be a comeback album, Mr. Moonlight, in Japan. Featuring new drummer Mark Schulman and augmented by a fifth member, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs, this album was not released in the U.S. until February 1995 and fared even worse than Unusual Heat. It only peaked at No. 136 on the Billboard 200, although the ballad "Until the End of Time" was a minor hit, reaching No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. In January 1995 Ron Wikso (who had played in The Storm with former Journey members Gregg Rolie and Ross Valory) took over percussion duties from Schulman, and Brian Tichy succeeded Wikso in 1998 before Schulman would return in 2000. In 1997 Gramm underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. The medications he was prescribed caused considerable weight gain and weakened his singing voice. By 1998, the band was back on the road, but Gramm was visibly struggling and it would take him several years to get back to the point where he felt comfortable on stage. In the summer of 1999, Foreigner went on tour as the opening act for Journey and the following summer, Jeff Jacobs had to leave the road for a short time during the band's 2000 summer tour while his wife was giving birth to their child. Keyboardist John Purdell (who had been co-producer of the new tracks on their 1992 album The Very Best of ... and Beyond) stepped in to sub for Jacobs until he was able to return. In 2001 the Warner Music Group selected Foreigner and 4 to be among the first group of albums from their catalog to be remastered, enhanced and released in the new DVD Audio format. In 2002 the 25th Anniversary Year brought affirmation of the enduring respect for Foreigner recordings with Rhino Entertainment reissuing the 1977 to 1981 multi-platinum albums in special enhanced formats. Foreigner, Double Vision, Head Games and 4 received the attention of Rhino's staff with new photos, liner notes and bonus tracks of previously unreleased material. New greatest hits albums were also produced in the U.S. and in Europe. The U.S. version reached No. 80 on the Billboard 200 Album chart. For the group's 25th Anniversary Tour in 2002, they were joined by former Heart and Montrose beat keeper Denny Carmassi. In late October/early November, then December, of 2002, Foreigner played in Belgium and Germany at the annual Night of the Proms festival. It was the last time that Lou Gramm and Mick Jones would play together until June 2013. Gramm would leave the group in early 2003. Jones stated that he and Gramm split because they weren't communicating: "I think we really tried hard to save it, but it got to the point when we both realized that to go on would be detrimental for both of us." Jones, the founder and only remaining original member of Foreigner, decided to take some time off before looking to form a new lineup in 2004. On July 25, 2004 in Santa Barbara, California at Fess Parker's DoubleTree Resort, Jones appeared at a benefit show for muscular dystrophy dubbed "Mick Jones & Friends" that included: Jeff Jacobs, Thom Gimbel, former Dokken bass player Jeff Pilson, future Black Country Communion drummer Jason Bonham (son of Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham and leader of Bonham) and Bonham singer Chas West. West was front man for that show only. Inspired by the event and further encouraged by Jason Bonham, Jones continued the search for a new frontman. He would eventually find former Hurricane singer Kelly Hansen, who had sent the band an audition tape and was invited aboard in March 2005, making his debut with the group on March 11 at Boulder Station near Las Vegas. Their 2005 BMG album, Extended Versions, featured the new line-up playing all their classic hits live in concert in one of the most "studio like, clean sounding" live album recordings produced. Foreigner joined Def Leppard along with Styx on tour in 2007. They also toured extensively in their own right in 2007—the thirtieth anniversary of the release of their debut. In late 2007, keyboardist Jeff Jacobs left Foreigner after 16 years and was replaced, first by Paul Mirkovich then by Michael Bluestein (in 2008). And in 2008, Bonham also parted ways with Foreigner. Bryan Head was then brought in to fill the drum chair. But his tenure was short and he also departed to be replaced by the returning Tichy. The band released a greatest hits anthology on July 15, 2008, titled No End in Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner. The anthology included all of their greatest hits plus some new live recordings and a new studio track, "Too Late", which was their first new song release since the 1994 album Mr. Moonlight and the first recorded output of the new lineup. "Too Late" was released as a single on June 17, 2008. Foreigner released a new album on September 29, 2009, titled Can't Slow Down. It was one of several recent classic rock releases (AC/DC, the Eagles, Journey and Kiss being four others) to be released exclusively through the Walmart stores chain in the US, while in Europe the album was released by earMUSIC (a label part of the Edel group), charting top 20 in Germany (16) and Top 30 in Switzerland. Can't Slow Down debuted at #29 on the Billboard 200. The first two singles from the album, "When It Comes to Love" and "In Pieces" both reached the Top 20 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart. In 2010 it was awarded a gold certification from the Independent Music Companies Association, which indicated sales of at least 100,000 copies throughout Europe. In early 2010, Foreigner teamed up with Styx and Kansas for the United in Rock Tour. On May 4, 2010 it was announced that Brian Tichy's replacement as drummer would be Jason Sutter. Jason Sutter's time with the band was short as he left by 2011. Mark Schulman then returned to Foreigner for his third go-round as drummer. On February 20, 2011 the band played for the first time in Bangalore, India along with sitar player Niladri Kumar. In June 2011 Foreigner (again along with Styx) co-headlined with Journey on their UK tour. After this, they joined up with Journey and Night Ranger on a triple bill summer/fall tour of the US. For some dates of this tour, Brian Tichy filled in for Foreigner's drummer Mark Schulman when he was not available. From August 19 to September 10, 2011, Night Ranger guitarist Joel Hoekstra did double duty playing for NR as well as subbing for Jones, who had taken ill. Right after this, guitarist Bruce Watson (ex-Rod Stewart) was brought in as Jones' stand-in for the tour's remaining dates and continued to tour with the group when they hit the road again in February 2012 after Jones underwent aortoiliac bypass surgery in Miami. On October 4, 2011 Foreigner released Acoustique, which presented their best and most famous songs, along with some newer tracks, recorded in stripped-down acoustic mode. In May 2012 after being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, Bluestein was forced to take a leave of absence from the band. His stand in on keyboards was Ollie Marland. Bluestein was able to return to the group in August 2012 and Tichy once again rejoined in the interim until his schedule with Whitesnake called him away. In September 2012, the man Tichy replaced in Whitesnake, Chris Frazier, became Foreigner's new percussionist. On August 31, 2012 after over a year away, Jones returned to the concert stage at Atlanta's Chastain Park. Guitarist Watson, in the meantime, stayed on until Jones was able to return to full health. At this very same show, keyboardist Derek Hilland (ex-Iron Butterfly, Whitesnake and Rick Springfield) came on board to sub for Bluestein for the group's late summer/fall tour dates and again during the winter/spring of 2013 until Bluestein was able to return. On January 9, 2013 the band's original drummer, Dennis Elliott, joined Foreigner on stage at the Hard Rock Cafe in Hollywood, Florida to play on "Hot Blooded". In addition to touring small clubs and venues, the band frequently is engaged for private parties and conventions, including playing at SeaWorld in Orlando for an IBM Rational Conference (June 6, 2012), at the Gaylord convention center in Washington, D.C. for the Teradata Partners 2012 conference (October 25, 2012) and at SAP's Field Kickoff Meeting in Las Vegas (January 23, 2013). On June 13, 2013 at the 44th Annual Songwriters Hall of Fame Award Ceremony, Jones and Gramm were officially inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Billy Joel was on hand to induct Jones and Gramm, singing snippets of Foreigner's hits in his introduction speech. Jones said he was proud as the honor makes his work "legit". The duo then took stage one more time and, along with Thom Gimbel and the house band, performed "Juke Box Hero" and "I Want to Know What Love Is" with Anthony Morgan's Inspirational Choir of Harlem—a performance that brought the entire audience to its feet. In 2014 Foreigner teamed up with Styx and former Eagles guitarist Don Felder for the Soundtrack of Summer Tour. Original bassist Ed Gagliardi died on May 11, 2014, aged 62, after an eight-year battle with cancer. Although discussions of an original member reunion had been proposed, the original band had not performed together since 1979. On June 18, 2014 Foreigner teamed up with the Brockton High School concert choir at the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston, MA. They performed one of their greatest hits: I Want To Know What Love Is. On January 12, 2015 in Sarasota, Florida, Foreigner were joined on stage by original drummer Dennis Elliott and former bassist Rick Wills to play "Hot Blooded". In Hartford, Connecticut on June 24, 2015, Foreigner began a summer tour as the opening act for Kid Rock. Foreigner appeared on the "Today Show" on February 11, 2016 along with the choir from Our Lady of Mercy Academy to promote their Acoustic Tour and the release of their new album, In Concert: Unplugged. On Saturday September 24, 2016, Foreigner performed before an estimated 20,000+ people at the 100th anniversary of the Durham Fair in Durham, Connecticut. The encore song "I Want to Know What Love Is" utilized the local Coginchaug High School concert choir for backup—their performance having been rehearsed with the band via Skype during the previous months. In a 2016 interview, Jones talked about a possible 40th-anniversary reunion tour, featuring the Head Games-era lineup: "It's quite possible. We've actually been talking about it. I'm not at a point where I can say it's definitely gonna happen, but we're all working on trying to make it happen. It's kind of exciting. And hopefully it'll be feasible and possible to pull it off next year (2017). Lou (Gramm) and I have communicated and we've kept up a sort of loose communication as I have actually also with Ian McDonald, Al Greenwood, Dennis Elliott and Rick Wills. We're at the early stages, but we're trying to put something together to commemorate (it's scary when I say it) 40 years." On November 25, 2016, in celebration of their 40th anniversary, Foreigner released a limited-edition 10-inch vinyl EP, The Flame Still Burns, on Rhino Records for Record Store Day's Black Friday event. The EP's track listing contained the title song (which had previously appeared on Foreigner's Acoustique album and had earlier been featured in the 1998 film Still Crazy) plus live unplugged versions of "Feels Like The First Time", "Long, Long Way From Home" and "Juke Box Hero". On July 20, 2017, at Jones Beach Theater in New York, the current Foreigner lineup were joined for their encore by Lou Gramm, Ian McDonald and Al Greenwood to help celebrate the band's 40th anniversary and Greenwood and McDonald came back the following year to take the stage with the group for their Jones Beach show on June 22, 2018. Dennis Elliott likewise joined his old mates for two songs at Foreigner's show on August 2, 2017, at MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre in Tampa, Florida. Another reunion was announced for a pair of shows to take place on October 6–7, 2017, at the Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where the group was set to be joined again by Lou Gramm, Dennis Elliott, Al Greenwood, Ian McDonald and Rick Wills. The concerts were filmed for future release, appearing on PBS stations in the U.S. on June 8, 2018. In a July 2018 interview with OC Weekly, bassist Jeff Pilson said that Foreigner has no plans to release a new studio album, but will continue to release singles periodically. On November 9, 2018, all surviving original members of Foreigner came on stage to play alongside the current line-up for a show at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, beginning a series of "Foreigner Then and Now" concerts set to run through the end of the year. In October 2019, the group was slated once again to be joined by the surviving original players for a handful of shows as the Double Vision: Then And Now tour. However, on October 2, it was announced that Lou Gramm would not be taking part in these dates due to illness. Foreigner announced a 2020 summer tour with support from Kansas and Europe called "Juke Box Heroes" in reference to the song of the same name. Mick Jones – lead and rhythm guitars, keyboards, backing and lead vocals, Thom Gimbel – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals, saxophone, flute, Jeff Pilson – bass, backing vocals, Kelly Hansen – lead vocals, percussion, Michael Bluestein – keyboards, backing vocals, Bruce Watson – rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals, Chris Frazier – drums, percussion Foreigner (1977), Double Vision (1978), Head Games (1979), 4 (1981), Agent Provocateur (1984), Inside Information (1987), Unusual Heat (1991), Mr. Moonlight (1994), Can't Slow Down (2009) List of best-selling music artists, List of number-one hits (United States), List of number-one albums (United States), List of best-selling albums in the United States, List of artists who reached number one in the United States, List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart Lou Gramm's official website Lou Gramm (born Louis Andrew Grammatico; May 2, 1950) is an American rock singer-songwriter, best known for being the original lead singer of the rock band Foreigner. Louis Andrew Grammatico was born on May 2, 1950, in Rochester, New York, the son of Nikki (nee Masetta), a singer, and Bennie Grammatico, a band leader and trumpeter. He attended Gates-Chili High School in Rochester, graduating with the class of 1968. Gramm became front man for the band Black Sheep. Black Sheep was the first American band signed to the Chrysalis label, which released their first single, "Stick Around" (1974). Soon after this initial bit of success, Black Sheep signed with Capitol Records, releasing two albums in succession: Black Sheep (1975) and Encouraging Words (late 1975). They were the opening act for Kiss when an icy accident with their equipment truck on the New York State Thruway suddenly ended the band's tour on Christmas Eve, 1975. Unable to support its albums with live performances, Black Sheep disbanded. A year earlier, Gramm met his future bandmate Mick Jones. Jones was in Rochester performing with the band Spooky Tooth, and Gramm had given Jones a copy of Black Sheep's first album (S/T). It was early in 1976, not long after Black Sheep's truck accident, when Jones, in search of a lead singer for a new band he was assembling, expressed his interest in Gramm and invited him to audition. Gramm traveled to New York to audition and got the job. Lou Grammatico then became Lou Gramm. The band, which was initially known as "Trigger," was later renamed Foreigner. With Foreigner, Gramm became one of the most successful rock vocalists of the late 1970s and 1980s. Foreigner's first eight singles cracked the Billboard Top 20, making them the first band since The Beatles to achieve this milestone. Gramm performed vocals on all of Foreigner's hits including "Urgent", "Juke Box Hero", "Break It Up", "Say You Will", and "I Don't Want to Live Without You". He co-wrote most of the band's songs, including the hit ballads "Waiting for a Girl Like You", which spent ten weeks at #2 on the 1981/82 American Hot 100, and "I Want to Know What Love Is", which was a number one hit in eight countries. Gramm and Jones had a volatile chemistry. Gramm wanted the band to remain true to its purer rock origins, favoring music with a solid drum and guitar structure, whereas Jones embraced the 1980s style of synthesizer ballads. Gramm has called the 4 album (1981) the high point of his work with Foreigner. Foreigner's next album, Agent Provocateur (1984), took three years to release due to the ongoing creative differences between Jones and Gramm. The band released Inside Information in 1987. Gramm released his first solo album, Ready or Not, in January 1987 to critical acclaim. The single "Midnight Blue" reached the top five. Also in 1987, Gramm contributed the song "Lost in the Shadows" to the soundtrack for the comedy horror film The Lost Boys. A second solo effort, Long Hard Look (October 1989), that included the top ten hit "Just Between You and Me" as well as "True Blue Love", reached the Top 40. The album also included "Hangin' on My Hip", which was featured in the 1990 film Navy SEALs. Gramm announced his departure from Foreigner in May 1990 due to differences with Jones, and to focus on his solo career. Gramm went on to form the short- lived band Shadow King, which put out one self-titled album on Atlantic in October 1991. Also in 1991, Gramm contributed the song "One Dream" to the movie . Gramm rejoined Foreigner in May 1992 after working out his differences with Jones during the Los Angeles riots. In 1995, Foreigner released the album Mr. Moonlight on the Rhythm Safari label which, although relatively successful in Europe, was not as widely marketed or distributed in the U.S. Still, "Until the End of Time" made inroads at adult contemporary radio. In 1996, Jones invited Gramm to perform backing vocals on a cover version of "I Want to Know What Love Is" he was producing for the Australian singer Tina Arena. The song went on to become a major hit again throughout Europe. In 1997, Gramm provided vocals for Christian rock band Petra's album entitled . In April 1997, on the eve of a Japan tour, Gramm was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor and underwent surgery. He continued to work with Jones throughout his illness. By 1998, Gramm was back touring with Foreigner. In early 2003, Gramm once again departed from Foreigner. The Lou Gramm Band released a Christian rock album in 2009. Gramm was inducted to the Songwriters Hall of Fame on June 13, 2013. On July 20, 2017, Gramm joined Foreigner for three songs during an encore at Jones Beach Theatre in Long Island, New York. On December 29, 2018, Gramm announced on stage in Schenectady, New York that he was retiring from touring. However, he stated that he would continue to release studio music and perform occasional live shows. In 2019, Gramm toured on a bill with Asia Featuring John Payne, where they also acted as his back-up group. Gramm performed lead vocals on the track "Sometimes" on the 2019 album The Secret by Alan Parsons. In 1992, Gramm, after having completed a stint in drug rehabilitation, became a born again Christian. In April 1997, Gramm was diagnosed with a type of brain tumor called a craniopharyngioma. Although the tumor was benign, the resulting surgery damaged his pituitary gland. In addition, the recovery program had caused Gramm to gain weight, and likewise affected his stamina and voice. As of 2017, Gramm is married to Robyn Grammatico. They have a daughter. He also has four children from previous marriages. 1974 Stick Around/Cruisin (For Your Love) 45 single., 1975: Black Sheep, 1975: Encouraging Words 1988: Foreigner in a Strange Land, 1993: The Best of the Early Years (Note: These are actually releases of much older recordings.) 1991: Shadow King 2004: Welcome To The Revolution Final lineup Lou Gramm – lead vocals, percussion, Ben Gramm – drums, AD Zimmer – bass guitar, backing vocals, Michael Staertow – lead guitar, backing vocals, Scott Gilman – saxophone, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, Jeff Jacobs – keyboards, backing vocals Timeline Foreigners' Street or Yangren Jie (sometimes just Foreigner Street; ) is an amusement park and entertainment area in Chongqing, China. It combines various styles of architecture, food, and attractions from around the world. It is northwest of Jiefangbei on the other side of the Yangtze River. The theme park was established in 2006 and covers 3.5 km. Initially the site was seen as a European-style pedestrian street. The park includes recreations of well-known landmarks such as a 10-meter Christ the Redeemer statue from Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and a 150-meter section of the Great Wall of China. The site is open 24 hours a day, with free entry, and has been described as "overly kitschy". Foreigners have been encouraged to set up shops, hence the name. Buildings include a church, an upside-down house, and the world's largest public toilet (the "Porcelain Palace"). Foreigners' Street is located near Danzishi in the Nan'an District of Chongqing. The attraction was initiated by the manager of Meixin Group. It covers an area of over two square kilometers. The Love Land sex theme park attraction would have been near Foreigners' Street. This was due to be opened in 2009, but was demolished by the Chinese authorities before it actually opened. The Porcelain Palace was itself purged of artworks and facilities seen as vulgar by the authorities. Signs for Love Land in Foreigners' Street were removed by the authorities. Laowai Street in Shanghai literally means "Foreigner's Street". Love Land (China), Porcelain Palace

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The full point, full stop (Commonwealth English) or period (North American English) is a punctuation mark. It is used for several purposes, the most frequent of which is to mark the end of a declaratory sentence (as opposed to a question or exclamation); this sentence-terminal use is properly, or the precise meaning of, full stop. The full stop is also often used alone to indicate omitted characters (or in an ellipsis, "..." to indicate omitted words). It may be placed after an initial letter used to stand for a name, or sometimes after each individual letter in an initialism or acronym, for example, "U.S.A."; however, this style is declining, and many initialisms like UK or NATO have individually become accepted norms. A full stop is also frequently used at the end of word abbreviations – in British usage, primarily truncations like Rev., but not after contractions like Revd; however, in American English it is used in both cases. The full point also has multiple contexts in mathematics and computing, where it may be called a point (short for decimal point) or a dot. The full point glyph is sometimes called a baseline dot because, typographically, it is a dot on the baseline. This term distinguishes it from the interpunct (a raised dot). While full stop technically only applies to the full point when used to terminate a sentence, the distinction – drawn since at least 1897 – is not maintained by all modern style guides and dictionaries. The full stop symbol derives from the Greek punctuation introduced by Aristophanes of Byzantium in the 3rd century . In his system, there were a series of dots whose placement determined their meaning. The full stop at the end of a completed thought or expression was marked by a high dot ⟨˙⟩, called the stigmḕ teleía () or "terminal dot". The "middle dot" ⟨·⟩, the stigmḕ mésē (), marked a division in a thought occasioning a longer breath (essentially a semicolon) and the low dot ⟨.⟩, called the hypostigmḕ () or "underdot", marked a division in a thought occasioning a shorter breath (essentially a comma). In practice, scribes mostly employed the terminal dot; the others fell out of use and were later replaced by other symbols. From the 9th century, the full stop began appearing as a low mark instead of a high one; by the advent of printing in Western Europe, the low mark was regular and then universal. The name period is first attested (as the Latin loanword peridos) in Ælfric of Eynsham's Old English treatment on grammar. There, it is distinguished from the full stop (the distinctio) and continues the Greek underdot's earlier function as a comma between phrases. It shifted its meaning to a dot marking a full stop in the works of the 16th-century grammarians. In 19th-century texts, both British English and American English were consistent in their usage of the terms period and full stop. The word period was used as a name for what printers often called the "full point" or the punctuation mark that was a dot on the baseline and used in several situations. The phrase full stop was only used to refer to the punctuation mark when it was used to terminate a sentence. This distinction seems to be eroding. For example, the 1998 edition of Fowler's Modern English Usage used full point for the character after an abbreviation, but full stop or full point at the end of a sentence; while the 2015 edition treats them as synonymous (and prefers full stop), and New Hart's Rules does likewise (but prefers full point). The last edition (1989) of the original Hart's Rules exclusively used full point. Full stops are one of the most commonly used punctuation marks; analysis of texts indicate that approximately half of all punctuation marks used are full stops. Full stops indicate the end of sentences that are not questions or exclamations. It is usual in North American English to use full stops after initials; e.g. A. A. Milne, George W. Bush. A full stop is used after some abbreviations. If the abbreviation ends a declaratory sentence there is no additional period immediately following the full stop that ends the abbreviation (e.g. "My name is Gabriel Gama, Jr."). Though two full stops (one for the abbreviation, one for the sentence ending) might be expected, conventionally only one is written. This is an intentional omission, and thus not haplography, which is unintentional omission of a duplicate. In the case of an interrogative or exclamatory sentence ending with an abbreviation, a question or exclamation mark can still be added (e.g. "Are you Gabriel Gama, Jr.?"). According to the Oxford A–Z of Grammar and Punctuation, "If the abbreviation includes both the first and last letter of the abbreviated word, as in 'Mister' ['Mr'] and 'Doctor' ['Dr'], a full stop is not used." This does not include, for example, the standard abbreviations for titles such as Professor ("Prof.") or Reverend ("Rev."), because they do not end with the last letter of the word they are abbreviating. In American English, the common convention is to include the period after all such abbreviations. In acronyms and initialisms, the modern style is generally to not use full points after each initial (e.g.: DNA, UK, USSR). The punctuation is somewhat more often used in American English, most commonly with U.S. and U.S.A. in particular. However, this depends much upon the house style of a particular writer or publisher. As some examples from American style guides, The Chicago Manual of Style (primarily for book and academic-journal publishing) deprecates the use of full points in acronyms, including U.S., while The Associated Press Stylebook (primarily for journalism) dispenses with full points in acronyms except for certain two-letter cases, including U.S., U.K., and U.N., but not EU. The period glyph is used in the presentation of numbers, but in only one of two alternate styles at a time. In the more prevalent usage in English- speaking countries, the point it represents a decimal separator, visually dividing whole numbers from fractional (decimal) parts. The comma is then used to separate the whole-number parts into groups of three digits each, when numbers are sufficiently large. 1.007 (one and seven thousandths), 1,002.007 (one thousand two and seven thousandths), 1,002,003.007 (one million two thousand three and seven thousandths) The more prevalent usage in much of Europe, southern Africa, and Latin America (with the exception of Mexico due to the influence of the United States), reverses the roles of the comma and point, but sometimes substitutes a space for a point. 1,007 (one and seven thousandths), 1.002,007 or 1 002,007 (one thousand two and seven thousandths), 1.002.003,007 or 1 002 003,007 (one million two thousand three and seven thousandths) India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan follow the Indian numbering system, which utilizes commas and decimals much like the aforementioned system popular in most English-speaking countries, but separates values of one hundred thousand and above differently, into divisions of lakh and crore: 1.007 (one and seven thousandths), 1,002.007 (one thousand two and seven thousandths), 10,02,003.007 (one million two thousand three and seven thousandths or ten lakh two thousand three and seven thousandths) In countries that use the comma as a decimal separator, the point is sometimes found as a multiplication sign; for example, 5,2 . 2 = 10,4; this usage is impractical in cases where the point is used as a decimal separator, hence the use of the interpunct: 5.2 · 2 = 10.4. This notation is also seen when multiplying units in science; for example, 50 km/h could be written as 50 km·h. However, the point is used in all countries to indicate a dot product, i.e. the scalar product of two vectors. In older literature on mathematical logic, the period glyph used to indicate how expressions should be bracketed (see Glossary of Principia Mathematica). In computing, the full point, usually called a dot in this context, is often used as a delimiter, such as in DNS lookups, Web addresses, and file names: www.wikipedia.org, document.txt, 192.168.0.1 It is used in many programming languages as an important part of the syntax. C uses it as a means of accessing a member of a struct, and this syntax was inherited by C++ as a means of accessing a member of a class or object. Java and Python also follow this convention. Pascal uses it both as a means of accessing a member of a record set (the equivalent of struct in C), a member of an object, and after the end construct that defines the body of the program. In APL it is also used for generalised inner product and outer product. In Erlang, Prolog, and Smalltalk, it marks the end of a statement ("sentence"). In a regular expression, it represents a match of any character. In Perl and PHP, the dot is the string concatenation operator. In the Haskell standard library, it is the function composition operator. In COBOL a full stop ends a statement. In file systems, the dot is commonly used to separate the extension of a file name from the name of the file. RISC OS uses dots to separate levels of the hierarchical file system when writing path names—similar to codice_1 (forward-slash) in Unix-based systems and codice_2 (back-slash) in MS-DOS-based systems and the Windows NT systems that succeeded them. In Unix-like operating systems, some applications treat files or directories that start with a dot as hidden. This means that they are not displayed or listed to the user by default. In Unix-like systems and Microsoft Windows, the dot character represents the working directory of the file system. Two dots (codice_3) represent the parent directory of the working directory. Bourne shell-derived command-line interpreters, such as sh, ksh, and bash, use the dot as a command to read a file and execute its content in the running interpreter. (Some of these also offer source as a synonym, based on that usage in the C-shell.) The term STOP was used in telegrams in place of the full stop. The end of a sentence would be marked by STOP; its use "in telegraphic communications was greatly increased during the World War, when the Government employed it widely as a precaution against having messages garbled or misunderstood, as a result of the misplacement or emission of the tiny dot or period." In British English, the words "full stop" at the end of an utterance strengthen it, it admits of no discussion: "I'm not going with you, full stop." In American English the word "period" serves this function. The practice in the United States and Canada is to place full stops and commas inside quotation marks in most styles. In the British system, which is also called "logical quotation", full stops and commas are placed according to grammatical sense: This means that when they are part of the quoted material, they should be placed inside, and otherwise should be outside. For example, they are placed outside in the cases of words-as-words, titles of short-form works, and quoted sentence fragments. Bruce Springsteen, nicknamed "the Boss," performed "American Skin." (American style), Bruce Springsteen, nicknamed "the Boss", performed "American Skin". (logical or British style), He said, "I love music." (both) There is some national crossover. American style is common in British fiction writing. British style is sometimes used in American English. For example, the Chicago Manual of Style recommends it for fields where comma placement could affect the meaning of the quoted material, such as linguistics and textual criticism. Use of placement according to logical or grammatical sense, or "logical convention", now the more common practice in regions other than North America, was advocated in the influential book The King's English by Fowler and Fowler, published in 1906. Prior to the influence of this work, the typesetter's or printer's style, or "closed convention", now also called American style, was common throughout the world. There have been a number of practices relating to the spacing after a full stop. Some examples are listed below: One word space ("French spacing"). This is the current convention in most countries that use the ISO basic Latin alphabet for published and final written work, as well as digital media., Two word spaces ("English spacing"). It is sometimes claimed that the two-space convention stems from the use of the monospaced font on typewriters, but in fact that convention replicates much earlier typography — the intent was to provide a clear break between sentences. This spacing method was gradually replaced by the single space convention in published print, where space is at a premium, and continues in much digital media., One widened space (such as an em space). This spacing was seen in historical typesetting practices (until the early 20th century). It has also been used in other typesetting systems such as the Linotype machine and the TeX system. Modern computer-based digital fonts can adjust the spacing after terminal punctuation as well, creating a space slightly wider than a standard word space. Although the present Greek full stop (, teleía) is romanized as a Latin full stop and encoded identically with the full stop in Unicode, the historic full stop in Greek was a high dot and the low dot functioned as a kind of comma, as noted above. The low dot was increasingly but irregularly used to mark full stops after the 9th century and was fully adapted after the advent of print. The teleia should also be distinguished from the ano teleia mark, which is named "high stop" but looks like an interpunct (a middle dot) and principally functions as the Greek semicolon. The Armenian script uses the ։ (, verdjaket). It looks similar to the colon (:). In some East Asian languages, notably Chinese and Japanese, a small circle is used instead of a solid dot: "。" (U+3002 "Ideographic Full Stop", simplified , traditional , Japanese: ). Notably, in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao usage, the full stop is written at center height instead of on the line. In the Devanagari script, used to write Hindi and Sanskrit among other Indian languages, a vertical line ("।") (U+0964 "Devanagari Danda") is used to mark the end of a sentence. It is known as (full stop) in Hindi, and in Bengali. Some Indian languages also use the full stop, such as Marathi. In Tamil, it is known as , which means end dot. In Sinhala, it is known as kundaliya: "෴" ((U+0DF4) symbol "full stop"). Periods were later introduced into Sinhala script after the introduction of paper due to the influence of Western languages. See also Sinhala numerals. Urdu uses the "۔" (U+06D4) symbol. In Thai, no symbol corresponding to the full stop is used as terminal punctuation. A sentence is written without spaces, and a space is typically used to mark the end of a clause or sentence. In the Ge'ez script used to write Amharic and several other Ethiopian and Eritrean languages, the equivalent of the full stop following a sentence is the ˈarat nettib "።"—which means four dots. The two dots on the right are slightly ascending from the two on the left, with space in between. The character is encoded at . There is also , used in several shorthand (stenography) systems. The character is full-width encoded at . This form is used alongside CJK characters. Researchers from Binghamton University performed a small study, published in 2016, on young adults and found that text messages that included sentences ended with full stops—as opposed to those with no terminal punctuation—were perceived as insincere, though they stipulated that their results apply only to this particular medium of communication: "Our sense was, is that because [text messages] were informal and had a chatty kind of feeling to them, that a period may have seemed stuffy, too formal, in that context," said head researcher Cecelia Klin. The study did not find handwritten notes to be affected. A 2016 story by Jeff Guo in The Washington Post, stated that the line break had become the default method of punctuation in texting, comparable to the use of line breaks in poetry, and that a period at the end of a sentence causes the tone of the message to be perceived as cold, angry or passive-aggressive. According to Gretchen McCulloch, an internet linguist, using a full stop to end messages is seen as "rude" by more and more people. She said this can be attributed to the way we text and use instant messaging apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. She added that the default way to break up one's thoughts is to send each thought as an individual message. Decimal separator, Dot (disambiguation), Sentence spacing, Terminal punctuation Punctuation marks are one or two part graphical marks used in writing, denoting tonal progress, pauses, sentence type (syntactic use), abbreviations, et cetera. Marks used in Slovene include full stops (.), question marks (?), exclamation marks (!), commas (,), semicolons (;), colons (:), dashes (-), hyphens (-), ellipses (...), different types of inverted commas and quotation marks ("", ", ‚‘, „“, ><), brackets ((), [], {}) (which are in syntactical use), as well as apostrophes (',’), solidi (/), equal signs (=), and so forth. Syntactical Use A full stop (.) is a left-leaning punctuation mark. This means that it 'touches' the preceding word, but is followed by a space. It is ordinarily used at the end of a neutral declaratory sentence, be it a real sentence with a predicate or a non-sentence. To je bilo včeraj. (This was yesterday.), Včeraj. (Yesterday.) When a statement is articulated, the pitch is cadent, thus decreased towards the end of such a sentence. In an indicative compound sentence with the last part an independent clause that does not end in a full stop, the full stop is omitted. Rekli so mi, naj grem, a kam? (They told me to go, but where?), (and not "Rekli so mi, naj grem, a kam?.") The final punctuation mark of a quoted sentence (with or without inverted commas) within a declaratory sentence is omitted if the quoted sentence is not preceded by a colon. Ko smo hodili po travi, smo opazili prepoved Ne hodi po travi. (When walking on the grass, we noticed the restriction Do not walk on the grass.), Ko smo hodili po travi, smo opazili prepoved: Ne hodi po travi! A full stop is replaced by a comma in direct speech before the accompanying sentence. "Oh, mar bi bile ostale doma," je zamrmrala Marjeta. ("Oh, they/we might as well have stayed home," muttered Marjeta (Daisy).) Non-Syntactical Use Some abbreviations are, as in American English, always followed by a full stop. dr. (doktor; Dr, doctor); npr. (na primer; e.g., for example, exempli gratia); tj. (to je; this is); l. (leto; year); t.i. (tako imenovani; so-called); itn., itd. (in tako naprej, in tako dalje; etc., et cetera, and so on). However, other abbreviations are, as in American English, never followed by a full stop. ZDA (Združene države Amerike; USA, United States of America), km (kilometer; km, kilometre), Fe (železo; Fe, iron) Ordinal numerals are followed by a full stop. Numbers may be separated by leaning full stops in the following cases: for time of the day, Ob 22.15 ('dvaindvajset petnajst' or 'dvaindvajsetih in petnajst minut') se film konča. (At 22.15 (10.15 pm) the film ends.), 22.15 can also be written as 22, to separate thousands from the rest, 1.000.000 (en milijon; one million, 1,000,000) (but more usual is 1 000 000), to show multiplication, 3 · 9 (tri krat devet; three times nine), note that in this case, the dot is raised to the line centre and is non-leaning Dates are written with dots separating the day, month and year. Note that the numerical English dates below are British English; American English switches the month and the day. It is important to realise that the full stop is left- leaning; the space is intentional (yet only few are aware of that). 1\. 10. 2003 (prvi deseti dva tisoč tri, prvi oktober dva tisoč tri; the first of October, two thousand and three, 1/10/2003), 25\. 6. 1991 (petindvajseti šesti (junij) tisoč devetsto enaindevetdeset; the twenty-fifth of June, nineteen ninety-one, 25/6/1991), 30\. maj (trideseti maj; the 30th of May) If a non-syntactical full stop is at the end of a sentence, it is not usual to append another full stop to it; however, doing so is not incorrect. Prodajam časopise, avtobusne žetone, zobne ščetke itd. (I sell newspapers, bus tokens, toothbrushes, etc.), Prodajam časopise, avtobusne žetone, zobne ščetke itd.. Syntactical Use An ellipsis (in Slovene, literally 'three dots') (…) is a non- leaning punctuation mark. It expresses omission of words. Nekaj sem govorila … (I was saying something …), … kaj to ni res? (… is this not true?), Heh … česa vsega ne pove. (Heh … whatever he/she says.), Ja … in? (Yes … so?), Saj bi šel, pa … (I/He would go, but …) (an alternative is to write this thus: "Saj bi šel, pa -) Any other punctuation may or may not be appended; a full stop is usually (but not always) omitted, but other punctuation normally remains: Da … or Da …. (Yes …), O, a tako je bilo …? (Oh, it was so …?) When emphasising that whatever has been left out is a subsequent omission not performed by the original author, the ellipsis is enclosed in round or square brackets ((), []), or, more often, in solidi (//). The original sentence in full: "Nekaj mi šepeta, nekaj točno določenega, skoraj čutiti bi se dalo, da gre ta šolska ura h koncu." (Something is whispering to me, something exactly defined, it can almost be felt, that this period is nearing completion.), Nekaj mi šepeta /…/ da gre ta šolska ura h koncu. (Something is whispering to me /…/ that this period is nearing completion.) An ellipsis may indicate an inserted sentence, though a dash is more often used in such cases: Lepo je bilo … kako tudi ne? …, saj je dež nežno padal, mi pa smo tesno drug ob drugem ležali ob kaminu. (It was nice … how wouldn't it be? … for the rain was gently falling, and we were lying closely to one another near the fireplace.), Lepo je bilo - kako tudi ne? -, saj je dež nežno padal, mi pa smo tesno drug ob drugem ležali ob kaminu. An ellipsis usually indicates pausing or abrupt interruption. When used as a sentence closing punctuation mark, the pitch is cadent, thus decreased towards the end of such a sentence, or semi-cadent, indicating a half-finished thought, or there is no change in pitch. Non-Syntactical Use A non-syntactical ellipsis is left-leaning, and expresses omission of a word part. Otorinola… - ne vem naprej. (Otorhinola… - I don't know further.) (probably otorinolaringolog; otorhinolaryngologist), Tristo kosmatih med… (Three hundred hairy be…) ("Tristo kosmatih medvedov" (Three hundred hairy bears) is a traditional - and one of the few present in Slovene - profanity, though rather innocent and extremely seldom used.) Syntactical Use An exclamation mark (!) is a left-leaning punctuation mark. It is used as a closing punctuation mark of emphatic sentences and clauses, and as a non-closing punctuation mark finishing inserted sentences. They are typical of imperative mood, but only if emotionally charged. Gregor, utihni! (Gregor, shut up!), Mojbog! (My god!), Na pomoč! (Help!), Pleši, pleši, dokler ti petke dopuste! (Dance, dance, as long as your shoe heels allow for that!), To se mi je zdela odlična ideja! (That I thought a marvellous idea!), Spoštovani! (Respected! (at the beginning of a letter, though more usual is "Spoštovani,")), Ubil te bom! (I shall kill you!), Če mi še kdaj izustiš kaj takega ...! (If you ever say something like that again ...!), Mnogo let nazaj - joj, da bi le že pozabila na to! - sem živela na kmetiji. (Many years ago - oh, if only I should forget this already! - I lived on a farm.), Reci mu vendar, naj pride domov! (Tell him to come home! - the exclamation mark is likely bound to 'come home', however, and not 'tell'), Zrecitiraj Kons V! (Recite Kons V!) (But: "Zrecitiraj: Kons V."), "Gremo!" je vzkliknila Janja. ("Let's go!" exclaimed Janja.) See the note on the use of the combination with a question mark below under question mark. One may use the combination !! (or even more exclamation marks) to express further exclamatory mood. Kaj?! (What?!), Izgini!! (Get lost!!) Non-Syntactical Use An exclamation mark may be used for emphasis of a certain point in a text. Morda je to res, a emancipacijo (!) testov smo pričakovali. (Perhaphs that is true, but the emancipation (!) of tests has been expected. - used to emphasise a word used, which should probably be evalvacijo (evaluation)), Nuna (!) je strastno govorila o umetnosti ljubljenja. (The nun (!) passionately talked about the art of making love.) Syntactical Use A question mark (?) is a left-leaning punctuation mark. It is used in single clause sentences and in compound sentences in which the independent clause expresses enquiries. Si res želiš, Ana, dobiti enojko? (Do you, Ana, really wish to get a one (the worst grade at school)?), Tukaj? (Here?), Oh, kaj res? (Oh, really? (in a bored tone)), Rok, kam greš? (Rok, whither are you going? (normally, the English would say 'Where', but it is important to distinguish between whither (kam) and where (kje) in Slovene)), Pogovarjali smo se, bilo je zelo zanimivo, potem pa je Luka nenadoma rekel - uganeš kaj? (We had been talking, it had been very interesting, but then Luka suddenly said - guess what?), "Je to res, Urša?" je zavpil professor. ("Is this true, Urša?" shouted the professor.) When a question without a question word or with ali, or with ?? or ?! is articulated, the pitch is anticadent, thus increased towards the end of such a sentence. Otherwise, the pitch is cadent, thus decreased towards the end of such a sentence. If the independent clause of a sentence is not interrogative, the sentence ends with a full stop or an exclamation mark. This is similar to reported speech in English. Vprašali so me, če grem peš ali s taksijem. (They asked me if I should walk or go by taxi.), O čem se gre predstava, tega pač ne vem. (What the performance is about, that I just don't know. (with the implied meaning that the original question is stupid, for how am I to know?)) After a colon, the clause keeps its own punctuation mark. Čigav je že izrek: Užij dan. (Whose is, again, the saying, Seize the day?), This sentence can also be written as "Čigav je že izrek Užij dan?" or "Čigav je že izrek 'Užij dan'?". A question mark need not be a sentence terminating punctuation mark; it may be used in inserted sentences. Govorim o hibridizaciji sp² - to veš, kaj je? - ogljikovega atoma v tej organski molekuli. (I am talking about the sp² hybridisation - do you know what this is? - of the carbon atom in this organic molecule.) In certain cases, the question mark may be doubled (for emphasis of a repeated question), or it may be combined with an exclamation mark in emphatic and emotional contexts. Kako narediš to? Kako?? (How do you do this? How??), Le kako si lahko dovoliš kaj takega?! (However can you allow yourself something like that?!) Non-Syntactical Use A question mark can be used non-syntactically if it denotes doubt. Dejali so, da se je nafta (?) razlila. (They have said that oil (?) has spilt.) (the speaker is not certain whether it was oil or something else, or perhaps if this is indeed how the word is spelt) Syntactical Use A colon (:) is a left-leaning punctuation mark. It is used in various ways as described below. 1\. to introduce direct speech after an accompanying sentence Zadregetala je od same jeze: "Kaj? Tako drago?" (She shivered with pure anger: "What? So expensive?"), Kot v zboru so dejali: Seveda. (As though in a choir they said: Naturally.), Kot v zboru so dejali: "Seveda.", Estragon: Pejva. (Estragon: Let's go.) (from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (Čakajoč Godota)) 2\. in enumeration, expatiation or explanation So stvari, o katerih ne vem popolnoma nič: fiziologija, oftalmologíja, socialna antropologija. (There are things I know absolutely nothing about: physiology, ophthalmology, social anthropology.), Potrebuje se: moka, mleko, med in sojina omaka. (Needed are: flour, milk, honey and soya sauce.) - this may also be written as "Potrebuje se moka, mleko, med in sojina omaka.", Zahvaliti se želim še posebej: (I wish to thank especially:), Jožetu,, Pulheriji,, Cvetki,, Cirilu., Sodelujemo vsi: to vključuje tudi tebe, Metka. (Everyone participates: this includes you, Metka.), To je lepo: neizmerna umetnina. (This is beautiful: an unmeasurable piece of art.) - this may also be written as "To je lepo, in pri tem neizmerna umetnina." (This is beautiful, and an unmeasurable piece of art at that.) or similarly, Rekel sem: ne rekel, vzkliknil! (I said: not said, exclaimed!) - this may also be written as "Rekel sem - ne rekel, vzkliknil!" or "Rekel sem, ne rekel, vzkliknil!", V najbolj preprosti obliki ti povem, ker vem, da ne razumeš dobro: spelji se mi izpred oči. (I tell you in the simplest form, for I know you do not understand well: get out of my sight.) 3\. optionally after form data Ime in priimek: (Name and surname:), Datum: (Date:) When a colon is encountered in reading, the pitch is semi-cadent, thus decreased. Non-Syntactical Use 1\. for the meaning 'proti' (to, against) (usually non-leaning): Rezultat je bil 1 : 2 [ena proti dva]. (The result was 1 : 2.), Množini ogljika in klorove (VII) kisline sta v razmerju 1 : 1 [ena proti ena]. (The amounts of carbon and chloric (VII) acid are in the ratio 1 : 1.) 2\. for the meaning 'deljeno' (divided): 15 : 3 = 5 (petnajst deljeno s tri je pet) (fifteen divided by three is five) An inverted comma („ “) is a two part left- and right-leaning punctuation mark. There are many types of inverted commas used in Slovene texts, videlicet: standard double up-down: „ABC“, standard single up-down: ‚ABC‘, line centred double (used in some printed material): >ABC<, line centred single (used in some printed material): ›ABC‹, double up (used in some printed material): "ABC" or ”ABC“, single up (used in some printed material): 'ABC' or ’ABC‘ The most prominent use of inverted commas is direct speech. „Potem pa kar grem,“ je zaihtel Jaka. ("Then I shall just be on my way," sobbed Jaka.), Jaka je zaihtel: „Potem pa kar grem.“, „Potem pa,“ je zaihtel Jaka, „kar grem.“ Inverted commas are positioned so that the first one is right-leaning, and the second one is left-leaning, coming after the ending punctuation mark of the direct speech sentence. If what the inverted commas enclose is not a sentence in itself but only a part thereof, the second inverted comma stands left- leaning directly to the ending character. This is the same as in the so-called British or logical quoting. „Dobro jutro,“ je pohitel novi assistant. ("Good morning," hurried the new assistant.), Govorili so o „nekem blaznem načrtu“. (They were talking about "some crazy plan".) If there is no accompanying sentence, inverted commas may be replaced with a dash: - Potem pa kar grem. When the direct speech includes another direct speech, different types of inverted commas ought to be used, or the inner ones may be omitted if the context is clear. Začela je: „Uganeš, kaj mi je tista ostudna pošast rekla? Rekla je: ‚Potem pa kar jutri pridi. Bo v redu?‘“ (She started: "Can you guess what that hideous monster told me? She ('monster' is feminine) said: 'Then just come tomorrow. Will that be all right?'"), Začela je: ‚Uganeš, kaj mi je tista ostudna pošast rekla? Rekla je: „Potem pa kar jutri pridi. Bo v redu?“‘, Začela je: >Uganeš, kaj mi je tista ostudna pošast rekla? Rekla je: „Potem pa kar jutri pridi. Bo v redu?“< Inverted commas are also used when trying to stress a curious use of a word: that is, to illustrate that a word is not used as it normally is, or simply to emphasise it. Usually, in printed texts, such words are printed either italic or bold as opposed to using excessive quotes. Pravi „prijatelj“ je. (He is a real "friend".), Kaj pa pravzaprav pomeni „svoboda“? (What does "freedom" actually mean anyway?), Ne vem, zakaj govori o „alternative medicine“; kot da bi bilo tako težko reči „alternativna medicina“. (I do not know why he/she is talking about "alternative medicine" (left intact); as though it is so difficult to say "alternative medicine".), Accusative 'tožilnik' je velikokrat združen z dative 'dajalnikom' v oblique 'predmetni' sklon. (The accusative is often merged with the dative into the oblique case. - notice that in this case, single up inverted commas are used) Inverted commas are also used to mark proper nouns that could be mistaken for common nouns, such as at sentence beginnings. „Sonetni venec“ je zelo zapleten. (The "Wreath of Sonnets" is very complex. - referring likely to Prešeren's wreath of sonnets by that name), But: Prešernov Sonetni venec je zelo zapleten. (Prešeren's Wreath of Sonnets is very complex.) A dash (-) is a one or two part non-leaning punctuation mark (except where noted). Semantically, there is no difference between the longer and the shorter dash, – and -, although common usage prefers the shorter one in all cases except upon connection of unrelated sentences. In electronic writing, a hyphen may be used instead of a dash. A dash usually indicates pausing or abrupt interruption. When used as a sentence closing punctuation mark, the pitch is cadent, thus decreased towards the end of such a sentence, or semi- cadent, indicating a half-finished thought, or there is no change in pitch. A dash can be used instead of a comma to emphasise separation words and clauses. Note that in example 2, unlike in English, the end of the appositive is unmarked in Slovene. Smrt fašizmu - svoboda narodu! (Death to fascism - freedom to the nation!), O problemu individuacija - rast sebstva po Frommu smo morali pisati esej. (We had to write an essay on the problem 'individuation - growth of self' as per Fromm.) It is also used when inserting sentences or including additional information. Subtilna občutja - to je, nežna in občutljiva - se očividno izražajo v prebranem delu. (Subtile emotions - that is, gentle and delicate - are apparently expressed in the read work.) (note that the word 'subtile' in this sense in English is somewhat old-fashioned), Da - tako je tudi res bilo -, in to sem mu jasno povedala. (Yes - and it really was so, too -, and I told him that clearly.), Joj, prejoj - občutljivi kot smo bili - sneg je zapadel in zeblo nas je. (Oh dear and even more so - sensitive as we were - snow had fallen and we were feeling cold.) Sentence punctuation is not changed when using dashes, so an inserted sentence before a comma is usually followed by a comma nonetheless, even though some might see this usage as rather pedantic. A dash at the end of a sentence marks an abrupt end, a breaking of thought or unwillingness to continue: Zapeti bi bila morala, pa - (I should have sung, but -), Če v bližnji prihodnosti, kolega Novak, ne zaprete svojega kljunčka, bomo prisiljeni izvesti določene sankcije, kot so, denimo, mučenje ali preprost izgon: svarim Vas: bodite tiho, če ne -! (If you, colleague Novak (likely a university student), do not close your beak (sarcastic for mouth), we shall be forced to impose certain sanctions, such as, let us say, torture or a simple exile: I am warning you: be silent, or else -!) In sentences without a predicate, a dash can represent the connexion between the subject and the object. Vino - strup ali zdravilo? (Wine - poison or medicine?) A dash can introduce direct speech if there is no accompanying sentence before direct speech itself. Dash sometimes separates multiple surnames, though it is more usual to merely use a space. A dash is still used when listing an alias after a full name, but only if this alias does not function as a surname. In these senses, a dash is a leaning punctuation mark. Katarina Čkorjanc-Vesel (or Katarina Čkorjanc-Vesel, or, as it is oftenest, Katarina Čkorjanc Vesel), Josip Broz-Tito, Karel Veliki (Charles the Great), Karel Plešasti (Charles the Bald) Similarly, a leaning dash is used in other instances where words are closely connected to one another and both parts are inflected. Kozina-Hrpelje ('Kozina in Hrpelje', two places) A dash also expresses the meaning of 'to' or 'up to' or 'until': cena: 1000-1200 SIT (the price: SIT 1000-1200), "Otroci, na vlaku Trst-Dunaj zaspite. Tam vmes ničesar ni." (Children, on the train Triest-Vienna, go to sleep. There is nothing in between.) (Tomaž Šalamun), Za domačo nalogo boste rešili naloge 272-279\. (For homework, you will do exercises 272-279.), Delovni čas: 0-24 (Opening hours: 0-24) A dash is used as the symbol for minus, although the separate minus sign is also used: 5x² - 5x - 1 = 0, -2 °C Dashes may introduce lists. For example: - prvi primer, - drugi primer, - tretji primer. A hyphen (- or ‐) is a leaning punctuation mark (except where noted). In compound words that would otherwise use the word in (and) between the parts, a hyphen is used: zeleno-moder pulover (a green and blue jumper), but 'zelenomoder pulover' if the colour is a mix of green and blue (thus also 'etnocentričen' (ethnocentric), not 'etno-centričen', since one cannot add an 'and' in between the words), slovensko-nemški slovar (a Slovene-German dictionary), angleško-francoski konflikt (an English-French conflict), črno-belo tiskanje (black-and-white printing) A hyphen is also used as in the following examples: Janko Novak-Rovtar (as an equivalent to a dash; see above), 30-letnica (30th anniversary or a woman in her thirties), TV-oddaja (television programme), tri- in petdnevni tečaji (three and five day courses), avtonomija in -kracija (autonomy and autocracy), ATP, ATP-ja (inflexion of symbols and acronyms), le-to, le-tak, le-tako, ka-li, Pri m-ju se ji vedno zatakne. (She always falters at m (in the alphabet).) Hyphens are used non-syntactially in syllabification, when marking stems, suffixes, prefixes and similar (many examples at declensions above) and in prices (1000,- SIT (which is the same as 1000,0 SIT)). The same character under the name of deljaj marks word division over two lines. At the end of a line, a word may be spelt only to the end of a certain syllable, followed by the left-leaning - or = character (sometimes, although not often, the character / is also used for this purpose), with the rest of the word following in the next line. If the last character in a line is a plus (+), a dash (-), a solidus (/), a times or division sign (·, :), an equal sign (=), a hyphen (-), or similar, the same character is repeated at the beginning of the next line. Prišli smo do polovice odstavka, ko je Marijino jec- ljanje prešlo meje normale. (17 + 15) + 3 = = 17 + (15 + 3) = = 35 Syntactical Use A bracket ((), //, ||, [], <> and {}) is a two part one-side leaning punctuation mark. The introducing bracket, known as uklepaj, is right- leaning; the closing bracket, zaklepaj, is left-leaning. Round brackets are those used most often in writing. Brackets are used to envelop text which is the following: 1. a variation or supplement: Klorovodikova kislina (HCl) je nevarna. (Hydrochloric acid (HCl) is dangerous.) Tekst (besedilo) smo prečistili. (We cleaned the text (and a more Slovene word for text in brackets).) 2. inserted sentences or clauses: Takoj zatem (če se prav spominjam) se je zabliskalo. (Straight afterwards (if I recall correctly) lightning struck.) Druga svetovna vojna (1939-45) je terjala mnogo krvi. (The second world war (1939–45) demanded much blood.) - dashes, ellipses or commas are also used in this sense 3. word parts (in this case it may be fully leaning): Spoštovani/a gost(ja)! (Dear guest! (the feminine form is what is in the brackets)) Essentially, a thing to be borne in mind is that whatever is inside brackets may be left out with no change in meaning. The cadence of pitch before a bracket is rising (cadent) when what is inside brackets is a variation, otherwise it is falling (anticadent). If brackets contain a fully-fledged sentence, the cadence is as per the sentence punctuation. Non-Syntactical Use A terminating bracket can be used in lists: Izberite pravilni odgovor: a) kopje, b) lokomotiva, c) disk. (Choose the correct answer: a) spear, b) locomotive, c) discus.) A solidus (/) is a leaning punctuation mark. It has the following meanings: 1. or: Bolezen se prepozna po rumeni/rjavkasti lisi na čelu. (The disease can be recognised by the yellow/brownish stripe on the forehead.) 2. through: Sodni zapis 55/2. (Court record 55/2.) 3. partly one thing and partly the other: Poslovno leto 2000/01 je bilo katastrofalno. (The fiscal year 2000/01 was disastrous.) 4. separating verses when written in one line (non-leaning): Ko brez miru okrog divjam, / prijatlji prašajo me, kam? (I drift in dark unrest and pain, / 'Where now?' you ask, and ask again. (France Preseren, Kam?)) Punctuation (formerly sometimes called pointing) is the use of spacing, conventional signs, and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. Another description is, "It is the practice action or system of inserting points or other small marks into texts in order to aid interpretation; division of text into sentences, clauses, etc., by means of such marks." In written English, punctuation is vital to disambiguate the meaning of sentences. For example: "woman, without her man, is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of men to women), and "woman: without her, man is nothing" (emphasizing the importance of women to men) have very different meanings; as do "eats shoots and leaves" (which means the subject consumes plant growths) and "eats, shoots, and leaves" (which means the subject eats first, then fires a weapon, and then leaves the scene). The sharp differences in meaning are produced by the simple differences in punctuation within the example pairs, especially the latter. The rules of punctuation vary with language, location, register, and time and are constantly evolving. Certain aspects of punctuation are stylistic and are thus the author's (or editor's) choice, or tachygraphic (shorthand) language forms, such as those used in online chat and text messages. The first writing systems were either logographic or syllabicfor example, Chinese and Mayan scriptwhich do not necessarily require punctuation, especially spacing. This is because the entire morpheme or word is typically clustered within a single glyph, so spacing does not help as much to distinguish where one word ends and the other starts. Disambiguation and emphasis can easily be communicated without punctuation by employing a separate written form distinct from the spoken form of the language that uses slightly different phraseology. Even today, written English differs subtly from spoken English because not all emphasis and disambiguation is possible to convey in print, even with punctuation. Ancient Chinese classical texts were transmitted without punctuation. However, many Warring States period bamboo texts contain the symbols and indicating the end of a chapter and full stop, respectively. By the Song dynasty, addition of punctuation to texts by scholars to aid comprehension became common. The earliest alphabetic writing — Phoenician, Hebrew, and others of the same family — had no capitalization, no spaces, no vowels (see abjad) and few punctuation marks. This worked as long as the subject matter was restricted to a limited range of topics (for example, writing used for recording business transactions). Punctuation is historically an aid to reading aloud. The oldest known document using punctuation is the Mesha Stele (9th century BC). This employs points between the words and horizontal strokes between the sense section as punctuation. Most texts were still written in scriptura continua, that is without any separation between words. However, the Greeks were sporadically using punctuation marks consisting of vertically arranged dots—usually two (dicolon) or three (tricolon)—in around the 5th century BC as an aid in the oral delivery of texts. Greek playwrights such as Euripides and Aristophanes used symbols to distinguish the ends of phrases in written drama: this essentially helped the play's cast to know when to pause. After 200 BC, the Greeks used Aristophanes of Byzantium's system (called ) of a single dot () placed at varying heights to mark up speeches at rhetorical divisions: – a low on the baseline to mark off a (unit smaller than a clause);, – a at midheight to mark off a clause (); and, – a high to mark off a sentence (). In addition, the Greeks used the paragraphos (or gamma) to mark the beginning of sentences, marginal diples to mark quotations, and a koronis to indicate the end of major sections. The Romans () also occasionally used symbols to indicate pauses, but the Greek —under the name distinctiones—prevailed by the AD 4th century as reported by Aelius Donatus and Isidore of Seville (7th century). Also, texts were sometimes laid out , where every sentence had its own separate line. Diples were used, but by the late period these often degenerated into comma-shaped marks. Punctuation developed dramatically when large numbers of copies of the Bible started to be produced. These were designed to be read aloud, so the copyists began to introduce a range of marks to aid the reader, including indentation, various punctuation marks (diple, , ), and an early version of initial capitals (). Jerome and his colleagues, who made a translation of the Bible into Latin, the Vulgate (), employed a layout system based on established practices for teaching the speeches of Demosthenes and Cicero. Under his layout every sense-unit was indented and given its own line. This layout was solely used for biblical manuscripts during the 5th–9th centuries but was abandoned in favor of punctuation. In the 7th–8th centuries Irish and Anglo- Saxon scribes, whose native languages were not derived from Latin, added more visual cues to render texts more intelligible. Irish scribes introduced the practice of word separation. Likewise, insular scribes adopted the system while adapting it for minuscule script (so as to be more prominent) by using not differing height but rather a differing number of marks—aligned horizontally (or sometimes triangularly)—to signify a pause's value: one mark for a minor pause, two for a medium one, and three for a major. Most common were the , a comma-shaped mark, and a 7-shaped mark (), often used in combination. The same marks could be used in the margin to mark off quotations. In the late 8th century a different system emerged in France under the Carolingian dynasty. Originally indicating how the voice should be modulated when chanting the liturgy, the migrated into any text meant to be read aloud, and then to all manuscripts. first reached England in the late 10th century probably during the Benedictine reform movement, but was not adopted until after the Norman conquest. The original were the , , , and , but a fifth symbol, the , was added in the 10th century to indicate a pause of a value between the and . In the late 11th/early 12th century the disappeared and was taken over by the simple (now with two distinct values). The late Middle Ages saw the addition of the (slash or slash with a midpoint dot) which was often used in conjunction with the for different types of pauses. Direct quotations were marked with marginal diples, as in Antiquity, but from at least the 12th century scribes also began entering diples (sometimes double) within the column of text. The amount of printed material and its readership began to increase after the invention of moveable type in Europe in the 1450s. As explained by writer and editor Lynne Truss, "The rise of printing in the 14th and 15th centuries meant that a standard system of punctuation was urgently required." Printed books, whose letters were uniform, could be read much more rapidly than manuscripts. Rapid reading, or reading aloud, did not allow time to analyze sentence structures. This increased speed led to the greater use and finally standardization of punctuation, which showed the relationships of words with each other: where one sentence ends and another begins, for example. The introduction of a standard system of punctuation has also been attributed to the Venetian printers Aldus Manutius and his grandson. They have been credited with popularizing the practice of ending sentences with the colon or full stop (period), inventing the semicolon, making occasional use of parentheses, and creating the modern comma by lowering the virgule. By 1566, Aldus Manutius the Younger was able to state that the main object of punctuation was the clarification of syntax. By the 19th century, punctuation in the western world had evolved "to classify the marks hierarchically, in terms of weight". Cecil Hartley's poem identifies their relative values: The stop point out, with truth, the time of pause A sentence doth require at ev'ry clause. At ev'ry comma, stop while one you count; At semicolon, two is the amount; A colon doth require the time of three; The period four, as learned men agree. The use of punctuation was not standardised until after the invention of printing. According to the 1885 edition of The American Printer, the importance of punctuation was noted in various sayings by children such as: Charles the First walked and talked Half an hour after his head was cut off. With a semi- colon and a comma added it reads: Charles the First walked and talked; Half an hour after, his head was cut off. In a 19th-century manual of typography, Thomas MacKellar writes: The introduction of electrical telegraphy with a limited set of transmission codes and typewriters with a limited set of keys influenced punctuation subtly. For example, curved quotes and apostrophes were all collapsed into two characters (' and "). The hyphen, minus sign, and dashes of various widths were collapsed into a single character (-, sometimes repeated as—to represent a long dash). The spaces of different widths available to professional typesetters were generally replaced by a single full-character width space, with typefaces monospaced. In some cases a typewriter keyboard did not include an exclamation point (!) but this was constructed by the overstrike of an apostrophe and a period; the original Morse code did not have an exclamation point. These simplifications were carried forward into digital writing, with teleprinters and the ASCII character set essentially supporting the same characters as typewriters. Treatment of whitespace in HTML discouraged the practice (in English prose) of putting two full spaces after a full stop, since a single or double space would appear the same on the screen. (Some style guides now discourage double spaces, and some electronic writing tools, including Wikipedia's software, automatically collapse double spaces to single.) The full traditional set of typesetting tools became available with the advent of desktop publishing and more sophisticated word processors. Despite the widespread adoption of character sets like Unicode that support the punctuation of traditional typesetting, writing forms like text messages tend to use the simplified ASCII style of punctuation, with the addition of new non-text characters like emoji. Informal text speak tends to drop punctuation when not needed, including some ways that would be considered errors in more formal writing. In the computer era, punctuation characters were recycled for use in programming languages and URLs. Due to its use in email and Twitter handles, the at sign (@) went from an obscure character mostly used by sellers of bulk commodities (10 pounds @$2.00 per pound), to a very common character in common use for both technical routing and an abbreviation for "at". The tilde (~), in moveable type only used in combination with vowels, for mechanical reasons ended up as a separate key on mechanical typewriters, and like @ it has been put to completely new uses. There are two major styles of punctuation in English: British or American. These two styles differ mainly in the way in which they handle quotation marks, particularly in conjunction with other punctuation marks. In British English, punctuation such as periods and commas are placed outside the closing quotation mark; in American English, however, punctuation is placed inside the closing quotation mark. This rule varies for other punctuation marks; for example, American English follows the British English rule when it comes to semicolons, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. The serial comma is used much more often in the United States than in England. Other languages of Europe use much the same punctuation as English. The similarity is so strong that the few variations may confuse a native English reader. Quotation marks are particularly variable across European languages. For example, in French and Russian, quotes would appear as: (in French, each "double punctuation", as the guillemet, requires a non-breaking space; in Russian it does not). In French of France, the signs : ; ? and ! are always preceded by a thin unbreakable space. In Canada, this is only the case for :. In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point , known as the (). In Georgian, three dots, , were formerly used as a sentence or paragraph divider. It is still sometimes used in calligraphy. Spanish, and no other language, uses an inverted question mark at the beginning of a question and the normal question mark at the end, as well as an inverted exclamation mark at the beginning of an exclamation and the normal exclamation mark at the end. Armenian uses several punctuation marks of its own. The full stop is represented by a colon, and vice versa; the exclamation mark is represented by a diagonal similar to a tilde , while the question mark resembles an unclosed circle placed after the last vowel of the word. Arabic, Urdu, and Persian—written from right to left—use a reversed question mark: , and a reversed comma: . This is a modern innovation; pre-modern Arabic did not use punctuation. Hebrew, which is also written from right to left, uses the same characters as in English, and . Originally, Sanskrit had no punctuation. In the 17th century, Sanskrit and Marathi, both written using Devanagari, started using the vertical bar to end a line of prose and double vertical bars in verse. Punctuation was not used in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean writing until the adoption of punctuation from the West in the late 19th and early 20th century. In unpunctuated texts, the grammatical structure of sentences in classical writing is inferred from context. Most punctuation marks in modern Chinese, Japanese, and Korean have similar functions to their English counterparts; however, they often look different and have different customary rules. In the Indian subcontinent, is sometimes used in place of colon or after a subheading. Its origin is unclear, but could be a remnant of the British Raj. Another punctuation common in the Indian Subcontinent for writing monetary amounts is the use of or after the number. For example, Rs. 20/- or Rs. 20/= implies 20 rupees whole. Thai, Khmer, Lao and Burmese did not use punctuation until the adoption of punctuation from the West in the 20th century. Blank spaces are more frequent than full stops or commas. Further information: Armenian punctuation, Chinese punctuation, Hebrew punctuation, Japanese punctuation and Korean punctuation. In 1966, the French author Hervé Bazin proposed a series of six innovative punctuation marks in his book ("Let's pluck the bird", 1966). These were: the "irony point" or "irony mark" (: ), the "love point" (: ), the "conviction point" (: ), the "authority point" (: ), the "acclamation point" (: ), the "doubt point" (: ) An international patent application was filed, and published in 1992 under World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) number WO9219458, for two new punctuation marks: the "question comma" and the "exclamation comma". The question comma has a comma instead of the dot at the bottom of a question mark, while the exclamation comma has a comma in place of the point at the bottom of an exclamation mark. These were intended for use as question and exclamation marks within a sentence, a function for which normal question and exclamation marks can also be used, but which may be considered obsolescent. The patent application entered into the national phase only in Canada. It was advertised as lapsing in Australia on 27 January 1994 and in Canada on 6 November 1995. Various sets of characters are referred to as "punctuation" in certain computing situations, many of which are also used to punctuate natural languages. Sometimes non-punctuation in the natural language sense (such as "&" which is not punctuation but is an abbreviation for "and") are included. General Punctuation and Supplemental Punctuation are blocks of Unicode symbols. In regular expressions, the character class codice_1 is defined to consist of the following characters (when operating in ASCII mode): codice_2 James while John had had had had had had had had had had had a better effect on the teacher, a word puzzle in which proper punctuation must be added to give the sentence meaning, Obelism, the practice of annotating manuscripts with marks set in the margins, Orthography, the category of written conventions that includes punctuation as well as spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, and emphasis, Scribal abbreviations, abbreviations used by ancient and medieval scribes writing in Latin, Terminal punctuation, History of sentence spacing for typographical details, Tironian notes, a system of shorthand that consisted of about 4,000 signs, Usage Larry Trask: Guide to Punctuation A helpful online resource, History of Punctuation, in French Helpful photographs of early punctuation, Punctuation Marks in English: Clarity in Expression, Unicode reference tables:, Unicode collation charts—including punctuation marks, sorted by shape, Ethiopic script, Automatic Recovery of Capitalization and Punctuation of Automatic Speech Transcripts, English Punctuation Rules, Punctuation marks with independent clauses, by Jennifer Frost

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Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (Also known as Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers, Halloween 666: The Curse of Michael Myers, or simply Halloween 6) is a 1995 American slasher film directed by Joe Chappelle and written by Daniel Farrands. The film stars Donald Pleasence in his final film appearance, Paul Rudd, and Marianne Hagan. It is the sixth installment in the Halloween film series. The film follows Michael Myers as he stalks the Strode family, cousins of Laurie Strode, while Dr. Sam Loomis pursues Michael Myers once more. The film reveals the source of Michael Myers's immortality and his drive to kill. Shot in Salt Lake City in the winter of 1994–95, it underwent a series of reshoots after it performed poorly with test audiences. The film was distributed by Dimension Films. It was released on September 29, 1995, grossed $15.1 million at the box office on a budget of $5 million, and received largely negative reviews from critics. Donald Pleasence died on February 2, 1995, nearly eight months before the film was released. The film was dedicated to his memory. After the film's home media release, the original workprint of the film, which featured 45 minutes of alternative footage and a different ending, was discovered by fans of the series. This version, dubbed The Producer's Cut, developed a cult following, with bootleg DVD copies sold on eBay and online petitions targeting for an official release of it. In 2014, the Producer's Cut was officially released on Blu-ray. It was followed by (1998), released three years later. On Halloween October 31, 1989, Michael Myers and his niece Jamie Lloyd are abducted from the Haddonfield Police Station. Six years later, on October 30, 1995, Jamie has been impregnated and her infant is born, being taken away by the "Man in Black", the leader of a Druid-like cult. Later, a midwife helps Jamie escape with her baby, but she is killed by Michael. Jamie and her baby flee in a stolen pick-up truck, with Michael in pursuit. Meanwhile, Dr. Sam Loomis has retired and moved to a cabin on the outskirts of Haddonfield, where he lives as a hermit. He is visited by his friend Dr. Terence Wynn, the chief administrator of Smith's Grove Sanitarium, where Michael had been incarcerated as a boy; Wynn asks Loomis to return to Smith's Grove. They overhear Jamie's plea for help on a local radio station, when she makes a call to Loomis, only to be ignored by the radio D.J. Barry Simms. Michael catches up with Jamie, and she crashes the truck into an old barn. He kills Jamie by impaling her on a corn thresher and turning it on, disemboweling her, but finds that her baby is not in the truck. In Haddonfield, Tommy Doyle, whom Laurie Strode babysat in 1978, now lives in a boarding house run by Mrs. Blankenship. Tommy is a reclusive individual who has become obsessed with finding the truth behind Michael's motives. The dysfunctional family living in the Myers house across the street are relatives of the Strode family: Kara Strode, her six-year-old son Danny, her teenage brother Tim, caring mother Debra, and abusive father John. Tommy finds Jamie's baby at the bus station, takes him into his care, and names him Steven. Tommy runs into Loomis and tells him about the Strode family living in the Myers house. Meanwhile, Michael returns to Haddonfield, where he stalks Kara, before murdering Debra by slamming an axe into her head. Later, Tommy, Kara, and Danny go to the boarding house, where Tommy reveals that he believes Michael has been inflicted with Thorn, an ancient Druid curse. Long ago, one child from each tribe, chosen to bear the curse of Thorn, must sacrifice its next of kin on the night of Samhain, or Halloween. Tommy believes that Steven will be Michael's final sacrifice. Later that night, while Tommy goes out to look for Loomis, Mrs. Blankenship reveals to Kara that she was babysitting Michael the night he killed his sister, and that Danny is hearing a voice telling him to kill just like Michael did, indicating Danny also possesses the power of Thorn. Meanwhile, Michael kills John, Tim, Tim's girlfriend Beth, and Barry Simms. Danny and Kara manage to escape back to the boarding house where Tommy and Loomis are waiting. The cult arrives at the boarding house, where it is revealed that Mrs. Blankenship is a cult member and the Man in Black is Dr. Wynn. The cult drugs Loomis and Tommy and take Kara, Danny, and Steven to Smith's Grove. Kara is locked in a maximum security ward while the boys are kept in an operating room. Loomis confronts Wynn, who reveals that the staff at Smith's Grove have been working with the Thorn cult to study the power of Thorn and learn how to control it. Wynn wants Loomis to join in on his conspiracy, as he was the first one to recognize the evil inside Michael. Steven is implied to be the successful result of experiments to clone Michael's pure evil, and the cult plans to use Danny and Kara to duplicate the process. Tommy frees Kara as Michael pursues them through the sanitarium. Tommy and Kara see Wynn and his team talking with a cult member and preparing to perform a medical procedure on Danny and Steven. Michael ultimately turns against the cult, killing Wynn and the doctors, and then chases Tommy, Kara, Danny, and Steven into a laboratory containing fetuses from previous Thorn experiments. Loomis helps Kara and the children escape the hospital, while Tommy injects Michael with corrosive liquid and beats him unconscious with a lead pipe. As Tommy, Kara, and the kids leave Smith's Grove, Loomis stays behind as he has business to attend to back inside. Michael's mask is shown lying on the ground, with Michael nowhere to be found, and Loomis screams in horror. Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Paul Rudd as Tommy Doyle, Marianne Hagan as Kara Strode, Mitchell Ryan as Dr. Terence Wynn, Devin Gardner as Danny Strode, George P. Wilbur as Michael Myers, A. Michael Lerner as Michael Myers, J. C. Brandy as Jamie Lloyd, Danielle Harris as Young Jamie Lloyd, Mariah O'Brien as Beth, Keith Bogart as Tim Strode, Kim Darby as Debra Strode, Bradford English as John Strode, Leo Geter as Barry Simms, Susan Swift as Nurse Mary, Alan Echeverria as Dr. Bonham, Janice Knickrehm as Mrs. Blankenship After the less than enthusiastic response to which came out only a year after , producer Moustapha Akkad put the series on hold to re-evaluate its potential. Akkad felt Halloween 5 had strayed too far from Halloween 4 and the box office response was much lower than expected. In 1990, screenwriter and long-time Halloween fan Daniel Farrands set out to write the sixth entry in the Halloween series. Farrands gave his horror film scripts to the producer of Halloween 5, Ramsey Thomas; impressed by his writing, Thomas set a meeting for Farrands with executive producer Moustapha Akkad. Farrands described the meeting: Although the producers at the time had already sought to make a sixth Halloween film, a series of complicated legal battles ensued which delayed plans for a sequel; eventually Miramax Films (via its Dimension Films division) bought the rights to the Halloween series. In June 1994, after several screenplays from different writers had been deemed insufficient by Akkad (including one by Scott Spiegel), Farrands was hired to write a new screenplay, as the film had an impending shooting date scheduled for October in Salt Lake City, Utah. Farrands has said his initial intent for the film was to "bridge the later films (4–5) in the series to the earlier films (1–2) while at the same time taking the story into new territory so that the series could expand for future installments." This in part meant expanding on the presence of the "Man in Black" as well as the appearance of the Thorn symbol, both of which appear without explanation at the end of Halloween 5. In beginning the script, Farrands contacted the writers of Halloween 4 and 5 for additional information, but they were unable to provide clear answers, leaving him to "pick up the pieces." Farrands expanded the "Curse of Thorn" plot line, in which Jamie Lloyd is kidnapped by a covert cult who has cursed Michael Myers via the Runic symbol of Thorn, which compels him to kill and also affords him immortality. Farrands had in part based the idea on dialogue present in Halloween II (1981) about the night of Samhain, during which the "veil between the living and the dead is thinnest," the one time of the year during which Myers became "active, and seeks out his bloodline." References to Druidism as well as Myers's grandfather "hearing voices" had also appeared in the 1978 novelization of Halloween by Curtis Richards. While the character of Jamie Lloyd dies early in the film, the initial versions of Farrands' script had her character surviving until the final act, at which point she was ultimately killed by Michael. Other elements of Farrands' working script that ultimately had to be trimmed down included an extension of the Curse of Thorn subplot, which had the entire town of Haddonfield in collusion with the cult, an idea Akkad wanted to use for the series' seventh installment. However, this idea was scrapped in favor of the script in 1997. According to Farrands, there were around ten different drafts of his script between June 1994 and the October 1994 film shoot, and much of the finale that appears in the theatrical version (including the events at the hospital, as well as the references to the cult using Myers's power as a means of scientific investigation), was not written by him, and had been written and shot in post-production under the supervision of Dimension Films. Farrands compares Tommy's arc in that film to Laurie Strode's in Halloween H20: that of a traumatized victim who must stop running and face their worst fear. He claims that this was supposed to be more obvious, with flashbacks to the original film, but the development of the film resulted in many of those scenes being lost. Farrands says that he brought Tommy back as a way of bridging the gap between the sequels and the first film. His intent was for Tommy to be the successor to Dr. Loomis, to act as a "voice of sanity...a kind of modern Van Helsing, the fearless Michael hunter!", a role he believed was missing from H20 and . Originally, Kara's fate varied in various script drafts. In the first draft, Kara is murdered by her son Danny in the Haddonfield Bus Depot, while the near final draft had the film ending with Tommy and Kara driving away. The film as released ends with Kara and Tommy driving off with the children, Danny and Stephen. Farrands describes Michael as a "sexual deviant". According to him, the way Michael follows girls around and watches them contains a subtext of repressed sexuality. Farrands theorizes that, as a child, Michael became fixated on the murder of his sister Judith, and for his own twisted reasons felt the need to repeat that action over and over again, finding a sister-like figure in Laurie who excited him sexually. He also believes that by making Laurie Michael's literal sister, the sequels took away from the simplicity and relatability of the original Halloween. Nevertheless, when writing Curse, Farrands was tasked with creating a mythology for Michael which defined his motives and why he could not be killed. He says, "He can't just be a man anymore, he's gone beyond that. He's mythical. He's supernatural. So, I took it from that standpoint that there's something else driving him. A force that goes beyond that five senses that has infected this boy's soul and now is driving him." As the script developed and more people became involved, Farrands admits that the film went too far in explaining Michael Myers and that he himself was not completely satisfied with the finished product. Farrands, a long-time fan of the series, sought to incorporate various references and allusions to the previous Halloween films, particularly the original, to play with the "Halloween mythology." These range from situational allusions, such as Tommy Doyle living across the street from the Strode house (a play on the events in the original Halloween, which take place between the Wallace and Doyle residences, which are across the street from one another) to minor references, such as the naming of an address from Halloween II (1981), and the character of Mrs. Blankenship, a name referred to in passing in (1982). Other references outside the narrative diegeses of the series include the names of characters, such as John and Debra Strode (referencing John Carpenter and Debra Hill), as well as the naming of Danny Strode, a character Farrands has said was modeled after Danny Torrance in The Shining (1980). Farrands also referenced Carpenter's The Fog (1980) with the line referring to a "stomach pounder" (a protein milkshake Tim drinks early in the film), and Beth's murder scene was modeled after a scene from Fred Walton's When a Stranger Calls (1979) (Farrands wrote the scene upon hearing that Walton had been attached to direct the project, though Walton would eventually drop out of the production). Additionally, extended scenes of Kara walking on the college campus and en route to her home were intended to allude to scenes featuring Laurie Strode in the first film, while Danny dropping his pumpkin while walking home alludes to a scene in the first film in which a group of bullies force Tommy to drop his pumpkin outside the elementary school. Donald Pleasence returned to play Dr. Loomis, in what would be one of his final film performances; according to Farrands, Pleasence was fond of the script. Danielle Harris, who was seventeen at the time, contacted producer Paul Freeman about reprising her role as Jamie Lloyd, and went so far as completing paperwork to become legally emancipated in order to shoot the film. She was officially cast in the role, but Dimension Films could not come to an agreement over her salary; Harris alleges that Dimension offered her a scaled $1,000 to shoot the part over the course of a week, which was less than the amount of money she had paid for her emancipation. Farrands and Freeman both had wanted Harris for the part, but at that point "had their hands tied." According to Harris, the head of the casting department refused to negotiate her salary, stating that she was a "scale character who dies in the first twenty minutes." This ultimately led to her dropping out of the project. "People automatically assume I wanted some crazy amount of money, or something," Harris commented in 2014, "[but] it's not like I [was] demanding of anything, really ... When you've been asked to do something and then they insult you by saying, "You're a piece of shit, you die in the first act—I don't give a fuck that you were in two other Halloween movies, who cares?"... I was in shock." Actress J. C. Brandy was cast as Harris's replacement. The producers initially wanted Brian Andrews to reprise his role as Tommy Doyle. However, with Andrews not having an agent, they were unable to contact him. Paul Rudd was cast in the part of Tommy, which marked his first starring role before he appeared in Clueless (1995). The leading female role, Kara, was given to Marianne Hagan; however, Hagan has since stated that Miramax executives Bob and Harvey Weinstein did not favor her for the part, and made aesthetic criticisms about her being "too thin" and her chin being "too pointy". Farrands, however, had wanted Hagan for the part because he felt she possessed an "every-girl" quality of having "lived a little, and had a hard time," and likened her screen presence to that of Jamie Lee Curtis. For the role of Dr. Terence Wynn, Mitchell Ryan was cast, based on his performance in Lethal Weapon (1987); Farrands originally urged the producers to cast Christopher Lee, having had the veteran horror actor in mind when writing the character. This is a reference on Carpenter's initial choice for role of Dr. Loomis during film making of Halloween from 1978 where he was offered that role, but declined due to low pay, only later to regret in later years. Denise Richards also auditioned for the part of Beth, but the studio passed on her, giving the role to Mariah O'Brien. Stunt performer George P. Wilbur, who portrayed Michael in the , reprised his role as Michael Myers. However, once reshoots took place, Wilbur was replaced by A. Michael Lerner as director Joe Chapelle found Wilbur to be "too bulky." Fred Walton (director of When a Stranger Calls and April Fool's Day) was originally attached to direct the film but dropped out. Special effects artist John Carl Buechler created the mask for the film, which was based heavily on the mask featured in the poster for Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers. Buechler hand-crafted the mask over actor George P. Wilbur's face. Filming began in late October 1994 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Within the first week of shooting, however, the city experienced an early winter snowstorm, which complicated the production. As a result, several scenes which were supposed to take place on exterior locations had to be transferred to interiors. The original hospital scenes were shot at the abandoned Old Primary Children's Hospital in The Avenues section of Salt Lake City. Producer Paul Freeman and director Chappelle reportedly rewrote the ending on-set, even from shot-to- shot as production deadlines loomed. Freeman also sent the crew home when crucial scenes needed to be shot; deleted scripted scenes indiscriminately; rewrote dialogue and action sequences; and assumed the responsibility of directing second-unit shots and the supervision of post-production of the original cut. These complications resulted in Dimension Films' parent company (and the film's co-production company) Miramax, taking over the film's production, and ordering many of the reworked sequences to be reshot. Associated producer Malek Akkad explained the film's lack of a cohesive "vision" being the result of director Chappelle "answering" to the visions of the distributor, Dimension Films; Moustapha Akkad's production company, Nightfall Productions; and writer Daniel Farrands. Tensions between what Dimension, Nightfall, and Farrands envisioned for the film resulted in a finished product that had needed "more forethought," according to Akkad. In early 1995, after filming and editing was completed, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was given a test screening in New York City which, as described by actress Marianne Hagan, "consisted primarily of fourteen-year-old boys." During the Q&A; afterward, one of the audience members expressed great displeasure at the ending of the film, which entailed a Celtic ritual and the passing on of the "Curse of Thorn" to the Dr. Loomis character. As a result of the audience's disapproval toward the film's finale, the movie was rushed back into production, this time without Donald Pleasence, who died on February 2, 1995. Pleasence had been in ill health during the shooting of the film. Reshoots took place in Los Angeles, California in the summer of 1995. A. Michael Lerner replaced George P. Wilbur in the role of Michael Myers, as the studio executives wanted him to appear less bulky. This resulted in continuity error as the last third of the film features a slimmer Myers. However, Wilbur makes a cameo appearance as a doctor who is killed by Myers in the finale. Some of the additional footage incorporated into the finale of the film was shot at Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles. In addition to the re-shoots prompted by the poor test screening, the film also underwent significant editing in post-production, resulting in brisker pacing and a "flashier" cinematic style that favored "blood and guts," but, according to Farrands, ultimately resulted in a "more confusing" movie. According to writer Farrands, the stylized flash cuts prominent in the final theatrical cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers were not originally intended, and he likened the style of the final product to an "MTV video rather than a Halloween film." Composer Alan Howarth similarly called the final product a "fix job," with numerous elements of the production being in flux both during and after principal photography. In addition to Howarth's score being redone, the film's sound design was also significantly altered from Howarth's original "minimalist" design. The original music score is composed by long-time Halloween contributor Alan Howarth, his work in the series dating back to his collaboration with John Carpenter on Halloween II. However, Howarth's score was redone by music editor Paul Rabjohns when the film went through reshoots. A soundtrack album was released by Varèse Sarabande, and is an unusual combination of the music featured in the original cut of the film, as well as that of the final theatrical cut. According to Howarth, he helped re-score the revised cut of the film, incorporating the use of guitar and drums in addition to the original score, which had been more synthesizer and piano-based. Howarth's official score for the film was released on CD October 24, 1995. The music of Alabama-based rock band Brother Cane was featured throughout the movie. The music came from their 1995 release Seeds on Virgin Records. The album's hit single "And Fools Shine On" can be heard when Kara, Tim and Beth arrive at school in their car. The song is also heard during the closing credits. Three other Brother Cane songs (all from the Seeds album) are featured in the film: "Hung on a Rope", "20/20 Faith", and "Horses & Needles". "Disconnected" by the group I Found God is also featured in the film. Track listing The film's troubled production resulted in two cuts of the film, which prompted a legal battle between the film's production company, Nightfall, who wanted to release the original cut, and its distributor, Dimension Films, who had incorporated reshoots and additional material. Ultimately, Dimension Films won the dispute, and their cut of the film was officiated for theatrical release. An earlier teaser trailer of the film employed the title Halloween 666: The Origin of Michael Myers, which according to Daniel Farrands, came before an official title had been decided, and that the trailer title was a combination of an earlier script titled The Origin of Michael Myers by another writer, and Farrands' original script titled Halloween 666. At one point, executive producer Moustapha Akkad asked Farrands for a title, who suggested The Curse of Michael Myers due to the troubled production. Although Farrands's comment was in jest, Akkad took the name to heart and decided upon it. Farrands also added that this coincidentally made the subtitles similar to those in The Pink Panther films, which also used Return, Revenge, and Curse subtitles as Halloweens fourth, fifth and sixth films, respectively. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers was released on September 29, 1995 in the United States, and brought in a $7,308,529 opening weekend gross, coming in second to serial killer thriller Seven, being the first film in the series to be on par with Halloween IIs opening weekend gross (both Halloween 4 and 5 had earned under $7 million). The film went on to gross a total of $15,116,634 at the U.S. box office, from an estimated $5 million budget. The film was not screened by critics. It has a 6% approval rating and an average rating of 2.71/10, based on 34 reviews, on the internet review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The sites critical consensus states "Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers trades the simple, brutal effectiveness of the original for convoluted mysticism, with disastrously dull results." On Metacritic, the film holds a 10/100 based on 13 reviews, signifying as "overwhelming dislike". Daniel Kimmel of Variety called the film "tired" and "run-of-the-mill", while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film lacked suspense and said that "not even the presence of the late, gloriously histrionic Donald Pleasence can liven things up," deeming it "bland", "deadening", and "by far the worst in the series." Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film's script "impossibly convoluted", and wrote that "shock effects are applied with such hamfisted regularity that they quickly backfire." Josh Hartl of The Seattle Times criticized the film's conventionality, writing: "instead of sending up the current glut of serial- killer movies, the filmmakers trot out the old slasher tactics." Jack Mathews of the Los Angeles Times similarly criticized the film's lack of originality, comparing it negatively to its predecessors. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post also criticized the script, writing: "While director Joe Chapelle and writer Daniel Farrands took advantage of a clearance sale at the Horror Cliche Emporium, they forgot to stop in at Plots R Us." The Time Out London film guide deemed the film "A series of competently engineered shock moments jollied along by a jazzed-up version of John Carpenter's original electronic score: slicker than crude oil and just as unattractive." The film was first released for home media on VHS on October 7, 1996 from Buena Vista Home Entertainment. A DVD followed on October 10, 2000. In January 2010, the film was released for the first time on Blu-ray in Canada from Alliance Films alongside and with no bonus material. The film was released on Blu-ray and again on DVD in the United States on May 10, 2011 by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, once again with no bonus features. Anchor Bay Entertainment and Shout! Factory once again released the film on Blu-ray on September 23, 2014 as a part of their 15-disc box set containing the entire series. This release also contained extensive bonus features, such as a commentary from writer Daniel Farrands and composer Alan Howarth, interviews with producers Malek Akkad and Paul Freeman, actresses Marian O'Brien, J. C. Brandy, and Danielle Harris, George P. Wilbur, makeup artists John Carl Buechler and Brad Hardin, as well as Howarth, in addition to deleted scenes and archival behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, and a tribute to Donald Pleasence. Lionsgate released yet another standalone Blu-ray on September 15, 2015 containing The Producer's Cut, but without any of the bonus features featured on the 15-disc release. While the film was initially released on VHS in Australia with a rating of MA15+, the DVD was not released until October 8, 2014, with no extras. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers is notorious among Halloween fans for having multiple versions. The Producer's Cut is the best known; however, a Director's Cut also exists with footage cut by the MPAA. The theatrical version was the only version commercially available—with the Director and Producers cuts existing as low-quality bootlegs—until the Producer's Cut was included in the official Complete Collection box set released by Scream Factory and Anchor Bay Entertainment in 2014. The original cut of the film that screened for test audiences prior to the reshoots became known colloquially as The Producer's Cut, and bootlegged copies of it surfaced among film collectors. This cut of Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers features numerous differences, ranging from different scores and musical cues to substantial shifts in plot, particularly regarding the film's conclusion. In a retrospective interview, Farrands noted that the finale in this cut of the film was sufficiently "creepy" and "Gothic," but conceded that it lacked intensity, which is largely what prompted Dimension Films to begin reshoots. The Producer's Cut of the film garnered a cult following, according to writer Farrands: "It's amazing the life that [Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers] has continued to have because there is this alternate version that has been, kind of in-the-vault all these years." In the finale of The Producer's Cut, Kara awakens at Smith's Grove Sanitarium on a concrete slab, surrounded by the cult's members, including Mrs. Blankenship, Wynn's secretary Dawn, the bus depot man, and Sheriff Holdt. Wynn conducts a ceremony in which Michael will kill Steven as a final sacrifice of innocent blood, after which the curse will pass on to Danny with Kara as his first sacrifice. Kara realizes that Steven is a product of incest between Jamie and Michael, and uses this to try to convince Michael not to kill the baby. Tommy holds Wynn hostage, forcing the cult to free Kara, and they run with the children through the sanitarium until they reach a locked gate. Tommy uses the power of the ancient runes to stop Michael in his tracks, and Loomis helps the group escape. Later, after telling the others he has unfinished business, Loomis walks back into the sanitarium to find Michael lying on the floor of the main hallway. Upon removing the mask, Loomis finds Dr. Wynn, with whom Michael switched clothes and then escaped. Wynn dies, but not before passing on the Thorn symbol, which appears Loomis' wrist; realizing now that he himself is now to act as the leader of the cult, Loomis screams in despair (this is heard as ambient noise in the final frame of the theatrical cut). Another substantial difference in The Producer's Cut is the death of Jamie Lloyd: she does not die at the beginning of the film, but survives being stabbed by Michael in the barn. She remains in a coma and is taken to the hospital, where Loomis and Wynn visit her. Midway through the film, a "Gothic" montage occurs, which reveals in fragmented detail the conception of Jamie's child among the cult. After the sequence, an unseen person, later revealed to be Wynn, shoots the unconscious Jamie in the head with a silenced pistol. Additionally, John's death scene in The Producer's Cut was shorter; in the theatrical cut, an additional shot (completed during the reshoots) was incorporated of his head graphically exploding from an electrical power surge. Other various transitional shots throughout The Producer's Cut version were extracted or truncated in the theatrical cut. The Producer's Cut remained officially unreleased for nearly 20 years. It had its first public exhibition on October 27, 2013 at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles. Screenwriter Farrands was present for a short Q&A;, in which he stressed that there was still a major push in the works to get this version a proper release. He also said that the studio allowing this version to be screened in public for the first time, and the overwhelmingly positive response, were both huge steps in the right direction. Anchor Bay Media and Scream Factory gave the producers cut an official release on Blu-ray in September 2014. A few select scenes from the Producer's Cut can be seen in the television version of the film. The scenes were re-inserted to increase the running time of the film. Jamie Lloyd is a fictional character in the Halloween franchise and the main protagonist of and and also appears in a less prominent role in . The character was created by Alan B. McElroy and portrayed by actress Danielle Harris in the fourth and fifth films of the series, while J.C. Brandy portrays her in the sixth. The character was created after Jamie Lee Curtis declined to return as Laurie Strode for the fourth film due to not wanting to continue her participation in the film. As a result, her character was written out and died in a car accident, which is briefly explained in the film. Originally, the character was named Brittany "Britti" Lloyd. Britti's name was later changed to Jamie, a homage to Laurie Strode actress Jamie Lee Curtis. The fourth film introduced Laurie's daughter, Jamie Lloyd. As the daughter of Laurie, she is also the niece of infamous serial killer Michael Myers and his first victim, Judith Myers. First appearing in (1988), Jamie is Laurie Strode's daughter, as well as the niece of Judith and Michael Myers, which she and all of Haddonfield know about. Her father is unknown since her surname was never explained or elaborated in films where it came from when she appeared. She is put in the care of a foster family, the Carruthers, and later adopted after Laurie dies in a car crash. She suffers from nightmares about Michael and is bullied at school for being related to "The Boogeyman". On October 30, 1988, Michael is being transferred out of Ridgemont Federal Sanitarium back to Smith's Grove. While in the transfer ambulance, he recovers from his ten-year coma upon learning the existence of his niece. Accordingly, he kills the two medical attendants and the two drivers. While making his way back to his hometown, he also kills a mechanic and a waitress. In Haddonfield, while on the trail for Jamie, Michael kills the Carruthers' Golden Retriever Sundae, a worker at the power plant which causes a blackout of the entire town, the entire police force, the deputy, the police chief's daughter Kelly, Rachel's boyfriend Brady, and 4 men from a vigilante mob. Escaping from town, Jamie cowers in a pick-up truck as Rachel hits Michael head on, throwing him off the road and knocking him out. Despite Rachel's orders, Jamie goes over to him and holds his hand. The police tell Jamie to drop to the ground and shoot Michael many times, causing him to fall into an abandoned mine shaft, which then collapses on top of him. Later, back in her foster home, Jamie is possessed by Michael's spirit and attacks her foster mother. When screams are heard from upstairs, Dr. Loomis walks over to the staircase seeing Jamie poised at the top holding a pair of bloody scissors, similar to Michael when he killed his older sister Judith. Sheriff Ben Meeker (Beau Starr) restrains Loomis from shooting her, and both men, Mr. Carruthers, and Rachel watch in horror, realizing that Jamie is following in Michael's footsteps. (1989), taking place a year later, has a severely traumatized Jamie housed in the Haddonfield Children's Clinic. She has now been rendered mute and suffers from nightmares and seizures, and being treated for attacking her foster mother under Michael's influence, though her foster mother survived. Early in the film, a brick, bearing a note reading, "The evil child must die," is thrown through her window. When Michael (Donald L. Shanks) awakens from a year-long coma, she exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her uncle, eventually regains the ability to speak, and has seizures whenever her uncle kills someone. Michael kills Rachel, four of Rachel's friends, two cops, and the Carruthers' new dog, a Doberman Pinscher named Max, while in pursuit of Jamie. Towards the end, Loomis takes Jamie to the old Myers house and successfully lures Michael into the house by having Jamie reenact her aunt Judith's final moments. Despite the doctor's pleas with Michael to fight his rage and seek redemption through a positive relationship with Jamie, Myers tracks down his niece in Judith Myers' deserted bedroom. Michael finds Jamie, but before he can kill her, she tries to appeal to her uncle's humanity. At Jamie's request, Michael takes off his mask. However, Jamie touches Michael's face, sending him into a fit of rage. Using Jamie as bait, Loomis catches Michael in a net, shoots him with tranquilizer darts, and beats him unconscious with a wooden beam. Michael is manacled and locked up in the local jail, awaiting transport to a maximum-security facility, where, Meeker says, he will remain "until the day he dies," to which Jamie responds, "He'll never die." After Jamie is escorted out to be taken home, a mysterious "Man in Black" arrives and attacks the police station. Jamie goes back inside to find that eight police officers have been gunned down, including Meeker, and that her uncle has escaped, prompting her to begin sobbing in terror. In (1995), the Man in Black kidnaps Jamie immediately after the shoot-out and has kept her and Michael (George P. Wilbur) in captivity for the past six years. 15-year-old Jamie gives birth to a boy on the night of October 30, 1995. Dr. Loomis and Tommy Doyle (Paul Rudd), whom Laurie Strode was babysitting on Halloween 1978, attempt to rescue Jamie after hearing her plea for help on a local radio station. Michael kills Jamie by impaling her on a corn thresher and turning it on, disemboweling her. Before being killed, Jamie hides her infant, who is found by Tommy. The Man in Black is revealed to be Loomis' former medical colleague Dr. Terence Wynn (Mitchell Ryan). He and most of his staff are revealed to be a Druid cult headquartered in the subterranean levels of the Smith's Grove Sanitarium, the place where Michael was committed after killing his sister Judith. They are responsible for Michael's actions, placing an ancient curse on him to kill his family to ward off sickness and death. By the end of the movie, it is implied that Dr. Wynn has been trying and failing to breed the ultimate evil using Michael's DNA and female patients of the sanitarium in in-vitro fertilization experiments; finally reaching a success with Jamie's baby after she had been tested on. In the original cut of the film, Jamie does not die at the beginning of the film, and instead survives a knife attack by Michael in the barn. She remains in a coma and is taken to the hospital, where Loomis and Wynn visit her. Later, an unseen person, later revealed to be Wynn, shoots the unconscious Jamie in the head with a silenced pistol. When screenwriter Kevin Williamson first outlined (1998), he created the storyline in which Laurie Strode has faked her own death and taken on a new identity as a specific way of retconning the character's death in Halloween 4. In Williamson's original treatment, there are scenes in which a Hillcrest student does a report on Michael Myers' killing spree, mentioning the death of Jamie, complete with flashbacks to 4-6 mentioned in the text. "Keri"/Laurie responds to hearing the student's report on the death of her daughter by going into a restroom and throwing up. In a controversial decision, director Steve Miner retconned the series with Halloween H20: 20 Years Later. This installment retained Laurie's faked death from Williamson's treatment, revealing that she did so in order to avoid detection by her relentless brother. Under a new identity, Laurie has fled to Summer Glen, California, along with her only son, John Tate (Josh Hartnett). However, to focus more on the Laurie Strode character, the events of parts 4, 5, and 6 are implicitly written out of the continuity, thus erasing the Jamie Lloyd character from the canon. Early on, the script for Halloween (2018) had Jamie appear alongside Laurie for the first time. However, subsequent rewrites changed her to 'Karen', followed by the casting of an actress with no resemblance to Danielle Harris. Even before those early plans were publicly known, Harris objected, feeling strongly about Laurie having a daughter that was not Jamie, but her appeals to the production company were dismissed. The film also, which is a direct sequel to the original film, disregards Michael as the brother of Laurie Strode. Jamie Lloyd's first literary appearance was in October 1988, in Nicholas Grabowsky's novelization of Halloween 4. The official Halloween: 30 Years of Terror comic book, taking place in the new continuity, has an adult Tommy Doyle illustrating comic books. Various elements from the fourth through sixth movies can be seen on his books, one of which is Jamie. The comic Halloween: The Mark of Thorn features Jamie, as well as Tommy Doyle, Rachel Carruthers and the Man in Black. Melissa Joan Hart had auditioned for the role, among various other girls. Up against her was Danielle Harris, who had previously starred in One Life to Live as Samantha Garretson; Harris was ultimately cast in the role after auditioning in New York. Jamie Lloyd was Danielle Harris' first feature film role, for which she appears at horror conventions and on Halloween series- related websites. Harris sought to reprise the role for the sixth installment, now titled Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, but the producers and Dimension Films reportedly refused to pay her the $5,000 she requested, and she was not fond of the script. The role was instead given to actress J. C. Brandy, who was a Halloween fan herself. Harris made her eventual return to the series as Annie Brackett in Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, as well as its subsequent sequel. In the films, the uncertainty of Jamie’s age stems from a discrepancy between Halloween 4 and 5. In the former film, set in late October 1988, Jamie's foster sister, Rachel Carruthers (Ellie Cornell) wonders why Jamie continues staying up so late. She asks, "You are going for a record here? The Seven- Year-Old Insomniacs' Hall of Fame?", suggesting that she is born in 1981. The latter film is set one year later in late October 1989. Rachel and Jamie’s adolescent friend Tina Williams (Wendy Kaplan) exclaims to Dr. Sam Loomis (Donald Pleasence) that "Jamie’s a nine-year-old girl!" In the novelization of the fourth film, Halloween IV (1988; revised edition, 2003) by Nicholas Grabowsky, Jamie is six years old, which implicitly dates her birth to 1982. According to H4, Laurie legally died 11 months earlier in November 1987 and Richard and Darlene Carruthers are Jamie’s foster parents. In H5, it is apparent that Jamie had been adopted assuming the name "Jamie Carruthers". Halloween 5 (also known as Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers) is a 1989 American slasher film written and directed by Dominique Othenin-Girard. It is the fifth installment in the Halloween series, and stars Donald Pleasence, and Danielle Harris. The film follows Michael Myers returning to Haddonfield to murder his niece, Jamie, one year after the events of . The film's on-screen titles do not display "The Revenge of Michael Myers", which was used in all of the promotional material, TV spots, trailers, and merchandising; it simply says "Halloween 5". Halloween 5 was theatrically released on October 13, 1989, and grossed $11.6 million at the box office on a budget of $5–6 million, making it the poorest-performing film in the series to date. It received negative reviews from critics upon release, and was followed by (1995). On October 31, 1988, Michael Myers is shot and falls down a mine shaft. Sheriff Ben Meeker, the lynch mob, and state police toss down dynamite to finish him off. Escaping into a nearby creek, he stumbles upon a local hermit and falls into a coma, placing himself in the hermit's care, and being nursed back to health. One year later, on October 30, 1989, Michael awakens, kills the hermit, and returns to Haddonfield to find his niece Jamie Lloyd again, who narrowly avoided being killed by him the year before. Jamie has been admitted to a children's hospital, having been rendered mute due to psychological trauma, suffering from nightmares and seizures and being treated for attacking her foster mother under Michael's influence, though her foster mother survived. Jamie exhibits signs of a telepathic link with her uncle. Dr. Sam Loomis becomes aware of Jamie's psychic link with Michael, and tries to convince Sheriff Meeker that Michael is still alive. Meanwhile, Michael kills Jamie's foster sister Rachel by stabbing her in the chest with a pair of scissors, and begins stalking their friend Tina, also killing Tina's boyfriend Mike with a sharp rake to his head. Later that night, Tina and her friends Sam and Spitz go to a Halloween party at a farm. Sensing that Tina is in danger, Jamie, having regained her ability to speak, goes to warn her. While Sam and Spitz are having sex in the barn, Michael murders them. Michael then leaves the barn and kills two deputies and finally Tina. Jamie finally agrees to put herself in danger to help Loomis stop Michael for good. With Jamie's help, Loomis lures Michael back to his abandoned childhood home. In the house, Loomis creates a set-up with the police. However, Sheriff Meeker and most of the police are called away due to Michael attacking the children's hospital Jamie was originally admitted to, leaving only Loomis, Jamie, and Deputy Charlie Bloch. When Michael arrives, Loomis tries to reason with him, but Michael subdues him and then goes after Jamie. Bloch attempts to escape with Jamie out of a window using a rope ladder but they are unable to escape in time and Bloch sacrifices himself to save Jamie. Jamie races upstairs to the attic where she finds the bodies of Rachel and Mike. Michael finds Jamie, but before he can kill her, she tries to appeal to her uncle's humanity. At Jamie's request, Michael takes off his mask and he sheds a tear. However, when Jamie touches Michael's face, he goes into a fit of rage. Loomis appears, using Jamie as bait, and lures Michael into a trap to weaken him with a tranquilizer gun. After beating Michael unconscious with a wooden beam, Loomis suffers a stroke and collapses, before Sheriff Meeker and the police return and apprehend Michael. Michael is locked up in the sheriff's station, to eventually be escorted to a maximum-security prison by the National Guard. After Jamie is escorted out to be taken home, a mysterious "Man in Black" arrives and attacks the police station, killing the officers, including Sheriff Meeker. Jamie goes back inside the station, and discovers her uncle's cell empty. Jamie begins sobbing in terror. Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, Danielle Harris as Jamie Lloyd, Ellie Cornell as Rachel Carruthers, Beau Starr as Sheriff Ben Meeker, Wendy Kaplan as Tina Williams, Tamara Glynn as Samantha Thomas, Don Shanks as Michael Myers / The Man in Black, Jeffrey Landman as Billy Hill, Jonathan Chapin as Michael/"Mikey", Matthew Walker as Spitz, Betty Carvalho as Nurse Patsey, Troy Evans as Deputy Charlie Bloch, Frank Como as Deputy Nick Ross, David Ursin as Deputy Tom Farrah The success of had revived Michael Myers' fame as the 1980s slasher movie craze had begun to subside, leaving film series like Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street as its most prominent examples. While the previous film was still in theaters, Moustapha Akkad had already laid out plans for Halloween 5. The producers wanted to screen the film in October 1989, just one year after the previous sequel. The first draft of the script was written by Shem Bitterman. Bitterman's idea was that Jamie Lloyd would become evil after stabbing her stepmother while The Shape was after her. This idea was rejected by the studio and Akkad, who brought in Michael Jacobs to write the script. After reviewing the script, director Dominique Othenin-Girard added some new aspects like Jamie's inability to speak and her visions. Veteran actor Donald Pleasence had disagreements with Akkad and Othenin-Girard, citing that Jamie should have been portrayed as "all-evil" after stabbing her stepmother. Akkad disagreed, thinking that fans wanted to see more of The Shape. In an interview, Danielle Harris explained what she thought of the idea. Harris said, The Hermit, who was shown in the beginning of the film as living in a quiet shack outside of the river with his parrot, was originally supposed to be a young man who tried to bring The Shape back to life after finding him. His shack was supposed to be filled with ancient runes, tablets, and other items for resurrection. This scene was filmed, but was re-shot with an old man, instead of a younger man. The script included "bumbling" cops, Deputies Nick and Tom, with their own "clown theme" to pay homage to Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left." Dominique Othenin-Girard attempted to have audiences "relate to 'Evil', to Michael Myers' 'ill' side". Girard wanted Michael to appear "more human [...] even vulnerable, with contradicting feelings inside of him". He illustrated these feelings with a scene where Michael removes his mask and sheds a tear. Girard explains, "Again, to humanize him, to give him a tear. If Evil or in this case our boogeyman knows pain, or love or demonstrate a feeling of regrets; he becomes even more scary to me if he pursues his malefic action. He shows an evil determination beyond his feelings. Dr. Loomis tries to reach his emotional side several times in [Halloween 5]. He thinks he could cure Michael through his feelings." Returning from Halloween 4 was veteran actor Donald Pleasence as Dr. Sam Loomis, along with Danielle Harris, Ellie Cornell, and Beau Starr, as Jamie Lloyd, Rachel Carruthers, and Sheriff Ben Meeker, respectively. Starr would later appear in an un-aired Halloween 5 television spot. Ellie Cornell was keen on returning as Rachel in Halloween 5, although she became disappointed to learn that her character would be killed off early in the film. Originally, Michael was to shove the pair of scissors down her throat, but Cornell felt that this would be too gruesome, and requested that the writers change it; as a result, she is instead stabbed in the chest. Karen Alston, who portrayed Darlene Carruthers in the previous film, reprised her role in the beginning of the film showing the anonymous person in the mask stabbing her as she falls into the bathtub of water. Her voice-over was recorded by Wendy Kaplan. Kaplan won the role of Tina Williams, the loud and wily friend of Rachel's. After Rachel's demise, Tina inherits the role of Jamie's protector. George P. Wilbur, who had portrayed The Shape in the previous film, did not express interest in returning to play the role (although he did work as a stunt player on the film). Don Shanks was cast to play the speech-less, white-masked murderer. Shanks had already played a similar character in the first two Silent Night, Deadly Night films. Shanks also played the Man in Black. Wilbur, who had to wear hockey pads to appear to have a bigger build, would later portray the Shape again in the next installment, . Shanks did not have to wear the hockey pads because he already had a larger build. Max Robinson would play Maxwell Hart, the doctor who assists Jamie when she is having one of her nightmares in the beginning of the film. Betty Carvalho appears as his assistant, Nurse Patsey, who has a "motherly" feel to Jamie. Jeffrey Landman portrayed Billy Hill, Jamie's best friend, who has a stuttering problem. Landman worked with a coach who taught him about stuttering to help him prepare for the role. Newcomers such as Tamara Glynn, Matthew Walker, and Jonathan Chapin appear as Samantha Thomas, Spitz, and Mike, who are friends of Tina and Rachel. Walker would later appear in another slasher film, Child's Play 3 (1991). Debra Hill, who had written and produced the first two films, had sold her and John Carpenter's rights to the series before Halloween 4. She had met director Dominique Othenin-Girard at the Sundance Film Festival and liked his style. She arranged a meeting with Othenin-Girard and Moustapha Akkad. Akkad liked Othenin-Girard and he became the director. This was Debra Hill's last involvement in the franchise. Othenin-Girard wanted to bring the franchise closer to the original, but wanted more blood in the film. The original uncut version of the film featured more explicit blood and violence. Akkad did not like this decision, as he felt that the original and Halloween 4 had worked better without showing as much detail. After filming for two weeks, Donald Pleasence gave his much bigger trailer to Danielle Harris once he left set. Harris' mother had been complaining about the small size of her daughter's trailer and Pleasence decided that she should have his. Danielle Harris and Don Shanks became good friends over the course of filming, reportedly spending a lot of time together while off set. The film began production on May 1, 1989, and was filmed in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, just like its predecessor. The bus that the Man in Black gets off of stops outside exactly the same store where Jamie and Rachel went to get a Halloween costume in . Unable to find a small Victorian house like the Myers house in Halloween, the filmmakers chose a bigger, more mansion-like house because they needed a house that could provide wide rooms, hallways, an attic, a basement, and a laundry chute. Donald Pleasence accidentally broke Don Shanks' nose on the set when they were filming the scene where Dr. Loomis beats The Shape with a 2×4 block of wood. Don Shanks was also injured when he was filming the scene where The Shape crashes Mike's Camaro into the tree. Othenin-Girard had forgotten to yell "Cut!" and fire was beginning to emerge from the car (Shanks put this down to Othenin-Girard being sidetracked by seeing stunts take place during his first major directing job). Finally, stunt coordinator Don Hunt told Othenin-Girard to finally yell "cut". Wendy Kaplan was also injured in this scene, as the car almost ran over the top of her. The film had been fighting an X rating due to its violence, blood, and gore. Some scenes were trimmed down to keep it rated R. The scene in which Jamie climbs up the laundry chute was originally more graphic. Originally, Michael stabbed her in the leg. But due to the request of the Motion Picture Association of America, the scene was cut down. An alternative opening was filmed with the Hermit replaced by a younger man with all kinds of ritualistic items in his cabin. In April 2019, film reels were discovered which possibly contain the original lost opening. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the film was "rather like taking another swing through the same all-too-familiar funhouse", but thought it was "a bit more refined in its details than the conventional horror movie". Variety called the film "pretty stupid and boring fare" and noted that the series had become "practically indistinguishable from the 'Friday the 13th' pics". Richard Harrington of the Los Angeles Times criticised the film as being "a prime example of the principle of diminishing reruns" and criticized Donald Pleasence for "a flat two-note performance", though he thought Danielle Harris was "actually pretty good" in her role. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 13% "Rotten" score based on 24 reviews, with an average rating of 3.59/10. At the US box office the film took in $11.6 million on a budget of $5–6 million, making it the poorest performing film in the series to date. The film has been released on VHS, LaserDisc and DVD. The original VHS was released by CBS/FOX. It has been released, along with Halloween 4, the Halloween: 25 Years of Terror documentary and the Blu-ray, DVD and Extended Edition releases of Halloween (1978) for the commemorative Halloween 30th Anniversary box set in 2008. A Blu-ray edition was released in the United States on August 21, 2012. The film was released on DVD/Blu-ray on October 2, 2013 in Australia, and the DVD/Blu-ray extras are commentary, on the set footage and trailer.

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The World Snooker Championship is an annual ranking snooker tournament founded in 1927 and since 1977 played at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament is played over seventeen days in late April and early May, and is chronologically the third of the three Triple Crown events of the season since 1977/1978, when the UK Championship was first held. The event was not held from 1941 to 1945 because of World War II or between 1958 and 1963 due to declining interest. The governing body that currently organises this event is the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Prior to the WPBSA assuming control of the professional game in 1968, the world championship was organised by the Billiards Association and Control Council (BACC), except for a few years when the Professional Billiards Players' Association (PBPA) staged their own event, the World Professional Match-play Championship, following a dispute with the BACC. The most successful player at the World Snooker Championship was Joe Davis, who won fifteen consecutive titles between 1927 and 1946. The record in the modern era, usually dated from the reintroduction in 1969 of a knock-out tournament format, rather than a challenge format, is held by Stephen Hendry, who won the title seven times between 1990 and 1999. ! scope="col"| Year ! scope="col"| Winner ! scope="col"| Runner-up ! scope="col"| Final score ! scope="col"| Season ! scope="col"| Venue The 2019 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2019 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 43rd consecutive year the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, and the 20th and final ranking event of the 2018/2019 season. Qualifying for the tournament took place from 10 to 17 April 2019 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield. Sports betting company Betfred sponsored the event. The winner of the title was Judd Trump, who defeated John Higgins 18–9 in the final to claim his first World Championship. In doing so, Trump became the 11th player to win all three Triple Crown titles at least once. Defending champion Mark Williams lost 9–13 to David Gilbert in the second round of the tournament. For the first time in the history of the World Snooker Championship, an amateur player appeared at the main stage of the event—debutant James Cahill defeated world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round, before being narrowly defeated by Stephen Maguire in a second round deciding . The tournament featured 100 century breaks, the highest number ever recorded at an official snooker event. The final match alone included 11 centuries, the most ever scored in the final of a ranking event. Higgins compiled the highest break, a 143, in his semi-final win over Gilbert. Shaun Murphy defeated Luo Honghao in the first round 10–0, the first whitewash at the World Championship since 1992. The World Snooker Championship is an annual cue sport tournament and the official world championship of the game of snooker. Founded in the late 19th century by British Army soldiers stationed in India, the sport was popular in the British Isles. However, in the modern era it has become increasingly popular worldwide, especially in East and Southeast Asian nations such as China, Hong Kong and Thailand. The championship features 32 professional and qualified amateur players competing in one-on-one snooker matches in a single elimination format, each played over several . The 32 competitors in the main tournament are selected using a combination of the top players in the world snooker rankings and a pre-tournament qualification stage. Joe Davis won the first World Championship in 1927, the final match being held in Camkin's Hall, Birmingham, England. Since 1977, the event has been held in the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Stephen Hendry is the most successful player in the modern era, having won the World Championship a record seven times. The 2018 World Championship was won by Welsh professional player Mark Williams, who defeated Scotland's John Higgins 18–16 in the final. This was Williams' third world title, having won the championship in 2000 and 2003. The winner of the 2019 tournament earned prize money of £500,000, from a total pool of £2,231,000. The title sponsor of the event was sports betting company Betfred, who had sponsored the World Snooker Championship every year since 2015 (having previously sponsored the event from 2009 to 2012). The 2019 World Snooker Championship took place between 20 April and 6 May 2019 in Sheffield, England. The tournament was the last of twenty ranking events in the 2018/2019 season on the World Snooker Tour. It featured a 32-player main draw that was held at the Crucible Theatre, as well as a 128-player qualifying draw that was played at the English Institute of Sport from 10 to 17 April 2019, finishing three days before the start of the main draw. This was the 43rd consecutive year the tournament was held at the Crucible, and the 51st consecutive year the championship was contested using the modern knockout format. The top 16 players in the latest world rankings automatically qualified for the main draw as seeded players. Defending champion Mark Williams was automatically seeded first overall. The remaining 15 seeds were allocated based on the latest world rankings, which were released after the China Open, the penultimate event of the season. Matches in the first round of the main draw were played as the best of 19 frames. The number of frames required to win a match increased progressively with each successive round, leading up to the final match which was played as the best of 35 frames. All 16 non-seeded spots in the main draw were filled with players who had advanced through the qualifying rounds. There were 128 players in the qualifying draw, which comprised 106 of the remaining 112 players on the World Snooker Tour, as well as 22 wildcard places allotted to non-tour players. These invited players included the women's world champion, the European junior champion, and the four semi-finalists at the amateur championship. As with the main draw, half of the participants in the qualifying draw were seeded players; those ranked from 17th to 80th in the world rankings were allocated one of 64 seeds in order of their ranking, while the other competitors were placed randomly into the draw. To reach the main draw at the Crucible, players needed to win three best-of-19-frames qualifying matches. Eight former world champions participated in the main tournament at the Crucible. They were Ronnie O'Sullivan (five titles: 2001, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2013), John Higgins (four titles: 1998, 2007, 2009, 2011), Mark Williams (defending champion, three titles: 2001, 2003, 2018), Mark Selby (three titles: 2014, 2016, 2017), Shaun Murphy (one title: 2005), Graeme Dott (one title: 2006), Neil Robertson (one title: 2010), and Stuart Bingham (one title: 2015). This was O'Sullivan's 27th consecutive appearance in the final stages of the World Championship since his debut in 1993, equalling Stephen Hendry's total number of appearances, and three short of Steve Davis's record of 30. Four other former World Championship finalists also competed: Ali Carter (twice: 2008 and 2012), Judd Trump (once: 2011), Barry Hawkins (once: 2013), and Ding Junhui (once: 2016). The youngest player to participate in the main stage of the tournament was Luo Honghao at 19 years of age, while 46-year-old Mark Davis was the oldest; both players entered the main draw through qualifying. Three former world champions participated in the qualifying rounds: Ken Doherty (1997), Peter Ebdon (2002) and Graeme Dott (2006). Of these, only Dott succeeded in qualifying for the main tournament at the Crucible. Also, four former World Championship finalists participated in the qualifying rounds: Jimmy White (six times: 1984 and 1990–1994), Nigel Bond (once: 1995), Matthew Stevens (twice: 2000 and 2005), and Ali Carter (twice: 2008 and 2012). Of these, only Carter qualified for the main tournament at the Crucible. The total purse for the event was greater than for any prior snooker tournament. For the first time the total prize pool was over £2 million, with the winner being awarded £500,000. The breakdown of prize money was: Winner: £500,000, Runner-up: £200,000, Semi-final: £100,000, Quarter-final: £50,000, Last 16: £30,000, Last 32: £20,000, Last 48: £15,000, Last 80: £10,000, Main stage highest break: £10,000, Qualifying stage highest break: £1,000, Total: £2,231,000, Main stage maximum break: £50,000 The top 16 seeds automatically qualified for the competition's main draw. The defending champion Mark Williams was seeded first, whilst other seeds were allocated based on the world rankings following the China Open. The remaining players competed in the preliminary qualifying rounds, and were required to win three best-of-19-frames matches to reach the main stage of the championship. The qualifying rounds took place at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield between 10 and 17 April 2019, with 16 players progressing to the main stage at the Crucible Theatre. A total of 128 players competed in the qualifying stage, including those tour players not automatically qualified for the main draw, as well as invited amateurs. James Cahill became the first amateur player ever to qualify for the Crucible main stage of the World Championship, defeating fellow amateur Michael Judge 10–6 in the third qualifying round. Seven players—the largest number since 1999—advanced through the qualifying rounds to make their debuts at the main stage of the tournament. Besides Cahill, they were Scott Donaldson, Michael Georgiou, Li Hang, Luo Honghao, Tian Pengfei and Zhao Xintong. The 2006 World Champion Graeme Dott and two-time finalist Ali Carter also successfully qualified. Marco Fu failed to reach the main draw of the competition for the first time since 2004. The draw for the first round of the championship was made on 18 April 2019, the day after the conclusion of the qualifying rounds and two days before the start of the main event. The matches were drawn by World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn and 1991 World Champion John Parrott. The first round of the championship took place between 20 and 25 April 2019. All first round matches were played over two sessions as best of 19 frames. The tournament began with defending champion Mark Williams (seeded one) drawing qualifier Martin Gould. Both sessions of this first match were played on the opening day of the event. Gould won the first frame with a break of 64, before Williams took the next five with breaks of 55, 54 and 129, to lead 5–1. Gould won frames seven and eight, but Williams took the session's final frame with a break of 97 to lead 6–3. Williams opened up a lead in frame ten, before Gould made a to force a . However, Williams potted the black to go ahead 7–3. Gould then won frame 11, but Williams claimed the next two frames to open up a five-frame lead, at 9–4. Despite Gould responding with breaks of 70, 87 and 76, to reduce his deficit to 7–9, Williams clinched the 17th frame to win the match 10–7. After his victory, Williams complained that World Snooker had not allowed his 12-year-old son backstage before the match, which the governing body denied. Event debutant Luo Honghao was drawn against 13th seed Shaun Murphy. Finishing 10–0 to Murphy, the match was a whitewash, only the second ever to be witnessed at the Crucible (the first being John Parrott's defeat of Eddie Charlton in the first round of the 1992 championship). Luo accumulated just 89 points during the entire match, the lowest number of points ever scored in a World Championship match, and more than 100 fewer than the previous record low of 191 scored by Danny Fowler when he lost 1–10 to Stephen Hendry in the 1993 championship. Fourth seed Neil Robertson met qualifier Michael Georgiou in the first round. At the conclusion of the initial session, Georgiou was 0–9 behind, having scored even fewer points than Luo in the first nine frames of the match. However, he won frame ten on resumption of play in the second session, with a break of 90, thus avoiding both the whitewash and the lowest points total. Robertson later won the match 10–1 to progress to the second round. Fifth seed John Higgins played qualifier Mark Davis, who had won six of the pair's last seven encounters. Higgins took a 6–3 lead after the first session, but then spent the night in Royal Hallamshire Hospital because his brother Jason had fallen down some stairs at the venue and fractured his kneecap. Higgins won the match 10–7 the following day. Two former world champions, 12th seed Stuart Bingham (2015 winner) and qualifier Graeme Dott (2006 winner), met in the first round of the competition. Bingham led 8–1 after the first session, and later 9–4, before Dott won five frames to level the match at 9–9. Bingham won the deciding frame after Dott missed a simple shot on the . After the match, Dott explained that "serious sleeping problems" had caused him difficulties while playing. The first round match between 14th seed Luca Brecel and qualifier Gary Wilson, which featured a large amount of tactical play, was suspended when the afternoon session overran, with Wilson leading 9–8. On resuming that evening, Brecel won frame 18 to send the match to a deciding frame. After first requiring a re-rack, this frame lasted for 79 minutes and 31 seconds, setting the record for the longest frame ever played at the Crucible (breaking the previous record set in 2016 by Mark Selby and Marco Fu by more than three minutes). Tenth seed Ding Junhui played qualifier Anthony McGill. After leading 6–3 overnight, Ding won the match 10–7 to progress to the second round. Having lost eight of his previous 15 first round matches at the Crucible, 15th seed Stephen Maguire played event debutant Tian Pengfei. In frame 17, Maguire was 7–9 down and needed a on the colours to stay in the match. He successfully snookered Tian on the , but then missed a difficult shot to a corner; however, on rebounding from the pocket, the blue hit the and went into the other baulk pocket. Maguire later described this fluke as "just outrageous" and admitted he "got lucky". He added and black to steal the frame, and then took the next two frames to win the match 10–9. Three-time former world champion and third seed, Mark Selby, played debutant Zhao Xintong. Despite trailing 1–5 after the first six frames, Selby won nine of the next eleven frames, with two breaks of 131, to win 10–7. Amateur player James Cahill drew the world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan, who had reached the finals of the other Triple Crown events earlier in the season. Cahill finished the first session with a 5–4 lead, and then went ahead 8–5 in the second session, before O'Sullivan levelled the match at 8–8. Cahill missed a straightforward shot on a after compiling an early break in frame 17; however, despite needing only the final pink and black to win, O'Sullivan missed the pink, allowing Cahill to clinch the frame. With a break of 56 in the next frame, Cahill won the match 10–8 to secure a place in the second round. This was Cahill's second win over the top-ranked player in the season, having defeated Mark Selby in the first round of the UK Championship five months earlier. Afterwards, O'Sullivan indicated that he had been unwell during the match, but former world champion Ken Doherty accused him of "playing too casually". The last 16 players in the competition took part in the second round, which was played between 25 and 29 April, with matches completed over three sessions as best of 25 frames. Fourth seed Neil Robertson played 13th seed Shaun Murphy. The first session of the match featured a maximum break attempt by Murphy; with just two red balls remaining, he asked for the screen between the tables to be lifted, allowing the spectators in the other half of the auditorium to watch his attempt at a maximum, but he failed to finish it. Prior to this dramatic turn of events, Robertson had won the first three frames of the match, without Murphy attempting a pot. Robertson led 5–3 after the first session, and 10–6 after the second. He later won the first three frames of the final session to win the match 13–6. Post-match, Murphy called Robertson "just too good" and "unplayable". Defending champion Mark Williams played 16th seed David Gilbert. After the first session, with Gilbert leading 5–3, Williams said he had been feeling chest pains during play. He was taken to Northern General Hospital overnight, but returned the following morning for the second session of the match. He later tied the match 7–7, but was trailing again 7–9 after the second session. Gilbert then won the first four frames of the final session to win the match 13–9. Amateur player James Cahill drew 15th seed Stephen Maguire. After the first two sessions, Maguire was ahead 5–3 and 9–7, but Cahill then took three of the first four frames in the third session to level the match at 10–10. He also won frame 21, to take the lead for the first time in the match, but Maguire drew level in the following frame. Both players missed shots in frame 23, with Cahill looking to win the frame before being penalised for a , and later going from a , allowing Maguire to pull ahead again 12–11. Cahill won frame 24, after Maguire missed a by a wide margin, taking the match to a deciding frame. Maguire won the decider, and the match, 13–12. Three-time world champion Mark Selby played qualifier Gary Wilson. Despite trailing 3–5 after the first session, Selby won four of the first five frames in the second session to lead 7–6; however, Wilson took the last three frames of the session to lead 9–7. Selby later tied the match at 10–10, before Wilson won three consecutive frames to secure a place in the quarter-finals. Two former world champions, fifth seed John Higgins and 12th seed Stuart Bingham, met in the second round. Bingham took an early 4–1 lead, but Higgins won the remaining frames of the first session, with a 132 break in the eighth, to level at 4–4. The second session was even, with no more than two frames separating the players, and the match was tied again at 8–8 and 11–11. In frame 23, Bingham missed a on two reds, allowing Higgins to claim the next two frames and the match, 13–11. Bingham described the close-fought encounter as a "good battle" and Higgins admitted that he was "over the moon" to have won. Ninth seed and 2013 runner-up, Barry Hawkins, played eighth seed Kyren Wilson. This match included nine century breaks, setting a new record for the second round of the championships. Hawkins made four century breaks of 105, 130, 136, and 137 during the first session, including a maximum break attempt; Wilson also compiled a century in frame five. With four frames in a row ending with a 100+ break, this was the first time since the 1999 semi- final between Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry that four centuries had been compiled in consecutive frames in a World Championship match. After winning the first four frames of the match, Hawkins ended the first session with a 6–2 lead. Wilson won the second session of the match 5–3, to trail 7–9, before twice drawing level at 9–9 and 10–10 in the final session. Despite Hawkins pulling ahead, at 10–9 and 11–10, Wilson won the last three frames of the match to progress to the next round, 13–11. Zhou Yuelong played Ali Carter in the only all-qualifier encounter of the second round. Zhou took four of the first five frames to lead 4–1, then led 5–3 after the first session, and held the lead at 9–7 after the second. On resuming the match in the final session, Carter won six straight frames to progress 13–9. Two former world finalists, Judd Trump and Ding Junhui, met in the second round. Trump took an early 5–1 lead in the first session, but Ding won eight of the next ten frames to lead 9–7 before the final session. Trump then took six frames in a row, including breaks of 93, 79, 54 and 103, to win the match 13–9. The quarter-finals took place on 30 April and 1 May, and like the previous round, matches were played as best of 25 frames across three sessions. Ali Carter played Gary Wilson in an all-qualifier match. Despite this being his first World Championship quarter-final, and after losing the first three frames of the match, Wilson won five straight frames to lead 5–3 after the first session. The pair shared the second session, with both players winning four frames, bringing the score to 9–7 ahead of the final session. Carter won two of the next three frames, including a break of 128, to trail 9–10, before Wilson won the next three to progress 13–9. Post-match, Carter said, "You have to take your hat off to [Wilson]. I did not think he could play that good", noting that despite Wilson's low ranking of 32, "[he] has to be the favourite to win it now, the way he has been playing". The 2019 Masters champion, Judd Trump, played 15th seed Stephen Maguire. Having won six straight frames to conclude his second round match against Ding Junhui, Trump won another six consecutive frames at the start of this match, scoring breaks of 131, 67, 106, 78 and 101, to lead 7–1 after the first session. He looked set to win the match in the second session without needing to play the third, extending his lead to 9–1. However, Maguire won four of the remaining frames, to trail 5–11 by the end of the session. Trump won the match 13–6, after just three frames of the final session. Maguire was fined £250 for swearing in a post-match press conference when he was asked to summarise his performance in the match. Eighth seed Kyren Wilson played 16th seed David Gilbert. The pair had met earlier in the season, in the final of the 2019 German Masters, where Wilson had won the tournament 9–7. The two players shared the opening session of their quarter-final, 4–4; Gilbert then won six of the eight frames in the second session to lead 10–6 overnight. Wilson won two of the first three frames of the final session to trail 8–11, but Gilbert took the next two frames to win the match 13–8. Four-time world champion John Higgins played fourth seed Neil Robertson in the last of the quarter-finals. Robertson took an early 3–1 lead, but Higgins tied the match at 4–4. Robertson pulled away to 7–4 at the start of the second session, before Higgins won five frames in a row to take a 9–7 lead. After sharing the first six frames of the final session, Higgins won the match 13–10, with a century break of 101 in the next frame, to progress to the semi-finals. The two semi-finals were played from 2 to 5 May, with the matches spread over four sessions as best of 33 frames. The first semi-final pitted four-time champion John Higgins against David Gilbert, who had never previously progressed past the second round of the championships. Higgins won the first two frames, but Gilbert tied the match at 2–2, with the help of a 94 break. Higgins then took a 3–2 lead, before Gilbert claimed the last three frames of the session, including a maximum break attempt, potting 15 red balls but failing a on the , to lead 5–3. Gilbert won the first three frames of the second session, including a 125 break, to increase his lead to 8–3. He was ahead 56–17 in frame 12 but missed a pink into a , allowing Higgins to clear the table and clinch the frame. Higgins also won the next two frames, compiling breaks of 67, 52 and 58, to trail 6–8; however, Gilbert took the final two frames of the session to lead 10–6. Pundit John Virgo reflected that Higgins was "not with it", whilst six-time champion Steve Davis called Higgins' performance "ridiculous". When the match resumed for the third session, a crowd member was ejected from the auditorium for shouting out immediately after the shot in the initial frame; Gilbert took the frame, increasing his lead to 11–6. Higgins won two of the next three frames to stay four behind at 8–12. He then compiled a 143 break, the highest of the tournament, in frame 21; this was also the 86th century break of the championship so far, tying the record for the number of centuries in a World Snooker Championship, set in 2015. Gilbert won the next frame, falling short of a century, with a break of 91. Higgins then won the final two frames of the session to reduce his deficit to 11–13. Gilbert took the initial frame of the fourth (and final) session, but Higgins, having not led the match since mid- way through the first session, won the next four frames to go ahead 15–14. Gilbert then restored his lead by winning the next two frames, before Higgins scored a 139 break to level the score at 16–16, forcing a decider. Higgins won the final frame and the match, after Gilbert missed the black ball from the spot. Both players gave emotional press conferences afterwards, with Gilbert commenting, "I have never won anything, I have come close but this is the best couple of weeks I have had in my snooker career by a mile. It might be the closest I will come to winning the World Championship". Higgins apologised for his poor play during the match, and for bringing Gilbert "down to [his] level in the first three sessions." Judd Trump faced qualifier Gary Wilson in the second semi-final. They shared the opening session, 4–4, but Wilson later took a 6–5 lead with a break of 65. Trump won the next three frames with breaks of 73, 123 and 75, to lead 9–6, before Wilson compiled a 77 break, bringing the score to 9–7 after the first two sessions. Wilson won frame 17 with a break of 50; however, Trump took the next three frames, including a break of 114, which was the 87th century of the tournament (overtaking the previous all-time record of centuries compiled at any World Snooker Championship). Trump was 14–10 ahead at the end of the third session. Wilson won the first frame of the final session, but Trump claimed the next three to win the match 17–11. Afterwards, Trump suggested that neither he nor Higgins had played particularly well in their respective semi-final matches, despite them both reaching the final. Wilson, ranked 30 in the world, said that "Judd deserved to win", but commented on the poor playing conditions, saying: "I wasn't good enough ... but I've got to say that table is disgusting. It's running off all over the place, you're getting square bounces, kicks every other shot". The final was played over four sessions on 5 and 6 May, as a best-of-35-frames match. It was a repeat of the 2011 World Championship final between John Higgins and Judd Trump, when Higgins won the match 18–15 to claim his fourth world title. To reach the 2019 final, Higgins had defeated Mark Davis, Stuart Bingham, Neil Robertson and David Gilbert, while Trump had defeated Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Ding Junhui, Stephen Maguire and Gary Wilson. This was Higgins' third consecutive World Championship final (having been defeated by Mark Selby in 2017 and Mark Williams in 2018), and his eighth overall. Higgins had previously won the World Snooker Championship four times (in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011). This was Trump's second world final, his first being the 2011 loss to Higgins. Trump won the first two frames of the opening session, with breaks of 51 and 63. Higgins replied with a break of 139 to trail 1–2, before Trump scored a century of his own, a 105, to take a two-frame lead at the first mid- session interval. Breaks of 69, 34, 40 and 101 allowed Higgins to accumulate 244 unanswered points, claiming three consecutive frames to lead 4–3. Trump then tied the match at 4–4 by compiling the fourth century of the session. At the beginning of the nine-frame evening session, Higgins compiled a break of 125, the third consecutive century of the match, to move ahead 5–4. Trump won the remaining eight frames of the session, including breaks of 135 and 114, to lead by seven frames overnight, 12–5. Steve Davis commented on the session: "I've seen some astonishing snooker here, a lot of it from Ronnie O'Sullivan, but that was a different type of astonishing. I am a little bit in shock. He is making a lot of very difficult shots seem very easy." The third session opened with an attempt at a maximum break from Higgins, who potted 14 reds and 14 blacks before running out of position for the final red; he played a full- table double to pot the red ball, but then missed the following black. He also won frame 19, to trail 7–12, but Trump took the next three to extend his lead to 15–7. Higgins won the next two frames, which prevented the match from concluding with a session to spare. Trump attempted a maximum break of his own in frame 25, but he a red into the middle pocket. Going into the evening session with a 16–9 lead, Trump won two straight frames to win the match 18–9 and claim the 2019 world title. This was the largest margin of victory in a World Championship final since 2009, when Higgins defeated Shaun Murphy by the same scoreline. With eleven centuries between the two players, the final set the record for the most 100+ breaks in a single match, one more than the previous record held by Alan McManus and Ding Junhui in the semi-final of the 2016 World Championship. After the final, Higgins praised Trump's performance, stating, "I was the lucky one to not have to pay for a ticket, he was just awesome". BBC pundit Steve Davis commented, "The standard in that final may have been the greatest we have ever seen and Judd Trump was at the heart of it." This was Trump's second Triple Crown title of the season after winning the Masters in January. Numbers given in brackets after players' names show the seedings for the top 16 players in the competition. The sole amateur player in the championship is indicated with (a). Qualifying for the 2019 World Snooker Championship took place from 10 to 17 April 2019 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield, using a 12-table set-up. Starting with a pool of 128 players, the qualifying competition consisted of three knock-out rounds, with all matches played over two sessions as best of 19 frames. The 16 winners of the third round matches progressed to the main stages of the tournament at the Crucible Theatre. The tour players (ranked outside the top-16) were joined by wildcard amateur players who achieved success through the WPBSA qualifying criteria: Challenge Tour 2018/2019—top four ranked players: Brandon Sargeant, David Grace, Mitchell Mann, David Lilley, EBSA European U-21 / U-18 Championship 2019 semi-finalists: Jackson Page, Aaron Hill, Ross Bulman, Dylan Emery, Florian Nüßle, World Women's Snooker Tour—top two ranked players: Ng On-yee, Reanne Evans, World Seniors Snooker Tour—top ranked player: Johnathan Bagley, African champion: Mostafa Dorgham, Americas champion: Igor Figueiredo, Oceania champion: Adam Lilley, CBSA nomination: Pang Junxu, Decided by WPBSA: Farakh Ajaib, James Cahill, Adam Duffy, Andy Hicks, Luke Simmonds, Michael Judge Players ranked 17 to 80 in the 2018/2019 world rankings were seeded 1 to 64 in qualifying. The remaining tour players plus the invited amateurs were drawn randomly. Round 1 There were 64 matches in the first round of qualifying. Each match was played between a seeded and a non-seeded player. Numbers given in brackets after players' names (in left-hand columns below) show the seedings (1 to 64) for the players ranked 17 to 80 in the 2018/2019 world rankings. Round 2 Round 3 Winners of the third round qualifying matches advanced to the main draw. The main stage of the 2019 World Snooker Championship yielded a total of 100 centuries, made by 23 different players. The highest break of the tournament, a 143, was compiled by John Higgins in his semi-final match with David Gilbert. The championship broke a number of records in terms of century breaks, including the total number compiled in the main stage of a snooker tournament: there were 14 more centuries than the 86 recorded in both the 2015 and 2016 championships. The final featured 11 century breaks, the highest number ever compiled in a single match, one more than the ten centuries in the 2016 semi-final between Ding and McManus. Trump equalled Ding's record of seven centuries made by one player in a world championship match. 143, 139, 139, 135, 132, 132, 130, 125, 113, 101, 101, 100 John Higgins, 141, 135, 131, 126, 123, 114, 114, 106, 105, 104, 103, 103, 101, 101 Judd Trump, 140, 134, 134, 117, 115, 109, 106, 100 Gary Wilson, 139, 125, 113, 109, 105, 102, 100 David Gilbert, 138, 132, 131, 125, 111, 104, 100 Kyren Wilson, 138, 123, 112, 109, 102, 101 Shaun Murphy, 137, 136, 130, 105 Barry Hawkins, 136 Joe Perry, 135, 128, 102 Ali Carter, 134, 129, 106 Ding Junhui, 131, 131, 120, 102 Mark Selby, 131, 125, 122, 121, 110, 105, 103 Stephen Maguire, 131 Mark Allen, 131 Luca Brecel, 129, 105, 101 Mark Williams, 127, 120, 120, 114, 106, 100 Neil Robertson, 124, 101 Jack Lisowski, 114 Graeme Dott, 112, 107, 106 Stuart Bingham, 106, 105, 101 Zhou Yuelong, 104, 100 Tian Pengfei, 104 Ronnie O'Sullivan, 101 James Cahill A total of 122 century breaks were made by 57 players during the qualifying stage of the World Championship. 146, 121, 118, 113 Noppon Saengkham, 143, 143, 116, 114, 111 Matthew Stevens, 141, 133, 122, 119, 114 Liang Wenbo, 140, 135, 103 Graeme Dott, 139, 109, 107 Chris Wakelin, 138, 128 Marco Fu, 138, 124, 122, 102, 100 Joe O'Connor, 138, 107 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, 136, 136, 115, 106 Zhou Yuelong, 136, 113, 107, 100, 100 Daniel Wells, 136, 106 Michael Holt, 136 Elliot Slessor, 135, 113 Lu Ning, 135, 100 Lyu Haotian, 134, 112, 100 Gary Wilson, 133, 125 Tian Pengfei, 133, 119, 105 Xiao Guodong, 132, 102, 100 Martin Gould, 132 Eden Sharav, 131, 119, 118, 113, 103, 100 James Cahill, 131, 118, 116 Anthony McGill, 130, 102 Scott Donaldson, 130 Andy Hicks, 130 Alan McManus, 128, 103 Yan Bingtao, 128 Hossein Vafaei, 127, 120, 102, 101 Ali Carter, 127, 110, 102, 100 Joe Perry, 127, 106 Sam Craigie, 124, 103 Zhao Xintong, 122, 109, 102 Mark Davis, 121, 117, 101 Michael Georgiou, 121 Kurt Maflin, 121 Alexander Ursenbacher, 120 Johnathan Bagley, 119, 100 Stuart Carrington, 118 Gerard Greene, 117 Ashley Carty, 116 Brandon Sargeant, 116 Soheil Vahedi, 116 Xu Si, 114, 100 Ben Woollaston, 114 Robbie Williams, 112 Zhang Anda, 111, 108 John Astley, 111 Li Hang, 109 Niu Zhuang, 108, 102 Ian Burns, 106, 101 Tom Ford, 106 Sam Baird, 106 Luo Honghao, 105, 101 Mei Xiwen, 103 Lukas Kleckers, 102 David Lilley, 101 Martin O'Donnell, 101 Sunny Akani, 100 Dominic Dale The 2019 World Snooker Championship was broadcast live in the United Kingdom by BBC Television and BBC Online, as well as on Eurosport. Internationally, the event was broadcast by DAZN in Canada and the United States, by SKY in New Zealand, and by Now TV in Hong Kong. World Snooker live streamed the event internationally on Facebook, doing so for the second time. Coverage of the qualifying rounds was also live streamed on Facebook, Eurosport Player and selected betting sites. In Scotland, the BBC was criticised for showing the World Championship on BBC Scotland, rather than a speech by Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon on Scottish independence. The BBC defended the decision, explaining that the speech had been broadcast live on its BBC Scotland news website. Stephen Gordon Hendry (born 13 January 1969) is a Scottish former professional snooker player and current commentator for the BBC and ITV. One of the most successful players in the history of snooker, he has won snooker's most prestigious tournament, the World Snooker Championship, a record seven times and holds the record for most seasons as world number one (9). His first world title in 1990, at the age of 21, made him the youngest-ever World Champion, a record that he still holds. Hendry also won six Masters titles (including five consecutively), and five UK Championship titles. His total of 18 Triple Crown tournament wins is surpassed only by O'Sullivan's 19. One of only three players to have won all three Triple Crown events in a single season, Hendry is the only player to have achieved the feat twice, in the 1989/1990 and 1995/1996 seasons. He shares the record for the most ranking titles (36) with Ronnie O'Sullivan. A prolific break builder, he recorded a total of 775 career century breaks, and made 11 officially-recognised maximum breaks in professional competition. He was awarded an MBE in 1994, and voted BBC Scotland's Sports Personality of the Year in 1987 and 1996. In May 2012, after featuring in his 27th consecutive World Championship, he announced his retirement from the game, bringing to an end his record 23 consecutive seasons in the top 16 of the world rankings. Hendry started playing snooker in 1981, aged 12, when his father, Gordon, bought him a child-sized snooker table as a Christmas present. Two years later he won the Scottish U-16 Championship. He also appeared on BBC's Junior version of Pot Black. The following year he won the Scottish Amateur Championship and also became the youngest ever entrant in the World Amateur Championship. In 1985, after retaining the Scottish Amateur Championship, he turned professional. At 16 years and three months old he was the youngest ever professional. Hendry was managed by entrepreneur Ian Doyle. In his first season, he reached the last 32 in the Classic and was the youngest ever Scottish Professional champion, winning the 1986 edition. He also became the youngest player ever to qualify for the World Championship, a record he held until 2012 when Luca Brecel qualified at the age of 17 years and one month. He lost 8–10 to Willie Thorne who then applauded him out of the arena. In the next season he retained the Scottish Professional Championship title and reached the quarter-finals of both the Grand Prix and World Championship, losing 12–13 to defending champion Joe Johnson, and the semi- finals of the Classic. Hendry and Mike Hallett combined to win that year's World Doubles Championship. In the 1987/1988 season, Hendry won his first world ranking titles, the Grand Prix, beating Dennis Taylor 10–7 in the final, and the 1988 British Open. He also claimed three other tournament victories, retaining both the Scottish Professional Championship and the World Doubles Championship (with Hallett), and the Australian Masters. By the end of that season he was ranked world no. 4 and was voted the BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year. No ranking titles came his way the following season, although he did win the New Zealand Masters and also his first Masters at Wembley. The 1989/1990 season saw the beginning of Hendry's period of dominance. That season, he won the UK Championship, Dubai Classic, Asian Open, Scottish Masters, The Masters and his first World Championship, beating Jimmy White 18–12 in the final, elevating him to the summit of the world rankings at the age of 21. The following season, he set a record of five world ranking titles in one season and recorded a hat-trick of Masters, beating Mike Hallett 9–8 after coming back from 0–7 and 2–8 behind in the final. However, Hendry failed to retain his world title, losing to Steve James in the quarter-finals. In the 1991/1992 season, Hendry regained the World title, winning 10 frames in a row in the final to come from 8–14 down to defeat White 18–14, adding to the victories in both the Grand Prix and the Welsh Open. He won the Masters, too, and achieved his first competitive 147 break, in the Matchroom League. A year later, he retained both his World Championship title and a fifth consecutive Masters crown. The following season, he retained the World Championship, narrowly beating Jimmy White 18–17 in the final. Also in 1997, Stephen Hendry played Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Liverpool Victoria Charity Challenge final. The match was best of 17 frames. Hendry raced into a 6–1 and 8–2 lead with breaks of 110, 129 and 136, whereas O'Sullivan made a break of 106 in one of the two frames he won. O'Sullivan won the next 6 frames to level the match at 8–8. In the deciding frame, Hendry potted a long red to land himself on the black. Hendry went on to make a 147 maximum break, to win the match 9–8. In 1994/1995, after being awarded an MBE, he won three ranking events, including the World and UK Championships, both of which he would retain the following year. In the 1994 UK final, Hendry defeated Ken Doherty 10–5, making 7 centuries in the match. This performance has been described by snooker journalist David Hendon as "possibly the best anybody has ever played". His run of successes continued in 1995/1996 with three titles, including the World Championship, where an 18–12 victory in the final against Peter Ebdon saw him equal the achievement of Ray Reardon and Steve Davis by notching up a sixth World crown. In 1997, he won BBC Scotland Sports Personality of the Year award for a second time and added another three ranking titles to his collection, although Ken Doherty denied him a sixth consecutive World crown by defeating him 18–12 in the final. Hendry's dominant position in snooker appeared to be on the wane, as the only ranking event he won in the 1997/1998 season was the Thailand Masters. In the 1998 Masters final at Wembley, Hendry led his good friend Mark Williams 9–6, needing just one more frame for victory. However, he then wasted numerous chances to close out the match and eventually lost 9–10 after the deciding frame went to a re-spotted black. This match is regarded by many as one of the greatest in the history of the game. He also lost his World No. 1 ranking for the first time since 1990 and was eliminated in the first round of the World Championship, losing heavily to White (4–10). The 1998/1999 season began with an embarrassing 0–9 first-round loss in the UK Championship to unseeded Marcus Campbell. However, a resurgent Hendry won the last two events in the campaign – the Scottish Open and a record seventh World title. After beating Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–13 in their semi-final, he emerged a convincing 18–11 winner over future three-time World Champion Mark Williams. This was Hendry's last World Championship title. Hendry made a strong start to the 1999/2000 season by winning two of the first three tournaments, including the British Open, where he made the fifth 147 break of his career and the first maximum in a ranking final. However, he was surprisingly defeated in the first round of the 2000 World Championship by debutant Stuart Bingham. By Hendry's high standards, the 2000/2001 season was a disappointment, as he failed to win a ranking event for the first time since the 1988/1989 season and reached only one final. Still he won the European Open the next season and came close to an eighth World Championship. Having eliminated defending champion O'Sullivan in the semi-finals (17–13), he lost narrowly to Ebdon in the final (17–18). This was Hendry's ninth and last appearance in a World Championship Final. The Welsh Open in 2002/2003 and the British Open in 2003/2004 came Hendry's way, with his victory in the 2005 Malta Cup being his most recent ranking success. Hendry reached another World Championship semi-final but was thrashed 4–17 by O’Sullivan with a session to spare, which was the heaviest defeat in a world semi-final. However, following O'Sullivan's decision to not enter the 2006 Malta Cup, Hendry was able to regain the world no. 1 position in 2005/2006 due to consistency in reaching the latter stages of tournaments without, by his own admission, reproducing his form of old. He reached the final of the 2006 UK Championship in a tournament memorable for his quarter-final against Ronnie O'Sullivan, in which O'Sullivan unexpectedly forfeited the match at 4–1 down following a strong start by Hendry. The Scot then came back from 5–7 behind in his semi-final to defeat then-World Champion Graeme Dott 9–7, but lost in the final, 6–10, to Peter Ebdon. Following a disappointing season in 2007/2008, Hendry unexpectedly reached his 12th semi-final at the World Championships, a new record surpassing Steve Davis' tally of 11. In doing so aged 39 Hendry became the oldest player to reach the semi-finals of the tournament since Terry Griffiths in 1992; however, he again lost heavily against an in-form O’Sullivan 6–17 with a session to spare. Hendry was whitewashed 0–8 in the second session of their match, the first time he had failed to win a frame in a full session at The Crucible. Hendry started the 2008/2009 season with two losses in his first matches. He was beaten 1–5 by Stephen Lee in the Northern Ireland Trophy and 4–5 by Ricky Walden in the Shanghai Masters. He had more success in the Grand Prix, however, winning his first-round match with David Gilbert 5–4, before succumbing to the eventual winner, John Higgins, 2–5 in the next round. However, in the next ranking event, the Bahrain Championship, he reached the semi-final, but he lost 4–6 to Matthew Stevens. In the next 3 professional tournaments, the UK Championship, the Masters and the Welsh Open, Hendry lost in the first round to Stephen Lee, Neil Robertson and Martin Gould respectively. He found some form in the China Open, beating Robert Milkins and Ricky Walden, but lost his quarter-final match to Peter Ebdon, the eventual winner of the tournament. At the 2009 World Championship Hendry beat Mark Williams 10–7 in first round. This win guaranteed Hendry a place in the top sixteen of the rankings for the following season. He then went on to win 13–10 against Ding Junhui. In that match Hendry reached another milestone: a 1000th frame won at the Crucible (also, in that very frame Hendry scored 140 points). On 28 April, Hendry made a 147 maximum break against Shaun Murphy. He eventually lost the match 11–13 to Murphy the next day to go out of the championship. At the age of 40, he became the oldest player to make a maximum in a ranking tournament and only the second player (after O'Sullivan) to make more than one 147 at the Crucible. Hendry ended up at no. 10 of the world rankings, falling outside the top eight for the first time since the 1987/1988 season. In the 2009/2010 season Hendry won his opening matches in every ranking tournament, however didn't manage to get to a quarter-final until the China Open, where he lost 4–5 to Mark Allen, despite at one time leading the match 4–2. In the Masters Hendry lost in the first round. In the first round of the World Championship, Hendry defeated China's Zhang Anda. Hendry was 7–9 down in the best-of-19 match, but won 3 frames in a row for a 10–9 victory. At the press conference he confessed, that, had he lost the match, he would have seriously considered retirement. He lost in the second round 5–13 against Mark Selby. Apart from the Main Tour tournaments he won the seniors invitation tournament "Legends of Snooker" beating Ken Doherty 5–3 in the final. Another important event was the much publicised challenge match with Ding Junhui played in Beijing, which Hendry lost 6–13. In the 2010/2011 season Hendry could not maintain his unbeaten run in the first round of ranking events, as he lost it at the Shanghai Masters against Martin Gould by 2–5. At the World Open in Glasgow, Hendry recorded 3–0 whitewashes against Bjorn Haneveer and Mark Davis, before he was beaten 1–3 by rival Ronnie O'Sullivan. At the UK Championship in Telford, Hendry was drawn against another old rival, Jimmy White. Despite struggling with his game throughout the match Hendry came through 9–8, rolling back the years by compiling a match-winning break in the deciding frame. In the second round Hendry was defeated 6–9 by Mark Williams. Afterwards Hendry expressed his frustration with his form and revealed that he has been suffering from "the yips" for the last ten years, leaving him unable to cue through the ball and causing him to miss the simplest of shots. Hendry lost 3–6 against reigning World Champion Neil Robertson in the 2011 Masters. Hendry made his 10th 147 break at the 2011 Welsh Open in the opening frame of the last 16 round vs Stephen Maguire, but later lost the game. At the 2011 China Open Hendry whitewashed Matthew Stevens 5–0 in the first round, before losing to Ding Junhui 2–5 in the second round. At the 2011 World Championship, he beat Joe Perry in the deciding frame of their first round tie before going out in the second round, for the second consecutive year, to Mark Selby 4–13. Hendry began the 2011/2012 season at the first event of the Players Tour Championship, and lost 3–4 against Kyren Wilson. As a result of this he was ranked number 17 after the event, the first time out of the top 16 since the 1987/1988 season. However, he moved back into the top 16 after reaching the second round of the Australian Goldfields Open. In September he played Robert Milkins in the first round of the Shanghai Masters, but lost the match 1–5, subsequently losing his position inside the top 16 after the first cut off point and was ranked number 21. This meant that Hendry would not participate in the Masters for the first time in 23 years and that he would have to qualify to reach the main stages of all the ranking events in the snooker calendar. Hendry qualified for the 2011 UK Championship after beating Gerard Greene 6–2 in the final qualifying round. It was his first qualifying match since 1989. However, he lost 3–6 to compatriot Stephen Maguire in the first round. He reached the semi-finals of the twelfth PTC event in January 2012, but narrowly lost 3–4, once again to Maguire. Hendry needed to reach the final in order to make the top 24 of the Order of Merit and secure a place in the Finals. Hendry lost 1–5 in a qualifying match against James Wattana for the German Masters and therefore did not play in a ranking tournament for the first time in 15 years. Hendry qualified for the Welsh Open by whitewashing Kurt Maflin 4–0 to reach the first round, where he played reigning Masters champion Neil Robertson and recorded the result of his season so far by triumphing 4–1. He was then whitewashed 0–4 by Mark Allen in the following round. Hendry also played the Australian in the first round of the World Open after he defeated Mike Dunn 5–2 in qualifying, however this time he lost 3–5. Hendry won his 4th qualifying encounter out of 5 so far this season, when he defeated Yu Delu 5–1 to seal his place for the China Open. There he beat Martin Gould 5–4 in the first round on the final black. He played Robertson for the third consecutive time in a ranking event in the last 16 and was beaten 3–5. Hendry ensured he would feature in his 27th consecutive World Championship when he qualified by beating Yu again, this time by a 10–6 scoreline. He made a 147 on the opening day of the tournament in a match against Stuart Bingham. This was his third maximum break at the Crucible Theatre and his 11th in total, both records which he shared with Ronnie O'Sullivan. (O'Sullivan is now on 15 maximums.) He advanced to the second round with a 10–4 win over Bingham and then defeated an out of sorts defending champion John Higgins 13–4, his first victory over his compatriot in a ranking event since 2003, to set up a last 8 meeting with Stephen Maguire. Hendry has reached 19 quarter-finals, with only eight players having played in the tournament that many times. Hendry lost 2–13 to Maguire and immediately announced his retirement from the game citing dissatisfaction with his standard of play in recent years and difficulty balancing competitive, commercial and personal commitments and revealed he had made the decision three months earlier. Hendry won 74 professional titles putting him second on the all-time list, behind Steve Davis; however, Hendry is the joint record holder for the number of ranking titles won, setting the record of 36 before it was matched by Ronnie O'Sullivan in 2019. However, Hendry set the record during a period when fewer ranking events were available per season. Hendry also won four team titles as well as several amateur titles. His other career records include the most consecutive ranking titles, most century breaks compiled in one match (7), most centuries compiled in one tournament (16), most years ranked world number one, longest unbroken run inside the top 16 of the world rankings (23 seasons) and—at the time of his retirement—highest total prize money. Hendry's World Snooker profile states that he is "generally considered the greatest snooker player ever". However, some former players, such as Ray Reardon (in 2004) and Dennis Taylor (in 2013), have stated that he has been superseded by Ronnie O'Sullivan. In 2005 John Higgins, who competed with both players at their respective peaks, concurred, proclaiming O'Sullivan as "the best that's ever played the game". Steve Davis—a six-times former world champion and BBC pundit—is more divided on the issue, considering O'Sullivan to be the best player but Hendry the greatest winner. Jimmy White also regards O'Sullivan as the best player he's ever seen, but considers Steve Davis his toughest opponent. Dell Hill—a snooker coach who has worked with some of the game's top players—also considers O'Sullivan the best player "without a shadow of a doubt", but believes that O'Sullivan has "under-achieved" next to Hendry. O'Sullivan himself has dismissed the suggestion that he is the greatest player and believes that a player must equal Hendry's haul of seven world titles to be regarded in this capacity. Former world champion Stuart Bingham also takes a statistical view of the question, stating that O'Sullivan is the "best player to pick up a cue" but Hendry's record of seven world titles settles the debate as to who the greatest player is. Desmond Kane of Eurosport has argued that if it were purely a statistical question then Joe Davis's fifteen world championships would settle the issue, that there is no real difference between the "greatest" and the "best", and that O'Sullivan has played snooker to a higher standard than anyone. However, the Olympian Eve Muirhead considers the status of the World Snooker Championship as snooker's most prestigious tournament and Hendry's modern-era record settles Hendry's position as the greatest ever snooker player. Hendry tended to play at a steady pace. He popularized the now universal tactic of potting the blue with pace and bottom spin on the white ball to cannon into the pink, with the object being to hit the pink ball full ball to split open the pack of reds and develop them for break-building. Prior to Hendry, players would usually attempt to break the pack of reds from a pot on the black, due to the danger of the white going in off after striking the pink or the reds. Aside from his break-building consistency, Hendry's ability at long potting was crucial to his success, as was his ability to pot balls in the middle pocket during a break. Throughout his career, he played very aggressively, more often than not attempting quite difficult pots and trying to break open the reds early in a break rather than waiting until all open reds have been potted. In this way, he has compiled more than 700 competitive century breaks. However, towards the end of his career, the standard of his break-building and long potting declined, and his aggressive instincts gave his opponents more opportunities than in the past. Hendry was born in South Queensferry, Edinburgh, brought up in Gorgie and then Dalgety Bay, Fife, where he attended Inverkeithing High School. He later returned to Kirkliston, attending nearby Queensferry High School from the age of fourteen, and lived in a flat in South Queensferry during the early part of his professional career. He met his future wife Mandy Tart at a Pontins holiday camp when he was 16. The couple married in 1995 and settled in Auchterarder. They have two sons, Blaine (born 1996) and Carter (born 2004). In 2014, Hendry left his wife after 19 years of marriage and moved to England to pursue a relationship with 26-year-old children's entertainer and actress Lauren Thundow, whom he had met at a snooker event the previous year. Hendry has a single-figure golf handicap. He enjoys poker and has appeared in several televised tournaments. Hendry is also keenly interested in football, supporting Scottish side Hearts. When returning to Scotland from the Thailand Open in September 2003, Hendry had his cue broken. The cue, which he had owned since he was aged 14, having purchased it for £40, was the cue he had used when winning his 7 world titles. Since the 11 September 2001 attacks, snooker players have been required to put their cues in the holds of aeroplanes, where they are susceptible to damage. In August 2011, HM Revenue and Customs successfully applied to Glasgow Sheriff Court to liquidate the assets of Stephen Hendry Snooker Ltd., following its failure to pay an £85,000 tax bill. It was decided by aggregate score over five frames. *, There was no play-off. Title decided on league table only. Stephen Hendry at worldsnooker.com, Player Profile on Snooker.org, Stephen Hendry Snooker And Pool Club

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Geodesy (/dʒiːˈɒdɨsi/), also named geodetics, is the scientific discipline that deals with the measurement and representation of the Earth. The history of geodesy began in pre-scientific antiquity and blossomed during the Age of Enlightenment. Early ideas about the figure of the Earth held the Earth to be flat (see flat Earth), and the heavens a physical dome spanning over it. Two early arguments for a spherical Earth were that lunar eclipses were seen as circular shadows which could only be caused by a spherical Earth, and that Polaris is seen lower in the sky as one travels South. The early Greeks, in their speculation and theorizing, ranged from the flat disc advocated by Homer to the spherical body postulated by Pythagoras. Pythagoras's idea was supported later by Aristotle. Pythagoras was a mathematician and to him the most perfect figure was a sphere. He reasoned that the gods would create a perfect figure and therefore the Earth was created to be spherical in shape. Anaximenes, an early Greek philosopher, believed strongly that the Earth was rectangular in shape. Since the spherical shape was the most widely supported during the Greek Era, efforts to determine its size followed. Aristotle reported that mathematicians had calculated the circumference of the Earth (which is slightly over 40,000 km) to be 400,000 stadia (between 62,800 and 74,000 km or 46,250 and 39,250 mi) while Archimedes stated an upper bound of 3,000,000 stadia (483,000 km or 300,000 mi) using the Hellenic stadion which scholars generally take to be 185 meters or of a geographical mile. In Egypt, a Greek scholar and philosopher, Eratosthenes (276 BCE – 195 BCE), devised a method for a more explicit measurement of the earth's size. Reports from the ancient city of Swenett, later known as Syene, stated that on the day of the summer solstice, the midday sun shone to the bottom of a well. He observed in Alexandria, that the sun was not directly overhead. Instead, the direction of shadows cast made an angle with the vertical equal to 1/50th of a full circle (7° 12'). To these observations, Hellenistic Astronomy and knowledge of the local geography had already established that; (1) on the day of the summer solstice, the midday sun was directly over the Tropic of Cancer; (2) Syene was on this tropic; (3) Alexandria and Syene lay on a direct north- south line; (4) The sun was a relatively long way away (which would later be known as the astronomical unit). He determined that distance between Alexandria and Syene was 5000 stadia, (possibly by having hired someone to walk and measure the distance, but more likely using reports of travelers of the distance) or at the usual Hellenic 185 m per stadion, about 925 km. From these observations, measurements, and/or "known" facts, Eratosthenes concluded that since the angular deviation of the sun from the vertical direction at Alexandria was also the angle of the subtended arc (see illustration), the linear distance between Alexandria and Syene was 1/50 of the circumference of the Earth which thus must be 50×5000 = 250,000 stadia or probably 25,000 nautical miles. The circumference of the Earth is 24,902 mi (40,075.16 km). Over the poles it is more precisely 40,008 km or 24,860 mi. The actual unit of measure used by Eratosthenes was the stadion. No one knows for sure what his stadion equals in modern units, possibly it was the Hellenic 185 m stadion. Had the experiment been carried out as described, it would not be remarkable if it agreed with actuality. The result was probably only about 0.4% too high. His measurements were subject to several inaccuracies: 1. Though at the summer solstice the noon sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, Syene was not exactly on the tropic (which was at 23° 43' latitude in that day) but about 22 nautical miles to the north; 2. The difference of latitude between Alexandria (31.2 degrees north latitude) and Syene (24.1 degrees) is really 7.1 degrees rather than the perhaps rounded (1/50 of a circle) value of 7° 12' that Eratosthenes used; 3. The actual solstice zenith distance of the noon sun at Alexandria was 31° 12' − 23° 43' = 7° 29' or about 1/48 of a circle not 1/50 = 7° 12', an error closely consistent with use of a vertical gnomon which fixes not the sun's center but the solar upper limb 16' higher; 4. The most importantly flawed element, whether he measured or adopted it, was the latitudinal distance from Alexandria to Syene (or the true Tropic somewhat further south) which appears to have caused the overestimate that relates to most of the error in his resulting circumference of the earth. A parallel later ancient measurement of the size of the Earth was made by another Greek scholar, Posidonius. He noted that the star Canopus was hidden from view in most parts of Greece but that it just grazed the horizon at Rhodes. Posidonius is supposed to have measured the angular elevation of Canopus at Alexandria and determined that the angle was 1/48 of circle. He used a distance from Alexandria to Rhodes, 5000 stadia, and so he computed the Earth's circumference in stadia as 48 times 5000 = 240,000. Some scholars see these results as luckily semi-accurate due to cancellation of errors. But since the Canopus observations are both mistaken by over a degree, the "experiment" may be not much more than a recycling of Eratosthenes's numbers, while altering 1/50 to the correct 1/48 of a circle. Later, either he or a follower appears to have altered the base distance to agree with Eratosthenes's Alexandria-to-Rhodes figure of 3750 stadia since Posidonius's final circumference was 180,000 stadia, which equals 48×3750 stadia. The 180,000 stadia circumference of Posidonius is suspiciously close to that which results from another method of measuring the earth, by timing ocean sunsets from different heights, a method which is inaccurate due to horizontal atmospheric refraction. The abovementioned larger and smaller sizes of the Earth were those used by Claudius Ptolemy at different times, 252,000 stadia in his Almagest and 180,000 stadia in his later Geographia. His midcareer conversion resulted in the latter work's systematic exaggeration of degree longitudes in the Mediterranean by a factor close to the ratio of the two seriously differing sizes discussed here, which indicates that the conventional size of the earth was what changed, not the stadion. The Indian mathematician Aryabhata (AD 476–550) was a pioneer of mathematical astronomy. He describes the earth as being spherical and that it rotates on its axis, among other things in his work Āryabhaṭīya. Aryabhatiya is divided into four sections. Gitika, Ganitha (mathematics), Kalakriya (reckoning of time) and Gola (celestial sphere). The discovery that the earth rotates on its own axis from west to east is described in Aryabhatiya (Gitika 3,6; Kalakriya 5; Gola 9,10;). For example, he explained the apparent motion of heavenly bodies is only an illusion (Gola 9), with the following simile; Aryabhatiya also estimates the circumference of Earth. He gave the circumference of the earth as 4967 yojanas and its diameter as 1581+1/24 yojanas. The length of a yojana varies considerably between sources; assuming a yojana to be 13 km (8 miles) this gives as circumference nearly 65000 km (or 40000 miles) In late antiquity, such widely read encyclopedists as Macrobius and Martianus Capella (both 5th century AD) discussed the circumference of the sphere of the Earth, its central position in the universe, the difference of the seasons in northern and southern hemispheres, and many other geographical details. In his commentary on Cicero's Dream of Scipio, Macrobius described the Earth as a globe of insignificant size in comparison to the remainder of the cosmos. The Muslim scholars, who held to the spherical Earth theory, used it to calculate the distance and direction from any given point on the earth to Mecca. This determined the Qibla, or Muslim direction of prayer. Muslim mathematicians developed spherical trigonometry which was used in these calculations. Around AD 830 Caliph al-Ma'mun commissioned a group of astronomers led by Al-Khwarizmi to measure the distance from Tadmur (Palmyra) to Raqqa, in modern Syria. They found the cities to be separated by one degree of latitude and the distance between them to be 66 miles and thus calculated the Earth's circumference to be . Another estimate given was 56 Arabic miles per degree, which corresponds to 111.8 km per degree and a circumference of 40,248 km, very close to the currently modern values of 111.3 km per degree and 40,068 km circumference, respectively. Abu Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048) gave an estimate of 6,339.6 km for the Earth radius, which is only 17.15 km less than the modern value of 6,356.7523142 km (WGS84 polar radius "b"). In contrast to his predecessors who measured the Earth's circumference by sighting the Sun simultaneously from two different locations, Al-Biruni developed a new method of using trigonometric calculations based on the angle between a plain and mountain top which yielded more accurate measurements of the Earth's circumference and made it possible for it to be measured by a single person from a single location. Al-Biruni's method's motivation was to avoid "walking across hot, dusty deserts" and the idea came to him when he was on top of a tall mountain in India (present day Pind Dadan Khan, Pakistan). From the top of the mountain, he sighted the dip angle which, along with the mountain's height (which he calculated beforehand), he applied to the law of sines formula. This was the earliest known use of dip angle and the earliest practical use of the law of sines. Muslim astronomers and geographers were aware of magnetic declination by the 15th century, when the Egyptian astronomer 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Wafa'i (d. 1469/1471) measured it as 7 degrees from Cairo. Revising the figures attributed to Posidonius, another Greek philosopher determined as the Earth's circumference. This last figure was promulgated by Ptolemy through his world maps. The maps of Ptolemy strongly influenced the cartographers of the Middle Ages. It is probable that Christopher Columbus, using such maps, was led to believe that Asia was only west of Europe. Ptolemy's view was not universal, however, and chapter 20 of Mandeville's Travels (c. 1357) supports Eratosthenes' calculation. It was not until the 16th century that his concept of the Earth's size was revised. During that period the Flemish cartographer, Mercator, made successive reductions in the size of the Mediterranean Sea and all of Europe which had the effect of increasing the size of the earth. The invention of the telescope and the theodolite and the development of logarithm tables allowed exact triangulation and grade measurement. In the Carolingian era, scholars discussed Macrobius's view of the antipodes. One of them, the Irish monk Dungal, asserted that the tropical gap between our habitable region and the other habitable region to the south was smaller than Macrobius had believed. In 1505 the cosmographer and explorer Duarte Pacheco Pereira calculated the value of the degree of the meridian arc with a margin of error of only 4%, when the current error at the time varied between 7 and 15%. Jean Picard performed the first modern meridian arc measurement in 1669–1670. He measured a baseline using wooden rods, a telescope (for his angular measurements), and logarithms (for computation). Jacques Cassini later continued Picard's arc (Paris meridian arc) northward to Dunkirk and southward to the Spanish border. Cassini divided the measured arc into two parts, one northward from Paris, another southward. When he computed the length of a degree from both chains, he found that the length of one degree of latitude in the northern part of the chain was shorter than that in the southern part (see illustration). This result, if correct, meant that the earth was not a sphere, but a prolate spheroid (taller than wide). However, this contradicted computations by Isaac Newton and Christiaan Huygens. In 1659, Christiaan Huygens was the first to derive the now standard formula for the centripetal force in his work De vi centrifuga. The formula played a central role in classical mechanics and became known as the second of Newton's laws of motion. Newton's theory of gravitation combined with the rotation of the Earth predicted the Earth to be an oblate spheroid (wider than tall), with a flattening of 1:230. The issue could be settled by measuring, for a number of points on earth, the relationship between their distance (in north-south direction) and the angles between their zeniths. On an oblate Earth, the meridional distance corresponding to one degree of latitude will grow toward the poles, as can be demonstrated mathematically. The French Academy of Sciences dispatched two expeditions. One expedition (1736–37) under Pierre Louis Maupertuis was sent to Torne Valley (near the Earth's northern pole). The second mission (1735–44) under Pierre Bouguer was sent to what is modern- day Ecuador, near the equator. Their measurements demonstrated an oblate Earth, with a flattening of 1:210. This approximation to the true shape of the Earth became the new reference ellipsoid. In 1787 the first precise trigonometric survey to be undertaken within Britain was the Anglo-French Survey. Its purpose was to link the Greenwich and Paris' observatories. The survey is very significant as the forerunner of the work of the Ordnance Survey which was founded in 1791, one year after William Roy's death. Between 1792 and 1798 Pierre Méchain and Jean-Baptiste Delambre surveyed the Paris meridian arc between Dunkirk and Barcelona. They extrapolated from this measurement the distance from the North Pole to the Equator which was 5 130 740 toises. As the metre had to be equal to one ten-million of this distance, it was defined as 0,513074 toises or 443,296 lignes of the Toise of Peru (see below). In South America Bouguer noticed, as did George Everest in the 19th century Great Trigonometric Survey of India, that the astronomical vertical tended to be pulled in the direction of large mountain ranges, due to the gravitational attraction of these huge piles of rock. As this vertical is everywhere perpendicular to the idealized surface of mean sea level, or the geoid, this means that the figure of the Earth is even more irregular than an ellipsoid of revolution. Thus the study of the "undulation of the geoid" became the next great undertaking in the science of studying the figure of the Earth. In the late 19th century the Mitteleuropäische Gradmessung (Central European Arc Measurement) was established by several central European countries and a Central Bureau was set up at the expense of Prussia, within the Geodetic Institute at Berlin. One of its most important goals was the derivation of an international ellipsoid and a gravity formula which should be optimal not only for Europe but also for the whole world. The Mitteleuropäische Gradmessung was an early predecessor of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) one of the constituent sections of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) which was founded in 1919. In the 18th century geodetic surveys found practical applications in French cartography and in the Anglo-French Survey (1784-1790), which aimed to connect Paris and Greenwich Observatories and led to the Principal Triangulation of Great Britain. Soon after the Anglo-French Survey, the French Academy of Sciences commissioned an expedition led by Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre and Pierre Méchain, lasting from 1792 to 1799, which attempted to accurately measure the distance between a belfry in Dunkerque and Montjuïc castle in Barcelona at the longitude of Paris Panthéon. A new unit of length, the metre was introduced – defined as one ten-millionth of the shortest distance from the North Pole to the equator passing through Paris, assuming an Earth's flattening of 1/334. In 1811 Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler was selected to direct the U. S. coast survey, and sent on a mission to France and England to procure instruments and standards of measurement. The unit of length to which all distances measured in the U. S. coast survey were referred is the French metre, of which Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler had brought a copy in the United States in 1805. In the early 19th century, the Paris meridian's arc was recalculated with greater precision between Shetland and the Balearic Islands by the French astronomers François Arago and Jean-Baptiste Biot. In 1821 they published their work as a fourth volume following the three volumes of "Bases du système métrique décimal ou mesure de l'arc méridien compris entre les parallèles de Dunkerque et Barcelone" (Basis for the decimal metric system or measurement of the meridian arc comprised between Dunkirk and Barcelona) by Delambre and Méchain. Louis Puissant declared in 1836 in front of the French Academy of Sciences that Delambre and Méchain had made an error in the measurement of the French meridian arc. Some thought that the base of the metric system could be attacked by pointing out some errors that crept into the measurement of the two French scientists. Méchain had even noticed an inaccuracy he did not dare to admit. That is why from 1861 to 1866, Antoine Yvon Villarceau checked the geodesic opérations in eight points of the meridian arc. Some of the errors in the operations of Delambre and Méchain were corrected. In 1866, at the conference of the International Association of Geodesy in Neuchâtel Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero announced Spain's contribution to the measurement of the French meridian arc. In 1870, François Perrier was in charge of resuming the triangulation between Dunkirk and Barcelona. This new survey of the Paris meridian arc, named West Europe-Africa Meridian-arc by Alexander Ross Clarke, was undertaken in France and in Algeria under the direction of François Perrier from 1870 to his death in 1888. Jean- Antonin-Léon Bassot completed the task in 1896. According to the calculations made at the central bureau of the international association on the great meridian arc extending from the Shetland Islands, through Great Britain, France and Spain to El Aghuat in Algeria, the Earth equatorial radius was 6377935 metres, the ellipticity being assumed as 1/299.15. In 1860, the Russian Government at the instance of Otto Sturves invited the Governments of Belgium, France, Prussia and England to connect their triangulations in order to measure the length of an arc of parallel in latitude 52° and to test the accuracy of the figure and dimensions of the Earth, as derived from the measurements of arc of meridian. In order to combine the measurements, it was necessary to compare the geodetic standards of length used in the different countries. The British Government invited those of France, Belgium, Prussia, Russia, India, Australia, Austria, Spain, United States and Cape of Good Hope to send their standards to the Ordnance Survey office in Southampton. Notably the standards of France, Spain and United States were based on the metric system, whereas those of Prussia, Belgium and Russia where calibrated against the toise, of which the oldest physical representative was the Toise of Peru. The Toise of Peru had been constructed in 1735 for Bouguer and De La Condamine as their standard of reference in the French Geodesic Mission, conducted in actual Ecuador from 1735 to 1744 in collaboration with the Spanish officers Jorge Juan and Antonio de Ulloa. Alexander Ross Clarke and Henry James published the first results of the standards' comparisons in 1867. The same year Russia, Spain and Portugal joined the "Europäische Gradmessung" and the General Conference of the association proposed the metre as a uniform length standard for the Arc Measurement and recommended the establishment of an International Bureau of Weights and Measures. The Europäische Gradmessung decided the creation of an international geodetic standard at the General Conference held in Paris in 1875. The Metre Convention was signed in 1875 in Paris and the International Bureau of Weights and Measures was created under the supervision of the International Committee for Weights and Measures. The first president of the International Committee for Weights and Measures was the Spanish geodesist Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero. He also was the president of the Permanent Commission of the "Europäische Gradmessung" from 1874 to 1886. In 1886 the association changed name for the International Geodetic Association and Carlos Ibáñez e Ibáñez de Ibero was reelected as president. He remained in this position until his death in 1891. During this period the International Geodetic Association gained worldwide importance with the joining of United States, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Japan. In 1883 the General Conference of the "Europäische Gradmessung" proposed to select the Greenwich meridian as the prime meridian in the hope that Great Britain would accede to the Metre Convention. Moreover according to the calculations made at the central bureau of the international association on the West Europe-Africa Meridian-arc the meridian of Greenwich was nearer the mean than that of Paris. Most of the relevant theories were derived by the German geodesist Friedrich Robert Helmert in his famous books Die mathematischen und physikalischen Theorieen der höheren Geodäsie, Einleitung und 1. Teil (1880) and 2. Teil] (1884); English translation: Mathematical and Physical Theories of Higher Geodesy, Vol. 1 and 2. Helmert also derived the first global ellipsoid in 1906 with an accuracy of 100 meters (0.002 percent of the Earth's radii). The US geodesist Hayford derived a global ellipsoid in ~1910, based on intercontinental isostasy and an accuracy of 200 m. It was adopted by the IUGG as "international ellipsoid 1924". Figure of the Earth, History of the metre, Spherical Earth#History An early version of this article was taken from the public domain source at http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/PUBS_LIB/Geodesy4Layman/TR80003A.HTM#ZZ4., J. L. Greenberg: The problem of the Earth's shape from Newton to Clairaut: the rise of mathematical science in eighteenth-century Paris and the fall of "normal" science. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1995, M .R. Hoare: Quest for the true figure of the Earth: ideas and expeditions in four centuries of geodesy. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004, D. Rawlins: "Ancient Geodesy: Achievement and Corruption" 1984 (Greenwich Meridian Centenary, published in Vistas in Astronomy, v.28, 255–268, 1985), D. Rawlins: "Methods for Measuring the Earth's Size by Determining the Curvature of the Sea" and "Racking the Stade for Eratosthenes", appendices to "The Eratosthenes–Strabo Nile Map. Is It the Earliest Surviving Instance of Spherical Cartography? Did It Supply the 5000 Stades Arc for Eratosthenes' Experiment?", Archive for History of Exact Sciences, v.26, 211–219, 1982, C. Taisbak: "Posidonius vindicated at all costs? Modern scholarship versus the stoic earth measurer". Centaurus v.18, 253–269, 1974 Eratosthenes: The Measurement of the Earth's Circumference Earth orbits the Sun at an average distance of 149.60 million km (92.96 million mi), and one complete orbit takes days (1 sidereal year), during which time Earth has traveled 940 million km (584 million mi). Ignoring the influence of other solar system bodies, Earth's orbit is an ellipse with the Earth-Sun barycenter as one focus and a current eccentricity of 0.0167; since this value is close to zero, the center of the orbit is close, relative to the size of the orbit, to the center of the Sun. As seen from Earth, the planet's orbital prograde motion makes the Sun appear to move with respect to other stars at a rate of about 1° eastward per solar day (or a Sun or Moon diameter every 12 hours). Earth's orbital speed averages 29.78 km/s (107,208 km/h; 66,616 mph), which is fast enough to cover the planet's diameter in 7 minutes and the distance to the Moon in 4 hours. From a vantage point above the north pole of either the Sun or Earth, Earth would appear to revolve in a counterclockwise direction around the Sun. From the same vantage point, both the Earth and the Sun would appear to rotate also in a counterclockwise direction about their respective axes. Heliocentrism is the scientific model that first placed the Sun at the center of the Solar System and put the planets, including Earth, in its orbit. Historically, heliocentrism is opposed to geocentrism, which placed the Earth at the center. Aristarchus of Samos already proposed a heliocentric model in the third century BC. In the sixteenth century, Nicolaus Copernicus' De revolutionibus presented a full discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe in much the same way as Ptolemy had presented his geocentric model in the second century. This "Copernican revolution" resolved the issue of planetary retrograde motion by arguing that such motion was only perceived and apparent. "Although Copernicus's groundbreaking book... had been [printed more than] a century earlier, [the Dutch mapmaker] Joan Blaeu was the first mapmaker to incorporate his revolutionary heliocentric theory into a map of the world." Because of Earth's axial tilt (often known as the obliquity of the ecliptic), the inclination of the Sun's trajectory in the sky (as seen by an observer on Earth's surface) varies over the course of the year. For an observer at a northern latitude, when the north pole is tilted toward the Sun the day lasts longer and the Sun appears higher in the sky. This results in warmer average temperatures, as additional solar radiation reaches the surface. When the north pole is tilted away from the Sun, the reverse is true and the weather is generally cooler. North of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle, an extreme case is reached in which there is no daylight at all for part of the year, and continuous daylight during the opposite time of year. This is called polar night and midnight sun, respectively. This variation in the weather (because of the direction of the Earth's axial tilt) results in the seasons. By astronomical convention, the four seasons are determined by the solstices (the two points in the Earth's orbit of the maximum tilt of the Earth's axis, toward the Sun or away from the Sun) and the equinoxes (the two points in the Earth's orbit where the Earth's tilted axis and an imaginary line drawn from the Earth to the Sun are exactly perpendicular to one another). The solstices and equinoxes divide the year up into four approximately equal parts. In the northern hemisphere winter solstice occurs on or about December 21; summer solstice is near June 21; spring equinox is around March 20; and autumnal equinox is about September 23. The effect of the Earth's axial tilt in the southern hemisphere is the opposite of that in the northern hemisphere, thus the seasons of the solstices and equinoxes in the southern hemisphere are the reverse of those in the northern hemisphere (e.g. the northern summer solstice is at the same time as the southern winter solstice). In modern times, Earth's perihelion occurs around January 3, and the aphelion around July 4 (for other eras, see precession and Milankovitch cycles). The changing Earth–Sun distance results in an increase of about 6.9% in total solar energy reaching the Earth at perihelion relative to aphelion. Since the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun at about the same time that the Earth reaches the closest approach to the Sun, the southern hemisphere receives slightly more energy from the Sun than does the northern over the course of a year. However, this effect is much less significant than the total energy change due to the axial tilt, and most of the excess energy is absorbed by the higher proportion of water in the southern hemisphere. The Hill sphere (gravitational sphere of influence) of the Earth is about 1,500,000 kilometers (0.01 AU) in radius, or approximately four times the average distance to the Moon. This is the maximal distance at which the Earth's gravitational influence is stronger than the more distant Sun and planets. Objects orbiting the Earth must be within this radius, otherwise they may become unbound by the gravitational perturbation of the Sun. The following diagram shows the relation between the line of solstice and the line of apsides of Earth's elliptical orbit. The orbital ellipse goes through each of the six Earth images, which are sequentially the perihelion (periapsis — nearest point to the Sun) on anywhere from January 2 to January 5, the point of March equinox on March 19, 20, or 21, the point of June solstice on June 20, 21, or 22, the aphelion (apoapsis — farthest point from the Sun) on anywhere from July 3 to July 5, the September equinox on September 22, 23, or 24, and the December solstice on December 21, 22, or 23. The diagram shows an exaggerated shape of Earth's orbit; the actual orbit is less eccentric than pictured. Because of the axial tilt of the Earth in its orbit, the maximal intensity of Sun rays hits the Earth 23.4 degrees north of equator at the June Solstice (at the Tropic of Cancer), and 23.4 degrees south of equator at the December Solstice (at the Tropic of Capricorn). Mathematicians and astronomers (such as Laplace, Lagrange, Gauss, Poincaré, Kolmogorov, Vladimir Arnold, and Jürgen Moser) have searched for evidence for the stability of the planetary motions, and this quest led to many mathematical developments and several successive "proofs" of stability for the Solar System. By most predictions, Earth's orbit will be relatively stable over long periods. In 1989, Jacques Laskar's work indicated that the Earth's orbit (as well as the orbits of all the inner planets) can become chaotic and that an error as small as 15 meters in measuring the initial position of the Earth today would make it impossible to predict where the Earth would be in its orbit in just over 100 million years' time. Modeling the Solar System is a subject covered by the n-body problem. Astronomical unit, Barycenter, Earth's axial tilt, Earth phase, Earth's rotation, Geocentric orbit – the orbit of any object orbiting the Earth, such as the Moon or an artificial satellite, Spaceship Earth Earth – Speed through space – about 1 million miles an hour – NASA & () The following are examples of orders of magnitude for different lengths. To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various lengths between formula_1 metres and formula_2metres. To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths shorter than 10 m (10 ym). 0 – singularity, 1.6 × 10 yoctometres (1.6 × 10 metres) – the Planck length (Measures of distance shorter than this are considered nonsensical and do not make any physical sense, according to current theories of physics)., 1 ym – 1 yoctometre, the smallest named subdivision of the metre in the SI base unit of length, one septillionth of a metre, 1 ym – length of a neutrino., 2 ym – the effective cross-section radius of 1 MeV neutrinos as measured by Clyde Cowan and Frederick Reines To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 metres and 10 metres (10 ym and 100 ym). To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (100 ym and 1 zm). 100 ym – length of a top quark, one of the smallest known quarks To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (1 zm and 10 zm). 2 zm – length of a preon, hypothetical particles proposed as subcomponents of quarks and leptons; the upper bound for the width of a cosmic string in string theory., 2 zm – radius of effective cross section for a 20 GeV neutrino scattering off a nucleon, 7 zm – radius of effective cross section for a 250 GeV neutrino scattering off a nucleon To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (10 zm and 100 zm). 15 zm – length of a high energy neutrino, 30 zm – length of a bottom quark To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (100 zm and 1 am). 177 zm – de Broglie wavelength of protons at the Large Hadron Collider (7 TeV as of 2010) To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (1 am and 10 am). 1 am – sensitivity of the LIGO detector for gravitational waves, 1 am – upper limit for the size of quarks and electrons, 1 am – upper bound of the typical size range for "fundamental strings", 1 am – length of an electron, 1 am – length of an up quark, 1 am – length of a down quark To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (10 am and 100 am). 10 am – range of the weak force To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (100 am and 1 fm). 100 am – all lengths shorter than this distance are not confirmed in terms of size, 850 am – approximate proton radius The femtometre (symbol fm) is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to 10 metres. In particle physics, this unit is more commonly called a fermi, also with abbreviation "fm". To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 metres and 10 metres (1 femtometre and 10 fm). 1 fm – diameter of a neutron, approximate range-limit of the color force carried between quarks by gluons, 1.5 fm – diameter of the scattering cross section of an 11 MeV proton with a target proton, 1.75 fm – the effective charge diameter of a proton, 2.81794 fm – classical electron radius, 3 fm – approximate range-limit of the nuclear binding force mediated by mesons, 7 fm – the radius of the effective scattering cross section for a gold nucleus scattering a 6 MeV alpha particle over 140 degrees To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (10 fm and 100 fm). 1.75 to 15 fm – Diameter range of the atomic nucleus To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (100 fm and 1 pm). 570 fm – typical distance from the atomic nucleus of the two innermost electrons (electrons in the 1s shell) in the uranium atom, the heaviest naturally-occurring atom To help compare different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (1 pm and 10 pm). 1 pm – distance between atomic nuclei in a white dwarf, 2.4 pm – The Compton wavelength of the electron, 5 pm – shorter X-ray wavelengths (approx.) To help compare different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (10 pm and 100 pm). 25 pm – approximate radius of a helium atom, the smallest neutral atom, 50 pm – radius of a hydrogen atom, 50 pm – bohr radius: approximate radius of a hydrogen atom, ~50 pm – best resolution of a high-resolution transmission electron microscope, 60 pm – radius of a carbon atom, 93 pm – length of a diatomic carbon molecule To help compare different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (100 pm and 1 nm). 100 pm – 1 ångström, 100 pm – covalent radius of sulfur atom, 120 pm – van der Waals radius of a neutral hydrogen atom, 120 pm – radius of a gold atom, 126 pm – covalent radius of ruthenium atom, 135 pm – covalent radius of technetium atom, 150 pm – Length of a typical covalent bond (C–C), 153 pm – covalent radius of silver atom, 155 pm – covalent radius of zirconium atom, 175 pm – covalent radius of thulium atom, 200 pm – highest resolution of a typical electron microscope, 225 pm – covalent radius of caesium atom, 280 pm – Average size of the water molecule, 298 pm – radius of a caesium atom, calculated to be the largest atomic radius (except possibly francium), 340 pm – thickness of single layer graphene, 356.68 pm – width of diamond unit cell, 403 pm – width of lithium fluoride unit cell, 500 pm – Width of protein α helix, 543 pm – silicon lattice spacing, 560 pm – width of sodium chloride unit cell, 700 pm – width of glucose molecule, 780 pm – mean width of quartz unit cell, 820 pm – mean width of ice unit cell, 900 pm – mean width of coesite unit cell To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (1 nm and 10 nm). 1 nm – length of a buckyball, 1 nm – diameter of a carbon nanotube, 1 nm – roughly the length of a sucrose molecule, calculated by Albert Einstein, 2.3 nm – length of a phospholipid, 2.3 nm – smallest gate oxide thickness in microprocessors, 3 nm – width of a DNA helix, 3 nm – flying height of the head of a hard disk, 3 nm – , the average half-pitch of a memory cell expected to be manufactured circa 2022, 3.4 nm – length of a DNA turn (10 bp), 3.8 nm – size of an albumin molecule, 5 nm – size of the gate length of a 16 nm processor, 5 nm – , the average half-pitch of a memory cell expected to be manufactured circa 2019-2020, 6 nm – length of a phospholipid bilayer, 6-10 nm – thickness of cell membrane, 6.8 nm – width of a haemoglobin molecule, 7 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2018, 10 nm Thickness of cell wall in Gram-negative bacteria To help compare different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (10 nm and 100 nm). 10 nm – the average length of a nanowire, 10 nm – lower size of tobacco smoke, 10 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2016–2017, 13 nm – the length of the wavelength that is used for EUV lithography, 14 nm – Length of a porcine circovirus, 14 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2013, 15 nm – Length of an antibody, 18 nm – diameter of tobacco mosaic virus, 20 nm – Length of a nanobe, could be one of the smallest forms of life, 20 nm to 80 nm – thickness of cell wall in Gram-positive bacteria, 20 nm – thickness of bacterial flagellum, 22 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2011-2012, 22 nm – Smallest feature size of production microprocessors in September 2009, 30 nm – lower size of cooking oil smoke, 32 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2009–2010, 40 nm – extreme ultraviolet wavelength, 45 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2007–2008, 50 nm – upper size for airborne virus particles, 50 nm – flying height of the head of a hard disk, 65 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2005–2006, 58 nm – height of a T7 bacteriophage, 90 nm – Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (generally, viruses range in size from 20 nm to 450 nm), 90 nm – the average half-pitch of a memory cell manufactured circa 2002–2003, 100 nm – Length of a mesoporous silica nanoparticle To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 and 10 m (100 nm and 1 μm). 100 nm – greatest particle size that can fit through a surgical mask, 100 nm – 90% of particles in wood smoke are smaller than this., 120 nm – greatest particle size that can fit through a ULPA filter, 120 nm – diameter of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), 125 nm – standard depth of pits on compact discs (width: 500 nm, length: 850 nm to 3.5 μm), 180 nm – typical length of the rabies virus, 200 nm – typical size of a Mycoplasma bacterium, among the smallest bacteria, 300–400 nm – near ultraviolet wavelength, 300 nm – greatest particle size that can fit through a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter (N100 removes up to 99.97% at 0.3 micrometres, N95 removes up to 95% at 0.3 micrometres), 400–420 nm – wavelength of violet light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 420–440 nm – wavelength of indigo light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 440–500 nm – wavelength of blue light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 500–520 nm – wavelength of cyan light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 520–565 nm – wavelength of green light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 565–590 nm – wavelength of yellow light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 590–625 nm – wavelength of orange light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 625–700 – wavelength of red light (see Color and Visible spectrum), 700–1.4 μm – wavelength of near-infrared radiation To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists some items with lengths between 10 and 10 m (between 1 and 10 micrometres, or μm). ~0.7–300 μm – wavelength of infrared radiation, 1 μm – the side of square of area 10 m, 1 μm – edge of cube of volume 10 m (1 fL), 1–10 μm – diameter of a typical bacterium, 1 μm – length of a lysosome, 1-2 μm – anthrax spore, 2 μm – length of an average E. coli bacteria, 3–4 μm – size of a typical yeast cell, 5 μm – length of a typical human spermatozoon's head, 6 μm – thickness of the tape in a 120-minute (C120) compact cassette, 7 μm – diameter of the nucleus of a typical eukaryotic cell, about 7 μm – diameter of human red blood cells, 3–8 μm – width of strand of spider web silk, 5-10 μm – width of a chloroplast, 8-11 μm – size of a ground-level fog or mist droplet To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (10 μm and 100 μm). 10 μm – width of cotton fibre, 10 μm – transistor width of the Intel 4004, the world's first commercial microprocessor, 10 μm – mean longest dimension of a human red blood cell, 5–20 μm – dust mite excreta, 10.6 μm – wavelength of light emitted by a carbon dioxide laser, 15 μm – width of silk fibre, 17 μm – minimum width of a strand of human hair, 17.6 μm – one twip, a unit of length in typography, 10 to 55 μm – width of wool fibre, 25.4 μm – 1/1000 inch, commonly referred to as 1 mil in the U.S. and 1 thou in the UK, 30 μm – length of a human skin cell, 50 μm – typical length of Euglena gracilis, a flagellate protist, 50 μm – typical length of a human liver cell, an average-sized body cell, 50 μm – length of a silt particle, 60 μm – length of a sperm cell, 70 to 180 μm – thickness of paper To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (100 μm and 1 mm). The term myriometre (abbr. mom, equivalent to 100 micrometres; frequently confused with the myriametre, 10 kilometres) is deprecated; the decimal metric prefix myrio- is obsolete and was not included among the prefixes when the International System of Units was introduced in 1960. 100 μm – 1/10 of a millimetre, 100 μm – 0.00394 inches, 100 μm – smallest distance that can be seen with the naked eye, 100 μm – average diameter of a strand of human hair, 100 μm – thickness of a coat of paint, 100 μm – length of a dust particle, 120 μm – the geometric mean of the Planck length and the diameter of the observable universe:, 120 μm – diameter of a human ovum, 170 μm – length of the largest sperm cell in nature, belonging to the Drosophila bifurca fruit fly, 181 μm – maximum width of a strand of human hair, 100–400 μm – length of Demodex mites living in human hair follicles, 200 μm – typical length of Paramecium caudatum, a ciliate protist, 200 μm - nominal width of the smallest commonly available mechanical pencil lead (0.2 mm), 250–300 μm – length of a dust mite, 340 μm – length of a single pixel on a 17-inch monitor with a resolution of 1024×768, 500 μm – typical length of Amoeba proteus, an amoeboid protist, 500 μm – average length of a grain of sand, 500 μm – average length of a grain of salt, 500 μm – average length of a grain of sugar, 560 μm – thickness of the central area of a human cornea, 750 μm – diameter of a Thiomargarita namibiensis, the largest bacteria known, 760 μm – thickness of an identification card To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (1 mm and 1 cm). 1.0 mm – 1/1000 of a metre, 1.0 mm – 0.03937 inches or 5/127 (exactly), 1.0 mm – side of square of area 1 mm², 1.0 mm – diameter of a pinhead, 1.5 mm – length of average flea, 2.54 mm – distance between pins on old dual in-line package (DIP) electronic components, 5 mm – length of an average red ant, 5 mm – diameter of an average grain of rice, 5.56×45mm NATO – standard ammunition size, 6 mm – approximate width of a pencil, 7 mm – length of a Paedophryne amauensis, the smallest known vertebrate, 7.1 mm – length of a sunflower seed, 7.62×51mm NATO – common military ammunition size, 8 mm – width of old-format home movie film, 8 mm – length of a Paedocypris progenetica, the smallest known fish To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 m and 10 m (1 cm and 1 dm). 1 cm – 10 millimetres, 1 cm – 0.39 inches, 1 cm – edge of square of area 1 cm, 1 cm – edge of cube of volume 1 ml, 1 cm – length of a coffee bean, 1 cm – approximate width of average fingernail, 1.2 cm – length of a bee, 1.2 cm – diameter of a dice, 1.5 cm – length of a very large mosquito, 1.6 cm – length of a Jaragua Sphaero, a very small reptile, 1.7 cm – length of a Thorius arboreus, the smallest salamander, 2 cm – approximate width of an adult human finger, 2.54 cm – 1 inch, 3.1 cm – 1 attoparsec (10 parsecs), 3.4 cm – length of a quail egg, 3.5 cm – width of film commonly used in motion pictures and still photography, 4.3 cm – minimum diameter of a golf ball, 5 cm – usual diameter of a chicken egg, 5 cm – height of a hummingbird, the smallest known bird, 5.5 × 5.5 × 5.5 cm – dimensions of a 3x3x3 Rubik's Cube, 6.1 cm – average height of an apple, 7.3–7.5 cm – diameter of a baseball, 8.6 cm × 5.4 cm – dimensions of a standard credit card, 9 cm – length of a Speckled Padloper, the smallest known turtle To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 centimetres and 100 centimetres (10 metre and 1 metre). 10 centimetres (abbreviated to 10 cm) is equal to: 1 decimetre (dm), a term not in common use (1 L = 1 dm.), 100 millimetres, 3.9 inches, a side of a square of area 0.01 m, the edge of a cube with a volume of (one litre) 10 cm = 1.0 dm – wavelength of the highest UHF radio frequency, 3 GHz, 12 cm = 1.2 dm – wavelength of the 2.45 GHz ISM radio band, 21 cm = 2.1 dm – wavelength of the 1.4 GHz hydrogen emission line, a hyperfine transition of the hydrogen atom, 100 cm = 10 dm – wavelength of the lowest UHF radio frequency, 300 MHz 10.16 cm = 1.016 dm – 1 hand used in measuring height of horses (4 inches), 12 cm = 1.2 dm – diameter of a compact disc (CD) (= 120 mm), 15 cm = 1.5 dm – length of a Bic pen with cap on, 22 cm = 2.2 dm – diameter of a typical association football (soccer ball), 30 cm = 3 dm – typical school-use ruler length (= 300 mm), 30.48 cm = 3.048 dm – 1 foot (measure), 60 cm = 6 dm – standard depth (front to back) of a domestic kitchen worktop in Europe (= 600 mm), 90 cm = 9 dm – average length of a rapier, a fencing sword, 91.44 cm = 9.144 dm – one yard (measure) 10 cm = 1 dm – diameter of the human cervix upon entering the second stage of, 11 cm = 1.1 dm – diameter of an average potato, 15 cm = 1.5 dm – approximate size of largest beetle species, 19 cm = 1.9 dm – length of a banana, 26.3 cm = 2.6 dm – length of average male human foot, 29.98 cm = 2.998 dm – distance light travels in one nanosecond, 31 cm = 3.1 dm – wingspan of largest butterfly species Ornithoptera alexandrae, 46 cm = 4.6 dm – length of an average domestic cat, 50 to 65 cm = 5–6.5 dm – a coati's tail, 66 cm = 6.6 dm – length of the longest pine cones (produced by the sugar pine) 84 cm = 8.4 dm – approximate diameter of 2008 TS26, a meteoroid To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between one metre and ten metres. Light travels 1 metre in , or 3.3356409519815204e-09 of a second. 1 metre is: 10 decimetres, 100 centimetres, 1,000 millimetres, 39.37 inches, 3.28 feet, side of square with area 1 m, edge of cube with surface area 6 m and volume 1 m, radius of circle with area 3.14 m, radius of sphere with surface area 12.56 m and volume 4.19 m 1 m – approximate height of the top part of a doorknob on a door, 1 m – diameter of a very large beach ball, 1.435 m – standard gauge of railway track used by about 60% of railways in the world = 4' 8½", 2.5 m – distance from the floor to the ceiling in an average residential house, 2.7 m – length of the Starr Bumble Bee II, the smallest plane, 2.77–3.44 m – wavelength of the broadcast radio FM band 87–108 MHz, 3.05 m – the length of an old Mini, 8.38 m – the length of a London Bus (AEC Routemaster) 2.44 m – height of an association football goal, 2.45 m – highest high jump by a human being (Javier Sotomayor), 3.05 m – (10 feet) height of the basket in basketball, 8.95 m – longest long jump by a human being (Mike Powell) 1 m – height of Homo floresiensis (the "Hobbit") 1.15 m – a pizote (mammal), 1.37 m – average height of an Andamanese person, 1.63 m – (5 feet 4 inches) (or 64 inches) - height of average US female human (source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)), 1.75 m – (5 feet 8 inches) - height of average US male human (source: US CDC as per female above), 2.5 m – height of a sunflower, 2.72 m – (8 feet 11 inches) - tallest known human being (Robert Wadlow), 3.63 m – the record wingspan for living birds (a wandering albatross), 5 m – length of an elephant, 5.2 m – height of a giraffe, 5.5 m – height of a Baluchitherium, the largest land mammal ever lived, 7 m – wingspan of Argentavis, the largest flying bird known, 7.5 m – approximate length of the human gastrointestinal tract 3–6 m – approximate diameter of , a meteoroid, 4.1 m – diameter of 2008 TC3, a small asteroid that flew into the Earth's atmosphere on October 7, 2008. To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 metres and 100 metres. 10 metres (very rarely termed a decametre which is abbreviated as dam) is equal to: 10 metres, 100 decimetres, 1,000 centimetres, 10,000 millimetres, 32.8 feet, side of square with area 100 m² 10 metres – wavelength of the highest shortwave radio frequency, 30 MHz, 23 metres – height of the obelisk of the Place de la Concorde, Paris, France, 25 metres – wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 12 MHz, 29 metres – height of the lighthouse at Savudrija, Slovenia, 31 metres – wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 9.7 MHz, 34 metres – height of the Split Point Lighthouse in Aireys Inlet, Victoria, Australia, 40 metres – average depth beneath the seabed of the Channel tunnel, 49 metres – wavelength of the broadcast radio shortwave band at 6.1 MHz, 50 metres – length of a road train, 55 metres – height of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, 62.5 metres – height of Pyramid of Djoser, 64 metres – wingspan of a Boeing 747-400, 69 metres – wingspan of an Antonov An-124 Ruslan, 70 metres – length of the Bayeux Tapestry, 70 metres – width of a typical association football field, 77 metres – wingspan of a Boeing 747-8, 88.4 metres – wingspan of the Antonov An-225 Mriya transport aircraft, 93 metres – height of the Statue of Liberty, 96 metres – height of Big Ben, 100 metres – wavelength of the lowest shortwave radio frequency, 3 MHz 11 metres – approximate width of a doubles tennis court, 15 metres – width of a standard FIBA basketball court, 15.24 metres – width of an NBA basketball court (50 feet), 18.44 metres – distance between the front of the pitcher's rubber and the rear point of home plate on a baseball field (60 feet, 6 inches), 20 metres – length of cricket pitch (22 yards), 27.43 metres – distance between bases on a baseball field (90 feet), 28 metres – length of a standard FIBA basketball court, 28.65 metres – length of an NBA basketball court (94 feet), 49 metres – width of an American football field (53⅓ yards), 59.436 metres – width of a Canadian football field (65 yards), 70 metres – typical width of soccer field, 91 metres – length of American football field (100 yards, measured between the goal lines), 105 metres – length of football pitch (UEFA Stadium Category 3 and 4) 10 metres – average length of human digestive tract, 12 metres – length of a whale shark, largest living fish, 12 metres – wingspan of a Quetzalcoatlus, a pterosaur, 13 metres – length of a giant squid and colossal squid, the largest living invertebrates, 15 metres – approximate distance the tropical circles of latitude are moving towards the equator and the polar circles are moving towards the poles each year due to a natural, gradual decrease in the Earth's axial tilt, 18 metres – height of a Sauroposeidon, the tallest known dinosaur, 20 metres – length of a Leedsichthys, the largest known fish ever lived, 21 metres – height of High Force waterfall in England, 33 metres – length of a blue whale, the largest animal on earth, living or extinct, in terms of mass, 35 metres – length of a Supersaurus, the longest known dinosaur and longest vertebrate, 52 metres – height of Niagara Falls, 55 metres – length of a bootlace worm, the longest known animal, 83 metres – height of a Western hemlock 30 metres – diameter of , a rapidly spinning meteoroid, 32 metres – approximate diameter of 2008 HJ, a small meteoroid To compare different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths between 100 metres and 1000 metres (1 kilometre). 100 metres (sometimes termed a hectometre) is equal to: 328 feet, one side of a 1 hectare square, a fifth of a modern li, a Chinese unit of measurement, the approximate distance travelled by light in 300 nanoseconds 100 metres – wavelength of the highest medium wave radio frequency, 3 MHz, 100 metres – spacing of location marker posts on British motorways, 138.8 metres – height of the Great Pyramid of Giza (Pyramid of Cheops), 139 metres – height of the world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, 187 metres – shortest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 1600 kHz, 202 metres – length of the Széchenyi Chain Bridge connecting Buda and Pest, 318 metres – height of The New York Times Building, 318.9 metres – height of the Chrysler Building, 320.75 metres – height of the Eiffel Tower(including antenna), 328 metres – height of Auckland's Sky Tower, the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere, 341 metres – height of the world's tallest bridge, the Millau Viaduct, 390 metres – height of the Empire State Building, 400–800 metres – approximate heights of the world's tallest skyscrapers of the past 80 years, 458 metres – length of the Knock Nevis, the world's largest supertanker, 553.33 metres – height of the CN Tower, 555 metres – longest wavelength of the broadcast radio AM band, 540 kHz, 630 metres – height of the KVLY-TV mast, second tallest structure in the world, 646 metres – height of the Warsaw radio mast, the world's tallest structure until its collapse in 1991, 828 metres – height of Burj Khalifa, world's tallest structure on 17 January 2009, 1,000 metres – wavelength of the lowest mediumwave radio frequency, 300 kHz 100 metres – the distance a very fast human being can run in about 10 seconds, 100.584 metres – length of a Canadian football field between the goal lines (110 yards), 91.5 metres – 137 metres – length of a soccer field, 105 metres – length of a typical football field, 109.73 metres – total length of an American football field (120 yards, including the end zones), 110 – 150 metres-the width of an Australian football field, 135 – 185 metres the length of an Australian football field, 137.16 metres – total length of a Canadian football field, including the end zones (150 yards) 115.5 metres – height of the world's tallest tree in 2007, the Hyperion sequoia, 310 metres – maximum depth of Lake Geneva, 340 metres – distance sound travels in air at sea level in one second; see Speed of sound, 979 metres – height of the Salto Angel, the world's highest free-falling waterfall (Venezuela) 270 metres – length of 99942 Apophis, 535 metres – length of 25143 Itokawa, a small asteroid visited by a spacecraft To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 1 kilometre and 10 kilometres (10 and 10 metres). 1 kilometre (unit symbol km) is equal to: 1,000 metres, 0.621371 miles, 1,093.61 yards, 3,280.84 feet, 39,370.1 inches, 100,000 centimetres, 1,000,000 millimetres, Side of a square of area 1 km, Radius of a circle of area π km 1 km – wavelength of the highest long wave radio frequency, 300 kHz, 1.280 km – span of the Golden Gate Bridge (distance between towers), 1.609 km – 1 mile, 1.852 km – 1 nautical mile, equal to 1 arc minute of latitude at the surface of the Earth, 1.991 km – span of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, 2.309 km – axial length of the Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam in the world, 3.991 km – length of the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge, longest suspension bridge in the world, 5.072 km – height of Tanggula Mountain Pass, below highest peak in the Tanggula Mountains, highest railway pass in the world, 5.727 km – height of Cerro Aucanquilcha, highest road in the world, located in Chile, 98 airports have paved runways from 4 km to 5.5 km in length., 8 km – length of Palm Jebel Ali, an artificial island built off the coast of Dubai, 9.8 km – length of The World, an artificial archipelago that is also built off the coast of Dubai, whose islands resemble a world map 1.637 km – deepest dive of Lake Baikal in Russia, the world's largest fresh water lake, 2.228 km – height of Mount Kosciuszko, highest point in Australia, Most of Manhattan is from 3 to 4 km wide., 4.810 km – height of Mont Blanc, highest peak in the Alps, 4.884 km – height of Carstensz Pyramid, highest peak in Oceania, 4.892 km – height of Mount Vinson, highest peak in Antarctica, 5.610 km – height of Mount Damavand, highest peak in Iran, 5.642 km – height of Mount Elbrus, highest peak in Europe, 5.895 km – height of Mount Kilimanjaro, highest peak in Africa, 6.081 km – height of Mount Logan, highest peak in Canada, 6.194 km – height of Denali, highest peak in North America, 6.959 km – height of Aconcagua, highest peak in South America, 7.5 km – depth of Cayman Trench, deepest point in the Caribbean Sea, 8.848 km – height of Mount Everest, highest peak on Earth, on the border between Nepal and China 1 km – diameter of 1620 Geographos, 1 km – very approximate size of the smallest known moons of Jupiter, 1.4 km – diameter of Dactyl, the first confirmed asteroid moon, 4.8 km – diameter of 5535 Annefrank, an inner belt asteroid, 5 km – diameter of 3753 Cruithne, 5 km – length of PSR B1257+12, 8 km – diameter of Themisto, one of Jupiter's moons, 8 km – diameter of the Vela Pulsar, 8.6 km – diameter of Callirrhoe, also known as Jupiter XVII, 9.737 km – length of PSR B1919+21 To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 10 and 100 kilometres (10 to 10 metres). The myriametre (sometimes also spelled myriameter, myriometre and myriometer) (10,000 metres) is a deprecated unit name; the decimal metric prefix myria- (sometimes also written as myrio-) is obsolete and not included among the prefixes when the International System of Units was introduced in 1960. 10 kilometres is equal to: 10,000 metres, 6.2 miles, 1 mil (the Scandinavian mile), now standardized as 10 km:, 1 mil, the unit of measure commonly used in Norway and Sweden used to be 11,295 m in Norway and 10,688 m in Sweden., farsang, unit of measure commonly used in Iran and Turkey 42.195 km – length of the marathon 18 km – cruising altitude of Concorde, 27 km – circumference of the Large Hadron Collider, the largest and highest energy particle accelerator, 34.668 km – highest manned balloon flight (Malcolm D. Ross and Victor E. Prather on 4 May 1961), 38.422 km – length of the Second Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, US, 39 km – undersea portion of the Channel tunnel, 53.9 km – length of the Seikan Tunnel, , the longest rail tunnel in the world, 77 km – Rough total length of the Panama Canal 10 km – height of Mauna Kea in Hawaii, measured from its base on the ocean floor, 11 km – deepest known point of the ocean, Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, 11 km – average height of the troposphere, 14 km – width of the Gibraltar strait, 21 km – length of Manhattan, 23 km – depth of the largest earthquake ever recorded in the United Kingdom, in 1931 at the Dogger Bank of the North Sea, 34 km – narrowest width of the English Channel at the Strait of Dover, 50 km – approximate height of the stratosphere, 90 km – width of the Bering Strait 10 km – diameter of the most massive neutron stars (3–5 solar masses), 13 km – mean diameter of Deimos, the smaller moon of Mars, 20 km – diameter of the least massive neutron stars (1.44 solar masses), 20 km – diameter of Leda, one of Jupiter's moons, 20 km – diameter of Pan, one of Saturn's moons, 22 km – diameter of Phobos, the larger moon of Mars, 27 km – height of Olympus Mons above the Mars reference level, the highest known mountain of the Solar System, 43 km – diameter difference of Earth's equatorial bulge, 66 km – diameter of Naiad, the innermost of Neptune's moons A length of 100 kilometres (about 62 miles), as a rough amount, is relatively common in measurements on Earth and for some astronomical objects. It is the altitude at which the FAI defines spaceflight to begin. To help compare orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths between 100 and 1,000 kilometres (10 and 10 metres). A distance of 100 kilometres is equal to about 62 miles (or ). 100 km – the Karman line: the official boundary of outer space, 105 km – distance from Giridih to Bokaro, 109 km – length of High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel, 130 km – range of a Scud-A missile, 163 km – length of the Suez Canal, 164 km – length of the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge, 213 km – length of Paris Métro, 217 km – length of the Grand Union Canal, 223 km – length of the Madrid Metro, 300 km – range of a Scud-B missile, 386 km – altitude of the International Space Station, 408 km – length of the London Underground (active track), 460 km – distance from London to Paris, 470 km – distance from Dublin to London as the crow flies, 600 km – range of a Scud-C missile, 600 km – height above ground of the Hubble Space Telescope, 804.67 km – (500 miles) distance of the Indy 500 automobile race 111 km – distance covered by one degree of latitude on Earth's surface, 180 km – distance between Mumbai and Nashik, 203 km – length of Sognefjorden, the third largest fjord in the world, 220 km – distance between Pune and Nashik, 240 km – widest width of the English Channel, 430 km – length of the Pyrenees, 500 km – widest width of Sweden from east to west, 550 km – distance from San Francisco to Los Angeles as the crow flies, 560 km – distance of Bordeaux–Paris, formerly the longest one-day professional cycling race, 590 km – length of land boundary between Finland and Sweden, 724 km – length of the Om River, 871 km – distance from Sydney to Melbourne (along the Hume Highway), 897 km – length of the River Douro, 900 km – distance from Berlin to Stockholm, 956 km - distance from Washington, DC to Chicago, Illinois as the crow flies 100 km – the altitude at which the FAI defines spaceflight to begin, 167 km – diameter of Amalthea, one of Jupiter's inner moons, 200 km – width of Valles Marineris, 220 km – diameter of Phoebe, the largest of Saturn's outer moons, 300 km – the approximate distance travelled by light in one millisecond, 340 km – diameter of Nereid, the third largest moon of Neptune, 350 km – lower bound of Low Earth orbit, 420 km – diameter of Proteus, the second largest moon of Neptune, 468 km – diameter of the asteroid 4 Vesta, 472 km – diameter of Miranda, one of Uranus' major moons, 974.6 km – greatest diameter of 1 Ceres, the largest solar system asteroid To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (1 Mm or 1,000 km). 1 megametre is equal to: 1 E+6 m (one million metres), approximately 621.37 miles, Side of square with area 1,000,000 km 2.100 Mm – Length of proposed gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan, 2.100 Mm – Distance from Casablanca to Rome, 2.288 Mm – Length of the official Alaska Highway when it was built in the 1940s, 3.069 Mm – Length of Interstate 95 (from Houlton, Maine to Miami, Florida), 3.846 Mm – Length of U.S. Route 1 (from Fort Kent, Maine to Key West, Florida), 5.000 Mm – Width of the United States, 5.007 Mm – Estimated length of Interstate 90 (Seattle, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts), 5.614 Mm – Length of the Australian Dingo Fence, 6.4 Mm – Length of the Great Wall of China, 7.821 Mm – Length of the Trans-Canada Highway, the world's longest national highway (from Victoria, British Columbia to St. John's, Newfoundland), 8.836 Mm – Road distance between Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and Key West, Florida, the endpoints of the U.S. road network, 8.852 Mm – Aggregate length of the Great Wall of China, including trenches, hills and rivers, 9.259 Mm – Length of the Trans-Siberian railway The Munda Biddi Trail in WA, Australia is over 1000 km long - the world's longest off-road cycle trail, 1.200 Mm – the length of the Paris–Brest–Paris bicycling event, Several endurance auto races are, or were, run for 1,000 km:, Bathurst 1000, 1000 km Brands Hatch, 1000 km Buenos Aires, 1000 km Donington, 1000 km Monza, 1000 km Nürburgring, 1000 km Silverstone, 1000 km Spa, 1000 km Suzuka, 1000 km Zeltweg 1.010 Mm – Distance from San Diego to El Paso as the crow flies, 2.000 Mm – Distance from Beijing to Hong Kong as the crow flies, 2.800 Mm – Narrowest width of Atlantic Ocean (Brazil-West Africa), 2.850 Mm – Length of the Danube river, 2.205 Mm – Length of Sweden's total land boundaries, 2.515 Mm – Length of Norway's total land boundaries, 3.690 Mm – Length of the Volga river, longest in Europe, 4.350 Mm – Length of the Yellow River, 4.800 Mm – Widest width of Atlantic Ocean (U.S.-Northern Africa), 5.100 Mm – Distance from Dublin to New York as the crow flies, 6.270 Mm – Length of the Mississippi-Missouri River system, 6.380 Mm – Length of the Yangtze River, 6.400 Mm – Length of the Amazon River, 6.758 Mm – Length of the Nile system, longest on Earth, 8.200 Mm – Distance from Dublin to San Francisco as the crow flies 1.000 Mm – Estimated shortest axis of triaxial dwarf planet, 1.186 Mm – Diameter of Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, 1.280 Mm – Diameter of the trans-Neptunian object 50000 Quaoar, 1.436 Mm – Diameter of Iapetus, one of Saturn's major moons, 1.578 Mm – Diameter of Titania, the largest of Uranus' moons, 1.960 Mm – Estimated longest axis of Haumea, 2.326 Mm – Diameter of the dwarf planet Eris, the largest trans-Neptunian object found to date, 2.376 Mm – Diameter of Pluto, 2.707 Mm – Diameter of Triton, largest moon of Neptune, 3.122 Mm – Diameter of Europa, the smallest Galilean satellite of Jupiter, 3.476 Mm – Diameter of Earth's Moon, 3.643 Mm – Diameter of Io, a moon of Jupiter, 4.821 Mm – Diameter of Callisto, a moon of Jupiter, 4.879 Mm – Diameter of Mercury, 5.150 Mm – Diameter of Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, 5.262 Mm – Diameter of Jupiter's moon Ganymede, the largest moon in the solar system, 6.371 Mm – Radius of Earth, 6.792 Mm – Diameter of Mars To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths starting at 10 metres (10 megametres or 10,000 kilometres). 10 megametres (10 Mm) is 6,215 miles, side of a square of area 100,000,000 square kilometres (km), radius of a circle of area 314,159,265 km 11.085 Mm – Length of the Kiev-Vladivostok railway, a longer variant of the Trans-Siberian railway, 13.300 Mm – Length of roads being rehabilitated and widened under the National Highway Development Project (launched in 1998) in India, 39.000 Mm – Length of the SEA-ME-WE 3 optical submarine telecommunications cable, joining 39 points between Norden, Germany and Okinawa, Japan, 67.000 Mm – Total length of National Highways in India 10 Mm – Approximate altitude of the outer boundary of the exosphere, 10.001 Mm – Length of the meridian arc from the North Pole to the Equator (the original definition of the metre was based on this length), 60.000 Mm – Total length of the mid-ocean ridges 12.000 Mm – Diameter of Sirius B, a white dwarf, 12.104 Mm – Diameter of Venus, 12.742 Mm – Diameter of Earth, 12.900 Mm – Minimum distance of the meteoroid from the center of Earth on 31 March 2004, closest on record, 14.000 Mm – Smallest diameter of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, 19.000 Mm – Separation between Pluto and Charon, 34.770 Mm – Minimum distance of the asteroid 99942 Apophis on 13 April 2029 from the center of Earth, 35.786 Mm – Altitude of geostationary orbit, 40.005 Mm – Polar circumference of the Earth, 40.077 Mm – Equatorial circumference of the Earth, 49.528 Mm – Diameter of Neptune, 51.118 Mm – Diameter of Uranus To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists lengths starting at 10 metres (100 megametres or 100,000 kilometres or 62,150 miles). 102 Mm – Diameter of HD 149026 b, an unusually dense Jovian planet, 111.191 Mm – 20,000 (nautical, British) leagues (see Jules Verne, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), 115 Mm – Width of Saturn's Rings, 120 Mm – Diameter of EBLM J0555-57Ab, the smallest known star, 120 Mm – Diameter of Saturn, 142 Mm – Diameter of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, 170 Mm – Diameter of TRAPPIST-1, a star recently discovered to have 7 planets around it, 174 Mm – Diameter of OGLE-TR-122b, 180 Mm – Average distance covered during life, 196 Mm – Diameter of Proxima Centauri, a typical red dwarf, 257 Mm – Diameter of TrES-4, 272 Mm – Diameter of WASP-12b, 299.792 Mm – One light second; the distance light travels in vacuum in one second (see speed of light), 300 Mm – Diameter of WASP-79b, 314 Mm – Diameter of CT Cha b, 384.4 Mm (238,855 mi) – Average Earth-Moon distance, 671 Mm – Separation between Jupiter and Europa, 428 Mm – Diameter of GQ Lupi b, one of the largest known planets, 986 Mm – Diameter of HD 100546 b's surrounding disk To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 metres (1 gigametre (Gm) or 1 billion metres). 1.2 Gm – Separation between Saturn and Titan, 1.39 Gm – Diameter of Sun, 1.5 Gm – (proposed) Expected orbit from Earth of the James Webb Space Telescope, 2.19 Gm – Closest approach of Comet Lexell to Earth, happened on 1 July 1770; closest comet approach on record, 3 Gm – Total length of "wiring" in the human brain, 4.2 Gm – Diameter of Algol B, 5.0 Gm – Closest approach of Comet Halley to Earth, happened on 10 April 837, 5.0 Gm – (proposed) Size of the arms of the giant triangle shaped Michelson interferometer of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) planned to start observations sometime in the 2030s., 7.9 Gm – Diameter of Gamma Orionis, 9.0 Gm – Estimated diameter of the event horizon of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the center of the Milky Way galaxy To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 metres (10 gigametres (Gm) or 10 million kilometres, or 0.07 Astronomical units). 15 Gm – Closest distance of Comet Hyakutake from Earth, 18 Gm – One light-minute (see yellow sphere in right-hand diagram), 24 Gm – Radius of a heliostationary orbit, 46 Gm – Perihelion distance of Mercury (yellow ellipse on the right), 55 Gm – 60,000-year perigee of Mars (last achieved on 27 August 2003), 55 Gm - Radius of Rigel, a blue supergiant star (largest star on right), 58 Gm – Average passing distance between Earth and Mars at the moment they overtake each other in their orbits, 61 Gm – Diameter of Aldebaran, an orange giant star (large star on right), 70 Gm – Aphelion distance of Mercury, 76 Gm – Neso's apocentric distance; greatest distance of a natural satellite from its parent planet (Neptune) To help compare distances at different orders of magnitude this section lists lengths starting at 10 metres (100 gigametre or 100 million kilometres or 0.7 astronomical units). 109 Gm – 0.7 AU – Distance between Venus and the Sun, 149.6 Gm (93.0 million mi) – 1.0 AU – Distance between the Earth and the Sun - the definition of the astronomical unit, 180 Gm – 1.2 AU – Maximum diameter of Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole in the center of Milky Way galaxy, 228 Gm – 1.5 AU – Distance between Mars and the Sun, 570 Gm – 3.8 AU – Length of the tail of Comet Hyakutake measured by Ulysses; the actual value could be much higher, 591 Gm – 4.0 AU – Minimum distance between the Earth and Jupiter, 780 Gm – 5.2 AU – Distance between Jupiter and the Sun, 947 Gm – 6.4 AU – Diameter of Antares A, 965 Gm – 6.4 AU – Maximum distance between the Earth and Jupiter To help compare different distances, this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (1 Tm or 1 billion km or 6.7 astronomical units). 1.079 Tm – 7.2 AU – One light-hour, 1.4 Tm – 9.5 AU – Distance between Saturn and the Sun, 1.83 Tm – 12.2 AU – Diameter of HR 5171 A, the largest known yellow hypergiant star although the latest research suggests it is a red hypergiant with a diameter about 2.1 Tm (14 AU), 1.5 Tm - 10 AU - Estimated diameter of VV Cephei A, a red supergiant., 2 Tm – 13.2 AU – Estimated diameter of VY Canis Majoris, one of the largest known stars., 2.9 Tm – 19.4 AU – Distance between Uranus and the Sun, 4 Tm – 26.7 AU – Previous estimated diameter of VY Canis Majoris based on direct measurements of the radius at infrared wavelengths. The size was revised in 2012 through improved measurement techniques. (see above), 4.4 Tm – 29.4 AU – Perihelion distance of Pluto, 4.5 Tm – 30.1 AU – Distance between Neptune and the Sun, 4.5 Tm – 30.1 AU – Inner radius of the Kuiper belt, 5.7 Tm – 38.1 AU – Perihelion distance of Eris, 7.3 Tm – 48.8 AU – Aphelion distance of Pluto, 7.5 Tm – 50.1 AU – Outer radius of the Kuiper Belt, inner boundary of the Oort Cloud To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (10 Tm or 10 billion km or 67 astronomical units). 10 Tm – 67 AU – Diameter of a hypothetical Quasi-star, 11.1 Tm – 74.2 AU – Distance that Voyager 1 began detecting returning particles from termination shock, 11.4 Tm – 76.2 AU – Perihelion distance of 90377 Sedna, 12.1 Tm – 70 to 90 AU – Distance to termination shock (Voyager 1 crossed at 94 AU), 12.9 Tm – 86.3 AU – Distance to 90377 Sedna in March 2014, 13.2 Tm – 88.6 AU – Distance to Pioneer 11 in March 2014, 14.1 Tm – 94.3 AU – Estimated radius of the solar system, 14.4 Tm – 96.4 AU – Distance to Eris in March 2014 (now near its aphelion), 15.1 Tm – 101 AU – Distance to heliosheath, 16.5 Tm – 111 AU – Distance to Pioneer 10 as of March 2014, 16.6 Tm - 111.2 AU - Distance to Voyager 2 as of May 2016, 20.0 Tm - 135 AU - Distance to Voyager 1 as of May 2016, 20.6 Tm – 138 AU - Distance to Voyager 1 as of late February 2017, 21.1 Tm – 141 AU - Distance to Voyager 1 as of November 2017, 25.9 Tm – 172 AU – One light-day, 55.7 Tm – 371 AU – Aphelion distance of the comet Hale-Bopp To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (100 Tm or 100 billion km or 670 astronomical units). 146 Tm – 975 AU – Aphelion distance of 90377 Sedna, 172 Tm – 1150 AU – Schwarzschild diameter of H1821+643, one of the most massive black holes known, 181 Tm – 1210 AU – One light-week, 653 Tm – 4367 AU – Aphelion distance of comet Hyakutake (current orbit), 757 Tm – 5059 AU – radius of the Stingray Nebula, 777 Tm – 5180 AU – One light-month To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (1 Pm or 1 trillion km or 6685 astronomical units (AU) or 0.11 light years). 1.0 Pm = 0.105702341 light years, 1.9 Pm ± 0.5 Pm = 12,000 AU = 0.2 light year radius of Cat's Eye Nebula's inner core, 4.7 Pm = 30,000 AU = half light year diameter of Bok globule Barnard 68, 7.5 Pm – 50,000 AU – Possible outer boundary of Oort cloud (other estimates are 75,000 to 125,000 or even 189,000 AU (1.18, 2, and 3 light years, respectively)), 7.7 Pm – 52,000 AU – Aphelion distance of the Great Daylight Comet of 1910, 9.5 Pm – 63,241.1 AU – One light year, the distance travelled by light in one year To help compare different distances this section lists lengths starting at 10 m (10 Pm or 66,800 AU, 1.06 light years). 15 Pm – 1.59 light years – Possible outer radius of Oort cloud, 20 Pm – 2.11 light years – maximum extent of influence of the Sun's gravitational field, 30.9 Pm – 3.26 light years – 1 parsec, 39.9 Pm – 4.22 light years – Distance to Proxima Centauri (nearest star to Sun), 81.3 Pm – 8.59 light years – Distance to Sirius To help compare different distances this section lists lengths between 10 m (100 Pm or 11 light years) and 10 m (106 light years). 110 Pm – 12 light years – Distance to Tau Ceti, 230 Pm – 24 light years – Diameter of the Orion Nebula, 240 Pm – 25 light years – Distance to Vega, 260 Pm – 27 light years – Distance to Chara, a star approximately as bright as our Sun. Its faintness gives us an idea how our Sun would appear when viewed from even so close a distance as this., 350 Pm – 37 light years – Distance to Arcturus, 373.1 Pm – 39.44 light years - Distance to TRAPPIST-1, a star recently discovered to have 7 planets around it, 400 Pm – 42 light years – Distance to Capella, 620 Pm – 65 light years – Distance to Aldebaran, 750 Pm - 79.36 light years - Distance to Regulus, 900 Pm - 92.73 light years - Distance to Algol This list includes distances between 1 and 10 exametres (10 m). To help compare different distances this section lists lengths between 10 m (1 Em or 105.7 light years) and 10 m (1057 light years). 1.2 Em – 129 light years – Diameter of Messier 13 (a typical globular cluster), 1.6 Em – 172 ± 12.5 light years – Diameter of Omega Centauri (one of the largest known globular clusters, perhaps containing over a million stars), 3.1 Em – 310 light years – Distance to Canopus according to Hipparcos, 6.1 Em – 640 light years – Distance to Betelgeuse according to Hipparcos, 6.2 Em – 650 light years – Distance to the Helix Nebula, located in the constellation Aquarius, 7.3 Em – 730 light years – Distance to Rigel according to Hipparcos To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 10 Em (10 m or 1,100 light years). 13 Em – 1,300 light years – Distance to the Orion Nebula, 14 Em – 1,500 light years – Approximate thickness of the plane of the Milky Way galaxy at the Sun's location, 14.2 Em – 1,520 light years – Diameter of the NGC 604, 30.8568 Em – 3,261.6 light years – 1 kiloparsec, 31 Em – 3,200 light years – Distance to Deneb according to Hipparcos, 46 Em – 4,900 light years – Distance to OGLE-TR-56, the first extrasolar planet discovered using the transit method, 47 Em – 5,000 light years – Distance to the Boomerang nebula, coldest place known (1 K), 53 Em – 5,600 light years – Distance to the globular cluster M4 and the extrasolar planet PSR B1620-26 b within it, 61 Em – 6,500 light years – Distance to Perseus Spiral Arm (next spiral arm out in the Milky Way galaxy), 71 Em – 7,500 light years – Distance to Eta Carinae To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 100 Em (10 m or 11,000 light years). 150 Em – 16,000 light years – Diameter of the Small Magellanic Cloud, a dwarf galaxy orbiting the Milky Way, 200 Em – 21,500 light years – Distance to OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, the most distant and the most Earth-like planet known, 240 Em – 25,000 light years – Distance to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy, 260 Em – 28,000 light years – Distance to the center of the Galaxy, 830 Em – 88,000 light years – Distance to the Sagittarius Dwarf Elliptical Galaxy The zettametre (SI symbol: Zm) is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 10 metres. To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 1 Zm (10 m or 110,000 light years). 1.7 Zm – 179,000 light years – Distance to the Large Magellanic Cloud, largest satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, <1.9 Zm – <200,000 light years – Revised estimated diameter of the disc of the Milky Way Galaxy. The size was previously thought to be half of this., 2.0 Zm – 210,000 light years – Distance to the Small Magellanic Cloud, 2.8 Zm – 300,000 light years – Distance to the Intergalactic Wanderer, one of the most distant globular clusters of Milky Way, 8.5 Zm – 900,000 light years – Distance to the Leo I Dwarf Galaxy, farthest known Milky Way satellite galaxy To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 10 Zm (10 m or 1.1 million light years). 24 Zm – 2.5 million light years – Distance to the Andromeda Galaxy, 30.8568 Zm – 3.2616 million light years – 1 megaparsec, 40 Zm – 4.2 million light years – Distance to the IC 10, a distant member of the Local Group of galaxies, 49.2 Zm – 5.2 million light years – Width of the Local Group of galaxies, 57 Zm – 6 million light years – Diameter of the supergiant elliptical galaxy IC 1101, 95 Zm – 10 million light years – Distance to the Sculptor Galaxy in the Sculptor Group of galaxies, 95 Zm – 10 million light years – Distance to the Maffei 1, the nearest giant elliptical galaxy in the Maffei 1 Group To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 100 Zm (10 m or 11 million light years). 140 Zm – 15 million light years – Distance to Centaurus A galaxy, 250 Zm – 27 million light years – Distance to the Pinwheel Galaxy, 280 Zm – 30 million light years – Distance to the Sombrero Galaxy, 570 Zm – 60 million light years – Approximate distance to the Virgo cluster, nearest galaxy cluster, 620 Zm – 65 million light years – Approximate distance to the Fornax cluster, 800 Zm – 85 million light years – Approximate distance to the Eridanus cluster The yottametre, or yottameter in the US, ( SI symbol: Ym) is a unit of length in the metric system equal to 10 metres To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 1 Ym (10 m or 105.702 million light years). 1.2 Ym – 127 million light years – Distance to the closest observed gamma ray burst GRB 980425, 1.3 Ym – 137 million light years – Distance to the Centaurus Cluster of galaxies, the nearest large supercluster, 1.9 Ym – 201 million light years – Diameter of the Local Supercluster, 2.3 Ym – 225 to 250 million light years – Distance light travels in vacuum in one galactic year, 2.8 Ym – 296 million light years – Distance to the Coma Cluster, 3.2 Ym – 338 million light years – Distance to the Stephan's Quintet, 4.7 Ym – 496 million light years – Length of the CfA2 Great Wall, one of the largest observed superstructures in the Universe, 6.1 Ym – 645 million light years – Distance to the Shapley Supercluster, 9.5 Ym – 996 million light years – Diameter of the Eridanus Supervoid To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 10 Ym (10 m or 1.1 billion light-years). At this scale, expansion of the universe becomes significant. Distance of these objects are derived from their measured redshifts, which depends on the cosmological models used. 13.7 Ym – 1.37 billion light-years – Length of the Sloan Great Wall, 18 Ym – redshift 0.16 – 1.9 billion light-years – Distance to the quasar 3C 273 (light travel distance), 33 Ym – 3.5 billion light-years – Maximum distance of the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (light travel distance), 37.8 Ym – 4 billion light-years – Length of the Huge-LQG, 75 Ym – redshift 0.95 – 8 billion light-years – Approximate distance to the supernova SN 2002dd in the Hubble Deep Field North (light travel distance), 85 Ym – redshift 1.6 – 9 billion light-years – Approximate distance to the gamma ray burst GRB 990123 (light travel distance), 94.6 Ym – 10 billion light-years – Approximate distance to quasar OQ172, 94.6 Ym – 10 billion light-years – Length of the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall, one of the largest and most massive known cosmic structure To help compare different orders of magnitude, this section lists distances starting at 100 Ym (10 m or 11 billion light years). At this scale, expansion of the universe becomes significant. Distance of these objects are derived from their measured redshifts, which depend on the cosmological models used. Distances longer than 100 Ym 130 Ym – redshift 6.41 – 13 billion light years – Light travel distance (LTD) to the quasar SDSS J1148+5251, 130 Ym – redshift 1000 – 13.8 billion light years – Distance (LTD) to the source of the cosmic microwave background radiation; radius of the observable universe measured as a LTD, 260 Ym – 27.4 billion light years – Diameter of the observable universe (double LTD), 440 Ym – 46 billion light years – Radius of the universe measured as a comoving distance, 590 Ym – 62 billion light years – Cosmological event horizon: the largest comoving distance from which light will ever reach us (the observer) at any time in the future, 886.48 Ym – 93.7 billion light years – The diameter of the observable universe (twice the particle horizon); however, there might be unobserved distances that are even greater., >1,000 Ym (1 kYm or xennameter in older usage) – Size of universe beyond the cosmic light horizon, depending on its curvature; if the curvature is zero (i.e. the universe is spatially flat), the value can be infinite (see Shape of the universe) as previously mentioned List of examples of lengths, Fermi problems, Order of magnitude, Spatial scale How Big Are Things? displays orders of magnitude in successively larger rooms, Powers of Ten Travel across the Universe. Altering perspective by changing scale by just a few powers of ten (interactive), Cosmos – an Illustrated Dimensional Journey from microcosmos to macrocosmos – from Digital Nature Agency, Scale of the universe- interactive guide to length magnitudes

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Land reform in South Africa is the promise of "land restitution" to empower farm workers (who now have the opportunity to become farmers) and reduce inequality. It is believed to allow previously unemployed people to participate in the economy and better the country's economic growth. It also relates to restitution in the form of settling Land Claims of people who were forcefully removed from their homes in urban areas that were declared white, by the apartheid government's segregationist Group Areas Act: such areas include Sophiatown, Fietas, Cato Manor, District Six and Greyville; as well as to restitution for people forcibly evicted from rural land because of apartheid policies. However, many South Africans and foreign commentators have also voiced alarm over the failure of the redistribution policy, having failed around 50% of land reform projects. The Land Reform Process focused on three areas: restitution, land tenure reform and land redistribution. Restitution, the government compensating (monetary) individuals who had been forcefully removed, has been very unsuccessful, and the policy has now shifted to redistribution with secure land tenure. Land tenure reform is a system of recognizing people's right to own land and therefore control of the land. Redistribution is the most important component of land reform in South Africa. Initially, land was bought from its owners (willing seller) by the government (willing buyer) and redistributed, in order to maintain public confidence in the land market. Although the system has worked in various countries in the world, it has proved to be very difficult to implement in South Africa because many owners do not actually see the land that they are purchasing and are not involved in the important decisions made at the beginning of the purchase and negotiation. In 2000, the South African government decided to review and change the redistribution and tenure process to a more decentralised and area based planning process. The idea is to have local integrated development plans in 47 districts. That will hopefully mean more community participation and more redistribution taking place, but there are also various concerns and challenges with this system too. They include the use of third parties, agents accredited by the state, and who are held accountable to the government. The result has been local land holding elites dominating the system in many of these areas. The government still hopes that with "improved identification and selection of beneficiaries, better planning of land and ultimately greater productivity of the land acquired..." the land reform process will begin moving faster. As of early 2006, the ANC government announced that it will start expropriating the land, but according to the country's chief land claims commissioner, Tozi Gwanya, unlike in Zimbabwe, there will be compensation to those whose land is expropriated, "but it must be a just amount, not inflated sums." Despite the moves towards decentralisation, improved practices and government promises are not very evident. South Africa still remains hugely unequal, with black South Africans still dispossessed of land and many still homeless. The challenge for the incumbent politicians is to improve the various bureaucratic processes, and find solutions to giving more South Africans secure land tenure. In South Africa, the main model of land reforms implemented was based on the market-led agrarian reform (MLAR) approach. Within the MLAR, the strategic partnership (SP) model was implemented in seven claimant communities in Levubu in the Limpopo province. The SP model was implemented between 2005–2008 that ended up in a fiasco leading to creation of conflict between several interested parties. On 1 September 2010, the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC) was launched by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to provide and recruit rural youth specifically dependents of military veterans between the ages of 18 and 25 with skills development and to serve their communities by providing a 24-month training program at South African military bases. On 20 December 2017, the ANC-led government announced at the 54th National Conference that it will seek to amend Section 25 of the South African Constitution regarding property rights to implement land expropriation without compensation (EWC). At the conference, a resolution was passed to grant ownership of traditional land to the respective communities, about 13% of the country, usually registered in trust like the Ingonyama Trust under the name of traditional leaders to the respective communities. In February 2018, the Parliament of South Africa passed a motion to review the property ownership clause of the constitution, to allow for the expropriation of land, in the public interest, without compensation, which was widely supported within South Africa's ruling party on the grounds that the land was originally seized by whites without just compensation. South African officials state the land reforms will be different from Zimbabwe's land reforms in that South Africa's plan is "constitutional" and "subject to laws and the constitution," unlike Zimbabwe's process, which was overseen by Robert Mugabe. In August 2018, the South African government began the process of taking two white-owned farmlands by filing papers seeking to acquire the farms via eminent domain for one tenth of their estimated value, which, in one case, is based on possible value when the farm is developed into an eco-estate). According to a 2017 government audit, 72 percent of the nation's private farmland is owned by white people, who make up 9 percent of the population. The organization Afriforum claim that 24% of South African land is owned by the state and 34.5% is owned by black people. Various researchers have identified various challenges facing land and agrarian reform in South Africa. The following are amongst the challenges as identified by and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (2008): Willing seller-willing buyer principle: it takes a long time to negotiate land price with the current land owners;, Claim disputes: it is a long process to mediate and resolve claim disputes (e.g. unresolved disputes between Makgoba Traditional Council and the Trust in the Limpopo Province, South Africa);, Capacity: there is lack of institutional capacity for community legal entities (e.g. trust);, Beneficiary selection: it is a lengthy process and time consuming process to select the rightful beneficiaries for land redistribution;, Resettlement support: it requires enough resources and time to effectively facilitate post-resettlement support to new land owners;, Monitoring and evaluation: there is lack of reliable monitoring system and evaluation thereof;, Policy: there are gaps in the current policies which compromise effective implementation of land reform programme., Different political views: there is lack of common consensus among political parties on land reform debate. Unresolved land claims, which are largely rural claims, are mostly affected by a number of challenges such as: disputes with land owners on the validity of claims, land prices, settlement models and conditions;, family or community dispute;, conflict among traditional leaders, community, trust and beneficiaries, boundaries disputes among traditional leaders;, reluctance of other government departments and institutions to release state land;, high land prices and disputes on land valuation;, land price negotiations with current owners;, lack of technical and financial support;, mismanagement of resources;, untraceable claimants; and, land claim disputes resolution and mediation. As of 2016 the South African government has pumped more than R60 billion into land reform projects since 1994. Despite this investment, the land reform programme has not stimulated development in the targeted rural areas. A report by the South African Government's Financial and Fiscal Commission shows that land reform as a mechanism for agricultural development and job creation has failed. A survey by the commission in Limpopo province, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape found that most land reform farms show little or no agricultural activity, the land reform beneficiaries earn little to no income and most of those beneficiaries seek work on surrounding commercial farms instead of actively farming their own land. If farming is taking place on land reform farms, these farms operate below their full agricultural potential and are mainly used for subsistence agriculture. On average, crop production had decreased by 79% since conversion to land reform. In the three provinces surveyed, job losses averaged 84%, with KwaZulu-Natal suffering a 94% job haemorrhage. Land reforms by country, Agriculture in South Africa Promised Land: New Documentary Follows Struggles Over Land in South Africa - video report by Democracy Now!, http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1002/jid.3150 Agrarian reform and land reform have been a recurring theme of enormous consequence in world history. They are often highly political and have been achieved (or attempted) in many countries. Getúlio Vargas, who rose to presidency in Brazil following the Brazilian Revolution of 1930, promised a land reform but reneged on his promise. A first attempt to make a nationwide reform was set up in the government of José Sarney (1985–1990) as a result of the strong popular movement that had contributed to the fall of the military government. According to the 1988 Constitution of Brazil, the government is required to "expropriate for the purpose of agrarian reform, rural property that is not performing its social function" (Article 184). However, the "social function" mentioned there is not well defined, and hence the so-called First Land Reform National Plan never was put into force. Throughout the 1990s, the Landless Workers' Movement has led a strong campaign in favor of fulfilling the constitutional requirement to land reform. They also took direct action by forceful occupation of unused lands. Their campaign has managed to get some advances for the past 10 years, during the Fernando Cardoso and Lula da Silva administrations. It is overseen by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform. Land in Bolivia was unequally distributed – 92% of the cultivable land was held by large estates – until the Bolivian national revolution in 1952. Then, the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement government abolished forced peasantry labor and established a program of expropriation and distribution of the rural property of the traditional landlords to the indigenous peasants. A unique feature of the reform in Bolivia was the organization of peasants into syndicates. Peasants were not only granted land but their militias also were given large supplies of arms. The peasants remained a powerful political force in Bolivia during all subsequent governments. By 1970, 45% of peasant families had received title to land. Land reform projects continued in the 1970s and 1980s. A 1996 agrarian reform law increased protection for smallholdings and indigenous territories, but also protected absentee landholders who pay taxes from expropriation. Reforms were continued at 2006, with the Bolivian senate passing a bill authorizing the government redistribution of land among the nation's mostly indigenous poor. Attempts at land reform began under the government of Jorge Alessandri in 1960, were accelerated during the government of Eduardo Frei Montalva (1964–1970), and reached its climax during the 1970-1973 presidency of Salvador Allende. Farms of more than were expropriated. After the 1973 coup the process was halted and – up to a point – reversed by the market forces. Alfonso López Pumarejo (1934–1938) passed Law 200 of 1936, which allowed for the expropriation of private properties, in order to promote "social interest". Later attempts declined, until the National Front presidencies of Alberto Lleras Camargo (1958–1962) and Carlos Lleras Restrepo (1966–1970), which respectively created the Colombian Institute for Agrarian Reform (INCORA) and further developed land entitlement. In 1968 and 1969 alone, the INCORA issued more than 60,000 land titles to farmers and workers. Despite this, the process was then halted and the situation began to reverse itself, as the subsequent violent actions of drug lords, paramilitaries, guerrillas and opportunistic large landowners severely contributed to a renewed concentration of land and to the displacement of small landowners. In the early 21st century, tentative government plans to use the land legally expropriated from drug lords and/or the properties given back by demobilized paramilitary groups have not caused much practical improvement yet. Land reform was among the chief planks of the revolutionary platform of 1959. Almost all large holdings were seized by the National Institute for Agrarian Reform (INRA), which dealt with all areas of agricultural policy. A ceiling of 166 acres (67 hectares) was established, and tenants were given ownership rights, though these rights are constrained by government production quotas and a prohibition of real estate transactions. Land reform occurred during the "Ten Years of Spring" (1944-1954) under the governments of Juan José Arévalo and Jacobo Arbenz, after a popular revolution forced out dictator Jorge Ubico. The largest part of the reform was the law officially called Decree 900, which redistributed all uncultivated land from landholdings that were larger than . If the estates were between and in size, uncultivated land was expropriated only if less than two-thirds of it was in use. The law benefited 500,000 people, or one-sixth of the Guatemalan Population. Historians have called this reform as one of the most successful land reforms in history. However, the United Fruit Company felt threatened by the law and lobbied the United States government, which was a factor in the US-backed coup that deposed the Jacobo Arbenz in 1954. The majority of the reform was rolled back by the US supported military dictatorship that followed. In 1856, the first land reform was driven by the (the Lerdo law), enacted by the liberal government. One of the aims of the reform government was to develop the economy by returning to productive cultivation the underutilized lands of the Church and the municipal communities (Indian commons), which required the division of these lands for sale, with the expectation that Mexico would develop a class of small owners. This was to be accomplished through the provisions of Ley Lerdo that prohibited ownership of land by the Church and the municipalities. The reform government also financed its war effort by seizing and selling church property and other large estates. Little land was acquired by individual small holders. After the war, the role of the state in land policy expanded during the presidency of Porfirio Diaz. The aim was to extinguish traditional subsistence farming and make agriculture in Mexico a dynamic commercial sector as part of Mexico's modernization. Land was concentrated in the hands of large-scale owners, a great many of them foreigners, leaving peasantry, the largest sector of the Mexican population, landless. Peasant unrest was a major cause of the Mexican Revolution 1910-20. A certain degree of land reform was introduced, albeit unevenly, as part of the Mexican Revolution. In 1934, president Lázaro Cárdenas passed the 1934 Agrarian Code and accelerated the pace of land reform. He helped redistribute of land, of which were expropriated from American owned agricultural property. This caused conflict between Mexico and the United States. Agrarian reform had come close to extinction in the early 1930s. The first few years of the Cárdenas's reform were marked by high food prices, falling wages, high inflation, and low agricultural yields. In 1935 land reform began sweeping across the country in the periphery and core of commercial agriculture. The Cárdenas alliance with peasant groups was awarded by the destruction of the hacienda system. Cárdenas distributed more land than all his revolutionary predecessors put together, a 400% increase. The land reform justified itself in terms of productivity; average agricultural production during the three- year period from 1939 to 1941 was higher than it had been at any time since the beginning of the revolution. Starting with the government of Miguel Alemán (1946–52), land reform steps made in previous governments were rolled back. Alemán's government allowed capitalist entrepreneurs to rent peasant land. This created phenomenon known as neolatifundismo, where land owners build up large-scale private farms on the basis of controlling land which remains ejidal but is not sown by the peasants to whom it is assigned. In 1970, President Luis Echeverría began his term by declaring land reform dead. In the face of peasant revolt, he was forced to backtrack, and embarked on the biggest land reform program since Cárdenas. Echeverría legalized take-overs of huge foreign-owned private farms, which were turned into new collective ejidos. In 1988, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected. In December 1991, he amended Article 27 of the Constitution, making it legal to sell land and allow peasants to put up their land as collateral for a loan. Francisco Madero and Emiliano Zapata were strongly identified with land reform, as are the present-day (as of 2006) Zapatista Army of National Liberation. Today, most Mexican peasants are landowners. However, their holdings are usually too small, and farmers must supplement their incomes by working for the remaining landlords, and/or traveling to the United States. See also: México Indígena (2005-2008 project) During and after the Nicaraguan Revolution (1979), the Sandinista government officially announced their political platform which included land reform. The last months of Sandinista rule were criticized for the Piñata Plan, which distributed large tracts of land to prominent Sandinistas. After their loss in the 1990 elections, most of the Sandinista leaders held most of the private property and businesses that had been confiscated and nationalized by the FSLN government. This process became known as the and was tolerated by the new Chamorro government. Land reform in the 1950s largely eliminated a centuries-old system of debt peonage. Further land reform occurred after the 1968 coup by left-wing colonel Juan Velasco Alvarado. The military dictatorship under General Velasco (1968–75) launched a large-scale agrarian reform movement that attempted to redistribute land, hoping to break Peru's traditionally inequitable pattern of land holding and the hold of traditional oligarchy. The model used by Velasco to bring about change was the associative enterprise, in which former salaried rural workers and independent peasant families would become members of different kinds of cooperatives. About 22 million acres were redistributed, more land than in any reform program outside of Cuba. Unfortunately, productivity suffered as peasants with no management experience took control. The military government continued to spend huge amounts of money to transform Peru's agriculture to socialized ownership and management. These state expenditures are to blame for the enormous increase in Peru's external debt at the beginning of the 1970s. State bankruptcy was partly caused by the cheap credit the government extended to promote agrarian development, state subsidies, and administrative expenditures to carry out the agrarian reform during this period. The more radical effects of this reform were reversed by president Fernando Belaúnde Terry in the 1980s. A third land reform occurred as part of a counterterrorism effort against the Shining Path during the Internal conflict in Peru roughly 1988-1995, led by Hernando de Soto and the Institute for Liberty and Democracy during the early years of the government of Alberto Fujimori, before the latter's auto-coup. In 2001, Hugo Chávez's government enacted Plan Zamora to redistribute government and unused private land to campesinos in need. The plan met with heavy opposition which lead to a coup attempt in 2002. When Pedro Carmona took over the presidency during that event, he reversed the land reform. However, the reversal was declared null when the coup failed and Chávez returned to power. By the end of 2003, 60,000 families had received temporary title to a total of 55,000 km² of land under this plan. Despite the land reforms carried out by the government, which, according to some sources, have reduced the so- called latifundios (which means "big landownership"), most receivers of the land didn't have any knowledge about how to cultivate the land and grow crops. In many cases, peasants didn't even water, since water infrastructures were still missing in most of the regions. Moreover, in some cases, campesitos didn't gain direct ownership of the land, but only the right to farm it without having to pay the rent and without sanctions from the government, and in some cases the land wasn't given to single peasant family, but managed in communes, according to the rules of socialism. According to some sources, the expropriated land amounts to 4-5 million hectares. Paraguay has been known to have experienced some obstacles in its political history that have been known mostly as dictatorship and corruption. Paraguay's history is what has shaped the Paraguay we see today and as well as what has brought along the unequal land distributions. From the war of Triple Alliance (1864-1870) Paraguay came out losing land to Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay as well as suffered from a great decline in population and was left with political instability. Land in Paraguay has been known to be unequally distributed therefore prolonging rural poverty in Paraguay. Following the Triple Alliance War the nation underwent a 35-year dictatorship of President Alfredo Stroessner in the years of 1954 to 1989. Stroessner was known to take away many campesino's land in order to give it to military officials, foreign corporations and civilian supporters, "over eight million hectares of state- owned land (20 percent of total land) were given away or sold at negligible prices to friends of the regime, who accumulated huge tracts of land." Stroessner also faked an alliance with the Colorado Party in order to distribute public land. Campesinos' cries for help for land reform were ignored and the prosecution against them continued, causing them to suffer from high poverty rates. June S. Beittel said that as a result of the unequal distribution of land it left, “ rural areas the most poverty-stricken.” In the year of 1954, the Truth and Justice Committee focused on getting justice for the abuses many Campesinos were facing from their own government. After decades of controversy over government land policy, two agrarian laws were created in 1963. These laws were known as the Agrarian Statute, "limiting the maximum size of landholding to 10,000 hectares in Eastern Paraguay and 20,000 hectares in the Chaco." However, these laws were rarely enforced. Under the Agrarian Statute, there was also the creation of IBR (Instituto de Bienestar Rural) which "mandated to plan colonization programs, issue land titles to farmers, and provide new colonies with support services." Although IBR focused on serving the land needs of farmers their task was so big and its resources so little that their goals for helping farmers were out of reach. Paraguayan democracy came a long way after its 35-year dictatorship, but the unequal distribution of land is still a problem for the nation since their economy is one that is dependent on its agriculture. A census in 2008 revealed that “80 percent of agriculture land is held by just 1.6 percent of landowners, with the 600 largest properties occupying 40 percent of the total productive land. More than 300,000 family farmers have no land at all.” Paraguayans have formed unions such as National Federation of Campesinos (FNC) who has fought for justice on the unequal land distributions in Latin America they have helped many campesinos reclaim acres of land since 1989. The ongoing inequality of land distribution has led to a demand for land regulation. Citizens remain cautious about the nation's democracy and fearful of the return of dictatorship and corruption. The problem regarding land distribution has worsened recently due to the expansion of monoculture in specific, soy. Paraguay has become the fourth world's largest distributors of soy. Due to this distribution, soy companies are the largest landowners, taking over 80 percent of the land. This production has negatively impacted the lives of rural peasants by leaving them without their own land. Thus, in March 2017, the streets of Paraguay's capital were filled with more than 1000 campesinos demanding for agrarian reform. Thousands of rural peasants demand access to land, fair agricultural prices for what they produce and technical assistance. Due to the increase in soy production, campesinos has been forced out of their lands leading them to demand land regulations. This demand of the stabilization and fairness of agricultural prices is a result of Paraguay's government failing to sustain secure prices for their produce which are leaving them to live in extreme poverty. In the effect of no secure economy for their produce, campesinos mandate technical help. A great majority of Paraguayans continue to practice subsistence agriculture in the depths of the Paraguayan campo (countryside). Despite their struggle with poverty, inequality and land rights, Paraguayans are proud of their campesino structure and the traditional culture that arises from it, with this culture being the most prominent in Paraguay than anywhere else in Latin America. In December 2017, “over one-third of the population was impoverished and 19% were living in ‘extreme poverty’”, so “the further centralization of land and power has only functioned to exacerbate socio-economic issues.” Thus, the campesino movement is still ongoing due to the desire to continue their campesino traditions and to be able to make a living wage doing so. The Ottoman Land Code of 1858 (1274 in the Islamic calendar) was the beginning of a systematic land reform programme started during the Tanzimat period by Sultan Abdülmecid I of the Ottoman Empire during the latter half of the 19th century, with the overall aims of increasing state revenue generated from land and for the state to be able to have greater control over individual plots of land. This was followed by the 1873 land emancipation act. Initially, Egyptian land reform essentially abolished the political influence of major land owners. However, land reform only resulted in the redistribution of about 15% of Egypt's land under cultivation, and by the early 1980s, the effects of land reform in Egypt drew to a halt as the population of Egypt moved away from agriculture. The Egyptian land reform laws were greatly curtailed under Anwar Sadat and eventually abolished. Significant land reform in Iran took place under the shah as part of the socio-economic reforms of the White Revolution, begun in 1962, and agreed upon through a public referendum. At this time the Iranian economy was not performing well and there was political unrest. Essentially, the land reforms amounted to a huge redistribution of land to rural peasants who previously had no possibility of owning land as they were poorly paid labourers. The land reforms continued from 1962 until 1971 with three distinct phases of land distribution: private, government-owned and endowed land. These reforms resulted in the newly created peasant landowners owning six to seven million hectares, around 52-63% of Iran's agricultural land. According to Country- Data, even though there had been a considerable redistribution of land, the amount received by individual peasants was not enough to meet most families' basic needs, "About 75 percent of the peasant owners [however] had less than 7 hectares, an amount generally insufficient for anything but subsistence agriculture.". By 1979 a quarter of prime land was in disputed ownership and half of the productive land was in the hands of 200,000 absentee landlords The large land owners were able to retain the best land with the best access to fresh water and irrigation facilities. In contrast, not only were the new peasant land holdings too small to produce an income but the peasants also lacked both quality irrigation system and sustained government support to enable them to develop their land to make a reasonable living. Set against the economic boom from oil revenue it became apparent that the Land Reforms did not make life better for the rural population: according to Amid, "..only a small group of rural people experienced increasing improvements in their welfare and poverty remained the lot of the majority". Moghadam argues that the structural changes to Iran, including the land reforms, initiated by the White Revolution, contributed to the revolution in 1979 which overthrew the Shah and turned Iran into an Islamic republic. Under British Mandate, Iraq's land was moved from communal land owned by the tribe to tribal sheikhs that agreed to work with the British. Known as compradors, these families controlled much of Iraq's arable land until the end of British rule in 1958. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, more and more land began to be centered in the hands of just a couple families. By 1958 eight individual families owned almost 1 million acres. However, the British did attempt to instill some reforms to increase the productivity of the land in Iraq. In 1926 the Pump Law was introduced, essentially legislating that all newly irrigated land would be tax free for 4 years. This led to some short term gains in land productivity. If land was cultivated for 15 years, it then became the property of the person who cultivated that land. From 1914 to 1943 there was an increase from 1 million to 4.25 million acres of land developed. Unfortunately, irrigation of the land was irresponsible, and many farmers didn't allow for drainage, which led to a buildup of salt and minerals in the land, killing its productivity. In 1958 the rise of the Communist Party led to the seizing of much of the land by the Iraqi government. Landholdings were capped at 600 acres in arable areas and 1200 acres in areas that had rainfall. The concentrated landholdings by the state were then redistributed among the populace, in amounts of 20 acres in irrigated land, with 40 acres in land with rainfall. In 1970, the Ba'th Party, led by Saddam Hussein began instituting a wide series of sweeping land reforms. The intent of the reforms was to remove control of land owned by the traditional rural elites and redistribute it to peasant families. Modeled after the 1958 land reforms, much of the state land was rented out, though often to people who originally owned the large swathes of land. The key to this new reform was the Agrarian Reform Law of 1970.Between 1970 and 1982, 264,400 farmers received grants of land. However, these reforms did not contribute to an improvement in the production of agricultural goods, leading the regime to increase its imports of food products. As elsewhere in North Africa, lands formerly held by European farmers have been taken over. The nationalisation of agricultural land in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia led to the departure of the majority of Europeans. Land reforms were first implemented in Syria during 1958. The Agricultural Relations Law laid down a redistribution of rights in landownership, tenancy and management. The reforms were halted in 1961 due to a culmination of factors, including opposition from large landowners and severe crop failure during a drought between 1958 and 1961, whilst Syria was a member of the doomed United Arab Republic (UAR). After the Ba'ath Party gained power in 1963 the reforms were resumed. The reforms were portrayed by the governing Ba'ath as politically motivated to benefit the rural property-less communities. According to Zaki al-Arsuzi, a co-founder of the Ba'ath Party, the reforms would "liberate 75 percent of the Syrian population and prepare them to be citizens qualified to participate in the building of the state". It has been argued that the land reform represented work by the 'socialist government', however, by 1984 the private sector controlled 74 percent of Syria's arable land. This questions both Ba'ath claims of commitment to the redistribution of land to the majority of peasants as well as the state government being socialist (if it allowed the majority of land to be owned in the private sector how could it truly be socialist?). Hinnebusch argued that the reforms were a way of galvanising support from the large rural population: "they [Ba'ath Party members] used the implementation of agrarian reform to win over and organise peasants and curb traditional power in the countryside". To this extent the reforms succeeded and resulted with an increase in Ba'ath party membership. They also prevented political threat emerging from rural areas by bringing the rural population into the system as supporters. See also: The Land Reform of 1919–1940: Lithuania and the Countries of East and Central Europe. Albania has gone through three waves of land reform since the end of World War II: in 1946, the land in estates and large farms was expropriated by the communist government and redistributed among small peasants; in the 1950s, the land was reorganized into large-scale collective farms; and after 1991, the land was again redistributed among private smallholders. During the Holocaust in Slovakia, the Land Reform Act of February 1940 confiscated and nationalized of land owned by 4,943 Jews. Estonia has witnessed two periods of land reform in 1919 and 1991 which occurred very shortly after the declaration of Estonian independence and the restoration of independence respectfully. The act of 1919 was primarily concerned with the transferral of land ownership from Baltic Germans to ethnic Estonians. The 1991 act was instead aimed at the transfer of land ownership from the state (having been nationalised under Soviet occupation) to private individuals based on historic land ownership in 1940 as well as the protection of the legal rights of the present users of land. In the general reparcelling out of land, begun in 1757 when Finland was a part of Sweden, the medieval model of all fields consisting of numerous strips, each belonging to a farm, was replaced by a model of fields and forest areas each belonging to a single farm. In the further reparcellings, which started in 1848 when Finland was part of Russia, the idea of concentrating all the land in a farm to a single piece of real estate was reinforced. In these reparcelling processes, the land is redistributed in direct proportion to earlier prescription. Both the general reparcelling and the further reparcelling processes are still active in some parts of the country, and a new reparcelling can be initiated when the local need for such reparcelling arises. After the Finnish Civil War, when Finland had become independent, a series of land reforms followed. These included the compensated transfer of lease-holdings (torppa) to the leasers and prohibition of forestry companies to acquire land. After the Second World War, Karelians evacuated from areas ceded to Russia were given land in remaining Finnish areas, taken from public and private holdings with less than full compensation to the previous owners. Also the war veterans, and their widows benefited from these allotments. As a result of post-WWII land reform, 30,000 new farms were established, 33,000 small farms received more land and 67,000 families received either a plot for a single-family home or a homestead with some arable land. At the 19th century, most of the land in Ireland belonged to large landowners, most of them of English origin. Most of the Irish population were tenants, having few rights and forced to pay high rents. This situation was a contributory factor to the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1852 and the main cause of the Land Wars of 1870s-1890s. The governments of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland responded to the agitations in Ireland with a series of land acts, beginning with the First Irish Land Act 1870 (initiated by prime minister William Ewart Gladstone), followed by further five land acts overseen by a Land Commission, prior to independence in 1922, by which time over 90% of lands had transferred from landlords to their former tenant farmers on negotiated terms with funding provided by the UK government. Land reform has been a long-standing and widespread problem before the 20th century, especially in Southern Italy. Despite the vain attempts of the governments to redistribute the land in Southern Italy (the so-called Mezzogiorno), from the pragmatic decree De administratione Universitatum (1792) of Ferdinand I of the Two Sicilies to the law Leggi eversive delle feudalità (which literally means "laws abolishing feudalism") in 1806-1808, enacted by Joseph Bonaparte, the issue remained largely unsolved, mainly because of the strenuous opposition of the great landowners, unwilling to lose their privileges and to allow the emancipation of the peasant class. Even with the Unification of Italy, despite the promises of the abolition of the so- called latifondi ("large estates"), the problem remained unsolved. Southern Italy's big landowners, which had been loyal to the Bourbons until the 1860, actively contributed to the unification of Italy in order to not lose its prestige, and expropriating estates from them would have implied, for the Kingdom of Italy (1861-1946), to have a powerful enemy. Southern Italy's peasants, disappointed and irritated, rebelled and provoked a bloody civil war, known as Post-Unification Brigandage. The first effective land reform was carried out in 1950, right after the birth of the Italian Republic. Italian Parliament passed the decree legge stralcio n. 841 del 21 ottobre 1950, which provided the legal basis for land expropriation and redistribution. The redistribution occurred over a longer period of time, about 10–20 years. The decree, financed in part with the funds of Marshall Plan, launched by the United States in 1947, but also opposed by conservative members of the American administration probably was, according to some scholars, the most important reform of the aftermath of World War II. The decree provided that the land had to be distributed to peasants through compulsory purchase, thus turning them into small entrepreneurs no longer subjected to large landowners. On one side, the reform had a positive outcome to the population, but, on the other side, it also considerably reduced Italian farms size, reducing the chances for bigger companies to grow. However, this drawback was attenuated and, in some cases, eliminated by implementing forms of cooperation. Agricultural cooperatives started to spread, and, since then, agriculture turned into an entrepreneurial business which could expand, plan its production and centralize the sale of products. After the land reform of 1950, large estates (latifondi) in some regions of Italy by law cannot be bigger than 300 hectares (3 km²). Before the 1950, large estates were widespread, especially in Southern Italy. Nowadays large estate aren't present anymore on Italy's territory. For example, in Sicily before the 1950, large estates larger than 500 hectares (5 km²) were 228. Moreover, 20.6 percent of the island's land was owned by only 282 big landowners. In the region Abruzzo, large estates were also widespread. The most notable case is perhaps the estate of the Torlonia family, which owned large estates near Piana del Fucino; its size was more than 14,000 hectares (140 km²), and it was redistributed to 5,000 Italian families of landless farmers. Crop yield significantly increased after 1950, since agriculture had become intensive. Following the development of industry, agriculture has now become a marginal sector of Italian economy, but, by implementing modern agricultural techniques, its profitability per hectare increased. The Emancipation reform of 1861, effected during the reign of Alexander II of Russia, abolished serfdom throughout Russia. More than 23 million people received their liberty. Serfs were granted the full rights of free citizens, gaining the rights to marry without having to gain consent, to own property and to own a business. The Manifesto prescribed that peasants would be able to buy the land from the landlords. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the vast majority of Russian peasants held their land in communal ownership within peasant communities called mirs, which acted as village governments and cooperatives. Arable land was divided in sections based on soil quality and distance from the village. Each household had the right to claim one or more strips from each section depending on the number of adults in the household. This communal system was abolished in 1906 by the capitalist-oriented Stolypin reforms. The reforms introduced the unconditional right of individual landownership. They encouraged peasants to buy their share of the community lands, leave the communities and settle in privately owned settlements called Khutors. By 1910 the share of private settlements among all rural households in the European part of Russia was estimated at 10.5%. The Stolypin reforms and the majority of their benefits were reversed after the communist revolution of 1917. The Decree on Land, issued by Lenin at 1917, and the "Fundamental Law of Land Socialization" of 1918, decreed that private ownership of land is totally abolished - land may not be sold, purchased, leased, mortgaged, or otherwise alienated. All land, whether state, crown, monastery, church, factory, entailed, private, public, peasant, etc., shall be confiscated without compensation and become the property of the whole people, and pass into the use of all those who cultivate it. These decrees were superseded by the 1922 Land Code. After the universal agricultural collectivization, land codes of the Soviet republics lost their significance. See Agriculture in the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the USSR, a new land code was enacted, allowing private land ownership. See Agriculture in Russia. In 1757, the general reparcelling out of land began. In this process, the medieval principle of dividing all the fields in a village into strips, each belonging to a farm, was changed into a principle of each farm consisting of a few relatively large areas of land. The land was redistributed in proportion to earlier possession of land, while uninhabited forests far from villages were socialized (see Agriculture in Sweden#History). In the 20th century, Sweden, almost non-violently, arrived at regulating the length minimum of tenant farming contracts at 25 years. There have been many land reformers in the United Kingdom, but most actual land reform has taken place in Scotland rather than England and Wales. Advocates of land reform in Britain have included the 17th-century Diggers, John Stuart Mill, Alfred Russel Wallace, and Jesse Collings. Currently the Labour Land Campaign promotes the case for a land value tax, one of the results of which would be some land reform. The Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish Green Party support land value tax. In the 21st century, land reform in Scotland has focused on the abolition and modernisation of Scotland's antiquated feudal land tenure system, security of tenure for crofters and decentralisation of Scotland's highly concentrated private land ownership. Scotland's land reform is distinct from other contemporary land reforms in its focus on community land ownership , with the Land Reform (Scotland) Acts of 2003 and 2016 establishing the Community Right to Buy, allowing rural and urban communities first right of refusal to purchase local land when it comes up for sale. Crofting communities are granted a similar Right to Buy though they do not require a willing seller to buy out local crofting land. Under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2016, Scottish ministers can grant a compulsory sale order for vacant or derelict private land or land which, if owned by the local community, could further sustainable development. Historically, Ethiopia was divided into the northern highlands, which constituted the core of the old Christian kingdom, and the southern highlands, most of which were brought under imperial rule by conquest. In the northern regions, the major form of ownership was a type of communal system known as rist. According to this system, all descendants of an individual founder were entitled to a share, and individuals had the right to use a plot of family land. Rist was hereditary, inalienable, and inviolable. No user of any piece of land could sell his or her share outside the family or mortgage or bequeath his or her share as a gift, as the land belonged not to the individual but to the descent group. Most peasants in the northern highlands held at least some rist land. Absentee landlordism was rare, and landless tenants were estimated at only about 20% of holdings. On the contrary, in the southern provinces, few farmers owned the land on which they worked. After the conquest, officials divided southern land equally among the state, the church, and the indigenous population. Tenancy in the southern provinces ranged between 65% and 80% of the holdings, and tenant payments to landowners averaged as high as 50% of the produce. In the easternlowland periphery and the Great Rift Valley, most land were used for grazing. The pastoral social structure is based on a kinship system with strong interclan connections; grazing and water rights are regulated by custom. Beginning in the 1950s, the government tried to modernize the agriculture by granting large tracts of traditional grazing lands to large corporations and converting them into large-scale commercial farms. In the north and south, peasant farmers lacked the means to improve production because of the fragmentation of holdings, a lack of credit, and the absence of modern facilities. Particularly in the south, the insecurity of tenure and high rents killed the peasants' incentive to improve production. Further, those attempts by the Imperial government to improve the peasant's title to their land were often met with suspicion. By the mid-1960s, many sectors of Ethiopian society favored land reform. University students led the land reform movement and campaigned against the government's reluctance to introduce land reform programs and the lack of commitment to integrated rural development. In 1974, the socialist Derg government rose to power, and on March 4, 1975, the Derg announced its land reform program. The government nationalized rural land without compensation, abolished tenancy, forbade the hiring of wage labor on private farms, ordered all commercial farms to remain under state control, and granted each peasant family so-called "possessing rights" to a plot of land not to exceed ten hectares. The Ethiopian Church lost all its land. Although the Derg gained little respect during its rule, this reform resulted in a rare show of support for the junta. Tenant farmers in southern Ethiopia welcomed the land reform, but in the northern highlands many people resisted land reform and perceived it as an attack on their rights to rist land. The lowland peripheries were only slightly affected by the reforms. The land reform destroyed the feudal order. It changed landowning patterns – particularly in the south – in favor of peasants and small landowners. It also provided the opportunity for peasants to participate in local matters by permitting them to form associations. In the 1960s, president Jomo Kenyatta launched a peaceful land reform program based on "willing buyer-willing seller". It was funded by Great Britain, the former colonial power. In 2006, president Mwai Kibaki said it will repossess all land owned by "absentee landlords" in the coastal strip and redistribute it to squatters. Namibia's colonial past had resulted in a situation where about 20% of the population (mostly white settlers) owned about 75 percent of all the land. In 1990, shortly after Namibia got its independence, its first president Sam Nujoma initiated a plan for land reform, in which land would be redistributed from whites to blacks. legislation passed in September 1994, with a compulsory, compensated approach. The land reform has been slow, mainly because Namibia's constitution only allows land to be bought from farmers willing to sell. Also, the price of land is very high in Namibia, which further complicates the matter. By 2007, some 12% of the total commercial farmland in the country was taken away from white farmers and given to black citizens. The Natives' Land Act of 1913 "prohibited the establishment of new farming operations, sharecropping or cash rentals by blacks outside of the reserves" where they were forced to live. In 1991, after a long anti-apartheid struggle led by the African National Congress, State President F. W. de Klerk declared the repeal of several apartheid rules, particularly: the Population Registration Act, the Group Areas and the Natives' Land Act. A catch-all Abolition of Racially Based Land Measures Act was passed. These measures ensured no one could claim, or be deprived of, any land rights on the basis of race. In 1994, shortly after the African National Congress came to power in South Africa, it initiated a land reform process focused on three areas: restitution, land tenure reform and land redistribution. Restitution, where the government compensates (monetary) individuals who had been forcefully removed, has been very unsuccessful and the policy has now shifted to redistribution. Initially, land was bought from its owners (willing seller) by the government (willing buyer) and redistributed, in order to maintain public confidence in the land market. This system has proved to be very difficult to implement, because many owners do not actually see the land they are purchasing and are not involved in the important decisions made at the beginning of the purchase and negotiation. In 2000 the South African Government decided to review and change the redistribution and tenure process to a more decentralized and area based planning process. The idea is to have local integrated development plans in 47 districts. By 1979, when Zimbabwe gained independence, 46.5% of the country's arable land was owned by around 6,000 commercial farmers, and white farmers, who made up less than 1% of the population, owned 70% of the best farming land. As part of the Lancaster House Agreement of 1979, president Robert Mugabe initiated a "willing buyer, willing seller" plan, in which white land-owners were encouraged to sell their lands to the government, with partial funding from Britain. Around 71,000 families (perhaps 500,000 people) settled on 3.5 million hectares of former white-owned land under this programme, which was described by "The Economist" in 1989 as "perhaps the most successful aid programme in Africa". The 1992 Land Acquisition Act was enacted to speed up the land reform process by removing the "willing seller, willing buyer" clause, limiting the size of farms and introducing a land tax (although the tax was never implemented.) The Act empowered the government to buy land compulsorily for redistribution, and a fair compensation was to be paid for land acquired. Landowners could challenge in court the price set by the acquiring authority. Opposition by landowners increased throughout the period of 1992 to 1997. In the 1990s, less than 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres) were acquired, and fewer than 20,000 families were resettled. Much of the land acquired during what has become known as "phase one" of land reform was of poor quality, according to Human Rights Watch. Only 19 percent of the almost 3.5 million hectares (8.65 million acres) of resettled land was considered prime, or farmable. In 1997, the new British government, led by Tony Blair, unilaterally stopped funding the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform programme. Britain's ruling Labour Party felt no obligation to continue paying white farmers compensation. In 2000, a referendum on constitutional amendments was held. The proposed amendments called for a "fast track" land reform and allowed the government to confiscate white-owned land for redistribution to black farmers without compensation. The motion failed with 55% of participants against the referendum. However, self-styled "war veterans", led by Chenjerai Hunzvi, began invading white-owned farms. Those who did not leave voluntarily were often tortured and sometimes killed. On 6 April 2000, Parliament pushed through an amendment, taken word for word from the draft constitution that was rejected by voters, allowing the seizure of white-owned farmlands without due reimbursement or payment. In this first wave of farm invasions, a total of 110,000 square kilometres of land had been seized. Parliament, dominated by Zanu-PF, passed a constitutional amendment, signed into law on 12 September 2005, that nationalised farmland acquired through the "Fast Track" process and deprived original landowners of the right to challenge in court the government's decision to expropriate their land. The Supreme Court of Zimbabwe ruled against legal challenges to this amendment. During the "fast track", many parcels of land came under the control of people close to the government, as is the case throughout Africa. The several forms of forcible change in management caused a severe drop in production and other economic disruptions. A land reform was carried out as part of Prince Edward Island's agreement to join the Canadian Confederation in 1873. Most of the land was owned by absentee landlords in England, and as part of the deal Canada was to buy all the land and give it to the farmers. Following the U.S. Civil War, many blacks and military officials considered land reform vital. The downfall of the Confederacy emancipated millions, but few former slaves had the means to exercise real autonomy. Land, even at depressed post-war prices, was difficult for African Americans to procure. At the same time, with southern wealth the result of centuries of forced labor, blacks nationwide called for property on the basis of just reparations. Politically, redistribution carried the support of Radical Republicans. But opposing any grants to blacks were southern Democrats, along with a White House committed to 'restoration'. Given national divisions, reform efforts were varied but short-lived. Many African Americans believed property was critical to erasing slave-oriented social order. In addition to speaking out, some demanded plots and moved into their master's plantation homes by force. Others bought land collectively, or squatted on what was undeveloped. Throughout war and Reconstruction, the presence of Federal troops provided a platform for agricultural policy. In 1865, William Tecumseh Sherman issued Field Order 15, taking coastal land in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, and dividing it into 40-acre plots for black settlement, hence the term "40 acres and a mule". In March, Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau, whose commissioner had authority to redistribute confiscated or abandoned southern land. The Bureau held , and key directors pushed for its settling with former slaves. When President Andrew Johnson began to pardon Confederates and restore their property, Commissioner Oliver O. Howard issued Circular 13. The order instructed agents to establish 40-acre parcels with haste. Johnson rescinded the order, and an overwhelming majority of Bureau land returned to its previous owners. The final reform attempts of Reconstruction occurred within state governments. In South Carolina, a land commission was established, which purchased property and sold it on long-term credit. Other state Republicans utilized new tax systems, penalizing large estates, to seize and divide land and stimulate black ownership. This indirect method achieved little, as taxes were repaid and lands were reclaimed. Of property not redeemed, much was exploited by investors. Ultimately, Reconstruction was discounted as 'Socialism' by moderates committed to free-market transformation, a popular new line of political attack levied against the likes of Boss Tweed and Benjamin F. Butler alike. Radicals began to fall even earlier, with the failure of Johnson's impeachment. Liberal Republicans, eroding the era's political landscape, called for an immediate end to “black barbarism”. White supremacist violence and financial panic weakened Reconstruction to the breaking point. With the Compromise of 1877, it was finished. In the 19th century, Indian tribes owned about 138 million acres (560,000 km) of land in the USA. Land was considered the property of the whole tribe, which used it to cater to the needs of the individual tribe members. This approach to land ownership was different than the white European approach, which regarded land as private property of individuals. Many US politicians believed it was important to assimilate Native Americans into white American culture, and thus have their lands open for commerce and development. The Dawes Act (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act), adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey American Indian tribal land and divide it into allotments for individual Indians. Those who accepted allotments and lived separately from the tribe would be granted United States citizenship. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891, and again in 1906 by the Burke Act. Through the Dawes Act, many Indians received private title to a land-plot, but most of the Indian lands were considered "surplus", and put to sale to white European settlers. Thus, the total amount of land owned by Indians decreased to only 48 million acres (190,000 km) in 1934. Most tribal land still owned by ethnic Indians was recollectivized in 1934. Afghanistan has had a couple of attempts at land reform. In 1975, the government of president Mohammad Daoud Khan responded to the inequities of the existing land tenure conditions by issuing a Land Reform Law. It limited individual holdings to a maximum of 20 hectares of irrigated, double-cropped land. Larger holdings were allowed for less productive land. The government was to expropriate all surplus land and pay compensation. To prevent the proliferation of small, uneconomic holdings, priority for redistributed lands was to be given to neighboring farmers with two hectares or less. Landless sharecroppers, laborers, tenants, and nomads had next priority. Despite the government's rhetorical commitment to land reform, the program was quickly postponed. Because the government's landholding limits applied to families, not individuals, wealthy families avoided expropriation by dividing their lands nominally between family members. The high ceilings for landholdings restricted the amount of land actually subject to redistribution. Finally, the government lacked the technical data and organizational bodies to pursue the program after it was announced. After the 1978 Saur Revolution, the communist Peoples Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) issued Decree No. 6, which canceled gerau and other mortgage debts of agricultural laborers, tenants, and small landowners with less than two hectares of land. The cancellation applied only to debts contracted before 1973. The Decree No. 8 of November 1978 made new landholdings from the 20 hectares of prime irrigated land in the 1975 law to just six hectares. It divided all land into seven classes and again allowed for larger holdings of less productive land. There was no compensation for government-expropriated surplus land and it established categories of farmers who had priority for redistributed land; sharecroppers already working on the land had highest priority. Since the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911, China has been through a series of land reform programs. The founder of the Nationalist Party, Sun Yat-sen, advocated a "land to the tiller" program of equal distribution of land. which was partly implemented by the Nationalist Government under Chiang Kai-shek. In the 1940s, the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, funded with American money, with the support of the national government, carried out land reform and community action programs in several provinces. In October 1947, two years before the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the Communist Party of China launched land reform campaigns that established control in North China villages. In the mid-1950s, a second land reform during the Great Leap Forward compelled individual farmers to join collectives, which, in turn, were grouped into People's communes with centrally controlled property rights and an egalitarian principle of distribution. This policy was generally a failure in terms of production. The PRC reversed this policy in 1962 through the proclamation of the Sixty Articles. As a result, the ownership of the basic means of production was divided into three levels with collective land ownership vested in the production team (see also Ho [2001]). A third land reform beginning in the late 1970s re-introduced the family-based contract system known as the Household Responsibility System, was followed by a period of stagnation. Chen, Wang, and Davis [1998] suggest that the stagnation was due, in part, to a system of periodic redistributions that encouraged over-exploitation rather than private capital investment in future productivity. However, although land use rights were returned to individual farmers, collective land ownership was left undefined after the disbandment of the People's Communes. Since 1983, China has launched a series of land policy reforms to improve land-use efficiency, to rationalize land allocation, to enhance land management, and to coordinate urban and rural development. These land policy reforms have yielded positive impacts on urban land use as well as negative socioeconomic consequences. On the positive side, they have contributed to emerging land markets, increased government revenue for the financing of massive infrastructure projects and provision of public goods, and improved the rationalization of land use. On the negative side, problems such as loss of social equity, socioeconomic conflicts, and government corruption have emerged. Since 1998 China is in the midst of drafting the new Property Law which is the first piece of national legislation that will define the land ownership structure in China for years to come. The Property Law forms the basis for China's future land policy of establishing a system of freehold, rather than of private ownership (see also Ho, [2005]). Under the British occupation, the land system in India has been feudalic, with few absentee landlords holding most of the lands and claiming high rents from poor peasants. The demand for a land reform was a major theme in the demand for independence. After independence, the different states in India gradually started a land reform process in four main categories: abolition of intermediaries (rent collectors under the pre-Independence land revenue system); tenancy regulation (to improve the contractual terms including security of tenure); a ceiling on landholdings (to redistribute surplus land to the landless); and attempts to consolidate disparate landholdings. The extent and success of these reforms varied greatly between the different states of India. The first land reform in recent history, called the Land Tax Reform or , passed in 1873, six years after the Meiji Restoration. It established the right of private land ownership in Japan for the first time and was a major restructuring of the previous land taxation system. The government initially ordered individual farmers to measure the plots of their land themselves, calculate their taxes, and submit the results to local tax officials. However, difficulties arose with the honesty of the measuring system and the government responded by forcefully changing land values to meet the set amount if self- reported values did not meet projected values. This caused widespread resentment among farmers and several large-scale riots, causing the government to lower the tax rate from 3% to 2.5%. The department continued its aggressive taxation until 1878, but the strictness of rules gradually decreased as it became clear that required amounts would be met. By 1880, seven years after the start of the land reforms, the new system had been completely implemented. Private land ownership was recognized for the first time in Japan with the issuing of land titles. Previously, individual farmers were merely borrowing the land from feudal lords, who in turn were borrowing the land from the emperor. The reform abolished this archaic system of land ownership, and began to allow landowners to use their property as a financial asset in collateral or other investment. This law was one of the first steps towards the development of capitalism in Japan, paralleling the English (and later United Kingdom) statute Quia Emptores enacted several centuries earlier. Another major land reform was carried out in 1947, during the occupied era after World War II, under instructions of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers based on a proposal from the Japanese government which had been prepared before the defeat of the Greater Japanese Empire. This last reform is also called . Between 1947 and 1949, approximately of land (approximately 38% of Japan's cultivated land) was purchased from the landlords under the reform program and re-sold at extremely low prices (after inflation) to the farmers who worked them. By 1950, three million peasants had acquired land, dismantling a power structure that the landlords had long dominated. During the Macapagal administration in the early 1960s, a limited land reform program was initiated in Central Luzon covering rice fields. During the martial law era of the Ferdinand Marcos Administration, Presidential Decree 27 instituted a land reform program covering rice and corn farms. Rice and corn production under this land reform program was heavily supported by the Marcos Administration with land distribution and financing program known as the Masagana 99 and other production loans that led to increased rice and corn production. The country produced enough rice for local consumption and became a rice exporter during that period. The Corazon Aquino Administration in the mid-1980s instituted a very controversial land reform known as CARP, which covered all agricultural lands. The program led to rice shortages in the succeeding years and lasted for 20 years without accomplishing the goal of land distribution. The program caused entrepreneurs to stay away from agriculture and a number of productive farmers left the farming sector. The CARP was a monumental failure in terms of cost to the government and the landowners whose lands were subjective to legal landgrabbing by the government. CARP expired at the end of December 2008. In 1972, the Government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike, through the Land Reform Law, imposed a ceiling of twenty hectares on privately owned land and sought to distribute lands in excess of the ceiling for the benefit of landless peasants. Both land owned by public companies and paddy lands under ten hectares in extent were exempted from this ceiling. Between 1972 and 1974, the Land Reform Commission took over nearly 228,000 hectares. In 1975 the Land Reform (Amendment) Law brought over 169,000 hectares of plantations owned by companies (including British-owned companies) under state control. From 1945 to 1950, United States and South Korean authorities carried out a land reform that retained the institution of private property. They confiscated and redistributed all land held by the Japanese colonial government, Japanese companies, and individual Japanese colonists. The Korean government carried out a reform whereby Koreans with large landholdings were obliged to divest most of their land. A new class of independent, family proprietors was created. In the 1950s, after the Nationalist government came to Taiwan, land reform and community development was carried out by the Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction. This course of action was made attractive, in part, by the fact that many of the large landowners were Japanese who had fled, and the other large landowners were compensated with Japanese commercial and industrial properties seized after Taiwan reverted from Japanese rule in 1945. The land program succeeded also because the Kuomintang were mostly from the mainland and had few ties to the remaining indigenous landowners. See also: Taiwan Land Reform Museum In the years after World War II, land redistribution to poor and landless peasants was initiated by the communist Viet Minh insurgents in areas which they controlled. After the partition of the country into two parts (North Vietnam and South Vietnam), the communist land reform (1953–1956) redistributed land to more than 2 million poor peasants, but at a cost of thousands, possibly tens of thousands of lives and contributed to the exodus of up to 1 million people from the North to the South in 1954 and 1955.. The land reform campaign was accompanied by large-scale repression and excesses. some of which were subsequently criticized within the ruling Workers Party of Vietnam itself. South Vietnam made several further attempts in the post-Diem years, the most ambitious being the Land to the Tiller program instituted in 1970 by President Nguyen Van Thieu. This limited individuals to 15 hectares, compensated the owners of expropriated tracts, and extended legal title to peasants who in areas under control of the South Vietnamese government to whom had land had previously been distributed by the Viet Cong. The following table summarizes many land reforms that are not mentioned in this page. The color in the "Year" column is darker for earlier periods and brighter for later periods. Anti-globalization movement, Communism, Eminent domain, Georgism, Homestead principle, Land Banking, Land claim, Land reform, Land Reform in Developing Countries, Land rights, Land value tax, Open field system and Inclosure, Restitution, Squatter, Landless Workers Movement Before the 1910 Mexican Revolution that overthrew Porfirio Díaz, most of land was owned by wealthy Mexicans and foreigners, with small holders and indigenous communities retaining little productive land. This was a dramatic change from the situation of land tenure in the colonial era, when the Spanish crown protected holdings of indigenous communities that were mostly engaged in subsistence agriculture. Mexican elites created large landed estates (haciendas) in many parts of Mexico, especially the north where indigenous peoples were not generally agriculturalists. Small holders, many of who were mixed-race mestizos, engaged with the commercial economy. Since foreigners were excluded from colonial Mexico, landholding was in the hands of subjects of the Spanish crown. With Mexican independence in 1821 and the emergence of Mexican Liberals the economic development and modernization of the country was the priority. Liberals targeted corporate landholding by the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous villages as impediments to their modernization project. When liberals gained power in the mid nineteenth century, they passed laws in the Liberal Reform that mandated the breakup and sale of these corporate lands. When liberal army general Porfirio Díaz took power in 1876, he embarked on a more sweeping program of modernization and economic development. His land policies sought to lure foreign entrepreneurs to invest in Mexican mining, agriculture, and ranching. It was successful, with Mexican and foreign investors controling the majority of Mexican territory by the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Peasant mobilization against the landed elites during the revolution and calls for "Mexico for the Mexicans" prompted land reform in the post-revolutionary period. During the first five years of agrarian reform, very few hectares were distributed. Land reform attempts by past leaders and governments proved futile, as the revolution from 1910-1920 had been a battle of dependent labor, capitalism, and industrial ownership. Fixing the agrarian problem was a question of education, methods, and creating new social relationships through co-operative effort and government assistance. Initially the agrarian reform led to the development of many Ejidos for communal land use, while parceled ejidos emerged in the later years. Land tenure in Mexico has over the long term seen the transfer of lands into the hands of private proprietors engaged in agricultural production for profit. But the social and economic problems that resulted from this concentration of ownership brought reformist solutions that attempted to reverse this trend. In the current era, there is a retreat from agrarian land reform and a return to consolidation of land holding of large enterprises. The rich lands of central and southern Mexico were the home to dense, hierarchically organized, settled populations that produced agricultural surpluses, allowing the development of sectors that did not directly cultivate the soil. These populations lived in settlements and held land in common, although generally they worked individual plots. During the Aztec period, roughly 1450 to 1521, the Nahuas of central Mexico had names for civil categories of land, many of which persisted into the colonial era. There were special lands attached to the office of ruler (tlatoani) called tlatocatlalli; land devoted to the support of temples, tecpantlalli, but also private lands of the nobility, pillalli. Lands owned by the calpulli, the local kin-based social organization, were calpullalli. Most commoners held individual plots of land, often in scattered locations, which were worked by a family and rights passed to subsequent generations. A community member could lose those usufruct rights if they did not cultivate the land. A person could lose land as a result of gambling debts, a type of alienation from which the inference can be drawn that land was private property. It is important to note that there were lands classified as "purchased land" (in Nahuatl, tlalcohualli). In the Texcoco area, there were prehispanic legal rules for land sales, indicating that transfers by sale were not a post-conquest innovation. Local-level records in Nahuatl from the 16th century show that individuals and community members kept track of these categories, including purchased land, and often the previous owners of particular plots. When the Spanish took control of central Mexico in the early 16th century, they initially left intact existing indigenous land tenure, with the exception of the disappearance of lands devoted to the gods. A 16th-century Spanish judge in New Spain, Alonso de Zorita, collected extensive information about the Nahuas in the Cuauhtinchan region, including land tenure. Zorita notes there was a diversity of land tenure in central Mexico, so that if the information he gives for one place contradicts information in another it is due to that very diversity Zorita, along with Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, a member of the noble family that ruled Texcoco, and Franciscan Fray Juan de Torquemada are the most important sources for prehispanic and early colonial indigenous land tenure in central Mexico. There is considerable documentation on indigenous land holding, including estates held by indigenous lords (caciques), known as cacicazgos. Litigation over title to property date from the very early colonial era. Most notable is the dispute over lands held by don Carlos Ometochtzin of Texcoco, who was executed by the inquisition in 1539. The Oztoticpac Lands Map of Texcoco is documentation for the dispute following his death. In early colonial Mexico, many Spanish conquerors (and a few indigenous allies) received grants of labor and tribute from particular indigenous communities as rewards for services via an institution called encomienda. These grants did not include land, which in the immediate post- conquest era was not as important as the tribute and labor service that Indians could provide as a continuation from the prehispanic period. Spaniards were interested in appropriating products and labor from their grants, but they saw no need to acquire the land itself. The crown began to phase out the encomienda in the mid-16th century by limiting the number of times the grant could be inherited. At the same time, the indigenous population was decreasing due to epidemics and Spanish migration to Mexico created a demand for foodstuffs familiar to them, such as wheat rather than maize, European fruits, and animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats for meat and hides or wool. Spaniards began acquiring land and securing labor separate from the encomienda grants. This was the initial stage of the formation of Spanish landed estates. Spaniards bought land from individual Indians and from Indian communities; they also usurped Indians’ land; and they occupied land that was deemed "empty" (terrenos baldíos) and requested grants (mercedes) to acquire title to it. There is evidence that nobles sold common land to Spaniards, treating that land as private property. Some Indians were alarmed at this transfer of land, and explicitly forbade sale of land to Spaniards. The Spanish crown was concerned about the material welfare of its indigenous vassals and in 1567 set aside an endowment of land adjacent to Indian towns that were legally held by the community, the fundo legal, initially 500 varas. The legal framework for these entailed indigenous community lands was the establishment of settlements (designated pueblos de indios or merely pueblos) as legal entities in Spanish colonial law, with a framework for rule established with via the town council (cabildo). Land traditionally held by pueblos was now transformed to entailed community lands. There was not a unitary process of the creation of these lands, but a combination of claims based on occupation and use since time immemorial, grants, purchase, and a process of regularization of land titles via a process known as composición". To protect Indians' legal rights, the Spanish crown also set up the General Indian Court in 1590, where Indians and indigenous communities could litigate over property. Although the Juzgado de Naturales supposedly did not have jurisdiction in cases where Indians sought redress against Spaniards, an analysis of the actual cases shows that a high percentage of the court's casework included such complaints. For the Spanish crown, the court not only protected the interests of its Indian vassals, but it was also a way to rein in Spaniards who might seek greater autonomy from the crown. Indian communities experienced devastating population losses due to epidemics, which meant that there was for a period more land than individual Indians or Indian communities needed. The crown attempted to cluster remaining indigenous populations in new communities in a process known as congregacion or reducción, with mixed results. During this period Spaniards acquired land, often with no immediate damage to Indians’ access to land. In the 17th century, Indian populations began to recover, but the loss of land could not be reversed. Indian communities rented land to Spanish haciendas, which over time left those lands vulnerable to appropriation. There were crown regulations about sale or rental of Indian lands, with requirements for the public posting of the proposed transaction and an investigation as to whether the land on offer was, in fact, the property of the ones offering it. Since the crown held title to all vacant land in Central Mexico, it could grant title to whomever it chose. In theory, there was to be an investigation to see if there were claims on the property, with notice given to those in the vicinity of the proposed grant. The Spanish crown granted mercedes to favored Spaniards, and in the case of the conqueror Hernán Cortés, created the entailment of the Marquesado del Valle de Oaxaca. In the 17th century, there was a push to regularize land titles via the process of composición, in which for a fee paid to the crown clouded titles could be cleared, and indigenous communities had to prove title to land that they had held "since time immemorial," as the legal phrase went. This was the period when Spaniards began regularizing their titles via composición. Landless or land-poor Indians were often driven to sell their labor to Spanish landed estates, haciendas on a seasonal basis. Others took up residence on haciendas on a permanent basis. Others migrated to the cities or to other regions, such as the northern mining districts where labor was well paid. However, many indigenous communities continued to exist with the fundo legal held in common a guarantee of some access to land. In the 18th century, the Spanish crown was concerned about concentration of land in the hands of a few in Spain and the lack of productiveness of those landed estates. Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos drafted the ("A report for an Agrarian Law") published in 1795 for the Royal Society of Friends of the Country of Madrid ("") calling for reform. He saw the need for disentailment of landed estates, sale of land owned by the Catholic Church and privatizing common lands as key to making agriculture more productive in Spain. Barriers to productive use of land and a real estate market that would attract investors kept land scare and prices high and for investors was not a profitable enough enterprise to enter agriculture. Jovellanos was influenced by Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations (1776), which asserted that the impetus for economic activity was self-interest. Jovellanos’s writings influenced (without attribution) a prominent cleric in independence-era New Spain, Manuel Abad y Queipo, who compiled copious data about the agrarian situation in the late 18th century and who conveyed it to Alexander von Humboldt. Humboldt incorporated it into his Political Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain, an important text on economic and social conditions in New Spain around 1800. Abad y Queipo "fixed upon the inequitable distribution of property as the chief cause of New Spain’s social squalor and advocated ownership of land as the chief remedy." The crown did not undertake major land reform in New Spain, but it moved against the wealthy and influential Society of Jesus in its realms, expelling them in 1767. In Mexico, the Jesuits had created prosperous haciendas whose profits helped fund the Jesuits’ missions in northern Mexico and its colegios for elite American-born Spaniards. The most well-studied of the Jesuit haciendas in Mexico is that Santa Lucía. With their expulsion, their estates were sold, mainly to private-land owning elites. Although the Jesuits owned and ran large estates, in Mexico the more common pattern was for the Church to extend credit to private individuals of means for long-term real estate mortgages. Small holders had little access to credit, which meant it was difficult for them to acquire property or expand their operations, thereby privileging large land owners over small. The landed elite and the Catholic Church as an institution were closely connected financially. The church was the recipient of donations for pious works (obras pías) for particular charities as well as chantries (capellanías). Through the institution of the chantry, a family would lien income from a particular piece of property to pay a priest to say masses for the soul of the one endowing the funds. In many cases, families had sons who had become priests and the chantry became a source of income for the family member. At the turn of the 19th century the Spanish crown attempted to tap what it thought was the vast wealth of the church by demanding that those holding mortgages pay the principal as a lump sum immediately rather than incrementally over the long term. The Act of Consolidation in 1804 threatened to bring down the whole structure of credit to landed elites who were seldom in the position of enough liquidity. Bishop- elect of Michoacan Manuel Abad y Queipo protested the crown's demands and drafted a lengthy memorial to the crown analyzing the situation. From the point of view of the landed elite, the crown's demands were "a savage capital levy" which would "destroy the country’s credit system and drain the economy of its currency." The availability of credit had enabled haciendas to increase in size, but they were not efficiently run in general, with much land not planted. Hacienda owners were reluctant to lease lands to Indians for fear that they would then claim land as part of the fundo legal for a newly established community. Abad y Queipo concluded "The indivisibility of haciendas, the difficulty in managing them, the lack of property among the people, has produced and continues to produce deplorable effects for agriculture, for the population, and for the State in general." One scholar has suggested that "Abad y Queipo is best regarded as the intellectual progenitor of Mexican Liberalism." Mexican liberalism in mid-19th-century Reforma attacked the legal basis of corporate land ownership of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico and indigenous communities, seeking these reforms to create a nation of small yeoman farmers. Once Mexico achieved independence in 1821, the paternalistic crown protections of the Indians institutionalized in the General Indian Court and the special status of Indians before the law ceased to exist, leaving the indigenous population and their lands vulnerable to those more powerful. The outbreak of the insurgency in September 1810 led by secular cleric Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla was joined by Indians and castas in huge numbers in the commercial agricultural region of the Bajío. The Bajío did not have an established sedentary indigenous population prior to the arrival of the Spaniards even though the area had fertile soils. Once the Spanish pushed fierce northern indigenous from the region, Spaniards created towns and commercial agricultural enterprises that were cultivated by workers who had no rights to land via indigenous communities. Workers were entirely dependent on the haciendas for employment and sustenance. When Hidalgo denounced bad government to his parishioners, (in what is known as the Grito de Dolores ), he quickly gained a following, which then expanded to tens of thousands. The Spanish crown had not seen such a challenge from below during its nearly 300 years of colonial rule. Most rural protests lasted about a day, had local grievances, and were resolved quickly often in the colonial courts. Hidalgo's political call for a rising against bad government during the period when Napoleon's forces controlled the Iberian peninsula and Spain's Bourbon monarch had been forced to abdicate in favor of Joseph Bonaparte meant that there was a crisis of authority and legitimacy in the Spanish empire, touching off the Spanish American wars of independence. Until Hidalgo's revolt, there had been no large mobilization in New Spain. It has been argued that the perception that the ruling elites were divided in 1810, embodied in the authority figure of a Spanish priest denouncing bad government, gave the masses in the Bajío the idea that violent rebellion might succeed in changing their circumstances for the better. Those following Hidalgo's call went from town to town in the Bajío, looting and sacking haciendas in their path. Hacendados did not resist, but watched the destruction unfold, since they had no means to effectively suppress it. Hidalgo had hoped to gain the support of creole elites for the cause of independence and he tried to prevent attacks on haciendas owned by potential supporters, but the mob made no distinction between Iberian-born Spaniards’ estates and those of American-born Spaniards. Any support those creole estate owners might have for independence disappeared as the mob destroyed their property. Although for the largely landless peasants of the Bajío inequality of land ownership fueled their violence, Hidalgo himself did not have an economic program of land reform. Only after Hidalgo's defeat on the march to Mexico City did he issue a proclamation to return lands rented by villages to their residents. Hidalgo appealed to indigenous communities in central Mexico to join his movement, but they did not. It is argued that the crown's protection of indigenous communities’ rights and lands made them loyal to the regime and that the symbiotic relationship between indigenous communities and haciendas created a strong economic incentive to preserve the existing relationships. In central Mexico, loss of land was incremental so that there was no perception that the crown or the haciendas were the agents of the difficulties of the indigenous. Although the Hidalgo revolt showed the extent of mass discontent among some rural populations, it was a short-lived regional revolt that did not expand beyond the Bajío. More successful in demonstrating that agrarian violence could achieve gains for peasants was the guerrilla warfare that continued after the failure of the Hidalgo revolt and the execution of its leaders. Rather than a massed group of men attempting to achieve a quick and decisive victory pitted against the small but effective royal army, guerrilla warfare waged over time undermined the security and stability of the colonial regime. The survival of guerrilla movements was dependent on support from surrounding villages and the continuing violence undermined the local economies, however, they did not formulate an ideology of agrarian reform. Hidalgo did not formulate a program of land reform, although the inequality of land ownership was at the core of the Bajío peasants’ economic situation. The political plan of secular priest José María Morelos likewise did not revolve around land reform, nor did the Plan de Iguala of Agustín de Iturbide. But the alliance that former royalist officer Iturbide with guerrilla leader Vicente Guerrero to create the Army of the Three Guarantees that bought about Mexican independence in September 1821 is rooted in the political force that agrarian guerrillas exerted. The agrarian violence of the independence era was the start of more than a century of peasant struggle. As a response to the loss of land, a number of indigenous communities sought to regain land through rebellion in post-independence Mexico. In the nineteenth century, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, central Mexico, Yucatan, and the northwest regions of the Yaqui and Mayo saw serious rebellions. The Caste War of Yucatan and the Yaqui Wars were lengthy conflicts, lasting into the twentieth century. During the Mexican Revolution, many peasants fought for the return of community lands, most notably in Morelos under the leadership of Emiliano Zapata. Armed struggle or its threat were key to the post- revolutionary Mexican government's approach to land reform. Land reform "helped to stifle peasant revolts, succeeded in modifying land tenure relationships, and was of paramount importance in the institutionalization of the new regime." In the years previous to the Reform War, a series of reforms were instituted by the liberals who came to power following the ouster of Antonio López de Santa Anna in 1854 and were aimed at restructuring the country under liberal principles. These laws were known as Reform Laws (known in Spanish as Leyes de Reforma). One of these laws dealt with all concepts related to land tenure and was named after the Finance Minister, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada. The Lerdo Law (known in Spanish as Ley Lerdo) empowered the Mexican state to force the sale of corporately held property, specifically those of the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico and the lands held by indigenous communities. The Lerdo Law did not directly expropriate ecclesiastical property or peasant communities but were to be sold to those renting the properties and the price to be amortized over 20 years. Properties not being rented or claimed could be auctioned. The church and indigenous communities were to receive the proceeds of the sale and the state would receive a transaction tax payment. Not all church land was confiscated; however, land not used for specific religious purposes was sold to private individuals. This law changed the nature of land ownership allowing more individuals to own land, rather than institutions. One of the aims of the reform government was to develop the economy by returning to productive cultivation the underutilized lands of the Church and the municipal communities (Indian commons), which required the distribution of these lands to small owners. This was to be accomplished through the provisions of Ley Lerdo that prohibited ownership of land by the Church and the municipalities. The reform government also financed its war effort by seizing and selling church property and other large estates. The aim of the Lerdo Law with Indian corporate land was to transform Indian peasants pursuing subsistence agriculture into Mexican yeoman farmers. This did not happen. Most Indian land was acquired by large estates, which had the means to purchase it and made Indians even further dependent on landed estates. During the presidency of liberal general Porfirio Díaz, the regime embarked on a sweeping project of modernization, inviting foreign entrepreneurs to invest in Mexican mining, agriculture, industry, and infrastructure. The laws of the Liberal Reform established the basis for extinguishing corporate ownership of land by the Roman Catholic Church and indigenous communities. The liberal regime under Díaz vastly expanded the state's role in land policy by mandating that so-called "unoccupied lands" (terrenos baldíos) be surveyed and opened to development by Mexicans and foreign individuals and corporate entities. The government hired private survey companies for all land not previously surveyed so that land could then be sold, while the company would retain one-third of the land its surveyed. The surveys were intended to give buyers security of title to the land they bought and was a tool in encouraging investment. For Mexicans who could not prove title to land or had informal usufruct rights to pastures and woodlands, the surveys put an end to such common usage and put land into private hands. The regime's aim was that the land would then become more efficiently used and productive. There were many absentee investors from the U.S. who were involved in finance or other business enterprises, including William Randolph Hearst and wheat magnate William W. Cargill, who bought land from survey companies or from private Mexican estate owners. Díaz loyalists, such Matías Romero, José Yves Limantour, and Manuel Romero Rubio, as well as the Díaz family took advantage of the opportunities to increase their wealth by acquiring large tracts of land. Investors in productive land further increased its value by their proximity to railway lines that linked properties to regional and international markets. Some entrepreneurs built spur railway lines to connect with the trunk lines. U.S. investors acquired land along the Mexico's northern border, especially Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas, but also on both coasts as well as the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. The situation of landless Mexicans became increasingly worse, so that by the end of the Porfiriato, virtually all (95%) of villages lost their lands. In Morelos, the expansion of sugar plantations triggered peasant protests against the Díaz regime and were a major factor in the outbreak and outcomes of the Mexican Revolution. There was resistance in Michoacán. Land loss accelerated for small holders during the Porfiriato as well as indigenous communities. Small holders were further disadvantaged in that they could not get bank loans for their enterprises since the amounts were not worth the expense to the bank of assessing the property. Molina Enríquez's work published just prior to the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution had a tremendous impact on the legal framework on land tenure that was codified in Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution of 1917. Peasant mobilization during the Revolution brought about state-directed land reform, but the intellectual and legal framework for how it was accomplished is extremely important. In 1906, the Liberal Party of Mexico wrote a program of specific demands, many of which were incorporated into the Constitution of 1917. Leftist Ricardo Flores Magón was president of the PLM and his brother Enrique Flores Magón was treasurer. Two demands that were adopted were (Point 34) that landowners needed to make their land productive or risk confiscation by the state. (Point 35) demands that "The Government will grant land to anyone who solicits it, without any conditions other than that the land be used for agricultural production and not be sold. The maximum amount of land that the Government may allot to one person will be fixed." A key influence on agrarian land reform in revolutionary Mexico was of Andrés Molina Enríquez, who is considered the intellectual father of Article 27 of the 1917 Constitution. His 1909 book, Los Grandes Problemas Nacionales (The Great National Problems) laid out his analysis of Mexico's unequal land tenure system and his vision of land reform. On his mother's side Molina Enríquez had come from a prominent, politically well-connected, land-owning family, but his father's side was from a far more modest background and he himself had modest circumstances. For nine years in the late 19th century, Molina Enríquez was a notary in Mexico State, where he observed first-hand how the legal system in Porfirian Mexico was slanted in favor of large estate owners, as he dealt with large estate owners (hacendados), small holders (rancheros), and peasants who were buying, transferring, or titling land. In his observations, it was not the large estates or the subsistence peasants that produced the largest amount of maize in the region, but rather the rancheros; he considered the hacendado group "inherently evil". In his views on the need for land reform in Mexico, he advocated for the increase in the ranchero group. In The Great National Problems, Molina Enríquez concluded that the Porfirio Díaz regime had promoted the growth of large haciendas although they were not as productive as small holdings. Citing his nearly decade long tenure as a notary, his claims were well-founded that haciendas were vastly under-assessed for tax purposes and that small holders were disadvantaged against the wealth and political connections of large estate owners. Since title transfers of property required payment of fees and that the fee was high enough to negatively affect small holders but not large. In addition, the local tax on title transfers was based on a property's assessment, so in a similar fashion, small holders paid a higher percentage than large holders who had ample means to pay such taxes. Large estates often occupied more land than they actually held title to, counting on their size and clout to survive challenges by those on whom they infringed. A great number of individual small holders had only imperfect title to their land, some no title at all, so that Díaz's requirement that land be properly titled or be subject to appropriation under the "vacant lands" law (terrenos baldíos) meant that they were at risk for losing their land. Indian pueblos also lost their land, but the two processes of land loss were not one and the same. The Mexican Revolution reversed the Porfirian trend towards land concentration and set in motion a long process of agrarian mobilization that the post- revolutionary state sought to control and prevent further major peasant uprisings. The power and legitimacy of the traditional landlord class, which had underpinned Porfirian rule, never recovered. The radical and egalitarian sentiments produced by the revolution had made landlord rule of the old kind impossible, but the Mexican state moved to stifle peasant mobilization and the recreation of indigenous community power. During the Mexican Revolution, two leaders stand out as carrying out immediate land reform without formal state intervention, Emiliano Zapata in the state of Morelos and Pancho Villa in northern Mexico. Although the political program of wealthy northern landowner Francisco I. Madero, the Plan of San Luis Potosí, promised the return of village lands unlawfully confiscated by large estate owners, when the Díaz regime fell and Madero was elected president of Mexico, he took little action on land reform. Zapata led peasants in the central state of Morelos, who divided up large sugar haciendas into plots for subsistence agriculture; in northern Mexico, Zapata and others in Morelos drafted the Plan of Ayala, which called for land reform and put the region in rebellion against the government. Unlike many other revolutionary plans, Zapata's was actually implemented, with villagers in areas under his forces control regaining village lands, but also seizing lands of sugar plantations and dividing them. The seizing of sugar plantations and distribution to peasants for small-scale cultivation was the only significant land reform during the Revolution. They remained in opposition to the government in its subsequent forms under reactionary general Victoriano Huerta and then Constitutionalist leader Venustiano Carranza. Peasants sought land of their own to pursue subsistence agriculture, not the continuation of commercial sugar cultivation. Although Carranza's government after 1915 fought a bloody war against Zapatista forces and Zapata was assassinated by an agent of Carranza's in 1919, land reform there could not be reversed. When Alvaro Obregón became president in 1920, he recognized the land reform in Morelos and Zapatistas were given control of Morelos. The situation in northern Mexico was different from the Zapatista area of central Mexico, with few subsistence peasants, a tradition of military colonies to fight indigenous groups such as the Apaches, the development of large cattle haciendas and small ranchos. During the Porfiriato, the central Mexican state gained more control over the region, and hacienda owners who had previously not encroached on small holders' lands or limited access to large expanses of public lands began consolidating their holdings at the expense of small holders. The Mexican government contracted with private companies to survey the "empty lands," (tierras baldíos) and those companies gained a third of all land they surveyed. The rest of these lands were bought by wealthy landowners. Most important was the Terrazas-Creel family, who already owned vast estates and wielded tremendous political and economic power. Under their influence, Chihuahua passed a law forcing military colonies to sell their lands, which they or their allies bought. The economic Panic of 1907 in the U.S. had an impact on the border state of Chihuahua, where newly unemployed miners, embittered former military colonists, and small holders joined together to support Francisco I. Madero's movement to oust Díaz. Once in power, however, Presient Madero's promises of land reform were unfulfilled causing disgruntled former supporters to rebel. In 1913 after Madero's assassination, Pancho Villa joined the movement to oust Victoriano Huerta and under his military leadership, Chihuahua came under his control. As governor of the state, Villa issued decrees that placed large estates under the control of the state. They continued to be operated as haciendas with the revenues used to finance the revolutionary military and support widows and orphans of Villa's soldiers. Armed men fighting with Villa saw one of their rewards as being access to land, but Villa expected them to fight far outside where they currently lived, unlike the men following Zapata, who fought where they lived and had little incentive to fight elsewhere. Villa's men would be rewarded following the Revolution. Villa issued a decree declaring that nationally all estates above a certain size would be divided among peasants, with owners to be given some compensation. Northerners sought more than a small plot of land for subsistence agriculture, but rather a parcel large enough to be designated a rancho on which they could cultivate and/or ranch cattle independently. Although Villa was defeated by Venustiano Carranza's best general, Alvaro Obregón, in 1915 and his sweeping land reform could not be implemented, the Terrazas-Creel's properties were not returned to them following the Revolution. Land reform was an important issue in the Mexican Revolution, but the leader of the winning faction, wealthy landowner Venustiano Carranza was disinclined to pursue land reform. But in 1914 the two important Constitutionalist generals, Alvaro Obregón and Pancho Villa, called on him to articulate a policy of land distribution. One of Carranza's principal aides, Luis Cabrera, the law partner of Andrés Molina Enríquez, drafted the Agrarian Decree of January 6, 1915, promising to provide land for those in need of it. The driving idea behind the law was to blunt the appeal of Zapatismo and to give peasants access to land to supplement income during periods when they were not employed as day laborers on large haciendas and fought against the Constitutionalists. Central to their notion was the re-emergence of the ejido, lands under traditionally under control of communities. Cabrera became the point person for Carranza's agrarian policy, pitching the proposal as a military necessity, as a way to pacify communities in rebellion. "The mere announcement that the government is going to proceed to the study of the reconstitution of the ejidos will result in the concentration of people in the villages, and it will facilitate, therefore the domination of the region." With the defeat of Victoriano Huerta, the Constitutionalist faction split, with Villa and Zapata, who advocated more radical agrarian policies, opposing Carranza and Obregón. In order to defeat them both militarily and on the social and political fronts, Carranza had to counter their appeal to the peasantry. Constitutionalist military units expropriated some haciendas to award the lands to villages potentially supporting more radical solutions, but the Agrarian Decree did not call for wholesale expropriations. Although the lands expropriated were called ejidos, they were not structured as restitution to villages, but as new grants conferred by the state, often of poor quality and smaller than what villages previously held. Carranza's government set up a bureaucracy to deal with land reform, which in practice sought to limit implementation of any sweeping changes favorable to the peasantry. Many landlords whose estates had been expropriated were restored to them during the Carranza era. Villages that were to receive grants had to agree to pay the government for the land. The colonial-era documentation for villages' land claims were deemed invalid. As the Carranza presidency ended in 1920, the government was asserting power to prevent serious land reform or any peasant control over its course. Carranza had only supported limited land reform as a strategy, but once in power, he assured estate owners that their land would be returned to them. Although his resistance to land reform prevented its implementation, he could not block the adoption of article 27 of the revolutionary constitution of 1917 that recognized villages' rights to land and the power of the state over subsoil rights. Wealthy landowner and brilliant general of the Revolution, Alvaro Obregón came to power in a coup against Carranza. Since the Zapatistas had supported his bid for power, he placated them by ending attempts to recover seized land and return them to big sugar estate owners. However, his plan was to make the peasantry there dependent on the Mexican state and viewed agrarian reform as a way to strengthen the revolutionary state. During his presidency, Mexico it was clear that some land reform reform needed to be carried out. Agrarian reform was a revolutionary goal for land redistribution as part of a process of nationalization and "Mexicanization". Land distribution began almost immediately and affected both foreign and large domestic land owners (hacendados). The process was deliberately very slow, since generally Obregón did not consider it a top priority. However, in order to maintain the social peace with the peasantry, he began land reform in earnest. As president, Obregón distributed 1.7 million hectares, which was 1.3Ò% of agricultural land. The land distributed was mostly not existing cultivated lands, consisting of forests, pastures, mountainous land, and other uncultivable land (ranging from 51%-64.6%). Rain-fed land was the next largest category (ranging from 31.2% to 41.4%). The smallest amount of land distributed was irrigable land, ranging from a high of 8.2% in 1920 to just 4.2% in 1924. When Obregón sought to ensure his fellow Sonoran revolutionary general Plutarco Elías Calles was his successor, Obregón and Calles promised land reform to mobilize peasants against their rival Adolfo de la Huerta. Their faction prevailed and when Calles became president in 1924, he did increase distribution of land. Plutarco Elías Calles was the successor to Obregón in the election of 1924 and when Obregón assassinated in 1928 after being re-elected president Calles remained in power 1928-1934 as the jefe máximo (maximum chief) in a period known as the Maximato. Along with fellow Sonoran Obregón, Calles was not an advocate of land reform, and sought to create a vital industrial sector in Mexico. In general, Calles blocked measures for land reform and sided with landlords. During his presidency, the U.S. government was opposed to land reform in Mexico, since some of its citizens owned land and petroleum enterprises there. Although ejidos had been created under Obregón's presidency, Calles envisioned them being turned into private holdings. Calles's administration did seek to expand the agricultural sector by colonizing areas not previously cultivated or existing lands that were deemed inefficiently used. Extending credit to agricultural enterprises benefited large land owners rather than the peasantry. State-constructed Irrigation projects to increase production likewise benefited them. Since many revolutionary leaders, including Obregón and Calles, were recipients of large tracts of land, they were direct beneficiaries of state-directed agricultural infrastructure and credit. During Calles's presidency (1924-28), 3.2 million hectares of agricultural land were distributed, 2.4% of all agricultural land. The largest category of land distributed was non-agricultural land ranging from forests, pastures, mountainous, and other uncultivable lands, ranging from 60% to nearly 80% in 1928. Rainfed land was the next largest category, ranging from 35% to 20%. The smallest amount was irrigable land, just 3-4%.. President Lázaro Cárdenas is credited with revitalizing land reform, along with other measures in keeping with the rhetoric of the Revolution. Although he was from the southern state of Michoacan, Cárdenas was part of the northern Constitutionalist revolutionary forces that emerged victorious during the Revolution. He did not join with the forces of Emiliano Zapata or Pancho Villa, who advocated sweeping land reform. Cárdenas distributed most land between 1936 and 1938, after he had ousted Calles and took full control of the government and before his expropriation of foreign oil companies in 1938. He was determined to distribute land to the peasantry, but also keep control of the process rather than have peasants seize land. His most prominent expropriation of land was in the Comarca Lagunera, with rich, irrigated soil. Some 448,000 hectares of land there were expropriated in 1936, of which 150,000 were irrigated. he directed similar expropriations in Yucatán and the Yaqui valley in 1937; Lombardía and Nueva Italia, Michoacan; Los Mochis, Sinaloa; and Soconusco Chiapas in 1938. Rather than dividing land into individual ejidos, which peasants preferred and on which they pursued subsistence agriculture, Cárdenas created collective ejidos. Communities were awarded land but they were worked as a single unit. This was done for lands producing commercial crops such as cotton, wheat, henequen, rice, sugar, citrus, and cattle, so that they would continue to be commercially viable for the domestic and export markets. Collective ejidos received more government support than individual ejidos. Agrarian reform had come close to extinction in the early 1930s during the Maximato, since Calles was increasingly hostile to it as a revolutionary program. The first few years of the Cárdenas's reform were marked by high food prices, falling wages, high inflation, and low agricultural yields. In 1935 land reform began sweeping across the country in the periphery and core of commercial agriculture. The Cárdenas alliance with peasant groups has been credited with the destruction of the hacienda system. Cárdenas distributed more land than all his revolutionary predecessors put together, a 400% increase. Cárdenas wanted the peasantry tied to the Mexican state and did so by organizing peasant leagues that collectively represented the peasantry, the National Confederation of Peasants (CNC), within the new, sectoral party structure that Cárdenas created within the Party of the Mexican Revolution. During his administration, he redistributed of land, of which were expropriated from U.S. nationals who owned agricultural property. This caused conflict between Mexico and the United States. Cárdenas employed tactics of noncompliance and deception to gain leverage in this international dispute. Starting the government of Miguel Alemán (1946–52), land reform steps made in previous governments were rolled back. Alemán's government allowed entrepreneurs to rent peasant land. This created phenomenon known as "neolatifundismo," where land owners build up large-scale private farms on the basis of controlling land which remains ejidal but is not cultivated by the peasants to whom it is assigned. In 1970, President Luis Echeverría began his term by declaring land reform dead. In the face of peasant revolt, he was forced to backtrack, and embarked on the biggest land reform program since Cárdenas. Echeverría legalized take- overs of huge foreign-owned private farms, which were turned into new collective ejidos. In 1988, President Carlos Salinas de Gortari was elected. In December 1991, he amended Article 27 of the Constitution, making it legal to sell ejido land and allow peasants to put up their land as collateral for a loan. Albertus, Michael, et al. "Authoritarian survival and poverty traps: Land reform in Mexico." World Development 77 (2016): 154-170., Bazant, Jan. The Alienation of Church Wealth in Mexico. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press 1971., De Janvry, Alain, and Lynn Ground. "Types and consequences of land reform in Latin America." Latin American Perspectives 5.4 (1978): 90-112., Dwyer, John J. The Agrarian Dispute: The Expropriation of American-Owned Land in Postrevolutionary Mexico. Durham: Duke University Press 2008., Hart, John Mason. Empire and Revolution: The Americans in Mexico since the Civil War. Berkeley: University of California Press 2002., Harvey, Neil. Rebellion in Chiapas: Rural Reforms, Campesino Radicalism and the Limits of Salinismo. La Jolla: University of California, San Diego 1994., Heath, John Richard. Enhancing the contribution of land reform to Mexican agricultural development. Vol. 285. World Bank Publications, 1990., Historia de la cuestión agraria mexicana. 9 vols. Mexico City: Siglo XXI, 1988., Holden, R.H. Mexico and the Survey of Public Lands: The Management of Modernization, 1876 - 1911. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press 1993., Katz, Friedrich. "Mexico: Restored Republic and Porfiriato, 1867 - 1910," in "The Cambridge History of Latin America: vol. 5, edited by Leslie Bethell. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press 1986., Katz, Friedrich, ed. Riot, Rebellion, and Revolution: Rural Conflict in Mexico. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1988., Knight, Alan. ""Cardenismo: Juggernaut or Jalopy?" Journal of Latin American Studies. Vol. 26, No. 1 (Feb. 1994), Kroeber, Clifton B. Man, Land, and Water: Mexico's Farmlands Irrigation Policies, 1885 - 1911. Berkeley: University of California Press 1983., Lira, Andrés, Comunidades indígenas frente a la Ciudad de México. Zamora: El Colegio de Michoacán, 1983., Markiewicz, Dana. The Mexican Revolution and the Limits of Agrarian Reform. Boulder: Lynne Rienner 1993., McBride, George The Land Systems of Mexico. New York: The American Geographical Society 1923., Mejía Fernández, Miguel. Política agraria en México en el siglo XIX. Mexico City: Siglo XXI 1979., Miller, Simon. Landlords and Haciendas in Modernizing Mexico. Amsterdam: CEDLA 1995., Phipps, Helen. "Some aspects of the agrarian question in Mexico: A historical study," University of Texas Bulletin 2515, 1925., Powell, T.G. El liberalismo y el campesinado en el centro de México, 1850 - 1876. Mexico City: Secretaría de Educación Pública 1974., Randall, Laura, ed. Reforming Mexico's Agrarian Reform. Armonk NY: M.E. Sharpe 1996., Sanderson, Susan Walsh. Land Reform in Mexico, 1910 - 1980. Orlando FL: Academic Press 1984., Silva Herzog, Jesús. El agrarismo mexicano y la reforma agraria: exposición y critica. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica, 1959. 2nd. edition 1964., Simpson, Eyler Newton. The Ejido: Mexico's Way Out. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1937., Stevens, D.F. "Agrarian Policy and Instability in Porfirian Mexico," The Americas 39:2(1982)., Tannenbaum, Frank. The Mexican Agrarian Revolution, New York: MacMillan 1929., Tutino, John. From Insurrection to Revolution in Mexico. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1986., Tutino, John. The Mexican Heartland: How Communities Shaped Capitalism, a Nation, and World History, 1500-2000. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2018., Wasserman, Mark. Capitalists, Caciques, and Revolution: the Native Elite and Foreign Enterprise in Chihuahua, Mexico 1854 - 1911. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1984., Whetten, Nathan. Rural Mexico. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1948., Wolfe, Mikael D. Watering the Revolution: An Environmental and Technological History of Agrarian Reform in Mexico. Durham: Duke University Press 2017., Wood, Stephanie, "The Fundo Legal or lands Por Razón de Pueblo: New Evidence from Central New Spain." In The Indian Community of Colonial Mexico: Fifteen Essays on Land Tenure, Corporate Organization, Ideology and Village Politics. Arij Ouweneel and Simon Miller, eds. pp. 117–29. Amsterdam: CEDLA 1990 Index of Mexico-related articles, Economic history of Mexico, Ejido, Mexico, Mexican Revolution, Foreign affairs of Mexico

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Whose Line is it Anyway? (shortened to Whose Line? or WLIIA) is a short-form improvisational comedy television show created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson, and hosted by Clive Anderson. Beginning as a BBC radio programme, it was successfully adapted for television after its acquisition by Channel 4, and aired ten series from 23 September 1988 to 4 February 1999. Whose Line? consists of a panel of four performers who create characters, scenes or songs on the spot in the style of short-form improvisation games, based on topics either prompted from audience suggestions or predetermined by the host. The show's participants consisted of a rotating cast of noted comedians from Britain, Canada and the United States, including Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Ryan Stiles, John Sessions, Colin Mochrie, Josie Lawrence, Greg Proops, Tony Slattery, Mike McShane, Wayne Brady, and Jim Sweeney. The success of Whose Line? spawned several domestic and international adaptations. An American version aired on ABC between 1998 and 2007 and was revived on The CW in 2013, and is broadcast in multiple countries. Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia debuted on The Comedy Channel in 2016. Two similarly-themed British comedy programmes, Mock the Week (2005) and Fast and Loose (2011), were created by Patterson. In 1988, Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson came up with the concept for the show, revolving around games focused on creating improvisational comedy, using a group of performers. As part of their concept, Patterson and Leveson devised the show's title as a comedic riposte to a radio programme that had recently moved to television at the time, What's My Line, merged with the title of a 1972 teleplay (and eventual theatrical play) Whose Life Is It Anyway?. After pitching it to the BBC, the show was given the green light to run as a radio programme on BBC Radio 4 - this early incarnation ran for six episodes, with Clive Anderson as host, and both John Sessions and Stephen Fry as the programme's regulars. During its run, the show's creators decided to adopt the approach used by an earlier BBC radio show, I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again - rather than having the show's credit read out by a traditional BBC Radio announcer, the performers in each episode were tasked with doing this themselves, but in an amusing, comedic style. Following the end of the radio series, Patterson and Leveson began discussions with the BBC on creating a televised adaption of their concept. However, the broadcaster was hesitant on making the move and delayed making a decision until after further debate on the matter, leading to Channel 4, who eagerly liked the idea, making an offer during this time that the pair accepted. Believing the adaptation of the radio show would become a hit, the first series of Whose Line was arranged to feature a total of thirteen episodes, which is uncommon in the UK as most TV series in their first year often begin with just six episodes. The move to television came with an immediate problem - although the adaptation was aimed at maintaining the same regular cast as the radio show alongside a rotation of guest performers, Fry had begun to dislike performing improvisational comedy and opted to pull out of the show before filming began, leaving Sessions, convinced by him, to remain as a regular performer for the first series. Whose Line was a success, effectively helping with the careers of its regular performers, Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, and Tony Slattery, and was boosted by the introduction of Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Greg Proops, reaching its peak by the end of the sixth series. The latter halves of the third and fourth series were filmed in New York, while the tenth series was filmed entirely at the Raleigh Studios in Hollywood. By the end of the tenth series, having run for 136 episodes between 1988 and 1999, Channel 4 decided to axe the programme following the eventual slump in the show's viewing figures. Reruns of Whose Line continued following its cancellation, though with episodes edited and reformatted as a result. The format itself was later picked up by ABC, after Stiles introduced Whose Line to Drew Carey, who subsequently pitched an American version of the same name to the TV network with great success. On 6 March 2011, over twelve years after the series finale, a special edition of the show was recorded for "24 Hour Panel People", a marathon of UK panel shows, in aid of Comic Relief. The recording was broadcast live on the Comic Relief website at about 9:30am, while the edited compilation shows for the event were shown between 13–17 March on BBC Three. Alongside Anderson hosting the show, the format was adjusted to feature five performers, and featured performances by Humphrey Ker, Josie Lawrence, Neil Mullarkey, Tony Slattery and David Walliams. In 2017, a stage-version of the show appeared at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with some members of the original cast. The initial shows were a sell-out and extra dates and shows were put on. Sell-out runs followed at the London Palladium and The Royal Albert Hall. In April 2019, it was announced that the stage-version of the show would be returning to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, with Tony Slattery returning as one of the original cast members. Most television episodes of Whose Line Is It Anyway? featured four performers (with an exception of six in a 1989 Christmas special) who sit in a line of chairs at the back of the stage. The host sat at a desk facing the large performance area in front of the performers. The host introduced each performer with a joke or pun, usually all related on a common theme or topic. The show is made up of games that are scored by the host, who declared arbitrary point values after the game, often citing a humorous reason for his decision. The points are purely decorative, served no practical purpose, and were often awarded to audience members or other arbitrary third persons. The style of the games are varied (see Games, below). Some feature all four performers, while others feature fewer. The performers who are not involved in a game remain in their seats at the back of the stage. Humorous banter between the host and the performers between games is also sometimes featured. At the conclusion of each episode, a winner or several winners are chosen arbitrarily by the host. The "prize" for winning the show is to read the credits in a certain style, chosen by the host, as they scrolled. Episodes were culled down from longer recording sessions with the best game performances chosen to compile into one or more episodes. Each series includes one or two compilation shows of unaired games from different taping sessions in that series. The number and type of games played vary from episode to episode, and whilst some games such as "Questions Only" and "Hoedown" became more common over time, others such as "Authors" and "Remote Control" faded from use. New games were created throughout the show's run. Some games, such as "Tag," are based on traditional improv games, while others are uniquely created for the series. Most games consist of a single long skit performed by the chosen performers, but some, such as "World's Worst" and "Scenes from a Hat," are played as a rapid-fire series of short skits. While all games are designed to test the performer's improvisational skill, some also test other skills, such as singing or doing impressions. Whose Line? features a number of musical games, which feature one or more of the show's resident musicians playing live backing music. Occasionally, pre-recorded music is also used. While they were good sports about it, many of the performers despised the musical games. In one episode, Stephen Fry is asked to perform a rap, and starts to do so halfheartedly, but gives up after a few words, and Ryan Stiles would frequently inject insults into the Hoedown whenever he is forced to sing it, usually pointed at the host or the Hoedown itself. Colin Mochrie would generally speak his lines instead of singing them for musical games. Some games require suggestions or topics. Depending on the game, these may be solicited directly from the studio audience during the taping, or written down by the audience and/or production staff in advance and then randomly drawn for the performers' use. The host uses a buzzer to signal the end of a game, or of individual sections in the rapid-fire games. The original BBC Radio 4 broadcasts consists of host Clive Anderson along with two guests and the two regular contestants, Stephen Fry and John Sessions. Clive Anderson stayed on as host when the show moved to television, with John Sessions resuming his role as the only regular in the first series. He subsequently became a rotating regular in the second and third series. However he appears only twice in the third series, these being his final appearances. Stephen Fry appears only occasionally on the television series. Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie first appear in the second and third series respectively; they each gradually increase the frequency of their appearances to the point that both appear in every episode from the eighth series on. Stiles is the most prolific performer on the show, having appeared in 76 of the series' 136 episodes (including compilations). Wayne Brady, who became a regular on the US version, appears in the final UK series for five episodes, including compilations. Many of the show's performers, including Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence and Sandi Toksvig, were regulars with The Comedy Store Players, an improvisational group based at London's Comedy Store. Other regular performers from the British version include a variety of British, American, and Canadian comedians such as Greg Proops, Tony Slattery, Mike McShane, Stephen Frost, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten and Jim Sweeney. The series also occasionally features celebrities in the fourth chair, such as Peter Cook, George Wendt, and Jonathan Pryce. On the original BBC Radio series, the music was provided by Colin Sell, but when the show migrated to television, Richard Vranch (also of The Comedy Store Players) became the resident musician until the last series of the British show, playing electric guitar and piano and other instruments. For the tenth series in Hollywood, Laura Hall took over, playing mainly keyboards, and went on to be the in-house musician for the American series. The first release of the U.K. show, featuring the first two series, was released on DVD in America on 27 March 2007 by A&E; Home Entertainment, and in the UK on 25 January 2008 by Channel 4. The U.K. edition is edited to remove references to the ad breaks. Also, British episodes were released on VHS (in the UK only) in the mid-1990s. Additionally, a play-at-home book was printed in 1989, related to the British series. Almost all of the UK versions (135 of 136 episodes) of Whose Line Is It Anyway? are available for free to those living in the UK on All 4. Mock the Week, Fast and Loose, Thank God You're Here, Kwik Witz, Improvisation My Dear Mark Watson, ComedySportz, Boom Chicago, The Second City, The Comedy Store Players Whose Line Is It Anyway? (often known as simply Whose Line?) is an improvisational comedy television show in the United States, an adaptation of the British show of the same name. It aired on ABC and ABC Family from August 5, 1998, to December 15, 2007, hosted by Drew Carey. A revival of the show, hosted by Aisha Tyler, began airing on The CW on July 16, 2013. The series features Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, and Wayne Brady as its regular performers with the fourth seat occupied by a guest panelist. The place consists of a panel of four performers who create characters, scenes, and songs on the spot, in the style of short-form improvisation games. Topics for the games are based on either audience suggestions or predetermined prompts from the host, who would set up a game and situation that the performers would improvise. The original host Drew Carey awarded arbitrary point values after each game, often citing a humorous reason for his decision. The points were purely decorative and served no practical purpose. He would reiterate this at the beginning of, and multiple times throughout, each episode by describing Whose Line as "the show where everything's made up and the points don't matter". The style of the games were varied (see Games, below). Some featured all four performers, while others featured fewer. Between games, the performers sat in four chairs facing the audience. The performers who were not involved in a game remained in their seats. Additionally, the show was marked by humorous banter among the performers and host. At the conclusion of each episode, a winner or several winners were chosen arbitrarily by Carey. The "prize" was either to play a game with the host, or to sit out while the other performers did so. After this game during the first season of the series, credits simply rolled under the show's theme. In the second season, the reading of the credits was performed by one or more cast members in a comedic fashion, based on a theme announced by Carey that often derived from a successful joke earlier in the show. The show's "short- form" approach to improv received criticism from some improv actors. However, performer Colin Mochrie has stated the show was never intended to be the "be- all and end-all" of improv, but that it was meant to introduce improv to the masses. Whose Line Is It Anyway? features four performers, two of whom, Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles, were featured prominently in the UK original. Another performer who made frequent, recurring appearances was Wayne Brady. During his tenure as host, Drew Carey also took part, though only in one game, after one of the performers was declared the "winner" and allowed to take his place at his desk in the studio; host Aisha Tyler does not take part in games, but occasionally joins in for quick scenes on different games (mostly Scenes from a Hat). Alongside Mochrie and Stiles, other veterans of the UK series who appeared on the U.S. version included Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, and Chip Esten. The U.S. version introduced several newcomers that took part, including Denny Siegel, Kathy Greenwood, Jeff Davis, Patrick Bristow, Stephen Colbert, Kathy Kinney, and Ian Gomez, though mainly in the early seasons of the show. Unlike the UK original, the US version occasionally featured a celebrity guest performer, such as Robin Williams, Kathy Griffin, and Whoopi Goldberg, while on other occasions, a celebrity made a guest appearance for individual games; such appearances have included Sid Caesar, David Hasselhoff, Florence Henderson, Jerry Springer, Joanie "Chyna" Laurer, Richard Simmons, Katie Harman, Jayne Trcka, the Loyola Marymount University cheerleaders, Hugh Hefner, and Lassie. Celebrity guests became a regular feature of the show beginning with season 9. Improvisational musician Laura Hall, who appeared in the final season of the UK original, joined the original U.S. format for its entire run and performed piano and keyboards in games featuring improvisational singing by the cast members. From the second season onward, other musicians joined Hall – Linda Taylor made frequent appearances playing guitar and occasionally keyboards, while Cece Worrall-Rubin, Anne King, Candy Girard, and Anna Wanselius appeared alongside Hall (and sometimes also Taylor) on occasion. The number and type of games played varied from episode to episode, yet while some games became more common over time, others faded from use. Some games are based on traditional improv games, with a considerable number brought over from the UK original, including Scenes from a Hat, Greatest Hits, Props, Hoedown, Helping Hands, Questions Only and Party Quirks. Others were new and uniquely created for both the U.S. original format, and the revived show, with several only being played once or twice, due either to the games not having been well-received by audiences, or to Stiles' reluctance to perform certain rounds. There are eight games that have been performed at least once in every season; these are Scenes from a Hat, Greatest Hits, Props, Let's Make a Date, Weird Newscasters, Duet, Helping Hands, and Questions Only. All games are designed to test the performers' improvisational comedy skills, with some games requiring the host to ask the studio audience for suggestions for specific topics or situations, while at other times these suggestions were written by the production staff, or submitted by the audience in advance, and chosen from among these. In addition, the host would control a buzzer which would signify the end of most games, or the end of individual sections of rapid-fire games such as "Scenes from a Hat". In addition to being tested on their comedy skills in improv games, the performers are also tested on other skills, such as singing, dancing, or impressions, as Whose Line features a number of musical games, with one or more of the show's resident musicians playing live backing music for them, except on a few occasions when pre- recorded music was also used. Although they had no bad feelings about these sort of games, many of the performers disliked them; while Wayne Brady turned out to be well suited to them, having Chip Esten, Jeff Davis, Brad Sherwood and Gary Anthony Williams making frequent appearances as his duet partner, Stiles frequently expressed open disdain towards the "Hoedown" game, which became a bit of a running gag, while Mochrie, who cannot sing, rarely sings any lyrics, mainly preferring to deliver his lines in a spoken word fashion, much like in the UK original. Whose Line Is It Anyway? was created by Dan Patterson and Mark Leveson in 1988 as a radio show on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. This early incarnation of the show is notable as being the origin of its tradition of having the performers read the credits in an amusing style; as it was a radio show, it was necessary for somebody to read the credits, and it was decided that it might as well be done as part of the program, rather than being done by a traditional BBC Radio announcer. This approach to reading credits was pioneered by the earlier BBC radio show I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again. Indeed, the title of the show itself is a comedic riposte to another radio show, What's My Line, merged with the title of a 1972 teleplay (and eventual theatrical play) Whose Life Is It Anyway?. The radio series lasted for six episodes, after which Channel 4 developed the franchise for television. The British television version lasted for a total of 10 seasons, with 136 episodes, all of which were hosted by Clive Anderson. Colin Mochrie and Ryan Stiles, who would later star in the U.S. version, became regular cast members in the seventh and eighth seasons. The format of the American version was very similar to the British program. A major difference was Carey's use of the game-show facade, explicitly stating at the start of each episode that "the points don't matter," and sometimes emphasizing this throughout the episodes. The difference in standards in the UK compared to U.S. prime time meant stricter censoring of both language and content on the U.S. series. Production of the American version was canceled by ABC in 2003 because of low ratings, with already-produced episodes airing first-run into 2004. The ABC Family cable channel, which had been airing repeats of the show since 2002, also showed "new" episodes from 2005 to 2006, formed from previously filmed but unaired performances. Following the cancellation, Drew Carey went on to create the short-lived Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, which premiered in 2004 on the WB. The series was very similar to Whose Line?, and featured many of the same cast. The major gimmick on that series was that the acting was done in front of a green screen, and animators later added cartoon imagery to the scenes. Carey and several cast members also started touring North America with a live-action show called (Drew Carey's) Improv All-Stars. The show was a live stage show similar to Whose Line?, and featuring many of the same games, though also with some new ones. The live shows started in 2003, and since 2006, are only seen on occasion, mostly due to Carey's current television obligations. Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood and Drew Carey performed at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal as "Improv All-Stars" in 2003 and 2004. Since 2005, Mochrie and Sherwood have toured semi-regularly as An Evening With Colin and Brad. The show was recorded on Stage 29 at Paramount Studios. Greg Proops and Ryan Stiles presented Stiles & Proops Unplanned which was a live improv comedy show based on the successful Baddiel and Skinner Unplanned format that took place at Centaur Theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in July 2008. They also tour with former co-star Jeff Davis under the name Whose Live Anyway? doing live improv. Proops appeared as Max Madigan on Nickelodeon's True Jackson, VP, and is currently hosting Head Games on The Science Channel and was the host of "Odd News" segments for Yahoo! (now called Broken News Daily) while Esten has made multiple appearances in various TV series including The Office, ER (also produced by Warner Bros.) and Big Love and guest-starred in Enlightened. In 2007, Mochrie was host of a five-episode run of Are You Smarter Than a Canadian 5th Grader? on Global TV in Canada. Carey, Stiles, Brady, and Esten were all later employed by American television network CBS; Carey succeeded Bob Barker as the host of the long-running game show The Price Is Right (after a short stint as host of another game show, Power of 10). In addition, Sherwood and Davis served as guest announcers for the 2010-11 season of The Price Is Right, after the departure of Rich Fields, who was eventually replaced by George Gray. Stiles appeared as a supporting character on the sitcom Two and a Half Men. Esten had a recurring role on The New Adventures of Old Christine and made a guest appearance in , before moving to star in the ABC drama Nashville. Brady had a summer variety show on ABC in 2001, The Wayne Brady Show and then hosted a daytime talk show of the same name for two seasons, starting in September 2002. He also was the host of Fox's Don't Forget the Lyrics. In 2007, he made a guest appearance in one episode of 30 Rock, and has made several appearances on How I Met Your Mother as Barney Stinson's homosexual brother. He also had a couple of guest appearances on Chappelle's Show. Since October 5, 2009, Brady has been the host of CBS' revival of the classic game show Let's Make a Deal. Featuring Jonathan Mangum as announcer and Co-Host, this new iteration utilized some classic elements of improv from Whose Line, most notably Brady's singing and comedic abilities, occasionally breaking out into spontaneous musical improv in front of or involving contestants, and not being a stipulated aspect of the particular game to be played. As of 2009, every main Whose Line participant has hosted at least one game show except Ryan Stiles. On November 18, 2010, Variety announced that Drew Carey would start a primetime improv show on GSN. The series, entitled Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, debuted on April 11, 2011, and featured most of the Whose Line regular cast before ending in June 2011; Rich Fields was the announcer for the series. A second season was not ordered and the show was terminated. On July 10, 2012, ABC premiered a new improv comedy series featuring several of the Whose Line alumni called Trust Us With Your Life. Some of the players included Colin Mochrie, Wayne Brady, Greg Proops, Jonathan Mangum, and Nicole Parker. However, on July 30, after only six episodes had aired, ABC pulled the remaining episodes after its host Fred Willard was arrested on a lewd-conduct charge at the Tiki Theater, an adult movie theater in Hollywood, California. In February 2013, Ryan Stiles revealed in an interview that he would be returning to Los Angeles in April for a new season of Whose Line, hosted by Aisha Tyler and featuring the original cast of the U.S. version. Colin Mochrie would later confirm the revival. Whose Line Is It Anyway? returned to television, this time on The CW, with Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, and Wayne Brady, and Aisha Tyler taking the role of the host (Brady also continued to host Let's Make a Deal at the time). In addition to the traditional rotating fourth improv player (often drawn from same pool of regulars that appeared on the original show), a new feature was that of a "special guest". This fifth player would not necessarily have an improv background, but would still participate in some of the improv games. The initial summer run was made up of twelve half-hour episodes with the three veteran players joined by a featured player, along with a different special guest for each episode who would play in some of the games. On July 29, 2013, The CW announced that it had renewed the show for a 24-episode season, airing Fridays at 8 ET/PT starting March 21, 2014, due to solid ratings. Illness prevented Stiles from appearing in two season 10 episodes, the first Whose Line shows he had missed in nearly 20 years, dating back to the original British series. Frequent guest Greg Proops filled in for Stiles on these occasions. On July 18, 2014, The CW announced that the show would be returning for a 24-episode eleventh season (and third season on The CW) which started airing on April 17, 2015. On August 11, 2015, the series was renewed for a twelfth season (fourth on The CW) to start airing May 23, 2016. On October 24, 2016, The CW renewed the show for a thirteenth season (fifth season on The CW) to start airing May 29, 2017. On October 26, 2017, The CW renewed the show for a fourteenth season (sixth season on the CW). The first two episodes aired June 4, 2018. On October 9, 2018, The CW renewed the show for a fifteenth season (seventh season on the CW) that began airing June 17, 2019. Several of the performers, including the three regulars Brady, Mochrie and Stiles, had previously appeared in the original UK run of Whose Line; other performers who had made appearances in the British version are Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten, Karen Maruyama and Josie Lawrence, as well as musician Laura Hall. Mochrie and Stiles have been regulars since the show started airing in the States, whilst Brady became a regular from season 2 to 7, and from season 9 onwards, appearing as a recurring performer in seasons 1 and 8. Mochrie is the only performer to have appeared in every episode of the U.S. series of Whose Line?, with Stiles having missed two recordings due to illness. Proops and Sherwood are the two most prolific recurring performers, having appeared in almost 70 episodes each. The original host of the U.S. show was Drew Carey, who appeared in every episode of seasons 1–8. Carey notably took more of an active role in the show than his predecessor Clive Anderson, as following the announcement of the "winner" of each show, Carey would perform a game with the other performers. After the CW revival in 2013, Aisha Tyler took over as host, as Carey was the host of The Price is Right, which ran at the same time as Whose Line; however, Carey is mentioned numerous times by Tyler and the other performers. Unlike Carey, Tyler does not perform full games with the other performers; however, she does occasionally interject in quick fire games such as Scenes from a Hat with her own suggestions or to help another performer with their scene. Greg Proops – 71 episodes, Brad Sherwood – 70 episodes, Charles "Chip" Esten – 42 episodes, Jeff Davis – 40 episodes, Kathy Greenwood – 33 episodes, Gary Anthony Williams – 22 episodes, Jonathan Mangum – 19 episodes, Denny Siegel – 14 episodes, Heather Anne Campbell – 11 episodes, Keegan-Michael Key – 9 episodes, Nyima Funk – 4 episodes, Kathy Griffin – 4 episodes, Karen Maruyama – 3 episodes Laura Hall – 294 episodes, Linda Taylor – 185 episodes, Cece Worrall – 37 episodes, Anne King – 10 episodes, Anna Wanselius – 6 episodes Seasons 1–8 Patrick Bristow – 2 episodes, Stephen Colbert – 2 episodes, Whoopi Goldberg – 2 episodes, Ian Gomez – 2 episodes, Josie Lawrence – 2 episodes, Jerry Springer – 2 episodes, Kathy Kinney (season 1, episode 6), Robin Williams (season 3, episode 9), Lassie and Sid Caesar (season 4, episode 15), Hugh Hefner, Ava Fabian, and Victoria Fuller (season 4, episode 24), Katie Harman, Miss America 2002 (Season 5, episode 2), Florence Henderson (season 5, episode 4), Joanie "Chyna" Laurer (season 5, episode 8), Richard Simmons (season 5, episode 17), David Hasselhoff (Season 5, episode 19), Jayne Trcka (Season 5, episode 21), Veena and Neena Bidasha (Season 5, episode 25), Undarma Darihu (Season 5, episode 28), Loyola Marymount University Cheerleaders (Season 6, episode 6), Santa Claus and Donner (Season 8, episode 6) Season 9 Lauren Cohan (episode 1), Kevin McHale (episode 2), Candice Accola (episode 3), Kyle Richards (episode 4), Mary Killman and Mariya Koroleva (episode 5), Wilson Bethel (episode 6), Lisa Leslie (episode 7), Laila Ali (episode 9), Maggie Q (episode 10), Chloe Butler (episode 11), Shawn Johnson (episode 12) Season 10 Kat Graham (episode 1), Tara Lipinski (episode 2), Verne Troyer (episode 3), Darren Criss (episode 4), Michael Weatherly (episode 5), Byambajav Ulambayar (episode 6), Nolan Gould (episode 7), Mircea Monroe (episode 8), Jack Osbourne (episode 10), Rob Gronkowski (episode 11), Robbie Amell (episode 12), Misha Collins (episode 13), Sheryl Underwood (episode 14), Mel B. (episode 15), Kunal Nayyar (episode 16), Padma Lakshmi (episode 18), Matt Barnes (episode 20), Brian Shaw (episode 22), Wendi McLendon-Covey (episode 23) Season 11 Cedric the Entertainer (episode 1), Adelaide Kane (episode 2), Jaime Camil (episode 4), Scott Porter (episode 5), Willie Robertson (episode 6), Heather Morris (episode 7), Vernon Davis (episode 8), Penn & Teller (episode 10), Kathie Lee Gifford (episode 11), Randy Couture (episode 12), Gina Rodriguez (episode 13), Nina Agdal (episode 15), Bill Nye (episode 17), Carson Kressley (episode 19) Season 12 Alfonso Ribeiro (episode 1), Karla Souza (episode 3), Yvette Nicole Brown (episode 4), Kaitlin Doubleday (episode 5), Lolo Jones (episode 6), Joey Fatone (episode 8), Tamera Mowry (episode 9), Misty May-Treanor (episode 11), Lyndie Greenwood (episode 12), Chris Jericho (episode 13), Rachel Bloom (episode 14), Lea Thompson (episode 15), Katie Cassidy (episode 16), Brett Dier (episode 17), Emily Bett Rickards (episode 18), Cheryl Hines (episode 20) Season 13 Tony Hawk (episode 1), The Bella Twins (episode 2), Candice Patton (episode 3), Malcolm Goodwin (episode 4), Wil Wheaton (episode 5), Kearran Giovanni (episode 6), Ralph Macchio (episode 8), Tony Cavalero (episode 9), Jillian Michaels (episode 10), Wanya Morris (episode 12), Danielle Panabaker (episode 13), Marisol Nichols (episode 14), Grace Byers (episode 15) Season 14 Ross Mathews (episode 1), Andrea Navedo (episode 3), Carmen Electra (episode 12), Cornelius Smith Jr. (episode 15), Lance Bass (episode 17) Season 15 Chris Hardwick (episode 1), Tinashe (episode 2), Elizabeth Gillies (episode 4), Adam Rippon (episode 6), Christopher Jackson (episode 8), Adrienne Houghton (episode 10) Won: 2003: Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for Wayne Brady Nominated: 2001: Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program' for Wayne Brady, 2002: Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program' for Wayne Brady, 2002: Emmy Award for 'Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program' for Ryan Stiles The U.S. version of Whose Line? has been broadcast in the UK, originally on Channel 4. Challenge was the first non-terrestrial channel to broadcast the show for a brief period in 2005. From 2007 to 2012, 5USA aired the show. In Canada, the show also ran on the CTV network from 1998 to 2003, and then on The Comedy Network from 2003 onwards. The show's original run in Australia was on the Nine Network in an early morning time slot; One repeated the program from 2011. It also airs on The Comedy Channel. In New Zealand, the show was broadcast on the Box. From 2014, South African youth channel Vuzu started airing the CW revival. In India, the earlier seasons were aired on FX while the revived series has been aired on Comedy Central. The first DVD, Season 1, Volume 1, of the U.S. version of Whose Line? was released on September 26, 2006. It comes in "censored" or "uncensored" versions. Both releases include the first ten episodes of the first season, with the episodes being the same on either version. The first seven episodes have had their original theme music (including all credits and ad bumpers) replaced with the version used for the rest of the episodes. Warner Home Video released Season 1, Volume 2 on October 9, 2007, but only in an "uncensored" version. Warner Home Video released a two-disc "best of" compilation with ten episodes on June 9, 2009. Featured in this release were celebrity guest episodes including appearances by David Hasselhoff, Florence Henderson, Jerry Springer, Richard Simmons and bodybuilder Jayne Trcka, along with the hour- long "Best of Whose Line" compilation episode aired at the beginning of season three. List of Whose Line Is It Anyway? episodes, Drew Carey's Green Screen Show, Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza, Kwik Witz, Trust Us With Your Life, Wild 'n Out Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The CW website, includes all past U.S. episodes, Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Hat Trick Productions website Colin Andrew Mochrie (; born November 30, 1957) is a Scottish-born Canadian actor, writer, producer and improvisational comedian, best known for his appearances on the British and US versions of the improvisational TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? Mochrie honed his comedic talents with Vancouver's TheatreSports League and Toronto's Second City theatre. He has appeared in dozens of television series and films, as well as theatrical shows. With his wife, comedian Debra McGrath, Mochrie co-wrote, co-produced and co-starred in Getting Along Famously and She's the Mayor. He has written for numerous other series and events, and wrote and performed for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Mochrie's work has been recognized with numerous awards, including two Canadian Comedy Awards, a Gemini Award, and a Writers Guild of Canada award. He was named Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the 2013 Canadian Comedy Awards. Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, the oldest of three children. His father was an airline maintenance executive. He was shy as a child, stating that neighbours would have commented that he "watched way too much television." In 1964, his family moved to a French neighbourhood just outside Montreal, Quebec, and five years later moved again to Vancouver, British Columbia. Mochrie attended Killarney Secondary School, where he was a self- proclaimed loner who wanted to become a marine biologist. He was persuaded by a friend to try out for a play titled The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch in which Mochrie played the role of the undertaker. He was hooked when he got his first laugh, which paved the way for a career in entertainment. After graduating from high school as valedictorian, Mochrie attended the Studio 58 theatre school in Vancouver for four years, where he discovered the art of improvisational comedy. Upon graduation from Studio 58, Mochrie found his first line of work as a member of the Vancouver TheatreSports League. He started working with the group in 1980. Fame was slow to start, as Mochrie "literally had to pull people out of McDonald's to come see the shows." Mochrie originally had parts in plays while working for the group, though after a time working for the TheatreSports League became a full-time job for Mochrie. He met fellow improvisor Ryan Stiles during this time. He was visiting a mutual friend in New Zealand when Stiles was doing comedy at Punchlines. After the two met, Stiles and Mochrie began working at TheatreSports together. Though it has been stated that the two met while members of The Second City, the pair were already close friends, according to both Mochrie and Susan Trimbee, the former manager of The Second City Toronto (1985–1988). Following Expo '86, Mochrie ended his tenure with the Vancouver TheatreSports League and moved to Toronto. Once there, Mochrie auditioned for The Second City comedy troupe, where Stiles was working. He began performing with the Second City National Touring Company where he met Debra McGrath, who was the director of the company at the time. The two were married in 1989 and had a child, Kinley, in 1990. Mochrie worked for The Second City for three years, co-writing and starring in three productions and directing three seasons of their national touring company. As a member of the touring company, he performed in many skits, including one where he and two others are at a bar, and they help him to rewrite an anecdote from his youth involving his father taking him to a baseball game; and a five- minute version of a James Bond movie, complete with Mochrie in a downhill ski chase and parachuting off a cliff. Upon finishing his stint with Second City in 1988, Mochrie's career was quiet for a while as he spent some time with his new wife and child. In 1989, he auditioned for the new British Channel 4 improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, but did not make the cut. Mochrie has stated that the audition was a good learning experience because while improv is about setting other people up to be funny, auditions should be about giving yourself the chance to stand out. He moved to Los Angeles the following year, but again auditioned for the British Whose Line, this time making the cut and being asked to fly to London. He appeared on one episode and was again let go. The third time he auditioned, he earned a regular spot on the show. He spent seven years as a regular on the UK version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and remained a cast member until the show's end in 1998. After the British version of the show ended its run, Mochrie joined the American version of Whose Line? hosted by Drew Carey on ABC. He was brought on alongside Ryan Stiles, who was also a regular member of the UK cast. Mochrie appeared on every episode from its debut in August 1998 to its finale in 2006. He noted his favourite games as "Scenes From a Hat", where he would have to act out scenes based on suggestions by audience members, and "Whose Line" where he and Stiles would act out a scene and have to add in lines written on pieces of paper. He felt that his weak spots were the musical segments and the "Hoedown" game, which he said was the only time during the show when he felt total fear. Mochrie, who cannot sing, usually spoke his lines instead of singing them. Mochrie's co-stars on the show would frequently mock him for being Canadian, and for his receding hairline. Very early on in the UK version however, Mochrie still had a fairly full head of hair, and the bald jokes were done at the expense of the UK host, Clive Anderson. In the American version, he would often perform the female role in certain frequently-performed skits, such as "Whose Line" and "Two Line Vocabulary". In the few times he played the man in the scene, the producers were making further fun of his baldness (e.g. Colin was Samson, and Ryan was his girlfriend, and Samson had lost all his strength because Ryan had cut off his hair). According to Mochrie's agent, Jeff Andrews, during the show's run Mochrie was better known in Canada as a "commercial king", performing as characters such the Detergent Crusader for Sunlight detergent. In March 2005, a Nabisco advertising campaign starred Mochrie as the "Snack Fairy", in which he wears a ballet tutu over ordinary slacks and a shirt. At the end of each commercial, he declares "Snack happy!" and waves his scepter while sporting a smile. Mochrie remained active elsewhere during his tenure as a Whose Line cast member. In early 1994, he played the role of Mike Brady in a musical version of The Brady Bunch, directed by fellow Second City member Bruce Pirrie. In the production, Mochrie plays the character as caffeine-fuelled, jittery, and neurotic, an exaggeration of the Mike Brady television character, who often had a coffee in his hand on the show. Shortly before his move to the US version of Whose Line in 1998, Mochrie starred in Supertown Challenge as the host of game shows, which the show spoofed. He also appeared in several episodes of the Canadian improvisational comedy series Improv Heaven and Hell. In an interview, it was revealed that in 1999 Mochrie worked on the Miloš Forman film Man on the Moon, but his scenes were deleted from the final movie. Mochrie was a guest star in three episodes of The Drew Carey Show: "She's Gotta Have It" (1999), "Drew Live" (1999), and "Drew Live II" (2000). He also appeared on Nickelodeon's Figure It Out as a celebrity guest panelist; in one segment of the show, he was slimed. He had a one-liner in the "Bad Hare Day" episode of Goosebumps, and he made special guest appearances in several episodes of The Red Green Show. From 2001 through 2002, Mochrie co-starred in the Canadian comedy series Blackfly for the series' two seasons. He appeared in This Hour Has 22 Minutes on CBC Television from 2001 through 2003, and on the WB Television Network series Drew Carey's Green Screen Show in 2004. In 2003, Mochrie, Leslie Nielsen, Wayne Gretzky, and Roy Halladay appeared in print and television advertisements to encourage people to visit Toronto after the SARS outbreak that struck the city. In May 2004, he hosted a tongue-in- cheek guide to surviving animal attacks on Animal Planet known as Wild Survival Guide. He has done a commercial supporting Habitat For Humanity. He appeared briefly in a commercial for Buckley's Cough Syrup, and he was featured in a commercial for New York Fries, manning a steamroller. He appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as the superhero Overly Sensitive Man (inspired from Whose Line). By 2004, Mochrie was appearing in so many media spots that a new Canadian television series, Corner Gas, made light of it by having him do a cameo appearance in the tenth episode. In 2005, Mochrie appeared in "Burnt Toast", a series of eight comedic mini-operas, each depicting a different stage of a romantic relationship in a contemporary setting, produced by Canada's Rhombus Media. He also appeared in an episode of The Surreal Gourmet. Along with Rosie O'Donnell, Mochrie hosts a video introduction to a tour of the bakery in the Pacific Wharf area of Disney California Adventure Park. In the video, he helps explain how sourdough bread is made. On December 25, 2005, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation premièred the TV movie The Magical Gathering. Mochrie starred in this, and his daughter Kinley co-starred as Mochrie's character at a younger age. Mochrie starred in Getting Along Famously in 2006. In February 2007, he made a guest appearance as a priest in the seventh episode of Little Mosque on the Prairie, a Canadian television comedy series. On March 28, 2007, Mochrie and his Whose Line costar Brad Sherwood hosted part of the Press Correspondents' Dinner with the President. At that event, Sherwood and Mochrie featured Deputy White House Chief of Staff Karl Rove rapping. Rove's only line was "MC Rove". On August 29, 2007, it was announced that Mochrie would host the Canadian version of the game show Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?. The first of five episodes aired on October 25, 2007. As a result, Mochrie became the fifth member of the American Whose Line? cast to become a game show host, after colleagues Brad Sherwood (The Dating Game and The Big Moment), Greg Proops (VS., Head Games and Rendez-View), Wayne Brady (Don't Forget the Lyrics! and Let's Make A Deal), and Drew Carey (Power of 10 and The Price Is Right). The image of Mochrie's face is used extensively in Animutation, a style of Flash animation. Neil Cicierega, the father of Animutation, would place Mochrie in almost every Animutation he made, making the inclusion of him in Animutation somewhat of a running gag. Mochrie is aware of his status among Animutation artists and fans, having been quoted, "It was very odd when I first saw the animutations. Obviously, the animators are more than a little crazy, but I am very proud of my standing in the animutation arena and hope that some day I can make millions off of it." In 2010, he acted in the Canadian television sitcom She's the Mayor, which debuted in 2011. On July 19, 2010, Mochrie starred as the divorce lawyer working on the case of Spinner and Emma in Degrassi Takes Manhattan. In 2011, Mochrie appeared as a regular cast member on Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza on GSN. In 2012, Mochrie starred in the ABC improv comedy series Trust Us with Your Life. Mochrie returned for the CW network's revival of Whose Line Is It Anyway? in the summer of 2013. He had a recurring role in the short-lived television comedy series Working the Engels. In 2017 Mochrie made a cameo appearance complete with his trademark dry humour, as Ralph Fellows a hotel detective in an episode (11/3) of the Canadian detective TV series Murdoch Mysteries. Mochrie and Whose Line co-star Brad Sherwood have intermittently toured North America as a two-man stage show since 2002. Initially called "An Evening with Colin and Brad", they played primarily in small theatre venues. A DVD of their performances, "Colin & Brad: Two Man Group" was released on March 8, 2011. As of 2018, Mochrie and Sherwood have continued their performances, currently billed as the "Scared Scriptless Tour", and playing in larger venues such as the Sydney Opera House, and Royal Albert Hall in London. Mochrie lives with his wife, Canadian actress Debra McGrath, in Toronto. The two have been married since January 8, 1989 and together, they have a daughter, Kinley Mochrie (b. September 3, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada). In 2017, with her permission, Mochrie revealed that Kinley is transgender on Twitter. Mochrie has been nominated for five Canadian Comedy Awards and has won two. He has also won a Gemini Award and a Writers Guild of Canada award for This Hour Has 22 Minutes. In 2013, Mochrie was awarded Canadian Comedy Person of the Year at the Canadian Comedy Awards. Official website, TV.com profile, Evening with Colin & Brad live tour The Comedy Couch Colin Mochrie interview, 10 May 2005, Audio interview with Colin Mochrie, 18 January 2006, Interview, December 2006, Tempo Toronto interview

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Homelessness is defined as living in housing that is below the minimum standard or lacks secure tenure. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: living on the streets (primary homelessness); moving between temporary shelters, including houses of friends, family and emergency accommodation (secondary homelessness); living in private boarding houses without a private bathroom and/or security of tenure (tertiary homelessness). The legal definition of homeless varies from country to country, or among different jurisdictions in the same country or region. According to the UK homelessness charity Crisis, a home is not just a physical space: it also provides roots, identity, security, a sense of belonging and a place of emotional wellbeing. United States government homeless enumeration studies also include people who sleep in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. People who are homeless are most often unable to acquire and maintain regular, safe, secure and adequate housing due to a lack of, or an unsteady income. Homelessness and poverty are interrelated. There is no methodological consent on counting the homeless and identifying their special needs, therefore in most of the cities only estimated homeless population is known. In 2005, an estimated 100 million (1 in 65 at the time) people worldwide were homeless and as many as 1 billion people live as squatters, refugees or in temporary shelter, all lacking adequate housing. Historically in the Western countries, the majority of homeless have been men (50–80%), with single males particularly overrepresented. In 2015, the United States reported that there were 564,708 homeless people within its borders, one of the higher reported figures worldwide. These figures are likely underestimates as surveillance for the homeless population is challenging. When compared to the general population, people who are homeless experience higher rates of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, which renders them vulnerable to health conditions associated with changes in climate. Chronic disease severity, respiratory conditions, rates of mental health illnesses and substance use are all often greater in homeless populations than the general population. Homelessness is also associated with a high risk of suicide attempts. People experiencing homelessness have limited access to resources and are often disengaged from health services, making them that much more susceptible to extreme weather events (e.g., extreme cold or heat) and ozone levels. These disparities often result in increased morbidity and mortality in the homeless population. There are a number of organizations who provide help for the homeless. Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. These services often provide food, shelter (beds) and clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations (often with the help of volunteers) or by government departments or agencies. These programs may be supported by the government, charities, churches and individual donors. Many cities also have street newspapers, which are publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people. While some homeless have jobs, some must seek other methods to make a living. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. People who are homeless may have additional conditions, such as physical or mental health issues or substance addiction; these issues make resolving homelessness a challenging policy issue. Homeless people, and homeless organizations, are sometimes accused or convicted of fraudulent behavior. Criminals are also known to exploit homeless people, ranging from identity theft to tax and welfare scams. These incidents often lead to negative connotations on the homeless as a group. In 2004, the United Nations sector of Economic and Social Affairs defined a homeless household as those households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters due to a lack of or a steady income. They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in another space, on a more or less random basis. In 2009, at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Conference of European Statisticians (CES), held in Geneva, Switzerland, the Group of Experts on Population and Housing Censuses defined homelessness as: In its Recommendations for the Censuses of Population and Housing, the CES identifies homeless people under two broad groups: (a) Primary homelessness (or rooflessness). This category includes persons living in the streets without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters; (b) Secondary homelessness. This category may include persons with no place of usual residence who move frequently between various types of accommodations (including dwellings, shelters, and institutions for the homeless or other living quarters). This category includes persons living in private dwellings but reporting 'no usual address' on their census form. The CES acknowledges that the above approach does not provide a full definition of the 'homeless'. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 10 December 1948 by the UN General Assembly, contains this text regarding housing and quality of living: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. Homelessness is perceived and addressed differently according to country. The European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion (ETHOS) was developed as a means of improving understanding and measurement of homelessness in Europe, and to provide a common "language" for transnational exchanges on homelessness. The ETHOS approach confirms that homelessness is a process (rather than a static phenomenon) that affects many vulnerable households at different points in their lives. The typology was launched in 2005 and is used for different purposes: as a framework for debate, for data collection purposes, for policy purposes, monitoring purposes, and in the media. This typology is an open exercise which makes abstraction of existing legal definitions in the EU member states. It exists in 25 language versions, the translations being provided mainly by volunteer translators. The terms unsheltered and unhoused refer to that segment of a homeless community who do not have ordinary lawful access to buildings in which to sleep; the latter term is defined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as describing persons occupying "place not designed for ... sleeping accommodation for human beings". Such persons frequently prefer the term houseless to the term homeless. Recent homeless enumeration survey documentation utilizes the term unsheltered homeless. The common colloquial term street people does not fully encompass all unsheltered people, in that many such persons do not spend their time in urban street environments. Many shun such locales, because homeless people in urban environments may face the risk of being robbed or beaten up. Some people convert unoccupied or abandoned buildings ("squatting"), or inhabit mountainous areas or, more often, lowland meadows, creek banks and beaches. Many jurisdictions have developed programs to provide short-term emergency shelter during particularly cold spells, often in churches or other institutional properties. These are referred to as warming centers, and are credited by their advocates as lifesaving. HUD requires jurisdictions which participate in Continuum of Care grant programs to count their homeless every two years. These counts have led to a variety of creative measures to avoid undercounting. Thus teams of counters, often numbering in the hundreds in logistically complex volunteer efforts, seek out the unsheltered in various nooks and crannies. These counts include people sleeping in official shelters and people sleeping in parks, alleys and other outdoor locations. A portion of the homeless population are generally in transit, but there is no generally accepted terminology to describe them; some nomenclature is frequently associated with derogatory connotations, and thus the professional and vernacular lingo to describe these persons is both evolving and not lacking in controversy. Much of the concern stems from the European situation, where homeless persons of Roma, Sinti and other ethnic descent have rejected the term gypsy, which they view as a racial slur. Other terms which some use regarding in-transit persons are: transient, vagabond, tramp or drifter. Occasionally, these terms are interchanged with terms not necessarily implying that the person is a traveler, e.g. hobo. The pejorative term bum is used for persons who are alleged to be lacking a work ethic. The term transient is frequently used in police reports, without any precise definitions across jurisdictions. Following the Peasants' Revolt, English constables were authorized under 1383 English Poor Laws statute to collar vagabonds and force them to show support; if they could not, the penalty was gaol. Vagabonds could be sentenced to the stocks for three days and nights; in 1530, whipping was added. The presumption was that vagabonds were unlicensed beggars. In 1547, a bill was passed that subjected vagrants to some of the more extreme provisions of the criminal law, namely two years servitude and branding with a "V" as the penalty for the first offense and death for the second. Large numbers of vagabonds were among the convicts transported to the American colonies in the 18th century. During the 16th century in England, the state first tried to give housing to vagrants instead of punishing them, by introducing bridewells to take vagrants and train them for a profession. In the 17th and 18th centuries, these were replaced by workhouses but these were intended to discourage too much reliance on state help. The growing movement toward social concern sparked the development of rescue missions, such as the U.S. first rescue mission, the New York City Rescue Mission, founded in 1872 by Jerry and Maria McAuley. In smaller towns, there were hobos, who temporarily lived near train tracks and hopped onto trains to various destinations. Especially following the American Civil War, a large number of homeless men formed part of a counterculture known as "hobohemia" all over the United States. This phenomenon re-surged in the 1930s during and after the Great Depression. How the Other Half Lives and Jack London's The People of the Abyss (1903) discussed homelessness, and raised public awareness, which caused some changes in building codes and some social conditions. In England, dormitory housing called "spikes" was provided by local boroughs. By the 1930s in England, there were 30,000 people living in these facilities. In 1933, George Orwell wrote about poverty in London and Paris, in his book Down and Out in Paris and London. In general, in most countries, many towns and cities had an area which contained the poor, transients, and afflicted, such as a "skid row". In New York City, for example, there was an area known as "the Bowery", traditionally, where alcoholics were to be found sleeping on the streets, bottle in hand. The Great Depression of the 1930s caused a devastating epidemic of poverty, hunger, and homelessness. There were two million homeless people migrating across the United States. Many lived in shantytowns they called "Hoovervilles". In the 1960s, the nature and growing problem of homelessness changed in England as public concern grew. The number of people living "rough" in the streets had increased dramatically. However, beginning with the Conservative administration's Rough Sleeper Initiative, the number of people sleeping rough in London fell dramatically. This initiative was supported further by the incoming Labour administration from 2009 onwards with the publication of the 'Coming in from the Cold' strategy published by the Rough Sleepers Unit, which proposed and delivered a massive increase in the number of hostel bed spaces in the capital and an increase in funding for street outreach teams, who work with rough sleepers to enable them to access services. Modern homelessness started as a result of economic stresses in society and reductions in the availability of affordable housing such as single room occupancies (SROs) for poorer people. In the United States, in the 1970s, the deinstitutionalisation of patients from state psychiatric hospitals was a precipitating factor that seeded the homeless population, especially in large cities like New York City. This theory is vigorously disputed by clinical psychologist Seth Farber who points out that "the emptying of the state mental hospitals took place almost entirely in the 1960s and 1970s," a decade or more before the steep rise in homelessness which began in the late 1980s. Some feel that Ronald Reagan's signing (as governor of California in 1967) of the Lanterman–Petris–Short Act greatly exacerbated homelessness among the mentally ill. This law lowered the standards for involuntary commitment in civil courtrooms and was followed by significant de-funding of 1700 hospitals caring for mental patients . The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 was a predisposing factor in setting the stage for homelessness in the United States. Long-term psychiatric patients were released from state hospitals into SROs and supposed to be sent to community mental health centers for treatment and follow-up, but it never quite worked out properly. The community mental health centers mostly did not materialize, and this population largely was found living in the streets soon thereafter with no sustainable support system. Also, as real estate prices and neighborhood pressure increased to move these people out of their areas, the SROs diminished in number, putting most of their residents in the streets. The Bay Area is booming with economically successful people who end up driving up the price of housing and increases the divide between the people who need the housing and the new houses being built. Other populations were mixed in later, such as people losing their homes for economic reasons, those with addictions, the elderly, and others. Trends in homelessness are closely tied to neighborhood conditions, according to a report by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in 1990. In 2002, research showed that children and families were the largest growing segment of the homeless population in the United States, and this has presented new challenges, especially in services, to agencies. Some trends involving the plight of homeless people have provoked some thought, reflection and debate. One such phenomenon is paid physical advertising, colloquially known as "sandwich board men". Another trend is the side-effect of unpaid free advertising of companies and organizations on shirts, clothing, and bags, to be worn by homeless and poor people, given out and donated by companies to homeless shelters and charitable organizations for otherwise altruistic purposes. These trends are reminiscent of the "sandwich board signs" carried by poor people in the time of Charles Dickens in the Victorian 19th century in England and later during the Great Depression in the United States in the 1930s. In the US, the government asked many major cities to come up with a ten-year plan to end homelessness. One of the results of this was a "Housing first" solution. The Housing First program offers homeless people access to housing without having to undergo tests for sobriety and drug usage. Weekly staff visits as well as a normal lease agreement are also a part of the program. Consumers have to pay 30 percent of their income every month as rent. Rather than to have a homeless person remain in an emergency homeless shelter it was thought to be better to quickly get the person permanent housing of some sort and the necessary support services to sustain a new home. But there are many complications of this kind of program which must be dealt with to make such an initiative work successfully in the middle to long term. The Housing First program seems to benefit the homeless in every aspect except for substance abuse, for which the program offers little accountability. An emerging consensus is that the Housing First program still gives clients a higher chance at retaining their housing once they get it. A few critical voices argue that it misuses resources and does more harm than good; they suggest that it encourages rent seeking and that there is not yet enough evidence-based research on the effects of this program on the homeless population. Some formerly homeless people, who were finally able to obtain housing and other assets which helped to return to a normal lifestyle, have donated money and volunteer services to the organizations that provided aid to them during their homelessness. Alternatively, some social service entities that help homeless people now employ formerly homeless individuals to assist in the care process. Homelessness has migrated toward rural and suburban areas. The number of homeless people has not changed dramatically but the number of homeless families has increased according to a report of HUD. The United States Congress appropriated $25 million in the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants for 2008 to show the effectiveness of Rapid Re-housing programs in reducing family homelessness. In February 2009, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, part of which addressed homelessness prevention, allocating $1.5 billion for a Homeless Prevention Fund. The Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) program's name was changed to Emergency Solution Grant (ESG) program, and funds were re-allocated to assist with homeless prevention and rapid re-housing for families and individuals. On 20 May 2009, President Obama signed the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act into Public Law (Public Law 111-22 or "PL 111-22"), reauthorizing HUD's Homeless Assistance programs. It was part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009. The HEARTH act allowed for the prevention of homelessness, rapid re-housing, consolidation of housing programs, and new homeless categories. In the eighteen months after the bill's signing, HUD was to make regulations implementing this new McKinney program. The HEARTH Act also codified in law the Continuum of Care planning process, long a part of HUD's application process to assist homeless persons by providing greater coordination in responding to their needs. This final rule integrated the regulation of the definition of homeless and the corresponding record-keeping requirements, for the Shelter Plus Care program and the Supportive Housing Program. This final rule also established the regulation for the definition developmental disability and the definition and record-keeping requirements for homeless individual with a disability for the Shelter Plus Care program and the Supportive Housing Program. In late 2009, some homeless advocacy organizations, such as the National Coalition for the Homeless, reported and published perceived problems with the HEARTH Act of 2009 as a HUD McKinney- Vento Reauthorization bill, especially with regard to privacy, definitional ineligibility, community roles, and restrictions on eligible activities. Major reasons and information about homelessness as documented by many reports and studies include: Domestic violence, Forced eviction. In many countries, people lose their homes by government orders to make way for newer upscale high rise buildings, roadways, and other governmental needs. The compensation may be minimal, in which case the former occupants cannot find appropriate new housing and become homeless., Foreclosures on landlords often lead to eviction of their tenants. "The Sarasota, Florida, Herald Tribune noted that, by some estimates, more than 311,000 tenants nationwide have been evicted from homes this year after lenders took over the properties.", Gentrification, the process where a neighborhood becomes popular with wealthier people, and the poor residents are priced out, Lack of accessible healthcare, Lack of affordable housing; in Oregon specifically, inadequate housing is also a driver of foster care placements increasing from 13% to 17% over a two-year period of time, Transitions from foster care and other public systems; specifically youth who have been involved in and/or a part of the foster care system are more likely to become homeless. Most leaving the system have no support and no income, making it nearly impossible to break the cycle and forcing them to live on the streets. There is also a lack of shelter beds for youth; various shelters too have strict and stringent admissions policies. Afflicted with a disability, especially where disability services are non-existent, inconvenient, or poorly performing, Afflicted with a mental disorder, where mental health services are unavailable or difficult to access. A United States federal survey done in 2005 indicated that at least one-third of homeless men and women have serious psychiatric disorders or problems. Autism spectrum disorders and schizophrenia are the top two common mental disabilities among the U.S. homeless. Personality disorders are also very prevalent, especially Cluster A ., Migration, either domestic or foreign to the country, where the number of migrants outstrips the supply of affordable housing, Mortgage foreclosures where mortgage holders see the best solution to a loan default is to take and sell the house to pay off the debt. The popular press made an issue of this in 2008., Natural disasters, including but not limited to earthquakes and hurricanes, Poverty, caused by many factors including unemployment and underemployment, Prison release and re-entry into society, Relationship breakdown, particularly in relation to young people and their parents, such as disownment, Social exclusion because of sexual orientation (e.g., LGBT+) and gender identity, Substance abuse or addiction, such as alcoholism or drug addiction, Traumatic brain injury, a condition which, according to a Canadian survey, is widespread among homeless people and, for around 70% of respondents, can be attributed to a time "before the onset of homelessness", War or armed conflict, which can create refugees fleeing the violence A substantial percentage of the US homeless population are individuals who are chronically unemployed or have difficulty managing their lives effectively due to prolonged and severe drug and/or alcohol abuse. Substance abuse can cause homelessness from behavioral patterns associated with addiction that alienate an addicted individual's family and friends who could otherwise provide support during difficult economic times. Increased wealth disparity and income inequality causes distortions in the housing market that push rent burdens higher, making housing unaffordable. Paul Koegel of RAND Corporation, a seminal researcher in first-generation homelessness studies and beyond, divided the causes of homelessness into structural aspects and then individual vulnerabilities. The basic problem of homelessness is the need for personal shelter, warmth, and safety. Other difficulties include: Hygiene and sanitary facilities, Hostility from the public and laws against urban vagrancy, Cleaning and drying of clothes, Obtaining, preparing and storing food, Keeping contact with friends, family and government service providers without a permanent location or mailing address, Medical problems, including issues caused by an individual's homeless state (e.g., hypothermia or frostbite from sleeping outside in cold weather), or issues which are exacerbated by homelessness due to lack of access to treatment (e.g., mental health and the individual not having a place to store prescription drugs for conditions such as schizophrenia), Personal security, quiet, and privacy, especially for sleeping, bathing, and other hygiene activities, Safekeeping of bedding, clothing, and possessions, which may have to be carried at all times Homeless people face many problems beyond the lack of a safe and suitable home. They are often faced with reduced access to private and public services and vital necessities: General rejection or discrimination from other people, Increased risk of suffering violence and abuse, Limited access to education, Loss of usual relationships with the mainstream, Not being seen as suitable for employment, Reduced access to banking services, Reduced access to communications technology, Reduced access to healthcare and dental services, Targeting by municipalities to exclude from public space, Difficulty forming trust in relation to services, systems and other people; exasperating pre-existing difficulty accessing aid and escaping homelessness, particularly present in the Chronically Homeless There is sometimes corruption and theft by the employees of a shelter, as evidenced by a 2011 investigative report by FOX 25 TV in Boston wherein a number of Boston public shelter employees were found stealing large amounts of food over a period of time from the shelter's kitchen for their private use and catering. The homeless are often obliged to adopt various strategies of self-presentation in order to maintain a sense of dignity, which constrains their interaction with passers-by and leads to suspicion and stigmatization by the mainstream public. Homelessness is also a risk factor for depression caused by prejudice (i.e. "deprejudice"). When someone is prejudiced against people who are homeless and then becomes homeless themselves, their anti- homelessness prejudice turns inward, causing depression. "Mental disorders, physical disability, homelessness, and having a sexually transmitted infection are all stigmatized statuses someone can gain despite having negative stereotypes about those groups." Difficulties can compound exponentially. For example, a homeless man in New Jersey found that he could not get food from some volunteer organizations if he did not have a legally-recognized address; after being mugged, he lost valuable identification documents and contact information so he could not contact his daughter; since his hips and knee had been broken because of the attack, it was harder for him after recovering in the hospital to walk to those places which did offer free food; in numerous instances, problems seemed to exacerbate other problems in a downward cycle. A study found that in the city of Hong Kong over half of the homeless population in the city (56%) suffered from some degree of mental illness. Only 13% of the 56% were receiving treatment for their condition leaving a huge portion of homeless untreated for their mental illness. The homeless are often the victims of violent crime. A 2007 study found that the rate of violent crimes against the homeless in the United States is increasing. In the United States in 2013 there were 109 reported attacks on homeless people, an increase of 24 per cent on the previous year, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless. Eighteen of those attacked died as a result. In July 2014 three boys 15, 16 and 18, were arrested and charged with beating to death two homeless men with bricks and a metal pole in Albuquerque. The 18-year-old was subsequently found guilty of second-degree murder and other felony charges and sentenced to 67 years in prison, the 16-year-old was sentenced to 26 years in prison. A study of women veterans found that homelessness is associated with domestic violence, both directly as the result of leaving an abusive partner, and indirectly due to trauma, mental health conditions, and substance abuse. Rent-controlled apartments contribute to shelter and street populations (around .04%). Apartments that are rent-controlled encourage people to not move out or to pass apartments along between families; this leads to higher rents for new renters, and reduces availability and affordability. About 10% of housing in the United States is under price control laws. Most of the laws were enacted to deal with the high inflation rates experienced during the 1970s and 80s. These laws can motivate apartment owners to convert their property to a more profitable enterprise, thereby reducing the amount of housing available to potential tenants. A black market can also develop, with tenants leasing rent-controlled premises at prices above the legal maximum. This can price out lower income individuals and families. Prior to 1983, the term 'homeless' implied that economic conditions caused homelessness. However, after 1983, conditions such as alcoholism and mental illness also became associated with the term in the media. Claims were often backed up with testimony made by high-ranking officials. For example, Ronald Reagan stated that "one problem that we’ve had, even in the best of times, is the people who are sleeping on the grates, those who are homeless by choice.". This claim made homelessness into a personal choice and a state of mind, and unhinged it from the neoliberal reforms sweeping through the economic system. In the broader sense, it made homelessness something that would exist even under the best economic conditions, and therefore independent of economic policies and economic conditions. Due to the stigma attached to the term, consequences have arisen. Fear is a major consequence. Many people fear the homeless due to the stigma surrounding the homeless community. Surveys have revealed that before spending time with the homeless, most people fear them, but after spending time with the homeless, that fear is lessened or is no longer there. Another effect of this stereotype is isolation. Homeless people often experience isolation. This gives the homeless community no say in how things are. No one really listens to them. Most countries provide a variety of services to assist homeless people. Provisions of food, shelter and clothing and may be organized and run by community organizations, often with the help of volunteers, or by government departments. Assistance programs may be supported by government, charities, churches and individual donors. In 1998, a study by Koegel and Schoeni of a homeless population in Los Angeles, California, reported that a significant number of homeless do not participate in government assistance programs, and the authors reported being puzzled as to why that was, with the only possible suggestion from the evidence being that transaction costs were perhaps too high. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Administration have a special Section 8 housing voucher program called VASH (Veterans Administration Supported Housing), or HUD-VASH, which gives out a certain number of Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers to eligible homeless and otherwise vulnerable US armed forces veterans. The HUD- VASH program has shown success in housing many homeless veterans. Non- governmental organizations also house and/or redirect homeless veterans to care facilities. Social Security Income/Social Security Disability Income, Access, Outreach, Recovery Program (SOAR) is a national project funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It is designed to increase access to SSI/SSDI for eligible adults who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and have a mental illness and/or a co-occurring substance use disorder. Using a three-pronged approach of Strategic Planning, Training, and Technical Assistance (TA), the SOAR TA Center coordinates this effort at the state and community level. While some homeless people are known to have a community with one another, providing each other various types of support, people who are not homeless also may provide them friendship, food, relational care, and other forms of assistance. Such social supports may occur through a formal process, such as under the auspices of a non-governmental organization, religious organization, or homeless ministry, or may be done on an individual basis. In Los Angeles, a collaboration between the Ostrow School of Dentistry of the University of Southern California and the Union Rescue Mission shelter offer homeless people in the Skid Row area free dental services. Many non-profit organizations such as Goodwill Industries "provide skill development and work opportunities to people with barriers to employment", though most of these organizations are not primarily geared toward homeless individuals. Many cities also have street newspapers or magazines: publications designed to provide employment opportunity to homeless people or others in need by street sale. While some homeless have paying jobs, some must seek other methods to make money. Begging or panhandling is one option, but is becoming increasingly illegal in many cities. Despite the stereotype, not all homeless people panhandle, and not all panhandlers are homeless. Another option is busking: performing tricks, playing music, drawing on the sidewalk, or offering some other form of entertainment in exchange for donations. In cities where plasmapheresis (blood donation) centers still exist, homeless people may generate income through visits to these centers. Homeless people can also provide waste management services to earn money. Some homeless people find returnable bottles and cans and bring them to recycling centers to earn money. For example, they can sort out organic trash from other trash, and/or separate out trash made of the same material (for example, different types of plastics, and different types of metal). Especially in Brazil, many people are already engaged in such activities. In addition, rather than sorting waste at landfills, ... they can also collect litter found on/beside the road to earn an income. Invented in 2005, in Seattle, Bumvertising, an informal system of hiring homeless people to advertise, has provided food, money, and bottles of water to sign-holding homeless in the Northwest. Homeless advocates have accused its founder, Ben Rogovy, and the process, of exploiting the poor and take particular offense to the use of the word "bum" which is generally considered pejorative. In October 2009, The Boston Globe carried a story on so-called cyberbegging, or Internet begging, which was reported to be a new trend worldwide. The United States Department of Labor has sought to address one of the main causes of homelessness, a lack of meaningful and sustainable employment, through targeted training programs and increased access to employment opportunities that can help homeless people develop sustainable lifestyles. This has included the development of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, which addresses homelessness on the federal level in addition to connecting homeless individuals to resources at the state level. All individuals who are in need of assistance are able, in theory, to access employment and training services under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), although this is contingent upon funding and program support by the government, with veterans also being able to use the Veterans Workforce Investment Program. Under the Department of Labor, the Veterans' Employment and Training Service (VETS) offers a variety of programs targeted at ending homelessness among veterans. The Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Program (HVRP) is the only national program that is exclusively focused on assisting veterans as they reenter the workforce. The VETS program also has an Incarcerated Veterans' Transition Program, as well as services that are unique to female Veterans. Mainstream programs initiated by the Department of Labor have included the Workforce Investment Act, One-Stop Career Centers, and a Community Voice Mail system that helps to connect homeless individuals around the United States with local resources. Targeted labor programs have included the Homeless Veterans' Reintegration Project, the Disability Program Navigator Initiative, efforts to end chronic homelessness through providing employment and housing projects, Job Corps, and the Veterans Workforce Investment Program (VWIP). Street newspapers are newspapers or magazines sold by homeless or poor individuals and produced mainly to support these populations. Most such newspapers primarily provide coverage about homelessness and poverty-related issues, and seek to strengthen social networks within homeless communities, making them a tool for allowing homeless individuals to work. In New York City in 1989, a street newspaper was created called Street News which put some homeless to work assisting with writing, producing, and mostly selling the paper on streets and trains. Street News was written pro bono by a combination of homeless, celebrities, and established writers. In 1991, in England, a street newspaper following the New York model was established, called The Big Issue which is published weekly. Its circulation has grown to 300,000. Chicago has StreetWise which has the second largest circulation of its kind in the United States, 30,000. Boston has a Spare Change News newspaper, founded in 1992 by a small group of homeless people in Boston, built on the same model as the others: homeless helping themselves. San Francisco has the twice-monthly Street Sheet newspaper, founded in 1989, with a distribution of 32,000 per month. In central and southern Florida, The Homeless Voice works to spread awareness of homelessness and provide aid to victims through its street paper. The publication is the oldest continuously published street newspaper, operates advertising-free, contains poverty-related news stories, artwork, and poetry, and is provided to street vendors free of charge. Seattle has Real Change, a $1 newsletter that aims to directly benefit homeless people and also report on economic issues in the area. Portland, Oregon, has Street Roots with articles and poetry by homeless writers, sold on the street for a dollar. Street Sense in Washington, D.C., has gained popularity and helped many make the move out of homelessness. Students in Baltimore, Maryland, have opened a satellite office for that paper as well. The Challenger Street Newspaper is written and run by people experiencing homelessness and their allies in Austin, Texas – one of the most economically segregated cities in America. Sacramento, California, has Homeward Street Journal, published bimonthly with a circulation of about 11,000 per issue. Many housing initiatives involve homeless people in the process of building and maintaining affordable shared housing. This process works as a double impact by not only providing housing but also giving homeless people employment income and work experience. One example of this type of initiative is the nonprofit organization Living Solutions, located in downtown San Diego, CA. This community initiative provides the homeless population with a source of housing as well as giving them jobs building affordable homes. The initiative builds community empowerment by asking formerly homeless residents to help to maintain and repair the homes. Residents are responsible for all household duties, including menu planning, budgeting, shopping, cooking, cleaning, yard work, and home maintenance. The environment of responsibility over a living space fosters a sense of ownership as well as involvement in all parts of the decision-making process. Homeless shelters can become grounds for community organization and the recruitment of homeless individuals into social movements for their own cause. Cooperation between the shelter and an elected representative from the homeless community at each shelter can serve as the backbone of this type of initiative. The representative presents and forwards problems, raises concerns and provides new ideas to the director and staff of the shelters. Examples of possible problems are ways to deal with drug and alcohol use by certain shelter users, and resolution of interpersonal conflicts. SAND, the Danish National Organization for Homeless People, is one example of an organization that uses this empowerment approach. Issues reported at the homeless shelters are then addressed by SAND at the regional or national level. To open further dialogue, SAND organizes regional discussion forums where staff and leaders from the shelters, homeless representatives, and local authorities meet to discuss issues and good practices at the shelters. Los Angeles conducted a competition promoted by Mayor Eric Garcetti soliciting ideas from developers to use bond money more efficiently in building housing for the city's homeless population. The top five winners were announced on 1 February 2019 and the concepts included using assembly-ready molded polymer panels that can be put together with basic tools, prefabricated 5-story stack- able houses, erecting privately financed modular buildings on properties that do not require City Council approval, using bond money to convert residential garages into small apartments which are then dedicated to homeless rentals, and the redeveloping of Bungalow-court units, the small low-income iconic buildings that housed 7% of the city's population in the 1920s. In the neighborhood of Westlake, Los Angeles, the city is funding the first transitionally homeless housing building using "Cargotecture", or "architecture built from repurposed shipping containers." The Hope on Alvarado micro-apartment building will consist of 4-stories of 84 containers stacked together like Lego bricks on top of a traditionally constructed ground floor. Completion is anticipated by the end of 2019. Voting for elected officials is important for the homeless population to have a voice in the democratic process. Equal access to the right to vote is a crucial part of maintaining a democracy. Voting enables homeless people to play a part in deciding the direction of their communities on local, regional and national issues that are important and relevant to their lives. Unfortunately, in some jurisdictions it may be hard for homeless people to vote if they do not have identification, a fixed address, or a place to receive mail. With each election, low income and homeless individuals vote at a lower rate than those with higher incomes, despite the fact that many policy decisions directly impact people who are economically disadvantaged. Currently, issues such as raising the minimum wage and funding certain social welfare and housing programs are being debated in the U.S. Congress and in communities around the country. In order for the government to represent the people, citizens must vote – especially those who are economically disadvantaged. A model of how to overcome obstacles and encourage greater voter participation among low-income and homeless citizens was provided by the National Coalition for the Homeless and other national advocacy and grassroots social movement groups. These groups collaborated to create a manual that promotes voting access for low income and homeless persons, to ensure that those who are economically disadvantaged maintain an active role in shaping their futures. The manual is designed to cultivate ideas to help overcome the many obstacles that prevent people experiencing homelessness from becoming registered, active voters. By working together with homeless persons, low- income individuals, and advocates around the country, grassroots social movement organizations can help ensure their voices heard on Election Day. In 1979 a New York City lawyer, Robert Hayes, brought a class-action suit, Callahan v. Carey, against the City and State, arguing for a person's constitutional "right to shelter". It was settled as a consent decree in August 1981. The City and State agreed to provide board and shelter to all homeless men who met the need standard for welfare or who were homeless by certain other standards. By 1983 this right was extended to homeless women. By the mid-1980s, there was a dramatic increase in family homelessness. Tied into this was an increasing number of impoverished and runaway children, teenagers, and young adults, which created a new substratum of the homeless population (street children or street youth). Also in the 1980s, in the United States, some federal legislation was introduced on homelessness as a result of the work of Congressman Stewart B. McKinney. In 1987, the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act was enacted. There are many community organizations and social movements around the world which are taking action to reduce homelessness. They have sought to counteract the causes and reduce the consequences by starting initiatives that help homeless people transition to self-sufficiency. Social movements and initiatives tend to follow a grassroots, community-based model of organization – generally characterized by a loose, informal and decentralized structure, with an emphasis on radical protest politics. By contrast, an interest group aims to influence government policies by relying on more of a formal organization structure. These groups share a common element: they are both made up of and run by a mix of allies of the homeless population and former or current members of the homeless population. Both grassroots groups and interest groups aim to break stereotyped images of the homeless as being weak and hapless, or defiant criminals and drug addicts, and to ensure that the voice of homeless people and their representatives is clearly heard by policymakers. Homeless shelters are most often night shelters, where people leave in the morning to do whatever they can manage and return in the evening when the beds in the shelter open up again for sleeping. An example of a homeless shelter is Pine Street Inn in Boston's South End neighborhood. There are some daytime shelters where people might go instead of being stranded on the street, and to receive meals, counseling, avail themselves of resources, and otherwise spend their day until returning to their overnight sleeping arrangements. An example of such a day center shelter model is Saint Francis House in Boston, founded in the early 1980s, which is open to the homeless all year long during daytime hours and was originally based on the settlement house model. Many homeless people keep all their possessions with them because they have no access to storage. There have been "bag" people, shopping cart people, and soda can collectors (known as binners or dumpster divers) who sort through garbage to find items to sell, trade, or eat. Such people have typically carried all their possessions with them all the time. If they had no access to or ability to get to a shelter and possible bathing, or access to toilets and laundry facilities, their hygiene was lacking. This has created social tensions in public places. These conditions have created an upsurge in tuberculosis and other diseases in urban areas. In 1974, Kip Tiernan founded Rosie's Place in Boston, the first drop-in and emergency shelter for women in the United States, in response to the increasing numbers of needy women throughout the country. There are various places where a homeless person might seek refuge: 24-hour Internet cafes are now used by over 5,000 Japanese "Net cafe refugees". An estimated 75% of Japan's 3,200 all-night internet cafes cater to regular overnight guests, who in some cases have become their main source of income., 24-hour McDonald's restaurants are used by "McRefugees" in Japan, China and Hong Kong. There are about 250 McRefugees in Hong Kong., Derelict structures: abandoned or condemned buildings, Friends or family: temporary sleeping arrangements in dwellings of friends or family members ("couch surfing"). Couch surfers may be harder to recognize than street homeless people, Homeless shelters: including emergency cold-weather shelters opened by churches or community agencies, which may consist of cots in a heated warehouse, or temporary Christmas Shelters. More elaborate homeless shelters such as Pinellas Hope in Florida provide residents with a recreation tent, a dining tent, laundry facilities, outdoor tents, casitas, and shuttle services that help inhabitants get to their jobs each day., Inexpensive boarding houses: have also been called flophouses. They offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging., Inexpensive motels offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging. However, some who can afford housing live in a motel by choice. For example, David and Jean Davidson spent 22 years at a UK Travelodge., Public places: Parks, bus or train stations, public libraries, airports, public transportation vehicles (by continual riding where unlimited passes are available), hospital lobbies or waiting areas, college campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as coffee shops. Many public places use security guards or police to prevent people from loitering or sleeping at these locations for a variety of reasons, including image, safety, and comfort of patrons., Shantytowns: ad hoc dwelling sites of improvised shelters and shacks, usually near rail yards, interstates and high transportation veins. Some shantytowns have interstitial tenting areas, but the predominant feature consists of hard structures. Each pad or site tends to accumulate roofing, sheathing, plywood, and nailed two by fours., Single room occupancy (more commonly abbreviated to SRO) is a form of housing that is typically aimed at residents with low or minimal incomes who rent small, furnished single rooms with a bed, chair, and sometimes a small desk. SRO units are rented out as permanent residence and/or primary residence to individuals, within a multi-tenant building where tenants share a kitchen, toilets or bathrooms. SRO units range from 80 to 140 square feet. In the 2010s, some SRO units may have a small refrigerator, microwave and sink.(also called a "residential hotel")., Squatting in an unoccupied structure where a homeless person may live without payment and without the owner's knowledge or permission., Tent cities: ad hoc campsites of tents and improvised shelters consisting of tarpaulins and blankets, often near industrial and institutionally zoned real estate such as rail yards, highways and high transportation veins. A few more elaborate tent cities, such as Dignity Village, are hybrids of tent cities and shantytowns. Tent cities frequently consist only of tents and fabric improvised structures, with no semi-permanent structures at all., Tiny houses and micro-shelters: small, inexpensive homes known as “tiny houses” or “micro-shelters” have been increasingly used as alternative housing for the homeless in certain cities. On the high end, these dwellings can include utilities and furnishings (tiny houses); on the lower end they can be simply a covered structure large enough to accommodate a sleeping area (micro-shelters). Some of the micro-shelters popping up in cities around the world include wheels for easy transport and can be relocated by manually pushing; tiny houses usually require towing by a vehicle. Several cities have designated areas where tiny houses and micro-shelters can be located. Nonprofit organizations and sole individuals construct and donate these structures for the homeless., Outdoors: on the ground or in a sleeping bag, tent, or improvised shelter, such as a large cardboard box, under a bridge, in an urban doorway, in a park or a vacant lot., Tunnels such as abandoned subway, maintenance, or train tunnels are popular among the long-term or permanent homeless., Vehicles: cars or trucks used as temporary or sometimes long-term living quarters, for example by those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in recreational vehicles (RVs), school buses, vans, sport utility vehicles, covered pickup trucks, station wagons, sedans, or hatchbacks. The vehicular homeless, according to homeless advocates and researchers, comprise the fastest-growing segment of the homeless population. Many cities have safe parking programs in which lawful sites are permitted at churches or in other out-of-the-way locations. For example, because it is illegal to park on the street in Santa Barbara, the New Beginnings Counseling Center worked with the city to make designated parking lots available to the homeless. The inhabitants of such refuges are called in some places, like New York City, "Mole People". Natural caves beneath urban centers allow for places where people can congregate. Leaking water pipes, electric wires, and steam pipes allow for some of the essentials of living. Transitional housing Transitional housing provides temporary housing for the certain segments of the homeless population, including the working homeless, and is meant to transition residents into permanent, affordable housing. This is usually a room or apartment in a residence with support services. The transitional time can be relatively short, for example, one or two years, and in that time the person must file for and obtain permanent housing along with gainful employment or income, even if Social Security or assistance. Sometimes transitional housing programs charge a room and board fee, maybe 30% of an individual's income, which is sometimes partially or fully refunded after the person procures a permanent residence. In the U.S., federal funding for transitional housing programs was originally allocated in the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1986. Foyers Foyers are a specific type of Transitional Housing designed for homeless or at-risk teens. Foyers are generally institutions that provide affordable accommodation as well as support and training services for residents. They were pioneered in the 1990s in the United Kingdom, but have been adopted in areas in Australia and the United States as well. Supportive housing Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives. Supportive housing works well for those who face the most complex challenges – individuals and families confronted with homelessness who also have very low incomes and/or serious, persistent issues such as substance abuse, addictions, alcoholism, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, or other serious challenges. Government initiatives In South Australia, the state government of Premier Mike Rann (2002–2011) committed substantial funding to a series of initiatives designed to combat homelessness. Advised by Social Inclusion Commissioner David Cappo and the founder of New York's Common Ground program, Rosanne Haggerty, the Rann government established Common Ground Adelaide, building high-quality inner city apartments (combined with intensive support) for "rough sleeping" homeless people. The government also funded the Street to Home program and a hospital liaison service designed to assist homeless people admitted to the emergency departments of Adelaide's major public hospitals. Rather than being released back into homelessness, patients identified as rough sleepers were found accommodation backed by professional support. Common Ground and Street to Home now operate across Australia in other States. In 2013, a Central Florida Commission on Homelessness study indicated that the region spends $31,000 a year per homeless person to cover "salaries of law enforcement officers to arrest and transport homeless individuals – largely for nonviolent offenses such as trespassing, public intoxication or sleeping in parks – as well as the cost of jail stays, emergency room visits and hospitalization for medical and psychiatric issues. This did not include "money spent by nonprofit agencies to feed, clothe and sometimes shelter these individuals". In contrast, the report estimated the cost of permanent supportive housing at "$10,051 per person per year" and concluded that "[h]ousing even half of the region's chronically homeless population would save taxpayers $149 million over the next decade – even allowing for 10 percent to end up back on the streets again." This particular study followed 107 long-term-homeless residents living in Orange, Osceola or Seminole Counties. There are similar studies showing large financial savings in Charlotte and Southeastern Colorado from focusing on simply housing the homeless." Health care for homeless people is a major public health challenge. Homeless people are more likely to suffer injuries and medical problems from their lifestyle on the street, which includes poor nutrition, exposure to the severe elements of weather, and a higher exposure to violence. Yet at the same time, they have reduced access to public medical services or clinics, in part because they often lack identification or registration for public healthcare services. There are significant challenges in treating homeless people who have psychiatric disorders because clinical appointments may not be kept, their continuing whereabouts are unknown, their medicines may not be taken as prescribed, medical and psychiatric histories are not accurate, and other reasons. Because many homeless people have mental illnesses, this has presented a crisis in care. Homeless people may find it difficult to document their date of birth or their address. Because homeless people usually have no place to store possessions, they often lose their belongings, including identification and other documents, or find them destroyed by police or others. Without a photo ID, homeless persons cannot get a job or access many social services, including healthcare. They can be denied access to even the most basic assistance: clothing closets, food pantries, certain public benefits, and in some cases, emergency shelters. Obtaining replacement identification is difficult. Without an address, birth certificates cannot be mailed. Fees may be cost-prohibitive for impoverished persons. And some states will not issue birth certificates unless the person has photo identification, creating a Catch-22. This problem is far less acute in countries which provide free-at-use health care, such as the UK, where hospitals are open-access day and night and make no charges for treatment. In the U.S., free-care clinics for homeless and other people, do exist in major cities, but often attract more demand than they can meet. The conditions affecting homeless people are somewhat specialized and have opened a new area of medicine tailored to this population. Skin conditions, including scabies, are common because homeless people are exposed to extreme cold in the winter and have little access to bathing facilities. They have problems caring for their feet and have more severe dental problems than the general population. Diabetes, especially untreated, is widespread in the homeless population. Specialized medical textbooks have been written to address this for providers. There are many organizations providing free care to homeless people in countries which do not offer free state-run medical treatment, but the services are in great demand given the limited number of medical practitioners. For example, it might take months to get a minimal dental appointment in a free-care clinic. Communicable diseases are of great concern, especially tuberculosis, which spreads more easily in crowded homeless shelters in high-density urban settings. There has been ongoing concern and studies about the health and wellness of the older homeless population, typically ages 50 to 64, and older, as to whether they are significantly more sickly than their younger counterparts and if they are under-served. In 1985, the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program was founded to assist the growing numbers of homeless living on the streets and in shelters in Boston and who were suffering from lack of effective medical services. In 2004, Boston Health Care for the Homeless in conjunction with the National Health Care for the Homeless Council published a medical manual called "The Health Care of Homeless Persons", edited by James J. O'Connell, M.D., specifically for the treatment of the homeless population. In June 2008 in Boston, the Jean Yawkey Place, a four-story, building, was opened by the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program. It is an entire full-service building on the Boston Medical Center campus dedicated to providing healthcare for homeless people. It also contains a long-term care facility, the Barbara McInnis House, which expanded to 104 beds, and is the first and largest medical respite program for homeless people in the United States. A 2011 study led by Dr. RebeccaT. Brown in Boston, conducted by the Institute for Aging Research (an affiliate of Harvard Medical School), Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program found the elderly homeless population had "higher rates of geriatric syndromes, including functional decline, falls, frailty and depression than seniors in the general population and that many of these conditions may be easily treated if detected". The report was published in the Journal of Geriatric Internal Medicine. There are government avenues which provide resources for the development of healthcare for the homeless. In the United States, the Bureau of Primary Health Care has a program which provides grants to fund the delivery of healthcare to the homeless. According to 2011 UDS data community health centers were able to provide service to 1,087,431 homeless individuals. There are also many nonprofit and religious organizations which provide healthcare services to the homeless. These organizations help meet the large need which exists for expanding healthcare for the homeless. The 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act could provide new healthcare options for the homeless in the United States, particularly through the optional expansion of Medicaid. A 2013 Yale study indicated that a substantial proportion of the chronically homeless population in America would be able to obtain Medicaid coverage if states expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. There have been significant numbers of unsheltered persons dying of hypothermia, adding impetus to the trend of establishing warming centers as well as extending enumeration surveys with vulnerability indexes. In 1999, Dr. Susan Barrow of the Columbia University Center for Homelessness Prevention Studies reported in a study that the "age-adjusted death rates of homeless men and women were four times those of the general U.S. population and two to three times those of the general population of New York City". A report commissioned by homeless charity Crisis in 2011 found that on average, homeless people in the UK have a life expectancy of 47 years, 30 years younger than the rest of the population. People experiencing homelessness are at a significant increased risk to the effects of extreme weather events. Such weather events include extreme heat and cold, floods, storm surges, heavy rain and droughts. While there are many contributing factors to these events, climate change is driving an increasing frequency and intensity of these events. The homeless population is considerably more vulnerable to these weather events due to their higher rates of chronic disease and lower socioeconomic status. Despite having a minimal carbon footprint, homeless people unfortunately experience a disproportionate burden of the effects of climate change. Homeless persons have increased vulnerability to extreme weather events for many reasons. They are disadvantaged in most social determinants of health, including lack of housing and access to adequate food and water, reduced access to health care and difficulty in maintaining health care. They have significantly higher rates of chronic disease including respiratory disease and infections, gastrointestinal disease, musculoskeletal problems and mental health disease. In fact, self- reported rates of respiratory diseases (including asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema) are double that of the general population. The homeless population often live in higher risk urban areas with increased exposure and little protection from the elements. They also have limited access to clean drinking water and other methods of cooling down. The built environment in urban areas also contributes to the "heat island effect", the phenomenon whereby cities experience higher temperatures due to the predominance of dark, paved surfaces and lack of vegetation. Homeless populations are often excluded from disaster planning efforts, further increasing their vulnerability when these events occur. Without the means to escape extreme temperatures and seek proper shelter and cooling or warming resources, homeless people are often left to suffer the brunt of the extreme weather. The health effects that result from extreme weather include exacerbation of chronic diseases and acute illnesses. Pre-existing conditions can be greatly exacerbated by extreme heat and cold, including cardiovascular, respiratory, skin and renal disease, often resulting in higher morbidity and mortality during extreme weather. Acute conditions such as sunburn, dehydration, heat stroke and allergic reactions are also common. In addition, a rise in insect bites can lead to vector-borne infections. Mental health conditions can also be impacted by extreme weather events as a result of lack of sleep, increased alcohol consumption, reduced access to resources and reduced ability to adjust to the environmental changes. In fact, pre-existing psychiatric illness has been shown to triple the risk of death from extreme heat. Overall, extreme weather events appear to have a "magnifying effect" in exacerbating the underlying prevalent mental and physical health conditions of homeless populations. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina, a category 5 hurricane, made landfall on Florida and Louisiana. It particularly affected the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest hurricane in the US in seven decades with more than 1,600 confirmed deaths and more than 1,000 people missing. The hurricane disproportionately affected marginalized individuals and individuals with lower socioeconomic status (i.e., 93% of shelter residents were African–American, 32% had household incomes below $10,000/year and 54% were uninsured). The storm nearly doubled the number of homeless people in New Orleans. While in most cities the homeless people account for 1% of the population, in New Orleans' the homeless account for 4% of the population. In addition to its devastating effects on infrastructure and the economy, the estimated prevalence of mental illness and the incidence of West Nile Virus more than doubled after Hurricane Katrina in the hurricane-affected regions. Thus, natural disasters can not only lead thousands into homelessness, but also contribute to exacerbating adverse health effects for this vulnerable population. In western countries such as the United States, the typical homeless person is male and single, with the Netherlands reporting 80% of homeless people aged 18–65 to be men. Some cities have particularly high percentages of males in homeless populations, with men comprising eighty-five percent of the homeless in Dublin. Non-white people are also overrepresented in homeless populations, with such groups two and one-half times more likely to be homeless in the U.S. The median age of homeless people is approximately 35. In 2005, an estimated 100 million people worldwide were homeless. The following statistics indicate the approximate average number of homeless people at any one time. Each country has a different approach to counting homeless people, and estimates of homelessness made by different organizations vary wildly, so comparisons should be made with caution. The number of homeless people worldwide has grown steadily in recent years. In some developing countries such as Nigeria and South Africa, homelessness is rampant, with millions of children living and working on the streets. Homelessness has become a problem in the countries of China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines despite their growing prosperity, mainly due to migrant workers who have trouble finding permanent homes. Determining the true number of homeless people worldwide varies between 100 million and 1 billion people based on the exact definition used. Refugees, asylum-seekers, and internally displaced persons (ITDs) can also be considered homeless in that they too experience "marginalization, minority status, socio-economic disadvantage, poor physical health, collapse of social supports, psychological distress, and difficulty adapting to host cultures" like the domestic homeless. In the past twenty years, scholars like Tipple and Speak have begun to refer to homelessness as the "antithesis or absence of home" rather than rooflessness or the "lack of physical shelter." This complication in the homelessness debate further delineates the idea that home actually consists of an adequate shelter, an experienced and dynamic place that serves as a "base" for nurturing human relationships and the "free development of individuals" and their identity. Thus, the home is perceived to be an extension of one's self and identity. In contrast, the homeless experience, according to Moore, constitutes more as a "lack of belonging" and a loss of identity that leads to individuals or communities feeling "out of place" once they can no longer call a place of their own home This new perspective on homelessness sheds light on the plight of refugees, a population of stateless people who are not normally included in the mainstream definition of homelessness. It has also created problems for researchers because the nature of "counting" homeless people across the globe relies heavily on who is considered a homeless person. Homeless individuals, and by extension refugees, can be seen as lacking lack the "crucible of our modern society" and lacking a way of actively belonging to and engaging with their respective communities or cultures As Casavant demonstrates, a spectrum of definitions for homelessness, called the "continuum of homelessness," should refer to refugees as homeless individuals because they not only lose their home, but they are also afflicted with a myriad of problems that parallel those affecting the domestic homeless, such as "[a lack of] stable, safe and healthy housing, an extremely low income, adverse discrimination in access to services, with problems of mental health, alcohol, and drug abuse or social disorganization" Refugees, like the domestic homeless, lose their source of identity and way of connecting with their culture for an indefinite period of time. Thus, the current definition of homelessness unfortunately allows people to simplistically assume that homeless people, including refugees, are merely "without a place to live" when that is not the case. As numerous studies show, forced migration and displacement brings with it another host of problems including socioeconomic instability, "increased stress, isolation, and new responsibilities" in a completely new environment For people in Russia, especially the youth, alcoholism and substance abuse is a major cause and reason for becoming and continuing to be homeless. The United Nations, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (UN-Habitat) wrote in its Global Report on Human Settlements in 1995: "Homelessness is a problem in developed as well as in developing countries. In London, for example, life expectancy among homeless people is more than 25 years lower than the national average." Poor urban housing conditions are a global problem, but conditions are worst in developing countries. Habitat says that today 600 million people live in life- and health-threatening homes in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For example, more than three in four young people had insufficient means of shelter and sanitation in some African countries like Malawi. "The threat of mass homelessness is greatest in those regions because that is where population is growing fastest. By 2015, the 10 largest cities in the world will be in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. Nine of them will be in developing countries: Mumbai, India – 27.4 million; Lagos, Nigeria – 24.4; Shanghai, China – 23.4; Jakarta, Indonesia – 21.2; São Paulo, Brazil – 20.8; Karachi, Pakistan – 20.6; Beijing, China – 19.4; Dhaka, Bangladesh – 19; Mexico City, Mexico – 18.8. The only city in a developed country that will be in the top ten is Tokyo, Japan – 28.7 million." In 2008, Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, referring to the recent report "State of the World's Cities Report 2008/2009", said that the world economic crisis we are in should be viewed as a "housing finance crisis" in which the poorest of poor were left to fend for themselves. In Australia the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a joint Commonwealth and state government program which provides funding for more than 1,200 organizations which are aimed to assist homeless people or those in danger of becoming homeless, as well as women and children escaping domestic violence. They provide accommodation such as refuges, shelters, and half-way houses, and offer a range of supported services. The Commonwealth has assigned over $800 million between 2000 and 2005 for the continuation of SAAP. The current program, governed by the Supported Assistance Act 1994, specifies that "the overall aim of SAAP is to provide transitional supported accommodation and related support services, in order to help people who are homeless to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence. This legislation has been established to help the homeless people of the nation and help rebuild the lives of those in need. The cooperation of the states also helps enhance the meaning of the legislation and demonstrates their desire to improve the nation as best they can." In 2011, the Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) program replaced the SAAP program. In the United States, the number of homeless people grew in the 1980s, as welfare cuts increased. Housing First is an initiative to help homeless people reintegrate into society, and out of homeless shelters. It was initiated by the federal government's Interagency Council on Homelessness. It asks cities to come up with a plan to end chronic homelessness. In this direction, there is the belief that if homeless people are given independent housing to start, with some proper social supports, then there would be no need for emergency homeless shelters, which it considers a good outcome. However this is a controversial position. There is evidence that the Housing First program works more efficiently than Treatment First programs. Studies show that having the stability of housing through the Housing First program will encourage the homeless to focus on other struggles they are facing, such as substance abuse. Meanwhile, Treatment First programs promote an "all or nothing" approach which require clients to participate in programs applicable to their struggles as a condition for housing assistance. Treatment First utilizes a less individualistic approach than Housing First and solutions are created under one standard rather than fit to each client's specific needs. Miami, Florida's Community Partnership for Homeless launched a national outreach program in 2008 to help other communities throughout the United States address homelessness. Since its inception in 1993, CPH has served nearly 76,000 residents with a successful outplacement rate of nearly 62 percent in Miami- Dade County, Florida. The number of homeless people in the county has declined by 83 percent. The national program shares CPH's model of Homeless Assistance Centers, job training programs, on-site childcare, housing assistance and more. The organization also provides background on its unique funding structure and partnerships within the community. Homelessness has increased rapidly in the past decade. Domestic violence, substance abuse, losing jobs, unaffordable rent and issues with family are significant contributing factors. In the Bowery, homelessness used to be common, but has declined since the 1970s. The area began revitalization in the 1990s and now is an upscale Manhattan neighborhood. Carrfour Supportive Housing, a nonprofit organization established in 1993 by the Homeless Committee of the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce – develops, operates and manages innovative housing communities for individuals and families in need through a unique approach combining affordable housing with comprehensive, on-site supportive services. As the leading not-for-profit provider of supportive housing in Florida, Carrfour has supplied homes for more than 10,000 formerly homeless men, women and children since its founding. In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2007, a non-profit organization named Back on My Feet was created by runner Anne Mahlum as a running club for homeless men and women in the area, to help overcome homelessness through a multi-step self-help program centered on running three days a week, plus sponsored running events. Participants, drawn from local homeless shelters partnered with the organization, are assigned to different teams within each chapter and monitored by a nonresident member, and are required to commit to punctuality, endurance, self-optimism, team spirit, and sobriety. The members earn incentives through continued participation and progress, culminating in educational scholarships and assistance in finding permanent housing and employment. Back on My Feet counted a total of 400 homeless runners in nine cities after five years, and by the beginning of 2013 counted 10 different city chapters in the United States, with four more chapters planned by the end of the year. In Boston, Massachusetts, in September 2007, an outreach to homeless people was established in the Boston Common, after some arrests and shootings, and in anticipation of the cold winter ahead. This outreach targets homeless people who would normally spend their sleeping time on the Boston Common, and tries to get them into housing, trying to skip the step of an emergency shelter. Applications for Boston Housing Authority were being handed out and filled out and submitted. This is an attempt to enact by outreach the Housing First initiative, federally mandated. Boston's Mayor, Thomas Menino, was quoted as saying "The solution to homelessness is permanent housing". Still, this is a very controversial strategy, especially if the people are not able to sustain a house with a proper community, health, substance counseling, and mental health supportive programs. In October 2009, as part of the city's Leading the Way initiative, Mayor Thomas M. Menino of Boston dedicated and opened the Weintraub Day Center which is the first city-operated day center for chronically homeless persons. It is a multi-service center, providing shelter, counseling, healthcare, housing assistance, and other support services. It is a facility located in the Woods Mullen Shelter. It is also meant to reduce the strain on the city's hospital emergency rooms by providing services and identifying health problems before they escalate into emergencies. It was funded by $3 million in grants from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the Massachusetts Medical Society and Alliance Charitable Foundation, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In 2010 in New York City, where there were over 36,000 homeless people in 2009, there was a mobile video exhibit in the streets showing a homeless person on a screen and asking onlookers and passersby to text with their cellphones a message for him, and they also could donate money by cellphones to the organization Pathways to Housing. In September 2010, it was reported that the Housing First Initiative had significantly reduced the chronic homeless single person population in Boston, Massachusetts, although homeless families were still increasing in number. Some shelters were reducing the number of beds due to lowered numbers of homeless, and some emergency shelter facilities were closing, especially the emergency Boston Night Center. In 2011, the Department of Veterans Affairs Supportive Services for Veterans Families Initiative, SSVF, began funding private non-profit organizations and consumer cooperatives to provide supportive services to very low-income veteran families living in or transitioning to permanent housing. In 2019, in an interview with CBS News, scholar Sara Goldrick-Rab said that her study on college student homelessness found that "[n]early one in ten college students said they were homeless in the last year, meaning they had at least one night where they didn't know where they were going to sleep." Enhanced data collection and evaluation Homeless enumeration counts are mandated by HUD for all jurisdictions participating in HUD Continuum of Care grant programs. These occur as frequently as every two years. More recently, organizations such as Common Ground have compiled Vulnerability Indexes which prioritize homeless persons. The factors include the existence of late stage terminal disease, HIV-AIDS, kidney or liver disease, frequent hospitalizations and frequent emergency room visits. The data which is compiled which exceeds the BUD mandate is retained and held confidential by Common Ground. Advocates of the system claim high rates of success in placing the most vulnerable persons, but skeptics remain concerned with confidentiality and security issues. Since the late 1990s, housing policy has been a devolved matter, and state support for the homeless, together with legal rights in housing, have therefore diverged to a certain degree. A national service, called Streetlink, was established in 2012 to help members of the public obtain near-immediate assistance for specific rough sleepers, with the support of the Government (as housing is a devolved matter, the service currently only extends to England). Currently, the service does not operate on a statutory basis, and the involvement of local authorities is merely due to political pressure from the government and charities, with funding being provided by the government (and others) on an ad-hoc basis. A member of the public who is concerned that someone is sleeping on the streets can report the individual's details via the Street Link website or by calling the referral line number on 0300 500 0914. Someone who finds themselves sleeping on the streets can also report their situation using the same methods. It is important to note that the Streetlink service is for those who are genuinely sleeping on the streets, and not those who may merely be begging, or ostensibly living their life on the streets despite a place to sleep elsewhere (such as a hostel or supported accommodation). The annual number of homeless households in England peaked in 2003–04 at 135,420 before falling to a low of 40,020 in 2009–10. In 2014–15, there were 54,430 homeless households, which was 60 per cent below the 2003–04 peak. The UK has more than 80,000 children in temporary accommodation, a number which increases every year. In 2007 the official figures for England were that an average of 498 people slept rough each night, with 248 of those in London. It is important to note that many individuals may spend only a few days or weeks sleeping rough, and so any number for rough sleepers on a given night hides the total number of people actually affected in any one year. Homelessness in England since 2010 has been rising. By 2016 it is estimated the numbers sleeping rough had more than doubled since 2010. The National Audit Office say in relation to homelessness in England 2010–17 there has been a 60% rise in households living in temporary accommodation and a rise of 134% in rough sleepers. It is estimated 4,751 people bedded down outside overnight in England in 2017, up 15% on previous year. The housing charity Shelter used data from four sets of official 2016 statistics and calculated 254,514 people in England were homeless. The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 places a new duty on local authorities in England to assist people threatened with homelessness within 56 days and to assess, prevent and relieve homelessness for all eligible applicants including single homeless people from April 2018. In short, no one should be turned away. In South Africa, there are an estimated 200,000 homeless people from a diverse range of backgrounds. Most South African municipalities primarily view homelessness as a social dependency issue, responding with social interventions. In Sweden, municipalities are required to provide a home to any citizen who does not have one. However, landlords and lessors have the right to select guests among applicants. Owners, including municipalities themselves, avoid homeless people, unemployed people or people with a bad credit score. People who cannot pay their rent will be evicted, including families with small children. In 2009, 618 children were evicted. In Finland the municipalities are required by law to offer apartments or shelters to every Finnish citizen who does not have a residence. In 2007 the center-right government of Matti Vanhanen began a special program of four wise men modeled after a US-originated Housing First policy to eliminate homelessness in Finland by 2015. After the abolition of serfdom in Russia in 1861, major cities experienced a large influx of former peasants who sought jobs as industrial workers in rapidly developing Russian industry. These people often lived in harsh conditions, sometimes renting a room shared between several families. There also was a large number of shelterless homeless. Immediately after the October Revolution a special program of "compression" ("уплотнение") was enabled: people who had no shelter were settled in flats of those who had large (4, 5 or 6-room) flats with only one room left to previous owners. The flat was declared state property. This led to a large number of shared flats where several families lived simultaneously. Nevertheless, the problem of complete homelessness was mostly solved as anybody could apply for a room or a place in dormitory (the number of shared flats steadily decreased after large-scale residential building program was implemented starting in the 1960s). By 1922 there were at least 7 million homeless children in Russia as a result of nearly a decade of devastation from World War I and the Russian Civil War. This led to the creation of a large number of orphanages. By the 1930s the USSR declared the abolition of homelessness and any citizen was obliged to have a propiska – a place of permanent residency. Nobody could be stripped of propiska without substitution or refuse it without a confirmed permission (called "order") to register in another place. If someone wanted to move to another city or expand their living area, he had to find a partner who wanted to mutually exchange the flats. The right for shelter was secured in the Soviet constitution. Not having permanent residency was legally considered a crime. After the breakup of the USSR, the problem of homelessness sharpened dramatically, partially because of the legal vacuum of the early 1990s with some laws contradicting each other and partially because of a high rate of frauds in the realty market. In 1991 articles 198 and 209 of Russian criminal code which instituted a criminal penalty for not having permanent residence were abolished. In Moscow, the first overnight shelter for homeless was opened in 1992. In the late 1990s, certain amendments in law were implemented to reduce the rise in homelessness, such as the prohibition of selling last flat with registered children. Nevertheless, the state is still obliged to give permanent shelter for free to anybody who needs better living conditions or has no permanent registration, because the right to shelter is still included in the constitution. Several projects of special cheap 'social' flats for those who failed to repay mortgages were proposed to facilitate mortgage market. According to the most recent count by the Puerto Rico Department of Family, in January 2017 there were 3,501 homeless persons in the territory. The study shows that 26.2% of this population live in the capital, San Juan. Other municipalities percentage of this population was Ponce with 6.3%, Arecibo with 6%, Caguas with 5.3%, and Mayagüez with 4.7%. Results from the study determined that 76% of the homeless population were men and 24% were women and that both men and women populations, were on average age, 40 years old. This steadily increasing population, might have increased more drastically as a result of Hurricane María which caused over 90 billion dollars in damage to the island of Puerto Rico. Data provided by the Department of Community Social Development of San Juan, indicates that in 1988 the number of homeless in the municipality was of 368, while in 2017 there are about 877 persons without a home. While the average age for the overall homeless population is 40 years old for both women and men, in San Juan the median is 48 years for men and 43 years for women. Other data obtained showed that more than 50% have university level education. Also it revealed that 35% of men and 25% of women have relapsed more than four times after unsuccessful attempts to reinsert themselves socially. Reasons given to wander are varied with the most common causes being drug abuse (30.6%), family problems (22.4%), financial or economic problems (15.0%), and others such as unemployment, mental health problems, domestic violence, evictions, or lack of support when released from prison. There are estimated to be 15,000 homeless persons in Hungary of which about 6,500 live in Budapest (2016). There have been repeated attempts at criminalizing homelessness in Hungary by the Fidesz government and homeless people face severe restrictions in many cities. 131 homeless people died of cold exposure in Budapest between 2006 and 2010. Homelessness in popular culture is depicted in various works. The issue is frequently described as an invisible problem, despite its prevalence. Writers and other artists play a role in bringing the issue to public attention. Homelessness is the central theme of many works; in other works homelessness is secondary, added to create interesting characters or contribute authenticity to the setting (e.g., for a story set in the impoverished inner city). Some stories and films depict homeless people in a stereotypical or pejorative manner (e.g., the exploitation film Hobo With a Shotgun, which depicts homeless people fighting). Modern Times, 1936 film, shows negative effects of vagrancy laws., Cathy Come Home, 1966, shows the effects of homelessness on parenthood., God Bless the Child, 1988, is a made-for-TV movie about a single mother (Mare Winningham) living on the streets of New York City with her young daughter., Dark Days, 2000, 81 minutes, is a documentary by Marc Singer, who followed the lives of people living in the Freedom Tunnel, an Amtrak tunnel in New York City., , 2003 film about a homeless girl, Liz Murray, who works her way up to admission to Harvard University., 66 Months, The Pursuit of Happyness, a 2006 biographical film where a father and son struggle to get a job and end up homeless after an eviction and later a tax garnishment. After several weeks living from place to place in 1981 San Francisco, he lands a permanent position in a brokerage firm after successfully completing an unpaid internship. You Can't Sleep Here Advocates for the homeless have developed various events, commemorations, and projects to raise awareness of the issue of homelessness. In 1987, the United Nations established an International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. In England, advocates founded an annual event named Homelessness Action Week. In Australia, NGOs have founded two main annual events: Homeless Persons' Week, and Youth Homelessness Matters Day. Some advocates have taken to social media to raise awareness with projects such as I Have A Name. Aporophobia, Extreme poverty, Homelessness in Canada, Housing inequality, Internally displaced person, InvisiblePeople.tv, National Alliance to End Homelessness, Nomad, Right to housing, Tent city, Tramp, Vagrancy Arumi, Ana Maria, Yarrow, Andrew L., "Compassion, Concern, and Conflicted Feelings: New Yorkers on Homelessness and Housing", Public Agenda Foundation, February 2007, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Housing and Community Development, Homelessness Commission, Commission to End Homelessness, "Report of the Special Commission Relative to Ending Homelessness in The Commonwealth", Final Report, December 2007, Crosette, Barbara, "Homeless and Hungry Youths of India", The New York Times, 23 December 1990., Desjarlais, Robert R., Shelter blues: sanity and selfhood among the homeless, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997, Friedman, Donna H., et al., "Preventing Homelessness and Promoting Housing Stability: A Comparative Analysis", The Boston Foundation, June 2007., Institute of Medicine (U.S.), Committee on Healthcare for Homeless People, "Homelessness, Health, and Human Needs", Washington, D.C. : National Academy Press, 1988., Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, Springer Verlag and Psycke-Logos Press., Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, "Down & Out: A Manual on Basic Rights and Benefits for Homeless People", 2005–2006 edition, first published in 1984, 15 Bubier Street, Lynn, Massachusetts., Katz, Jessica Ilana, "Homelessness, Crime, Mental Illness, and Substance Abuse: A Core Population with Multiple Social Service Needs", Department of Urban Planning and Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, June 2003, Kenyon, Thomas, What You Can Do to Help the Homeless (Simon & Schuster, 1991), Min, Eungjun, (editor), "Reading the Homeless: The Media's Image of Homeless Culture", Praeger Publishers, 1999., National Coalition for the Homeless, "American Nightmare: A Decade of Homelessness in the United States", December 1989, Nieto G., Gittelman M., Abad A. (2008). "Homeless Mentally Ill Persons: A bibliography review", International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation. 12(2), O'Flaherty, Brendan, "Making room : the economics of homelessness", Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1996., Office for Public Management (UK), "Tackling Homelessness: learning from New York", Seminar Report, London, England, February 2004, Putnam, Kristen M., "Homelessness: Key Findings and Grantmaking Strategies", June 2002, Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation and Putnam Community Investment Consulting., Scanlon, John, "Homelessness: Describing the Symptoms, Prescribing a Cure", The Heritage Foundation, Backgrounder No. 729, 2 October 1989, Miya Yoshida, "The Hidden Homeless in Japan's Contemporary Mobile Culture", NeMe, 2012, Southard, Peggy Ann Dee, "Looking for Sanctuary: Staying on Publicly Owned Lands as a Response to Homelessness", a dissertation presented to the Department of Sociology and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Tsesis, Alexander, "Eliminating the Destitution of America's Homeless", Temple Political & Civil Rights Law Review, Vol. 75, No. 539, 2002, Temple University Beasley School of Law, University of Michigan Libraries, Selected Bibliography of Homelessness Resources Homeless of New York - Article + Video – The Uncommon Magazine, by Avery Kim, 6 July 2016 Homeless Statistics for Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States, all data from around the year 2001., PBS, "Home at Last?", NOW series program, first aired on 2 February 2007. The topic was what will most help homeless people reenter the fabric of society., Homelessness in Europe FEANTSA is the European Federation of National Organisations Working with the Homeless is an umbrella of not-for-profit organizations which participate in or contribute to the fight against homelessness in Europe., Report Card on Child Homelessness by the American Institutes for Research. Summarized in Child homelessness on the rise in US (November 2014), Palm Beach Post, Utah found a brilliantly effective solution for homelessness (February 2015), Natasha Bertrand, Business Insider Homelessness is a major issue in India. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines 'homeless' as those who do not live in a regular residence due to lack of adequate housing, safety, and availability. The United Nations Economic and Social Council Statement has a broader definition for homelessness; it defines homelessness as follows: ‘When we are talking about housing, we are not just talking about four walls and a roof. The right to adequate housing is about security of tenure, affordability, access to services and cultural adequacy. It is about protection from forced eviction and displacement, fighting homelessness, poverty and exclusion. India defines 'homeless' as those who do not live in Census houses, but rather stay on pavements, roadsides, railway platforms, staircases, temples, streets, in pipes, or other open spaces. There are 1.77 million homeless people in India, or 0.15% of the country's total population, according to the 2011 census consisting of single men, women, mothers, the elderly, and the disabled. However, it is argued that the numbers are far greater than accounted by the point in time method. For example, while the Census of 2011 counted 46,724 homeless individuals in Delhi, the Indo-Global Social Service Society counted them to be 88,410, and another organization called the Delhi Development Authority counted them to be 150,000. Furthermore, there is a high proportion of mentally ill and street children in the homeless population. There are 18 million street children in India, the largest number of any country in the world, with 11 million being urban. Finally, more than three million men and women are homeless in India's capital city of New Delhi; the same population in Canada would make up approximately 30 electoral districts. A family of four members has an average of five homeless generations in India. There is a shortage of 18.78 million houses in the country. Total number of houses has increased from 52.06 million to 78.48 million (as per 2011 census). However, the country still ranks as the 124th wealthiest country in the world as of 2003. More than 90 million people in India make less than US$1 per day, thus setting them below the global poverty threshold. The ability of the Government of India to tackle urban homelessness and poverty may be affected in the future by both external and internal factors. The number of people living in slums in India has more than doubled in the past two decades and now exceeds the entire population of Britain, the Indian Government has announced. About 78 million people in India live in slums and tenements. 17% of the world's slum dwellers reside in India. Prior to the release of Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, Mumbai was a slum tourist destination for slumming where homeless people and slum dwellers alike could be openly viewed by tourists. Homelessness is in part a direct result of families migrating from rural to urban cities and urbanization. Migration to urban areas can occur for a variety of reasons ranging from loss of land, need for sustainable employment, lack of clean water and other resources, and in some cases like the Bargi Dam Project, loss of all property and complete displacement. Once reaching cities, homeless attempt to create shelters out of tin, cardboard, wood, and plastic. Slums can provide an escape, yet individuals often cannot afford them. Homeless individuals may experience abuse, maltreatment and lack of access to schools and healthcare. Some other problems leading to homelessness include: disability (either mental, physical, or both), lack of affordable housing (a basic apartment in India costs approximately US$70 per month), unemployment (either seasonal or through economic hardships), and changes in industry. Desertion of the old, mentally ill, unmarried pregnant women, helpless divorced women and girl children also are some of the main causes of homelessness in India. Jobs involving heavy industry and manufacturing (that require only a high school level of education) are being replaced by service industry jobs (which may or may not require a higher level of education). Since university is less affordable for the average Indian than it is for the average North American or European citizen due to their lower per capita income level, more people in India are becoming unemployable for the jobs of the 21st century. The average per capita income for a citizen of India is barely more than US$1,200; compared to US$54,510 in Canada and more than US$64,800 in Switzerland. Policymakers attribute the following factors as the main causes of homelessness: drug abuse, mental illness, relationship failures, and domestic abuse. These place responsibility and blame directly on the homeless. Policies related to ‘deinstitutionalization of care for mentally ill people and subsequent abandonment of a family member with mental illness by the family’ have also increased the number of people living without a roof over their heads. Street children fall under the broader category of children in especially difficult circumstances (CEDC), and are considered the most threatened of all children in CEDC. It is estimated that there are more than 400,000 street children in India. According to UNICEF, street children can be broken up into four sections: at-risk children who live with family but work on the streets for income, children who primarily stay on the street but have some residence with family, children who spend most of their lives on the street and do not live with or contact family, and finally abandoned children who are on their own with no adult figures. Children flee homes of poverty, violence, oppression and exploitation and eventually reside on the streets. Children are often privy to exploitation and physical and mental abuse due to familial stress, depression, and alcohol abuse. When they run away from their families to find a better life, children face prostitution and physical labor. Children as young as 6 sift through garbage seeking money to buy food. Furthermore, children live on the streets as a result of urbanization, poverty, unemployment, alcoholic families, death of parents, bad relationships with new parents, and drug use. Street children often have bad performance and behavior issues in school and may eventually drop out, leading to low literacy. They are stripped of their right to education and recreation. This ties into a cycle perpetuating poverty and homelessness. Street children have more physical and mental health issues than non-street children. Assuming children will ask for bribes, hospitals abstain services, increase prices, or refuse them proper care. These issues can cause street children to become depressed or antisocial with negative approaches to life. Street children suffer from multiple forms of abuse. Most experience verbal and psychological abuse, some experience general abuse and neglect, fewer suffer from health abuse, and a small number from physical (including sexual) abuse. Data shows that high levels of one type of abuse are correlated with high levels of another, with amount of abuse increasing with age and income. Often, abuse comes from police or manipulative employers and occupations. Additionally, studies show that boys are more abused than girls on the streets. Finally, abuse can stem from children with hierarchy on the streets. Members of a group help protect each other to survive. However, older member often abuse the younger children. Homelessness and poverty are the main causes of child labor in India. Census 2011 reported that there nearly 43.5 lakh children aged 5–14 years work to support themselves and their families. According to UNICEF, nearly 12% of all of India's children are laborers. In many cases, poor parents have no choice but to send their children to work in unsafe and hazardous conditions. One challenge the homeless face is the inaccessibility to shelters. Although shelters are available for the homeless in certain cities, many homeless people choose to not utilize them and live on the streets instead due to various different reasons. One reason is that homeless individuals who are affected by mobility issues cannot access them and are unsure about how shelters function. Another is that sometimes shelters are located in unreachable areas and have “camouflaged architecture and poor layouts of the interiors”. Shelters often lack funding and resources to make them more attractive for the homeless population. Shelters also demand a small fee per night, immediately rendering them inaccessible for many homeless. The homeless may view shelters as crowded spaces with poor sanitation where drug addicts and thieves may also take refuge. Sometimes shelters do not allow individuals to bring personal belongings with them which is another factor that discourages homeless individuals from using the shelters. Furthermore, shelter officials, managers, and caretakers are not incentivized to keep the shelters clean and welcoming. Temporary shelters also run the risk of being demolished and often force the homeless to change location of stay. Another challenge faced by the homeless is exposure to extreme weather in summer and winter. A study found that between January 2005 and December 2009, seven homeless individuals passed away every day in Delhi. Their deaths were not recorded by the police and they also did not receive a funeral. Homeless people also suffer from bad health and extremely limited access to medical facilities. Some of the reasons include: lack of proper identity documents required by medical facilities, cost, and inclination of health care providers to outright reject them. In 2010, the UNDP India conducted a survey that found that only about 3% of the homeless people possessed a voter ID or ration card. Indian NGOs have increased dramatically over the years for a number of reasons. A few of these reasons include: programs developed by governmental organizations often lack "sufficient financial means for implementation", lack of discourse around urban issues at Indian universities, and the gap between social classes in urban areas. Drop in centers have shown to help street children. In capitals and large cities, NGOs are involved with these centers. One such organization known as Salam Baalak Trust (SBT) has been operating in Delhi since 1989. SBT runs four homeless shelters open 24 hours a day for around 220 children at a time. This organization has helped 3,500 street children. SBT shelters offer free clothing, food, education, health and mental health services. Thus, children can play without worrying about adult responsibilities such as acquiring food. Furthermore, SBT shelters are safe and secure for children. Centers provide support systems with non-judgmental staff and supervisors as well as opportunities for growth. As many children often do not get support from their parents, families or others on the streets, children seek trust in the staff and consider them to be family. They learn good morals and habits, including reduced drug use and hygiene. Additionally, they are taught how to utilize their skills to create a business. Children at drop in centers believe they have more opportunities for success in the future. However, some children do not realize that they will have to adapt to non-street life in drop in centers. They get accustomed to the freedom on the streets, including drug use and playing with friends at their leisure. If their families live on the streets, the streets become a normal home for them. Some children also do not like the rules of the shelter. Thus, they chose against living in drop in centers. Many NGOs working in housing sector utilize “self-help techniques” that can be viewed in two perspectives; one is that NGOs can work to “overcome the lack of funds and still be able to do something”; and the other is that NGOs can work to spread awareness about issues related to homelessness and help make people more “conscious”. Some advantages that NGOs have are: “flexibility and possibility to experiment; high sensitivity to local problems; a good rapport with the people involved in the project; opportunities to make use of mutual help; aid of international organizations (expertise); inspiring enthusiasm; possibilities to tackle controversial issues”. However, NGOs that implement shelter projects are limited to what they can do because the location of the project always impacts the quality of the shelter, something that is out of the NGO's control. After India gained independence in 1947, the nation created its own set of Five-Year Plans for economic development. The state did not develop any programs for dealing with the poor and the homeless until the Eighth-Five Year plan (1992–97). In this plan, the Footpath Dwellers Night Shelter Scheme (NSS) was created and funds of INR 2.27 crores were allocated for two years. The 10th plan (2002-2007) asked NGOs to creates homes for the homeless and also recognized that the homeless were not being addressed by the government to an extent that they should have been. The 11th plan (2007–12) declared access to roof over one's head as a “fundamental right”. The 12th plan (2012–17) promoted the creation and development of night shelters for beggars and the aged; it also gave city planners the responsibility to build and provide spaces for the homeless. The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) had a policy for the homeless known as Night Shelters for Urban Shelterless, applicable to urban areas in 1988 to 1989. It gave 20,000 rupees a year to homeless shelters, 50% paid by the government, 50% paid by loans from HUDCO or sponsors. In 1992, the Ministry of Urban Development renamed it to Shelter and Sanitation Facilities for Footpath Dwellers in Urban Areas. The department decided to maintain these shelters as dorm-like refuge for nights and social areas in the day. However, in 2005 it was discontinued as states lacked funding. The Government of India has formed new policies for affordable housing and shelters in urban areas in the past few decades. However, shelters provide a temporary solution as they are not permanent and do not replace the right to housing. According to the Commissioners of the Supreme Court, a shelter is a covered space where homeless people can feel safe and secure, and is accessible by anyone. It should provide protection from the environment, safety and security, a place to keep belongings, and a place to drink water and use sanitary bathrooms. The government states that homeless shelters ideally be in localities where there are a lot of homeless people. To improve infrastructures in slums, the Supreme court mandated a new mission known as the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. This stated that for cities of over 5 lakhs in population size, shelters must contain good water, toilets, baths, cooling, heating, ventilation, lights, emergency lights, fire safety, recreation spaces, TVs, first aid, shelter from mosquitoes and rodents, beds, kitchens and utensils, counseling, childcare facilities, and transport for emergencies. However, the 2010 report by Commissioners of the Supreme Court portrayed conditions in night time shelters as horrendous. According to the court, these shelters are barely an improvement from the streets. The homeless population eligible cannot enjoy the shelters at night as that is their time of employment, thus defeating the purpose of the shelter. Furthermore, the data collected from survey analysis of homeless shelters showed the following: the shelters are majority male consisting of wage workers, taxi and rickshaw drivers, and tourists. The lack of women in shelters suggests that either women don't find shelters helpful or that there is low tendency for families to seek shelters. The shelters have inadequate bedding, water, bathrooms, tools, gas for cooking, rodent control, activity space and non-functional first aid. Additionally, there is bad lighting, ventilation, and fire safety. Women and children do not have their own shelters. Thus, the bare minimum of government demands are not being met. In response to this report, the Supreme Court mandated there be one shelter to house 100 people in a population. They declared that shelters must be run all day, every day of the year and consist of beds, bathrooms, water, healthcare and first aid services. 62 cities participated in this. Finally, in 2013 the Indian government started the National Urban Livelihood Mission program which mandated guidelines for states on how to create and utilize shelters. The Public Distribution System (PDS) is one of the major services offered by the government to people living below the poverty line (BPL) in India. This system provides food and grains for low income families at a cheaper rate. However, it requires identity documents to determine eligibility, which many homeless people lack. Although programs like the Aashray Adhikar Abhiyan and NGOs like Pehchan in Mumbai work with the homeless in obtaining documentation of identity, only about 3% of the homeless people in India have identity proof, meaning that most are excluded from becoming beneficiaries of the BPL. Mumbai, located in one of the most populous states, Maharashtra, is home to 12.47 million people, as per the 2011 Census. The city has an extremely high population density of 20,692 people per km, and a total area of about 603 km. It contributes to nearly 40 per cent of the state's gross domestic product and 5 per cent of the national GDP. Much of Mumbai's economy today falls under the informal sector where the average income of a worker is about Rs. 6,000 per month (equaling to about 120 US dollars). The population of Mumbai dramatically increased from 1.69 million in 1930 to 8 million in 1970 due to people moving from rural areas. Migrants move to the city when working in a rural area does not supply enough income to support their families. In the city, employers are more attracted to migrants than local workers because migrant workers supply labor at a cheaper cost and are more willing to work in unsafe conditions. However, an income of less than Rs. 6,000 leaves many migrant workers without access to clean drinking water and basic amenities. Many are not able to pay for rent and thus are forced to live in pavements, streets, parks, and other open public spaces. One study showed that nearly 60 percent of the homeless of Mumbai are from migrants from other states, and most in this category moved from rural areas. Most of them work in the informal sector as laborers and live without a permanent home. Many of these migrants do not have any sort of identity documents and thus are not registered for social welfare benefits such as the Public Distribution System. These migrants originally worked on agricultural lands that they did not own themselves; they moved to Mumbai in search of a better livelihood - better roads, better access to clean drinking water, better roads, better sustenance. Many left their villages to escape “caste-based violence” that destroyed their ability to make a living. A smaller portion of migrant laborers are able to afford to live in slums. Today, more than half of Mumbai's population, nearly 5.5 million people, lives in slums which make up only 8% of the land. Slums suffer from overcrowding, tight spaces, poor lighting, lack of electricity, scarcity of clean water, and unhygienic conditions. Slum inhabitants also suffer from housing insecurities resulting from pressure from their landlords to pay rent on time. In Maharashtra, several programs and policies were enacted by the government to address inadequate housing issues, especially related to slums. The Maharashtra Slum Areas (Improvement, Clearance, and Redevelopment) Act (MSAA) in 1971 was established to “improve environmental conditions” in slums by providing a range of services; it gave the government power to declare a geographical space as a “slum area” and then take action to improve it as deemed appropriate. It could ask the inhabitants of a slum to move to another space without offering alternative spaces of living. The Slum Upgrading Program, funded by the World Bank, aimed to help residents secure leases. The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Act (MHADA) in 1976 gave the government the power to “acquire lands for carrying out the Acts’ objectives”. The policies associated with informal housing have slowly taken a neoliberal path, as seen through the Slum Redevelopment Scheme (SRD) that involved the private sector for the redevelopment of slums. Informal housing and homelessness remain a major issue in Mumbai as migration from rural areas continues and low incomes force people to locate to streets and pavements. An increasing number of migrants looking for employment and better living standards are quickly joining India's homeless population. Although non- governmental organisations are helping to relieve the homelessness crisis in India, these organisation are not enough to solve the entire problem. Attempts at gentrifying India's problematic neighbourhoods is also bringing homelessness levels up. Laws passed by the Municipal Corporation of Mumbai during the 1970s and the 1980s were held by the Indian Courts to be violations of people's right to life in addition to their right to a decent livelihood. A landmark case in 1986, however, would result in the favour of the homeless masses of India. The first decade of the 21st century would see 75,000 people kicked out of Sanjay Gandhi National Park with the government using a massive military force of helicopters and heavily armed police officers. Homelessness in Denmark is considered a significant social issue in the country. Since 2007, comprehensive counts have been performed every other year in week six (early February). The latest, from 2017, counted 6,635 homeless people in Denmark. The total number of people experiencing homelessness at some point in 2017 was estimated at 13,000, while earlier estimates have placed it between 10,000 and 15,000. Roughly half the homeless are in the Capital Region. When compared to many other countries, such as the United States, the rate of Denmark's homeless is significantly lower, which has been linked to the relatively comprehensive welfare system. The number of homeless people in Denmark has risen in recent decades, but this has been most pronounced in people that are between 18 and 29 years old (although 30 to 59 years old remains the largest age group, at 70%), women (although men remains the largest group, at 75%) and immigrants (although Danish citizens remain the largest group). Among the foreign, a high percentage are Eastern or Southern European men that seek work in Denmark. Many of these only stay in Denmark during the summer, returning to their respective countries during the relatively cold Danish winter. Based on the comprehensive count in February 2017, roughly one-tenth of homeless people in Denmark are "street sleepers" (which also includes people sleeping in stairways, sheds and other places not intended for human habitation), with the remaining sleeping in the homes of friends/family, in hotels/hostels, in shelters or alike. The number of street sleepers is higher during the summer, and homeless foreigners are overrepresented among them. Among homeless in Denmark, the primary issue is psychiatric disease in 36% (24% receive treatment), drug addiction in 27% (17% receive treatment) and alcohol addiction in 23% (9% receive treatment). Overall it is estimated that more than half of all homeless people have mental health issues. Compared to many other countries such as the United States, a higher percentage of Denmark's homeless have mental health issues or substance abuse, as countries with weaker welfare systems tend to have higher homeless rates but the homeless will more likely to include from a wide range of groups. The government of Denmark's approach to homelessness include commissioning national surveys on homelessness during the last decade that allow for direct comparison between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The three countries have very similar definitions of homelessness, with minor variations. Hus Forbi – A monthly newspaper sold by homeless people

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Timberline Lodge is a mountain lodge on the south side of Mount Hood in Clackamas County, Oregon, about east of Portland. Constructed from 1936 to 1938 by the Works Progress Administration, it was built and furnished by local artisans during the Great Depression. Timberline Lodge was dedicated September 28, 1937, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The National Historic Landmark sits at an elevation of , within the Mount Hood National Forest and is accessible through the Mount Hood Scenic Byway. Publicly owned and privately operated, Timberline Lodge is a popular tourist attraction that draws two million visitors annually. It is notable in film for serving as the exterior of the Overlook Hotel in The Shining. The lodge and its grounds host a ski resort, also known as Timberline Lodge. It has the longest skiing season in the U.S., and is open for skiers and snowboarders all 12 months of the year. Activities include skiing, snowboarding, walking, hiking, biking, and climbing. Timberline Lodge, a mountain lodge and resort hotel, is a four-story structure of about 40,000 square feet. The ground-level exterior walls are heavy rubble masonry, using boulders from the immediate area, and heavy timber is used from the first-floor up. The central head house section is hexagonal and sixty-feet in diameter, with a six-sided stone chimney stack ninety-feet high and fourteen-feet in diameter. Each of the six fireplace openings—three on the ground floor, three on the first floor—is five-feet wide and seven-feet high. Two wings, running west and southeast, flank the head house. Oregon woods used throughout the building include cedar, Douglas fir, hemlock, western juniper and ponderosa pine. The architect of Timberline Lodge is Gilbert Stanley Underwood, noted for the Ahwahnee Hotel and other lodges in the U.S. national park system. He produced the designs. Then, his central head house was modified from an octagon to a hexagon by U.S. Forest Service architect W. I. (Tim) Turner and the team of Linn A. Forrest, Howard L. Gifford and Dean R. E. Wright. A recent graduate of the University of Washington, forest service engineer Ward Gano was structural designer. Timberline Lodge was constructed between 1936 and 1938 as a Works Progress Administration project during Great Depression. Eighty percent of the WPA's $695,730 total expenditure on building costs went toward labor. Skilled building trade workers received ninety-cents an hour; unskilled laborers received fifty-five cents an hour. Some of the skilled stonemasons on the project were Italian immigrants brought in after working on The Historic Columbia River Highway and other roads in Oregon. About a hundred construction workers were on site at a given time, and lived at a nearby tent city. Jobs were rotated to provide work. Materials costs were minimized by the skillful use of recycled materials. Women wove draperies, upholstery, and bedspreads. Hooked rugs were made from strips of old Civilian Conservation Corps camp blankets. Discarded cedar utility poles became newel- posts with their crowns hand-carved into birds, bears, and seals. Fireplace screens were fashioned from tire chains. Andirons and other iron work were forged from railroad tracks. WPA workers used large timbers and local stone from the site. "All classes, from the most elementary hand labor, through the various degrees of skill to the technically-trained, were employed," reported the WPA's Federal Writers' Project. "Pick and shovel wielders, stonecutters, plumbers, carpenters, steam-fitters, painters, wood-carvers, cabinet-makers, metal workers, leather-toolers, seamstresses, weavers, architects, authors, artists, actors, musicians, and landscape planners, each contributed to the project, and each, in his way, was conscious of the ideal toward which all bent their energies." Federal Art Project contributions to the project were directed by Margery Hoffman Smith, Oregon Arts Project administrator. Smith created many designs for textiles and rugs. She designed the iconic "snow goose", the 750-pound bronze weather vane above the head house. Smith based the abstract forms incised into the lodge chimney on the art of the local Tenino people. Likely- acquainted with William Gray Purcell, a fellow resident of Portland, Smith saw The Prairie School aesthetic was carried through in tables, chairs, sectional sofas, columns, bedspreads, draperies, lampshades, and pendant lighting fixtures. She commissioned murals, paintings and carvings from Oregon's WPA artists. During an inspection tour of government activities in the western U.S., President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated Timberline Lodge on September 28, 1937. In his speech, he says: This Timberline Lodge marks a venture that was made possible by WPA, emergency relief work, in order that we may test the workability of recreational facilities installed by the Government itself and operated under its complete control. Here, to Mount Hood, will come thousands and thousands of visitors in the coming years. Looking east toward eastern Oregon with its great livestock raising areas, these visitors are going to visualize the relationship between the cattle ranches and the summer ranges in the forests. Looking westward and northward toward Portland and the Columbia River, with their great lumber and other wood using industries, they will understand the part which National Forest timber will play in the support of this important element of northwestern prosperity. Those who will follow us to Timberline Lodge on their holidays and vacations will represent the enjoyment of new opportunities for play in every season of the year. I mention specially every season of the year because we, as a nation, I think, are coming to realize that the summer is not the only time for play. I look forward to the day when many, many people from this region of the Nation are going to come here for skiing and tobogganing and various other forms of winter sports." He dedicated the lodge, saying, "I am here to dedicate the Timberline Lodge and I do so in the words of the bronze tablet directly in front of me on the coping of this wonderful building: 'Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood National Forest dedicated September 28, 1937, by the President of the United States as a monument to the skill and faithful performance of workers on the rolls of the Works Progress Administration'". FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt enjoyed a celebratory luncheon including salmon and huckleberry pie. In her My Day column, Mrs. Roosevelt praised the lodge's architectural features: "It is built exclusively of native products and by WPA labor. The interesting central fire place with its many openings is a feature I have seen in no other building of its kind and no where have I seen such big timbers used. All the furniture, all the hangings, all the iron work as well, were made by WPA workers. Here is a group of workers who have the makings of a handcraft organization, and I hope their work will be appreciated. Mr. Griffith, the state WPA administrator, must be happy over the work done here." Most work was complete at the time of the dedication. After some interior details were finished, the lodge opened to the public February 4, 1938. Frank Roosevelt's vision of winter sports at Timberline Lodge took hesitant steps the following year. A portable rope tow was installed, and construction began on the Magic Mile chairlift, which opened November 1939. In the lodge's early years, none of its four operators were willing or able to maintain it. By 1955, Timberline Lodge was closed. Richard Kohnstamm, the next operator, recalled difficulties due to financing problems arising from the fact the government claimed they owned it. Kohnstamm decided to maintain the place as if he owned it; he lost money during his first five years of operation, but his timing was fortuitous. He took over only a few years before skiing exploded in popularity in the late 1950s. That popularity helped the family generate a profit starting in 1960. Kohnstamm, "the man who saved Timberline", died at the age of 80 on April 21, 2006. Kohnstamm's son Jeff is the Area Operator of Timberline Lodge. Timberline Lodge was used as a filming location for the 1941 musical short, Jingle Belles. Feature films shot at or around Timberline Lodge include Bend of the River (1952), All the Young Men (1960), the 1973 version of Lost Horizon, and Hear No Evil (1993). Exterior views of Timberline Lodge were used in The Shining (1980), Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the Stephen King novel set at the fictional Overlook Hotel. The staff and owners were concerned guests would be reluctant to stay in Room 217 if it was featured in a horror movie; the management requested the room number be changed to the fictional Room 237 Brief exterior views of a snowy Timberline Lodge were used as a stand-in for a "Bavarian Ski Resort" in multiple episodes of Hogan's Heroes. Director Boris Sagal was killed in an accident on the third day of filming the NBC-TV miniseries World War III (1982), after he walked into the tail rotor blades of a helicopter in Timberline Lodge's parking lot. Most recently, Timberline Lodge was a location for the 2014 feature film, Wild. List of Historic Hotels of America Friends of Timberline Lodge, Webcam at Timberline Lodge – from the KGW-TV website, The Seattle Times – Timberline Lodge, marvel of WPA – 17-Jan-2008, Topographic map & aerial photo of Timberline Lodge from USGS via Microsoft Research Maps (Internet Archive), Timberline slides from the University of Michigan Slide Distribution Project (Internet Archive), Virtual Tour of Timberline Lodge Lots of photos of the Lodge and artwork., Timberline Lodge 75th Anniversary Documentary produced by Oregon Field Guide (2012) The Lodge is a British musical drama and mystery television series that premiered on Disney Channel in the United Kingdom on 23 September 2016 and on Disney Channel in the United States on 17 October 2016. The series is based on the Israeli series North Star and stars Sophie Simnett, Luke Newton, Thomas Doherty, Bethan Wright, Jayden Revri, Jade Alleyne, Joshua Sinclair-Evans, and Mia Jenkins. Fifteen-year-old Skye moves with her father Ed from the big city to rural Northern Ireland, where they take over a local hotel called North Star Lodge, which was previously owned and managed by Skye's grandfather Patrick. At their new home, Skye tries to build a life, but this new life is far from complication free as she must navigate through the everyday stresses of life as a teenager. She struggles to integrate into a group of teenagers who live and work in the hotel, but discovers that most of them do not have good intentions. When she discovers that her father is planning to sell the hotel to Gil, Skye becomes upset as she has developed an emotional attachment to it. Skye decides to convince her father not to sell the hotel only to discover that the man wanting to buy it is her new friend's father. Skye receives the support of her friends, but not everyone is as interested as she is in saving it. Skye discovers secrets over time that will affect not only her life, but that of the hotel. Sophie Simnett as Skye, a girl who moves to the North Star Lodge., Luke Newton as Ben, a repairman at the North Star Lodge who enjoys the outdoors., Thomas Doherty as Sean, a worker at the North Star Lodge who enjoys mountain biking., Bethan Wright as Danielle, Skye's frenemy, Sean's ex-girlfriend, and Ben's girlfriend., Jayden Revri as Noah, worker at the North Star Lodge who is a DJ., Jade Alleyne as Kaylee, a worker at the North Star Lodge who plans to be a singer., Joshua Sinclair-Evans as Josh, Skye's friend from the city who she contacts for advice., Mia Jenkins as Alex (season 2), the cousin of Skye. Marcus Garvey as Ed, the father of Skye., John Hopkins as SJ, the uncle of Kyle and Aaron., Geoffrey McGivern as Patrick, the grandfather of Skye and the original owner of the North Star Lodge., Dan Richardson as Gil, the father of Sean., Ellie Taylor as Christina, the director of the reality series "My Amazing Life.", Laila Rouass as Olivia, the mother of Danielle., Dominic Harrison as Oz, a singer who is a temporary love interest for Kaylee., Tom Hudson as Kyle, the nephew of SJ., Martin Anzor as Aaron, the nephew of SJ., Sarah Nauta as Lori, a girl who worked for Christina., Clara Rugaard as Ana, Ben's ex-girlfriend from Norway who befriends Danielle., Cameron King as Ethan, the younger brother of Ben who enjoys rock-climbing., Emma Campbell-Jones as Ella, the mother of Sean., Lina Larissa Strahl as Frankie, a student at Kaylee's music college., Kimberley Walsh as Rebecca, Dove Cameron as Jess, a friend of Sean who enjoys competitive biking. In July 2015, Disney Channel UK gave the green light for the production of the series The Lodge, which had the working title of North Star. For the first season, 13 episodes were originally announced, each with a running time of 22 minutes, though the amount was later reduced to 10 episodes. The main character, Skye, was originally named Maia, like in the Israeli Disney Channel original series North Star. The series The Lodge, filmed in Northern Ireland, takes place in the county of County Down. Most of the scenes are filmed in Montalto Estate and at The Carriage Rooms, which are in Ballynahinch. On 13 December 2016, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered in 2017. On 21 February 2017, it was announced that production had begun on the second season and it would consist of 15 episodes. The Lodge features the first coming out scene in a Disney Channel series: in a 2017 episode, Josh (Joshua Sinclair-Evans) mentions that girls aren't his type. The premiere episode of The Lodge, "The New Girl", was released online in the UK on 8 September 2016, more than two weeks before its television premiere. The first series premiered in the United States on Disney Channel on 17 October 2016. At the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017, the series was released in 108 additional countries within the EMEA region. The entire series was released in the United States on Disney+ on 1 January 2020. Native American religions are the spiritual practices of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. This article focuses on Native North Americans. Traditional Native American ceremonial ways can vary widely and are based on the differing histories and beliefs of individual tribes, clans, and bands. Early European explorers describe individual Native American tribes and even small bands as each having their own religious practices. Theology may be monotheistic, polytheistic, henotheistic, animistic, shamanistic, pantheistic or any combination thereof, among others. Traditional beliefs are usually passed down in the forms of oral histories, stories, allegories, and principles, and rely on face to face teaching in one's family and community. From the 1600s, European Catholic and Protestant denominations sent missionaries to convert the tribes to Christianity. Some of these conversions occurred through government and Christian church cooperative efforts that forcibly removed Native American children from their families into a Christian/state government-operated system of American Indian boarding schools (aka The Residential Schools) where Native children were taught European Christian beliefs, the values of mainstream white culture, and the English language. This forcible conversion and suppression of Indigenous languages and cultures continued through the 1970s. As part of the US government's suppression of traditional Indigenous religions, most ceremonial ways were banned for over 80 years by a series of US Federal laws that banned traditional sweat lodge and sun dance ceremonies, among others. This government persecution and prosecution continued until 1978 with the passage of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA). Some non-Native anthropologists estimate membership in traditional Native American religions in the 21st century to be about 9000 people. Since Native Americans practicing traditional ceremonies do not usually have public organizations or membership rolls, these "members" estimates are likely substantially lower than the actual numbers of people who participate in traditional ceremonies. Native American spiritual leaders also note that these academic estimates substantially underestimate the numbers of participants because a century of US Federal government persecution and prosecutions of traditional ceremonies caused believers to practice their religions in secrecy. Many adherents of traditional spiritual ways also attend Christian services, at least some of the time, which can also affect statistics. Since the 80 years of those prior legal persecutions ended with AIRFA, some sacred sites in the United States are now protected areas under law. The Earth Lodge Religion was founded in northern California and southern Oregon tribes such as the Wintun. It spread to tribes such as the Achomawi, Shasta, and Siletz, to name a few. It was also known as the "Warm House Dance" among the Pomo. It predicted occurrences similar to those predicted by the Ghost Dance, such as the return of ancestors or the world's end. The Earth Lodge Religion impacted the later religious practice, the Dream Dance, belonging to the Klamath and the Modoc. The Ghost Dance movement of the late 1800s was a religious revitalization movement in the Western United States. Initially founded as a local ceremony in Nevada, by the Paiute prophet Wodziwob, the movement did not gain widespread popularity until 1889–1890, when the Ghost Dance Religion was founded by Wovoka (Jack Wilson), who was also Northern Paiute. The Ghost Dance was created in a time of genocide, to save the lives of the Native Americans by enabling them to survive the current and coming catastrophes, by calling the dead to fight on their behalf, and to help them drive the colonists out of their lands. In December 1888, Wovoka, who was thought to be the son of the medicine man Tavibo (Numu-tibo'o), fell sick with a fever during an eclipse of the sun, which occurred on January 1, 1889. Upon his recovery, he claimed that he had visited the spirit world and the Supreme Being and predicted that the world would soon end, then be restored to a pure state in the presence of the Messiah. All Native Americans would inherit this world, including those who were already dead, in order to live eternally without suffering. In order to reach this reality, Wovoka stated that all Native Americans should live honestly, and shun the ways of whites (especially the consumption of alcohol). He called for meditation, prayer, singing, and dancing as an alternative to mourning the dead, for they would soon resurrect. Wovoka's followers saw him as a form of the messiah and he became known as the "Red Man's Christ." Tavibo had participated in the Ghost Dance of 1870 and had a similar vision of the Great Spirit of Earth removing all white men, and then of an earthquake removing all human beings. Tavibo's vision concluded that Native Americans would return to live in a restored environment and that only believers in his revelations would be resurrected. This religion spread to many tribes on reservations in the West, including the Shoshone, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and Sioux (Dakota, Lakota, and Nakota). In fact, some bands of Lakota and Dakota were so desperate for hope during this period of forced relocation and genocide that, after making a pilgrimage to the Nevada Ghost Dance in 1889–1890, they became more militant in their resistance to the white colonists. Each Nation that adopted the Ghost Dance way provided their own understanding to the ceremony, which included the prediction that the white people would disappear, die, or be driven back across the sea. A Ghost Dance gathering at Wounded Knee in December 1890 was invaded by the Seventh Cavalry, who massacred unarmed Lakota and Dakota people, primarily women, children and the elderly. The earliest Ghost Dance heavily influenced religions such as the Earth Lodge, Bole-Maru Religion, and the Dream Dance. The Caddo Nation and several other communities still practices the Ghost Dance today, though usually in secret. Also known as Tschida, the Indian Shaker Religion was influenced by the Waashat Religion and founded by John Slocum, a Squaxin Island member. The name comes from the shaking and twitching motions used by the participants to brush off their sins. The religion combines Christianity with traditional Indian teachings. This religion is still practiced today in the Indian Shaker Church. The Longhouse Religion is the popular name of the religious movement known as The Code of Handsome Lake or Gaihwi:io ("Good Message"), founded in 1799 by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake (Sganyodaiyoˀ). This movement combines and reinterprets elements of traditional Iroquois religious beliefs with elements adopted from Christianity, primarily from the Quakers. Gaihwi:io currently has about 5,000 practicing members. Originally the Gaihwi:io was known as the "new religion" in opposition to the prevailing animistic beliefs, but has since become known as the "old religion" in opposition to Christianity. Mexicayoal (Nahuatl word meaning "Essence of the Mexican", "Mexicanity"; Spanish: Mexicanidad; see -yotl) is a movement reviving the indigenous religion, philosophy and traditions of ancient Mexico (Aztec religion and Aztec philosophy) amongst the Mexican people. The movement came to light in the 1950s, led by Mexico City intellectuals, but has grown significantly on a grassroots level only in more recent times, also spreading to the Chicanos of North America. Their rituals involve the mitotiliztli. The followers, called Mexicatl (singular) and Mexicah (plural), or simply Mexica", are mostly urban and suburban people. The Mexicayotl movement started in the 1950s with the founding of the group Nueva Mexicanidad by Antonio Velasco Piña. In the same years, Rodolfo Nieva López founded the Movimiento Confederado Restaurador de la Cultura del Anáhuac, the co-founder of which was Francisco Jimenez Sanchez who in later decades became a spiritual leader of the Mexicayotl movement, endowed with the honorific Tlacaelel. He had a deep influence in shaping the movement, founding the In Kaltonal ("House of the Sun", also called Native Mexican Church) in the 1970s. From the 1970s onwards Mexcayotl has grown developing in a web of local worship and community groups (called calpulli or kalpulli) and spreading to the Mexican Americans or Chicanos in the United States. It has also developed strong ties with Mexican national identity movements and Chicano nationalism. Sanchez's Native Mexican Church (which is a confederation of calpullis) was officially recognized by the government of Mexico in 2007. The Peyote Religion legally termed and more properly known as the Native American Church has also been called the "Peyote Road" or the "Peyote Way", is a religious tradition involving the ceremonial and sacred use of Lophophora williamsii (peyote). Use of peyote for religious purposes is thousands of years old and some have thought it to have originated within one of the following tribes: the Carrizo, the Lipan Apache, the Mescalero Apache, the Tonkawa, the Karankawa, or the Caddo, with the Plains Cree, Carrizo, and the Lipan Apache being the three most likely sources. In Mexico the Huichol, Tepehuán, and other Native Mexicans use peyote. Since then, despite several efforts to make peyote ceremonies illegal, ceremonial peyote use has spread from the Mexico area to Oklahoma and other western parts of the United States. Notable Native American Church (NAC) members include Quannah Parker, the founder of the NAC, and Big Moon of the Kiowa tribe. The Waashat Religion is also called the Washani Religion, Longhouse Religion, Seven Drum Religion, Sunday Dance Religion, Prophet Dance, and Dreamer Faith. The Wanapam Indian Smohalla (c. 1815–1895) used wáashat rituals to build the religion in the Pacific Northwest. Smohalla claimed that visions came to him through dreams and that he had visited the spirit world and had been sent back to teach his people. The name waasaní spoke to what the religion was about; it meant both dancing and worship. He led a return to the original way of life before white influences and established ceremonial music and dancing. Smohalla's speaking was called Yuyunipitqana for "Shouting Mountain". The Dreamer Faith, and its elements of dancing, foreshadowed the later Ghost Dances of the plains peoples. It was a back-to-our-heritage religion. Believers thought that white people would disappear and nature would return to the way it was before they came. To achieve this, the Natives must do the things required by the spirits, like a Weyekin. What the spirits wanted was to throw off violent ways, cast off white culture, and not buy, sell or disrespect the Earth. They must also dance the Prophet Dance (wáashat). The religion combined elements of Christianity with Native beliefs, but it rejected white-American culture. This made it difficult to assimilate or control the tribes by the United States. The U.S. was trying to convert the Plains tribes from hunter-gatherers to farmers, in the European-American tradition. They wanted to remake the Natives but found a problem with those who followed the Dreamer Cult: "Their model of a man is an Indian ...They aspire to be Indian and nothing else." Prophets of the movement included Smohalla (of the Wanapam people), Kotiakan (of the Yakama nation) and Homli (of the Walla Walla). Their messages were carried along the Columbia River to other communities. It is unclear exactly how it started or when Christianity influenced the earlier form, but it is thought to have something to do with the arrival of non-Indians or an epidemic and a prophet with an apocalyptic vision. The Waashat Dance involves seven drummers, a salmon feast, use of eagle and swan feathers and a sacred song sung every seventh day. The sun dance is a religious ceremony practiced by a number of Native American and First Nations Peoples, primarily those of the Plains Nations. Each tribe that has some type of sun dance ceremony has their own distinct practices and ceremonial protocols. In many cases, the ceremony is held in a private and is not open to the public. Most details of the ceremony are kept from public knowledge out of great respect for, and the desire for protection of, the traditional ways. Many of the ceremonies have featured in common, such as specific dances and songs passed down through many generations, the use of traditional drums, the sacred pipe, praying, fasting and, in some cases, the piercing of the skin. In Canada, the Plains Cree call this ceremony the Thirst Dance; the Saulteaux (Plains Ojibwe) call it the Rain Dance; and the Blackfoot (Siksika, Kainai, and Piikani) call it the Medicine Dance. It is also practiced by the Canadian Dakota and Nakoda, and the Dene. Leaders in Native religions include Popé, who led the Pueblo revolt in 1675, Quautlatas, who inspired the Tepehuan Revolt against the Spanish in 1616, Neolin, Tenskwatawa, Kenekuk, Smohalla, John Slocum, Wovoka, Black Elk and many others. From time to time important religious leaders organized revivals. In Indiana in 1805, Tenskwatawa (called the Shawnee Prophet by Americans) led a religious revival following a smallpox epidemic and a series of witch-hunts. His beliefs were based on the earlier teachings of the Lenape prophets, Scattamek and Neolin, who predicted a coming apocalypse that would destroy the European-American settlers. Tenskwatawa urged the tribes to reject the ways of the Americans: to give up firearms, liquor, American style clothing, to pay traders only half the value of their debts, and to refrain from ceding any more lands to the United States. The revival led to warfare led by his brother Tecumseh against the white settlers. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act is a United States Federal Law and a joint resolution of Congress that provides protection for tribal culture and traditional religious rights such as access to sacred sites, freedom to worship through traditional ceremony, and use and possession of sacred objects for American Indians, Eskimos, Aleuts, and Native Hawaiians. It was passed on August 11, 1978. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), Pub.L. 101-601, 104 Stat. 3048, is a United States federal law passed on 16 November 1990 requiring federal agencies and institutions that receive federal funding[1] to return Native American cultural items and human remains to their respective peoples. Cultural items include funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (also known as RFRA), is a 1993 United States federal law aimed at preventing laws that substantially burden a person's free exercise of religion. It was held unconstitutional as applied to the states in the City of Boerne v. Flores decision in 1997, which ruled that the RFRA is not a proper exercise of Congress's enforcement power. However, it continues to be applied to the federal government - for instance, in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal - because Congress has broad authority to carve out exemptions from federal laws and regulations that it itself has authorized. In response to City of Boerne v. Flores, some individual states passed State Religious Freedom Restoration Acts that apply to state governments and local municipalities. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly during its 61st session at UN Headquarters in New York City on 13 September 2007. Article 31, in particular, emphasizes that Indigenous Peoples have the right to their cultural heritage, including ceremonial knowledge, as protected intellectual property. Alaska Native religion, Bahá'í Faith and Native Americans, Crow religion, Cultural appropriation, Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Falls Creek Baptist Conference Center, Great Spirit, Green Corn Ceremony, Indigenous intellectual property, Inuit religion, Medicine man, Midewiwin, Mormonism and Native Americans, Mythologies of the indigenous peoples of North America, Native American ethnobotany, Religious rights, Plastic shaman, Recognition of Native American sacred sites in the United States, Sacred bundle, Tengrism, Traditional knowledge Brown, Brian Edward. "Religion, Law, and the Land: Native Americans and the Judicial Interpretations of Sacred Land." Greenwood Press, 1999. ., Buff, Rachel. "Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa: Myth, Historiography and Popular Memory." Historical Reflections/Réflexions Historiques (1995): 277-299., Carpenter, Kristen A., A Property Rights Approach to Sacred Sites: Asserting a Place for Indians as Nonowners, 52 UCLA Law Review 1061 (2005)., Carpenter, Kristen A., Individual Religious Freedoms in American Indian Tribal Constitutional Law, "The Indian Civil Rights Act at Forty." UCLA American Indian Studies Publications, 2012, ., Getches, David H., Wilkinson, Charles F., Williams, Robert A. Jr. "Cases and Materials on Federal Indian Law- Fifth Edition." Thomas West Company: the United States, 1998. ., Stewart, Omer C. Peyote Religion: A History. University of Oklahoma Press: Norman and London, 1987. ., Waldman, Carl. (2009). Atlas of the North American Indian. Checkmark Books. New York. ., Utter, Jack. American Indians: Answers to Today's Questions. 2nd edition. University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. . Guide to Research in Native American Religions – University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign

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Chloroplasts are organelles that conduct photosynthesis, where the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll captures the energy from sunlight, converts it, and stores it in the energy-storage molecules ATP and NADPH while freeing oxygen from water in plant and algal cells. They then use the ATP and NADPH to make organic molecules from carbon dioxide in a process known as the Calvin cycle. Chloroplasts carry out a number of other functions, including fatty acid synthesis, much amino acid synthesis, and the immune response in plants. The number of chloroplasts per cell varies from one, in unicellular algae, up to 100 in plants like Arabidopsis and wheat. A chloroplast is a type of organelle known as a plastid, characterized by its two membranes and a high concentration of chlorophyll. Other plastid types, such as the leucoplast and the chromoplast, contain little chlorophyll and do not carry out photosynthesis. Chloroplasts are highly dynamic—they circulate and are moved around within plant cells, and occasionally pinch in two to reproduce. Their behavior is strongly influenced by environmental factors like light color and intensity. Chloroplasts, like mitochondria, contain their own DNA, which is thought to be inherited from their ancestor—a photosynthetic cyanobacterium that was engulfed by an early eukaryotic cell.Chloroplasts cannot be made by the plant cell and must be inherited by each daughter cell during cell division. With one exception (the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora), all chloroplasts can probably be traced back to a single endosymbiotic event, when a cyanobacterium was engulfed by the eukaryote. Despite this, chloroplasts can be found in an extremely wide set of organisms, some not even directly related to each other—a consequence of many secondary and even tertiary endosymbiotic events. The word chloroplast is derived from the Greek words chloros (χλωρός), which means green, and plastes (πλάστης), which means "the one who forms". The first definitive description of a chloroplast (Chlorophyllkörnen, "grain of chlorophyll") was given by Hugo von Mohl in 1837 as discrete bodies within the green plant cell. In 1883, A. F. W. Schimper would name these bodies as "chloroplastids" (Chloroplastiden). In 1884, Eduard Strasburger adopted the term "chloroplasts" (Chloroplasten). Chloroplasts are one of many types of organelles in the plant cell. They are considered to have evolved from endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Mitochondria are thought to have come from a similar endosymbiosis event, where an aerobic prokaryote was engulfed. This origin of chloroplasts was first suggested by the Russian biologist Konstantin Mereschkowski in 1905 after Andreas Schimper observed in 1883 that chloroplasts closely resemble cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts are only found in plants, algae, and the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora. Chloroplasts are considered endosymbiotic Cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria are sometimes called blue-green algae even though they are prokaryotes. They are a diverse phylum of bacteria capable of carrying out photosynthesis, and are gram-negative, meaning that they have two cell membranes. Cyanobacteria also contain a peptidoglycan cell wall, which is thicker than in other gram- negative bacteria, and which is located between their two cell membranes. Like chloroplasts, they have thylakoids within. On the thylakoid membranes are photosynthetic pigments, including chlorophyll a. Phycobilins are also common cyanobacterial pigments, usually organized into hemispherical phycobilisomes attached to the outside of the thylakoid membranes (phycobilins are not shared with all chloroplasts though). Somewhere around 1 to 2 billion years ago, a free-living cyanobacterium entered an early eukaryotic cell, either as food or as an internal parasite, but managed to escape the phagocytic vacuole it was contained in. The two innermost lipid-bilayer membranes that surround all chloroplasts correspond to the outer and inner membranes of the ancestral cyanobacterium's gram negative cell wall, and not the phagosomal membrane from the host, which was probably lost. The new cellular resident quickly became an advantage, providing food for the eukaryotic host, which allowed it to live within it. Over time, the cyanobacterium was assimilated, and many of its genes were lost or transferred to the nucleus of the host. From genomes that probably originally contained over 3000 genes only about 130 genes remain in the chloroplasts of contemporary plants. Some of its proteins were then synthesized in the cytoplasm of the host cell, and imported back into the chloroplast (formerly the cyanobacterium). Separately, somewhere around 500 million years ago, it happened again and led to the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora. This event is called endosymbiosis, or "cell living inside another cell with a mutual benefit for both". The external cell is commonly referred to as the host while the internal cell is called the endosymbiont. Chloroplasts are believed to have arisen after mitochondria, since all eukaryotes contain mitochondria, but not all have chloroplasts. This is called serial endosymbiosis—an early eukaryote engulfing the mitochondrion ancestor, and some descendants of it then engulfing the chloroplast ancestor, creating a cell with both chloroplasts and mitochondria. Whether or not primary chloroplasts came from a single endosymbiotic event, or many independent engulfments across various eukaryotic lineages, has long been debated. It is now generally held that organisms with primary chloroplasts share a single ancestor that took in a cyanobacterium 600–2000 million years ago. It has been proposed this the closest living relative of this bacterium is Gloeomargarita lithophora. The exception is the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora, which descends from an ancestor that took in a Prochlorococcus cyanobacterium 90–500 million years ago. These chloroplasts, which can be traced back directly to a cyanobacterial ancestor, are known as primary plastids ("plastid" in this context means almost the same thing as chloroplast). All primary chloroplasts belong to one of four chloroplast lineages—the glaucophyte chloroplast lineage, the amoeboid Paulinella chromatophora lineage, the rhodophyte (red algal) chloroplast lineage, or the chloroplastidan (green) chloroplast lineage. The rhodophyte and chloroplastidan lineages are the largest, with chloroplastidan (green) being the one that contains the land plants. Usually the endosymbiosis event is considered to have occurred in the Archaeplastida, within which the glaucophyta being the possible earliest diverging lineage. The glaucophyte chloroplast group is the smallest of the three primary chloroplast lineages, being found in only 13 species, and is thought to be the one that branched off the earliest. Glaucophytes have chloroplasts that retain a peptidoglycan wall between their double membranes, like their cyanobacterial parent. For this reason, glaucophyte chloroplasts are also known as 'muroplasts' (besides 'cyanoplasts' or 'cyanelles'). Glaucophyte chloroplasts also contain concentric unstacked thylakoids, which surround a carboxysome – an icosahedral structure that glaucophyte chloroplasts and cyanobacteria keep their carbon fixation enzyme RuBisCO in. The starch that they synthesize collects outside the chloroplast. Like cyanobacteria, glaucophyte and rhodophyte chloroplast thylakoids are studded with light collecting structures called phycobilisomes. For these reasons, glaucophyte chloroplasts are considered a primitive intermediate between cyanobacteria and the more evolved chloroplasts in red algae and plants. The rhodophyte, or red algal chloroplast group is another large and diverse chloroplast lineage. Rhodophyte chloroplasts are also called rhodoplasts, literally "red chloroplasts". Rhodoplasts have a double membrane with an intermembrane space and phycobilin pigments organized into phycobilisomes on the thylakoid membranes, preventing their thylakoids from stacking. Some contain pyrenoids. Rhodoplasts have chlorophyll a and phycobilins for photosynthetic pigments; the phycobilin phycoerytherin is responsible for giving many red algae their distinctive red color. However, since they also contain the blue-green chlorophyll a and other pigments, many are reddish to purple from the combination. The red phycoerytherin pigment is an adaptation to help red algae catch more sunlight in deep water—as such, some red algae that live in shallow water have less phycoerytherin in their rhodoplasts, and can appear more greenish. Rhodoplasts synthesize a form of starch called floridean starch, which collects into granules outside the rhodoplast, in the cytoplasm of the red alga. The chloroplastidan chloroplasts, or green chloroplasts, are another large, highly diverse primary chloroplast lineage. Their host organisms are commonly known as the green algae and land plants. They differ from glaucophyte and red algal chloroplasts in that they have lost their phycobilisomes, and contain chlorophyll b instead. Most green chloroplasts are (obviously) green, though some aren't, like some forms of Hæmatococcus pluvialis, due to accessory pigments that override the chlorophylls' green colors. Chloroplastidan chloroplasts have lost the peptidoglycan wall between their double membrane, leaving an intermembrane space. Some plants seem to have kept the genes for the synthesis of the peptidoglycan layer, though they've been repurposed for use in chloroplast division instead. Most of the chloroplasts depicted in this article are green chloroplasts. Green algae and plants keep their starch inside their chloroplasts, and in plants and some algae, the chloroplast thylakoids are arranged in grana stacks. Some green algal chloroplasts contain a structure called a pyrenoid, which is functionally similar to the glaucophyte carboxysome in that it is where RuBisCO and CO are concentrated in the chloroplast. Helicosporidium is a genus of nonphotosynthetic parasitic green algae that is thought to contain a vestigial chloroplast. Genes from a chloroplast and nuclear genes indicating the presence of a chloroplast have been found in Helicosporidium even if nobody's seen the chloroplast itself. While most chloroplasts originate from that first set of endosymbiotic events, Paulinella chromatophora is an exception that acquired a photosynthetic cyanobacterial endosymbiont more recently. It is not clear whether that symbiont is closely related to the ancestral chloroplast of other eukaryotes. Being in the early stages of endosymbiosis, Paulinella chromatophora can offer some insights into how chloroplasts evolved. Paulinella cells contain one or two sausage shaped blue-green photosynthesizing structures called chromatophores, descended from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. Chromatophores cannot survive outside their host. Chromatophore DNA is about a million base pairs long, containing around 850 protein encoding genes—far less than the three million base pair Synechococcus genome, but much larger than the approximately 150,000 base pair genome of the more assimilated chloroplast. Chromatophores have transferred much less of their DNA to the nucleus of their host. About 0.3–0.8% of the nuclear DNA in Paulinella is from the chromatophore, compared with 11–14% from the chloroplast in plants. Many other organisms obtained chloroplasts from the primary chloroplast lineages through secondary endosymbiosis—engulfing a red or green alga that contained a chloroplast. These chloroplasts are known as secondary plastids. While primary chloroplasts have a double membrane from their cyanobacterial ancestor, secondary chloroplasts have additional membranes outside of the original two, as a result of the secondary endosymbiotic event, when a nonphotosynthetic eukaryote engulfed a chloroplast-containing alga but failed to digest it—much like the cyanobacterium at the beginning of this story. The engulfed alga was broken down, leaving only its chloroplast, and sometimes its cell membrane and nucleus, forming a chloroplast with three or four membranes—the two cyanobacterial membranes, sometimes the eaten alga's cell membrane, and the phagosomal vacuole from the host's cell membrane. The genes in the phagocytosed eukaryote's nucleus are often transferred to the secondary host's nucleus. Cryptomonads and chlorarachniophytes retain the phagocytosed eukaryote's nucleus, an object called a nucleomorph, located between the second and third membranes of the chloroplast. All secondary chloroplasts come from green and red algae—no secondary chloroplasts from glaucophytes have been observed, probably because glaucophytes are relatively rare in nature, making them less likely to have been taken up by another eukaryote. Green algae have been taken up by the euglenids, chlorarachniophytes, a lineage of dinoflagellates, and possibly the ancestor of the CASH lineage (cryptomonads, alveolates, stramenopiles and haptophytes) in three or four separate engulfments. Many green algal derived chloroplasts contain pyrenoids, but unlike chloroplasts in their green algal ancestors, storage product collects in granules outside the chloroplast. Euglenophytes are a group of common flagellated protists that contain chloroplasts derived from a green alga. Euglenophyte chloroplasts have three membranes—it is thought that the membrane of the primary endosymbiont was lost, leaving the cyanobacterial membranes, and the secondary host's phagosomal membrane. Euglenophyte chloroplasts have a pyrenoid and thylakoids stacked in groups of three. Photosynthetic product is stored in the form of paramylon, which is contained in membrane-bound granules in the cytoplasm of the euglenophyte. Chlorarachniophytes are a rare group of organisms that also contain chloroplasts derived from green algae, though their story is more complicated than that of the euglenophytes. The ancestor of chlorarachniophytes is thought to have been a eukaryote with a red algal derived chloroplast. It is then thought to have lost its first red algal chloroplast, and later engulfed a green alga, giving it its second, green algal derived chloroplast. Chlorarachniophyte chloroplasts are bounded by four membranes, except near the cell membrane, where the chloroplast membranes fuse into a double membrane. Their thylakoids are arranged in loose stacks of three. Chlorarachniophytes have a form of polysaccharide called chrysolaminarin, which they store in the cytoplasm, often collected around the chloroplast pyrenoid, which bulges into the cytoplasm. Chlorarachniophyte chloroplasts are notable because the green alga they are derived from has not been completely broken down—its nucleus still persists as a nucleomorph found between the second and third chloroplast membranes—the periplastid space, which corresponds to the green alga's cytoplasm. Lepidodinium viride and its close relatives are dinophytes (see below) that lost their original peridinin chloroplast and replaced it with a green algal derived chloroplast (more specifically, a prasinophyte). Lepidodinium is the only dinophyte that has a chloroplast that's not from the rhodoplast lineage. The chloroplast is surrounded by two membranes and has no nucleomorph—all the nucleomorph genes have been transferred to the dinophyte nucleus. The endosymbiotic event that led to this chloroplast was serial secondary endosymbiosis rather than tertiary endosymbiosis—the endosymbiont was a green alga containing a primary chloroplast (making a secondary chloroplast). Cryptophytes, or cryptomonads are a group of algae that contain a red-algal derived chloroplast. Cryptophyte chloroplasts contain a nucleomorph that superficially resembles that of the chlorarachniophytes. Cryptophyte chloroplasts have four membranes, the outermost of which is continuous with the rough endoplasmic reticulum. They synthesize ordinary starch, which is stored in granules found in the periplastid space—outside the original double membrane, in the place that corresponds to the red alga's cytoplasm. Inside cryptophyte chloroplasts is a pyrenoid and thylakoids in stacks of two. Their chloroplasts do not have phycobilisomes, but they do have phycobilin pigments which they keep in their thylakoid space, rather than anchored on the outside of their thylakoid membranes. Cryptophytes may have played a key role in the spreading of red algal based chloroplasts. Haptophytes are similar and closely related to cryptophytes or heterokontophytes. Their chloroplasts lack a nucleomorph, their thylakoids are in stacks of three, and they synthesize chrysolaminarin sugar, which they store completely outside of the chloroplast, in the cytoplasm of the haptophyte. The heterokontophytes, also known as the stramenopiles, are a very large and diverse group of eukaryotes. The photoautotrophic lineage, Ochrophyta, including the diatoms and the brown algae, golden algae, and yellow-green algae, also contains red algal derived chloroplasts. Heterokont chloroplasts are very similar to haptophyte chloroplasts, containing a pyrenoid, triplet thylakoids, and with some exceptions, having four layer plastidic envelope, the outermost epiplastid membrane connected to the endoplasmic reticulum. Like haptophytes, heterokontophytes store sugar in chrysolaminarin granules in the cytoplasm. Heterokontophyte chloroplasts contain chlorophyll a and with a few exceptions chlorophyll c, but also have carotenoids which give them their many colors. The alveolates are a major clade of unicellular eukaryotes of both autotrophic and heterotrophic members. The most notable shared characteristic is the presence of cortical (outer-region) alveoli (sacs). These are flattened vesicles (sacs) packed into a continuous layer just under the membrane and supporting it, typically forming a flexible pellicle (thin skin). In dinoflagellates they often form armor plates. Many members contain a red-algal derived plastid. One notable characteristic of this diverse group is the frequent loss of photosynthesis. However, a majority of these heterotrophs continue to process a non-photosynthetic plastid. Apicomplexans Apicomplexans are a group of alveolates. Like the helicosproidia, they're parasitic, and have a nonphotosynthetic chloroplast. They were once thought to be related to the helicosproidia, but it is now known that the helicosproida are green algae rather than part of the CASH lineage. The apicomplexans include Plasmodium, the malaria parasite. Many apicomplexans keep a vestigial red algal derived chloroplast called an apicoplast, which they inherited from their ancestors. Other apicomplexans like Cryptosporidium have lost the chloroplast completely. Apicomplexans store their energy in amylopectin granules that are located in their cytoplasm, even though they are nonphotosynthetic. Apicoplasts have lost all photosynthetic function, and contain no photosynthetic pigments or true thylakoids. They are bounded by four membranes, but the membranes are not connected to the endoplasmic reticulum. The fact that apicomplexans still keep their nonphotosynthetic chloroplast around demonstrates how the chloroplast carries out important functions other than photosynthesis. Plant chloroplasts provide plant cells with many important things besides sugar, and apicoplasts are no different—they synthesize fatty acids, isopentenyl pyrophosphate, iron-sulfur clusters, and carry out part of the heme pathway. This makes the apicoplast an attractive target for drugs to cure apicomplexan-related diseases. The most important apicoplast function is isopentenyl pyrophosphate synthesis—in fact, apicomplexans die when something interferes with this apicoplast function, and when apicomplexans are grown in an isopentenyl pyrophosphate-rich medium, they dump the organelle. Chromerids The Chromerida is a newly discovered group of algae from Australian corals which comprises some close photosynthetic relatives of the apicomplexans. The first member, Chromera velia, was discovered and first isolated in 2001. The discovery of Chromera velia with similar structure to the apicomplexanss, provides an important link in the evolutionary history of the apicomplexans and dinophytes. Their plastids have four membranes, lack chlorophyll c and use the type II form of RuBisCO obtained from a horizontal transfer event. Dinophytes The dinoflagellates are yet another very large and diverse group of protists, around half of which are (at least partially) photosynthetic. Most dinophyte chloroplasts are secondary red algal derived chloroplasts. Many other dinophytes have lost the chloroplast (becoming the nonphotosynthetic kind of dinoflagellate), or replaced it though tertiary endosymbiosis—the engulfment of another eukaryotic algae containing a red algal derived chloroplast. Others replaced their original chloroplast with a green algal derived one. Most dinophyte chloroplasts contain form II RuBisCO, at least the photosynthetic pigments chlorophyll a, chlorophyll c, beta-carotene, and at least one dinophyte-unique xanthophyll (peridinin, dinoxanthin, or diadinoxanthin), giving many a golden-brown color. All dinophytes store starch in their cytoplasm, and most have chloroplasts with thylakoids arranged in stacks of three. The most common dinophyte chloroplast is the peridinin-type chloroplast, characterized by the carotenoid pigment peridinin in their chloroplasts, along with chlorophyll a and chlorophyll c. Peridinin is not found in any other group of chloroplasts. The peridinin chloroplast is bounded by three membranes (occasionally two), having lost the red algal endosymbiont's original cell membrane. The outermost membrane is not connected to the endoplasmic reticulum. They contain a pyrenoid, and have triplet- stacked thylakoids. Starch is found outside the chloroplast. An important feature of these chloroplasts is that their chloroplast DNA is highly reduced and fragmented into many small circles. Most of the genome has migrated to the nucleus, and only critical photosynthesis-related genes remain in the chloroplast. The peridinin chloroplast is thought to be the dinophytes' "original" chloroplast, which has been lost, reduced, replaced, or has company in several other dinophyte lineages. The fucoxanthin dinophyte lineages (including Karlodinium and Karenia) lost their original red algal derived chloroplast, and replaced it with a new chloroplast derived from a haptophyte endosymbiont. Karlodinium and Karenia probably took up different heterokontophytes. Because the haptophyte chloroplast has four membranes, tertiary endosymbiosis would be expected to create a six membraned chloroplast, adding the haptophyte's cell membrane and the dinophyte's phagosomal vacuole. However, the haptophyte was heavily reduced, stripped of a few membranes and its nucleus, leaving only its chloroplast (with its original double membrane), and possibly one or two additional membranes around it. Fucoxanthin-containing chloroplasts are characterized by having the pigment fucoxanthin (actually 19′-hexanoyloxy- fucoxanthin and/or 19′-butanoyloxy-fucoxanthin) and no peridinin. Fucoxanthin is also found in haptophyte chloroplasts, providing evidence of ancestry. Some dinophytes, like Kryptoperidinium and Durinskia have a diatom (heterokontophyte) derived chloroplast. These chloroplasts are bounded by up to five membranes, (depending on whether you count the entire diatom endosymbiont as the chloroplast, or just the red algal derived chloroplast inside it). The diatom endosymbiont has been reduced relatively little—it still retains its original mitochondria, and has endoplasmic reticulum, ribosomes, a nucleus, and of course, red algal derived chloroplasts—practically a complete cell, all inside the host's endoplasmic reticulum lumen. However the diatom endosymbiont can't store its own food—its storage polysaccharide is found in granules in the dinophyte host's cytoplasm instead. The diatom endosymbiont's nucleus is present, but it probably can't be called a nucleomorph because it shows no sign of genome reduction, and might have even been expanded. Diatoms have been engulfed by dinoflagellates at least three times. The diatom endosymbiont is bounded by a single membrane, inside it are chloroplasts with four membranes. Like the diatom endosymbiont's diatom ancestor, the chloroplasts have triplet thylakoids and pyrenoids. In some of these genera, the diatom endosymbiont's chloroplasts aren't the only chloroplasts in the dinophyte. The original three-membraned peridinin chloroplast is still around, converted to an eyespot. In some groups of mixotrophic protists, like some dinoflagellates (e.g. Dinophysis), chloroplasts are separated from a captured alga and used temporarily. These klepto chloroplasts may only have a lifetime of a few days and are then replaced. Members of the genus Dinophysis have a phycobilin-containing chloroplast taken from a cryptophyte. However, the cryptophyte is not an endosymbiont—only the chloroplast seems to have been taken, and the chloroplast has been stripped of its nucleomorph and outermost two membranes, leaving just a two-membraned chloroplast. Cryptophyte chloroplasts require their nucleomorph to maintain themselves, and Dinophysis species grown in cell culture alone cannot survive, so it is possible (but not confirmed) that the Dinophysis chloroplast is a kleptoplast—if so, Dinophysis chloroplasts wear out and Dinophysis species must continually engulf cryptophytes to obtain new chloroplasts to replace the old ones. Chloroplasts have their own DNA, often abbreviated as ctDNA, or cpDNA. It is also known as the plastome. Its existence was first proved in 1962, and first sequenced in 1986—when two Japanese research teams sequenced the chloroplast DNA of liverwort and tobacco. Since then, hundreds of chloroplast DNAs from various species have been sequenced, but they are mostly those of land plants and green algae—glaucophytes, red algae, and other algal groups are extremely underrepresented, potentially introducing some bias in views of "typical" chloroplast DNA structure and content. With few exceptions, most chloroplasts have their entire chloroplast genome combined into a single large circular DNA molecule, typically 120,000–170,000 base pairs long. They can have a contour length of around 30–60 micrometers, and have a mass of about 80–130 million daltons. While usually thought of as a circular molecule, there is some evidence that chloroplast DNA molecules more often take on a linear shape. Many chloroplast DNAs contain two inverted repeats, which separate a long single copy section (LSC) from a short single copy section (SSC). While a given pair of inverted repeats are rarely completely identical, they are always very similar to each other, apparently resulting from concerted evolution. The inverted repeats vary wildly in length, ranging from 4,000 to 25,000 base pairs long each and containing as few as four or as many as over 150 genes. Inverted repeats in plants tend to be at the upper end of this range, each being 20,000–25,000 base pairs long. The inverted repeat regions are highly conserved among land plants, and accumulate few mutations. Similar inverted repeats exist in the genomes of cyanobacteria and the other two chloroplast lineages (glaucophyta and rhodophyceae), suggesting that they predate the chloroplast, though some chloroplast DNAs have since lost or flipped the inverted repeats (making them direct repeats). It is possible that the inverted repeats help stabilize the rest of the chloroplast genome, as chloroplast DNAs which have lost some of the inverted repeat segments tend to get rearranged more. New chloroplasts may contain up to 100 copies of their DNA, though the number of chloroplast DNA copies decreases to about 15–20 as the chloroplasts age. They are usually packed into nucleoids, which can contain several identical chloroplast DNA rings. Many nucleoids can be found in each chloroplast. In primitive red algae, the chloroplast DNA nucleoids are clustered in the center of the chloroplast, while in green plants and green algae, the nucleoids are dispersed throughout the stroma. Though chloroplast DNA is not associated with true histones, in red algae, similar proteins that tightly pack each chloroplast DNA ring into a nucleoid have been found. In chloroplasts of the moss Physcomitrella patens, the DNA mismatch repair protein Msh1 interacts with the recombinational repair proteins RecA and RecG to maintain chloroplast genome stability. In chloroplasts of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana the RecA protein maintains the integrity of the chloroplast's DNA by a process that likely involves the recombinational repair of DNA damage. The mechanism for chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) replication has not been conclusively determined, but two main models have been proposed. Scientists have attempted to observe chloroplast replication via electron microscopy since the 1970s. The results of the microscopy experiments led to the idea that chloroplast DNA replicates using a double displacement loop (D-loop). As the D-loop moves through the circular DNA, it adopts a theta intermediary form, also known as a Cairns replication intermediate, and completes replication with a rolling circle mechanism. Transcription starts at specific points of origin. Multiple replication forks open up, allowing replication machinery to transcribe the DNA. As replication continues, the forks grow and eventually converge. The new cpDNA structures separate, creating daughter cpDNA chromosomes. In addition to the early microscopy experiments, this model is also supported by the amounts of deamination seen in cpDNA. Deamination occurs when an amino group is lost and is a mutation that often results in base changes. When adenine is deaminated, it becomes hypoxanthine. Hypoxanthine can bind to cytosine, and when the XC base pair is replicated, it becomes a GC (thus, an A → G base change). In cpDNA, there are several A → G deamination gradients. DNA becomes susceptible to deamination events when it is single stranded. When replication forks form, the strand not being copied is single stranded, and thus at risk for A → G deamination. Therefore, gradients in deamination indicate that replication forks were most likely present and the direction that they initially opened (the highest gradient is most likely nearest the start site because it was single stranded for the longest amount of time). This mechanism is still the leading theory today; however, a second theory suggests that most cpDNA is actually linear and replicates through homologous recombination. It further contends that only a minority of the genetic material is kept in circular chromosomes while the rest is in branched, linear, or other complex structures. One of competing model for cpDNA replication asserts that most cpDNA is linear and participates in homologous recombination and replication structures similar to the linear and circular DNA structures of bacteriophage T4. It has been established that some plants have linear cpDNA, such as maize, and that more species still contain complex structures that scientists do not yet understand. When the original experiments on cpDNA were performed, scientists did notice linear structures; however, they attributed these linear forms to broken circles. If the branched and complex structures seen in cpDNA experiments are real and not artifacts of concatenated circular DNA or broken circles, then a D-loop mechanism of replication is insufficient to explain how those structures would replicate. At the same time, homologous recombination does not expand the multiple A --> G gradients seen in plastomes. Because of the failure to explain the deamination gradient as well as the numerous plant species that have been shown to have circular cpDNA, the predominant theory continues to hold that most cpDNA is circular and most likely replicates via a D loop mechanism. The chloroplast genome most commonly includes around 100 genes that code for a variety of things, mostly to do with the protein pipeline and photosynthesis. As in prokaryotes, genes in chloroplast DNA are organized into operons. Unlike prokaryotic DNA molecules, chloroplast DNA molecules contain introns (plant mitochondrial DNAs do too, but not human mtDNAs). Among land plants, the contents of the chloroplast genome are fairly similar. Over time, many parts of the chloroplast genome were transferred to the nuclear genome of the host, a process called endosymbiotic gene transfer. As a result, the chloroplast genome is heavily reduced compared to that of free- living cyanobacteria. Chloroplasts may contain 60–100 genes whereas cyanobacteria often have more than 1500 genes in their genome. Recently, a plastid without a genome was found, demonstrating chloroplasts can lose their genome during endosymbiotic the gene transfer process. Endosymbiotic gene transfer is how we know about the lost chloroplasts in many CASH lineages. Even if a chloroplast is eventually lost, the genes it donated to the former host's nucleus persist, providing evidence for the lost chloroplast's existence. For example, while diatoms (a heterokontophyte) now have a red algal derived chloroplast, the presence of many green algal genes in the diatom nucleus provide evidence that the diatom ancestor had a green algal derived chloroplast at some point, which was subsequently replaced by the red chloroplast. In land plants, some 11–14% of the DNA in their nuclei can be traced back to the chloroplast, up to 18% in Arabidopsis, corresponding to about 4,500 protein-coding genes. There have been a few recent transfers of genes from the chloroplast DNA to the nuclear genome in land plants. Of the approximately 3000 proteins found in chloroplasts, some 95% of them are encoded by nuclear genes. Many of the chloroplast's protein complexes consist of subunits from both the chloroplast genome and the host's nuclear genome. As a result, protein synthesis must be coordinated between the chloroplast and the nucleus. The chloroplast is mostly under nuclear control, though chloroplasts can also give out signals regulating gene expression in the nucleus, called retrograde signaling. Protein synthesis within chloroplasts relies on two RNA polymerases. One is coded by the chloroplast DNA, the other is of nuclear origin. The two RNA polymerases may recognize and bind to different kinds of promoters within the chloroplast genome. The ribosomes in chloroplasts are similar to bacterial ribosomes. Because so many chloroplast genes have been moved to the nucleus, many proteins that would originally have been translated in the chloroplast are now synthesized in the cytoplasm of the plant cell. These proteins must be directed back to the chloroplast, and imported through at least two chloroplast membranes. Curiously, around half of the protein products of transferred genes aren't even targeted back to the chloroplast. Many became exaptations, taking on new functions like participating in cell division, protein routing, and even disease resistance. A few chloroplast genes found new homes in the mitochondrial genome—most became nonfunctional pseudogenes, though a few tRNA genes still work in the mitochondrion. Some transferred chloroplast DNA protein products get directed to the secretory pathway though many secondary plastids are bounded by an outermost membrane derived from the host's cell membrane, and therefore topologically outside of the cell, because to reach the chloroplast from the cytosol, you have to cross the cell membrane, just like if you were headed for the extracellular space. In those cases, chloroplast-targeted proteins do initially travel along the secretory pathway. Because the cell acquiring a chloroplast already had mitochondria (and peroxisomes, and a cell membrane for secretion), the new chloroplast host had to develop a unique protein targeting system to avoid having chloroplast proteins being sent to the wrong organelle. In most, but not all cases, nuclear-encoded chloroplast proteins are translated with a cleavable transit peptide that's added to the N-terminus of the protein precursor. Sometimes the transit sequence is found on the C-terminus of the protein, or within the functional part of the protein. After a chloroplast polypeptide is synthesized on a ribosome in the cytosol, an enzyme specific to chloroplast proteins phosphorylates, or adds a phosphate group to many (but not all) of them in their transit sequences. Phosphorylation helps many proteins bind the polypeptide, keeping it from folding prematurely. This is important because it prevents chloroplast proteins from assuming their active form and carrying out their chloroplast functions in the wrong place—the cytosol. At the same time, they have to keep just enough shape so that they can be recognized by the chloroplast. These proteins also help the polypeptide get imported into the chloroplast. From here, chloroplast proteins bound for the stroma must pass through two protein complexes—the TOC complex, or translocon on the outer chloroplast membrane, and the TIC translocon, or translocon on the inner chloroplast membrane translocon. Chloroplast polypeptide chains probably often travel through the two complexes at the same time, but the TIC complex can also retrieve preproteins lost in the intermembrane space. In land plants, chloroplasts are generally lens-shaped, 3–10 μm in diameter and 1–3 μm thick. Corn seedling chloroplasts are ≈20 µm in volume. Greater diversity in chloroplast shapes exists among the algae, which often contain a single chloroplast that can be shaped like a net (e.g., Oedogonium), a cup (e.g., Chlamydomonas), a ribbon-like spiral around the edges of the cell (e.g., Spirogyra), or slightly twisted bands at the cell edges (e.g., Sirogonium). Some algae have two chloroplasts in each cell; they are star- shaped in Zygnema, or may follow the shape of half the cell in order Desmidiales. In some algae, the chloroplast takes up most of the cell, with pockets for the nucleus and other organelles, for example, some species of Chlorella have a cup-shaped chloroplast that occupies much of the cell. All chloroplasts have at least three membrane systems—the outer chloroplast membrane, the inner chloroplast membrane, and the thylakoid system. Chloroplasts that are the product of secondary endosymbiosis may have additional membranes surrounding these three. Inside the outer and inner chloroplast membranes is the chloroplast stroma, a semi-gel-like fluid that makes up much of a chloroplast's volume, and in which the thylakoid system floats. There are some common misconceptions about the outer and inner chloroplast membranes. The fact that chloroplasts are surrounded by a double membrane is often cited as evidence that they are the descendants of endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. This is often interpreted as meaning the outer chloroplast membrane is the product of the host's cell membrane infolding to form a vesicle to surround the ancestral cyanobacterium—which is not true—both chloroplast membranes are homologous to the cyanobacterium's original double membranes. The chloroplast double membrane is also often compared to the mitochondrial double membrane. This is not a valid comparison—the inner mitochondria membrane is used to run proton pumps and carry out oxidative phosphorylation across to generate ATP energy. The only chloroplast structure that can considered analogous to it is the internal thylakoid system. Even so, in terms of "in-out", the direction of chloroplast H ion flow is in the opposite direction compared to oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria. In addition, in terms of function, the inner chloroplast membrane, which regulates metabolite passage and synthesizes some materials, has no counterpart in the mitochondrion. The outer chloroplast membrane is a semi-porous membrane that small molecules and ions can easily diffuse across. However, it is not permeable to larger proteins, so chloroplast polypeptides being synthesized in the cell cytoplasm must be transported across the outer chloroplast membrane by the TOC complex, or translocon on the outer chloroplast membrane. The chloroplast membranes sometimes protrude out into the cytoplasm, forming a stromule, or stroma- containing tubule. Stromules are very rare in chloroplasts, and are much more common in other plastids like chromoplasts and amyloplasts in petals and roots, respectively. They may exist to increase the chloroplast's surface area for cross-membrane transport, because they are often branched and tangled with the endoplasmic reticulum. When they were first observed in 1962, some plant biologists dismissed the structures as artifactual, claiming that stromules were just oddly shaped chloroplasts with constricted regions or dividing chloroplasts. However, there is a growing body of evidence that stromules are functional, integral features of plant cell plastids, not merely artifacts. Usually, a thin intermembrane space about 10–20 nanometers thick exists between the outer and inner chloroplast membranes. Glaucophyte algal chloroplasts have a peptidoglycan layer between the chloroplast membranes. It corresponds to the peptidoglycan cell wall of their cyanobacterial ancestors, which is located between their two cell membranes. These chloroplasts are called muroplasts (from Latin "mura", meaning "wall"). Other chloroplasts have lost the cyanobacterial wall, leaving an intermembrane space between the two chloroplast envelope membranes. The inner chloroplast membrane borders the stroma and regulates passage of materials in and out of the chloroplast. After passing through the TOC complex in the outer chloroplast membrane, polypeptides must pass through the TIC complex (translocon on the inner chloroplast membrane) which is located in the inner chloroplast membrane. In addition to regulating the passage of materials, the inner chloroplast membrane is where fatty acids, lipids, and carotenoids are synthesized. Some chloroplasts contain a structure called the chloroplast peripheral reticulum. It is often found in the chloroplasts of plants, though it has also been found in some angiosperms, and even some gymnosperms. The chloroplast peripheral reticulum consists of a maze of membranous tubes and vesicles continuous with the inner chloroplast membrane that extends into the internal stromal fluid of the chloroplast. Its purpose is thought to be to increase the chloroplast's surface area for cross-membrane transport between its stroma and the cell cytoplasm. The small vesicles sometimes observed may serve as transport vesicles to shuttle stuff between the thylakoids and intermembrane space. The protein-rich, alkaline, aqueous fluid within the inner chloroplast membrane and outside of the thylakoid space is called the stroma, which corresponds to the cytosol of the original cyanobacterium. Nucleoids of chloroplast DNA, chloroplast ribosomes, the thylakoid system with plastoglobuli, starch granules, and many proteins can be found floating around in it. The Calvin cycle, which fixes CO into G3P takes place in the stroma. Chloroplasts have their own ribosomes, which they use to synthesize a small fraction of their proteins. Chloroplast ribosomes are about two-thirds the size of cytoplasmic ribosomes (around 17 nm vs 25 nm). They take mRNAs transcribed from the chloroplast DNA and translate them into protein. While similar to bacterial ribosomes, chloroplast translation is more complex than in bacteria, so chloroplast ribosomes include some chloroplast-unique features. Small subunit ribosomal RNAs in several Chlorophyta and euglenid chloroplasts lack motifs for shine-dalgarno sequence recognition, which is considered essential for translation initiation in most chloroplasts and prokaryotes. Such loss is also rarely observed in other plastids and prokaryotes. Plastoglobuli (singular plastoglobulus, sometimes spelled plastoglobule(s)), are spherical bubbles of lipids and proteins about 45–60 nanometers across. They are surrounded by a lipid monolayer. Plastoglobuli are found in all chloroplasts, but become more common when the chloroplast is under oxidative stress, or when it ages and transitions into a gerontoplast. Plastoglobuli also exhibit a greater size variation under these conditions. They are also common in etioplasts, but decrease in number as the etioplasts mature into chloroplasts. Plastoglubuli contain both structural proteins and enzymes involved in lipid synthesis and metabolism. They contain many types of lipids including plastoquinone, vitamin E, carotenoids and chlorophylls. Plastoglobuli were once thought to be free-floating in the stroma, but it is now thought that they are permanently attached either to a thylakoid or to another plastoglobulus attached to a thylakoid, a configuration that allows a plastoglobulus to exchange its contents with the thylakoid network. In normal green chloroplasts, the vast majority of plastoglobuli occur singularly, attached directly to their parent thylakoid. In old or stressed chloroplasts, plastoglobuli tend to occur in linked groups or chains, still always anchored to a thylakoid. Plastoglobuli form when a bubble appears between the layers of the lipid bilayer of the thylakoid membrane, or bud from existing plastoglubuli—though they never detach and float off into the stroma. Practically all plastoglobuli form on or near the highly curved edges of the thylakoid disks or sheets. They are also more common on stromal thylakoids than on granal ones. Starch granules are very common in chloroplasts, typically taking up 15% of the organelle's volume, though in some other plastids like amyloplasts, they can be big enough to distort the shape of the organelle. Starch granules are simply accumulations of starch in the stroma, and are not bounded by a membrane. Starch granules appear and grow throughout the day, as the chloroplast synthesizes sugars, and are consumed at night to fuel respiration and continue sugar export into the phloem, though in mature chloroplasts, it is rare for a starch granule to be completely consumed or for a new granule to accumulate. Starch granules vary in composition and location across different chloroplast lineages. In red algae, starch granules are found in the cytoplasm rather than in the chloroplast. In plants, mesophyll chloroplasts, which do not synthesize sugars, lack starch granules. The chloroplast stroma contains many proteins, though the most common and important is RuBisCO, which is probably also the most abundant protein on the planet. RuBisCO is the enzyme that fixes CO into sugar molecules. In plants, RuBisCO is abundant in all chloroplasts, though in plants, it is confined to the bundle sheath chloroplasts, where the Calvin cycle is carried out in plants. The chloroplasts of some hornworts and algae contain structures called pyrenoids. They are not found in higher plants. Pyrenoids are roughly spherical and highly refractive bodies which are a site of starch accumulation in plants that contain them. They consist of a matrix opaque to electrons, surrounded by two hemispherical starch plates. The starch is accumulated as the pyrenoids mature. In algae with carbon concentrating mechanisms, the enzyme RuBisCO is found in the pyrenoids. Starch can also accumulate around the pyrenoids when CO is scarce. Pyrenoids can divide to form new pyrenoids, or be produced "de novo". Suspended within the chloroplast stroma is the thylakoid system, a highly dynamic collection of membranous sacks called thylakoids where chlorophyll is found and the light reactions of photosynthesis happen. In most vascular plant chloroplasts, the thylakoids are arranged in stacks called grana, though in certain plant chloroplasts and some algal chloroplasts, the thylakoids are free floating. Using a light microscope, it is just barely possible to see tiny green granules—which were named grana. With electron microscopy, it became possible to see the thylakoid system in more detail, revealing it to consist of stacks of flat thylakoids which made up the grana, and long interconnecting stromal thylakoids which linked different grana. In the transmission electron microscope, thylakoid membranes appear as alternating light-and-dark bands, 8.5 nanometers thick. For a long time, the three-dimensional structure of the thylakoid system has been unknown or disputed. One model has the granum as a stack of thylakoids linked by helical stromal thylakoids; the other has the granum as a single folded thylakoid connected in a "hub and spoke" way to other grana by stromal thylakoids. While the thylakoid system is still commonly depicted according to the folded thylakoid model, it was determined in 2011 that the stacked and helical thylakoids model is correct. In the helical thylakoid model, grana consist of a stack of flattened circular granal thylakoids that resemble pancakes. Each granum can contain anywhere from two to a hundred thylakoids, though grana with 10–20 thylakoids are most common. Wrapped around the grana are helicoid stromal thylakoids, also known as frets or lamellar thylakoids. The helices ascend at an angle of 20–25°, connecting to each granal thylakoid at a bridge-like slit junction. The helicoids may extend as large sheets that link multiple grana, or narrow to tube-like bridges between grana. While different parts of the thylakoid system contain different membrane proteins, the thylakoid membranes are continuous and the thylakoid space they enclose form a single continuous labyrinth. Thylakoids (sometimes spelled thylakoïds), are small interconnected sacks which contain the membranes that the light reactions of photosynthesis take place on. The word thylakoid comes from the Greek word thylakos which means "sack". Embedded in the thylakoid membranes are important protein complexes which carry out the light reactions of photosynthesis. Photosystem II and photosystem I contain light-harvesting complexes with chlorophyll and carotenoids that absorb light energy and use it to energize electrons. Molecules in the thylakoid membrane use the energized electrons to pump hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space, decreasing the pH and turning it acidic. ATP synthase is a large protein complex that harnesses the concentration gradient of the hydrogen ions in the thylakoid space to generate ATP energy as the hydrogen ions flow back out into the stroma—much like a dam turbine. There are two types of thylakoids—granal thylakoids, which are arranged in grana, and stromal thylakoids, which are in contact with the stroma. Granal thylakoids are pancake-shaped circular disks about 300–600 nanometers in diameter. Stromal thylakoids are helicoid sheets that spiral around grana. The flat tops and bottoms of granal thylakoids contain only the relatively flat photosystem II protein complex. This allows them to stack tightly, forming grana with many layers of tightly appressed membrane, called granal membrane, increasing stability and surface area for light capture. In contrast, photosystem I and ATP synthase are large protein complexes which jut out into the stroma. They can't fit in the appressed granal membranes, and so are found in the stromal thylakoid membrane—the edges of the granal thylakoid disks and the stromal thylakoids. These large protein complexes may act as spacers between the sheets of stromal thylakoids. The number of thylakoids and the total thylakoid area of a chloroplast is influenced by light exposure. Shaded chloroplasts contain larger and more grana with more thylakoid membrane area than chloroplasts exposed to bright light, which have smaller and fewer grana and less thylakoid area. Thylakoid extent can change within minutes of light exposure or removal. Inside the photosystems embedded in chloroplast thylakoid membranes are various photosynthetic pigments, which absorb and transfer light energy. The types of pigments found are different in various groups of chloroplasts, and are responsible for a wide variety of chloroplast colorations. Chlorophyll a is found in all chloroplasts, as well as their cyanobacterial ancestors. Chlorophyll a is a blue-green pigment partially responsible for giving most cyanobacteria and chloroplasts their color. Other forms of chlorophyll exist, such as the accessory pigments chlorophyll b, chlorophyll c, chlorophyll d, and chlorophyll f. Chlorophyll b is an olive green pigment found only in the chloroplasts of plants, green algae, any secondary chloroplasts obtained through the secondary endosymbiosis of a green alga, and a few cyanobacteria. It is the chlorophylls a and b together that make most plant and green algal chloroplasts green. Chlorophyll c is mainly found in secondary endosymbiotic chloroplasts that originated from a red alga, although it is not found in chloroplasts of red algae themselves. Chlorophyll c is also found in some green algae and cyanobacteria. Chlorophylls d and f are pigments found only in some cyanobacteria. In addition to chlorophylls, another group of yellow–orange pigments called carotenoids are also found in the photosystems. There are about thirty photosynthetic carotenoids. They help transfer and dissipate excess energy, and their bright colors sometimes override the chlorophyll green, like during the fall, when the leaves of some land plants change color. β-carotene is a bright red-orange carotenoid found in nearly all chloroplasts, like chlorophyll a. Xanthophylls, especially the orange-red zeaxanthin, are also common. Many other forms of carotenoids exist that are only found in certain groups of chloroplasts. Phycobilins are a third group of pigments found in cyanobacteria, and glaucophyte, red algal, and cryptophyte chloroplasts. Phycobilins come in all colors, though phycoerytherin is one of the pigments that makes many red algae red. Phycobilins often organize into relatively large protein complexes about 40 nanometers across called phycobilisomes. Like photosystem I and ATP synthase, phycobilisomes jut into the stroma, preventing thylakoid stacking in red algal chloroplasts. Cryptophyte chloroplasts and some cyanobacteria don't have their phycobilin pigments organized into phycobilisomes, and keep them in their thylakoid space instead. To fix carbon dioxide into sugar molecules in the process of photosynthesis, chloroplasts use an enzyme called RuBisCO. RuBisCO has a problem—it has trouble distinguishing between carbon dioxide and oxygen, so at high oxygen concentrations, RuBisCO starts accidentally adding oxygen to sugar precursors. This has the end result of ATP energy being wasted and being released, all with no sugar being produced. This is a big problem, since O is produced by the initial light reactions of photosynthesis, causing issues down the line in the Calvin cycle which uses RuBisCO. plants evolved a way to solve this—by spatially separating the light reactions and the Calvin cycle. The light reactions, which store light energy in ATP and NADPH, are done in the mesophyll cells of a leaf. The Calvin cycle, which uses the stored energy to make sugar using RuBisCO, is done in the bundle sheath cells, a layer of cells surrounding a vein in a leaf. As a result, chloroplasts in mesophyll cells and bundle sheath cells are specialized for each stage of photosynthesis. In mesophyll cells, chloroplasts are specialized for the light reactions, so they lack RuBisCO, and have normal grana and thylakoids, which they use to make ATP and NADPH, as well as oxygen. They store in a four-carbon compound, which is why the process is called photosynthesis. The four-carbon compound is then transported to the bundle sheath chloroplasts, where it drops off and returns to the mesophyll. Bundle sheath chloroplasts do not carry out the light reactions, preventing oxygen from building up in them and disrupting RuBisCO activity. Because of this, they lack thylakoids organized into grana stacks—though bundle sheath chloroplasts still have free-floating thylakoids in the stroma where they still carry out cyclic electron flow, a light-driven method of synthesizing ATP to power the Calvin cycle without generating oxygen. They lack photosystem II, and only have photosystem I—the only protein complex needed for cyclic electron flow. Because the job of bundle sheath chloroplasts is to carry out the Calvin cycle and make sugar, they often contain large starch grains. Both types of chloroplast contain large amounts of chloroplast peripheral reticulum, which they use to get more surface area to transport stuff in and out of them. Mesophyll chloroplasts have a little more peripheral reticulum than bundle sheath chloroplasts. Not all cells in a multicellular plant contain chloroplasts. All green parts of a plant contain chloroplasts—the chloroplasts, or more specifically, the chlorophyll in them are what make the photosynthetic parts of a plant green. The plant cells which contain chloroplasts are usually parenchyma cells, though chloroplasts can also be found in collenchyma tissue. A plant cell which contains chloroplasts is known as a chlorenchyma cell. A typical chlorenchyma cell of a land plant contains about 10 to 100 chloroplasts. In some plants such as cacti, chloroplasts are found in the stems, though in most plants, chloroplasts are concentrated in the leaves. One square millimeter of leaf tissue can contain half a million chloroplasts. Within a leaf, chloroplasts are mainly found in the mesophyll layers of a leaf, and the guard cells of stomata. Palisade mesophyll cells can contain 30–70 chloroplasts per cell, while stomatal guard cells contain only around 8–15 per cell, as well as much less chlorophyll. Chloroplasts can also be found in the bundle sheath cells of a leaf, especially in C plants, which carry out the Calvin cycle in their bundle sheath cells. They are often absent from the epidermis of a leaf. The chloroplasts of plant and algal cells can orient themselves to best suit the available light. In low-light conditions, they will spread out in a sheet—maximizing the surface area to absorb light. Under intense light, they will seek shelter by aligning in vertical columns along the plant cell's cell wall or turning sideways so that light strikes them edge-on. This reduces exposure and protects them from photooxidative damage. This ability to distribute chloroplasts so that they can take shelter behind each other or spread out may be the reason why land plants evolved to have many small chloroplasts instead of a few big ones. Chloroplast movement is considered one of the most closely regulated stimulus-response systems that can be found in plants. Mitochondria have also been observed to follow chloroplasts as they move. In higher plants, chloroplast movement is run by phototropins, blue light photoreceptors also responsible for plant phototropism. In some algae, mosses, ferns, and flowering plants, chloroplast movement is influenced by red light in addition to blue light, though very long red wavelengths inhibit movement rather than speeding it up. Blue light generally causes chloroplasts to seek shelter, while red light draws them out to maximize light absorption. Studies of Vallisneria gigantea, an aquatic flowering plant, have shown that chloroplasts can get moving within five minutes of light exposure, though they don't initially show any net directionality. They may move along microfilament tracks, and the fact that the microfilament mesh changes shape to form a honeycomb structure surrounding the chloroplasts after they have moved suggests that microfilaments may help to anchor chloroplasts in place. Unlike most epidermal cells, the guard cells of plant stomata contain relatively well-developed chloroplasts. However, exactly what they do is controversial. Plants lack specialized immune cells—all plant cells participate in the plant immune response. Chloroplasts, along with the nucleus, cell membrane, and endoplasmic reticulum, are key players in pathogen defense. Due to its role in a plant cell's immune response, pathogens frequently target the chloroplast. Plants have two main immune responses—the hypersensitive response, in which infected cells seal themselves off and undergo programmed cell death, and systemic acquired resistance, where infected cells release signals warning the rest of the plant of a pathogen's presence. Chloroplasts stimulate both responses by purposely damaging their photosynthetic system, producing reactive oxygen species. High levels of reactive oxygen species will cause the hypersensitive response. The reactive oxygen species also directly kill any pathogens within the cell. Lower levels of reactive oxygen species initiate systemic acquired resistance, triggering defense-molecule production in the rest of the plant. In some plants, chloroplasts are known to move closer to the infection site and the nucleus during an infection. Chloroplasts can serve as cellular sensors. After detecting stress in a cell, which might be due to a pathogen, chloroplasts begin producing molecules like salicylic acid, jasmonic acid, nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species which can serve as defense- signals. As cellular signals, reactive oxygen species are unstable molecules, so they probably don't leave the chloroplast, but instead pass on their signal to an unknown second messenger molecule. All these molecules initiate retrograde signaling—signals from the chloroplast that regulate gene expression in the nucleus. In addition to defense signaling, chloroplasts, with the help of the peroxisomes, help synthesize an important defense molecule, jasmonate. Chloroplasts synthesize all the fatty acids in a plant cell—linoleic acid, a fatty acid, is a precursor to jasmonate. One of the main functions of the chloroplast is its role in photosynthesis, the process by which light is transformed into chemical energy, to subsequently produce food in the form of sugars. Water (HO) and carbon dioxide (CO) are used in photosynthesis, and sugar and oxygen (O) is made, using light energy. Photosynthesis is divided into two stages—the light reactions, where water is split to produce oxygen, and the dark reactions, or Calvin cycle, which builds sugar molecules from carbon dioxide. The two phases are linked by the energy carriers adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). The light reactions take place on the thylakoid membranes. They take light energy and store it in NADPH, a form of NADP, and ATP to fuel the dark reactions. ATP is the phosphorylated version of adenosine diphosphate (ADP), which stores energy in a cell and powers most cellular activities. ATP is the energized form, while ADP is the (partially) depleted form. NADP is an electron carrier which ferries high energy electrons. In the light reactions, it gets reduced, meaning it picks up electrons, becoming NADPH. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts use the potential energy stored in an H, or hydrogen ion gradient to generate ATP energy. The two photosystems capture light energy to energize electrons taken from water, and release them down an electron transport chain. The molecules between the photosystems harness the electrons' energy to pump hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space, creating a concentration gradient, with more hydrogen ions (up to a thousand times as many) inside the thylakoid system than in the stroma. The hydrogen ions in the thylakoid space then diffuse back down their concentration gradient, flowing back out into the stroma through ATP synthase. ATP synthase uses the energy from the flowing hydrogen ions to phosphorylate adenosine diphosphate into adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. Because chloroplast ATP synthase projects out into the stroma, the ATP is synthesized there, in position to be used in the dark reactions. Electrons are often removed from the electron transport chains to charge NADP with electrons, reducing it to NADPH. Like ATP synthase, ferredoxin-NADP reductase, the enzyme that reduces NADP, releases the NADPH it makes into the stroma, right where it is needed for the dark reactions. Because NADP reduction removes electrons from the electron transport chains, they must be replaced—the job of photosystem II, which splits water molecules (HO) to obtain the electrons from its hydrogen atoms. While photosystem II photolyzes water to obtain and energize new electrons, photosystem I simply reenergizes depleted electrons at the end of an electron transport chain. Normally, the reenergized electrons are taken by NADP, though sometimes they can flow back down more H-pumping electron transport chains to transport more hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space to generate more ATP. This is termed cyclic photophosphorylation because the electrons are recycled. Cyclic photophosphorylation is common in plants, which need more ATP than NADPH. The Calvin cycle, also known as the dark reactions, is a series of biochemical reactions that fixes CO into G3P sugar molecules and uses the energy and electrons from the ATP and NADPH made in the light reactions. The Calvin cycle takes place in the stroma of the chloroplast. While named "the dark reactions", in most plants, they take place in the light, since the dark reactions are dependent on the products of the light reactions. The Calvin cycle starts by using the enzyme RuBisCO to fix CO into five-carbon Ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP) molecules. The result is unstable six-carbon molecules that immediately break down into three-carbon molecules called 3-phosphoglyceric acid, or 3-PGA. The ATP and NADPH made in the light reactions is used to convert the 3-PGA into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, or G3P sugar molecules. Most of the G3P molecules are recycled back into RuBP using energy from more ATP, but one out of every six produced leaves the cycle—the end product of the dark reactions. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate can double up to form larger sugar molecules like glucose and fructose. These molecules are processed, and from them, the still larger sucrose, a disaccharide commonly known as table sugar, is made, though this process takes place outside of the chloroplast, in the cytoplasm. Alternatively, glucose monomers in the chloroplast can be linked together to make starch, which accumulates into the starch grains found in the chloroplast. Under conditions such as high atmospheric CO concentrations, these starch grains may grow very large, distorting the grana and thylakoids. The starch granules displace the thylakoids, but leave them intact. Waterlogged roots can also cause starch buildup in the chloroplasts, possibly due to less sucrose being exported out of the chloroplast (or more accurately, the plant cell). This depletes a plant's free phosphate supply, which indirectly stimulates chloroplast starch synthesis. While linked to low photosynthesis rates, the starch grains themselves may not necessarily interfere significantly with the efficiency of photosynthesis, and might simply be a side effect of another photosynthesis-depressing factor. Photorespiration can occur when the oxygen concentration is too high. RuBisCO cannot distinguish between oxygen and carbon dioxide very well, so it can accidentally add O instead of CO to RuBP. This process reduces the efficiency of photosynthesis—it consumes ATP and oxygen, releases CO, and produces no sugar. It can waste up to half the carbon fixed by the Calvin cycle. Several mechanisms have evolved in different lineages that raise the carbon dioxide concentration relative to oxygen within the chloroplast, increasing the efficiency of photosynthesis. These mechanisms are called carbon dioxide concentrating mechanisms, or CCMs. These include Crassulacean acid metabolism, carbon fixation, and pyrenoids. Chloroplasts in plants are notable as they exhibit a distinct chloroplast dimorphism. Because of the H gradient across the thylakoid membrane, the interior of the thylakoid is acidic, with a pH around 4, while the stroma is slightly basic, with a pH of around 8. The optimal stroma pH for the Calvin cycle is 8.1, with the reaction nearly stopping when the pH falls below 7.3. CO in water can form carbonic acid, which can disturb the pH of isolated chloroplasts, interfering with photosynthesis, even though CO is used in photosynthesis. However, chloroplasts in living plant cells are not affected by this as much. Chloroplasts can pump K and H ions in and out of themselves using a poorly understood light-driven transport system. In the presence of light, the pH of the thylakoid lumen can drop up to 1.5 pH units, while the pH of the stroma can rise by nearly one pH unit. Chloroplasts alone make almost all of a plant cell's amino acids in their stroma except the sulfur-containing ones like cysteine and methionine. Cysteine is made in the chloroplast (the proplastid too) but it is also synthesized in the cytosol and mitochondria, probably because it has trouble crossing membranes to get to where it is needed. The chloroplast is known to make the precursors to methionine but it is unclear whether the organelle carries out the last leg of the pathway or if it happens in the cytosol. Chloroplasts make all of a cell's purines and pyrimidines—the nitrogenous bases found in DNA and RNA. They also convert nitrite (NO) into ammonia (NH) which supplies the plant with nitrogen to make its amino acids and nucleotides. The plastid is the site of diverse and complex lipid synthesis in plants. The carbon used to form the majority of the lipid is from acetyl-CoA, which is the decarboxylation product of pyruvate. Pyruvate may enter the plastid from the cytosol by passive diffusion through the membrane after production in glycolysis. Pyruvate is also made in the plastid from phosphoenolpyruvate, a metabolite made in the cytosol from pyruvate or PGA. Acetate in the cytosol is unavailable for lipid biosynthesis in the plastid. The typical length of fatty acids produced in the plastid are 16 or 18 carbons, with 0-3 cis double bonds. The biosynthesis of fatty acids from acetyl-CoA primarily requires two enzymes. Acetyl-CoA carboxylase creates malonyl-CoA, used in both the first step and the extension steps of synthesis. Fatty acid synthase (FAS) is a large complex of enzymes and cofactors including acyl carrier protein (ACP) which holds the acyl chain as it is synthesized. The initiation of synthesis begins with the condensation of malonyl-ACP with acetyl-CoA to produce ketobutyryl-ACP. 2 reductions involving the use of NADPH and one dehydration creates butyryl-ACP. Extension of the fatty acid comes from repeated cycles of malonyl-ACP condensation, reduction, and dehydration. Other lipids are derived from the methyl-erythritol phosphate (MEP) pathway and consist of gibberelins, sterols, abscisic acid, phytol, and innumerable secondary metabolites. Chloroplasts are a special type of a plant cell organelle called a plastid, though the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably. There are many other types of plastids, which carry out various functions. All chloroplasts in a plant are descended from undifferentiated proplastids found in the zygote, or fertilized egg. Proplastids are commonly found in an adult plant's apical meristems. Chloroplasts do not normally develop from proplastids in root tip meristems—instead, the formation of starch-storing amyloplasts is more common. In shoots, proplastids from shoot apical meristems can gradually develop into chloroplasts in photosynthetic leaf tissues as the leaf matures, if exposed to the required light. This process involves invaginations of the inner plastid membrane, forming sheets of membrane that project into the internal stroma. These membrane sheets then fold to form thylakoids and grana. If angiosperm shoots are not exposed to the required light for chloroplast formation, proplastids may develop into an etioplast stage before becoming chloroplasts. An etioplast is a plastid that lacks chlorophyll, and has inner membrane invaginations that form a lattice of tubes in their stroma, called a prolamellar body. While etioplasts lack chlorophyll, they have a yellow chlorophyll precursor stocked. Within a few minutes of light exposure, the prolamellar body begins to reorganize into stacks of thylakoids, and chlorophyll starts to be produced. This process, where the etioplast becomes a chloroplast, takes several hours. Gymnosperms do not require light to form chloroplasts. Light, however, does not guarantee that a proplastid will develop into a chloroplast. Whether a proplastid develops into a chloroplast some other kind of plastid is mostly controlled by the nucleus and is largely influenced by the kind of cell it resides in. Plastid differentiation is not permanent, in fact many interconversions are possible. Chloroplasts may be converted to chromoplasts, which are pigment- filled plastids responsible for the bright colors seen in flowers and ripe fruit. Starch storing amyloplasts can also be converted to chromoplasts, and it is possible for proplastids to develop straight into chromoplasts. Chromoplasts and amyloplasts can also become chloroplasts, like what happens when a carrot or a potato is illuminated. If a plant is injured, or something else causes a plant cell to revert to a meristematic state, chloroplasts and other plastids can turn back into proplastids. Chloroplast, amyloplast, chromoplast, proplast, etc., are not absolute states—intermediate forms are common. Most chloroplasts in a photosynthetic cell do not develop directly from proplastids or etioplasts. In fact, a typical shoot meristematic plant cell contains only 7–20 proplastids. These proplastids differentiate into chloroplasts, which divide to create the 30–70 chloroplasts found in a mature photosynthetic plant cell. If the cell divides, chloroplast division provides the additional chloroplasts to partition between the two daughter cells. In single-celled algae, chloroplast division is the only way new chloroplasts are formed. There is no proplastid differentiation—when an algal cell divides, its chloroplast divides along with it, and each daughter cell receives a mature chloroplast. Almost all chloroplasts in a cell divide, rather than a small group of rapidly dividing chloroplasts. Chloroplasts have no definite S-phase—their DNA replication is not synchronized or limited to that of their host cells. Much of what we know about chloroplast division comes from studying organisms like Arabidopsis and the red alga Cyanidioschyzon merolæ. The division process starts when the proteins FtsZ1 and FtsZ2 assemble into filaments, and with the help of a protein ARC6, form a structure called a Z-ring within the chloroplast's stroma. The Min system manages the placement of the Z-ring, ensuring that the chloroplast is cleaved more or less evenly. The protein MinD prevents FtsZ from linking up and forming filaments. Another protein ARC3 may also be involved, but it is not very well understood. These proteins are active at the poles of the chloroplast, preventing Z-ring formation there, but near the center of the chloroplast, MinE inhibits them, allowing the Z-ring to form. Next, the two plastid-dividing rings, or PD rings form. The inner plastid-dividing ring is located in the inner side of the chloroplast's inner membrane, and is formed first. The outer plastid-dividing ring is found wrapped around the outer chloroplast membrane. It consists of filaments about 5 nanometers across, arranged in rows 6.4 nanometers apart, and shrinks to squeeze the chloroplast. This is when chloroplast constriction begins. In a few species like Cyanidioschyzon merolæ, chloroplasts have a third plastid-dividing ring located in the chloroplast's intermembrane space. Late into the constriction phase, dynamin proteins assemble around the outer plastid-dividing ring, helping provide force to squeeze the chloroplast. Meanwhile, the Z-ring and the inner plastid-dividing ring break down. During this stage, the many chloroplast DNA plasmids floating around in the stroma are partitioned and distributed to the two forming daughter chloroplasts. Later, the dynamins migrate under the outer plastid dividing ring, into direct contact with the chloroplast's outer membrane, to cleave the chloroplast in two daughter chloroplasts. A remnant of the outer plastid dividing ring remains floating between the two daughter chloroplasts, and a remnant of the dynamin ring remains attached to one of the daughter chloroplasts. Of the five or six rings involved in chloroplast division, only the outer plastid-dividing ring is present for the entire constriction and division phase—while the Z-ring forms first, constriction does not begin until the outer plastid- dividing ring forms. In species of algae that contain a single chloroplast, regulation of chloroplast division is extremely important to ensure that each daughter cell receives a chloroplast—chloroplasts can't be made from scratch. In organisms like plants, whose cells contain multiple chloroplasts, coordination is looser and less important. It is likely that chloroplast and cell division are somewhat synchronized, though the mechanisms for it are mostly unknown. Light has been shown to be a requirement for chloroplast division. Chloroplasts can grow and progress through some of the constriction stages under poor quality green light, but are slow to complete division—they require exposure to bright white light to complete division. Spinach leaves grown under green light have been observed to contain many large dumbbell-shaped chloroplasts. Exposure to white light can stimulate these chloroplasts to divide and reduce the population of dumbbell-shaped chloroplasts. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts are usually inherited from a single parent. Biparental chloroplast inheritance—where plastid genes are inherited from both parent plants—occurs in very low levels in some flowering plants. Many mechanisms prevent biparental chloroplast DNA inheritance, including selective destruction of chloroplasts or their genes within the gamete or zygote, and chloroplasts from one parent being excluded from the embryo. Parental chloroplasts can be sorted so that only one type is present in each offspring. Gymnosperms, such as pine trees, mostly pass on chloroplasts paternally, while flowering plants often inherit chloroplasts maternally. Flowering plants were once thought to only inherit chloroplasts maternally. However, there are now many documented cases of angiosperms inheriting chloroplasts paternally. Angiosperms, which pass on chloroplasts maternally, have many ways to prevent paternal inheritance. Most of them produce sperm cells that do not contain any plastids. There are many other documented mechanisms that prevent paternal inheritance in these flowering plants, such as different rates of chloroplast replication within the embryo. Among angiosperms, paternal chloroplast inheritance is observed more often in hybrids than in offspring from parents of the same species. This suggests that incompatible hybrid genes might interfere with the mechanisms that prevent paternal inheritance. Recently, chloroplasts have caught attention by developers of genetically modified crops. Since, in most flowering plants, chloroplasts are not inherited from the male parent, transgenes in these plastids cannot be disseminated by pollen. This makes plastid transformation a valuable tool for the creation and cultivation of genetically modified plants that are biologically contained, thus posing significantly lower environmental risks. This biological containment strategy is therefore suitable for establishing the coexistence of conventional and organic agriculture. While the reliability of this mechanism has not yet been studied for all relevant crop species, recent results in tobacco plants are promising, showing a failed containment rate of transplastomic plants at 3 in 1,000,000. Chloroplast – Cell Centered Database, Co-Extra research on chloroplast transformation, NCBI full chloroplast genome Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that can later be released to fuel the organisms' activities. This chemical energy is stored in carbohydrate molecules, such as sugars, which are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water – hence the name photosynthesis, from the Greek φῶς, phōs, "light", and σύνθεσις, synthesis, "putting together". In most cases, oxygen is also released as a waste product. Most plants, most algae, and cyanobacteria perform photosynthesis; such organisms are called photoautotrophs. Photosynthesis is largely responsible for producing and maintaining the oxygen content of the Earth's atmosphere, and supplies all of the organic compounds and most of the energy necessary for life on Earth. Although photosynthesis is performed differently by different species, the process always begins when energy from light is absorbed by proteins called reaction centres that contain green chlorophyll pigments. In plants, these proteins are held inside organelles called chloroplasts, which are most abundant in leaf cells, while in bacteria they are embedded in the plasma membrane. In these light-dependent reactions, some energy is used to strip electrons from suitable substances, such as water, producing oxygen gas. The hydrogen freed by the splitting of water is used in the creation of two further compounds that serve as short- term stores of energy, enabling its transfer to drive other reactions: these compounds are reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the "energy currency" of cells. In plants, algae and cyanobacteria, long-term energy storage in the form of sugars is produced by a subsequent sequence of reactions called the Calvin cycle; some bacteria use different mechanisms, such as the reverse Krebs cycle, to achieve the same end. In the Calvin cycle, atmospheric carbon dioxide is incorporated into already existing organic carbon compounds, such as ribulose bisphosphate (RuBP). Using the ATP and NADPH produced by the light-dependent reactions, the resulting compounds are then reduced and removed to form further carbohydrates, such as glucose. The first photosynthetic organisms probably evolved early in the evolutionary history of life and most likely used reducing agents such as hydrogen or hydrogen sulfide, rather than water, as sources of electrons. Cyanobacteria appeared later; the excess oxygen they produced contributed directly to the oxygenation of the Earth, which rendered the evolution of complex life possible. Today, the average rate of energy capture by photosynthesis globally is approximately 130 terawatts, which is about eight times the current power consumption of human civilization. Photosynthetic organisms also convert around 100–115 billion tons (91-104 petagrams) of carbon into biomass per year. Photosynthetic organisms are photoautotrophs, which means that they are able to synthesize food directly from carbon dioxide and water using energy from light. However, not all organisms use carbon dioxide as a source of carbon atoms to carry out photosynthesis; photoheterotrophs use organic compounds, rather than carbon dioxide, as a source of carbon. In plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, photosynthesis releases oxygen. This is called oxygenic photosynthesis and is by far the most common type of photosynthesis used by living organisms. Although there are some differences between oxygenic photosynthesis in plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, the overall process is quite similar in these organisms. There are also many varieties of anoxygenic photosynthesis, used mostly by certain types of bacteria, which consume carbon dioxide but do not release oxygen. Carbon dioxide is converted into sugars in a process called carbon fixation; photosynthesis captures energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrate. Carbon fixation is an endothermic redox reaction. In general outline, photosynthesis is the opposite of cellular respiration: while photosynthesis is a process of reduction of carbon dioxide to carbohydrate, cellular respiration is the oxidation of carbohydrate or other nutrients to carbon dioxide. Nutrients used in cellular respiration include carbohydrates, amino acids and fatty acids. These nutrients are oxidized to produce carbon dioxide and water, and to release chemical energy to drive the organism's metabolism. Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are distinct processes, as they take place through different sequences of chemical reactions and in different cellular compartments. The general equation for photosynthesis as first proposed by Cornelis van Niel is therefore: Since water is used as the electron donor in oxygenic photosynthesis, the equation for this process is: This equation emphasizes that water is both a reactant in the light-dependent reaction and a product of the light-independent reaction, but canceling n water molecules from each side gives the net equation: Other processes substitute other compounds (such as arsenite) for water in the electron-supply role; for example some microbes use sunlight to oxidize arsenite to arsenate: The equation for this reaction is: Photosynthesis occurs in two stages. In the first stage, light-dependent reactions or light reactions capture the energy of light and use it to make the energy-storage molecules ATP and NADPH. During the second stage, the light-independent reactions use these products to capture and reduce carbon dioxide. Most organisms that utilize oxygenic photosynthesis use visible light for the light-dependent reactions, although at least three use shortwave infrared or, more specifically, far-red radiation. Some organisms employ even more radical variants of photosynthesis. Some archaea use a simpler method that employs a pigment similar to those used for vision in animals. The bacteriorhodopsin changes its configuration in response to sunlight, acting as a proton pump. This produces a proton gradient more directly, which is then converted to chemical energy. The process does not involve carbon dioxide fixation and does not release oxygen, and seems to have evolved separately from the more common types of photosynthesis. In photosynthetic bacteria, the proteins that gather light for photosynthesis are embedded in cell membranes. In its simplest form, this involves the membrane surrounding the cell itself. However, the membrane may be tightly folded into cylindrical sheets called thylakoids, or bunched up into round vesicles called intracytoplasmic membranes. These structures can fill most of the interior of a cell, giving the membrane a very large surface area and therefore increasing the amount of light that the bacteria can absorb. In plants and algae, photosynthesis takes place in organelles called chloroplasts. A typical plant cell contains about 10 to 100 chloroplasts. The chloroplast is enclosed by a membrane. This membrane is composed of a phospholipid inner membrane, a phospholipid outer membrane, and an intermembrane space. Enclosed by the membrane is an aqueous fluid called the stroma. Embedded within the stroma are stacks of thylakoids (grana), which are the site of photosynthesis. The thylakoids appear as flattened disks. The thylakoid itself is enclosed by the thylakoid membrane, and within the enclosed volume is a lumen or thylakoid space. Embedded in the thylakoid membrane are integral and peripheral membrane protein complexes of the photosynthetic system. Plants absorb light primarily using the pigment chlorophyll. The green part of the light spectrum is not absorbed but is reflected which is the reason that most plants have a green color. Besides chlorophyll, plants also use pigments such as carotenes and xanthophylls. Algae also use chlorophyll, but various other pigments are present, such as phycocyanin, carotenes, and xanthophylls in green algae, phycoerythrin in red algae (rhodophytes) and fucoxanthin in brown algae and diatoms resulting in a wide variety of colors. These pigments are embedded in plants and algae in complexes called antenna proteins. In such proteins, the pigments are arranged to work together. Such a combination of proteins is also called a light- harvesting complex. Although all cells in the green parts of a plant have chloroplasts, the majority of those are found in specially adapted structures called leaves. Certain species adapted to conditions of strong sunlight and aridity, such as many Euphorbia and cactus species, have their main photosynthetic organs in their stems. The cells in the interior tissues of a leaf, called the mesophyll, can contain between 450,000 and 800,000 chloroplasts for every square millimeter of leaf. The surface of the leaf is coated with a water-resistant waxy cuticle that protects the leaf from excessive evaporation of water and decreases the absorption of ultraviolet or blue light to reduce heating. The transparent epidermis layer allows light to pass through to the palisade mesophyll cells where most of the photosynthesis takes place. In the light-dependent reactions, one molecule of the pigment chlorophyll absorbs one photon and loses one electron. This electron is passed to a modified form of chlorophyll called pheophytin, which passes the electron to a quinone molecule, starting the flow of electrons down an electron transport chain that leads to the ultimate reduction of NADP to NADPH. In addition, this creates a proton gradient (energy gradient) across the chloroplast membrane, which is used by ATP synthase in the synthesis of ATP. The chlorophyll molecule ultimately regains the electron it lost when a water molecule is split in a process called photolysis, which releases a dioxygen (O) molecule as a waste product. The overall equation for the light-dependent reactions under the conditions of non-cyclic electron flow in green plants is: Not all wavelengths of light can support photosynthesis. The photosynthetic action spectrum depends on the type of accessory pigments present. For example, in green plants, the action spectrum resembles the absorption spectrum for chlorophylls and carotenoids with absorption peaks in violet-blue and red light. In red algae, the action spectrum is blue-green light, which allows these algae to use the blue end of the spectrum to grow in the deeper waters that filter out the longer wavelengths (red light) used by above ground green plants. The non-absorbed part of the light spectrum is what gives photosynthetic organisms their color (e.g., green plants, red algae, purple bacteria) and is the least effective for photosynthesis in the respective organisms. In plants, light-dependent reactions occur in the thylakoid membranes of the chloroplasts where they drive the synthesis of ATP and NADPH. The light- dependent reactions are of two forms: cyclic and non-cyclic. In the non-cyclic reaction, the photons are captured in the light-harvesting antenna complexes of photosystem II by chlorophyll and other accessory pigments (see diagram at right). The absorption of a photon by the antenna complex frees an electron by a process called photoinduced charge separation. The antenna system is at the core of the chlorophyll molecule of the photosystem II reaction center. That freed electron is transferred to the primary electron-acceptor molecule, pheophytin. As the electrons are shuttled through an electron transport chain (the so-called Z-scheme shown in the diagram), it initially functions to generate a chemiosmotic potential by pumping proton cations (H) across the membrane and into the thylakoid space. An ATP synthase enzyme uses that chemiosmotic potential to make ATP during photophosphorylation, whereas NADPH is a product of the terminal redox reaction in the Z-scheme. The electron enters a chlorophyll molecule in Photosystem I. There it is further excited by the light absorbed by that photosystem. The electron is then passed along a chain of electron acceptors to which it transfers some of its energy. The energy delivered to the electron acceptors is used to move hydrogen ions across the thylakoid membrane into the lumen. The electron is eventually used to reduce the co-enzyme NADP with a H to NADPH (which has functions in the light-independent reaction); at that point, the path of that electron ends. The cyclic reaction is similar to that of the non-cyclic, but differs in that it generates only ATP, and no reduced NADP (NADPH) is created. The cyclic reaction takes place only at photosystem I. Once the electron is displaced from the photosystem, the electron is passed down the electron acceptor molecules and returns to photosystem I, from where it was emitted, hence the name cyclic reaction. Linear electron transport through a photosystem will leave the reaction center of that photosystem oxidized. Elevating another electron will first require re-reduction of the reaction center. The excited electrons lost from the reaction center (P700) of photosystem I are replaced by transfer from plastocyanin, whose electrons come from electron transport through photosystem II. Photosystem II, as the first step of the Z-scheme, requires an external source of electrons to reduce its oxidized chlorophyll a reaction center, called P680. The source of electrons for photosynthesis in green plants and cyanobacteria is water. Two water molecules are oxidized by four successive charge-separation reactions by photosystem II to yield a molecule of diatomic oxygen and four hydrogen ions. The electrons yielded are transferred to a redox-active tyrosine residue that then reduces the oxidized P680. This resets the ability of P680 to absorb another photon and release another photo- dissociated electron. The oxidation of water is catalyzed in photosystem II by a redox-active structure that contains four manganese ions and a calcium ion; this oxygen-evolving complex binds two water molecules and contains the four oxidizing equivalents that are used to drive the water-oxidizing reaction (Dolai's S-state diagrams). Photosystem II is the only known biological enzyme that carries out this oxidation of water. The hydrogen ions are released in the thylakoid lumen and therefore contribute to the transmembrane chemiosmotic potential that leads to ATP synthesis. Oxygen is a waste product of light- dependent reactions, but the majority of organisms on Earth use oxygen for cellular respiration, including photosynthetic organisms. In the light-independent (or "dark") reactions, the enzyme RuBisCO captures CO from the atmosphere and, in a process called the Calvin cycle, it uses the newly formed NADPH and releases three-carbon sugars, which are later combined to form sucrose and starch. The overall equation for the light-independent reactions in green plants is Carbon fixation produces the intermediate three- carbon sugar product, which is then converted into the final carbohydrate products. The simple carbon sugars produced by photosynthesis are then used in the forming of other organic compounds, such as the building material cellulose, the precursors for lipid and amino acid biosynthesis, or as a fuel in cellular respiration. The latter occurs not only in plants but also in animals when the energy from plants is passed through a food chain. The fixation or reduction of carbon dioxide is a process in which carbon dioxide combines with a five-carbon sugar, ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate, to yield two molecules of a three-carbon compound, glycerate 3-phosphate, also known as 3-phosphoglycerate. Glycerate 3-phosphate, in the presence of ATP and NADPH produced during the light-dependent stages, is reduced to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. This product is also referred to as 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde (PGAL) or, more generically, as triose phosphate. Most (5 out of 6 molecules) of the glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate produced is used to regenerate ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate so the process can continue. The triose phosphates not thus "recycled" often condense to form hexose phosphates, which ultimately yield sucrose, starch and cellulose. The sugars produced during carbon metabolism yield carbon skeletons that can be used for other metabolic reactions like the production of amino acids and lipids. In hot and dry conditions, plants close their stomata to prevent water loss. Under these conditions, will decrease and oxygen gas, produced by the light reactions of photosynthesis, will increase, causing an increase of photorespiration by the oxygenase activity of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase and decrease in carbon fixation. Some plants have evolved mechanisms to increase the concentration in the leaves under these conditions. Plants that use the C carbon fixation process chemically fix carbon dioxide in the cells of the mesophyll by adding it to the three-carbon molecule phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), a reaction catalyzed by an enzyme called PEP carboxylase, creating the four-carbon organic acid oxaloacetic acid. Oxaloacetic acid or malate synthesized by this process is then translocated to specialized bundle sheath cells where the enzyme RuBisCO and other Calvin cycle enzymes are located, and where released by decarboxylation of the four- carbon acids is then fixed by RuBisCO activity to the three-carbon 3-phosphoglyceric acids. The physical separation of RuBisCO from the oxygen- generating light reactions reduces photorespiration and increases fixation and, thus, the photosynthetic capacity of the leaf. plants can produce more sugar than plants in conditions of high light and temperature. Many important crop plants are plants, including maize, sorghum, sugarcane, and millet. Plants that do not use PEP-carboxylase in carbon fixation are called C plants because the primary carboxylation reaction, catalyzed by RuBisCO, produces the three-carbon 3-phosphoglyceric acids directly in the Calvin-Benson cycle. Over 90% of plants use carbon fixation, compared to 3% that use carbon fixation; however, the evolution of in over 60 plant lineages makes it a striking example of convergent evolution. Xerophytes, such as cacti and most succulents, also use PEP carboxylase to capture carbon dioxide in a process called Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM). In contrast to metabolism, which spatially separates the fixation to PEP from the Calvin cycle, CAM temporally separates these two processes. CAM plants have a different leaf anatomy from plants, and fix the at night, when their stomata are open. CAM plants store the mostly in the form of malic acid via carboxylation of phosphoenolpyruvate to oxaloacetate, which is then reduced to malate. Decarboxylation of malate during the day releases inside the leaves, thus allowing carbon fixation to 3-phosphoglycerate by RuBisCO. Sixteen thousand species of plants use CAM. Cyanobacteria possess carboxysomes, which increase the concentration of around RuBisCO to increase the rate of photosynthesis. An enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, located within the carboxysome releases CO from the dissolved hydrocarbonate ions (HCO). Before the CO diffuses out it is quickly sponged up by RuBisCO, which is concentrated within the carboxysomes. HCO ions are made from CO outside the cell by another carbonic anhydrase and are actively pumped into the cell by a membrane protein. They cannot cross the membrane as they are charged, and within the cytosol they turn back into CO very slowly without the help of carbonic anhydrase. This causes the HCO ions to accumulate within the cell from where they diffuse into the carboxysomes. Pyrenoids in algae and hornworts also act to concentrate around RuBisCO. The overall process of photosynthesis takes place in four stages: Plants usually convert light into chemical energy with a photosynthetic efficiency of 3–6%. Absorbed light that is unconverted is dissipated primarily as heat, with a small fraction (1–2%) re-emitted as chlorophyll fluorescence at longer (redder) wavelengths. This fact allows measurement of the light reaction of photosynthesis by using chlorophyll fluorometers. Actual plants' photosynthetic efficiency varies with the frequency of the light being converted, light intensity, temperature and proportion of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and can vary from 0.1% to 8%. By comparison, solar panels convert light into electric energy at an efficiency of approximately 6–20% for mass-produced panels, and above 40% in laboratory devices. The efficiency of both light and dark reactions can be measured but the relationship between the two can be complex. For example, the ATP and NADPH energy molecules, created by the light reaction, can be used for carbon fixation or for photorespiration in C plants. Electrons may also flow to other electron sinks. For this reason, it is not uncommon for authors to differentiate between work done under non- photorespiratory conditions and under photorespiratory conditions. Chlorophyll fluorescence of photosystem II can measure the light reaction, and Infrared gas analyzers can measure the dark reaction. It is also possible to investigate both at the same time using an integrated chlorophyll fluorometer and gas exchange system, or by using two separate systems together. Infrared gas analyzers and some moisture sensors are sensitive enough to measure the photosynthetic assimilation of CO, and of ΔHO using reliable methods CO is commonly measured in μmols/(m/s), parts per million or volume per million and H0 is commonly measured in mmol/(m/s) or in mbars. By measuring CO assimilation, ΔHO, leaf temperature, barometric pressure, leaf area, and photosynthetically active radiation or PAR, it becomes possible to estimate, “A” or carbon assimilation, “E” or transpiration, “gs” or stomatal conductance, and Ci or intracellular CO. However, it is more common to used chlorophyll fluorescence for plant stress measurement, where appropriate, because the most commonly used measuring parameters FV/FM and Y(II) or F/FM’ can be made in a few seconds, allowing the measurement of larger plant populations. Gas exchange systems that offer control of CO levels, above and below ambient, allow the common practice of measurement of A/Ci curves, at different CO levels, to characterize a plant's photosynthetic response. Integrated chlorophyll fluorometer – gas exchange systems allow a more precise measure of photosynthetic response and mechanisms. While standard gas exchange photosynthesis systems can measure Ci, or substomatal CO levels, the addition of integrated chlorophyll fluorescence measurements allows a more precise measurement of C to replace Ci. The estimation of CO at the site of carboxylation in the chloroplast, or C, becomes possible with the measurement of mesophyll conductance or g using an integrated system. Photosynthesis measurement systems are not designed to directly measure the amount of light absorbed by the leaf. But analysis of chlorophyll-fluorescence, P700- and P515-absorbance and gas exchange measurements reveal detailed information about e.g. the photosystems, quantum efficiency and the CO assimilation rates. With some instruments even wavelength-dependency of the photosynthetic efficiency can be analyzed. A phenomenon known as quantum walk increases the efficiency of the energy transport of light significantly. In the photosynthetic cell of an algae, bacterium, or plant, there are light- sensitive molecules called chromophores arranged in an antenna-shaped structure named a photocomplex. When a photon is absorbed by a chromophore, it is converted into a quasiparticle referred to as an exciton, which jumps from chromophore to chromophore towards the reaction center of the photocomplex, a collection of molecules that traps its energy in a chemical form that makes it accessible for the cell's metabolism. The exciton's wave properties enable it to cover a wider area and try out several possible paths simultaneously, allowing it to instantaneously "choose" the most efficient route, where it will have the highest probability of arriving at its destination in the minimum possible time. Because that quantum walking takes place at temperatures far higher than quantum phenomena usually occur, it is only possible over very short distances, due to obstacles in the form of destructive interference that come into play. These obstacles cause the particle to lose its wave properties for an instant before it regains them once again after it is freed from its locked position through a classic "hop". The movement of the electron towards the photo center is therefore covered in a series of conventional hops and quantum walks. Early photosynthetic systems, such as those in green and purple sulfur and green and purple nonsulfur bacteria, are thought to have been anoxygenic, and used various other molecules than water as electron donors. Green and purple sulfur bacteria are thought to have used hydrogen and sulfur as electron donors. Green nonsulfur bacteria used various amino and other organic acids as an electron donor. Purple nonsulfur bacteria used a variety of nonspecific organic molecules. The use of these molecules is consistent with the geological evidence that Earth's early atmosphere was highly reducing at that time. Fossils of what are thought to be filamentous photosynthetic organisms have been dated at 3.4 billion years old. More recent studies, reported in March 2018, also suggest that photosynthesis may have begun about 3.4 billion years ago. The main source of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere derives from oxygenic photosynthesis, and its first appearance is sometimes referred to as the oxygen catastrophe. Geological evidence suggests that oxygenic photosynthesis, such as that in cyanobacteria, became important during the Paleoproterozoic era around 2 billion years ago. Modern photosynthesis in plants and most photosynthetic prokaryotes is oxygenic. Oxygenic photosynthesis uses water as an electron donor, which is oxidized to molecular oxygen () in the photosynthetic reaction center. Several groups of animals have formed symbiotic relationships with photosynthetic algae. These are most common in corals, sponges and sea anemones. It is presumed that this is due to the particularly simple body plans and large surface areas of these animals compared to their volumes. In addition, a few marine mollusks Elysia viridis and Elysia chlorotica also maintain a symbiotic relationship with chloroplasts they capture from the algae in their diet and then store in their bodies (see Kleptoplasty). This allows the mollusks to survive solely by photosynthesis for several months at a time. Some of the genes from the plant cell nucleus have even been transferred to the slugs, so that the chloroplasts can be supplied with proteins that they need to survive. An even closer form of symbiosis may explain the origin of chloroplasts. Chloroplasts have many similarities with photosynthetic bacteria, including a circular chromosome, prokaryotic-type ribosome, and similar proteins in the photosynthetic reaction center. The endosymbiotic theory suggests that photosynthetic bacteria were acquired (by endocytosis) by early eukaryotic cells to form the first plant cells. Therefore, chloroplasts may be photosynthetic bacteria that adapted to life inside plant cells. Like mitochondria, chloroplasts possess their own DNA, separate from the nuclear DNA of their plant host cells and the genes in this chloroplast DNA resemble those found in cyanobacteria. DNA in chloroplasts codes for redox proteins such as those found in the photosynthetic reaction centers. The CoRR Hypothesis proposes that this Co-location of genes with their gene products is required for Redox Regulation of gene expression, and accounts for the persistence of DNA in bioenergetic organelles. Symbiotic and kleptoplastic organisms excluded: The glaucophytes and the red and green algae—clade Archaeplastida (unicellular and multicellular), The cryptophytes—clade Cryptista (unicellular), The haptophytes—clade Haptista (unicellular), The dinoflagellates and chromerids in the superphylum Myzozoa—clade Alveolata (unicellular), The ochrophytes—clade Heterokonta (unicellular and multicellular), The chlorarachniophytes and three species of Paulinella in the phylum Cercozoa—clade Rhizaria (unicellular), The euglenids—clade Excavata (unicellular) Except for the euglenids, all of them belongs to the Diaphoretickes. Archaeplastida and the photosynthetic Paulinella got their plastids through primary endosymbiosis in two separate events by engulfing a cyanobacterium. The plastids in all the other groups have either a red or green algal origin, and are referred to as the “red lineages” and the “green lineages”. While able to perform photosynthesis, many of them are mixotrophs and practice heterotrophy to various degrees. The biochemical capacity to use water as the source for electrons in photosynthesis evolved once, in a common ancestor of extant cyanobacteria (formerly called blue-green algae), which are the only prokaryotes performing oxygenic photosynthesis. The geological record indicates that this transforming event took place early in Earth's history, at least 2450–2320 million years ago (Ma), and, it is speculated, much earlier. Because the Earth's atmosphere contained almost no oxygen during the estimated development of photosynthesis, it is believed that the first photosynthetic cyanobacteria did not generate oxygen. Available evidence from geobiological studies of Archean (>2500 Ma) sedimentary rocks indicates that life existed 3500 Ma, but the question of when oxygenic photosynthesis evolved is still unanswered. A clear paleontological window on cyanobacterial evolution opened about 2000 Ma, revealing an already-diverse biota of Cyanobacteria. Cyanobacteria remained the principal primary producers of oxygen throughout the Proterozoic Eon (2500–543 Ma), in part because the redox structure of the oceans favored photoautotrophs capable of nitrogen fixation. Green algae joined cyanobacteria as the major primary producers of oxygen on continental shelves near the end of the Proterozoic, but it was only with the Mesozoic (251–66 Ma) radiations of dinoflagellates, coccolithophorids, and diatoms did the primary production of oxygen in marine shelf waters take modern form. Cyanobacteria remain critical to marine ecosystems as primary producers of oxygen in oceanic gyres, as agents of biological nitrogen fixation, and, in modified form, as the plastids of marine algae. Although some of the steps in photosynthesis are still not completely understood, the overall photosynthetic equation has been known since the 19th century. Jan van Helmont began the research of the process in the mid-17th century when he carefully measured the mass of the soil used by a plant and the mass of the plant as it grew. After noticing that the soil mass changed very little, he hypothesized that the mass of the growing plant must come from the water, the only substance he added to the potted plant. His hypothesis was partially accurate – much of the gained mass also comes from carbon dioxide as well as water. However, this was a signaling point to the idea that the bulk of a plant's biomass comes from the inputs of photosynthesis, not the soil itself. Joseph Priestley, a chemist and minister, discovered that, when he isolated a volume of air under an inverted jar, and burned a candle in it (which gave off CO), the candle would burn out very quickly, much before it ran out of wax. He further discovered that a mouse could similarly "injure" air. He then showed that the air that had been "injured" by the candle and the mouse could be restored by a plant. In 1778, Jan Ingenhousz, repeated Priestley's experiments. He discovered that it was the influence of sunlight on the plant that could cause it to revive a mouse in a matter of hours. In 1796, Jean Senebier, a Swiss pastor, botanist, and naturalist, demonstrated that green plants consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen under the influence of light. Soon afterward, Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure showed that the increase in mass of the plant as it grows could not be due only to uptake of CO but also to the incorporation of water. Thus, the basic reaction by which photosynthesis is used to produce food (such as glucose) was outlined. Cornelis Van Niel made key discoveries explaining the chemistry of photosynthesis. By studying purple sulfur bacteria and green bacteria he was the first to demonstrate that photosynthesis is a light-dependent redox reaction, in which hydrogen reduces (donates its electron to) carbon dioxide. Robert Emerson discovered two light reactions by testing plant productivity using different wavelengths of light. With the red alone, the light reactions were suppressed. When blue and red were combined, the output was much more substantial. Thus, there were two photosystems, one absorbing up to 600 nm wavelengths, the other up to 700 nm. The former is known as PSII, the latter is PSI. PSI contains only chlorophyll "a", PSII contains primarily chlorophyll "a" with most of the available chlorophyll "b", among other pigment. These include phycobilins, which are the red and blue pigments of red and blue algae respectively, and fucoxanthol for brown algae and diatoms. The process is most productive when the absorption of quanta are equal in both the PSII and PSI, assuring that input energy from the antenna complex is divided between the PSI and PSII system, which in turn powers the photochemistry. Robert Hill thought that a complex of reactions consisting of an intermediate to cytochrome b (now a plastoquinone), another is from cytochrome f to a step in the carbohydrate- generating mechanisms. These are linked by plastoquinone, which does require energy to reduce cytochrome f for it is a sufficient reductant. Further experiments to prove that the oxygen developed during the photosynthesis of green plants came from water, were performed by Hill in 1937 and 1939. He showed that isolated chloroplasts give off oxygen in the presence of unnatural reducing agents like iron oxalate, ferricyanide or benzoquinone after exposure to light. The Hill reaction is as follows: where A is the electron acceptor. Therefore, in light, the electron acceptor is reduced and oxygen is evolved. Samuel Ruben and Martin Kamen used radioactive isotopes to determine that the oxygen liberated in photosynthesis came from the water. Melvin Calvin and Andrew Benson, along with James Bassham, elucidated the path of carbon assimilation (the photosynthetic carbon reduction cycle) in plants. The carbon reduction cycle is known as the Calvin cycle, which ignores the contribution of Bassham and Benson. Many scientists refer to the cycle as the Calvin-Benson Cycle, Benson-Calvin, and some even call it the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (or CBB) Cycle. Nobel Prize-winning scientist Rudolph A. Marcus was able to discover the function and significance of the electron transport chain. Otto Heinrich Warburg and Dean Burk discovered the I-quantum photosynthesis reaction that splits the CO, activated by the respiration. In 1950, first experimental evidence for the existence of photophosphorylation in vivo was presented by Otto Kandler using intact Chlorella cells and interpreting his findings as light-dependent ATP formation. In 1954, Daniel I. Arnon et al. discovered photophosphorylation in vitro in isolated chloroplasts with the help of P. Louis N.M. Duysens and Jan Amesz discovered that chlorophyll a will absorb one light, oxidize cytochrome f, chlorophyll a (and other pigments) will absorb another light, but will reduce this same oxidized cytochrome, stating the two light reactions are in series. In 1893, Charles Reid Barnes proposed two terms, photosyntax and photosynthesis, for the biological process of synthesis of complex carbon compounds out of carbonic acid, in the presence of chlorophyll, under the influence of light. Over time, the term photosynthesis came into common usage as the term of choice. Later discovery of anoxygenic photosynthetic bacteria and photophosphorylation necessitated redefinition of the term. After WWII at late 1940 at the University of California, Berkeley, the details of photosynthetic carbon metabolism were sorted out by the chemists Melvin Calvin, Andrew Benson, James Bassham and a score of students and researchers utilizing the carbon-14 isotope and paper chromatography techniques. The pathway of CO fixation by the algae Chlorella in a fraction of a second in light resulted in a 3 carbon molecule called phosphoglyceric acid (PGA). For that original and ground-breaking work, a Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Melvin Calvin in 1961. In parallel, plant physiologists studied leaf gas exchanges using the new method of infrared gas analysis and a leaf chamber where the net photosynthetic rates ranged from 10 to 13 μmol CO·m·s, with the conclusion that all terrestrial plants having the same photosynthetic capacities that were light saturated at less than 50% of sunlight. Later in 1958-1963 at Cornell University, field grown maize was reported to have much greater leaf photosynthetic rates of 40 μmol CO·m·s and was not saturated at near full sunlight. This higher rate in maize was almost double those observed in other species such as wheat and soybean, indicating that large differences in photosynthesis exist among higher plants. At the University of Arizona, detailed gas exchange research on more than 15 species of monocot and dicot uncovered for the first time that differences in leaf anatomy are crucial factors in differentiating photosynthetic capacities among species. In tropical grasses, including maize, sorghum, sugarcane, Bermuda grass and in the dicot amaranthus, leaf photosynthetic rates were around 38−40 μmol CO·m·s, and the leaves have two types of green cells, i. e. outer layer of mesophyll cells surrounding a tightly packed cholorophyllous vascular bundle sheath cells. This type of anatomy was termed Kranz anatomy in the 19th century by the botanist Gottlieb Haberlandt while studying leaf anatomy of sugarcane. Plant species with the greatest photosynthetic rates and Kranz anatomy showed no apparent photorespiration, very low CO compensation point, high optimum temperature, high stomatal resistances and lower mesophyll resistances for gas diffusion and rates never saturated at full sun light. The research at Arizona was designated Citation Classic by the ISI 1986. These species was later termed C4 plants as the first stable compound of CO fixation in light has 4 carbon as malate and aspartate. Other species that lack Kranz anatomy were termed C3 type such as cotton and sunflower, as the first stable carbon compound is the 3-carbon PGA. At 1000 ppm CO in measuring air, both the C3 and C4 plants had similar leaf photosynthetic rates around 60 μmol CO·m·s indicating the suppression of photorespiration in C3 plants. There are three main factors affecting photosynthesis and several corollary factors. The three main are: Light irradiance and wavelength, Carbon dioxide concentration, Temperature. Total photosynthesis is limited by a range of environmental factors. These include the amount of light available, the amount of leaf area a plant has to capture light (shading by other plants is a major limitation of photosynthesis), rate at which carbon dioxide can be supplied to the chloroplasts to support photosynthesis, the availability of water, and the availability of suitable temperatures for carrying out photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis provides the main input of free energy into the biosphere, and is one of four main ways in which radiation is important for plant life. The radiation climate within plant communities is extremely variable, with both time and space. In the early 20th century, Frederick Blackman and Gabrielle Matthaei investigated the effects of light intensity (irradiance) and temperature on the rate of carbon assimilation. At constant temperature, the rate of carbon assimilation varies with irradiance, increasing as the irradiance increases, but reaching a plateau at higher irradiance., At low irradiance, increasing the temperature has little influence on the rate of carbon assimilation. At constant high irradiance, the rate of carbon assimilation increases as the temperature is increased. These two experiments illustrate several important points: First, it is known that, in general, photochemical reactions are not affected by temperature. However, these experiments clearly show that temperature affects the rate of carbon assimilation, so there must be two sets of reactions in the full process of carbon assimilation. These are the light-dependent 'photochemical' temperature-independent stage, and the light-independent, temperature- dependent stage. Second, Blackman's experiments illustrate the concept of limiting factors. Another limiting factor is the wavelength of light. Cyanobacteria, which reside several meters underwater, cannot receive the correct wavelengths required to cause photoinduced charge separation in conventional photosynthetic pigments. To combat this problem, a series of proteins with different pigments surround the reaction center. This unit is called a phycobilisome. As carbon dioxide concentrations rise, the rate at which sugars are made by the light-independent reactions increases until limited by other factors. RuBisCO, the enzyme that captures carbon dioxide in the light-independent reactions, has a binding affinity for both carbon dioxide and oxygen. When the concentration of carbon dioxide is high, RuBisCO will fix carbon dioxide. However, if the carbon dioxide concentration is low, RuBisCO will bind oxygen instead of carbon dioxide. This process, called photorespiration, uses energy, but does not produce sugars. RuBisCO oxygenase activity is disadvantageous to plants for several reasons: 1. One product of oxygenase activity is phosphoglycolate (2 carbon) instead of 3-phosphoglycerate (3 carbon). Phosphoglycolate cannot be metabolized by the Calvin-Benson cycle and represents carbon lost from the cycle. A high oxygenase activity, therefore, drains the sugars that are required to recycle ribulose 5-bisphosphate and for the continuation of the Calvin-Benson cycle. 2. Phosphoglycolate is quickly metabolized to glycolate that is toxic to a plant at a high concentration; it inhibits photosynthesis. 3. Salvaging glycolate is an energetically expensive process that uses the glycolate pathway, and only 75% of the carbon is returned to the Calvin-Benson cycle as 3-phosphoglycerate. The reactions also produce ammonia (NH), which is able to diffuse out of the plant, leading to a loss of nitrogen. The salvaging pathway for the products of RuBisCO oxygenase activity is more commonly known as photorespiration, since it is characterized by light- dependent oxygen consumption and the release of carbon dioxide. Jan Anderson (scientist), Artificial photosynthesis, Calvin-Benson cycle, Carbon fixation, Cellular respiration, Chemosynthesis, Daily light integral, Hill reaction, Integrated fluorometer, Light-dependent reaction, Organic reaction, Photobiology, Photoinhibition, Photosynthetic reaction center, Photosynthetically active radiation, Photosystem, Photosystem I, Photosystem II, Quantum biology, Radiosynthesis, Red edge, Vitamin D A collection of photosynthesis pages for all levels from a renowned expert (Govindjee), In depth, advanced treatment of photosynthesis, also from Govindjee, Science Aid: Photosynthesis Article appropriate for high school science, Metabolism, Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis – The Virtual Library of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Overall examination of Photosynthesis at an intermediate level, Overall Energetics of Photosynthesis, Photosynthesis Discovery Milestones – experiments and background, The source of oxygen produced by photosynthesis Interactive animation, a textbook tutorial, Photosynthesis – Light Dependent & Light Independent Stages, Khan Academy, video introduction Involved in photosynthesis that together carry out the primary photochemistry of photosynthesis: the absorption of light and the transfer of energy and electrons. Photosystems are found in the thylakoid membranes of plants, algae and cyanobacteria. They are located in the chloroplasts of plants and algae, and in the cytoplasmic membrane of photosynthetic bacteria. There are two kinds of photosystems: II and I. At the heart of a photosystem lies the reaction center, which is an enzyme that uses light to reduce molecules (provide with electrons). This reaction center is surrounded by light-harvesting complexes that enhance the absorption of light. Two families of reaction centers in photosystems exist: type I reaction centers (such as photosystem I (P700) in chloroplasts and in green- sulphur bacteria and type II reaction centers (such as photosystem II (P680) in chloroplasts and in non-sulphur purple bacteria. Each of the photosystem can be identified by the wavelength of light to which it is most reactive (700 and 680 nanometers, respectively for PSI and PSII in chloroplasts), the amount and type of light-harvesting complex present and the type of terminal electron acceptor used. Type I photosystems use ferredoxin-like iron-sulfur cluster proteins as terminal electron acceptors, while type II photosystems ultimately shuttle electrons to a quinone terminal electron acceptor. Both reaction center types are present in chloroplasts and cyanobacteria, and work together to form a unique photosynthetic chain able to extract electrons from water, creating oxygen as a byproduct. A reaction center comprises several (>24 or >33) protein subunits, that provide a scaffold for a series of cofactors. The cofactors can be pigments (like chlorophyll, pheophytin, carotenoids), quinones, or iron-sulfur clusters. For oxygenic photosynthesis, both photosystems I and II are required. Oxygenic photosynthesis can be performed by plants and cyanobacteria; cyanobacteria are believed to be the progenitors of the photosystem-containing chloroplasts of eukaryotes. Photosynthetic bacteria that cannot produce oxygen have a single photosystem similar to either. When photosystem II absorbs light, electrons in the reaction-center chlorophyll are excited to a higher energy level and are trapped by the primary electron acceptors. Photoexcited electrons travel through the cytochrome b6f complex to photosystem I via an electron transport chain set in the thylakoid membrane. This energy fall is harnessed, (the whole process termed chemiosmosis), to transport hydrogen (H) through the membrane, into the thylakoid lumen, to provide a potential energy difference between the thylakoid lumen space and the chloroplast stroma, which amounts to a proton- motive force that can be used to generate ATP. The protons are transported by the plastoquinone. If electrons only pass through once, the process is termed noncyclic photophosphorylation. When the electron reaches photosystem I, it fills the electron deficit of the reaction-center chlorophyll of photosystem I. ATP is generated when the ATP synthase transports the protons present in the lumen to the stroma, through the membrane. The electrons may either continue to go through cyclic electron transport around PS I or pass, via ferredoxin, to the enzyme NADP reductase. Electrons and hydrogen ions are added to NADP to form NADPH. This reducing agent is transported to the Calvin cycle to react with glycerate 3-phosphate, along with ATP to form glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, the basic building-block from which plants can make a variety of substances. Light reaction, Photoinhibition, Photosynthetic reaction centre Photosystems I + II: Imperial College, Barber Group, Photosystem I: Molecule of the Month in the Protein Data Bank, Photosystem II: Molecule of the Month in the Protein Data Bank, Photosystem II: ANU, UMich Orientation of Proteins in Membranes – Calculated spatial positions of photosynthetic reaction centers and photosystems in membrane

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Las Vegas (Spanish for "The Meadows"), officially the City of Las Vegas and often known simply as Vegas, is the 28th-most populated city in the United States, the most populated city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area and is the largest city within the greater Mojave Desert. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city, known primarily for its gambling, shopping, fine dining, entertainment, and nightlife. The Las Vegas Valley as a whole serves as the leading financial, commercial, and cultural center for Nevada. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous for its mega casino–hotels and associated activities. It is a top three destination in the United States for business conventions and a global leader in the hospitality industry, claiming more AAA Five Diamond hotels than any other city in the world. Today, Las Vegas annually ranks as one of the world's most visited tourist destinations. The city's tolerance for numerous forms of adult entertainment earned it the title of "Sin City", and has made Las Vegas a popular setting for literature, films, television programs, and music videos. Las Vegas was settled in 1905 and officially incorporated in 1911. At the close of the 20th century, it was the most populated American city founded within that century (a similar distinction was earned by Chicago in the 19th century). Population growth has accelerated since the 1960s, and between 1990 and 2000 the population nearly doubled, increasing by 85.2%. Rapid growth has continued into the 21st century, and according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had 648,224 residents in 2018, with a metropolitan population of 2,227,053. As with most major metropolitan areas, the name of the primary city ("Las Vegas" in this case) is often used to describe areas beyond official city limits. In the case of Las Vegas, this especially applies to the areas on and near the Las Vegas Strip, which is actually located within the unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester. Perhaps the earliest visitors to the Las Vegas area were nomadic Paleo- Indians, who traveled there 10,000 years ago, leaving behind petroglyphs. Anasazi and Paiute tribes followed at least 2,000 years ago. A young Mexican scout named Rafael Rivera is credited as the first non-Native American to encounter the valley, in 1829. Trader Antonio Armijo led a 60-man party along the Spanish Trail to Los Angeles, California in 1829. The area was named Las Vegas, which is Spanish for "the meadows," as it featured abundant wild grasses, as well as the desert spring waters needed by westward travelers. The year 1844 marked the arrival of John C. Frémont, whose writings helped lure pioneers to the area. Downtown Las Vegas's Fremont Street is named after him. Eleven years later, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints chose Las Vegas as the site to build a fort halfway between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, where they would travel to gather supplies. The fort was abandoned several years afterward. The remainder of this Old Mormon Fort can still be seen at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Washington Avenue. Las Vegas was founded as a city in 1905, when of land adjacent to the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were auctioned in what would become the downtown area. In 1911, Las Vegas was incorporated as a city. 1931 was a pivotal year for Las Vegas. At that time, Nevada legalized casino gambling and reduced residency requirements for divorce to six weeks. This year also witnessed the beginning of construction on nearby Hoover Dam. The influx of construction workers and their families helped Las Vegas avoid economic calamity during the Great Depression. The construction work was completed in 1935. In late 1941, the Las Vegas Army Airfield Gunnery School was established. Now known as Nellis Air Force Base, it is home to the United States Air Force Thunderbirds aerobatic team. Following World War II, lavishly decorated hotels, gambling casinos, and big-name entertainment became synonymous with Las Vegas. In 1951, nuclear weapons testing began at the Nevada Test Site, northwest of Las Vegas. During this time, the city was nicknamed the "Atomic City". Residents and visitors were able to witness the mushroom clouds (and were exposed to the fallout) until 1963, when the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty required that nuclear tests be moved underground. In 1955, the Moulin Rouge Hotel opened and became the first racially integrated casino-hotel in Las Vegas. The iconic "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, which has never been located within municipal limits, was created in 1959 by Betty Willis. During the 1960s, corporations and business tycoons such as Howard Hughes were building and buying hotel- casino properties. Gambling was referred to as "gaming", which transitioned it into a legitimate business. The year 1995 marked the opening of the Fremont Street Experience, in Las Vegas's downtown area. This canopied five-block area features 12.5 million LED lights and 550,000 watts of sound from dusk until midnight during shows held at the top of each hour. Due to the realization of many revitalization efforts, 2012 was dubbed "The Year of Downtown." Projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars made their debut at this time, including the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the DISCOVERY Children's Museum, the Mob Museum, the Neon Museum, a new City Hall complex, and renovations for a new Zappos.com corporate headquarters in the old City Hall building. Las Vegas is situated within Clark County, in a basin on the floor of the Mojave Desert, and is surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides. Much of the landscape is rocky and arid, with desert vegetation and wildlife. It can be subjected to torrential flash floods, although much has been done to mitigate the effects of flash floods through improved drainage systems. The peaks surrounding Las Vegas reach elevations of over , and act as barriers to the strong flow of moisture from the surrounding area. The elevation is approximately above sea level. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.03%) is water. After Alaska and California, Nevada is the third most seismically active state in the U.S. It has been estimated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) that over the next 50 years, there is a 10–20% chance of a M6.0 or greater earthquake occurring within of Las Vegas. Within the city, there are many lawns, trees and other greenery. Due to water resource issues, there has been a movement to encourage xeriscapes. Another part of conservation efforts is scheduled watering days for residential landscaping. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant in 2008 funded a program that analyzed and forecast growth and environmental impacts through the year 2019. Las Vegas has a subtropical hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh), typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies. This climate is typified by long, very hot summers; warm transitional seasons; and short winters with mild days and cool nights. There is abundant sunshine throughout the year, with an average of 310 sunny days and bright sunshine during 86% of all daylight hours. Rainfall is scarce, with an average of dispersed between roughly 26 to 27 total rainy days per year. Las Vegas is among the sunniest, driest, and least humid locations in North America, with exceptionally low dew points and humidity that sometimes remain below 10%. The summer months of June through September are very hot, though moderated by extremely low humidity. July is the hottest month, with an average daytime high of . On average, 134 days per year reach or exceed , of which 74 days reach and 7 days reach . During the peak intensity of summer, overnight lows frequently remain above , and occasionally above . While most summer days are consistently hot, dry, and cloudless, the North American Monsoon sporadically interrupts this pattern and brings more cloud cover, thunderstorms, lightning, increased humidity, and brief spells of heavy rain. The window of opportunity for the monsoon to affect Las Vegas usually falls between July and August, although this is inconsistent and varies considerably in its impact from year to year. Summer in Las Vegas is marked by a significant diurnal variation; while less extreme than other parts of the state, nighttime lows in Las Vegas are often or more lower than daytime highs. Las Vegas winters are short and generally very mild, with chilly (but rarely cold) daytime temperatures. Like all seasons, sunshine is abundant. December is both the year's coolest and cloudiest month, with an average daytime high of and sunshine occurring during 78% of its daylight hours. Winter evenings are defined by clear skies and swift drops in temperature after sunset, with overnight minima averaging around in December and January. Owing to its elevation that ranges from 2,000 feet to 3,000 feet, Las Vegas experiences markedly cooler winters than other areas of the Mojave Desert and the adjacent Sonoran Desert that are closer to sea level. Consequently, the city records freezing temperatures an average of 16 nights per winter. However, it is exceptionally rare for temperatures to reach or fall below , or for temperatures to remain below for an entire day. Most of the annual precipitation falls during the winter months, but even February, the wettest month, averages only four days of measurable rain. The mountains immediately surrounding the Las Vegas Valley accumulate snow every winter, but significant accumulation within the city is rare, although moderate accumulations do occur every few years. The most recent accumulations occurred on February 18, 2019 when parts of the city received about of snow and on February 20 when the city received almost . Other recent significant snow accumulations occurred on December 25, 2015 and December 17, 2008. Unofficially, Las Vegas' largest snowfall on record was the that fell in 1909. The highest temperature officially observed for Las Vegas, as measured at McCarran International Airport, is , reached on 3 days: July 24, 1942, July 19, 2005 and June 20, 2017. Conversely, the lowest temperature was , recorded on 2 days: January 25, 1937 and January 13, 1963. However, the highest temperature ever measured within the city of Las Vegas was on July 26, 1931. Due to concerns about climate change in the wake of a 2002 drought, daily water consumption has been reduced from 314 gallons per resident in 2003 to around 205 gallons. Boulder City, incorporated, Enterprise, unincorporated, Henderson, incorporated, Lone Mountain, unincorporated, North Las Vegas, incorporated, Paradise, unincorporated, Spring Valley, unincorporated, Summerlin South, unincorporated, Sunrise Manor, unincorporated, Whitney, unincorporated, Winchester, unincorporated Downtown, The Lakes, Summerlin, West Las Vegas According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Las Vegas was as follows: White: 62.1% (Non-Hispanic Whites: 47.9%; Hispanic Whites: 14.2%), Black or African American: 11.1%, Asian: 6.1% (3.3% Filipino, 0.7% Chinese, 0.5% Korean, 0.4% Japanese, 0.4% Indian, 0.2% Vietnamese, 0.2% Thai), Two or more races: 4.9%, Native American: 0.7%, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander: 0.6% Source: The city's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic Whites, have proportionally declined from 72.1% of the population in 1990 to 47.9% in 2010, even as total numbers of all ethnicities have increased with the population. Hispanics or Latinos of any race make up 31.5% of the population. Of those 24.0% are of Mexican, 1.4% of Salvadoran, 0.9% of Puerto Rican, 0.9% of Cuban, 0.6% of Guatemalan, 0.2% of Peruvian, 0.2% of Colombian, 0.2% of Honduran and 0.2% of Nicaraguan descent. According to research by demographer William H. Frey, using data from the 2010 United States Census, Las Vegas has the second lowest level of black-white segregation of any of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the United States, after Tucson, Arizona. Hawaiians and Las Vegans sometimes refer to Las Vegas as the "ninth island of Hawaii" because so many Hawaiians have moved to the city. As of the census of 2010, there were 583,756 people, 211,689 households, and 117,538 families residing in the city. The population density was . There are 190,724 housing units at an average density of . As of 2006, there were 176,750 households, out of which 31.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.5% were non-families. 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.20. In the city, the population age distribution was as follows: 25.9% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $53,000 and the median income for a family was $58,465. Males had a median income of $35,511 versus $27,554 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,060. About 6.6% of families and 8.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.4% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over. According to a 2004 study, Las Vegas has one of the highest divorce rates. The city's high divorce rate is not wholly due to Las Vegans themselves getting divorced. Since divorce is easier in Nevada than most other states, many people come from across the country for the easier process. Similarly, Nevada marriages are notoriously easy to get. Las Vegas has one of the highest marriage rates of U.S. cities, with many licenses issued to people from outside the area (see Las Vegas weddings). The primary drivers of the Las Vegas economy are tourism, gaming and conventions, which in turn feed the retail and restaurant industries. The major attractions in Las Vegas are the casinos and the hotels, although in recent years other new attractions have begun to emerge. Most casinos in the downtown area are located on Fremont Street, with The Stratosphere being one of the exceptions. Fremont East, adjacent to the Fremont Street Experience, was granted variances to allow bars to be closer together, similar to the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego, the goal being to attract a different demographic than the Strip attracts. The Golden Gate Hotel and Casino, located downtown along the Fremont Street Experience, is the oldest continuously operating hotel and casino in Las Vegas; it opened in 1906 as the Hotel Nevada. The year 1931 marked the opening of the Northern Club (now the La Bayou). The most notable of the early casinos may have been Binion's Horseshoe (now Binion's Gambling Hall and Hotel) while it was run by Benny Binion. Boyd Gaming has a major presence downtown operating the California Hotel & Casino, the Fremont Hotel & Casino and the Main Street Casino. The Four Queens also operates downtown along the Fremont Street Experience. Downtown casinos that have undergone major renovations and revitalization in recent years include the Golden Nugget Las Vegas, The D Las Vegas (formerly Fitzgerald's), the Downtown Grand Las Vegas (formerly Lady Luck), the El Cortez Hotel & Casino and the Plaza Hotel & Casino. The center of the gambling and entertainment industry is located on the Las Vegas Strip, outside the city limits in the surrounding unincorporated communities of Paradise and Winchester in Clark County. The largest and most notable casinos and buildings are located there. When The Mirage opened in 1989, it started a trend of major resort development on the Las Vegas Strip outside of the city. This resulted in a drop in tourism in the downtown area, but many recent projects have increased the number of visitors to downtown. An effort has been made by city officials to diversify the economy by attracting health-related, high-tech and other commercial interests. No state tax for individuals or corporations, as well as a lack of other forms of business-related taxes, have aided the success of these efforts. The Fremont Street Experience was built in an effort to draw tourists back to the area, and has been popular since its startup in 1995. The city purchased of property from the Union Pacific Railroad in 1995 with the goal of creating a better draw for more people to the downtown area. In 2004, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman announced plans for Symphony Park, which could include a mixture of offerings, such as residential space and office buildings. Already operating in Symphony Park is the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health (opened in 2010), The Smith Center for the Performing Arts (opened in 2012) and the DISCOVERY Children's Museum (opened in 2013). On land across from Symphony Park, the World Market Center Las Vegas opened in 2005. It currently encompasses three large buildings with a total of 5.1 million square feet. Trade shows for the furniture and furnishing industries are held there semiannually. Also located nearby is the Las Vegas North Premium Outlets. A second expansion was completed in May 2015, with the mall currently offering 175 stores. A new Las Vegas City Hall opened in February 2013 on downtown's Main Street. The former City Hall building is now occupied by the corporate headquarters for the major online retailer, Zappos.com, which opened downtown in 2013. Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh has taken an interest in the urban area and has contributed $350 million toward a revitalization effort called the Downtown Project. Projects funded include Las Vegas's first independent bookstore, The Writer's Block. A number of new industries have moved to Las Vegas in recent decades. Online shoe retailer Zappos.com (now an Amazon subsidiary) was founded in San Francisco but by 2013 had moved its headquarters to downtown Las Vegas. Allegiant Air, a low-cost air carrier, launched in 1997 with its first hub at McCarran International Airport and headquarters in nearby Summerlin. Planet 13 Holdings, a cannabis company, have opened the world's largest cannabis dispensary in Las Vegas at 112,000 square feet. A growing population means the Las Vegas Valley used 1.2 billion gallons more water in 2014 than in 2011. Although water conservation efforts implemented in the wake of a 2002 drought have had some success, local water consumption remains 30 percent more than in Los Angeles, and over three times that of San Francisco metropolitan area residents. The Southern Nevada Water Authority is building a $1.4 billion tunnel and pumping station to bring water from Lake Mead, has purchased water rights throughout Nevada, and has planned a controversial $3.2 billion pipeline across half the state. By law, the Las Vegas Water Service District "may deny any request for a water commitment or request for a water connection if the District has an inadequate supply of water.” However, limiting growth on the basis of inadequate water supply has been unpopular with the casino and building industries. The city is home to several museums, including the Neon Museum (the location for many of the historical signs from Las Vegas's mid-20th century heyday), The Mob Museum, the Las Vegas Natural History Museum, the DISCOVERY Children's Museum, the Nevada State Museum and the Old Las Vegas Mormon State Historic Park. The city is home to an extensive Downtown Arts District, which hosts numerous galleries and events including the annual Las Vegas Film Festival. "First Friday" is a monthly celebration that includes arts, music, special presentations and food in a section of the city's downtown region called 18b, The Las Vegas Arts District. The festival extends into the Fremont East Entertainment District as well. The Thursday prior to First Friday is known in the arts district as "Preview Thursday." This evening event highlights new gallery exhibitions throughout the district. The Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts is a Grammy award-winning magnet school located in downtown Las Vegas. The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is situated downtown in Symphony Park. The world-class performing arts center hosts Broadway shows and other major touring attractions, as well as orchestral, opera, ballet, choir, jazz, and dance performances. Las Vegas had earned the moniker Gambling Capital of the World, as the city currently has the largest strip of land-based casinos in the world. The Las Vegas Valley is the home of two major professional teams, the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League, an expansion team that began play in the 2017–18 NHL season out of T-Mobile Arena in nearby Paradise. In 2020, the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League will relocate to Allegiant Stadium, which is currently under construction. In 2018, the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association played their inaugural season at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. There are two minor league sports teams that play in the Las Vegas area. The Las Vegas Aviators of the Pacific Coast League, the AAA farm club of the Oakland Athletics play at Las Vegas Ballpark in nearby Summerlin. The Las Vegas Lights FC of the United Soccer League, play out of Cashman Field in Downtown Las Vegas. Las Vegas has 68 parks. The city owns the land for, but does not operate, four golf courses: Angel Park Golf Club, Desert Pines Golf Club, Durango Hills Golf Club, and the Las Vegas Municipal Golf Course. It is also responsible for 123 playgrounds, 23 softball fields, 10 football fields, 44 soccer fields, 10 dog parks, six community centers, four senior centers, 109 skates parks, six swimming pools, and more. The city of Las Vegas government operates as a council–manager government. The Mayor sits as a Council member-at-large and presides over all of the City council meetings. In the event that the Mayor cannot preside over a City Council meeting, the Mayor Pro-Tem is the presiding officer of the meeting until such time as the Mayor returns to his/her seat. The City Manager is responsible for the administration and the day-to-day operations of all municipal services and city departments. The City Manager maintains intergovernmental relationships with federal, state, county and other local governments. Much of the Las Vegas metropolitan area is split into neighboring incorporated cities or unincorporated communities. Approximately 700,000 people live in unincorporated areas governed by Clark County, and another 465,000 live in incorporated cities such as North Las Vegas, Henderson and Boulder City. Las Vegas and Clark County share a police department, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, which was formed after a 1973 merger of the Las Vegas Police Department and the Clark County Sheriff's Department. North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City and some colleges have their own police departments. A Paiute Indian reservation occupies about in the downtown area. Las Vegas, home to the Lloyd D. George Federal District Courthouse and the Regional Justice Center, draws numerous companies providing bail, marriage, divorce, tax, incorporation and other legal services. Primary and secondary public education is provided by the Clark County School District, which is the fifth most populous school district in the nation. Students totaled 314,653 in grades K-12 for school year 2013–2014. The College of Southern Nevada (the third largest community college in the United States by enrollment) is the main higher education facility in the city. Other institutions include the University of Nevada School of Medicine, with a campus in the city, and the for-profit private school Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. Educational opportunities exist around the city; among them are the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Nevada State College run by the Nevada System of Higher Education, Desert Research Institute, The International Academy of Design & Technology Las Vegas and Touro University Nevada. Las Vegas Review-Journal, the area's largest daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1909 but has roots back to 1905. It is the largest newspaper in Nevada and is ranked as one of the top 25 newspapers in the United States by circulation. In 2000, the Review-Journal installed the largest newspaper printing press in the world. It cost $40 million, weighs 910 tons and consists of 16 towers. The newspaper is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who purchased it for $140 million in December 2015. In 2018, the Review-Journal received the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for reporting the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. In 2018, Editor and Publisher magazine named the Review-Journal as one of 10 newspapers in the United States "doing it right"., Las Vegas Sun, a daily 8-page newspaper independently published but the print edition distributed as a section inside the Review-Journal. The Sun is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. It was founded independently in 1950 and in 1989 entered into a Joint Operating Agreement with the Review-Journal, which runs through 2040. The Sun has been described as "politically liberal." In 2009, the Sun was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the high death rate of construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations., Las Vegas Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada. It covers Las Vegas arts, entertainment, culture and news. Las Vegas Weekly was founded in 1992 and is published by Greenspun Media Group. Las Vegas is served by 22 television and 46 radio stations. The area is also served by two NOAA Weather Radio transmitters (162.55 MHz located in Boulder City and 162.40 MHz located on Mount Potosi). Desert Companion, Las Vegas Weekly, Luxury Las Vegas RTC Transit is a public transportation system providing bus service throughout Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and other areas of the valley. Inter- city bus service to and from Las Vegas is provided by Greyhound, BoltBus, Orange Belt Stages, Tufesa, and several smaller carriers. Amtrak trains have not served Las Vegas since the service via the Desert Wind was discontinued in 1997, but Amtrak California operates Thruway Motorcoach dedicated service between the city and its passenger rail stations in Bakersfield, California, as well as Los Angeles Union Station via Barstow. A bus rapid-transit link in Las Vegas called the Strip & Downtown Express (previously ACE Gold Line) with limited stops and frequent service was launched in March 2010, and connects downtown Las Vegas, the Strip and the Las Vegas Convention Center. In 2016, 77.1 percent of working Las Vegas residents (those living in the city, but not necessarily working in the city) commuted by driving alone. About 11 percent commuted via carpool, 3.9 percent used public transportation, and 1.4 percent walked. About 2.3 percent of Las Vegas commuters used all other forms of transportation, including taxi, bicycle, and motorcycle. About 4.3 of working Las Vegas residents worked at home. In 2015, 10.2 percent of city of Las Vegas households were without a car, which increased slightly to 10.5 percent in 2016. The national average was 8.7 percent in 2016. Las Vegas averaged 1.63 cars per household in 2016, compared to a national average of 1.8 per household. With some exceptions, including Las Vegas Boulevard, Boulder Highway (SR 582) and Rancho Drive (SR 599), the majority of surface streets in Las Vegas are laid out in a grid along Public Land Survey System section lines. Many are maintained by the Nevada Department of Transportation as state highways. The street numbering system is divided by the following streets: Westcliff Drive, US 95 Expressway, Fremont Street and Charleston Boulevard divide the north–south block numbers from west to east., Las Vegas Boulevard divides the east–west streets from the Las Vegas Strip to near the Stratosphere, then Main Street becomes the dividing line from the Stratosphere to the North Las Vegas border, after which the Goldfield Street alignment divides east and west., On the east side of Las Vegas, block numbers between Charleston Boulevard and Washington Avenue are different along Nellis Boulevard, which is the eastern border of the city limits. Interstates 15, 515, and US 95 lead out of the city in four directions. Two major freeways – Interstate 15 and Interstate 515/U.S. Route 95 – cross in downtown Las Vegas. I-15 connects Las Vegas to Los Angeles, and heads northeast to and beyond Salt Lake City. I-515 goes southeast to Henderson, beyond which US 93 continues over the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge towards Phoenix, Arizona. US 95 connects the city to northwestern Nevada, including Carson City and Reno. US 93 splits from I-15 northeast of Las Vegas and goes north through the eastern part of the state, serving Ely and Wells. US 95 heads south from US 93 near Henderson through far eastern California. A partial beltway has been built, consisting of Interstate 215 on the south and Clark County 215 on the west and north. Other radial routes include Blue Diamond Road (SR 160) to Pahrump and Lake Mead Boulevard (SR 147) to Lake Mead. East–west roads, north to south Ann Road, Craig Road (SR 573), Cheyenne Avenue (SR 574), Smoke Ranch Road, Washington Avenue (SR 578), Summerlin Parkway, Bonanza Road (SR 579), Charleston Boulevard (SR 159), Sahara Avenue (SR 589) North–south roads, west to east Fort Apache Road, Durango Drive, Buffalo Drive, Rainbow Boulevard (SR 595), Jones Boulevard (SR 596), Decatur Boulevard, Valley View Boulevard, Rancho Drive, Maryland Parkway, Eastern Avenue (SR 607), Pecos Road, Lamb Boulevard (SR 610), Nellis Boulevard (SR 612) McCarran International Airport handles international and domestic flights into the Las Vegas Valley. The airport also serves private aircraft and freight/cargo flights. Most general aviation traffic uses the smaller North Las Vegas Airport and Henderson Executive Airport. The Union Pacific Railroad is the only Class I railroad providing rail freight service to the city. Until 1997, the Amtrak Desert Wind train service ran through Las Vegas using the Union Pacific Railroad tracks. List of films set in Las Vegas, List of films shot in Las Vegas, List of Las Vegas casinos that never opened, List of mayors of Las Vegas, List of television shows set in Las Vegas, 2017 Las Vegas Shooting Brigham, Jay. "Reno, Las Vegas, and the Strip: A Tale of Three Cities." Western Historical Quarterly 46.4 (2015): 529–530., Chung, Su Kim (2012). Las Vegas Then and Now, Holt: Thunder Bay Press,, Moehring, Eugene P. Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930–2000 (2000)., Moehring, Eugene, "The Urban Impact: Towns and Cities in Nevada's History," Nevada Historical Society Quarterly 57 (2014): 177–200., Rowley, Rex J. Everyday Las Vegas: Local Life in a Tourist Town (2013), Stierli, Martino (2013). Las Vegas in the Rearview Mirror: The City in Theory, Photography, and Film, Los Angeles: Getty Publications,, Venturi, Robert (1972). Learning from Las Vegas: The Forgotten Symbolism of Architectural Form, Cambridge: MIT Press, "The Making of Las Vegas" (historical timeline), Geologic tour guide of the Las Vegas area from American Geological Institute, National Weather Service Forecast – Las Vegas, NV The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Statistical Area is coextensive since 2003 with Clark County, Nevada. The Valley is largely defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a basin area surrounded by mountains to the north, south, east and west of the metropolitan area. The Valley is home to the three largest incorporated cities in Nevada: Las Vegas, Henderson and North Las Vegas. Eleven unincorporated towns governed by the Clark County government are part of the Las Vegas Township and constitute the largest community in the state of Nevada. The names Las Vegas and Vegas are interchangeably used to indicate the Valley, the Strip, and the city, and as a brand by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to denominate the region. The Valley is affectionately known as the "ninth island" by Hawaii natives and Las Vegans alike, in part due to the large number of people originally from Hawaii who live in and regularly travel to Las Vegas. Since the 1990s the Las Vegas Valley has seen rapid growth, tripling its population of 741,459 in 1990 to 2,227,053 estimated in 2018. The Las Vegas Valley remains one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the United States, and in its relatively short history has established a diverse presence in international business, commerce, urban development and entertainment, as well as one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world. In 2014, a record breaking 41 million visited the Las Vegas area, producing a gross metropolitan product of more than $100 billion. The first reported non-Native American visitor to the Las Vegas Valley was the Mexican scout Rafael Rivera in 1829. Las Vegas was named by Mexicans in the Antonio Armijo party, including Rivera, who used the water in the area while heading north and west along the Old Spanish Trail from Texas. In the 19th century, areas of the valley contained artesian wells that supported extensive green areas, or meadows, hence the name Las Vegas (vegas being Spanish for "meadows"). The area was previously settled by Mormon farmers in 1854 and later became the site of a United States Army fort in 1864, beginning a long relationship between southern Nevada and the U.S. military. Since the 1930s, Las Vegas has generally been identified as a gaming center as well as a resort destination, primarily targeting adults. Nellis Air Force Base is located in the northeast corner of the valley. The ranges that the Nellis pilots use and various other land areas used by various federal agencies, limit growth of the valley in terms of geographic area. Businessman Howard Hughes arrived in the late 1960s and purchased many casino hotels, as well as television and radio stations in the area. Legitimate corporations began to purchase casino hotels as well, and the mob was run out by the federal government over the next several years. The constant stream of tourist dollars from the hotels and casinos was augmented by a new source of federal money from the establishment of what is now Nellis Air Force Base. The influx of military personnel and casino job-hunters helped start a land building boom which is now leveling off. The Las Vegas area remains one of the world's top entertainment destinations. The valley is contained in the Las Vegas Valley landform. This includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and Henderson, and the unincorporated towns of Summerlin South, Paradise, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor, Enterprise, Winchester, and Whitney. The valley is technically located within the larger metropolitan area, as the metropolitan area covers all of Clark County including parts that do not fall within the valley. The government of Clark County has an "Urban Planning Area" of Las Vegas. This definition is a roughly rectangular area, about from east to west and from north to south. Notable exclusions from the "Urban Planning Area" include Red Rock, Blue Diamond, and Mount Charleston. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is the largest police department in the valley and the state and exercises jurisdiction in the entire county. There are approximately 3,000 police officers that cover the city of Las Vegas; unincorporated areas; the town of Laughlin, about from Downtown Las Vegas; and desert, park, and mountain areas within Clark County. The department does not exercise primary jurisdiction in areas with separate police forces such as North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Nellis Air Force Base and the Paiute reservation. The metropolitan area was created for the 1970 census when it only included Clark County. In 2000, the metropolitan area was changed to include Nye County, Nevada, and Mohave County, Arizona, but it later returned to only being Clark County. The Office of Management and Budget has designated Clark County as the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area. The United States Census Bureau ranked the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area as the 31st most populous metropolitan statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012. The Office of Management and Budget has further designated the Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV Metropolitan Statistical Area as a component of the more extensive Las Vegas–Henderson, NV–AZ CSA, the 27th most populous combined statistical area and the 30th most populous primary statistical area of the United States as of July 1, 2012. The Las Vegas Valley lies in the Mojave Desert. The valley in the northwest section is a northwest-by-southeast trending area, and trending parallel to Las Vegas Wash, lies at the northeast of the Spring Mountains massif. U.S. Route 95 leaves Las Vegas's northwest and goes northwesterly through the northwest valley section, with Las Vegas Wash about northeast. U.S. 95 lies on the southwest perimeter of the valley bottomlands, and small alluvial fan areas from the northeast Spring Mountains border southwest. A "distorted surface", a playa-like region, occurs at the farthest northwest area, for about , starting from Nevada Route 157. At Nevada Route 156, northwest, the distorted surface, bottom land turns north, a area in length and about wide. It lies at the south drainage section of the Three Lakes Valley, where a water divide separates Dog Bone Lake in the valley's center from the southwest washes that drain into the Las Vegas Valley (upland Las Vegas Wash). The Corn Creek Dunes lie about southwest of Route 156's intersection with U.S. 95, and they are slightly northeast of Las Vegas Wash. The Las Vegas Valley is around . All perimeters, except the northwest, are foothills or mountain ranges, with all highway routes entering the foothills; this includes the Interstate 15 to the southwest, as it climbs to Jean Pass (north), before traversing Ivanpah Valley. Only the U.S. Route 95 northwest follows an actual valley. The northwest section, thus describes the entire landform as a central, and large valley with an attached feeder valley northwest, and in this case the northwest source, and actual course of the Las Vegas Wash. The valley is a fault-bounded structural and hydrologic basin made of alluvial-fan deposits. There are several aquifers contained within the valley including the Las Vegas Aquifer. These heavily depleted water sources exist at about in depth. As of 1986, estimate show that the valley floor in Downtown Las Vegas has subsided by about and about along The Strip as a result of pumping from these aquifers. The Las Vegas Valley lies in a relatively high-altitude portion of the Mojave Desert, with a subtropical hot-desert climate. The Valley generally averages less than of rain annually. Daily daytime summer temperatures in July and August typically range from to , while nights generally range from to . Very low humidity, however, tempers the effect of these temperatures, though dehydration, heat exhaustion, and sun stroke can occur after even a limited time outdoors in the summer. The interiors of automobiles often prove deadly to small children and pets during the summer and surfaces exposed to the sun can cause first- and second-degree burns to unprotected skin. July and August can also be marked by monsoon season, when moist winds from the Gulf of California soak much of the Southwestern United States. While not only raising humidity levels, these winds develop into dramatic desert thunderstorms that can sometimes cause flash flooding. Winters in the Las Vegas Valley are typically chilly, but sunny. Winter highs in December and January usually range from to , while nighttime lows range from to . The mountains surrounding the valley are snow-covered during the winter season, but snow accumulation in the area itself is uncommon. Every few years apart, however, Las Vegas does get a measurable snowfall. Spring and fall are generally warm to hot. The valley is an active earthquake zone crossed by multiple fault and thrust lines. These include the long Frenchman Mountain Fault capable of a magnitude 7 event, Whitney Mesa Fault, Cashman Fault, Valley View Fault, Decatur Fault, Eglington Fault and the West Charleston Fault. Having part of the region in a desert basin creates issues with air quality. From the dust the wind picks up, to the smog produced by vehicles, to the pollen in the air, the valley has several bad air days. Pollen can be a major issue several weeks a year, with counts occasionally in the 70,000-plus range. Local governments are trying to control this by banning plants that produce the most pollen. The dust problems usually happen on very windy days, so they tend to be short and seasonal. Full-fledged dust storms are rare. Smog, on the other hand, gets worse when there is no wind to move the air out of the valley. Also, in winter it is possible for an inversion to form in the valley. Since manufacturing is not a dominant industry of Las Vegas, and with Clark County working to control air quality problems, success has been shown over the years. The native flora does little to help the soil retain water. During the intense rains of monsoon season or (relatively) wet months of January and February, a network of dry natural channels, called washes or arroyos, carved into the valley floor allows water to flow down from the mountains and converge in the Las Vegas Wash which runs through the Clark County Wetlands Park. The wash system used to form a large natural wetlands which then flowed into the Colorado River, until the construction of Hoover Dam on the Colorado River led to the creation of Lake Mead. Further development in the 1980s and 1990s made Lake Las Vegas, which required directing the Las Vegas Wash into tunnels which run under Lake Las Vegas and into Lake Mead. Nevada receives an allocation of water each year from Lake Mead, with credits for water it returns to the lake. The allocations were made with the Colorado River Compact when Nevada had a much smaller population and very little agriculture. The allocations were also made during a wet string of years, which overstated the available water in the entire watershed. As a result, precipitation that is below normal for a few years can significantly affect the Colorado River reservoirs. The Las Vegas area uses most of this allocation with Laughlin, Nevada using most of the remaining allocation. In June 2007, the price of a cubic meter was 57 cents in Las Vegas. Las Vegas gets around 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead. Early Vegas depended on the aquifer which fed the flowing springs supporting the meadows that gave the area its name, but the pumping of water from these caused a large drop in the water levels and ground subsidence over wide areas of the valley. Today, the aquifers are basically used to store water that is pumped from the lake during periods of low demand and pumped out during periods of high demand. The population doubling time in the greater metropolitan area was under ten years, since the early 1970s and the Las Vegas metropolitan area now has a population approaching two million people. This rapid population growth led to a significant urbanization of desert lands into industrial and commercial areas (see suburbia). The driving force in Las Vegas is the tourism industry and the area has about 150,000 hotel rooms, more than any other city in the world. In the past, casinos and celebrity shows were the two major attractions for the area. Now shopping, conventions, fine dining, and outdoor beauty are also major forces in attracting tourist dollars. Las Vegas serves as world headquarters for the world's two largest Fortune 500 gaming companies, Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International. Several companies involved in the manufacture of electronic gaming machines, such as slot machines, are located in the Las Vegas area. In the first decade of the 21st century, shopping and dining have become attractions of their own. Tourism marketing and promotion are handled by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a county-wide agency. Its annual Visitors Survey provides detailed information on visitor numbers, spending patterns, and resulting revenues. While Las Vegas has historically attracted high-stake gamblers from around the world, it is now facing tougher competition from the UK, Hong Kong and Macau (China), Eastern Europe and developing areas in the Middle East. Las Vegas has recently enjoyed a boom in population and tourism. The urban area has grown outward so quickly that it borders Bureau of Land Management holdings along its edges. This has led to an increase in land values such that medium- and high-density development is occurring closer to the core. The Chinatown of Las Vegas was constructed in the early 1990s on Spring Mountain Road. Chinatown initially consisted of only one large shopping center complex, but the area was expanded with shopping centers that contain various Asian businesses. Over the past few years, retirees have been moving to the metro area, driving businesses that support them from housing to health care. While the cost of housing spiked up over 40% in 2004, the lack of business and income taxes still makes Nevada an attractive place for many companies to relocate to or expand existing operations. Being a true twenty-four-hour city, call centers have always seemed to find Las Vegas a good place to hire workers who are accustomed to working at all hours. The construction industry accounts for a share of the economy in Las Vegas. Hotel casinos planned for the Strip can take years to build and employ thousands of workers. Developers discovered that there was demand for high-end condominiums. By 2005, more than 100 condominium buildings were in various stages of development, however, in 2008, the construction industry went into a downturn due to the credit crunch, though the industry has since seen a rebound. In 2000, more than 21,000 new homes and 26,000 resale homes were purchased. In early 2005, there were 20 residential development projects of more than each underway. During that same period, Las Vegas was regarded as the fastest-growing community in the United States. Other promising residential and office developments have begun construction around Downtown Las Vegas. New condominium and high-rise hotel projects have changed the Las Vegas skyline dramatically in recent years. Many large high- rise projects are planned for Downtown Las Vegas, as well as the Las Vegas Strip. Construction in Las Vegas is a major industry and quickly growing with the population. In March 2011, construction employed 40,700 people and is expected to grow with the recovering economy. Since the mega resorts that have defined Las Vegas today, began going up in the early 1970s, construction has played a vital role in both commercial and non commercial developments. Cranes are a constant part of the Las Vegas Skyline. At any given time there are 300 new homes being constructed in Las Vegas. Downtown and The Strip always have at least one hospitality project under construction. In addition, in recent years Las Vegas has seen a spike in high-rise housing units. Luxurious condos and penthouse suites are always being built. New suburban master planned communities are also becoming common in Las Vegas ever since The Howard Hughes Corporation began work on Summerlin, an upper-class community on the west side of the valley. The massive project CityCenter broke ground on June 26, 2006. Now completed at 3780 Las Vegas Boulevard South, it is the largest privately funded building complex in the world. At a cost of $9.2 billion, CityCenter was one of the largest projects in Vegas history. It put a massive strain on the construction ability and workforce of the area due to number of laborers and amount of materials required. Because of this, prices of almost any construction project in Las Vegas doubled. It is currently held by MGM Resorts International and has three hotels, two condo towers, and a hotel-condo building along with a large shopping and entertainment center. Traditionally, housing consisted primarily of single-family detached homes. Slab-on-grade foundations are the common base for residential buildings in the valley. Apartments generally were two story buildings. Until the 1990s, there were exceptions, but they were few and far between. In the 1990s, Turnberry Associates constructed the first high rise condominium towers. Prior to this, there were only a handful of mid-rise multi-family buildings. By the mid-2000s, there was a major move into high rise condominiums towers, which affected the region's skyline around the Strip. The Las Vegas Valley is home to various suburban master planned communities that include extensive recreational amenities such as lakes, golf courses, parks, bike paths and jogging trails. Planned communities in the valley include Aliante, Anthem, Cadence, Centennial Hills, Green Valley, Inspirada, Lake Las Vegas, The Lakes, Mountain's Edge, Peccole Ranch, Providence, Seven Hills, Skye Canyon, Southern Highlands, and Summerlin. Some technology companies have either relocated to Las Vegas or were created there. For various reasons, Las Vegas has had a high concentration of technology companies in electronic gaming and telecommunications industries. Some current technology companies in southern Nevada include: Bigelow Aerospace, Petroglyph, Switch Communications, US Support LLC, Fanatics, and Zappos. In 2015, Electric vehicle startup Faraday Future has chosen North Las Vegas's Apex Industrial Park for its $1 billion car factory. Companies that originally were formed in the Las Vegas region, but have since sold or relocated include Westwood Studios (sold to Electronic Arts), Systems Research & Development (Sold to IBM), Yellowpages.com (Sold to BellSouth and SBC), and MPower Communications. The major attractions in the Las Vegas Valley are the hotel/casinos. These hotels generally consist of large gambling areas, theaters for live performances, shopping, bars/clubs, and several restaurants and cafes. There are clusters of large hotel/casinos located in both downtown Las Vegas and on the Las Vegas Strip. The largest hotels are mainly located on the Strip, which is a four-mile section of Las Vegas Boulevard. These hotels provide thousands of rooms of various sizes. Fifteen of the world's 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms. There are many hotel/casinos in the city's downtown area as well, which was the original focal point of the Valley's gaming industry. Several hotel/casinos ranging from large to small are also located around the city and metro area. Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Las Vegas Strip. The valley's casinos can be grouped into several locations. The largest is the Las Vegas Strip, followed by Downtown Las Vegas, and then the smaller Boulder Strip. There are also several one-off single standing hotel/casinos dotted around the valley and the metro area. In 2011, the majority of tourists arrived from the western states (55%) with 31% from California alone. Approximately 16% of tourists arrived from outside North America. Las Vegas has expanded its attractiveness to visitors by offering both affordable and high-end merchandise in many shops and shopping malls. Many hotels on the Las Vegas Strip also have adjacent shopping malls, giving the Las Vegas area the highest concentration of shopping malls in any four mile stretch of road. In addition to the malls on the Strip, there are several outlying malls in the City of Las Vegas, Henderson, and the surrounding area. The monorail, lying somewhat east of the Strip, facilitates north–south travel, including stations at several casinos and the Las Vegas Convention Center. Las Vegas holds many of the world's largest conventions each year, including CES, SEMA, and Conexpo. The Las Vegas Convention Center is one of the largest in the world with 1,940,631 sq ft (180,290.5 m) of exhibit space. These events bring in an estimated $7.4 billion of revenue to the city each year, and host over 5 million attendees. Bonanza Gift Shop, The Boulevard Mall, The Shops at Crystals, Downtown Summerlin, Galleria at Sunset, Grand Canal Shoppes, Fantastic Indoor Swap Meet, Fashion Outlets of Las Vegas, Fashion Show Mall, The Forum Shops at Caesars, Las Vegas Premium Outlets, Meadows Mall, Miracle Mile Shops, Stratosphere Tower Shops, Studio Walk at MGM Grand, The Shops at Summerlin Centre, The Shoppes at the Palazzo, Tivoli Village, Town Square The "First Friday" celebration, held on the first Friday of each month, exhibits the works of local artists and musicians in an area just south of downtown. The city is home to an extensive Downtown Arts District which hosts numerous galleries, film festivals, and events. The Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, also known as the Las Vegas Zoo, used to exhibit over 150 species of animals and plants. The Zoo closed its doors in September, 2013. The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is the only aquarium that is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in the state of Nevada. It features over 2,000 animals and 1,200 species in 1.6 million gallons of seawater. The $485 million Smith Center for the Performing Arts is located downtown in Symphony Park. The center is appropriate for Broadway shows and other major touring attractions as well as orchestral, opera, choir, jazz, and dance performances. Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is a facility presenting high-quality art exhibitions from major national and international museums. Past exhibits have included the works of Andy Warhol, Alexander Calder, and Peter Carl Fabergé. A self-guided audio tour is also offered. The Las Vegas Natural History Museum features robot dinosaurs, live fish, and more than 26 species of preserved animals. There are several "hands-on" areas where animals can be petted. The Atomic Testing Museum, affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution, houses artifacts from the Nevada Test Site and records the dramatic history of the atomic age through a series of interactive modules, timelines, films, and actual equipment and gadgets from the site. The valley is home to numerous other art galleries, orchestras, ballets, theaters, sculptures, and museums as well. CineVegas, Helldorado Days, Electric Daisy Carnival, Las Vegas Bike Fest, Neon Reverb Music Festival, Las Vegas Music Festival, Feast of San Gennaro, Las Vegas Pride Festival, The Dam Short Film Festival, Vegoose, Las Vegas Annual World Folk Festival, Life is Beautiful, Scoopfest, Route 91 Harvest Alan Bible Botanical Garden, Ethel M Botanical Cactus Garden, Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens, The Gardens at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve, UNLV Arboretum The Writer's Block, Architecture Studies Library, Boulder City Public Library, College of Southern Nevada Libraries, Henderson District Public Libraries, Las Vegas–Clark County Library District, Lied Library (at UNLV), North Las Vegas Library District Atomic Testing Museum, Brett Wesley Gallery & Museum, Burlesque Hall of Fame, Clark County Heritage Museum, Discovery Children's Museum, Erotic Heritage Museum, Guinness World of Records, The Walker African American Museum and Research Center, Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, The Linq Auto Collection, Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, Las Vegas Natural History Museum, Liberace Museum, Lost City Museum, Madame Tussauds, Marjorie Barrick Museum (at UNLV), Neon Museum, Nevada State Museum, Nevada State Railroad Museum, Pinball Hall of Fame, Shelby Museum, Southern Nevada Museum of Fine Art, Thunderbirds Museum Acacia Demonstration Gardens, The Amanda & Stacy Darling Memorial Tennis Center, Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex, Clark County Shooting Park, Clark County Wetlands Park, Floyd Lamb Park at Tule Springs, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas Springs Preserve, Mount Charleston, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Sunset Park, Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Valley of Fire State Park, Wet'n'Wild Las Vegas Huntridge Theater, Lance Burton Theatre, Las Vegas Little Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Theatre for the Performing Arts Southern Nevada Zoological-Botanical Park, Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Siegfried & Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas Aliante, Anthem/Anthem Country Club, Chinatown, Downtown Las Vegas, Green Valley, Lake Las Vegas, Las Vegas Country Club, MacDonald Highlands, Mountain's Edge, Paradise Palms, Queensridge & One Queensridge Place, Red Rock Country Club, Seven Hills, Southern Highlands, Southern Highlands Golf Club, Summerlin, Summerlin South, The Lakes, The Ridges, West Las Vegas Blue Diamond, Enterprise, Paradise, Spring Valley, Summerlin South, Sunrise Manor, Whitney, Winchester Sloan Las Vegas Review-Journal, the area's largest daily newspaper, is published every morning. It was formed in 1909 but has roots back to 1905. It is the largest newspaper in Nevada and is ranked as one of the top 25 newspapers in the United States by circulation. In 2000, the Review-Journal installed the largest newspaper printing press in the world. It cost $40 million, weighs 910 tons and consists of 16 towers. The newspaper is owned by casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. He purchased the newspaper for $140 million in December 2015. In 2018, the Review-Journal received the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists for reporting the Oct. 1 mass shooting on the Las Vegas Strip. In 2018, Editor and Publisher magazine named the Review-Journal as one of 10 newspapers in the United States "doing it right"., Las Vegas Sun is a daily 8-page newspaper distributed as a section of the Review-Journal. It is owned by the Greenspun family and is affiliated with Greenspun Media Group. The Sun was founded in 1950 and in 1989 entered into a Joint Operating Agreement with the Review-Journal, which runs through 2040. It has been described as "politically liberal." In 2009, the Sun was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for coverage of the high death rate of construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip amid lax enforcement of regulations., Las Vegas Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada. It covers Las Vegas arts, entertainment, culture and news. Las Vegas Weekly was founded in 1992 and is published by Greenspun Media Group., Las Vegas Advisor Las Vegas is served by 22 television and 46 radio stations. The area is also served by two NOAA Weather Radio transmitters (162.55 MHz located in Boulder City and 162.40 MHz located on Mount Potosi). LasVegas.Net, Desert Companion, Las Vegas Style, Las Vegas Weekly, Luxury Las Vegas, Vegas Seven McCarran International Airport (LAS) provides commercial flights into the Las Vegas Valley. The airport serves domestic, international and cargo flights, as well as some private aircraft. General aviation traffic, however, will typically use the much smaller North Las Vegas Airport or other airfields in the county. Public transportation is provided by RTC Transit. Numerous bus routes cover Las Vegas, Henderson, North Las Vegas and other suburban areas. The Las Vegas Monorail runs from MGM Grand Las Vegas at the south end of the Strip to the Sahara Las Vegas at the north end of the Strip. The street numbering system is divided by the following streets: Westcliff Drive, US 95, Fremont Street and Charleston Boulevard divide the north–south block numbers from west to east., Las Vegas Boulevard divides the east–west streets from the Las Vegas Strip to near the Stratosphere, then Main Street becomes the dividing line from the Stratosphere to the North Las Vegas border, after which the Goldfield Street alignment officially divides east and west., On the east side of Las Vegas, block numbers between Charleston Boulevard and Washington Avenue are different along Nellis Boulevard, which is the eastern border of the city limits., All city street signs begin with a N, S, W or E designation. Until 1997, the Amtrak Desert Wind train service ran through Las Vegas using the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) rails that run through the city; Amtrak service to Las Vegas has since been replaced by Amtrak's Thruway Motorcoach bus service. Plans to restore Los Angeles to Las Vegas Amtrak service using a Talgo train have been discussed but no plan for a replacement has been implemented. The Las Vegas Amtrak station was located in the Plaza Hotel. It had the distinction of being the only train station located in a casino. Henderson Executive Airport, Ivanpah Valley Airport (planned), McCarran International Airport, North Las Vegas Airport While the Las Vegas area does not have any passenger rail service, proposals to revive passenger trains to Las Vegas have included the XpressWest high- speed train from Victorville, California; the California–Nevada Interstate Maglev, which would extend to Anaheim, California, with its first segment being to Primm, Nevada. The Las Vegas Railway Express; and the Z-Train, which would travel six days a week between Los Angeles Union Station and a new Z-Train Station adjacent to the Strip; and the Desert Lightning to Los Angeles and Phoenix. Las Vegas receives about 30 freight trains per day in 2004, and serves as a district crew change point, requiring all trains to stop in downtown. Freight traffic was 179,284 cars in 2004. Las Vegas Monorail, RTC Transit Two major freeways—Interstate 15 and Interstate 515 (including US 93 and US 95)—cross in downtown Las Vegas. I-15 connects Las Vegas to Los Angeles and San Diego, and heads northeast to and beyond Salt Lake City. Interstate 11 will eventually serve the connection from Nogales, Arizona to the Reno and Sparks vicinity of either Fernley or at the Reno Spaghetti Bowl in Reno when completed. I-515 goes southeast to Henderson, beyond which Interstate 11 bypasses Boulder City and U.S. Route 93 continues past the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge over the Colorado River towards Phoenix, Arizona. US 95 connects the city to northwestern Nevada, including Carson City (the state capitol) and Reno. US 93 splits from I-15 northeast of Las Vegas and goes north through the northeastern part of the state, serving Ely and Wells and US 95 heads south from I-11 and US 93 in Boulder City through far southeastern California. A three-quarters of the Las Vegas Beltway has been built, consisting of Interstate 215 on the south and Clark County 215 on the west and north. Other radial routes include SR 160 to Pahrump and SR 147 and SR 564 (former SR 146) to Lake Mead. With the notable exceptions of Las Vegas Boulevard, Boulder Highway and Tonopah Highway (better known as the northern part of Rancho Drive), the majority of surface streets outside downtown Las Vegas are laid out along Public Land Survey System section lines. Many are maintained, in part, by the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) as state highways. East-west roads, north to south Las Vegas Beltway (CC 215), Ann Road, Craig Road (SR 573), Cheyenne Avenue (SR 574), Carey Avenue, Lake Mead Boulevard (SR 147), Washington Avenue (SR 578), Summerlin Parkway (SR 613) – on the west side past Rainbow Boulevard, Bonanza Road (SR 579), US 95 – on the west side of the valley, – Interstate 515, US 93 and US 95 on the east side of the valley, Charleston Boulevard (SR 159), Sahara Avenue (former SR 589), Desert Inn Road, Spring Mountain Road (former SR 591), Flamingo Road (SR 592), Tropicana Avenue (SR 593), Russell Road (SR 594), Sunset Road (SR 562), Warm Springs Road, Blue Diamond Road (SR 160), Las Vegas Beltway (I-215), Lake Mead Parkway (formerly Lake Mead Drive) (SR 564), Horizon Ridge Parkway, Saint Rose Parkway (formerly Lake Mead Drive) (SR 146) North-south roads, west to east Las Vegas Beltway (CC 215), Durango Drive, Buffalo Drive, Rainbow Boulevard (SR 595), Jones Boulevard (SR 596), Decatur Boulevard, Valley View Boulevard, Dean Martin Drive (formerly Industrial Road), Interstate 15, Las Vegas Boulevard (SR 604), Rancho Drive (SR 599), Paradise Road (SR 605), Maryland Parkway, Eastern Avenue (SR 607), Pecos Road, – Interstate 515, US 93 and US 95 south of Charleston Boulevard, Lamb Boulevard (SR 610), Nellis Boulevard (SR 612) Major Freeways Interstate 11, Interstate 15, Las Vegas Beltway (I-215), Interstate 515, Las Vegas Beltway (CC 215), US 95, Summerlin Parkway (SR 613) The Las Vegas area is dependent on imported gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel as is most of Nevada, which has only one refinery. The region is dependent on the Calnev Pipeline and Unev pipeline as its two main sources of supply. Limited diesel is delivered to a dedicated terminal in North Las Vegas by rail. Diversified supply was provided by the completion of construction on the Unev pipeline in 2011 and its full operational status in 2012. About 25% of the electric power from Hoover Dam goes to Nevada, and about 70% of power to Southern Nevada comes from natural gas fired power stations. Las Vegas is home to several notable minor league teams, as well as the UNLV Rebels, and one major professional team, the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League. The Oakland Raiders of the National Football League will play in Las Vegas in 2020. Las Vegas has many natural outdoor recreational options. There are several multi-use trail systems within the valley operated by multiple organizations. The River Mountains Loop Trail is a trail that connects the west side of the valley with Hoover Dam and Lake Mead. Summerlin offers more than 150 miles of award-winning trails within the community. There are also the Angel Park Trail, Bonanza Trail, and the county's Flamingo Arroyo Trail, I-215 West Beltway Trail (), I-215 East Beltway Trail (), Tropicana/Flamingo Washes Trail and the Western Trails Park Area Equestrian Trails (4 miles). The Las Vegas Valley also hosts world class mountain biking including Bootleg Canyon Mountain Bike Park located in Boulder City which boasts itself as one of the International Mountain Biking Association's "epic rides". The Clark County School District operates all of the public primary and secondary schools in the county with the exception of 37 sponsored public charter schools. Selected private schools The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is in Paradise, about three miles (5 km) south of the city limits and roughly two miles east of the Strip. The University of Nevada Medical School has a campus near downtown Las Vegas. Several national colleges, including the University of Phoenix and Le Cordon Bleu, have campuses in the Las Vegas area. Nevada State College, National University and Touro University Nevada are nearby Henderson. The College of Southern Nevada has campuses in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson. Henderson also is home to DeVry University and the Keller Graduate School of Management, as well as the University of Southern Nevada. Other private entities in the Las Vegas Valley include Apollo College and ITT Technical Institute. Public schools Private schools 4 year+ City of Rock (Las Vegas) Architecture of Las Vegas, List of Las Vegas Strip hotels, List of people from Las Vegas, List of restaurants in the Las Vegas Valley CAC (Civil Applications Committee)/USGS Global Fiducials Program web page containing scientific description of the region and interactive map viewer featuring declassified high-resolution time-series imagery, City of Las Vegas official website Nevada is a state located in the Western United States. According to the 2010 United States Census, it is the 36th most populous state, with inhabitants, but the 7th largest by land area spanning . Nevada is divided into 17 counties and contains 19 incorporated municipalities. Nevada's incorporated municipalities cover only of the state's land mass but are home to of its population. Incorporated places in the state are legally described as cities, except for the state capital Carson City, which has no legal description but is considered an independent city as it is not located in any county. To incorporate, a petition for incorporation can be made to the board of county commissioners, who consider numerous geographic, demographic, and economic factors. Cities are categorized by population for the purpose of determining the number of wards and council election structure as well as the number of city clerks: cities with 50,000 or more inhabitants are in population category one, cities with 5,000 or more but fewer than 50,000 inhabitants are in population category two, and cities having fewer than 5,000 inhabitants are in population category three. Cities are responsible for providing local services such as fire and police protection, road maintenance, water distribution, and sewer maintenance. The largest municipality by population in Nevada is Las Vegas with 583,756 residents, and the smallest is Caliente with 1,130 residents. The largest municipality by land area is Boulder City, which spans , while Lovelock is the smallest at . The first place in Nevada to incorporate was Carson City, on , and the most recent place was Fernley, on . List of census-designated places in Nevada, List of counties in Nevada

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champions are fighters who have won UFC championships. At the time of the UFC's inception in 1993, mixed martial arts was unsanctioned in the United States, and did not include weight classes. Instead of the traditional championship model, the UFC held tournaments with the winner receiving a permanent appellation. In response to criticism from Senator John McCain that saw the loss of its television deal and the banning of the sport in thirty-six states, the UFC increased its cooperation with state athletic commissions and introduced weight classes in 1997, starting with UFC 12, and began introducing weight-specific titles. The original codification for weight classes introduced only two divisions: heavyweight, which grouped together all competitors above , and lightweight, which encompassed all competitors 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. At UFC 14 the lightweight division would be renamed to middleweight, though it would still encompass all fighters 199 pounds (90 kg) and under. The lightweight moniker would later return at UFC 16 with a new division consisting of those competitors and under. Two years later a fourth weight class, the bantamweight division, arrived at UFC 26 and included all fighters and under. In 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board completely took over MMA regulation in its home state and developed new rules and weight classes that eventually became the de facto rule set for all mixed martial arts. The UFC realigned their weight classes to comply with these new regulations in 2001, beginning with UFC 31. At the time, this brought the total number of active divisions in the UFC to five: lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. It would be nearly ten years before the UFC would expand their divisional offerings to include any of the lower weight classes. The first additions came in late 2010 when the UFC merged with their sister organization World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC). Due to the WEC's focus on lighter weight fighters, this merger necessitated the addition of both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions to the UFC, starting with . In early 2012 the UFC decided they would delve even further into the lower weight classes when they announced the introduction of the flyweight division to their ranks, beginning with . In November 2012, as a result of the forthcoming dissolution of their sister organization Strikeforce, the UFC announced they would be adding female fighters to their roster for the first time in the promotion's history. Initially, only the women's bantamweight division was brought over, with the division's premiere bout taking place at UFC 157. A little over a year later, the UFC announced they would be expanding their weight classes for female fighters with the addition of a women's strawweight division, the first bout took place at . In late 2016, a featherweight division was introduced for the women with the first bout to be for the inaugural championship at UFC 208 on February 11, 2017. In that same year the UFC announced the Women's Flyweight division would officially be added, with the winner of the to be named the inaugural champion. 206 to 265 lb (93 to 120 kg) The UFC Superfight Championship was unified with the UFC Tournament Championship to determine the inaugural UFC Heavyweight Champion on February 7, 1997, when Mark Coleman defeated Dan Severn at UFC 12. 186 to 205 lb (84 to 93 kg) The Light Heavyweight Championship was known as the Middleweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). The Pride World Middleweight Championship (209.4 lb) was unified with the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship on September 8, 2007, when Quinton Jackson defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 75. 171 to 185 lb (77 to 84 kg) The Pride World Welterweight Championship (183 lb) was unified with the UFC Middleweight Championship on March 1, 2008, when Anderson Silva defeated Dan Henderson at UFC 82. 156 to 170 lb (70 to 77 kg) The Welterweight Championship was known as the Lightweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). 146 to 155 lb (66 to 70 kg) The Lightweight Championship was known as the Bantamweight Championship prior to UFC 31 (May 4, 2001). The Strikeforce Lightweight Championship was unified (perhaps unofficially) with the UFC Lightweight Championship on April 20, 2013, when Benson Henderson defeated Gilbert Melendez at . 136 to 145 lb (61 to 66 kg) Prior to the UFC-WEC merger, José Aldo was the WEC Featherweight Champion. Aldo was awarded the inaugural UFC Featherweight Championship on November 20, 2010, at UFC 123 in a ceremony prior to the event. 126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg) Prior to UFC-WEC merger, Dominick Cruz was the WEC Bantamweight Champion. At WEC 53, Cruz defeated Scott Jorgensen to retain the WEC Bantamweight Championship and was awarded the inaugural UFC Bantamweight Championship. 116 to 125 lb (53 to 57 kg) Demetrious Johnson defeated Joseph Benavidez on September 22, 2012, at UFC 152 in Toronto, ON, Canada in the finale of a 4-man tournament for the inaugural title. 136 to 145 lb (62 to 66 kg) The inaugural title was contested on February 11, 2017, in Brooklyn, NY, US at UFC 208. 126 to 135 lb (57 to 61 kg) Prior to its folding and absorption by the UFC, Ronda Rousey was the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey was awarded the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship on December 6, 2012, at a pre-event press conference. 116 to 125 lb (53 to 57 kg) The inaugural title was contested on December 1, 2017, in Las Vegas, NV, US at . The inaugural title fight was between two fighters who appeared on the . 106 to 115 lb (48 to 52 kg) Previously the Invicta FC Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza defeated Rose Namajunas for the inaugural title on December 12, 2014, in the tournament finale of . An openweight title used before the introduction of weight classes in 1997. It was designed to create a reigning UFC champion for the UFC tournament winners to challenge. The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) is a reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by the UFC. The show features professional fighters living together and competing against one another in a tournament for a contract with the UFC. Division champions are the primary separation criteria due to being non-closed competition. It includes title holders and interim title holders. Interim champions who become undisputed champions are listed only once. People with multiple title reigns will have each of them counted. Tournament wins are secondary due to many tournaments being country-specific and thus not generally a national achievement to win. Runners-up and TUF runners-up are not included. Fighters with four or more championship and/or interim championship title wins. Fighters with the same number of title wins are arranged in order of most title fights. Tournament championships and TUF winners are not included. The following includes all UFC champions who were able to consecutively defend their title three times or more. Fighters with the same number of title defenses are listed chronologically. The following is a list of the ten longest reigning UFC champions. Fighters who have won championships in multiple weight classes. Tournament championships and TUF winners are not included. Randy Couture is notably the first champion to hold belts in two different divisions, and one of the few to reclaim a title after being defeated. Conor McGregor was the first fighter to hold multiple titles simultaneously. List of current mixed martial arts champions, List of UFC records, List of UFC events, List of current UFC fighters, List of Strikeforce champions, List of WEC champions, List of Pride champions, Mixed martial arts weight classes Current Title Holders at UFC.com The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, which is owned and operated by parent company William Morris Endeavor. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world and features on its roster the highest-level fighters in the sport. The UFC produces events worldwide that showcase twelve weight divisions and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. As of 2019, the UFC has held over 500 events. Dana White has been UFC president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, the UFC has grown into a globally popular multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting disciplines like boxing, kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, and judo. In subsequent events, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create a separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts. In 2016, UFC's parent company, Zuffa, was sold to a group led by William Morris Endeavor (WME–IMG), including Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and MSD Capital for US$4.025 billion. With a TV deal and expansion in Australia, Asia, Europe, and new markets within the United States, the UFC has increased in popularity, and has achieved greater mainstream media coverage; the promotion brought in a total revenue of US$609 million in 2015, and its next domestic media rights agreement with ESPN was valued at $1.5 billion over a five-year term. Art Davie proposed to John Milius and Rorion Gracie an eight-man single- elimination tournament called "War of the Worlds". The tournament was inspired by the Gracies in Action video-series produced by the Gracie family of Brazil which featured Gracie jiu-jitsu students defeating martial artists of various disciplines such as karate, kung fu, and kickboxing. The tournament would also feature martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no- holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art and would aim to replicate the excitement of the matches Davie saw on the videos. Milius, a noted film director and screenwriter, as well as a Gracie student, agreed to act as the event's creative director. Davie drafted the business plan and twenty-eight investors contributed the initial capital to start WOW Promotions with the intent to develop the tournament into a television franchise. In 1993, WOW Promotions sought a television partner and approached pay-per-view producers TVKO (HBO) and SET (Showtime), as well as Campbell McLaren and David Isaacs at the Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). Both TVKO and SET declined, but SEG – a pioneer in pay-per-view television which had produced such offbeat events as a man vs woman tennis match between Jimmy Connors and Martina Navratilova – became WOW's partner in May 1993. SEG contacted video and film art director Jason Cusson to design the trademarked "Octagon", a signature piece for the event. Cusson remained the Production Designer through UFC 27. SEG devised the name for the show as The Ultimate Fighting Championship. WOW Promotions and SEG produced the first event, later called UFC 1, at McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado on November 12, 1993. Art Davie functioned as the show's booker and matchmaker. The show proposed to find an answer for sports fans' questions such as: "Can a wrestler beat a boxer?" As with most martial arts at the time, fighters typically had skills in just one discipline and had little experience against opponents with different skills. The television broadcast featured kickboxers Patrick Smith and Kevin Rosier, savate fighter Gerard Gordeau, karate expert Zane Frazier, shootfighter Ken Shamrock, sumo wrestler Teila Tuli, boxer Art Jimmerson, and Brazilian jiu- jitsu black belt Royce Gracie—younger brother of UFC co-founder Rorion, whom Rorion handpicked to represent his family in the competition. Royce Gracie's submission skills proved the most effective in the inaugural tournament, earning him the first ever UFC tournament championship after submitting Jimmerson, Shamrock, and Gordeau in succession. The show proved extremely successful with 86,592 television subscribers on pay-per-view. It's disputed whether the promoters intended for the event to become a precursor to a series of future events. "That show was only supposed to be a one-off", eventual UFC president Dana White said. "It did so well on pay-per-view they decided to do another, and another. Never in a million years did these guys think they were creating a sport." Art Davie, in his 2014 book Is This Legal?, an account of the creation of the first UFC event, disputes the perception that the UFC was seen by WOW Promotions and SEG as a one-off, since SEG offered a five-year joint development deal to WOW. He says, "Clearly, both Campbell and Meyrowitz shared my unwavering belief that War of the Worlds would be a continuing series of fighting tournaments—a franchise, rather than a one-night stand." With no weight classes, fighters often faced significantly larger or taller opponents. Keith "The Giant Killer" Hackney faced Emmanuel Yarbrough at UFC 3 with a height and weight disadvantage. Many martial artists believed that technique could overcome these size disadvantages, and that a skilled fighter could use an opponent's size and strength against him. With the Royce Gracie winning three of the first four events, the UFC quickly proved that size does not always determine the outcome of the fight. During this early part of the organization, the UFC would showcase a bevy of different styles and fighters. Aside from the aforementioned Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock, and Patrick Smith, the competitions also featured competitors such as Hall of Famer Dan Severn, Marco Ruas, Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, Kimo Leopoldo, Oleg Taktarov, and Tank Abbott. Although the first events were dominated by jiu-jitsu, other fighting styles became successful: first wrestling, then ground and pound, kickboxing, boxing, and dirty boxing, which eventually melded into modern mixed martial arts. In April 1995, following UFC 5 in Charlotte, North Carolina, Davie and Gracie sold their interest in the franchise to SEG and disbanded WOW Promotions. Davie continued with SEG as the show's booker and matchmaker, as well as the commissioner of Ultimate Fighting, until December 1997. Although UFC used the tagline "There are no rules" in the early 1990s, the UFC did in fact operate with limited rules. It banned biting and eye-gouging, and allowed techniques such as hair pulling, headbutting, groin strikes, and fish- hooking. In a UFC 4 qualifying match, competitors Jason Fairn and Guy Mezger agreed not to pull hair—as they both wore pony tails tied back for the match. That same event saw a matchup between Keith Hackney and Joe Son in which Hackney unleashed a series of groin shots against Son while on the ground. The UFC had a reputation, especially in the early days, as an extremely violent event, as evidenced by a disclaimer in the beginning of the UFC 5 broadcast which warned audiences of the violent nature of the sport. UFC 5 also introduced the first singles match, a rematch from the inaugural UFC featuring three-time champion Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, called "The Superfight". This proved an important development, because singles matches would feature fighters who suffered no prior damage from a previous fight in the same event, unlike tournament matches. Singles matches would become a staple in the UFC for years to come. "The Superfight" began as a non-tournament match that would determine the first reigning UFC Champion for tournament winners to face; it later evolved into a match that could feature either title matches or non- title matches. The "Superfight" would eventually completely phase out tournament matches; by UFC Brazil, the UFC abandoned the tournament format for an entire card of singles matches (aside from a one-time UFC Japan tournament featuring Japanese fighters). UFC 6 was the first event to feature the crowning of the first non-tournament UFC Champion, Ken Shamrock. The violent nature of the burgeoning sport quickly drew the attention of the U.S. authorities. In 1996, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) saw a tape of the first UFC events and immediately found it abhorrent. McCain himself led a campaign to ban the UFC, calling it "human cockfighting", and even sending letters to the governors of all fifty US states asking them to ban the event. Thirty-six states enacted laws that banned "no-hold-barred" fighting, including New York, which enacted the ban on the eve of UFC 12, forcing a relocation of the event to Dothan, Alabama. The UFC continued to air on DirecTV PPV, though its audience remained minuscule compared to the larger cable pay-per-view platforms of the era. In response to the criticism, the UFC increased cooperation with state athletic commissions and redesigned its rules to remove the less palatable elements of fights while retaining the core elements of striking and grappling. UFC 12 saw the introduction of weight classes and the banning of fish-hooking. For UFC 14, gloves became mandatory, while kicks to the head of a downed opponent were banned. UFC 15 saw limitations on hair pulling, and the banning of strikes to the back of the neck and head, headbutting, small-joint manipulations, and groin strikes. With five-minute rounds introduced at UFC 21, the UFC gradually re-branded itself as a sport rather than a spectacle. Led by UFC commissioner Jeff Blatnick and referee John McCarthy, the UFC continued to work with state athletic commissions. Blatnick, McCarthy, and matchmaker Joe Silva created a manual of policies, procedures, codes of conduct, and rules to help in getting the UFC sanctioned by the athletic commissions, many of which exist to this day. Blatnick and McCarthy traveled around the country, educating regulators and changing perceptions about a sport that was thought to be bloodthirsty and inhumane. By April 2000, their movement had clearly made an impact. California was set to become the first state in the U.S. to sign off on a set of codified rules that governed MMA. Soon after, New Jersey adopted the language. As the UFC continued to work with the athletic commissions, events took place in smaller U.S. markets, and venues, such as the Lake Charles Civic Center. The markets included states that are largely rural and less known for holding professional sporting events, such as Iowa, Mississippi, Louisiana, Wyoming, and Alabama. SEG could not secure home-video releases for UFC 23 through UFC 29. With other mixed martial arts promotions working towards U.S. sanctioning, the International Fighting Championships (IFC) secured the first U.S. sanctioned mixed-martial-arts event, which occurred in New Jersey on September 30, 2000. Just two months later, the UFC held its first sanctioned event, UFC 28, under the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board's "Unified Rules". As the UFC's rules started to evolve, so too did its field of competitors. Notable UFC fighters to emerge in this era include Hall of Famers Mark Coleman, Randy Couture, Pat Miletich, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, and Tito Ortiz, as well as notables Vitor Belfort, Mark Kerr, Pedro Rizzo, Murilo Bustamante, Frank Shamrock, Mikey Burnett, Jeremy Horn, Pete Williams, Jens Pulver, Evan Tanner, Andrei Arlovski, and Wanderlei Silva, among others. After the long battle to secure sanctioning, SEG stood on the brink of bankruptcy, when Station Casinos executives Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta and their business partner Dana White approached them in 2000, with an offer to purchase the UFC. A month later, in January 2001, the Fertittas bought the UFC for $2 million and created Zuffa, LLC as the parent entity controlling the UFC. "I had my attorneys tell me that I was crazy because I wasn't buying anything. I was paying $2 million and they were saying 'What are you getting? Lorenzo Fertitta revealed to Fighter's Only magazine, recalling the lack of assets he acquired in the purchase. "And I said 'What you don't understand is I'm getting the most valuable thing that I could possibly have, which is those three letters: UFC. That is what's going to make this thing work. Everybody knows that brand, whether they like it or they don't like it, they react to it. With ties to the Nevada State Athletic Commission (Lorenzo Fertitta was a former member of the NSAC), Zuffa secured sanctioning in Nevada in 2001. Shortly thereafter, the UFC returned to pay-per-view cable television with UFC 33 featuring three championship bouts. The UFC slowly, but steadily, rose in popularity after the Zuffa purchase, due partly to greater advertising, corporate sponsorship, the return to cable pay- per-view and subsequent home video and DVD releases. With larger live gates at casino venues like the Trump Taj Mahal and the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the UFC secured its first television deal with Fox Sports Net. The Best Damn Sports Show Period aired the first mixed martial arts match on American cable television in June 2002, as well as the main event showcasing Chuck Liddell vs. Vitor Belfort at UFC 37.5. Later, FSN would air highlight shows from the UFC, featuring one-hour blocks of the UFC's greatest bouts. UFC 40 proved to be the most critical event to date in the Zuffa era. The event was a near sellout of 13,022 at the MGM Grand Arena and sold 150,000 pay per view buys, a rate roughly double that of the previous Zuffa events. The event featured a card headlined by a highly anticipated championship grudge match between then- current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Tito Ortiz and former UFC Superfight Champion Ken Shamrock, who had previously left to professional wrestling in the WWE before returning to MMA. It was the first time the UFC hit such a high mark since being forced "underground" in 1997. UFC 40 also garnered mainstream attention from massive media outlets such as ESPN and USA Today, something that was unfathomable for mixed martial arts at that point in time. Many have suggested that the success of UFC 40 and the anticipation for Ortiz vs. Shamrock saved the UFC from bankruptcy; the buyrates of the previous Zuffa shows averaged a mere 45,000 buys per event and the company was suffering deep monetary losses. The success of UFC 40 provided a glimmer of hope for the UFC and kept alive the hope that mixed martial arts could become big. Beyond the rivalry itself, the success of UFC 40 was due in part to the marketing and outreach power of crossover athletes - from Pro Wrestling to MMA and MMA to Pro Wrestling - a practice with roots in Japan's Pride Fighting Championships. Long time UFC referee "Big" John McCarthy said that he felt UFC 40 was the turning point in whether or not the sport of MMA would survive in America. Despite the success of UFC 40, the UFC was still experiencing financial deficits. By 2004, Zuffa had $34 million of losses since they purchased the UFC. Fighters who came into prominence after Zuffa's takeover include Anderson Silva, Georges St-Pierre, Rich Franklin, B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk, Matt Serra, Ricco Rodriguez, Robbie Lawler, Frank Mir, Karo Parisyan, and Nick Diaz. Faced with the prospect of folding, the UFC stepped outside the bounds of pay- per-view and made a foray into television. After being featured in a reality television series, American Casino, and seeing how well the series worked as a promotion vehicle, the Fertitta brothers developed the idea of the UFC having its own reality series. Their idea, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) was a reality television show featuring up-and-coming MMA fighters in competition for a six- figure UFC contract, with fighters eliminated from competition via exhibition mixed martial arts matches. It was pitched to several networks, each one rejecting the idea outright. Not until they approached Spike TV, with an offer to pay the $10 million production costs themselves, did they find an outlet. In January 2005, Spike TV launched The Ultimate Fighter 1 in the timeslot following WWE Raw. The show became an instant success, culminating with a notable season finale brawl featuring light heavyweight finalists Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar going toe-to-toe for the right to earn the six- figure contract. The live broadcast of the season finale drew a very impressive 1.9 overall rating. Dana White credits TUF 1 for saving the UFC. On the heels of the Griffin/Bonnar finale, a second season of The Ultimate Fighter launched in August 2005, and two more seasons appeared in 2006. Spike and the UFC continued to create and air new seasons until the show moved to FX in 2012. Following the success of The Ultimate Fighter, Spike also picked up UFC Unleashed, an hour-long weekly show featuring select fights from previous events. Spike also signed on to broadcast live UFC Fight Night, a series of fight events debuting in August 2005, and Countdown specials to promote upcoming UFC pay-per-view cards. After a very successful run on Spike and with the upcoming announcement of the UFC's new relationship with Fox, Spike officials made a statement regarding the end of their partnership with the UFC, "The Ultimate Fighter season 14 in September will be our last... Our 6-year partnership with the UFC has been incredibly beneficial in building both our brands, and we wish them all the best in the future." With the announcement of UFC's partnership with Fox in August 2011, The Ultimate Fighter, which entered its 14th season in that September, moved to the FX network to air on Friday nights starting with season 15 in the Spring of 2012. Along with the network change, episodes are now edited and broadcast within a week of recording instead of a several-month delay, and elimination fights are aired live. With increased visibility, the UFC's pay-per-view buy numbers exploded. UFC 52, the first event after the first season of The Ultimate Fighter featuring eventual-UFC Hall of Famer: Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell, avenging his defeat to fellow eventual-Hall of Famer, Randy Couture, drew a pay-per-view audience of 300,000, doubling its previous benchmark of 150,000 set at UFC 40. Following the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC's much-hyped match between Liddell and Couture drew an estimated 410,000 pay-per-view buys at UFC 57. For the rest of 2006, pay-per-view buy rates continued to skyrocket, with 620,000 buys for UFC 60: Hughes vs. Gracie—featuring Royce Gracie's first UFC fight in 11 years—and 775,000 buys for UFC 61 featuring the highly anticipated rematch between Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 3. The organization hit a milestone with UFC 66, pitting Ortiz in a rematch against Liddell with over 1 million buys. The surge in popularity prompted the UFC to beef up its executive team. In March 2006, the UFC announced that it had hired Marc Ratner, former Executive Director of the Nevada Athletic Commission, as Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. Ratner, once an ally of Senator McCain's campaign against no holds barred fighting, became a catalyst for the emergence of sanctioned mixed martial arts in the United States. Ratner lobbied numerous athletic commissions to help raise the UFC's media profile in an attempt to legalize mixed martial arts in jurisdictions inside and outside the United States that had yet to sanction the sport. In December 2006, Zuffa acquired the northern California-based promotion World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) in order to stop the International Fight League (IFL) from making a deal with Versus (now NBC Sports Network). At the time, the UFC had an exclusive deal with Spike, so the purchase of the WEC allowed Zuffa to block the IFL from Versus without violating their contract. The WEC showcased lighter weight classes in MMA, whereas the UFC featured heavier weight classes. Notable WEC fighters included Urijah Faber, Jamie Varner, Carlos Condit, Benson Henderson, Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, Eddie Wineland, Miguel Angel Torres, Mike Thomas Brown, Leonard Garcia, Brian Bowles, Dominick Cruz, and José Aldo. In December 2006, Zuffa also acquired their cross-town, Las Vegas rival World Fighting Alliance (WFA). In acquiring the WFA, they acquired the contracts of notable fighters including Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Martin Kampmann. The sport's popularity was also noticed by the sports betting community as BodogLife.com, an online gambling site, stated in July 2007 that in 2007 UFC would surpass boxing for the first time in terms of betting revenues. In fact, the UFC had already broken the pay-per-view industry's all-time records for a single year of business, generating over $222,766,000 in revenue in 2006, surpassing both WWE and boxing. The UFC continued its rapid rise from near obscurity with Roger Huerta gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated and Chuck Liddell on the front of ESPN The Magazine in May 2007. On March 27, 2007, the UFC and their Japan-based rival the Pride Fighting Championships announced an agreement in which the majority owners of the UFC, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, would purchase the Pride brand. Initial intentions were for both organizations to be run separately but aligned together with plans to co-promote cards featuring the champions and top contenders from both organizations. However, after purchasing Pride, Dana White felt that the Pride model was not sustainable and the organization would likely fold with many former Pride fighters such as Antônio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira, Maurício "Shogun" Rua, Dan Henderson, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Wanderlei Silva, and others already being realigned under the UFC brand. On October 4, 2007, Pride Worldwide closed its Japanese office, laying off 20 people who were working there since the closing of its parent company Dream Stage Entertainment (DSE). On June 18, 2008, Lorenzo Fertitta accommodated the UFC's growth by announcing his resignation from Station Casinos in order to devote his energies to the international business development of Zuffa, particularly the UFC. The move proved to be pivotal, as Fertitta helped strike TV deals in China, France, Mexico, and Germany as well as open alternative revenue streams with a new UFC video game and UFC action figures, among other projects. Fighters exposed to the UFC audience—or who became prominent—in the post-Pride era include Anderson Silva, Jon Fitch, Lyoto Machida, Cain Velasquez, and Jon Jones, among others. Popularity took another major surge in 2009 with UFC 100 and the 10 events preceding it including UFC 90, 91, 92, 94, and 98. UFC 100 was a massive success garnering 1.6 million buys under the drawing power of former NCAA wrestling champion Brock Lesnar and his rematch with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, Canadian Georges St-Pierre going head-to-head with Brazilian Thiago Alves, and American Dan Henderson opposing British Michael Bisping at middleweight after the two were rival coaches on . UFC 100 was unique in that it drew significant interest from ESPN, which provided extensive coverage of the event in the days preceding and following it. In fact, ESPN would eventually devote additional coverage of the UFC and other MMA news with the television debut of MMA Live on ESPN2 in May 2010. The buzz from UFC 100 was hampered significantly in the second half of 2009 after a rash of injuries and other health-related issues—including Brock Lesnar's life-threatening bout with diverticulitis—forcing the organization to continuously scramble and reshuffle its lineup for several events. However, the momentum gradually began to pick up in the first quarter of 2010 after victories from defending champions Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva, as well as Lyoto Machida's first career defeat to "Shogun" Rua for the UFC Light Heavyweight title. These fights segued into a very popular clash between former UFC Champions and rivals Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson—rival coaches on —at UFC 114, featuring the UFC's first main event headlined by black fighters. The event scored over 1 million pay per view buys as Evans secured a unanimous decision victory. This momentum carried into the summer of 2010 at UFC 116, which featured the return of Brock Lesnar defending his UFC Heavyweight title against the undefeated interim-champion Shane Carwin before 1.25 million PPV viewers. Lesnar survived an early barrage of Carwin's punches in a contest that was nearly stopped by referee Josh Rosenthal. However, Lesnar recovered in the second round to submit Carwin via arm-triangle choke to retain the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship. The event as a whole was critically acclaimed in the media for living up to the hype with a number of exciting fights that were featured on the televised card. After a dramatic fifth round, last minute victory by UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva over Chael Sonnen at UFC 117, Lesnar finally surrendered his belt to the undefeated Cain Velasquez via 1st-round TKO at UFC 121. The fight produced Velasquez's eighth knockout or technical knockout in his first nine MMA fights. UFC 129 featured Georges St-Pierre vs. Jake Shields at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and is currently the largest UFC event in North American history, which coincided with a two-day UFC Fan Expo at the Direct Energy Centre. The event sold out 55,000 tickets for gate revenues exceeding $11 million, shattering previous MMA attendance and gate records in North America. On November 5, 2016 the UFC had their first exhibition in New York City after years of being delayed by government officials and red tape with a dramatic first match, Conor McGregor vs. Eddie Alvarez. Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, purchased World Extreme Cagefighting in late 2006 and held the first WEC event under new ownership on January 20, 2007. Soon thereafter the WEC made its home on the Versus Network with its first event debuting on that network in June 2007. On October 28, 2010, Zuffa announced that WEC would merge with the UFC. The WEC held its final card on December 16, 2010. As a result of the merger, the UFC absorbed WEC's bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight weight divisions and their respective fighters. The UFC also made the last WEC Featherweight and Bantamweight Champions, José Aldo and Dominick Cruz respectively, the inaugural UFC Champions of their new weight divisions. Reed Harris, who started World Extreme Cagefighting with Scott Adams, had mixed emotions on the merger. "It's kind of like when your kid goes off to college: at first you're not happy, but after you think about it for a while, you're really happy," Harris told MMAWeekly.com in an exclusive interview immediately following the announcement. "At the end of the day, I never imagined this thing would be where we're at today. I'm extremely proud and happy that I was involved with something that will now be part of what may be, some day, the largest sports organization in the world." On March 12, 2011, Dana White revealed that Zuffa had purchased Strikeforce. White went on to explain that Strikeforce will operate as an independent promotion, and that Scott Coker will continue to run the promotion. Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced the return of Fedor Emelianenko on an unspecified July or August event and said that Zuffa-owned company would continue to co-promote with M-1 Global. Following the purchase, the UFC signed many of Strikeforce's top stars and champions, such as Jason Miller, Nick Diaz, Dan Henderson, Alistair Overeem, and Cung Le. Under Zuffa's ownership, Strikeforce made minor changes, including adopting the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts in full, closing the promotion's men's weight classes below lightweight, and ceasing promotion of amateur undercard bouts. After an extension was reached to continue Strikeforce through 2012, the promotion's heavyweight division (sans Heavyweight Grand Prix finalists) was merged into the UFC, and the promotion's Challengers series was ended. The final Strikeforce show was on January 12, 2013, after which the promotion was dissolved and all fighter contracts were either ended or absorbed into the UFC. On August 18, 2011, The Ultimate Fighting Championship and Fox announced a seven-year broadcast deal through the Fox Sports subsidiary, effectively ending the UFC's Spike TV and Versus (now NBC Sports Network) partnership. The deal includes four events on the main Fox network, 32 live Friday night fights per year on their cable network FX, 24 events following The Ultimate Fighter reality show and six separate Fight Night events. The promotion's first broadcast television event – – broke form by showcasing only one fight to television viewers. In the main event, Junior dos Santos abruptly dethroned then-undefeated UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez by knock-out at 1:04 in the first round. The telecast peaked with 8.8 million viewers tuning into the fight with an average audience of 5.7 million, making it by far the most watched MMA event of all-time and the most watched combat sports event since 2003's HBO bout between Lennox Lewis and Vitali Klitschko. One of the other programming opportunities that emerged was a weekly UFC magazine-style show. When asked about the potential for a weekly magazine-style series, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta responded, "Not only weekly, but, potentially, multiple times per week you'll have a UFC magazine (show)." The UFC maintained production control of its product, including the use of its broadcast team of Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan. Fox Sports produced the pre- and post-shows. On November 16, 2012, the eve of UFC 154: St. Pierre vs. Condit, Dana White confirmed with Jim Rome the UFC would feature women's MMA with the signing of its first female fighter, Strikeforce bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. She subsequently became the first female UFC champion, the first Olympic medalist with a UFC title, and the first woman to defend a UFC title. She would successfully defend her title six times over a grand total of 1,074 days, before she was defeated by Holly Holm on November 15, 2015, at UFC 193. On December 11, 2013, the UFC purchased the contracts of 11 female fighters from Invicta Fighting Championships to launch their 115-pound Strawweight division. Eight of the Invicta fighters took part in the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, , along with eight additional fighters signed up for the tournament via open tryouts. Season winner, Invicta FC's Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza became the first UFC women's strawweight champion, defeating Rose Namajunas in the finale. Other fighters on the show included Felice Herrig, Tecia Torres, Bec Hyatt, Randa Markos, Jessica Penne, and Joanna Jędrzejczyk. The first UFC event to be held outside the contiguous United States was UFC 8 in Puerto Rico, a US territory, in 1996. Subsequently, the UFC has visited 15 countries in Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America, and North America. Canada has hosted events 18 times, starting with UFC 83 in 2008 and most recently in 2015 with UFC 186. UFC's biggest event to date was also in Canada, as UFC 129 held at Rogers Centre featured a record-breaking attendance of 55,724. The United Kingdom has been home to 16 events. The first was UFC 38 held in London in 2002. UFC returned to the United Kingdom in 2007 with UFC 70, and visited Northern Ireland for UFC 72. The UK's most recent event was at England with UFC 204 in 2016. Ireland has held UFC 93 in 2009 and 5 years later. In continental Europe, Germany has hosted 5 times, the first being UFC 99 in 2009, UFC 122 in 2010, in 2014, in 2015 and the latest was in 2016. Sweden has hosted 3 times, starting with in 2012, and recently with in 2015. Poland had its first event with in 2015. There are also Fight Night events due to take place in 2016, in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Zagreb, Croatia. The first Brazilian event was UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, held in São Paulo in 1998. The promotion did not return to Brazil until 2011 for UFC 134, but since then, the country has hosted a further 20 events. Their most recent visit was . In 2014, Mexico became the second country in Latin America to host an event with UFC 180, followed by a second event, UFC 188, in 2015. Seven UFC events have been held in Australia, beginning with UFC 110 in 2010 and most recently in December 2018 with UFC Fight Night 142. New Zealand held its first event in 2014, . In Asia, the UFC has visited 5 countries. Japan had its first visit in 1997 for . The UFC only returned to the country in 2012, with UFC 144. Their last visit was in 2014 for , the seventh event there. The promotion has also featured 2 visits to the United Arab Emirates. The first was in 2010 for UFC 112 and the second in 2014 for . The promotion has also visited Macau in 3 occasions: China's special administrative region was first visited in 2012 with and last visited in 2014 for . The promotion has also visited Singapore with in 2014. The Philippines was the most recent Asian country that the UFC has visited, with in 2015. The Ultimate Fighter has had international editions as well: Brazil (since 2012), Australia (vs. United Kingdom - 2012), China (2013), Canada (vs. Australia - 2014), and Latin America (2014). On February 27, 2014, the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned the use of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). The UFC followed suit and banned the use of TRT for any of their events, including international markets where the UFC oversees regulatory efforts. In December 2014, an antitrust lawsuit was filed against Zuffa by several fighters, claiming the organization restricts fighters' control over their careers and earning potential. Throughout 2015, debate over venues and possible case dismissals ensued. Ultimately, the case moved to Nevada federal courts, where Zuffa was denied its motion to stay discovery for 15 years of its financial records. This has caused an ongoing debate and struggle over how UFC sensitive information should be handled, and who may view it. Especially concerning MMAFA founder, Rob Maysey who has taken the lead in representing the former athletes and has stated he hopes to achieve reforms similar to the Ali Act (2000). Later that year, a 12–16 month investigation began that is expected to last until sometime between September 2016 to January 2017. Thus far, both sides have provided well over 100,000 documents. In May 2016, ESPN originally reported that the UFC's parent company Zuffa, LLC was in talks to sell the company for $3.5 billion to $4 billion. In 2015, the UFC had a reported EBITDA of $200–250 million. Because it was a privately owned company, no official comment was made from the UFC or Dana White regarding the sale. Companies initially interested in the sale were Dalian Wanda Group, China Media Capital, and WME–IMG (Endeavor). On July 9, 2016, it was officially announced that the UFC would be sold to a group led by WME–IMG, its owner Silver Lake Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, and MSD Capital, for $4.025 billion. At the time, it marked the largest-ever acquisition in sports. Lorenzo Fertitta stated that the new ownership, "with whom we've built a strong relationship over the last several years, is committed to accelerating UFC's global growth", and that they "share the same vision and passion for this organization and its athletes." Flash Entertainment (owned by the government of Abu Dhabi) retained its 10% minority stake in the company. White, who owned 9% of the UFC, stayed, having been given a stake in the new business. Shortly after the sale, it was announced that White would remain president. As a result of the sale, Fertitta stepped down as chairman and CEO. WME–IMG was renamed Endeavor in September 2017. Three years into the Endeavor era, Dana White revealed in an interview that an undisclosed company bid $5 billion but Fertittas chose WME–IMG due to a connection they already made with Ari Emanuel. In October 2016, MMAJunkie obtained an UFC financial report released by Endeavor, detailing that the promotion had reached a year-to-year high of $609 million in revenue during 2015. 76% of the total was credited to "content" revenue, covering media rights, PPV buys and UFC Fight Pass subscriptions; in turn, 42% of content revenue was credited to pay-per-view buys, followed by U.S. and international media rights. In May 2018, UFC reached new U.S. media rights deals with Disney Direct-to- Consumer and International and ESPN Inc., succeeding those with 21st Century Fox, which began in January 2019. The five-year contracts are cumulatively valued at $300 million per-year for digital and linear rights, roughly doubling the amount paid by Fox in the final year of its previous contract, and include 42 events on ESPN platforms per-year. ESPN linear networks will televise preliminary cards for UFC PPV events, and 10 UFC on ESPN Fight Night events per-year. The subscription streaming service ESPN+ will broadcast 20 exclusive events per-year under the branding UFC on ESPN+ Fight Night; regardless of network, all Fight Night events will feature a full, 12-fight card, and their preliminaries will air exclusively on ESPN+. The ESPN+ service will also hold on-demand rights to UFC library and archive content, new seasons of Dana White's Contender Series, and other new original content. UFC Fight Pass will be purchasable as an add-on for ESPN+ to stream pay-per-view events. On March 18, 2019, it was announced that ESPN had reached a two-year extension of the contract. In addition, it was announced that in the United States, future UFC PPVs will only be sold through ESPN+ to its subscribers, and will no longer be sold via traditional television providers beginning with UFC 236. At the same time, the standard price for UFC PPVs was lowered to $59.99 (from $64.99), and new subscribers will also be able to purchase a bundle of a UFC PPV and a year of ESPN+. On July 18, 2018, it was announced that UFC has entered into a partnership with Russian MMA promoter M-1 Global. M-1 Global will serve as a farm league to scout Russian fighters for UFC and will participate in organizing UFC events in Russia. The deal also gives M-1 champions the opportunity to sign with UFC. On September 15, 2018, the first UFC event in Russia was held at the Olympic Stadium in Moscow. On May 24, 2019 Endeavor Group (EDR) filed the initial public offering (IPO) paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The form detailed Endeavor's revenue was $3.61 billion in 2018 with a net income of $100.1 million after adjustments, and potential risks involved of being potentially sued (1) “over alleged long-term neurocognitive impairment arising from concussions”, (2) collective bargaining to unionize the MMA athletes and (3) "five related class-action lawsuits filed against it alleging that UFC violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by monopolizing the alleged market for elite professional MMA athletes’ services". On September 26, 2019, Endeavor Group announced it cancelled its planned IPO that was set for September 27. Endeavor Group said in a statement "Endeavor will continue to evaluate the timing for the proposed offering as market conditions develop" The Wall Street Journal reported the under performance of the recent IPO for Pelaton was a contributing factor. As is an ongoing lawsuit with several former UFC fighters. UFC announced its partnership with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on June 3, 2015, as the UFC's official, independent anti-doping agency. The UFC USADA testing program became effective on July 1, 2015, and includes a minimum of 2,750 drug tests per year with an average of five tests per fighter, and punishments to fighters who fail the tests. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, fighters are subject to random tests at any time and place on all in- and out- of-competition blood and urine samples collected by USADA. Fighters must participate in the testing pool for at least six months prior to a fight in order to qualify for a UFC event. In February 2017, UFC made changes to the anti-doping policy, effective April 1, 2017, as follows: (1) Fighters who are new to the UFC with no previous contract would be subject to a one-month testing rule. The same rule applies to returning fighters who were terminated or whose contracts were not renewed at the decision of the UFC. Previously, returning or terminated fighters were required to undergo four months of testings prior to competing in a fight. (2) Returning fighters who have chosen to retire, go on hiatus, or had a non-renewal of their contract, are required to be in a six-months testing pool prior to competition. (3) No doping violation is handed down to newly signed UFC fighters who voluntarily disclose use of a prohibited substance prior to testing. (4) "In-competition" testing begins at noon on the weigh-in day and ends one hour after a fighter clears a post-fight medical for non-selected post-fight testing. For fighters who are subjected to post-fight testing the in-competition testing ends after any post-fight testing is done. In September 2018, indicated no announcements would be made on fighters who have been flagged for a potential doping violation until the entire adjudication processes are conducted with the results of the potential doping violation. This came after several cases of fighters, such as Anderson Silva, Junior dos Santos, Josh Barnett and Cris Cyborg, being flagged for potential doping violations, but cleared after they were proved of unintentional use of performance enhancing drugs (usually in the form of contaminated supplements). On November 25, 2019, news surfaced that the UFC and USADA had revised their policies, providing a list of certified supplements that will not lead to sanctions should contaminated samples occur. In 2015, USADA conducted 353 tests and 2291 tests in 2016 on 586 UFC fighters with Anderson Silva tested the most of a total of 15 times. In 2017 and 2018 a total of 2818 and 2888 tests were conducted by USADA respectively. As of May 16, 2019, a total of 76 UFC fighters have been sanctioned by USADA since the UFC USADA testing program started. The current rules for the Ultimate Fighting Championship were originally established by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. The set of "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts" that New Jersey established has been adopted in other states that regulate mixed martial arts, including Nevada, Louisiana, and California. These rules are also used by many other promotions within the United States, becoming mandatory for those states that have adopted the rules, and so have become the standard de facto set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across the country. UFC matches vary in maximum length, depending on whether the match is for a Championship title, or is a fight card's "main event" fight. In all fights, each round can be no longer than five minutes. Championship fights last for a maximum of five rounds. Beginning with UFC 138 on November 5, 2011, non- championship "main event" fights (i.e. the final fight on the card) will also last for a maximum of five rounds. Non-main event bouts last for a maximum of three rounds. featured the organization's first two flyweight fights as part of its first flyweight tournament, which consists of bouts that, in the event of a draw, go to a fourth "sudden victory" round held to determine the winner, who advances. There is a one-minute rest period between rounds. The UFC stages bouts in an eight-sided enclosure officially named "The Octagon". Originally, SEG trademarked the concept as well as the term and prevented other mixed martial arts promotions from using the same type of cage, but in 2001 Zuffa gave permission for other promotions to use octagonal cages, reasoning that the young sport needed uniformity to continue to win official sanctioning. Today Zuffa reserves exclusive use of the name "The Octagon". The UFC cage is an octagonal structure with walls of metal chain- link fence coated with black vinyl. The standard octagon has a diameter of with a high fence. The cage sits atop a platform, raising it from the ground. It has foam padding around the top of the fence and between each of the eight sections. It also has two entry-exit gates opposite each other. The mat, painted with sponsorship logos and art, is replaced for each event. For smaller venues and events, the UFC often uses a smaller cage, which is only across. All competitors fight in approved shorts, without shoes. Tops are only approved for female competitors. Required safety equipment include padded gloves, mouthguard, and protective cups held in place with a jockstrap for males. The open-fingered gloves have at least 1" of padding around the knuckles, (110 to 170 g / 4 to 6 ounces) that allow fingers to grab. To ensure compliance, fighters are checked by a State Athletic Committee official before being allowed to enter the cage/ring. Originally the attire for UFC was very open. Many fighters still chose to wear tight-fitting shorts or boxing-type trunks, while others wore long pants or singlets. Several wore wrestling shoes. Multi-time tournament Champion Royce Gracie wore a Brazilian jiu-jitsu gi in all of his early appearances in UFC (Gracie wore shorts against Matt Hughes at UFC 60), while Art Jimmerson appeared in UFC 1 wearing one standard boxing glove. As of UFC 133 there has been a ban on speedo style shorts after Dennis Hallman wore one in his fight against Brian Ebersole. UFC president Dana White was so furious about the fighter's choice of attire that he awarded an honorary "getting those horrifying shorts off TV as soon as possible" bonus to Ebersole for finishing the fight in the first round, and in following post- fight interviews made it clear that speedo style shorts will no longer be tolerated. On December 2, 2014, the UFC and Reebok held a press conference to announce an exclusive deal for Reebok to become the worldwide outfitter for the UFC, beginning in July 2015. Financial terms of the six-year partnership were not released, but UFC officials said that though the agreement represents the most valuable non-broadcast contract the company has ever signed, the UFC will not directly profit from the new deal. Instead, company execs said the deal is structured so that the "vast majority of the revenue" from the deal – taking out only the costs associated with administering the new program – will be paid directly to UFC fighters. Payment on the new deal was originally expected to be based on the fighter's spot in the official UFC rankings, with the exception of the UFC champions. Fighters ranked No. 1 to 5 would be paid at one level, No. 6 to 10 at a lower level, No. 11 to 15 below that, and unranked fighters at a base rate. The payments would remain consistent regardless of where the athletes' bouts air. In addition to the per-fight rate, fighters would also receive royalty payments representing 20 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness. The royalty program would also include retired fighters and continue in perpetuity. The deal itself was reported to be worth 70 million dollars which was what the fighters would be paid over the next six years which is roughly 260 thousand dollars per UFC fight card. In April 2015, the UFC announced that they scrapped the rankings idea and that payment will be based on the fighter's number of bouts in the octagon, with different tiers (1-5 fights, 6-10 fights, 11-15 fights, and 16-20 fights). Exceptions are made in the event of title fights, with champions and title challengers receiving greater compensation. The kits were revealed on June 30, 2015. All kits feature the fighter's name on the back of the jersey and fighters have the option to choose between a universal kit or a country kit, related to his nationality. There is also a champion kit, designed to be used only by title holders. The new deal meant that beginning with fight week for UFC 189 in Las Vegas, existing sponsors no longer appear on fighter clothing – not only on fight night, but also at all pre-fight media appearances – and in-cage sponsor banners have also eliminated. Fighter camps are outfitted with approved clothing to create a uniform look in athletes' corners. Existing sponsors are still welcome to support UFC fighters. However, third-party logos are no longer allowed on UFC broadcasts, other than title- sponsor slots – similar to those seen with European soccer clubs – that the UFC may eventually sell to "a major, global brand" down the road. Matches may end via: Submission: a fighter clearly taps the mat or his opponent, verbally submits, or clearly communicates being in pain (such as by yelling) to a degree that causes the referee to stop the fight. Also, a technical submission may be called when a fighter either loses consciousness or is on the verge of or suffers serious injury while in a hold., Knockout: a fighter is put into a state of unconsciousness resulting from any legal strike., Technical Knockout (TKO): If the referee decides a fighter cannot continue, the fight is ruled as a technical knockout. Technical knockouts can be classified into three categories:, referee stoppage (the referee ends the fight because one fighter is deemed unable to intelligently defend himself), doctor stoppage (a ring side doctor decides that it is unsafe for one fighter to continue the bout, due to excessive bleeding or physical injuries), corner stoppage (a fighter's cornerman signals defeat for his own fighter), Judges' Decision: Depending on scoring, a match may end as:, unanimous decision (all three judges score a win for fighter A), majority decision (two judges score a win for fighter A, one judge scores a draw), split decision (two judges score a win for fighter A, one judge scores a win for fighter B), technical decision (a fighter is rendered unable to continue as a result of an unintentional illegal element or move, resulting in a decision based on the finished and unfinished rounds if the number of rounds to be judged is sufficient), unanimous draw (all three judges score a draw), majority draw (two judges score a draw, one judge scoring a win), split draw (one judge scores a win for fighter A, one judge scores a win for fighter B, and one judge scores a draw), technical draw (the bout ends in a manner similar to that of a technical decision, with the judges' scores resulting in a draw), Disqualification: a fighter intentionally executes an illegal move that is considered by the referee or opponent to be injurious or significant enough to negatively alter the opponent's performance should the fight continue, resulting in the opponent's victory., Forfeit: a fighter fails to compete or intentionally and prematurely ends the bout for a reason besides injury, resulting in the opponent's victory., No Contest: a fighter is rendered unable to continue or compete effectively as a result of an unintentional illegal element or move and there is not a sufficient number of finished rounds to be judged to make a technical decision viable, or both fighters are rendered unable to continue or compete effectively. Also, a fight may be ruled a no contest if the original outcome of the bout is changed due to unsatisfactory or illegal circumstances, such as a premature stoppage or a fighter's testing positive for banned substances. In the event of a draw, it is not necessary that the fighters' total points be equal (see, e.g., UFC 41 Penn vs. Uno, or UFC 43 Freeman vs. White). However, in a unanimous or split draw, each fighter does score an equal number of win judgments from the three judges (0 or 1, respectively). Additionally, if a title fight ends in a draw, the defending champ retains the title. The ten-point must system is in effect for all UFC fights; three judges score each round and the winner of each receives ten points while the loser receives nine points or fewer (although 10–10 rounds are given in the rare event that a judge feels the rounds was too close to warrant giving one fighter 10 and the other 9.) Scores of 10–8 are typically awarded for dominant rounds and anything more dominant is scored less. 10–7 rounds are very rare. The Nevada State Athletic Commission currently lists the following as fouls: 1. Head-butting 2. Eye-gouging 3. Biting 4. Hair pulling 5. Fish-hooking 6. Groin attacks 7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent (see Fish-hooking) 8. Small joint manipulation 9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head (see Rabbit punch) 10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow (see 12-6 elbow) 11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea 12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh 13. Grabbing the clavicle 14. Kicking to the kidney with the heel 15. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on the head or neck (see Piledriver) 16. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area 17. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent 18. Spitting at an opponent or the referee 19. Engaging in unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent 20. Holding or grabbing the ropes or the fence 21. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area 22. Attacking an opponent on or during the break 23. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee 24. Attacking an opponent after the bell (horn) has sounded the end of a round 25. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee 26. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury 27. Interference by the corner 28. Throwing in the towel during competition 29. Applying any foreign substance to the hair, body, clothing or gloves immediately prior to or during a contest or exhibition that could result in an unfair advantage 30. If the referee has signaled that the opponent has been knocked out, striking an opponent who is helpless as a result of previous blows and so supported by the ring or fenced area that he or she does not fall 31. Striking deliberately at that part of the body over the kidneys 32. Intentionally spitting out the mouthpiece 1. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent (see soccer kick) 2. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent 3. Stomping a grounded opponent When a foul is charged, the referee in their discretion may deduct one or more points as a penalty. If a foul incapacitates a fighter, then the match may end in a disqualification if the foul was intentional, or a no contest if unintentional. If a foul causes a fighter to be unable to continue later in the bout, it ends with a technical decision win to the injured fighter if the injured fighter is ahead on points, otherwise it is a technical draw. After a verbal warning the referee can stop the fighters and stand them up if they reach a stalemate on the ground (where neither are in a dominant position or working towards one). This rule is codified in Nevada as the stand-up rule., If the referee pauses the match, it is resumed with the fighters in their prior positions., Grabbing the cage brings a verbal warning, followed by an attempt by the referee to release the grab by pulling on the grabbing hand. If that attempt fails or if the fighter continues to hold the cage, the referee may charge a foul., Early UFC events disregarded verbal sparring / "trash-talking" during matches. Under unified rules, antics are permitted before events to add to excitement and allow fighters to express themselves, but abusive language during combat is prohibited. UFC 1 – Although the advertising said There Are No Rules, there were in fact some rules: no biting, no eye-gouging and no groin attacks. Fights ended only in the event of a knockout, submission or the corner throwing in the towel. Despite this, the first match in UFC 1 was won by referee stoppage, even though it was not officially recognized as such at the time., UFC 2 – Groin attacks were unbanned. Time limits were dropped ending the need for judges. Modifications to the cage were added (the fence became 5 feet tall but would continually grow in height afterwards and the floor became the canvas that is still used today)., UFC 3 – The referee was officially given the authority to stop a fight in case of a fighter being unable to defend himself. A fighter could not kick if he was wearing shoes. This rule would later be discarded, then changed to 'no kicking with shoes while on the ground' and then reinstated, before finally being discarded., UFC 4 – After tournament alternate Steve Jennum won UFC 3 by winning only one bout, alternates (replacements) were required to win a pre-tournament bout to qualify for the role of an alternate., UFC 5 – The organizers introduced a 30-minute time limit. UFC 5 also saw the first Superfight, a one-off bout between two competitors selected by the organizers with the winner being crowned 'Superfight champion' and having the duty of defending his title at the next UFC., UFC 6 – The referee was given the authority to restart the fight. If two fighters were entangled in a position where there was a lack of action, the referee could stop the fight and restart the competitors on their feet, in their own corner. In UFC 6 they officially adopted the 5-minute extension to the 30-minute rule which had been used in UFC 5., Ultimate Ultimate 1995 – This event was the first to introduce the no fish-hooking rule and to reinstate judges. Time limits were changed to 15 minutes in the quarter-finals, 18 minutes in the semi-finals and 27 minutes in the finals., UFC 8 – Time limits changed to 10 minutes in the first two rounds of the tournament, 15 minutes in the tournament final and Superfight. Time limits would continually change in the later UFC events. Fights could now be decided by a judges decision if the fight reached the end of the time limit. The panel was made up of three judges who simply raised a card with the name of the fighter they considered to be the winner. In this fashion, a draw was not possible since the only two possible outcomes of a decision were 3 to 0 or 2 to 1 in favor of the winner., UFC 9 – To appease local authorities, closed fisted strikes to the head were banned for this event only. The commentators were not aware of this last minute rule that was made to prevent the cancellation of the event due to local political pressures. Referee "Big John" McCarthy made repeated warnings to the fighters to "open the hand" when this rule was violated. However, not one fighter was reprimanded. UFC 9 was also the last UFC event to feature the superfight., Ultimate Ultimate 1996 – This event was the first to introduce the "no grabbing of the fence" rule., UFC 12 – The main tournament split into a heavyweight (over 200 lbs.) and lightweight (200 lbs. and under) division; and the eight-man tournament ceased. Fighters now needed to win only two fights to win the competition. The Heavyweight Champion title (and title bouts) was introduced, replacing the Superfight title (albeit matches were still for a time branded as "Superfights")., UFC 14 – The lightweight division was re-branded middleweight. The wearing of padded gloves, weighing 110 to 170 g (4 to 6 ounces), becomes mandatory. Gloves were to be approved by the UFC. Hair-pulling, groin strikes and kicks to a downed opponent became illegal., UFC 15 – Limits on permissible striking areas were introduced. Headbutts, elbow strikes to the back of the neck and head and small joint manipulation became illegal., UFC 21 – Five minute rounds were introduced, with preliminary bouts consisting of two rounds, regular non-title bouts at three rounds, and title bouts at five rounds. The "ten-point must system" was introduced for scoring fights (identical to the system widely used in boxing)., UFC 28 – The New Jersey State Athletic Control Board sanctions its first UFC event, using the newly developed Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. Major changes to the UFC's rules included barring knee strikes to the head of a downed opponent, elbow strikes to the spine and neck and punches to the back of the neck and head. Limits on permissible ring attire, stringent medical requirements, and regulatory oversight were also introduced. A new weight class system was also introduced. This new set of rules is currently the de facto standard for MMA events held in the U.S. and is still in use by the UFC., UFC 31 – Weight classes are re-aligned to the current standard. Bantamweight moves from 150 to 155 and becomes known as lightweight. Lightweight becomes known as welterweight, middleweight becomes light heavyweight, and a new middleweight class is introduced at 185 pounds. Stools and seconds are first permitted in The Octagon between rounds., UFC 43 – In the event of a stoppage fights restart in the position the fight was stopped., UFC 94 – After an incident where Georges St-Pierre was accused of putting vaseline on his back, corner men were disallowed from bringing vaseline into The Octagon. Petroleum jelly may now only be applied by UFC employed cutmen., UFC 97 – Foot-stomps are banned. (For this event only), UFC 133 – Speedo style trunks are banned., UFC 138 – First 5-round non-title main event. Fights that occur on The Ultimate Fighter are classified as exhibition matches under NSAC sanctioning, and thus do not count toward the professional record of a fighter. Match outcomes also do not need to be immediately posted publicly, which allows for fight results to remain unknown to the public until the airdate of the episode. For two-round matches, if there is a draw after two rounds, an extra five-minute round ("sudden victory") is contested. If the extra round concludes without a stoppage, the judges' decision will be based on that final round. These exhibition matches variably have two or three rounds, depending on the rules used for each season. In most seasons, preliminary matches (before the semi-final bouts) were two rounds; in season two, all matches had three rounds. All matches past the first round use three rounds as per standard UFC bouts. During the finales for each series, the division finals have the standard three rounds, plus a fourth round if the judges score a tie. The UFC currently uses nine different weight classes: Non-title fights have a one-pound leniency. In title fights, the participants must weigh no more than that permitted for the relevant weight division. The Commission may also approve catch weight bouts, subject to their review and discretion. For example, the Commission may still decide to allow the contest the maximum weight allowed is 177 pounds if it feels that the contest would still be fair, safe, and competitive. In addition, there are five weight classes specified in the Unified Rules which the UFC does not currently use: Super Lightweight (165 pounds), Super Welterweight (175 pounds), Super Middleweight (195 pounds), Cruiserweight (225 pounds), and Super Heavyweight (>265 pounds). MMA journalists and fans have criticized the UFC for putting on too many shows and thus diluting the quality of their product. Comedian, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Taekwondo black belt Joe Rogan teams up with play-by-play announcer Jon Anik to provide commentary during broadcasts of most UFC events in the US. For 20 years Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg provided commentary at live events. The "Veteran Voice of the Octagon" is announcer Bruce Buffer. Arianny Celeste, Rachelle Leah, Brittney Palmer, Carly Baker, Vanessa Hanson, Chrissy Blair, Jhenny Andrade, Camila Oliveira, Luciana Andrade, Jamilette Gaxiola, and Red Dela Cruz are Octagon girls. Each fighter is assigned a cutman by the promotion who cares for the fighter before the fight and in between rounds. Jacob "Stitch" Duran was one of the best known cutmen working for the organization. Matches are made by matchmakers, and VP of Talent Relations, Joe Silva and Sean Shelby. UFC fighters are paid per fight, with amounts depending on how well-known the fighters are and how well sponsored a fighter and an event is. Fighters will typically get paid money to fight, called show money, with an additional bonus if they win, called a win bonus. Despite not being officially confirmed by the UFC, Justin Gaethje revealed in January 2019 that headlining an event nets additional $25,000 per fighter. While fighters new to the UFC can make as little as about $10,000 per fight (without a win bonus), more established fighters have made as much as $500,000 to $1 million per fight. Occasionally, fighters will earn more. For example, at UFC 202, Conor McGregor made a reported $3 million, a UFC record for one fight, while his opponent Nate Diaz made a reported $2 million. The combined $5 million made between the fighters was the largest combined fight purse in UFC history. Cash bonuses are also awarded for "Fight of the Night" and "Performance of the Night" (formerly awarded separately as "Knockout of the Night"). The size of these bonuses can sometimes be US$80,000 (but are normally US$50,000). For less well-known fighters, they can be several times larger than the contracted amount for the fight. Contracted amounts generally have to be declared to the state athletic commission; however, the UFC also pays undisclosed locker-room bonuses to fighters. In recent years, UFC fighters' contracts and merchandising rights have been the subject of dispute between fighters (represented by growing the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association) and UFC, which has attempted to defend existing regulations. UFC is contractually bound to offer every fighter three fights per calendar year and if they don't, the organization has to pay the fighter for the lacking fights. In example, if the UFC offers a fighter only one fight during the year, they have to pay the fighter for two additional fights. However, if a fight is offered but turned down by the fighter, it is still counted as an offered fight from the contractual viewpoint. Fox UFC (until 2018), UFC All Access, UFC Connected, UFC Primetime, UFC Tonight, UFC Ultimate Insider, UFC Unleashed, The Ultimate Fighter, Friends Season 3, Episode 24 "The One with the Ultimate Fighting Champion" is based around the UFC and features Jon Favreau as Pete Becker, Monica's millionaire boyfriend who seeks to become the "Ultimate Fighting Champion," losing his first fight due to his opponent "standing on [his] neck," and the second to a man who "Trains by traveling to Iran and pulling the arms off of thieves." In his third fight Pete loses to a fighter who "goes for his favorite area," causing Ross to note Pete can no longer have kids. UFC: Ultimate Beat Downs, Vol. 1, an album of music featured in and inspired by the UFC. Ultimate Fighting Championship (Dreamcast and PlayStation), (Xbox), (GameCube, PlayStation 2), (Xbox), (PlayStation 2), UFC 2009 Undisputed (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360), UFC Undisputed 2010 (PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iPod Touch, iPad, iPhone), UFC Personal Trainer (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii), UFC Undisputed 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360), EA Sports UFC (PlayStation 4, Xbox One), EA Sports UFC 2 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One), EA Sports UFC 3 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One) In January 2007, Zuffa and video game developer/publisher THQ announced a license agreement giving THQ worldwide rights to develop titles under the UFC brand. The agreement gives THQ exclusive rights to current and next-generation consoles as well as to PC and handheld titles. Also included are "certain wireless rights" which were not detailed. The licensing agreement was set to expire in 2011, although it appeared to have been extended to 2017. On June 6, 2012, during the E3 Exhibition, THQ had announced that they will be giving the license of UFC Undisputed to EA. The first UFC action figure collectibles were released by Round 5 Corporation in May 2008. Series one of their figures includes Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, and Randy Couture. Series two (released on November 10, 2008) includes Wanderlei Silva, Sean Sherk, Rich Franklin, and Anderson Silva. In July 2009, Round 5 acquired the UFC license through Jakks Pacific and subsequently released 5 more series under the UFC and Pride brands. 2 packs were released in August 2010 and includes a UFC Octagon cage and Pride ring display stand. Limited edition versions include fabric walk out tees or paint variations and are limited in number with foil and holographic packaging variances. Special edition and exclusive versions have been released at various UFC Fan Expo events. On June 10, 2008, it was announced that UFC had signed an exclusive four-year contract with Jakks Pacific to create action figures for UFC. the schedule envisages the release of these figures in November 2009. They have currently been 8 series released and they feature special Legends, Pride, and WEC style figures as well. Three 2 packs series have also been released, as well as several expo and internet exclusives. There are also several different octagon cage playsets that have been released, including the "Octagon Playset", "Official Scale Octagon Playset", and "Electronic Reaction Octagon Playset". A Pridestyle ring playset was also originally planned; however, no news have been given on its status or release date since then. Jakks Pacific UFC Deluxe Figure Lineups: Series 0: Royce Gracie (Legends Packaging), Brock Lesnar, Frank Mir, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Houston Alexander, Kendall Grove, Miguel Angel Torres (WEC Packaging), Series 1: Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, Forrest Griffin, Michael Bisping, Evan Tanner (Legends Packaging), Kevin Randleman (Pride Packaging), Cheick Kongo, Mike Swick, Series 2: Nate Marquardt, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, Mike Thomas Brown (WEC Packaging), Bas Rutten (unreleased in this series, moved to series 6), Georges St-Pierre (unreleased in this series, moved to series 6), Lyoto Machida (unreleased in this series, moved to series 5), Quinton Jackson (unreleased in this series, moved to series 8), Thiago Alves (unreleased in this series, moved to series 6), Series 3: Chuck Liddell (Legends Packaging), Karo Parisyan, B.J. Penn, Jon Fitch, Mark Coleman (Legends Packaging), Thiago Silva, Maurício Rua (Pride Packaging), Series 4: Wanderlei Silva, Sean Sherk, Rich Franklin, Matt Hughes, Kimbo Slice, Jamie Varner (WEC Packaging), Don Frye (Legends Packaging), Andrei Arlovski (unreleased in this series, later released in series 7), Series 5: Lyoto Machida (1 of 100 inserts were also released randomly and contained a special die cast version of the UFC belt), Quinton Jackson (Pride Packaging), Matt Hamill, Dan Severn (Legends), Kenny Florian, Matt Serra, Stephan Bonnar, Series 6: Thiago Alves, Randy Couture (unreleased, was originally supposed to be a 1 of 100 inserts that was to be released randomly and contain a special die cast version of the UFC belt), Georges St-Pierre, Clay Guida, Frank Mir, Tito Ortiz, Jens Pulver (WEC Packaging), Bas Rutten (Legends), Series 7 (if bought at Target, each of them, except for Nogueira, also came with a replica UFC event mini-poster): B.J. Penn (Legends Packaging), Anderson Silva, Andrei Arlovski, Forrest Griffin (Legends Packaging), Diego Sanchez, Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira (Pride Packaging, 1 of 100 inserts were also released randomly and contained a special die cast version of the Pride belt), Series 8: Matt Hughes (Legends Packaging), Chuck Liddell (Pride Packaging), Frankie Edgar (1 of 100 inserts were also released randomly and contained a special die cast version of the UFC belt), Nate Diaz, Quinton Jackson Jakks Pacific UFC Deluxe 2 Packs Figures Lineups: Series 1: Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva, Frank Mir vs. Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin, Series 2: Lyoto Machida vs. Shogun Rua, Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes, Randy Couture vs. Chuck Liddell (was supposed to be canceled due to copyright issues; however, 1,000 packs managed to make it to several K-Mart stores), Series 3: Chuck Liddell vs. Tito Ortiz, B.J. Penn vs. Kenny Florian, Dan Severn vs. Royce Gracie (Legends Packaging), Expos Exclusives: Georges St-Pierre (Boston Expo 2010, 1 of 500), Ringside Collectibles Internet Exclusives: Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar: The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 Final, Dana White, Quinton Rampage Jackson 1 of 1000 Every pay-per-view UFC event has been released onto DVD. UFC 23 through UFC 29 were not released in the US on home video or DVD by SEG. They have since been released onto boxsets which feature around 10 events each set, in chronological order. UFC on-demand content launched for Xbox 360 on December 20, 2011. Subscribers are able to view pay-per-view events in high definition, connect with friends to predict fight results, and have the ability to compare fighter statistics and records. The UFC Fight Pass application was also planned for PlayStation 4 in early 2015. The UFC's PPV events are broadcast live on Pay-per-view in the USA and BT Sport in the UK. Events are broadcast live on Fighting Sports Network in Pay TV (Cable and Satellite) of SKY Satellite. Free TV Channels in Mexico, Fox Sports 2 and Fox Premium in Pay TV (Cable and Satellite) Central America are broadcast with tape-delay. In Brazil, events are broadcast live on Combate Channel from Globosat. Rede Globo's are broadcast tape-delayed from 12:00 am. In Southeast Asia (exclude the Philippines), Hong Kong, and Papua New Guinea, UFC events are broadcast on Fox Movies Premium (2012-2013) and Fox Sports (2013-now). In India, events are broadcast on Sony Six. In the Philippines, UFC was also aired on Balls (now ABS-CBN Sports + Action HD) from 2009 until 2015, since moved to Sports5 (including TV5, AksyonTV and Hyper on Channel 91 (SD) and 261 (HD) via Cignal) starting January 3, 2016 until December 31, 2018. In Indonesia, UFC events are currently broadcast on tvOne starting January 15, 2018; previously, this events was also broadcast on RCTI, iNews since 2012 until the end of 2017. Starting Aprll 13 2019 UFC's event will be broadcast on Abu Dhabi Media. List of UFC champions, List of UFC events, List of current UFC fighters, List of UFC bonus award recipients, List of current mixed martial arts champions, UFC Fight Pass Mixed martial arts weight classes are weight classes that pertain to the sport of mixed martial arts. Prior to state sanctioning, weight classes were not mandatory since the competitions were held without the approval of the athletic commissions. For instance, the Ultimate Fighting Championship introduced two weight classes at UFC 12: heavyweight, which grouped competitors above 200 lb (91 kg), and lightweight, which grouped competitors under 200 lb. Weight divisions underwent many changes in the ensuing years, but the ability of promotions to autonomously decide their own weight classes eventually disappeared after athletic commissions began supervising mixed martial arts. In 2000, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were codified by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. The California State Athletic Commission had worked extensively on regulation, but their sanctioning of MMA was not implemented due to state governmental issues surrounding the process. California officially sanctioned MMA on December 28, 2005, using the ruleset it helped devise five years previously. Since then, to create uniformity, all state commissions in the United States that regulate mixed martial arts have assimilated these rules into their existing unarmed combat competition rules and statutes. For a promotion to hold mixed martial arts events in a state- sanctioned venue, the promotion must abide by the state athletic commission's body of rules for weight limits. The Unified Rules designate limits for fourteen different weight classes in mixed martial arts; all definitions and measurements are in pounds. The strawweight class was added in 2015. The super lightweight, super welterweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight classes were added in July 2017. With no state or government laws regarding weight class restrictions, organizations in other countries are free to schedule bouts with little regard for weight differential. However, due to the increasingly competitive and international nature of the sport, weight limits have been set by the promotions themselves usually in alignment with the Unified Rules, as maintaining standard weight classes is seen as fair and standard for all competitors. Weight limits in women's MMA mostly follow the Unified Rules' limits, but organizations that recognize women's championships usually only have titles at the lower end of the table. UFC, for example, recognizes women's titles in the strawweight, flyweight, bantamweight and featherweight classes. Some organizations that recognize women's championships also sanction a separate atomweight title with a limit. Weight class (boxing), Kickboxing weight classes, Taekwondo weight classes, Wrestling weight classes

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A world war is "a war engaged in by all or most of the principal nations of the world". While a variety of global conflicts have been subjectively deemed "world wars", such as the Cold War and the War on Terror, the term is widely and usually accepted only as it is retrospectively applied to two major international conflicts that occurred during the 20th century: World WarI (1914–18) and World WarII (1939–45). The Oxford English Dictionary cited the first known usage in the English language to a Scottish newspaper, The People's Journal, in 1848: "A war among the great powers is now necessarily a world-war." The term "world war" is used by Karl Marx and his associate, Friedrich Engels, in a series of articles published around 1850 called The Class Struggles in France. Rasmus B. Anderson in 1889 described an episode in Teutonic mythology as a "world war" (Swedish: världskrig), justifying this description by a line in an Old Norse epic poem, "Völuspá: folcvig fyrst i heimi" ("The first great war in the world".) German writer August Wilhelm Otto Niemann had used the term "world war" in the title of his anti-British novel, Der Weltkrieg: Deutsche Träume (The World War: German Dreams) in 1904, published in English as The Coming Conquest of England. The term "First World War" was first used in September 1914 by German biologist and philosopher Ernst Haeckel, who claimed that "there is no doubt that the course and character of the feared 'European War' ... will become the first world war in the full sense of the word," citing a wire service report in The Indianapolis Star on 20 September 1914. In English, the term "First World War" had been used by Charles à Court Repington, as a title for his memoirs (published in 1920); he had noted his discussion on the matter with a Major Johnstone of Harvard University in his diary entry of September 10, 1918. The term "World War I" was coined by Time magazine on page 28b of its June 12, 1939 issue. In the same article, on page 32, the term "World WarII" was first used speculatively to describe the upcoming war. The first use for the actual war came in its issue of September 11, 1939. One week earlier, on September 4, the day after France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany, the Danish newspaper Kristeligt Dagblad used the term on its front page, saying "The Second World War broke out yesterday at 11 a.m." Speculative fiction authors had been noting the concept of a Second World War in 1919 and 1920, when Milo Hastings wrote his dystopian novel, City of Endless Night. Other languages have also adopted the "world war" terminology, for example; in French: "world war" is translated as guerre mondiale, in German: Weltkrieg (which, prior to the war, had been used in the more abstract meaning of a global conflict), in Italian: guerra mondiale, in Spanish and Portuguese: guerra mundial, in Danish and Norwegian: verdenskrig, and in Russian: мировая война (mirovaya voyna.) World War I occurred from 1914 to 1919. In terms of human technological history, the scale of World WarI was enabled by the technological advances of the second industrial revolution and the resulting globalization that allowed global power projection and mass production of military hardware. It had been recognized that the complex system of opposing military alliances (the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires against the British, Russian, and French Empires) was likely to lead to a worldwide conflict if a war broke out. Due to this fact, a very minute conflict between two countries had the potential to set off a domino effect of alliances, triggering a world war. The fact that the powers involved had large overseas empires virtually guaranteed that such a war would be worldwide, as the colonies' resources would be a crucial strategic factor. The same strategic considerations also ensured that the combatants would strike at each other's colonies, thus spreading the wars far more widely than those of pre-Columbian times. War crimes were perpetrated in World War I. Chemical weapons were used in the First World War despite the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 having outlawed the use of such weapons in warfare. The Ottoman Empire was responsible for the Armenian genocide—the murder of more than 1,000,000 Armenians during the First World War—and the other late Ottoman genocides. The Second World War occurred from 1939 to 1945 and is the only conflict in which nuclear weapons have been used. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in Japan, were devastated by atomic bombs dropped by the United States. Nazi Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, was responsible for genocides, most notably the Holocaust, the killing of 6,000,000 Jews and 5,000,000 others persecuted by the Nazis including Romani people and homosexuals. The United States, the Soviet Union, and Canada deported and interned minority groups within their own borders, and largely because of the conflict, many ethnic Germans were later expelled from Eastern Europe. Japan was responsible for attacking neutral nations without a declaration of war, such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is also known for its brutal treatment and killing of Allied prisoners of war and the inhabitants of Asia. It also used Asians as forced laborers and was responsible for the Nanking massacre where 250,000 civilians in the city were brutally murdered by Japanese troops. Non-combatants suffered at least as badly as or worse than combatants, and the distinction between combatants and non-combatants was often blurred by belligerents of total war in both conflicts. The outcome of World War II had a profound effect on the course of world history. The old European empires either collapsed or were dismantled as a direct result of the wars' crushing costs and, in some cases, their fall was due to the defeat of imperial powers. The United States became firmly established as the dominant global superpower, along with its ideological foe, the Soviet Union, in close competition. The two superpowers exerted political influence over most of the world's nation-states for decades after the end of the Second World War. The modern international security, economic, and diplomatic system was created in the aftermath of the wars. Institutions such as the United Nations were established to collectivize international affairs, with the explicit goal of preventing another outbreak of general war. The wars had also greatly changed the course of daily life. Technologies developed during wartime had a profound effect on peacetime life as well, such as by advances in jet aircraft, penicillin, nuclear energy, and electronic computers. Since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War, there has been a widespread and prolonged fear of a potential Third World War between nuclear-armed powers. The Third World War is generally considered a successor to the Second World War and is often suggested to become a nuclear war at some point during the course of said Third World War, devastating in nature and likely much more violent than both the First and Second World Wars; in 1947, Albert Einstein commented that "I know not with what weapons World WarIII will be fought, but World WarIV will be fought with sticks and stones." It has been anticipated and planned for by military and civil authorities and has been explored in fiction in many countries. Concepts have ranged from purely-conventional scenarios, to limited use of nuclear weapons, to the complete destruction of the planet's surface. Various former government officials, politicians, authors, and military leaders (including James Woolsey, Alexandre de Marenches, Eliot Cohen, and Subcomandante Marcos) have attempted to apply the labels of the "Third World War" and "Fourth World War" to various past and present global wars since the closing of the Second World War, for example, the Cold War and the War on Terror, respectively. Among these are former American, French, and Mexican government officials, military leaders, politicians, and authors. Despite their efforts, none of these wars are commonly deemed world wars. Wars described by some historians as "World War Zero" include the Seven Years' War and the onset of the Late Bronze Age collapse. The Second Congo War (1998–2003) involved nine nations and led to ongoing low-intensity warfare despite an official peace and the first democratic elections in 2006. It has often been referred to as "Africa's World War". During the early-21st century the Syrian Civil War and the Iraqi Civil War and their worldwide spillovers are sometimes described as proxy wars waged between the United States and Russia, which led some commentators to characterize the situation as a "proto- world war" with nearly a dozen countries embroiled in two overlapping conflicts. The two world wars of the 20th century had caused unprecedented casualties and destruction across the theaters of conflict. There have been several wars that occurred with as many or more deaths than in the First World War (16,563,868–40,000,000), including: There have been numerous wars spanning two or more continents throughout history, including: Neocolonialism, New Imperialism, Revolutionary wave, List of largest empires, First wave of European colonization, List of military conflicts spanning multiple wars, List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll This is the Fourth World War, an interview with philosopher Jean Baudrillard Anti-German sentiment (also known as Germanophobia or Teutophobia) is defined as an opposition to or fear of Germany, its inhabitants, its culture and the German language. Its opposite is Germanophilia. The sentiment largely began with the mid-19th century unification of Germany, which made the new nation a rival to the Great Powers of Europe on economic, cultural, geopolitical and military grounds. In the 20th century, the role of Germans as the primary perpetrators of the Holocaust and Germany's role in starting two world wars also fed anti-German sentiment amongst Germany's enemy countries and the citizens of those countries. In the 1860s Russia experienced an outbreak of Germanophobia, mainly restricted to a small group of writers in St. Petersburg who had united around a right-wing newspaper. It began in 1864 with the publication of an article by a writer (using the pseudonym "Shedoferotti") who proposed that Poland be given autonomy and that the privileges of the German barons in the Baltic governorates and Finland be preserved. Mikhail Katkov published a harsh criticism of the article in the Moscow News, which in turn caused a flood of angry articles in which Russian writers expressed their irritation with Europeans, some of which featured direct attacks on Germans. The following year, 1865, the 100th anniversary of the death of Mikhail Lomonosov was marked throughout the Russian empire. Articles were published mentioning the difficulties Lomonosov had encountered from the foreign members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, most of whom had been of German descent. The authors then criticized contemporary German scholars for their neglect of the Russian language and for printing articles in foreign languages while receiving funds from the Russian people. It was further suggested by some writers that Russian citizens of German origin who did not speak Russian and follow the Orthodox faith should be considered foreigners. It was also proposed that people of German descent be forbidden from holding diplomatic posts as they might not have "solidarity with respect to Russia". Despite the press campaign against Germans, Germanophobic feelings did not develop in Russia to any widespread extent, and died out, due to the Imperial family's German roots and the presence of many German names in the Russian political elite. Negative comments about Germany had begun to appear in Britain in the 1870s, following the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71. Criticisms were expressed in the press and in the birth of the invasion novel (e.g. The Battle of Dorking), many of which focused on the idea that Britain might be Germany's next victim. These fears were also fueled by the new mass press, which had a huge impact on public opinion. Lord Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliff, who used his Newspapers like "Daily Mail" or "The Times" to rush against Germany, was particularly prominent in this role and influenced the classes and the masses like no one else against Germany. In 1887, the label Made in Germany was introduced, to get British buyers to adhere to the concept of "buying British". After suffering slight losses, German manufacturers soon found the label to be of good use. But it shows another reason for British sentiments against Germany. The British Empire was one of the leading economic powers in the world and didn‘t want to lose its place to Germany. With increasing economic power of the German Empire the Germans were perceived as competitors more and more. In the 1890s there was widespread hostility towards foreigners in Britain, mainly directed against eastern European Jews but also including Germans. Joseph Bannister believed that German residents in Britain were mostly "gambling-house keepers, hotel- porters, barbers, 'bullies', runaway conscripts, bath-attendants, street musicians, criminals, bakers, socialists, cheap clerks, etc". Interviewees for the Royal Commission on Alien Immigration believed that Germans were involved in prostitution and burglary, and many people also viewed Germans working in Britain as threatening the livelihood of Britons by being willing to work for longer hours. Anti-German hostility deepened since early 1896 after the Kruger telegram of Kaiser Wilhelm II, in which he congratulated President Kruger of the Transvaal on resisting the British Jameson Raid. Attacks on Germans in London were reported in the German press at the time but do not appear to have actually occurred. The Saturday Review (London) suggested "be ready to fight Germany, as Germania delenda est" ("Germany is to be destroyed", a reference to the coda against the Carthaginians adopted by Cato the Elder's speeches in the second Roman Republic). The Kaiser's reputation was further degraded by his angry tirade and the Daily Telegraph Affair. In the 19th century the mass influx of German immigrants which made them the largest group of Americans by ancestry today, resulted in nativist reactionary movements not unlike those of the contemporary Western world. These would eventually culminate in 1844 with the establishment of the American Party, which had an openly xenophobic stance. One of many incidents described in a 19th century account included the blocking of a funeral procession in New York by a group who proceeded to hurl insults at the pallbearers. Incidents such as these led to more meetings of Germans who would eventually establish fraternal groups such as the Sons of Hermann in 1840, having been founded as a means to "improve and foster German customs and the spread of benevolence among Germans in the United States". Following the signing of the Entente Cordiale in 1904 between Britain and France, official relationships cooled as did popular attitudes towards Germany and German residents in Britain. A fear of German militarism replaced a previous admiration for German culture and literature. At the same time, journalists produced a stream of articles on the threat posed by Germany. In the Daily Telegraph Affair of 1908–1909, the Kaiser humiliated himself and further soured relations by his intemperate attacks on Britain. In 1894 Alfred Harmsworth commissioned author William Le Queux to write the serial novel The Great War in England in 1897, which featured France and Russia combining forces to crush Britain, who was, with German intervention, able to rally a force to turn the tide. Twelve years later Harmsworth asked him to change sentiment, promising the full support of his formidable advertising capabilities. The result was the bestselling The Invasion of 1910, which originally appeared in serial form in the Daily Mail in 1906 and has been referred to by historians as inducing an atmosphere of paranoia, mass hysteria and Germanophobia that would climax in the Naval Scare of 1908–09. Articles in the Daily Mail regularly advocated anti-German sentiments throughout the 20th century, telling British readers to refuse service at restaurants by Austrian or German waiters on the claim that they were spies and told them that if a German-sounding waiter claimed to be Swiss that they should demand to see the waiter's passport. In 1903 Erskine Childers published The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service a novel in which two Englishmen uncover a plot by Germany to Invade England; it was later made into a 1979 film The Riddle of the Sands. At the same time, conspiracy theories were concocted combining Germanophobia with antisemitism, concerning the supposed foreign control of Britain, some of which blamed Britain's entry into the Boer War on international financiers "chiefly German in origin and Jewish in race". Most of these ideas about German-Jewish conspiracies originated from right-wing figures such as Arnold White, Hilaire Belloc, and Leo Maxse, the latter using his publication the National Review to spread them. In 1914 when the German army invaded neutral Belgium and northern France many thousands of Belgian and French civilians were accused of being francs-tireurs and executed. These acts were used to encourage anti-German sentiments and the Allied Powers produced propaganda depicting Germans as Huns capable of infinite cruelty and violence. In Great Britain, anti-German feeling led to infrequent rioting, assaults on suspected Germans and the looting of stores owned by people with German- sounding names, occasionally even taking on an antisemitic tone. Increasing anti-German hysteria even threw suspicion upon the British royal family. King George V was persuaded to change his German name of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor and relinquish all German titles and styles on behalf of his relatives who were British subjects. Prince Louis of Battenberg was not only forced to change his name to Mountbatten, he was forced to resign as First Sea Lord, the most senior position in the Royal Navy. The German Shepherd breed of dog was renamed to the euphemistic "Alsatian"; the English Kennel Club only re- authorised the use of 'German Shepherd' as an official name in 1977. Attitudes to Germany were not entirely negative among British troops fighting on the Western Front; the British writer Nicholas Shakespeare quotes this statement from a letter written by his grandfather during the First World War in which he says he would rather fight the French and describes German bravery: Robert Graves who, like the King, also had German relatives, wrote shortly after the war during his time at Oxford University as an undergraduate that: In Canada, there was some anti-German sentiment in Germanic communities, including Berlin, Ontario (Kitchener, Ontario) in Waterloo County, Ontario, before and the First World War and some cultural sanctions. There were anti- German riots in Victoria, British Columbia and Calgary, Alberta in the first years of the war. It was this anti-German sentiment that precipitated the Berlin to Kitchener name change in 1916. The city was named after Lord Kitchener, famously pictured on the "Lord Kitchener Wants You" recruiting posters. Several streets in Toronto that had previously been named for Liszt, Humboldt, Schiller, Bismarck, etc., were changed to names with strong British associations, such as Balmoral. The Governor General of Canada, the Duke of Connaught, while visiting Berlin, Ontario, in May 1914, had discussed the importance of Canadians of German ethnicity (regardless of their origin) in a speech: "It is of great interest to me that many of the citizens of Berlin are of German descent. I well know the admirable qualities – the thoroughness, the tenacity, and the loyalty of the great Teutonic Race, to which I am so closely related. I am sure that these inherited qualities will go far in the making of good Canadians and loyal citizens of the British Empire". Some immigrants from Germany who considered themselves Canadians but were not yet citizens, were detained in internment camps during the War. In fact, by 1919 most of the population of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Elmira in Waterloo County, Ontario, were Canadian. The German-speaking Mennonites were pacifist so they could not enlist and the few who had immigrated from Germany (not born in Canada) could not morally fight against a country that was a significant part of their heritage. News reports during the war years indicate that "A Lutheran minister was pulled out of his house ... he was dragged through the streets. German clubs were ransacked through the course of the war. It was just a really nasty time period.". Someone stole the bust of Kaiser Wilhelm from Victoria Park; soldiers vandalized German stores. History professor Mark Humphries summarized the situation: A document in the Archives of Canada makes the following comment: "Although ludicrous to modern eyes, the whole issue of a name for Berlin highlights the effects that fear, hatred and nationalism can have upon a society in the face of war." Internment camps across Canada opened in 1915 and 8,579 "enemy aliens" were held there until the end of the war; many were German speaking immigrants from Austria, Hungary, Germany, and Ukraine. Only 3,138 were classed as prisoners of war; the rest were civilians. Built in 1926, the Waterloo Pioneer Memorial Tower in rural Kitchener, Ontario, commemorates the settlement by the Pennsylvania Dutch (actually Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch or German) of the Grand River area in the 1800s in what later became Waterloo County, Ontario. In Australia, an official proclamation of 10 August 1914 required all German citizens to register their domiciles at the nearest police station and to notify authorities of any change of address. Under the later Aliens Restriction Order of 27 May 1915, enemy aliens who had not been interned had to report to the police once a week and could only change address with official permission. An amendment to the Restriction Order in July 1915 prohibited enemy aliens and naturalized subjects from changing their name or the name of any business they ran. Under the War Precautions Act of 1914 (which survived the First World War), publication of German language material was prohibited and schools attached to Lutheran churches were forced to abandon German as the language of teaching or were closed by the authorities. German clubs and associations were also closed. The original German names of settlements and streets were officially changed. In South Australia, Grunthal became Verdun and Krichauff became Beatty. In New South Wales Germantown became Holbrook after the submarine commander Norman Douglas Holbrook. This pressure was strongest in South Australia where 69 towns changed their names, including Petersburg, South Australia, which became Peterborough (see Australian place names changed from German names). Most of the anti-German feeling was created by the press that tried to create the idea that all those of German birth or descent supported Germany uncritically. A booklet circulated widely in 1915 claimed that "there were over 3,000 German spies scattered throughout the states". Anti-German propaganda was also inspired by local and British companies who were keen to take the opportunity to eliminate Germany as a competitor in the Australian market. Germans in Australia were increasingly portrayed as evil by the very nature of their origins. After the revelation of the Zimmermann Telegram partly sparked the American declaration of war against Imperial Germany in April 1917, German Americans were sometimes accused of being too sympathetic to Germany. Former president Theodore Roosevelt denounced "hyphenated Americanism", insisting that dual loyalties were impossible in wartime. A small minority came out for Germany, or ridiculed the British (as did H. L. Mencken). Similarly, Harvard psychology professor Hugo Münsterberg dropped his efforts to mediate between America and Germany, and threw his efforts behind the German cause. The Justice Department attempted to prepare a list of all German aliens, counting approximately 480,000 of them, more than 4,000 of whom were imprisoned in 1917–18. The allegations included spying for Germany, or endorsing the German war effort. Thousands were forced to buy war bonds to show their loyalty. The Red Cross barred individuals with German last names from joining in fear of sabotage. One person was killed by a mob; in Collinsville, Illinois, German-born Robert Prager was dragged from jail as a suspected spy and lynched. When the United States entered the war in 1917, some German Americans were looked upon with suspicion and attacked regarding their loyalty. Some aliens were convicted and imprisoned on charges of sedition, for refusing to swear allegiance to the United States war effort. In Chicago, Frederick Stock was forced to step down as conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra until he finalized his naturalization papers. Orchestras replaced music by German composer Wagner with French composer Berlioz. In Nashville, Tennessee, Luke Lea, the publisher of The Tennessean, together with "political associates", "conspired unsuccessfully to have the German-born Major Stahlman declared an "alien enemy" after World War I began." Stahlman was the publisher of a competing newspaper, the Nashville Banner. The town, Berlin, Michigan, was renamed Marne, Michigan (in honor of those who fought in the Battle of the Marne). The town of Berlin, Shelby County Ohio changed its name to its original name of Fort Loramie, Ohio. The city of Germantown in Shelby County Tennessee temporarily changed its name to Neshoba during the war. German street names in many cities were changed. German and Berlin streets in Cincinnati became English and Woodward. In Chicago Lubeck, Frankfort, and Hamburg Streets were renamed Dickens, Charleston, and Shakespeare Streets. In New Orleans, Berlin Street was renamed in honor of General Pershing, head of the American Expeditionary Force. In Indianapolis, Bismarck Avenue and Germania Street were renamed Pershing Avenue and Belleview Street, respectively in 1917, Brooklyn’s Hamburg Avenue was renamed Wilson Avenue. Many businesses changed their names. In Chicago, German Hospital became Grant Hospital; likewise the German Dispensary and the German Hospital in New York City were renamed Lenox Hill Hospital and Wyckoff Heights Hospital respectively. In New York, the giant Germania Life Insurance Company became Guardian. At the US Customs House in Lower Manhattan, the word "Germany" which was on a shield that one of the building’s many figures was holding was chiseled over. Many schools stopped teaching German-language classes. The City College of New York continued to teach German courses, but reduced the number of credits that students could receive for them. Books published in German were removed from libraries or even burned. In Cincinnati, the public library was asked to withdraw all German books from its shelves. In Iowa, in the 1918 Babel Proclamation, the governor prohibited all foreign languages in schools and public places. Nebraska banned instruction in any language except English, but the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the ban was illegal in 1923 (Meyer v. Nebraska). Some words of German origin were changed, at least temporarily. Sauerkraut came to be called "liberty cabbage", German measles became "liberty measles", hamburgers became "liberty sandwiches" and dachshunds became "liberty pups". In parallel with these changes, many German Americans elected to Americanize their names (e.g. Schmidt to Smith, Müller to Miller) and limit the use of the German language in public places, especially in churches. Ethnic German Medal of Honor winners were American USAAS ace pilots Edward Rickenbacker and Frank Luke; German-ethnicity DSC winners who also served with the USAAS in Europe included Joseph Frank Wehner and Karl John Schoen. In 1940 the Ministry of Information launched an "Anger Campaign" to instill "personal anger ... against the German people and Germany", because the British were "harbouring little sense of real personal animus against the average German". This was done to strengthen British resolve against the Germans. Sir Robert Vansittart, the Foreign Office's chief diplomatic advisor until 1941, gave a series of radio broadcasts in which he said that Germany was a nation raised on "envy, self-pity and cruelty" whose historical development had "prepared the ground for Nazism" and that it was Nazism that had "finally given expression to the blackness of the German soul". The British Institute of Public Opinion (BIPO) tracked the evolution of anti- German/anti-Nazi feeling in Britain, asking the public, via a series of opinion polls conducted from 1939 to 1943, whether "the chief enemy of Britain was the German people or the Nazi government". In 1939 only 6% of respondents held the German people responsible; however, following the Blitz and the "Anger Campaign" in 1940, this increased to 50%. This subsequently declined to 41% by 1943. It also was reported by Home Intelligence in 1942 that there was some criticism of the official attitude of hatred towards Germany on the grounds that "England ought to be a civilising influence" and that such hatred might hinder the possibility of a reasonable settlement following the war. This attitude was expanded upon by J.R.R. Tolkien. In 1944, he wrote in a letter to his son Christopher: [I]t is distressing to see the press grovelling in the gutter as low as Goebbels in his prime, shrieking that any German commander who holds out in a desperate situation (when, too, the military needs of his side clearly benefit) is a drunkard, and a besotted fanatic. ... There was a solemn article in the local paper seriously advocating systematic exterminating of the entire German nation as the only proper course after military victory: because, if you please, they are rattlesnakes, and don't know the difference between good and evil! (What of the writer?) The Germans have just as much right to declare the Poles and Jews exterminable vermin, subhuman, as we have to select the Germans: in other words, no right, whatever they have done. In the same year Mass Observation asked its observers to analyse the British people's private opinions of the German people and it found that 54% of the British population was "pro-German", in that it expressed sympathy for the German people and stated that the war was "not their fault". This tolerance of the German people as opposed to the Nazi regime increased as the war progressed. In 1943 Mass Observation established the fact that up to 60% of the British people maintained a distinction between Germans and Nazis, with only 20% or so expressing any "hatred, vindictiveness, or need for retribution". The British film propaganda of the period similarly maintained the division between Nazi supporters and the German people. Between 1931 and 1940, 114,000 Germans and thousands of Austrians moved to the United States, many of whom — including, e.g., Nobel prize winner Albert Einstein, Lion Feuchtwanger, Bertold Brecht, Henry Kissinger, Arnold Schönberg, Hanns Eisler and Thomas Mann — were either Jewish Germans or anti- Nazis fleeing Nazi oppression. About 25,000 people became paying members of the pro-Nazi German American Bund during the years before the war. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 required 300,000 German-born resident aliens who had German citizenship to register with the Federal government and restricted their travel and property ownership rights. Under the still active Alien Enemy Act of 1798, the United States government interned nearly 11,000 German citizens between 1940 and 1948. An unknown number of "voluntary internees" joined their spouses and parents in the camps and were not permitted to leave. With the war ongoing in Europe but the U.S. neutral, a massive defense buildup took place, requiring many new hires. Private companies sometimes refused to hire any non-citizen, or American citizens of German or Italian ancestry. This threatened the morale of loyal Americans. President Franklin Roosevelt considered this "stupid" and "unjust". In June 1941 he issued Executive Order 8802 and set up the Fair Employment Practice Committee, which also protected blacks. President Roosevelt sought out Americans of German ancestry for top war jobs, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, and General Carl Andrew Spaatz. He appointed Republican Wendell Willkie as a personal representative. German Americans who had fluent German language skills were an important asset to wartime intelligence, and they served as translators and as spies for the United States. The war evoked strong pro- American patriotic sentiments among German Americans, few of whom by then had contacts with distant relatives in the old country. The October 1939 seizure by the German pocket battleship Deutschland of the US freighter SS City of Flint, as it had 4000 tons of oil for Britain on board, provoked much anti- German sentiment in the US. Following its entry into the War against Nazi Germany on 11 December 1941, the US Government interned a number of German and Italian citizens as enemy aliens. The exact number of German and Italian internees is a subject of debate. In some cases their American-born family members volunteered to accompany them to internment camps in order to keep the family unit together. The last to be released remained in custody until 1948. In 1944, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. put forward the strongest proposal for punishing Germany to the Second Quebec Conference. It became known as the Morgenthau Plan, and was intended to prevent Germany from having the industrial base to start another world war. However this plan was shelved quickly, the Western Allies did not seek reparations for war damage, and the United States implemented the Marshall Plan that was intended to and did help West Germany's post war recovery to its former position as a pre- eminent industrial nation. After Brazil's entry into the war on the Allied side in 1942, anti-German riots broke out in nearly every city in Brazil in which Germans were not the majority population. German factories, including the Suerdick cigar factory in Bahia, shops, and hotels were destroyed by mobs. The largest demonstrations took place in Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul. Brazilian police persecuted and interned "subjects of the Axis powers" in internment camps similar to those used by the US to intern Japanese-Americans. Following the war, German schools were not reopened, the German-language press disappeared completely, and use of the German language became restricted to the home and the older generation of immigrants. There was also anti-German sentiment in Canada during World War II. Under the War Measures Act, some 26 POW camps opened and were filled with those who had been born in Germany, Italy, and particularly in Japan, if they were deemed to be "enemy aliens". For Germans, this applied especially to single males who had some association with the Nazi Party of Canada. No compensation was paid to them after the war. In Ontario, the largest internment centre for German Canadians was at Camp Petawawa, housing 750 who had been born in Germany and Austria. Although some residents of internment camps were Germans who had already immigrated to Canada, the majority of Germans in such camps were from Europe; most were prisoners of war. On 25 July 1937 NKVD Order No. 00439 led to the arrest of 55,005 German citizens and former citizens in the Soviet Union, of whom 41,898 were sentenced to death. Later during the war Germans were suggested to be used for forced labour. The Soviet Union began deporting ethnic Germans in their territories and using them for forced labour. By 1950 most deportees had returned home. In state-sponsored genocides by the German Reich, millions of people were murdered by Germans during WWII. It made families and friends of the victims anti-German. American General George S. Patton complained that the U.S. policy of denazification following Germany's surrender harmed American interests and was motivated simply by hatred of the defeated German people. Reprisal action soon took place in Europe. Even the speed of West German recovery following the war was seen as ominous by some who suspected the Germans of planning for World War III. In reality many Nazi criminals were unpunished, eg. Heinz Reinefarth, Wola massacre author. Many Nazis worked for the USA as scientists (Wernher von Braun) or intelligence officers (Reinhard Gehlen). Nakam was a group of about fifty Holocaust survivors who, in 1945, sought to kill Germans and Nazis in revenge for the murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust. After WWII ended, about 11 million to 12 million Germans fled or were expelled from Germany's former eastern provinces or migrated from other countries to what remained of Germany, the largest transfer of a single European population in modern history. Estimates of the total number of dead range from 500,000 to 2,000,000, where the higher figures include "unsolved cases" of persons reported missing and presumed dead. Many German civilians were sent to internment and labor camps, where they died. Salomon Morel and Czesław Gęborski were the commanders of several camps for Germans, Poles and Ukrainians. Rudolph Rummel estimated that 1,585,000 Germans were killed in Poland and another 197,000 Germans were killed in Czechoslovakia. The German- Czech Historians Commission, on the other hand, established a death toll for Czechoslovakia of 15,000–30,000. The events are usually classified as population transfer, or ethnic cleansing. Felix Ermacora, among a minority of legal scholars, equated ethnic cleansing with genocide, and stated that the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans therefore constituted genocide. Norway persecuted children of German soldiers and their mothers. In many Allied countries, Germans were used as forced laborers after 1945. Some of these laborers, depending on the country, were either prisoners of war or ethnic German civilians. Before the rise of Hitler and the NSDAP (1920s to 1933), many but not all Central and Eastern European Jews tended to be pro-German. German Jews were deeply integrated into the country's culture, and many of them had fought with distinction in the First World War German Army. Jews in the Czech lands tended to adopt the German language and culture in place of Slavic languages (Kafka was a conspicuous example), and a similar phenomenon was evident in other parts of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire but not all. Theodore Herzl, the founding father of Zionism, spoke and wrote German and in his utopian book Altneuland he depicted the future Jewish state as German-speaking. However, throughout Eastern Europe, Jews spoke Yiddish, and wrote it in Hebrew script, thus keeping some distance from German culture. Pro-German attitudes suffered an extremely painful rupture and a complete reversal due to the persecutions and atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, culminating in the systematic genocide of the Holocaust. In the first decades of Israel's existence, anti- German feelings were strong and dominant in Israeli society. There was a widespread cultural and commercial boycott of all things German (and often, Austrian as well) and a determination "never to set foot on German soil". German Jews in Israel, themselves refugees from the Nazi persecutions, came under strong social pressure to cease using German, their mother language. During the 1940s, the words "German" and "Nazi" were used interchangeably. (Until the late 1990s, the sign language of Israeli deaf communities used the Swastika as the sign for "German".) There was a widespread scepticism about the possibility of "another Germany" ever emerging; specifically, there was suspicion about Konrad Adenauer's claim to be involved in the creation of a new, democratic Germany. Many Israelis took up the Soviet claims made in the early years of the Cold War that West Germany was a "fascist state" in which ex-Nazis held key positions. The Reparations Agreement with West Germany, signed by the David Ben-Gurion government in 1952, was the focus of intense political controversy, and the protest demonstrations led by then opposition leader Menachem Begin turned into pitched battles with the police. In the early 1960s, the Eichmann Trial brought the horrors and traumas of the Holocaust to the center of public consciousness. The establishment of diplomatic relations between Israel and West Germany in 1966 entailed a new wave of protests and demonstrations, though less violent than those of 1952. Since the late 1960s, there has been a clear, though gradual, process of rapprochement between Israelis and Germans in all spheres: diplomatic, commercial and cultural. The 1967 Six-Day War realigned Israeli politics, with the issue of occupied territories henceforth defining what is "right wing" and "left wing"; one result was that militant Israeli nationalism tended to be anti-Arab rather than anti-German. When Begin became Israel's Prime Minister in 1977, he had little option but to take up the maintenance of already very extensive ties with Germany, to whose creation he had been fiercely opposed as an opposition leader. The German government of the time managed, however, to assuage Israeli feelings by providing the Israeli Navy with three advanced submarines, which, according to repeated reports in the international press, were used to mount nuclear missiles and provide Israel with a second strike capacity. These Dolphin class submarines replaced the obsolete 1970s Gal-class submarines, and are some of the most modern submarines in the world. Two submarines were given outright by Germany, and Israel paid for half of the third. In the 21st century, the long debate about whether the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra should play the works of Richard Wagner is mostly considered as a remnant of the past. In March 2008, German Chancellor Angela Merkel became the first foreign head of government invited to deliver a speech in the Israeli parliament, which she gave in the German language. Several members of parliament did leave in protest during the speech, claiming the need to create a collective memory that "will create a kind of electric wave when Jews will hear the sounds of the German language, they'll remember the Holocaust". In an October 2008 interview, researcher Hanan Bar (חנן בר) summed up the ambiguous Israeli attitude to Germany: "If the average Israeli happens to see a football match between Germany and Holland [sic], he would automatically root for the Dutch. But the same person, when buying a washing machine, would prefer a German model, considering it to be the best". In Australia, the outbreak of World War I was greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the nation pledged its support alongside other states of the British Empire and almost immediately began preparations to send forces overseas to engage in the conflict. The first campaign that Australians were involved in was in German New Guinea after a hastily raised force known as the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was dispatched from Australia to seize German possessions in the Pacific in September 1914. At the same time another expeditionary force, initially consisting of 20,000 men and known as the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF), was raised for service overseas. The AIF departed Australia in November 1914 and, after several delays due to the presence of German naval vessels in the Indian Ocean, arrived in Egypt, where they were initially used to defend the Suez Canal. In early 1915, however, it was decided to carry out an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula with the goal of opening up a second front and securing the passage of the Dardanelles. The Australians and New Zealanders, grouped together as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), went ashore on 25 April 1915 and for the next eight months the Anzacs, alongside their British, French and other allies, fought a costly and ultimately unsuccessful campaign against the Turks. The force was evacuated from the peninsula in December 1915 and returned to Egypt, where the AIF was expanded. In early 1916 it was decided that the infantry divisions would be sent to France, where they took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front. Most of the light horse units remained in the Middle East until the end of the war, carrying out further operations against the Turks in Egypt and Palestine. Small numbers of Australians served in other theatres of war. While the main focus of the Australian military's effort was the ground war, air and naval forces were also committed. Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps served in the Middle East and on the Western Front, while elements of the Royal Australian Navy carried out operations in the Atlantic, North Sea, Adriatic and Black Sea, as well as the Pacific and Indian Oceans. By the end of the war, Australians were far more circumspect. The nation's involvement cost more than 60,000 Australian lives and many more were left unable to work as a result of their injuries. The impact of the war was felt in many other areas as well. Financially it was very costly, while the effect on the social and political landscape was considerable and threatened to cause serious divides in the nation's social fabric. Conscription was possibly the most contentious issue and ultimately, despite having conscription for home service, Australia was one of only three combatants not to use conscripts in the fighting. Nevertheless, for many Australians the nation's involvement in World War I and the Gallipoli campaign was seen as a symbol of its emergence as an international actor, while many of the notions of the Australian character and nationhood that exist today have their origins in the war, and Anzac Day is commemorated as a national holiday. On 30 July 1914, the British government informed the Australian government via an encoded telegram that a declaration of war was likely. The message came during the lead-up to the 1914 federal election, meaning parliament was not in session and key political figures were spread around the country campaigning. Prime Minister Joseph Cook spoke at Horsham, Victoria, on 31 July, telling an election meeting to "remember that when the Empire is at war, so is Australia at war [...] all our resources in Australia are in the Empire and for the Empire and for the preservation and security of the Empire". On the same day, Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher was speaking at Colac, Victoria, and promised that "Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling". An emergency cabinet meeting – at which only five out of ten ministers were present – was convened in Melbourne on 3 August, with the government deciding that it would offer to send an expeditionary force of 20,000 men. The United Kingdom declared war on 4 August at 11 p.m. (5 August at 8 a.m. Melbourne time), and Australia and the other Dominions were considered to be "automatically" at war as well. At 12:45 p.m. on 5 August, Cook announced to the press in his office that "I have received the following despatch from the Imperial government: 'war has broken out in Germany'". Given the predominantly British heritage of most Australians at the time, there was considerable support from all corners of the country and large numbers of young Australian men reported to recruiting centres around the country to enlist in the following months. Within days, plans for an Australian expeditionary force were completed by Brigadier General William Throsby Bridges and his staff officer, Major Cyril Brudenell Bingham White. White proposed a force of 18,000 men (12,000 Australians and 6,000 New Zealanders). This proposal was approved by Prime Minister Cook but he increased the offer to the British to 20,000 men to serve in any destination desired by the Home Government. On 6 August 1914, London cabled its acceptance of the force and asked that it be sent as soon as possible. Recruiting offices opened on 10 August 1914 and by the end of 1914, 52,561 volunteers had been accepted, although strict physical fitness guidelines were put in place. In 1884, Germany had colonised the north eastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. By the outbreak of the war, the Germans had been using the colony as a wireless radio base, and supporting the German East Asia Squadron which threatened merchant shipping in the region. As a consequence, Britain required the wireless installations to be destroyed. Shortly after the outbreak of war—following a request by the British government on 6 August 1914—the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF;) began forming. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru and at Rabaul, New Britain. The AN&MEF; comprised one battalion of infantry (1,023 men) enlisted in Sydney, 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors organised into six companies who would serve as infantry and a further 500 men from the Kennedy Regiment, a Queensland militia battalion that had volunteered for overseas service and had been sent to garrison Thursday Island. Together, these forces were placed under the command of Colonel William Holmes, an officer in the militia who was at the time commander of the 6th Brigade and secretary of the Sydney Water and Sewerage Board. The task force sailed from Sydney on 19 August 1914, and hove to off Port Moresby where they waited for their escorts to arrive. While they were at Port Moresby, Holmes decided to disembark the Queensland militia soldiers due to concerns about their preparedness for action. Escorted by the cruiser Sydney and the battlecruiser Australia, the task force reached Rabaul on 11 September 1914 and found that the port was free of German forces. Sydney and the destroyer landed small parties of naval reservists at the settlements of Kabakaul and the German gubernatorial capital Herbertshöhe on Neu-Pommern, south-east of Rabaul. These parties were reinforced first by sailors from HMAS Warrego and and later by infantry from the transport . A small 25-man force of naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul Bay and continued inland to capture the radio station believed to be in operation at Bita Paka, to the south. The Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the radio station. By nightfall, the radio station was reached and it was found to have been abandoned, the mast dropped but its instruments and machinery intact. During the Battle of Bita Paka six Australians were killed and five wounded, while the defenders lost one German non-commissioned officer (NCO) and about 30 Melanesians killed, and one German and ten Melanesians wounded. Later it was alleged that the heavy losses among the Melanesian troops was the result of the Australians bayoneting all those they had captured during the fighting. As a result of this engagement, Able Seaman W.G.V. Williams became the first Australian fatality of the war. The first Army fatality was a medical officer, Captain B. C. A. Pockley, who died the same day. At nightfall on 12 September, the Berrima landed the AN&MEF; infantry battalion at Rabaul. The following afternoon, although the governor had not yet surrendered the territory, a ceremony was carried out to signal the British occupation of New Britain. The German administration had withdrawn inland to Toma and at dawn on 14 September, and subsequently bombarded a ridge near the town, while half a battalion advanced towards the town supported by a field gun. The show of firepower was sufficient to start negotiations, ending the Siege of Toma following the surrender of the remaining garrison of 40 Germans and 110 native police. The German territory surrendered on 17 September 1914. Although successful the operation was arguably not well managed, and the Australians had been effectively delayed by a half-trained native force. Regardless the Australians had prevailed not least of all because of their unexpected ability to fight in close terrain, while the outflanking of the German positions had unnerved their opponents. The losses of the AN&MEF; were light in the context of later operations but were sufficiently heavy given the relatively modest gain. These losses were further compounded by the unexplained disappearance of the Australian submarine during a patrol off Rabaul on 14 September, with 35 men aboard. Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF; provided occupation forces for the duration of the war. On 9 January 1915, Holmes handed over command of the AN&MEF; to Brigadier General Sir Samuel Pethebridge, the former Secretary of the Department of Defence. Holmes returned to Australia and re-enlisted in the AIF, as did most of his men. They were replaced by the 3rd Battalion, known as the "Tropical Force" because it had been specially enlisted for service in the tropics. Pethebridge established the administrative structures that remained through the period of military occupation. Although required by international law to follow the German forms of government, the territory gradually acquired the appearance of a British colony. At the start of the war, Australia's military forces were focused upon the militia and what Regular forces existed were mostly serving in the artillery or engineers and were assigned in most part to the task of coastal defence. Due to the provisions of the Defence Act 1903, which precluded sending conscripts overseas, upon the outbreak of war it was realised that a totally separate, all volunteer force would need to be raised. This force was known as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The AIF began forming shortly after the outbreak of war and was the brain child of Bridges and White. Upon formation, the AIF consisted of only one infantry division, the 1st Division, and the 1st Light Horse Brigade. The 1st Division was made up of the 1st Infantry Brigade under Colonel Henry MacLaurin; the 2nd, under Colonel James Whiteside McCay, an Australian politician and former Minister for Defence; and the 3rd, under Colonel Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan, a British regular officer seconded to the Australian Army before the war. The 1st Light Horse Brigade was commanded by Colonel Harry Chauvel, an Australian regular, while the divisional artillery was commanded by Colonel Talbot Hobbs. In the early stages of mobilisation the men of the AIF were selected under some of the toughest criterion of any army in World War I and it is believed that roughly 30 per cent of men that applied were rejected on medical grounds. In order to enlist, men had to be aged between 18 and 35 years of age (although it is believed that men as old as 70 and as young as 14 managed to enlist), and they had to be at least five foot six inches tall (168 centimetres), with a chest measurement of at least 34 inches (86 centimetres). Many of these strict requirements were lifted later in the war, however, as the need for replacements grew. Indeed, casualties among the initial volunteers were so high, that of the 32,000 original soldiers of the AIF only 7,000 would survive to the end of the war. The initial response was so good that in September 1914 the decision was made to raise the 4th Infantry Brigade and 2nd and 3rd Light Horse Brigades. The 4th Infantry Brigade was commanded by Colonel John Monash, a prominent Melbourne civil engineer and businessman. The AIF continued to grow through the war, eventually numbering five infantry divisions, two mounted divisions and a mixture of other units. A sixth infantry division, the 6th Division, was partially formed in the United Kingdom February 1917. Casualties from the First Battle of Bullecourt and the Battle of Messines caused the disbandment of the partially formed unit to allow the other five divisions to be brought back up to strength. The 1st Division departed Australia from Albany, Western Australia on 1 November 1914 in convoy of 10 transports escorted by several British, Australian and Japanese warships. Initially bound for British-controlled Egypt, with a stopover in Ceylon, the convoy had been delayed several times due to fears of interception by German warships in the area. These fears later proved valid when the German cruiser Emden was sighted off Cocos Island. As the convoy steered to avoid the threat, the Australian cruiser , engaged the Emden with her heavier guns and after an engagement that lasted only twenty- five minutes, the Sydney emerged victorious. The threat of the German Squadron neutralised, the convoy was able to continue its voyage unmolested. Upon their arrival in Egypt in November, the 1st Division moved to Camp Mena, near Cairo, where they were used to defend the Suez Canal against Turkey who had declared war on 29 October. During this time, the Australians commenced a period of training to prepare them for combat on the Western Front as it was still expected that they would be sent to England for deployment in the European theatre. As they waited, however, the Australian and New Zealand forces in Egypt at the time were formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under the command of Lieutenant General William Birdwood, and consisting of the Australian 1st Division and the composite New Zealand and Australian Division (NZ&A;). Overcrowding and shortages of equipment in England meant that it was decided to keep the Anzacs in Egypt during the European winter, during which time they would undertake further training in order to prepare them for their eventual use in the trenches in France. Despite this, however, the training that the Australians and New Zealanders received in this time could only be considered very rudimentary in nature, and despite popular opinion at the time, it did little to prepare them for what was to come. In the background, though, moves were being made to commit the Australians and New Zealanders elsewhere. Later in November, Winston Churchill, in his capacity as First Lord of the Admiralty, put forward his first plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles. A plan for an attack and invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula was eventually approved by the British cabinet in January 1915. It was decided that the Australian and New Zealand troops would take part in the operation, although they were outnumbered by the British, Indian and French contingents, a fact which is often overlooked today by many Australians and New Zealanders. The objective of the invasion was to open up another front against the Central Powers and to open the Black Sea's only entrance to the Mediterranean, via the Dardanelles and Bosphorus, to allow shipping to Russia all year round. After the failure of naval attacks, it was decided that ground forces were necessary to eliminate the Turkish mobile artillery and allow minesweepers to clear the waters for larger vessels. The British Secretary of State for War, Field Marshal Lord Kitchener, appointed General Sir Ian Hamilton to command the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force (MEF) that was to carry out the mission. The MEF consisted of Birdwood's ANZAC, British 29th Division, British Royal Naval Division and the French Corps expéditionnaire d'Orient. Some 40,000 Russian troops would participate in the capture or occupation of Constantinople. The invasion plan was for the 29th Division to land at Cape Helles on the tip of the peninsula and then advance upon the forts at Kilitbahir. The Anzacs were to land north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast from where they could advance across the peninsula and prevent retreat from or reinforcement of Kilitbahir. The Anzac assault force, the 3rd Brigade of the Australian 1st Division, began to go ashore shortly before dawn at 4:30 am on 25 April 1915. The intended landing zone was a broad front centred about a mile north of Gaba Tepe, however, possibly due to navigational error or an unexpected current, the landing went awry and the boats concentrated about a mile and a half further north than intended in a shallow, nameless cove between Ari Burnu to the north and Hell Spit to the south. Since 1985, the cove has been officially known as Anzac Koyu (Anzac Cove). The Anzacs were confronted by a treacherous, confusing tangle of ravines and spurs that descended from the heights of the Sarı Baır range to the sea. The landing was only lightly opposed by scattered Turkish units until Mustafa Kemal, commanding the 19th Division and perceiving the threat posed by the landings, rushed reinforcements to the area in what became a race for the high ground. The contest for the heights was decided on the second ridge line where the Anzacs and Turks fought over a knoll called Baby 700. The position changed hands a number of times on the first day before the Turks, having the advantage of the higher ground on Battleship Hill, took final possession of it. Once the Anzac advance was checked, the Turks counter- attacked, trying to force the invaders back to the shore, but failed to dislodge them from the foothold they had gained. A trench perimeter quickly developed and a bloody stalemate ensued until August. In May 1915, Hamilton decided to concentrate his resources in the Helles sector. Birdwood withdrew Colonel McCay's 2nd Infantry Brigade and the New Zealand Infantry Brigade and they moved by sea to Cape Helles on 6 May. During the subsequent Second Battle of Krithia the two brigades suffered 1,827 casualties, including McCay, in an ill-advised daylight advance over open ground that could have been occupied after dark without loss. During May Turkish snipers were particularly active in Monash Valley. On 15 May, one shot and fatally wounded Major General Bridges. His body was returned to Australia and buried on the hill overlooking Royal Military College, Duntroon in Canberra. The Australian government sent Major General James Gordon Legge from Australia to replace him. On 19 May 1915, the Turkish launched an assault against the Anzac perimeter. Forewarned by naval reconnaissance aircraft, the troops were on alert and the position was reinforced by the return of the 2nd and New Zealand Infantry Brigades from Cape Helles and the arrival of the 1st Light Horse Brigade and New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade from Egypt. Along most of the line, the attack met with immediate disaster, with the Turkish attackers swept away by the rifle and machine gun fire of the Anzac defenders. At Courtney's Post, one of the most exposed parts of the perimeter, the Turks managed to enter the trenches but there they encountered Lance Corporal Albert Jacka and others, who drove them out again. For his action, Jacka became the first Australian to win the Victoria Cross in the war. The repeated failure of the Allies to capture Krithia or make any progress on the Helles front led Hamilton to pursue an imaginative new plan for the campaign. On the night of 6 August a fresh landing of two infantry divisions was to be made at Suvla, north of Anzac. Meanwhile, at Anzac a strong assault would be made on the Sari Bair range by breaking out through thinly defended sector at the north of the Anzac perimeter. The offensive was preceded on the evening of 6 August by diversionary assaults at Helles and Anzac. At Helles, the diversion at Krithia Vineyard became another futile battle with no gains and heavy casualties for both sides. At Anzac, an attack on the Turkish trenches at Lone Pine by the infantry brigades of the Australian 1st Division was a rare victory for the ANZACs. At a cost of over 2,000 men, the Australians inflicted 7,000 casualties on the Turks. Because it was an effective attack on a vital position, it was the most effective diversionary attack carried out by the Australians of the war, drawing in the Turkish reserves. However, the main assault aimed at the peaks of Chunuk Bair and Hill 971 was less successful. The force striking for the nearer peak of Chunuk Bair comprised the New Zealand Infantry Brigade. It came within of the peak by dawn on 7 August but was not able to seize the summit until the following morning. This delay had fatal consequences for another supporting attack on the morning of 7 August, that of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade at the Nek which was to coincide with the New Zealanders attacking back down from Chunuk Bair against the rear of the Turkish defences. The New Zealanders held out on Chunuk Bair for two days before relief was provided by two New Army battalions from the Wiltshire and Loyal North Lancashire Regiments. A massive Turkish counter- attack, led in person by Mustafa Kemal, swept these two battalions from the heights. Meanwhile, the landing at Suvla Bay was only lightly opposed but the British commander, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Stopford, had so diluted his early objectives that little more than the beach was seized. Again the Turks were able to win the race for the high ground of the Anafarta Hills thereby rendering the Suvla front another case of static trench warfare. The Suvla landing was reinforced by the arrival of the British 53rd and 54th Divisions along with the British 10th Division from Kitchener's New Army divisions plus the dismounted yeomanry of the 2nd Mounted Division. The unfortunate 29th Division was also shifted from Helles to Suvla for one more push. The final British attempt to resuscitate the offensive came on 21 August with attacks at Scimitar Hill and Hill 60. Control of these hills would have united the Anzac and Suvla fronts, but neither battle achieved success. When fighting at Hill 60 ceased on 29 August, the battle for the Sari Bair heights, and indeed the battle for the peninsula, was effectively over. After eight months of bloody fighting it was decided to evacuate the entire force on the Gallipoli peninsula. Troop numbers were progressively reduced from 7 December and cunning ruses were performed to fool the Turks and to prevent them from discovering the Allies that were departing. At Anzac, the troops would maintain utter silence for an hour or more until the curious Turks would venture out to inspect the trenches, whereupon the Anzacs would open fire. As the numbers in the trenches were thinned, rifles were rigged to fire by water dripped into a pan attached to the trigger. In what was ironically the best planned operation of the campaign, the evacuation was completed by dawn on 20 December 1915, without a single casualty. Ultimately the Gallipoli campaign was a disastrous failure. It did not achieve any of the objectives that had been given as a justification for it, and due to the inexperience of high commanders and mismanagement there were an unacceptably high number of casualties amongst the participating troops, not only from as a result of combat, but also due to widespread disease that resulted from poor sanitation and hygiene in the front lines and a breakdown in the casualty clearance and resupply and logistics systems. It has been estimated that over the course of the campaign there were 26,111 Australian casualties with 8,141 killed. Other Allied casualties—killed and wounded—included: 7,571 New Zealanders, 120,000 British and 27,000 French. After the war, the bad conditions and high casualties amongst the Anzac troops resulted in a reasonably prevalent view in Australia that these had been due to the incompetence of British officers commanding the Australian troops and their disregard for the casualties that resulted from poorly planned or ill- conceived attacks. Whether these claims are valid or not, there can be little doubt that the entire campaign was poorly conducted, and as a result there were many military lessons learnt that were to be applied in later campaigns. Despite this, for Australians and New Zealanders the Gallipoli campaign has come to symbolise an important milestone in the emergence of both nations as independent actors on the world stage and the development of a sense of national identity. Today, the date of the initial landings, 25 April, is a public holiday known as Anzac Day in Australia and New Zealand and every year thousands of people gather at memorials in both nations, and indeed in Turkey, to honour the bravery and sacrifice of the original Anzacs, and of all those who have subsequently lost their lives in war. After the Gallipoli Campaign, Australian troops returned to Egypt and the AIF underwent a major expansion, which involved the raising of another three infantry divisions—the 3rd, 4th and 5th—and the establishment of the Anzac Mounted Division. In March 1916, the infantry began to move to France while the cavalry units stayed in the area and fought Turkish troops and the Senussi Arab tribes that were threatening British control of Egypt. Mounted troops were particularly important in the defence of Egypt and Australian troops of the Anzac Mounted Division saw action in all the major battles of the campaign, first seeing combat in the Battle of Romani. Apart from the horsemen, the mounted troops included the 1st Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. This was organised as a mounted infantry brigade. Of its four battalions, the 1st and 3rd were composed of Australians, the 2nd was British, and the 4th was half Australian and half New Zealand. The cameliers participated in most of the fighting in Egypt and Palestine until the brigade was disbanded in July 1918. The Australian and New Zealand components then traded their camels for horses and became the 5th Light Horse Brigade. In response to the growing threat from a pro-Turkish Islamic Arab sect known as the Senussi, a composite British force—the "Western Frontier Force"—under the command of the British Indian Army officer Major General Alexander Wallace, was sent into the Libyan Desert to Mersa Matruh in late-November 1915. This force included a composite regiment of Australian light horse and the horse transport of the 1st Division. A series of sharp battles against the Arabs ensued at Um Rakhum, Gebel Medwa and Halazin during December and January. British casualties were comparatively light, although many were killed or wounded, including Australians. Arab losses were much higher however, with hundreds killed during the fighting. Meanwhile, a number of the Australian Light Horse units returning from Gallipoli were sent further south to guard the edge of the Nile Valley against the Senussi. The 1st Armoured Car Section was also involved in guarding the Western Desert until it was sent to Palestine as the 1st Light Car Patrol at the end of 1916. The Battle of Romani took place near the Egyptian town of Romani, east of the Suez Canal, on 3–5 August 1916. The goal of the Turkish and German army was to control or destroy the Suez Canal, thereby denying the use of the waterway to the Allies and in doing so aiding the Central Powers. Both the Anzac Mounted Division, under Major General Harry Chauvel, and the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division saw action against the German and Turkish force. Since first making contact with the advancing German and Turkish force on 20 July they had been harassed alternately by the Australian 1st and 2nd Light Horse Brigades. During the night of 3–4 August, the day before the battle commenced, both brigades were involved in fighting. By about midday on 4 August, the Turkish and German force had pushed the two Australian brigades back to a point where the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, in their trenches, were able to attack the Turkish right flank, and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and British 5th Mounted Brigade arrived from their deployment protecting the Suez Canal, to extend the Australians' line on the left flank. The Turkish and German advance was stopped by the fire brought to bear on them by the combined British infantry and Australian, British and New Zealand mounted forces and the deep sand, the midday summer heat, and thirst. In these extremely tough conditions, the British infantry were unable to move effectively against the retreating German and Turkish force in the following days. Alone, the Anzac Mounted Division was unable to stop the retreating force withdrawing to Katia and eventually back to their base at Bir el Abd. This base was abandoned the day after it was attacked by the Anzac Mounted Division, on 12 August 1916, ending any threat to the Suez Canal for the remainder of the war. The battle cost the Allies 1,202 casualties of which 222 were killed, 71 died of wounds and 909 were wounded; half of these were Australians. Following the victory at Romani the Anzac Mounted Division pushed the German and Turkish Army back across the Sinai Peninsula. The German and Turkish forces had been put on the defensive and retreated from Bir el Abd on 12 August 1916 towards the Egyptian–Turkish frontier, the day after being attacked by the Anzac Mounted Division. A Turkish rearguard action was fought at Bir el Mazar before the German and Turkish force retired to El Arish in September. In the Maghara Hills in October 1916 a strongly defended position was attacked by an Allied force based on the Suez Canal. Both Bir el Mazar and Maghara Hills positions were subsequently abandoned. During November, an aerial bombing raid by 5 B.E.s and a Martinsyde, the largest air attack yet organised in the East was carried out on Beersheba. By the beginning of December the railway had reached Bir el Mazar and with the development of lines of communications, garrisons, support and services, it became possible to plan for an advance to El Arish. On 21 December, after a night march of the Anzac Mounted Division, commanded by Chauvel, entered El Arish, which had been abandoned by the German and Turkish force who had retreated to Madghaba where the mounted force won a fierce daylong engagement against strong well constructed defences manned by determined defenders. Situated on the British right flank, the Egyptian outpost of Magdhaba was some to the south-south-east into the Sinai desert, from El Arish on the Mediterranean coast. With Turkish forces on the defensive, Madghaba, along with another position at Rafa, were the last main obstacles standing in the way of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's advance into Palestine. Chauvel, with the agreement of Lieutenant General Philip Chetwode commanding the Desert Column who had arrived earlier that day, set out to attack the Turkish forces at Magdhaba with the Anzac Mounted Division. Leaving at about midnight on 22 December, the Anzac Mounted Division was in a position by 03.50 am on 23 December to see enemy fires still some miles away at Magdhaba. With the 1st Light Horse Brigade in reserve, Chauvel sent the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade and the 3rd Light Horse Brigade to move on Magdhaba by the north and north-east to cut off the possibility of retreat while the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade followed the telegraph line straight to Magdhaba. The 1st Light Horse Brigade advanced mounted to the attack but fierce shrapnel fire forced them to advance up the wadi bed. By midday all three brigades and the Camel Brigade, despite support from machine-guns and artillery, were hotly engaged. Aerial reconnaissance from Australian and British aircraft, which scouted out the Turkish positions, greatly assisted the attack, although the Turkish positions were obscured by the effect of a mirage and dust clouds. When the fighting began the going was tough and by 1.00 pm, after hearing that the Turkish defenders still had possession of most of the water in the area, Chauvel decided to call off the attack. However, the message reached the commander of the 1st Light Horse Brigade just as the Australians were preparing to assault the main redoubt, and the message was deliberately misplaced until the attack had commenced. Both the 1st Light Horse and the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigades made progress capturing about 100 prisoners and by 3.30 pm the Turkish defenders began to surrender. By 4.30 pm, the entire Turkish garrison had surrendered, having suffered heavy casualties, and the town was captured. The victory cost the Australians 22 dead and 121 wounded. Two and a half weeks later, on the evening of 8 January 1917 the mounted units of the Desert Column commanded by Chetwode rode out of El Arish towards Rafa where a 2,000-strong Turkish garrison was based. The attacking force comprised the Australian 1st Light Horse Brigade, 3rd Light Horse Brigade and the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade of the Anzac Mounted Division under the command of Chauvel, the 5th Mounted Brigade and three battalions of the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. After a long night march, the Egyptian Expeditionary Force attacked the strongly entrenched position at El Magruntein. A fierce day-long battle resulted in the mounted troops (fighting dismounted) capturing the town around nightfall with the loss of 71 killed and 415 wounded. The Turkish garrison suffered heavily, with 200 killed and another 1,600 taken prisoner. In early 1917, the Imperial Mounted Division was formed from the 3rd and 4th Light Horse Brigades and two British mounted brigades. The division first saw service during the First Battle of Gaza, which occurred in southern Gaza on 26 March 1917. At around noon two mounted brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division attacked Gaza from the north and east. At 6.00 pm the Turkish position had become perilous with the ring closing tightly around Gaza. However, in a decision that dismayed most of their soldiers the British commanders decided to call off the attack and retreat, delivering victory to the Turks. A second attempt was made to capture Gaza on 19 April by which time the Turkish defences were even more formidable and the task confronting the British even more difficult. This battle became known as the Second Battle of Gaza. The Anzac Mounted Division played only a minor role in this battle suffering only 105 casualties out of the 5,917 suffered. The second battle of Gaza was a disastrous defeat for the Allied forces. In June 1917, the Imperial Mounted Division was renamed as the Australian Mounted Division. In August 1917 Chauvel was placed in command of the Desert Mounted Corps, which included the two Australian mounted divisions, as well as the British Yeomanry Division and the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. Chauvel became the first Australian to command a corps, as well as the first to achieve the rank of lieutenant general. With the failure of the Second Battle of Gaza a third assault was launched on Gaza between 31 October and 7 November 1917. Units from the Anzac Mounted Division and the Australian Mounted Division took part in the battle. The battle was a complete success for the Allies. The Gaza–Beersheba line was completely overrun and 12,000 Turkish soldiers were captured or surrendered. The critical moment of the battle was the capture of the town of Beersheba on the first day by Australian light horsemen. The Australian 4th Light Horse Brigade, under Brigadier General William Grant, charged more than at the Turkish trenches, overran them and captured the wells at Beersheba. In the capture of Beersheba, the Australians lost 31 men killed. A further 32 were wounded, while 80 horses were lost. On the Turkish side, more than 500 men were killed and 1,500 captured as well as nine artillery pieces and a number of machine guns and other pieces of equipment. From 1 to 7 November, strong Turkish rearguards at Tel el Khuweilfe in the southern Judean Hills, at Hareira and Sheria on the maritime plain and at Sausage Ridge and Gaza close to the Mediterranean coast, held the Egyptian Expeditionary Force in heavy fighting. During this time the Turkish Army was able to withdraw in good order. The rearguard garrisons themselves were also able to retire under cover of darkness, during the night of 6/7 or 7/8 November. On 7 and 8 November, the surviving units of the 7th and 8th Turkish armies further delayed the advance of Desert Mounted Corps commanded by Chauvel and the XXI Corps's 52nd (Lowland) Division and the 75th Yeomanry Division. All other units of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force had come to the end of their lines of communication. These units were the XXI Corps' 54th (East Anglian) Division resting at Gaza and the Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade at Beit Hanun. Also in the rear was the whole of Chetwode's XX Corps which had transferred its transport to XXI Corps. Its 53rd (Welsh) Division and corps cavalry, together with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade, were deployed in the front line near Tel el Khuweilfe, in the Judean Hills north of Beersheba. While its 60th (London) Infantry Division was resting at Huj, its 10th (Irish) Division and 74th Infantry Division were both resting back at Karm. The Desert Mounted Corps and the two infantry divisions of XX Corps became involved in a series of engagements during the days leading up to the battle and on the day after. These began on 10 November when one brigade of the 52nd (Lowland) Division and two brigades of the Anzac Mounted Division commanded by Major General Edward Chaytor successfully pushed across the Nahr Sukereir to establish a bridgehead on the Turkish right flank. Three brigades of the Australian Mounted Division under the command of Major General Henry West Hodgson ran into the Turkish rearguard's left flank around the village of Summeil. The mounted troops occupied the village on 11 November but were unable to advance further due to intense Turkish artillery fire which continued throughout the day. On 12 November Allenby made preparations for battle the following day. He ordered an attack by the 52nd (Lowland) Division to extend their position across the Nahr Sukereir on the Turkish Army's right flank. Reinforced with two additional brigades, he ordered the Australian Mounted Division to advance towards Tel es Safi where they encountered a determined and substantial Turkish counterattack. This counterattack forced the mounted division to concede the territory gained during the day, before fighting the Turkish Army to a standstill in front of Summeil. On the morning after the battle at Mughar Ridge, Junction Station was occupied and during the following days other villages in the area were found to have been abandoned. Later in the morning of 14 November New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade ran into a determined and well entrenched Turkish rearguard near Ayun Kara, which they attacked. Fierce close quarter fighting against the Turkish 3rd Infantry Division continued during the afternoon. Although severely threatened, the New Zealand Mounted Rifle Brigade eventually prevailed and went on to occupy Jaffa two days later. The Battle of Mughar Ridge was fought on 13 November by the 52nd (Lowland) Division and the 75th Division in the centre, with the Australian Mounted Division on their right flank and the Anzac Mounted Division and Yeomanry Mounted Divisions on the infantry's left flank. The battle was divided into two stages with a pause for artillery to be brought forward. Following the Yeomanry's successful charge up onto El Mughar ridge, two crucial fortified villages were captured by elements of the 52nd (Lowland) Division. This victory resulted in the subsequent occupation of Junction Station, a vital railway station on the Turk's lines of communication between Jaffa and Jerusalem. The Australian mounted troops took part the Capture of Jerusalem in late 1917. These operations included two battles fought in the Judean Hills; the Battle of Nebi Samwil from 17 to 24 November and the Defence of Jerusalem from 26 to 30 December and another fought on the maritime plain; the subsidiary Battle of Jaffa on 21–22 December 1917. This series of battles involved the British Empire's XX Corps, XXI Corps and the Desert Mounted Corps fighting the Turkish 7th Army in the Judean Hills and the 8th Army north of Jaffa on the Mediterranean coast. After the failure of widespread and determined Turkish counterattacks fought from 27 November to 1 December by the 7th Turkish Army they evacuated Jerusalem. Troops from the Australian Mounted Division were the first mounted troops to enter Jerusalem in December 1917. Towards the end of December the British Empire forces at the Battle of Jaffa and the Defence of Jerusalem succeeded in pushing the Turkish armies north. A strong British defensive line was established which remained in place until mid September 1918. The line stretched across from well north of the Nahr el Auja on the Mediterranean coast in the west to north and east of Jerusalem. It was extended during the middle of February 1918 when Jericho in the Jordan Valley was captured and the eastern end of the line was secured on the Dead Sea. In March and April 1918, Australian and New Zealand mounted troops and British infantry took part in two raids east across the Jordan River to Amman and Es Salt, a village in Palestine west of Amman. Although these raids were unsuccessful, they encouraged Turkish commanders to believe that the main British effort would be launched across the Jordan when it would be launched along the coastal plain. Before these operations could commence it was necessary to capture the country east of Jerusalem and into the Jordan Valley to Jericho. The attack on the Turkish 26th and 53rd Infantry Divisions was made by the 60th (London) and the Anzac Mounted Divisions on 19 February. Talat ed Dumm, on the road from Jerusalem, was captured the next day and in the evening the Wady Fara and Nebi Musa were also captured. On 21 February Jericho was occupied by the two divisions of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force. During the final offensive in September 1918, the two divisions of Australian mounted troops, as well as the 1st Light Car Patrol and No. 1 Squadron AFC, took part in Battle of Megiddo on 28 September 1918, a decisive British victory in which 70,000 Turkish soldiers were taken prisoner. The Desert Mounted Corps attacked across the Golan Heights, cutting off the north and north-west exits to Damascus on 29 September. On 30 September, the head of a column of 20,000 Turkish and German troops was annihilated by the Australian light horsemen as it attempted to withdraw west through the Barada Gorge. Australian troops were the first to enter Damascus, which fell on 1 October. Following an advance of , Aleppo was captured on 25 October. The Turkish government signed an armistice on 28 October 1918 and surrendered outright two days later. Following the armistice, the Australian Mounted Division went into camp at Tripoli while the Anzac Mounted Division, having borne the brunt of the entire campaign, suffered heavily from malaria and influenza in the Jordan Valley. Australia's role in the Sinai and Palestine campaign was later acknowledged by Field Marshal Edmund Allenby, who had been commander-in-chief of the Allied forces in the Middle East, as having been considerable. Total Australian battle casualties in the campaign were 4,851, including 1,374 dead. In March 1916, the infantry units of the AIF were transferred from Egypt to Europe for service on the Western Front. Initially they were organised into I Anzac Corps and II Anzac Corps alongside the New Zealand Division. The 2nd Division was the first to arrive in France, followed by the 1st Division, while the 4th and 5th left Egypt later in June 1916. The 3rd Division was the last to arrive, having been formed in Australia in March 1916, and moving to England for training in July 1916, before being sent to France in December 1916. For the next two and a half years the constant rotations in and out of the line were punctuated by a number of major battles, during which the Australians earned for themselves a formidable reputation. On 1 November 1917 the Australian divisions were re-grouped together to form the Australian Corps. When the 1st Division arrived, it was reunited with its mechanical transport. In September 1914, the Army had decided to supply mechanical transport for the 1st Division and formed a company in New South Wales and one in Victoria. These were the first ever mechanical transport units in the Australian Army. Nearly 200 vehicles were purchased and the two units departed Melbourne for Egypt on 22 December 1914. Unfortunately, vehicles over were prohibited in Cairo as most bridges could not hold their weight, whereas they possessed vehicles weighing up to . It was therefore arranged for them to continue to England where they arrived on 15 February 1915. There they lived in tents on Salisbury Plain and hauled gravel for roads before being sent to France in July 1915. They were not the first Australians to serve on the Western Front. An Australian Voluntary Hospital had been formed in England in August 1914 from Australian expatriates. All medical practitioners in the unit were Australians and although women were not allowed to serve as doctors, Australian nurses were accepted. The unit left for France in August 1914 and from October was based at Wimereux, where the 2nd General Hospital joined it in June 1916. In July 1916, the Australian Voluntary Hospital was absorbed into the British Army. Another group of Australians had also arrived in France before I Anzac Corps. In June 1915, the 1st Siege Artillery Brigade was formed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Walter Adams Coxen, the Australian Army's Director of Artillery, for service on the Western Front. About half the men in the unit were permanent gunners of the Garrison Artillery. The brigade departed Melbourne for England on 17 July 1915 and landed in France on 27 February 1916. Its 54th Siege Battery was equipped with 8 inch howitzers and its 55th Siege Battery with 9.2 inch howitzers. With the move of the majority of the AIF to France, the base organisation was transferred to the United Kingdom. Most of the training units moved to the Salisbury Plain, establishing depots at Perham Down, Rollestone, Larkhill and Tidworth. When it arrived, the 3rd Division also moved into camps in this area. Command Depots, where men returning from hospitals were sent before being returned to their units, were established at Perham Down, Weymouth, Wool, Dorset and Worgret. Depots for men moving from the United Kingdom to France were established at Étaples. In June 1917, these were swapped with the Canadians for depots around Le Havre, thereby reducing travelling time from the Salisbury Plain. AIF Headquarters was established at Horseferry Road in London and Colonel R. M. McC. Anderson, a businessman, was appointed as its commandant. Anderson negotiated a new method of payment for services provided by the British Army as a per capita per diem payment. On 7 April 1916, I Anzac Corps took up positions in a quiet sector south of Armentières, known as the "Nursery". The Australians were spared from participating in the disastrous first day on the Somme, nevertheless within three weeks of the beginning of the Allied offensive, four divisions of the AIF had been committed to the battle. Only the 3rd Division did not take part, having only just recently arrived in England from Australia. The 5th Division, positioned on the left flank of the salient, was the first to see action during the Battle of Fromelles on 19 July 1916, suffering a staggering 5,533 casualties in a single day. The 1st Division entered the line on 23 July 1916, taking part in the assault on Pozières. Initially they succeeded in carrying the German positions with relatively small losses, however, once the Germans had recovered they directed an intense artillery barrage upon the town which resulted in heavy losses. By the time that they were relieved by the 2nd Division on 27 July, they had suffered 5,286 casualties. Two days after taking over the line, the 2nd Division was thrown into a hastily planned attack that resulted in further casualties when the Germans spotted the Australians forming up and once again subjected them to the weight of their artillery and machine guns. Another attack was launched on 4 August which, although it met with success, resulted again in such heavy casualties—almost 7,000—that the division was relieved the next day. Following the attack on Pozières the Australians were called upon to attack Mouquet Farm in August. All three divisions of I Anzac Corps were committed in an effort to force a breach in the German lines behind Thiepval, to the north of Pozières. The task of the initial advance fell to the 4th Division on 10 August, which had already suffered 1,000 casualties resisting the final German counter-attack, but in the ensuing battle it would lose a further three times that number as the Australians once again suffered at the hands of the German artillery, finding themselves squeezed into a frontage of less than against which the Germans were able to concentrate the weight of their defence. Three more attacks were made over the course of the next three weeks as the Australians fought their way across the shell-pocked countryside to the farm, only to be forced out again shortly after by the concentration of German artillery. The other two divisions of I Anzac fared only slightly better in these attacks and at the end of the engagement, Australian casualties at Mouquet Farm totalled 6,300 men. As that battle on the Somme dragged on, the Canadian Corps was brought up and the AIF was withdrawn from the line to re-organise and reform, having suffered almost 23,000 casualties over the course of the 45 days that they had been involved. The 5th Division had been so badly mauled, having been incapacitated by the losses they had suffered at Fromelles, that it was not until October that the 5th Division finally returned to the line and joined the 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions on the Somme near Flers. In March 1917 two 'flying columns' from the 2nd and 5th Divisions pursued the German back to the Hindenburg Line, capturing the town of Bapaume. On 11 April, the 4th Division, consisting of the 4th and 12th Brigades, assaulted the Hindenburg Line in the First Battle of Bullecourt. The battle was a disaster, with over 3,000 casualties and 1,170 taken prisoner by the Germans. On 15 April the 1st and 2nd Divisions were struck by a German counterattack at dawn near the town of Lagnicourt, by a force of up to 23 battalions as the Germans attempted to take advantage of the weakness that had developed in the Allied line following the British offensive at Arras. The Australians were initially forced to abandon the town to the Germans and in the process several artillery batteries were lost, however, at 7:00 am a successful counterattack was launched by four Australian battalions, resulting in the town being recaptured and the guns reclaimed. Later, on 3 May two brigades of the 2nd Division—the 5th and the 6th—took part in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, where they succeeded in taking sections of the Hindenburg Line and eventually managed to hold most these gains until they were relieved by the 1st Division. On 7 May the 5th Division was committed to relieve the 1st, remaining in the line until the battle ended in mid May. While the battle resulted in a victory for the Allies, the effort cost the AIF some 7,482 casualties and ultimately ended plans to expand the AIF to a sixth division. On 7 June 1917, along with two British corps, the II Anzac Corps, consisting of the Australian 3rd Division, the British 25th Division and the New Zealand Division, with the Australian 4th Division attached, launched an operation in the Flanders region of southern Belgium, near Messines The objective was to eliminate a salient that had developed in the line south of Ypres, enclosing the Wytschaete–Messines ridge and thus providing the Germans with good observation and fields of fire that could threaten the major offensive that the British planned to launch around Ypres later in the year. The attack commenced with the detonation of of explosives that had been placed underneath the Messines ridge in 19 separate tunnels, completely destroying the German trenches. Following the explosions, the Allied advance was virtually unopposed as the Germans were too stunned and demoralised to put up much resistance. However, not everything went the Australians' way. The 3rd Division, under Major General John Monash, suffered heavy casualties when they were shelled by phosgene gas and shrapnel shells while moving towards the line of departure, nevertheless the division still managed to get into position for the start of the attack. Strong German counterattacks were launched the next day, once again supported by concentrated artillery fire; however, the advance was able to continue on through the mess of concrete blockhouses the Germans had erected and continued on until all the objectives had been taken. Australian casualties amounted to nearly 6,800 men. On 2 July 1917, Major General Holmes was mortally wounded by a German shellburst while surveying the Messines battlefield with the Premier of New South Wales, William Holman. Between September and November 1917, I Anzac Corps took part in a number of actions around Ypres in Belgium as the Allies launched a campaign in order to capture the Gheluvelt Plateau in Belgium. Collectively these actions have come to be known as the Third Battle of Ypres, of which they were a part, although to Australians they are more commonly known by the names of the places where the individual actions took place—Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle and Passchendaele. I Anzac Corps was committed six weeks after the start of the battle and on 16 September, having marched through Ypres the night before, the 1st and 2nd Divisions took up a position in the trenches on the main ridge at Glencorse Wood. The first attack came on 20 September at Menin Road, where the Australians experienced success making considerable gains against the enemy for the loss of about 5,000 casualties. On 26 September, the 4th and 5th Divisions attacked and captured Polygon Wood, while later on 4 October, another successful attack was made on the main ridge at Broodseinde, where the four Australian divisions involved fought side by side, as they clashed head on with a German counterattack that had been launched at the same time the Australians had risen to carry out their assault. The result was a rout by the Australians, as the German line broke and following further attacks against German pillboxes, the ridge was captured. The first two attacks had been successful and as Allied commanders began to believe that a breakthrough was possible further attacks were made at Poelcappelle on 9 October and at Passchendaele on 12 October despite heavy rain that turned the ground into a muddy quagmire. Both attacks were ultimately doomed to failure, with heavy casualties, as the attacks foundered in the mud and as the battle petered out, it was decided that it was time for the Australians to be withdrawn from the line. This was completed by 14 November 1917. Over the course of the eight weeks they had been involved in the fighting around Ypres, they had suffered 38,000 casualties. On 21 March 1918, having been buoyed by the capitulation of Bolshevik Russia, the German Army launched their Spring Offensive against the Allies with a staggering 63 divisions over a front of . As the Allies began to fall back against the tremendous weight of this offensive, on 25 March the Australian 3rd and 4th Divisions were rushed south to Amiens from where they had been holding the line at Messines. The German offensive lasted with varying intensity for the next five months and during this time, all five divisions of the AIF in France were involved in the fighting as they attempted to stem the tide of the German advance, which achieved large territorial gains and at one stage looked like it might ultimately secure a remarkable victory for the Germans as they pushed to within from Paris late in May. During this time, the Australians were involved in a number of actions at Dernancourt, Morlancourt, Villers-Bretonneux, Hangard Wood, Hazebrouck, and Hamel. Of these actions, the last one, at Hamel on 4 July 1918, is perhaps the most notable. Even though the action was relatively minor in terms of the scale of previous operations mounted on the Western Front, it is notable because it was the first 'set- piece' operation planned and carried out by the newly appointed commander of the Australian Corps, Lieutenant General John Monash and it has since been used as the model of how to successfully carry out a combined arms attack. Using aircraft, artillery and armour in effective combination with infantry, the attack was over in the space of 93 minutes; although Monash had planned for a 90-minute operation. It achieved its objectives of straightening the Allied line and taking the town of Hamel. The Australians had advanced the line almost across a front of and in the process taken roughly 1,600 German prisoners as well as over 200 machine guns, trench mortars and anti-tank weapons. Against this the Australians suffered 1,062 casualties. The last-ditched effort by the Germans to win the war came to a grinding halt in mid-July and after that there followed a brief period of lull, during which time the Australians undertook a series of small unit actions aimed at capturing parts of the German line with limited support. These actions became known as Peaceful Penetrations and were essentially a cross between trench raids and patrolling. Their success relied heavily upon the leadership and initiative of junior commanders and the ability of soldiers to employ principles of fire and manoeuvre. This lull did not last long, however, as the Allies were soon ready to launch their own offensive, known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which would ultimately bring about an end to the war. The offensive began on 8 August 1918 when 20 Allied divisions, including four Australian, struck at Amiens on the Somme. Using the combined arms techniques developed earlier at Hamel, the Allies achieved territorial gains that had been unheard of since the start of the war. In the Australian sector, the 4th and 5th Divisions had initially spearheaded the advance, before the 2nd and 3rd Divisions had advanced another three kilometres to secure the secondary objectives. The attack had been so successful that it was later described by German General Erich Ludendorff as a "black day" for the German Army. Following that the Allied offensive continued for the next four months, right up until the end of the war. During the Second Battle of the Somme the Australian Corps fought actions at Lihons, Etinehem, Proyart, Chuignes, and Mont St Quentin, before taking part in their final engagement of the war on 5 October 1918 at Montbrehain. Australian casualties during these battles were very high and coupled with the drying up of reinforcements from Australia, the rejection of the proposal to introduce conscription and the granting of home leave to men who been serving since 1914 meant that by the end of the war the AIF was severely stretched to the limit. Consequently, during the height of the offensive it was decided to disband three battalions—the 36th, 47th and 52nd—in order to reinforce other units. The engagement at Montbrehain was the Australian Corps' last contribution to the war and they were out of the line training when the Armistice was declared on 11 November 1918. Total Australian casualties on the Western Front numbered 181,000, including 46,000 of whom died. Another 114,000 men were wounded, 16,000 gassed, and approximately 3,850 were taken prisoners of war. When the war ended, there were 92,000 Australian soldiers in France, 60,000 in England and 17,000 in Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Small numbers were serving in other theatres. Australian troops from the 1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron provided communications for British forces during the Mesopotamian Campaign. They participated in a number of battles, including the Battle of Baghdad in March 1917 and the Battle of Ramadi in September that year. Meanwhile, following the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Caucasus Front collapsed, leaving Central Asia open to the Turkish Army. A special force, known as Dunsterforce after its commander, Major General Lionel Dunsterville, was formed from hand-picked British officers and NCOs to organise any remaining Russian forces or civilians who were ready to fight the Turkish forces. Some 20 Australian officers served with Dunsterforce in the Caucasus Campaign and one party under Captain Stanley Savige was instrumental in protecting thousands of Assyrian refugees. Australian nurses also staffed four British hospitals in Salonika, and another 10 in India. The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was formed in March 1914 and it was soon deployed to German New Guinea, with one BE2c aircraft and crew dispatched with the AN&MEF;, although the colonies surrendered before the plane was even unpacked. The first operational flights did not occur until 27 May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was called upon to assist the Indian Army in protecting British oil interests in what is now Iraq. The Corps later saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front throughout the remainder of the war. Organised into four operational squadrons in France and the Middle East and another four training squadrons in England, the AFC remained part of the AIF. The Mesopotamian Half-Flight—also known as the Australian Half-Flight—was the first AFC unit to see active service. On 8 February 1915, the Australian Government had received a request for air assistance from the Viceroy of India for assistance fighting the Turks. The AFC was still forming and could provide enough aircrew and ground staff for only half a flight: the unit therefore became known as the Mesopotamian Half-Flight and Captain Henry Petre was appointed commander. The AFC contingent sailed for Bombay, and on 20 April 1915 it left for Basra, arriving at the end of May. Flying underpowered and unreliable aircraft such as the Caudron, Maurice Farman Longhorn and Martinsyde, the Half-Flight suffered a high attrition rate, losing two killed and six captured out of its strength of just nine pilots. The arrival of reinforcements allowed the formation of a squadron, (No. 30 Squadron RFC), however by November 1915 only one of the original pilots remained. The squadron was mainly involved in unarmed reconnaissance, although later small bombs were added to the aircraft. In October, three Australian aircraft bombed an Arab tribe known to be hostile in an unsuccessful attempt to bring them to surrender. During the Siege of Kut the last Australian pilot in Mesopotamia, Captain Petre, dropped supplies to the garrison. When Kut surrendered, the AFC ground crewmen located in the city were captured, seven of them later dying in captivity. Petre flew the only remaining Shorthorn to Egypt on 7 December 1915, where he rendezvoused with No.1 Squadron AFC, effectively marking the end of the Half-Flight's service. By late 1915 the AFC began forming complete squadrons. At British request No. 1 Squadron was dispatched to Egypt with 28 officers and 195 other ranks, where they were equipped with British aircraft including BE2c and Martinsyde G100. The squadron operated from Heliopolis, Palestine and Syria over the next two years, supporting ground forces in all the major battles of the Palestine campaign against the Turks. Missions included aerial reconnaissance, bombing enemy positions, communications and artillery spotting. They were also involved in many air-to-air battles with German aircraft, while it was in this theatre that the Australians first encountered anti-aircraft fire. The squadron was re-equipped in 1917 with BE2a, RE8 and Martinsyde G102 aircraft, while by 1918 these types were replaced with Bristol F.2 Fighters. Notably during this time Lieutenant Frank McNamara was awarded the Victoria Cross for rescuing another Australian pilot who had been shot down by ground fire and forced to land close to Turkish positions on 20 March 1917. No. 1 Squadron also took part in the actions at Wadi Fara on 21 September 1918 as part of the Battle of Megiddo, which witnessed the destruction of the bulk of the Turkish Seventh Army by British airpower. Additional AFC squadrons began forming in Australia for service on the Western Front, with No. 2, 3 and 4 Squadrons arriving in France between August and December 1917. No. 2 Squadron, equipped with DH5s, was subsequently involved in the Battle of Cambrai on 20 November 1917, conducting patrol duties, ground strafing and bombing enemy troops and positions. Casualties were high with 7 of the squadrons 18 aircraft shot down, and 2 pilots lost. No. 3 Squadron, equipped with RE8s, was supporting the final phase of the Battle of Passchendaele in Flanders, conducting mainly artillery spotting duties. No. 4 Squadron, equipped with Sopwith Camels, was the last to arrive in France, and was assigned to the First Army around Lens. Notably during March 1918 the squadron was engaged in aerial combat with aircraft commanded by Manfred von Richthofen—known as the 'Red Baron'—shooting down two German aircraft for the loss of one of their own. The Lens sector had been relatively quiet until 21 March 1918 when the Germans launched a major offensive, with No. 4 Squadron heavily engaged in low-level bombing to support the 4th Australian Division. The Australian squadrons played a limited role in the allied advance from Amiens on 8 August 1918, with No. 3 Squadron engaged in reconnaissance and contact patrols to help identify the locations of forward troops. They also undertook extensive aerial photography to aid in remapping and the locating of German artillery positions. During this period Nos. 2 and 4 Squadrons were in the Ypres–Arras area and were involved in patrols and raids on the railways in the vicinity of Lille. With the Germans in retreat during September 1918, the squadrons felt considerable pressure just keeping up. Regardless, No. 4 Squadron took part in, perhaps its most spectacular action, in the very last weeks of the war. On 29 October, 15 Australian Sopwith Snipes encountered more than 60 German Fokkers, in an action which became one of the largest air battles of the war. The Australians gained the upper hand and 10 Fokkers were shot down for the loss of one Snipe, and the damage of several others. During their time on the Western Front, No. 2 and No 4. Squadrons had been used mainly in the fighter role, while No. 3 Squadron was primarily used for reconnaissance. No. 4 Squadron became the most successful fighter squadron in France, accounting for 199 enemy aircraft, while No. 2 Squadron was credited with the destruction of 185. The total AFC casualties on the Western Front included 78 killed, 68 wounded and 33 taken prisoner. Following the end of the war on 11 November 1918, No. 4 Squadron was the only Australian unit assigned to the British Army of Occupation, arriving in Germany in December and being based in Cologne. The three AFC squadrons subsequently handed over their equipment to the RAF in February 1919 and returned to Australia where they disbanded. Despite Australian military aviation being in its infancy, the AFC's identity as a separate national force was considered important, not to mention unusual. Thousands of aircrew from the other Dominions—such as New Zealand and Canada—flew with the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service, and their unified successor force after 1 April 1918, the Royal Air Force during the war, without gaining the benefits of command and the administrative experience which came with an independent air service. By the end of the war, four squadrons had seen active service, 460 officers and 2,234 other ranks had served in the AFC, and another 200 men had served as aircrew in the British flying services. Casualties included 175 dead, 111 wounded, 6 gassed and 40 captured. The AFC was disbanded after the war, being replaced in 1920 by the Australian Air Corps, which became the Royal Australian Air Force in 1921. At the outbreak of war the Royal Australian Navy consisted of the battlecruiser , the light cruisers Sydney, and (under construction), the destroyers , and , and the submarines AE1 and . Three more destroyers were also under construction. The Squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Sir George E. Patey, a British admiral who was knighted on the deck of the Australia before it departed England in 1913. The first naval operation of the war was in support of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force during the occupation of German New Guinea. The naval portion of the force included the Australia, Melbourne, Sydney, Warrego, Encounter, and submarine AE1. The only loss during the New Guinea Campaign occurred when the AE1 disappeared on 14 September 1914, taking three officers and 32 men with it. The first major RAN victory of the war occurred when the cruiser, HMAS Sydney sank the German light cruiser, off the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean on 9 November 1914. Four Australians were killed in the engagement and another 12 were wounded. Ships of the RAN helped provide naval cover for the ambitious landings at Gallipoli, and the submarine AE2 broke the blockade of the Dardanelles to harass Turkish shipping but was later sunk and her crew captured in the Sea of Marmara. In 1915 the light cruisers Melbourne and Sydney were deployed to the Atlantic where they worked alongside the Royal Navy's North American and West Indies Squadrons, which were engaged in surveillance operations on the large number of German ships that had taken refuge in neutral American ports when the war had broken out. This continued until September 1916 when both cruisers were moved to the North Sea where they joined Australia, which had been assisting the Royal Navy in its blockade of the German High Seas Fleet. During this time the RAN also continued to carry out operations in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. By 1915 there were up to 74 German ships which had taken refuge in ports in the Netherlands East Indies. The presence of these ships close to Australia and the sea lanes that connected the nation to the United Kingdom and the Middle East was a cause of concern to the Navy and so in the middle of 1915 the cruiser and the sloop Fantome were sent to the Bay of Bengal to conduct patrol operations. Later in the year, in October, a force of three destroyers, a yacht and the cruiser Encounter were sent into the Macassar Strait to search for a German munitions base that had been reported in the area. Nothing was found, although the patrol served to interrupt German efforts to carry out subversive activities in a number of British possessions. In May 1917 the British government requested assistance from the Australian government in dealing with the increasing threat posed by German U-boats. Six destroyers—the Warrego, , Yarra, , and —were sent in response to this request, and undertook anti- submarine operations in the Adriatic, working out of Brindisi, Italy as part of the Otranto Barrage. The most decorated RAN unit of the war was the Bridging Train. A reserve unit commanded by Lieutenant Commander Leighton Bracegirdle, it supported the British at Suvla Bay during the Gallipoli Campaign by constructing piers and harbours in the bay. Afterwards it served in Egypt and Palestine, taking part in an amphibious assault in El Arish and the First Battle of Gaza before it was disbanded in 1917. A number of members later went on to serve with the AIF and RAN. During the war the RAN lost 171 men killed, including 15 officers and 156 sailors, of which six officers and 57 sailors had been on loan from the Royal Navy. Although the main focus of Australia's military during World War I was overseas in Europe and the Middle East, there was still a necessity to maintain troops in Australia on home service to carry out a number of essential tasks. As the AIF was otherwise engaged these duties out of necessity fell to the soldiers of the militia and a small number of regular soldiers. In the early stages of mobilisation a number of militia infantry battalions were called out to carry out guard duties upon infrastructure that was considered important to the war effort, such as munitions factories, communications facilities, ammunition dumps and transportation centres. 500 men from the Kennedy Regiment were sent to Thursday Island from Townsville to garrison the island in response to a possible threat from German forces in the Pacific. Additionally, militia troops were used to establish and guard internment camps and garrison artillery and engineer units from the militia were also mobilised to assist the regular units that were manning coastal defences. By the end of 1914 the naval situation in the Pacific had eased to a large extent due to the sinking of the Emden, and it was decided that there was no longer a need to maintain guards on many of the less important facilities, and instead it was decided to concentrate the home defence network upon maintaining the coastal defences and on guarding ships while they were in port. Nevertheless, in the larger seaports these precautions required the commitment of considerable resources, requiring several hundred men to provide security. The requirement for the militia to undertake these duties was eased, however, when a special corps was raised from men that had been rejected for service with the AIF, to which a corps of garrison military police that had served in the AIF was added later. The militia garrison artillery and engineers were required throughout the war, however, to man the coastal defences. Despite the fact that after 1915 it was decided that only small garrisons were required on active service, the militia was ordered to maintain their readiness in case they were required to be called out and such was the importance placed upon their role that to a large extent they were barred from joining the AIF for overseas service. In February 1916 a large-scale effort by militia artillerymen to enlist in the artillery units that were being raised for the 3rd Division was prevented when they were called out to man the coastal defences due to the threat posed by a German commerce raider that was believed to be in the Pacific. This mobilisation lasted until April 1916, when the garrisons were again reduced and the ban on men serving in militia artillery and engineer units volunteering for overseas service was lifted. In April 1918 the militia artillery was again mobilised, although this time only for a month, when news that the German commerce raiders Wolf and Seeadler had entered Australian waters the previous year. In June 1918 the number of troops actively employed on home service was 9,215, of which 2,476 were regulars. At this time the Navy took over the task of providing guards for ships in harbour and communications facilities, thus allowing for many of the militia troops to be released for further training, and as such it was decided to increase the period of camp training for the militia from eight days to 24. Throughout World War I the Australian forces deployed overseas were all volunteers, however, on the home front there was considerable debate about the issue of conscription. Conscription had been a contentious issue ever since Federation and when the AIF was initially raised in 1914 it had been decided that it would be an all-volunteer force due to the provisions of the Defence Act that precluded sending conscripts overseas. Nevertheless, as the war progressed, casualties amongst the deployed forces began to reach alarming rates and as the flow of reinforcements and recruits for the AIF began to drop in 1916, the issue of conscription rose once more. In Australia, however, public opinion about the matter was divided with many Australians opposed to the issue on moral grounds, feeling that the situation was not desperate enough to require such a drastic measure, while others felt it necessary in order to achieve final victory. The Hughes Labor government decided to hold a plebiscite on the matter and on 28 October 1916 the matter was decided by a narrow margin of 51 per cent to 49 per cent, with the no vote prevailing. Despite the result, the issue split the Labor Party and the pro-conscription prime minister, Billy Hughes, ultimately left the party and joined with members of the opposition that supported conscription to form a new party, known as the Nationalist Party. As manpower shortages on the Western Front began to become acute, a second plebiscite was held on 20 December 1917. This time it was defeated by an even greater margin of 94,152 votes. This effectively put an end to plans to expand the AIF in France and ultimately led to severe manpower shortages that the AIF in France experienced in 1917 and 1918. As a result, plans to expand the force to a 6th Division were shelved and its manpower distributed amongst the other five divisions, while the five divisions were amalgamated together under the banner of the Australian Corps, thus effectively allowing the 4th Division, which was struggling to maintain its numbers to act as a depot formation within the Corps with the other three divisions providing most of the combat power. As the war continued, the manpower shortages continued. Wounded men were being pressed back into service, and there were cases of "combat refusal" by the 1st and 59th Battalions. On 23 September 1918, Monash ordered the breakup of some under- strength battalions to reinforce others. In the AIF the battalion was the source of pride and identification for the men, rather than the regiment as in the British Army, so in some cases this order was defied – some men, who were not eligible to draw rations as their unit no longer officially existed, lived by stealing food or sharing with other units. Monash rescinded the order for a while but eventually "the Heads" (as Australians called their senior officers) enforced the change by marching off companies by night into different battalions. The change ultimately proved unnecessary as the war ended shortly after. The global nature of the war meant that many functions that were previously vested in the individual Australian state governments had to be placed under the control of the Commonwealth government. Additionally, the exigencies of the war meant that the government required the power to enact certain laws that under the Constitution it would not normally be able to do. In order to enable this to occur, the War Precautions Act 1914 was introduced in October 1914, providing the Commonwealth government with wide-ranging powers for a period of up to six months after the duration of the war. The main provisions of the Act were focused upon allowing the Commonwealth to enact legislation that was required for the smooth prosecution of the war. The main areas in which legislation was enacted under the War Precautions Act were: the prevention of trade with hostile nations, the creation of loans to raise money for the war effort, the introduction of a national taxation scheme, the fixing of the prices of certain goods, the internment of people considered a danger to the war effort, the compulsory purchase of strategic goods, and the censorship of the media. At the outbreak of the war there were about 35,000 people who had been born in either Germany or Austria-Hungary living in Australia. Due to large-scale German migration in the late 19th century, there were also an inestimable number of people of German origin, many of whom maintained an affinity for their ancestral roots. Many of these were naturalised Australians, and indeed it is believed that many men of German origin enlisted in the AIF. However, due to concerns about the loyalties of some members of the German and Austrian communities, internment camps were set up where those suspected of unpatriotic acts were sent. In total it is believed that 4,500 people were interned under the provisions of the War Precautions Act, of which 700 were naturalised Australians and 70 Australian- born. Following the end of the war, 6,150 were deported. There was a considerable public backlash to the way in which some of the provisions of the War Precautions Act were applied, particularly in relation to certain sections of the community such as trade unions and other sections of the community that were for various reasons not as sympathetic to the British cause as the wider community. Indeed, in 1917, following the suppression of a prominent trade union and the jailing of 12 of its members on charges of sedition and sabotage, it seemed as if Australia's war effort might have been in danger of breaking down. After the war, the continued operation of the War Precautions Act led to considerable social and political unrest in late 1918 and into 1919 and a number of violent incidents broke out. The most notable of these was the so-called Red Flag Riots in Brisbane, in 1919. At the outset of the war, Australia's economy had been quite small and dependent largely upon agriculture and the resources industries for export earnings, while most manufactured products were imported from overseas. Almost immediately uncertainty over the continuation of foreign trade led to a rise in unemployment, indeed it was estimated that after only a couple of days of Britain having declared war, that up to 15,000 men had been retrenched in New South Wales alone due to concerns about the continued availability of foreign markets for Australian produce. These initial concerns, however, were short lived, at least in the beginning as the British government provided assurances that it would underwrite a large amount of the war risk insurance for shipping in order to allow trade amongst the Commonwealth to continue. Shortly thereafter the wartime direction of trade began when the British asked the Australian government to place certain restrictions upon overseas trade in order to secure resources vital to the war effort and to limit the ability of the Central Powers from obtaining these goods from Commonwealth nations via neutral third parties. To an extent these restrictions served to reduce the ability of Australian producers to find buyers for their products, at least initially, however, in many cases the British stepped in to buy these goods, thus alleviating Australian concerns about a significant reduction in the standard of living. This understanding proved particularly beneficial for the wool and wheat industries, where the British government undertook to buy Australian products even though the shortage of shipping meant that there was no chance that they would ever receive them. On the whole Australian commerce was expanded due to the war, although the cost of the war was quite considerable and the Australian government had to borrow considerably from overseas to fund the war effort. In terms of value, Australian exports rose almost 45 per cent, while the number of Australians employed in the manufacturing industry increased over 11 per cent. This was due in the most part to the reduced ability of traditional sources to continue supplying Australia with manufactured products, which out of necessity stimulated the development of the Australian manufacturing industry. In terms of goods produced indigenously, it was estimated that due to the inability of traditional suppliers to deliver manufactured goods because of trade embargoes and shipping shortages up to 400 new articles were produced in Australian factories as a result of the war. This was not an insignificant number, although the transformation of the Australian economy as a result of World War I was by no means as significant as that which occurred during World War II. The expansion of the steel industry that occurred during this time laid the foundation for future industrialisation. Despite this increase in the domestic manufacturing industry there was still a significant shortfall in many items. In part this was due to the priority that military consumption and production necessarily had over civilian, however, there was also a considerable scarcity of raw materials and other components required for manufacturing. This was due both to the lack of shipping available from the United Kingdom, as well as the limitations placed upon the flow of such goods from Britain due to their own increased requirements. The result of this was inflationary. Domestic prices went up, while the cost of exports was deliberately kept lower than market value in an effort to prevent further inflationary pressures worldwide. As a result, the cost of living for many average Australians was increased considerably. An increase in the trade union movement was an inevitable corollary of this and during the war years there was a considerable increase in the membership of the various unions. Despite the considerable rises in the costs of many basic items, the government sought to maintain wages largely as they were. Although the average weekly wage during the war was increased by between 8–12 per cent, it was not enough to keep up with inflation and as a result there was considerable discontent amongst workers, to the extent that industrial action followed. Not all of these disputes were due to economic factors, and indeed in some part they were the result of violent opposition to the issue of conscription, which many trade unionists were opposed to. Nevertheless, the result was very disruptive and it has been estimated that between 1914 and 1918 there were 1,945 industrial disputes, resulting in 8,533,061 working days lost and £4,785,607 in lost wages. Overall, the war had a significantly negative impact on the Australia economy. Real aggregate Gross Domestic Product (GDP) declined by 9.5 per cent over the period 1914 to 1920, while the mobilization of personnel resulted in a 6 per cent decline in civilian employment. Meanwhile, although population growth continued during the war years, it was only half that of the prewar rate. Per capita incomes also declined sharply, falling by 16 per cent. Following the end of hostilities in Europe the Australian government decided against contributing Australian forces to the occupation forces that were sent to Germany as part of the post war settlement so that it could begin the repatriation of the AIF early. Lieutenant General Sir John Monash was appointed Director-General of Repatriation and Demobilisation and oversaw the process in Britain, while Lieutenant General Henry Chauvel took charge of the efforts in the Middle East. Rather than employing a system that returned men by units, or by employment categories, it was decided to use an egalitarian system that saw men who had been away for the longest period of time being returned first. Due to the size of the forces deployed overseas—roughly 167,000 personnel in France, Britain and Egypt—and the logistical requirements of bringing them home the process was nevertheless a lengthy one and as such it became important to occupy the troops while they waited. In order to achieve this and to prepare the men for a return to civilian employment, a vocational education scheme was set up by George Long and troops in Britain were offered educational courses and civilian work placement opportunities and although these programs were not as successful as hoped, several thousand soldiers took advantage of them. Some Australians decided to delay their departure and instead joined the British Army and went on to serve in Northern Russia during the Russian Civil War, although officially the Australian government refused to contribute forces to the campaign. HMAS Yarra, Torrens, Swan and Parramatta served in the Black Sea during the same conflict. Elsewhere, in Egypt in early 1919, a number of Australian light horse units were used to quell a nationalist uprising while they were waiting for passage back to Australia. Despite shortages in shipping, the process of returning the soldiers to Australia was completed faster than expected and by September 1919 there were 10,000 men still left in Britain waiting for repatriation. The last of the main transports conveying Australian troops left England on 23 December 1919, arriving in Australia in early 1920. A year later, on 1 April 1921, the AIF was officially disbanded. The process of repatriation did not end there, though. Upon their return to Australia the effort shifted towards placing the returned soldiers into employment, or education and taking care of those that were too badly injured to work. In order to meet these needs the Commonwealth established the Repatriation Department, tasked with managing the placement of returned soldiers into employment, training, education, housing. Eventually this also included the colossal task of managing the provision of war pensions, managing repatriation hospitals and convalescent homes and administering the Soldier Settlement Scheme. The total cost of these provisions was considerable, and in June 1935 it was estimated to have cost approximately £238,000,000 which was more than the total amount spent on defence during the war. In order to advocate for the many thousands of returned servicemen and women many ex-services organisations sprang up. The most prominent of these was probably the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia which had been established in 1916 by representatives from many state-based organisations already in existence. Following the war this organisation grew in its political influence as its numbers grew and was very active in the repatriation process, advocating for financial entitlements for veterans and securing concessions for soldiers returning to civilian employment. By 1919 it was estimated to have 150,000 members although this fell dramatically in the mid-1920s. The war affected Australia in many ways, although arguably not as greatly as it did the many European nations that were more directly involved. Economically the war had a number of significant impacts, although the Great Depression would later prove far more significant and Australian industry was not as greatly transformed as it would be following World War II. The political landscape was also transformed due to the rifts that resulted from the issue of conscription, while to a smaller extent the role of women in society also evolved as more women entered the workforce. Indeed, between 1914 and 1918 there had been a 13 per cent increase in the employment of women; however, this was mainly in areas were women were traditionally employed. Equally, although around 2,000 women were employed as nurses in the AIF, there was no great involvement of women in the military during the war. Another legacy was the manner in which it led to the emergence—albeit only fleetingly—of an independence in Australian foreign affairs. Although previously Australian foreign interests had been largely handled by Britain, as a combatant Australia sent its own delegation to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, while it also began to take a more assertive role in regional affairs in the Pacific. At the peace conference Prime Minister Hughes pushed aggressively for reparations and an Australian mandate over German New Guinea; a stance which conflicted with the liberal internationalist inspired Fourteen Points put forward by American President Woodrow Wilson. Regardless, following the war there was little real change in Imperial relations and Dominion affairs, and as a result the war arguably did not lead to any significant change in Australia's perception of its role in the world. Indeed, profound change would only occur following the Japanese crisis of 1942, which ultimately saw Australia pursue a foreign policy more independent of Britain, and an alliance with the United States. Perhaps the greatest effect of the war was a psychological one. The heavy losses deeply affected many directly, and war memorials were built all over the country as people sought to remember those that had been killed. However, despite the size of Australia's contribution to the fighting, there were many Australians who had had no actual experience of it. Realising this, and having witnessed the impact of the war first hand, Charles Bean, who was instrumental in editing and writing the official history of Australia's involvement in the war, advocated the need for a national memorial and was one of the main architects in establishing the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The experience of the war also perpetuated many notions about the Australian character and national identity that endure to this day. For many Australians the performance of their soldiers—particularly during the failed Gallipoli campaign—served to highlight the nation's emergence as a member of the international community, while bringing to the fore a belief in Australians' natural ability as soldiers. The attitudes of many Australians towards war itself were also greatly affected. There was a widespread revulsion at the large-scale destruction and loss of life that had occurred and a desire that it should never occur again. In many regards this led to a general complacency towards defence and military matters after the war and arguably led to the nation's lack of preparedness for the next major conflict, while it may still be evident in Australian strategic behaviour to this day. During World War I over 421,809 Australians served in the military with 331,781 serving overseas. Over 60,000 Australians lost their lives and 137,000 were wounded. As a percentage of forces committed, this equalled a casualty rate of almost 65 per cent, one of the highest casualty rates amongst the British Empire forces. The financial cost of the war to the Australian government was £188,480,000. Australian Army battle honours of World War I, List of Australian diarists of World War I Australian War Memorial, Australian War Memorial: Deaths as a result of service with Australian units, Australian Light Horse Studies Centre, Beaumont, Joan: Australia , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Seal, Graham: Anzac (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Westerman, William: Warfare 1914–1918 (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Stanley, Peter: Between Acceptance and Refusal – Soldiers' Attitudes Towards War (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Connor, John: Civilian and Military Power (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Connor, John: Governments, Parliaments and Parties (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Wilcox, Craig: Pre-war Military Planning (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Robertson, Emily: Propaganda at Home (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Beaumont, Joan: War Aims and War Aims Discussions (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Noonan, David C.: War Losses (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War., Frances, Rae: Women’s Mobilisation for War (Australia) , in: 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War.

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The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a range of mid-size SUVs produced by the American manufacturer Jeep. While some other SUVs were manufactured with body-on-frame construction, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has always used a unibody chassis. The Grand Cherokee's origins date back to 1983 when American Motors Corporation (AMC) was designing a successor to the smaller Jeep Cherokee (XJ). Three outside (non-AMC) designers—Larry Shinoda, Alain Clenet, and Giorgetto Giugiaro—were also under contract with AMC to create and build a clay model of the Cherokee XJ replacement, then known as the "XJC" project. However, the basic design for the Cherokee's replacement was well under way by AMC's in- house designers and the 1989 Jeep Concept 1 show car foretold the basic design. As AMC began development of the next Jeep in 1985, management created a business process that is now known as product lifecycle management (PLM). According to François Castaing, Vice President for Product Engineering and Development, the smallest U.S. automaker was looking for a way to speed up its product development process to compete better against its larger competitors. The XJC's development was aided by computer-aided design (CAD) software systems making the engineers more productive. Meanwhile, new communication systems allowed potential conflicts to be resolved faster, thus reducing costly engineering changes, because all drawings and documents were in a central database. The system was so effective that after Chrysler purchased AMC in 1987, it expanded the system throughout its enterprise, thus connecting everyone involved in designing and building products. The Grand Cherokee thus became the first Chrysler-badged Jeep product. Development work for the new Jeep model continued and Chrysler's employees (after the 1987 buyout of AMC) were eager for a late-1980s release date; however, CEO Lee Iacocca was pushing for redesigned Chrysler minivans, thus delaying the Grand Cherokee's release until late 1992 as an Explorer competitor. Unlike the Explorer, the Grand Cherokee utilized monocoque (unibody) construction, whereas the Explorer was a derivative of the Ranger pickup with a separate body-on-frame. The Grand Cherokee debuted in grand fashion at the 1992 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan. The vehicle that was driven was a Poppy Red Clear Coat 1993 Grand Cherokee ZJ Laredo with a quartz cloth interior and high-back bucket seats. Then Chrysler president Robert Lutz drove Detroit mayor, Coleman Young, from the Jefferson North Assembly Plant on North Jefferson Avenue via a police escort to Cobo Hall, up the steps of Cobo Hall and through a plate glass window to show off the new vehicle. Sales of the 1993 model year Grand Cherokee began in April 1992. Production of the Grand Cherokee started shortly afterward in the purpose-built Jefferson North Assembly in Detroit, Michigan. European Grand Cherokees are manufactured in Austria by Magna Steyr. The Grand Cherokee "played a significant part in reviving Chrysler's fortunes by moving it into the then nascent market for high-margin sports utility vehicles." Upon its introduction, it was the first USA-manufactured automobile using HFC-134a refrigerant in place of HCFC-12 for the HVAC system. The original Grand Cherokee was launched in 1992 as a 1993 model year vehicle in the luxury SUV segment. The "ZJ" models, manufactured from 1992 to 1998, originally came in three trim levels: base (also known as SE), Laredo, and Limited, subsequent trims were added, included Orvis (MY 95–98), TSI (MY97–98). The base model included features such as full instrumentation, cloth interior, and a standard five-speed manual transmission, while gaining the moniker "SE" name for the 1994 model year. Power windows and locks were not standard equipment on the base trim. The minimal price tag differential resulted in low consumer demand, and as a result, the low-line model was eventually discontinued. Additional standard features included a driver-side air bag and four-wheel anti-lock braking system (ABS). The Laredo was the mid- scale model with standard features that included power windows, power door locks, cruise control, and a leather wrapped steering wheel. Exterior features included medium-grey plastic paneling on the lower body and five-spoke alloy wheels. The Limited was the premium model, featuring body color lower body paneling, and gold exterior accents. The Limited also boasted standard features such as leather seating, heated mirrors, front power seats, a keyless entry system, wood grain interior appliqué, lace style alloy wheels, a driver information center with compass, digitized climate control, and electrochromic rearview mirror, and Jensen brand stereo with multi-band equalizer. By 1996 the option list grew to include heated seats. Standard was the 4.0, with the 5.2 V8 (and 5.9 in 1998) being optional, as with other models. Package groups with the various trim levels included: fog lamps, skid plates, as well as convenience, lighting, luxury, power, security, and trailer towing packages. When it was first introduced in April 1992 as an early 1993 model year vehicle, the Grand Cherokee only had one powertrain choice: the 4.0 L AMC- derived straight-six engine that made 190 horsepower. This became the "volume" engine for the Grand Cherokee. Transmission choices included a four-speed automatic transmission (early production ZJs used the AW4 – the A500SE (later 42RE) replaced the AW4 during the latter half of the 1993 model year) or an Aisin AX15 manual transmission. Low demand for the manual transmission resulted in its discontinuation after 1994, but European-market ZJs retained it when coupled to the diesel engine (which was unavailable in North America). The drive train choices included rear-wheel drive or four-wheel-drive. In 1995, the engine dropped 5 horsepower to 185 due to new EPA regulations imposed on the 1996 model year. In 1997, for the 1998 model year, a variant of the top-level Grand Cherokee Limited, the "5.9 Limited" was introduced. Jeep ads claimed it to be the "world's fastest sport utility vehicle", verified by third-party testing. The primary improvements in the 5.9 Limited version included a 245-horsepower 5.9L OHV V8 engine, heavy-duty 46RE automatic transmission, functional heat-extracting hood louvers, unique wide-slot body- colored grille with mesh inserts, special rocker moldings, low-restriction exhaust with three-inch chrome tip, a low-profile roof rack, and special 16" Ultra-Star wheels. The 5.9 Limited also received a 150 amp alternator and a 2-speed electric cooling fan. Other features include a standard 180-watt, 10-speaker Infinity Gold sound system with rear roof-mounted sound bar, standard sunroof, and an interior swaddled with unique "calf's nap" soft leather and faux wood trim. The 5.9 Limited was awarded "4x4 of the Year" for 1998 by Petersen's 4-Wheel & Off-Road magazine. Production of this model was 14,286 units. Export models produced at the plant in Graz, Austria, were given the vehicle designation of "ZG". The redesigned WJ 1999 Grand Cherokee shared just 127 parts with its predecessor (mostly fasteners). The European model was coded WG. The spare tire was relocated from the side of the cargo compartment to under the floor. (Like the 1998 ZJ, the rear tailgate glass opened separately.) The two heavy pushrod V8 engines were replaced by Chrysler's then-new PowerTech. The new V8 engine produced less torque than the old pushrods, but was lighter, offered better fuel economy, and provided similar on road performance figures (the 23-gallon fuel tank was replaced with one of a 20.5-gallon capacity). The straight-six engine was also updated in 1999. A redesign of the intake manifold added . While other Jeep vehicles used the Mopar 5 x 4.5 bolt circle, this was the first Jeep following the 1987 Chrysler buyout to receive a wider bolt pattern: – 5 x 5. A notable feature available in this generation was the automatic four wheel drive option called Quadra-Drive, which employed the New Venture Gear NV247 transfer case. This two-speed chain-driven transfer case uses a gerotor, a clutch pack coupled to a hydraulic pump, to transfer torque between the front and rear axles. The transfer case contains three modes, 4-All Time, Neutral, and 4-Lo. In 4-All Time, 100% of torque is sent to the rear axle in normal conditions. If the rear axle starts spinning at a higher rate than the front axle, hydraulic pressure builds up in the gerotor and causes the clutch pack to progressively transfer torque to the front axle until both axles return to the same speed. Neutral mode is intended for towing the vehicle. In 4-Lo, the front and rear axles are locked together through a 2.72 reduction gear ratio. The NV247 transfer case is mated to front and rear axles containing Jeep's Vari-Lok differentials. Vari-Lok differentials also use a gerotor to transfer torque between the wheels on either side of the axle. The major advantage of Quadra-Drive was that the combined transfer case and progressive locking differentials in each axle could automatically control traction between all four wheels. However, only the center differential could be permanently locked, and only in 4Lo. The Quadra-Trac II system included the NV247 transfer case with the standard open front and rear differentials. The 45RFE and 545RFE automatic transmission in the WJ was notable. It included three planetary gear sets rather than the two normally used in a four-speed automatic. This gave it six theoretical speeds, and it would have been the first six-speed transmission ever produced in volume, but it was programmed to only use five of these ratios. Four were used for upshifts, with a different second gear for downshifts. Although five of the six ratios were used, Chrysler decided to call it a "4-speed automatic". In 2001, the programming was changed to make use of all six ratios. Rather than have six forward gears, the transmission was programmed to act as a five-speed with the alternate second gear for downshifts. The rpm at on a 545RFE is 2000 rpm, 200 rpm less than the 45RFE programming. 1999 and 2000 model year WJ owners can have their 45RFE transmission's programming flashed to enable the extra gear as both transmissions are physically the same. (Must purchase new PCM and ABS module and program them with a fake VIN to make this work.) The 42RE 4-speed automatic remained the transmission for the Inline 6 engine. It had slight changes from the previous model Grand Cherokee. The interior was also completely redesigned in 1999. The redesign allowed for larger rear doors, and more space for rear passengers. Controls for various items like headlights, heated seats, and rear wiper were moved to more convenient locations. The electronic Vehicle Information center was moved from below the radio to above the windshield, and was standard on all 2000 and up models. Limited models included automatic dual-zone climate control. A 10 CD-Changer was also available with the Infinity Audio package. In addition to Jeep's UniFrame construction, Daimler Chrysler partnered with Porsche to further strengthen the frame. This was done to reduce Noise Vibration Harshness (NVH). UniFrame is an unusual construction scheme, it incorporates all of the strength and durability of a body-on-frame construction into a unitized construction. By adding stiffness and rigidity to the structure, they enhanced the ride and strengthened the network of steel beams, rails and pillars (or "safety cage") that surround and protect occupants. More than 70 percent of the underbody is high-strength steel. All Jeep Grand Cherokees feature UniFrame construction. The Grand Cherokee received a minor facelift for 2004 including round fog lamps, a lower front fascia and a new body-color matched inset grille design. Export models produced at the plant in Graz, Austria, were given the vehicle designation of "WG". The WK Grand Cherokee debuted in 2004 for the 2005 model year at the 2004 New York International Auto Show with available Quadra-Drive II four-wheel drive, rear-seat DVD player and optional 5.7 L Hemi V8. The 3.7 L V6 engine replaced the 4.0 L Straight-6. A Mercedes Benz sourced 3.0 V6 Common Rail Diesel (CRD) was available outside of North America from launch. Jeep replaced the XJ-era live-axle with leading-arms front suspension (found in the ZJ and WJ) with an independent double-wishbone setup like that which debuted in the 2002 Liberty. Classed as a truck-based SUV, the WH/WK Grand Cherokee offers "crossover" refinement, capability and NVH. The 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee made its European debut at the Euro Camp Jeep in Ardèche, France. This Jeep has gained 4 stars in the Euro Ncap crash safety tests conducted in 2005. The Grand Cherokee received a minor facelift for 2008 with revised headlights and High Intensity Discharge (HID) Headlamps with auto leveling. The lower portion of the front bumper was still removable as it was from launch to increase the approach angle for off-road use. The 4.7 L was refined, now producing , and . The 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee is available with an improved 5.7 L Hemi engine rated at and of torque. The engine uses variable valve timing to increase fuel economy. The fourth-generation WK2 Grand Cherokee went on sale in summer 2010 as a 2011 model. It was unveiled at the 2009 New York Auto Show. In 2009, during its development, Chrysler management used it as an example of future products to convince United States federal regulators of Chrysler's future viability for the purpose of requesting a federal loan. This culminated in the Chrysler Chapter 11 reorganization that same year. The fourth-generation Grand Cherokee retains its classic Jeep styling combined with a modern and sleek body style. The interior features leather trim and real wood accents, plus Bluetooth and uConnect electronics options. With the additional awards for the 2011 Grand Cherokee, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has won 30 awards for off-road capability, luxury, value, best-in-class, and safety, making it the most awarded SUV ever. Among the awards are: Top Safety Pick for 2011 from the IIHS, listed as a Consumers Digest Best Buy for 2011, Safest SUV in America by MSN Autos, and Truck of the Year for 2011 by The Detroit News. Like previous generations, the WK2 Grand Cherokee chassis is a steel unibody. Unlike previous generations, it features four-wheel independent suspension for better on-road handling. The WK2 and 2011 Durango use a Chrysler designed and engineered platform/chassis that Mercedes-Benz later used for the Mercedes-Benz series. The Chrysler designed platform was part of the DaimerChrysler engineering projects that were to launch the WK2 Grand Cherokee with the Mercedes-Benz ML to follow. However, due to the subsequent sale and bankruptcy of Chrysler, the Grand Cherokee launch was delayed and the ML launched before the Grand Cherokee. Four wheel drive systems include Quadra-Trac I, Quadra-Trac II, and Quadra- Drive II. Using Selec-Terrain, the driver can select modes for Auto, Sport, Snow, Sand/Mud, and Rock. Optional Quadra-Lift height adjustable air suspension can raise the vehicle's ground clearance up to . Lift modes include Park, Aero, Normal Ride Height, Off-Road 1, and Off-Road 2. Engine choices include the all new 3.6 L Pentastar V6 and 5.7 L Hemi V8. The Hemi V8 retains the Multiple Displacement System (MDS) that shuts down four cylinders in low- power driving situations. The V8 comes with the multi-speed automatic transmission that includes Electronic Range Selection (ERS) to manually limit the high gear operating range. Trailer towing is rated for Hemi models and for Pentastar models. A 3.0 L turbocharged diesel V6 developed and built by Fiat Powertrain Technologies and VM Motori (with Multijet II injection) rated at and of torque offered in export markets from mid-2011. The new 3.0 L CRD turbodiesel engine is available in European markets as low-power version. The new Grand Cherokee SRT8, which started production on July 16, 2011, is equipped with a 6.4 L Hemi V8 engine. Jeep claims the new SRT8 gets 13 percent better fuel economy than its predecessor. To keep the gas mileage respectable, Jeep has employed a new active exhaust system that lets Chrysler's cylinder- deactivating Fuel Saver Technology operate over a wider rpm band. Chrysler claims that with the larger gas tank, the SUV can now travel up to on a single tank, while other sources estimate range to be . The Jeep Grand Cherokee was released in India on 30 August 2016. Alongside the Wrangler, the Grand Cherokee was the first model to be sold directly by Jeep in the country. Jeeps have been built under license by Mahindra in India since the 1960s. In 2010, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) launched an investigation into 1993–2004 model year Jeep Grand Cherokees which involves the fuel tanks of these SUVs. In moderate- to high-energy rear collisions, the fuel tank (located behind the rear axle) could be compromised structurally, resulting in fuel leakage and fire. The NHTSA claims that it has reports of 157 deaths resulting from fires caused by Grand Cherokees crashing. Also affected are 2002–2007 Jeep Liberty models and 1986–2001 Jeep Cherokee models, which totals about 5.1 million affected vehicles. In June, 2013, Chrysler Corporation responded to the recall, agreeing to recall 2.7 million Jeeps, though eliminating both the 1986–2001 Jeep Cherokee XJ and 1999–2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ from the recall. The recall will include 2.7 million 1993–1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ and 2002–2007 Jeep Liberty KJ vehicles. Two weeks prior to this recall, Chrysler Corporation claimed that the affected Jeep vehicles were safe, citing the vehicles' rates of fatal rear-impact crashes involving fire as well as their compliance with then-current requirements of FMVSS standard No. 301, though agreed to recall the affected vehicles later. To remedy the problem, Jeep dealerships will install a trailer hitch onto the rear bumpers of Jeep vehicles that will protect the fuel tank if the vehicle is involved in a rear impact. If an affected vehicle is not currently equipped with a trailer hitch, one will be installed onto it, and older Jeep and non-factory aftermarket trailer hitches will be replaced with one from Chrysler Corporation. Despite the recall, the market for these Jeep vehicles has not suffered. In May 2013 there was a recall of WKs with the Quadra-Drive II and Quadra-Trac II systems. This followed cases of cars rolling away due the transfer case moving into neutral of its own accord, and the owner not having applied the parking brake. The recall revised the Final Drive Control Module (FDCM) software. However, following the recall there were widespread reports on enthusiast web sites of both the neutral and low ratio modes of the transfer case ceasing to function, and a survey showed that fewer than 10% of respondents had experienced no issues with the recall. Attempting to resolve these issues, some dealers subsequently replaced the transfer case actuator, FDCM, and even the transfer case itself, often at customer expense and usually to no avail. The cause of the roll-aways was faulty soldering in the transfer case actuator. It has been deduced that the revised software detects this by noting any deviation in resistance, and thereupon locks the transfer case in high ratio for safety; but that it is over-reacting to minor resistance variations from other causes. Originally Chrysler dealers claimed that the loss of neutral and low ratio following the recall was coincidence; then it claimed that the revised software was revealing pre-existing faults in the system, despite it occurring even with new parts. Chrysler have also claimed that only a small fraction of cars have issues following the recall; but most users never have occasion to use the low ratio and may never discover the fault. Four years after this recall its issues remain unresolved. In April 2016, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) ordered a recall of 2014 and 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokees and other cars that use an electronic gear shifter because it sometimes does not go into (or does not remain in) the park position, despite the operator's best intentions. Consumers reported that they put the car in park and left the engine running, and then were surprised when the car rolled away under power. An investigation by FCA US and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found some drivers have exited their vehicles without first selecting “PARK.” Such behavior may pose a safety risk if a vehicle’s engine is still running. The Company is aware of 41 injuries that are potentially related. The vehicles involved in these events were inspected and no evidence of equipment failure was found. The vehicles also deliver warning chimes and alert messages if their driver-side doors are opened while their engines are still running and “PARK” is not engaged. However, investigation suggested these measures may be insufficient to deter some drivers from exiting their vehicles without selecting “PARK,” so FCA US will enhance the warnings and transmission-shift strategy on these vehicles. The enhancements will combine warnings with a transmission-shift strategy to automatically prevent a vehicle from moving, under certain circumstances, even if the driver fails to select “PARK.” Jeep has now replaced the shifter with a conventional lever which stays in position for late 2016 models. In July 2017, 2012-14 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs were recalled due to possible alternator failure. If the alternator fails, the vehicle may stall and/or if the alternator has a short circuit, a fire may occur. In October 2017, 2011-14 model year Grand Cherokees were recalled due to improperly installed brake shields in some vehicles. Jeep Cherokee (SJ), the similarly named 1974–83 predecessor., Diesel emissions scandal Inline General Jeep Grand Cherokee website, Jeep Grand Cherokee India website, Only in a Jeep. Public Domain Jeep promo video. Jeep is a brand of American automobile and division of FCA US LLC (formerly Chrysler Group, LLC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian-American corporation Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Jeep has been a part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Motors Corporation (AMC). Jeep's product range consists solely of sport utility vehicles – both cross-overs and fully off- road worthy models, including one pickup truck. Previously, Jeep's range included other pick-ups, as well as small vans, and a few roadsters. Some of Jeep's vehicles—such as the Grand Cherokee—reach into the luxury SUV segment, a market segment the 1963 Wagoneer is considered to have started. Jeep sold 1.4 million SUVs globally in 2016, up from 500,000 in 2008, two-thirds of which in North America, and was Fiat-Chrysler's best selling brand in the U.S. during the first half of 2017. In the U.S. alone, over 2400 dealerships hold franchise rights to sell Jeep-branded vehicles, and if Jeep were spun off into a separate company, it is estimated to be worth between $22 and $33.5 billion—slightly more than all of FCA (US). Prior to 1940 the term "jeep" had been used as U.S. Army slang for new recruits or vehicles, but the World War II "jeep" that went into production in 1941 specifically tied the name to this light military 4x4, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass- production vehicles now known as SUVs. The Jeep became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the United States Armed Forces and the Allies during World War II, as well as the postwar period. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart noted: "The spartan, cramped, and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of Yankee ingenuity and cocky, can-do determination." It is the precursor of subsequent generations of military light utility vehicles such as the Humvee, and inspired the creation of civilian analogs such as the original Series I Land Rover. Many Jeep variants serving similar military and civilian roles have since been designed in other nations. The Jeep marque has been headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, ever since Willys-Overland launched production of the first CJ or Civilian Jeep branded models there in 1945. Its replacement, the conceptually consistent Jeep Wrangler series, remains in production since 1986. With its solid axles and open top, the Wrangler has been called the Jeep model that is as central to the brand's identity as the rear-engined 911 is to Porsche. At least two Jeep models (the CJ-5 and the SJ Wagoneer) enjoyed extraordinary three-decade production runs of a single body generation. In lowercase, the term "jeep" continues to be used as a generic term for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain. When it became clear that the United States would be involved in the European theater of World War II, the Army contacted 135 companies to create working prototypes of a four-wheel drive reconnaissance car. Only two companies responded: American Bantam Car Company and Willys-Overland. The Army set a seemingly impossible deadline of 49 days to supply a working prototype. Willys asked for more time, but was refused. The Bantam Car Company had only a skeleton staff left on the payroll and solicited Karl Probst, a talented freelance designer from Detroit. After turning down Bantam's initial request, Probst responded to an Army request and began work on July 17, 1940, initially without salary. Probst laid out full plans in just two days for the Bantam prototype known as the BRC or Bantam Reconnaissance Car, working up a cost estimate the next day. Bantam's bid was submitted on July 22, complete with blueprints. Much of the vehicle could be assembled from off-the-shelf automotive parts, and custom four-wheel drivetrain components were to be supplied by Spicer. The hand-built prototype was completed in Butler, Pennsylvania and driven to Camp Holabird, Maryland on September 23 for Army testing. The vehicle met all the Army's criteria except engine torque. The Army thought that the Bantam company was too small to supply the required number of vehicles, so it supplied the Bantam design to Willys and Ford, and encouraged them to modify the design. The resulting Ford "Pygmy" and Willys "Quad" prototypes looked very similar to the Bantam BRC prototype, and Spicer supplied very similar four-wheel drivetrain components to all three manufacturers. 1,500 of each model (Bantam BRC-40, Ford GP, and Willys MA) were built and extensively field-tested. After the weight specification was revised from to a maximum of including oil and water, Willys-Overland's chief engineer Delmar "Barney" Roos modified the design in order to use Willys's heavy but powerful "Go Devil" engine, and won the initial production contract. The Willys version became the standard Jeep design, designated the model MB and was built at their plant in Toledo, Ohio. The familiar pressed-metal Jeep grille was a Ford design feature and incorporated in the final design by the Army. Because the US War Department required a large number of vehicles in a short time, Willys-Overland granted the US Government a non-exclusive license to allow another company to manufacture vehicles using Willys' specifications. The Army chose Ford as a second supplier, building Jeeps to the Willys' design. Willys supplied Ford with a complete set of plans and specifications. American Bantam, the creators of the first Jeep, built approximately 2,700 of them to the BRC-40 design, but spent the rest of the war building heavy-duty trailers for the Army. Final production version Jeeps built by Willys-Overland were the Model MB, while those built by Ford were the Model GPW (G=government vehicle, P designated the 80" wheelbase, and W = the Willys engine design). There were subtle differences between the two. The versions produced by Ford had every component (including bolt heads) marked with an "F", and early on Ford also stamped their name in large letters in their trademark script, embossed in the rear panel of their jeeps. Willys followed the Ford pattern by stamping 'Willys' into several body parts, but the U.S. government objected to this practice, and both parties stopped this in 1942. In spite of persistent advertising by both car and component manufacturers' contributions to the production of the successful jeeps during the war, no "Jeep"-branded vehicles were built until the 1945 Willys CJ-2A. The cost per vehicle trended upwards as the war continued from the price under the first contract from Willys at US$648.74 (Ford's was $782.59 per unit). Willys-Overland and Ford, under the direction of Charles E. Sorensen (Vice-President of Ford during World War II), produced about 640,000 Jeeps towards the war effort, which accounted for approximately 18% of all the wheeled military vehicles built in the U.S. during the war. Jeeps were used by every service of the U.S. military. An average of 145 were supplied to every Army infantry regiment. Jeeps were used for many purposes, including cable laying, saw milling, as firefighting pumpers, field ambulances, tractors and, with suitable wheels, would even run on railway tracks. An amphibious jeep, the model GPA, or "seep" (Sea Jeep) was built for Ford in modest numbers but it could not be considered a huge success—it was neither a good off-road vehicle nor a good boat. As part of the war effort, nearly 30% of all Jeep production was supplied to Great Britain and to the Soviet Red Army. The Jeep has been widely imitated around the world, including in France by Delahaye and by Hotchkiss et Cie (after 1954, Hotchkiss manufactured Jeeps under license from Willys), and in Japan by Mitsubishi Motors and Toyota. The Land Rover was inspired by the Jeep. The utilitarian good looks of the original Jeep have been hailed by industrial designers and museum curators alike. The Museum of Modern Art described the Jeep as a masterpiece of functionalist design, and has periodically exhibited the Jeep as part of its collection. Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent Ernie Pyle called the jeep, along with the Coleman G.I. Pocket Stove, "the two most important pieces of noncombat equipment ever developed." Jeeps became even more famous following the war, as they became available on the surplus market. Some ads claimed to offer "Jeeps still in the factory crate." This legend persisted for decades, despite the fact that Jeeps were never shipped from the factory in crates (although Ford did "knock down" Jeeps for easier shipping, which may have perpetuated the myth). The Jeepney is a unique type of taxi or bus created in the Philippines. The first Jeepneys were military-surplus MBs and GPWs, left behind in the war-ravaged country following World War II and Filipino independence. Jeepneys were built from Jeeps by lengthening and widening the rear "tub" of the vehicle, allowing them to carry more passengers. Over the years, Jeepneys have become the most ubiquitous symbol of the modern Philippines, even as they have been decorated in more elaborate and flamboyant styles by their owners. Most Jeepneys today are scratch-built by local manufacturers, using different powertrains. Aside from Jeepneys, backyard assemblers in the Philippines construct replica Jeeps with stainless steel bodies and surplus parts, and are called "owner-type jeeps" (as jeepneys are also called "passenger-type jeeps"). In the United States military, the Jeep has been supplanted by a number of vehicles (e.g. Ford's M151) of which the latest is the Humvee. After World War II, Jeep began to experiment with new designs, including a model that could drive under water. On February 1, 1950, contract N8ss-2660 was approved for 1,000 units "especially adapted for general reconnaissance or command communications" and "constructed for short period underwater operation such as encountered in landing and fording operations." The engine was modified with a snorkel system so that the engine could properly breathe under water. In 1965, Jeep developed the M715 1.25-ton army truck, a militarized version of the civilian J-series Jeep truck, which served extensively in the Vietnam War. It had heavier full-floating axles and a foldable, vertical, flat windshield. Today, it serves other countries, and is still being produced by Kia under license. Many explanations of the origin of the word jeep have proven difficult to verify. The most widely held theory is that the military designation GP (for Government Purposes or General Purpose) was slurred into the word Jeep in the same way that the contemporary HMMWV (for High-Mobility Multi-purpose Wheeled Vehicle) has become known as the Humvee. Joe Frazer, Willys-Overland President from 1939 to 1944, claimed to have coined the word jeep by slurring the initials G.P. There are no contemporaneous uses of "GP" before later attempts to create a "backronym." A more detailed view, popularized by R. Lee Ermey on his television series Mail Call, disputes this "slurred GP" origin, saying that the vehicle was designed for specific duties, and was never referred to as "General Purpose" and it is highly unlikely that the average jeep-driving GI would have been familiar with this designation. The Ford GPW abbreviation actually meant G for government use, P to designate its wheelbase and W to indicate its Willys-Overland designed engine. Ermey suggests that soldiers at the time were so impressed with the new vehicles that they informally named it after Eugene the Jeep, a character in the Thimble Theatre comic strip and cartoons created by E. C. Segar, as early as mid-March 1936. Eugene the Jeep was Popeye's "jungle pet" and was "small, able to move between dimensions and could solve seemingly impossible problems." The word "jeep" however, was used as early as World War I, as US Army slang for new uninitiated recruits, or by mechanics to refer to new unproven vehicles. In 1937, tractors which were supplied by Minneapolis Moline to the US Army were called jeeps. A precursor of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was also referred to as the jeep. Words of the Fighting Forces by Clinton A. Sanders, a dictionary of military slang, published in 1942, in the library at The Pentagon gives this definition: This definition is supported by the use of the term "jeep carrier" to refer to the Navy's small escort carriers. Early in 1941, Willys-Overland demonstrated the vehicle's off-road capability by having it drive up the steps of the United States Capitol, driven by Willys test driver Irving "Red" Hausmann, who had recently heard soldiers at Fort Holabird calling it a "jeep." When asked by syndicated columnist Katharine Hillyer for the Washington Daily News (or by a bystander, according to another account) what it was called, Hausmann answered, "It's a jeep." Katharine Hillyer's article was published nationally on February 19, 1941, and included a picture of the vehicle with the caption: Although the term was also military slang for vehicles that were untried or untested, this exposure caused all other jeep references to fade, leaving the 4x4 with the name. The "Jeep" brand has gone through many owners, starting with Willys-Overland, which filed the original trademark application for the "Jeep" brand-name in February 1943. To help establish the term as a Willys brand, the firm campaigned with advertisements emphasizing Willys' prominent contribution to the Jeep that helped win the war. Willys' application initially met with years of opposition, primarily from Bantam, but also from Minneapolis-Moline. The Federal Trade Commission initially ruled in favor of Bantam in May 1943, largely ignoring Minneapolis-Moline's claim, and continued to scold Willys- Overland after the war for its advertising. The FTC even slapped the company with a formal complaint, to cease and desist any claims that it "created or designed" the Jeep — Willys was only allowed to advertise its contribution to the Jeep's development. Willys however proceeded to produce the first Civilian Jeep (CJ) branded vehicles in 1945, and simply copyrighted the Jeep name in 1946. Being the only company that continually produced "Jeep" vehicles after the war, Willys-Overland was eventually granted the name "Jeep" as a registered trademark in June 1950. Aside from Willys, King Features Syndicate has held a trademark on the name "Jeep" for their comics since August 1936. Willys had also seriously considered the brand name AJ, and was granted the trademark for it in December 1944, but instead the civilian production models as of 1945 were marketed as the "Universal Jeep," which reflected a wider range of uses outside of farming. A division of FCA US LLC, the most recent successor company to the Jeep brand, now holds trademark status on the name "Jeep" and the distinctive 7-slot front grille design. The original 9-slot grille associated with all World War II jeeps was designed by Ford for their GPW, and because it weighed less than the original "Slat Grille" of Willys (an arrangement of flat bars), was incorporated into the "standardized jeep" design. The history of the HMMWV (Humvee) has ties with Jeep. In 1971, Jeep's Defense and Government Products Division was turned into AM General, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Motors Corporation, which also owned Jeep. In 1979, while still owned by American Motors, AM General began the first steps toward designing the Humvee. AM General also continued manufacturing the two- wheel-drive DJ, which Jeep created in 1953. The General Motors Hummer and Chrysler Jeep have been waging battle in U.S. courts over the right to use seven slots in their respective radiator grilles. Chrysler Jeep claims it has the exclusive rights to use the seven vertical slits since it is the sole remaining assignee of the various companies since Willys gave their postwar jeeps seven slots instead of Ford's nine-slot design for the Jeep. Jeep advertising has always emphasized the brand's vehicles' off-road capabilities. Today, the Wrangler is one of the few remaining four-wheel-drive vehicles with solid front and rear axles. These axles are known for their durability, strength, and articulation. New Wranglers come with a Dana 44 rear differential and a Dana 30 front differential. The upgraded Rubicon model of the JK Wrangler is equipped with electronically activated locking differentials, Dana 44 axles front and rear with 4.10 gears, a 4:1 transfer case, electronic sway bar disconnect and heavy duty suspension. Another benefit of solid axle vehicles is they tend to be easier and cheaper to "lift" with aftermarket suspension systems. This increases the distance between the axle and chassis of the vehicle. By increasing this distance, larger tires can be installed, which will increase the ground clearance, allowing it to traverse even larger and more difficult obstacles. In addition to higher ground clearance, many owners aim to increase suspension articulation or "flex" to give their Jeeps greatly improved off-road capabilities. Good suspension articulation keeps all four wheels in contact with the ground and maintains traction. Useful features of the smaller Jeeps are their short wheelbases, narrow frames, and ample approach, breakover, and departure angles, allowing them to fit into places where full-size four-wheel drives have difficulty. After the war, Willys did not resume production of its passenger-car models, choosing instead to concentrate on Jeeps and Jeep-branded vehicles, launching the Jeep Station Wagon in 1946, the Jeep Truck in 1947, and the Jeepster in 1948. An attempt to re-enter the passenger-car market in 1952 with the Willys Aero sedan proved unsuccessful, and ended with the company's acquisition by Kaiser Motors in 1953, for $60 million. Kaiser initially called the merged company "Willys Motors", but renamed itself Kaiser-Jeep in 1963. By the end of 1955, Kaiser-Frazer had dropped the Willys Aero, as well as its own passenger cars to sell Jeeps exclusively. American Motors Corporation (AMC) in turn purchased Kaiser's money-losing Jeep operations in 1970. This time $70 million changed hands. The utility vehicles complemented AMC's passenger car business by sharing components, achieving volume efficiencies, as well as capitalizing on Jeep's international and government markets. In 1971 AMC spun off Jeep's commercial, postal and military vehicle lines into a separate subsidiary, AM General – the company that later developed the M998 Humvee. In 1976 Jeep introduced the CJ-7, replacing the CJ-6 in North America, as well as crossing 100,000 civilian units in annual global sales for the first time. The French automaker Renault began investing in AMC in 1979. During this period Jeep introduced the XJ Cherokee, its first unibody SUV; and global sales top 200,000 for the first time in 1985. However, the replacement of the CJ Jeeps by the new Wrangler line in 1986 marked the start of a different era. By 1987, the automobile markets had changed and Renault itself was experiencing financial troubles. At the same time, Chrysler Corporation wanted to capture the Jeep brand, as well as other assets of AMC. So Chrysler bought out AMC in 1987, shortly after the Jeep CJ-7 had been replaced with the AMC-designed Wrangler YJ. After more than 40 years, the four-wheel drive utility vehicles brand that had been a profitable niche for smaller automakers, fell into the hands of one of the Big Three; and Jeep was the only AMC brand continued by Chrysler after the acquisition. But Chrysler subsequently merged with Daimler- Benz in 1998 and folded into DaimlerChrysler. DaimlerChrysler eventually sold most of their interest in Chrysler to a private equity company in 2007. Chrysler and the Jeep division operated under Chrysler Group LLC, until December 15, 2014, when Chrysler folded into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, with the stateside division operating under 'FCA US LLC'. Jeeps have been built under licence by various manufacturers around the world, including Mahindra in India, EBRO in Spain, and several in South America. Mitsubishi built more than 30 models in Japan between 1953 and 1998; Most were based on the CJ-3B model of the original Willys-Kaiser design. Toledo, Ohio has been the headquarters of the Jeep brand since its inception, and the city has always been proud of this heritage. Although no longer produced in the same Toledo Complex as the World War II originals, two streets in the vicinity of the old plant are named Willys Parkway and Jeep Parkway. The Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee are built in the city currently, in separate facilities, not far from the site of the original Willys-Overland plant. American Motors set up the first automobile- manufacturing joint venture in the People's Republic of China on January 15, 1984. The result was Beijing Jeep Corporation, Ltd., in partnership with Beijing Automobile Industry Corporation, to produce the Jeep Cherokee (XJ) in Beijing. Manufacture continued after Chrysler's buyout of AMC. This joint venture is now part of DaimlerChrysler and DaimlerChrysler China Invest Corporation. The original 1984 XJ model was updated and called the "Jeep 2500" toward the end of its production that ended after 2005. While Jeeps have been built in India under licence by Mahindra & Mahindra since the 1960s, Jeep has entered the Indian market directly in 2016, starting with release of the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee in the country. 1944–1953: Willys-Overland, 1953–1964: Kaiser Jeep (calling themselves "Willys Motors"), 1964–1970: Kaiser Jeep, 1970–1987: AMC (w/ Renault controlling production in 1986), 1987–1998: Chrysler, 1998–2007: DaimlerChrysler AG, 2007–2009: Chrysler LLC, 2009–2013: Chrysler Group LLC - Fiat Group Automobiles, 2014–present: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 1940 Willys Quad — Willys' first prototype, competing for the U.S. Army contract for a ¼-ton light reconnaissance vehicle, 1941 Willys MA — Willys' low-volume preproduction model, preceding the standardized World War II jeep, 1941-1944 Willys MT "Super Jeep" — 6x6, 3⁄4-ton prototype — a small number were built in various configurations, 1942 Willys MB – slat grille, 1942–1945 Willys MB – stamped grille, 1943 Willys WAC (for 'Willys Air Cooled') "Jeeplet" — prototype for a super light-weight, full-time 4WD with front and rear independent suspension, 1944 Willys MLW-1 (for 'Military Long Wheelbase') — prototype (never finished), 1944 Willys MLW-2 (for 'Military Long Wheelbase') or "Jungle Jeep" — prototype for a half-ton, jungle-suited jeep, 1948 Willys Jungle Burden Carrier — a medical litter, personnel and cargo carrier, built in small numbers for testing in jungle warfare and with airborne forces., 1949–1952 Willys MC / M38, 1950 CJ V-35(/U) – deep water fording CJ-3A; 1000 units built for the USMC, 1952–1971 Willys / Kaiser MD / M38A1, 1952–1957 Willys M38A1C – fitted with 105/106mm anti-tank recoilless rifle, 1950s/1960s Willys M38A1D – a small number of M38A1s carried the M28 or M29 "Davy Crockett Weapon System", the US' smallest tactical nuclear weapon, fired from a 120mm or 155mm recoilless rifle, M170 Ambulance, 1953 Willys BC Bobcat aka "Aero Jeep" — prototype for a very small, lightweight (1475 lbs) jeep, for easier lifting by helicopters of the day., 1958-1960 Willys XM443 / M443E1 "Super Mule" – prototypes for 3⁄4-ton, underfloor mid-engined platform-trucks, comparable to, but larger than the M274 "Mechanical Mule", 1959–1982 M151 jeep — Although the M151 was developed and initially produced by Ford, production contracts for the M151A2 were later also awarded to Kaiser Jeep and AM General Corp, a Jeep sister company, once Jeep had become part of AMC., 1970–1982 M151A2, M718A1 Ambulance, M825 Weapons Platform, 1960–1968 Jeep M606, 1964 US Navy and USMC variants of the Forward Control FC-170, labeled "Truck, Diesel engine, 7000-pound GVW, 4x4":, M676 Truck, Cargo Pickup, M677 Truck, Cargo Pickup w/4 Dr. Cab, M678 Truck, Carry All, M679 Truck, Ambulance, 1967–1969 Kaiser Jeep M715 truck — based on the civilian Jeep Gladiator The CJ (for "Civilian Jeep") series were literally the first "Jeep" branded vehicles sold commercially to the civilian public, beginning in 1945 with the CJ-2A, followed by the CJ-3A in 1949 and the CJ-3B in 1953. These early Jeeps are frequently referred to as "flat-fenders" because their front fenders were completely flat and straight, no different than on the original WW II model (the Willys MB and identical Ford GPW). The CJ-4 exists only as a single 1951 prototype, and constitutes the "missing link" between the flat-fendered CJ-2A and CJ-3A/B, and the subsequent Jeeps with new bodies, featuring rounded fenders and hoods, beginning with the 1955 CJ-5, first introduced as the military Willys MD (or M38A1). The restyled body was mostly prompted to clear the taller new overhead-valve Hurricane engine. 1944–1945 CJ-2 – pre-production units, 1945–1949 CJ-2A, 1949–1953 CJ-3A, 1953–1968 CJ-3B, 1954–1983 CJ-5, 1955–1975 CJ-6, 1964–1967 CJ-5A/CJ-6A Tuxedo Park, 1976–1986 CJ-7, 1981–1985 CJ-8 Scrambler, 1981–1985 CJ-10 The 1946–1965 Willys Jeep Station Wagon and the, 1947–1965 Willys Jeep Truck shared much in terms of styling and engineering. With over 300,000 wagons and its variants built in the U.S., it was one of Willys' most successful post-World War II models. Its production coincided with consumers moving to the suburbs. The 1948 introduced Jeepster was directly based on the rear-wheel-drive Jeep Station Wagon chassis, and shared many of the same parts. 1948–1950 Willys VJ Jeepster, 1948–1949 VJ2 Jeepster, 1949–1951 VJ3 Jeepster (Jeepster) Commando 1966–1971 C101—Jeepster Commando, Hurst Jeepster (only 100 produced), Hurst Half Cab, Revival Jeepster, Commando convertible, open body roadster, 1972–1973 C104—Jeep Commando, Commando Half Cab The 1956–1965 Jeep Forward Control was built in both civilian and military models. The civilian versions were:, FC-150, FC-160—Spain, India, FC-170 From 1955 onwards Willys offered two-wheel drive versions of their CJ Jeeps for commercial use, called DJ models (for 'Dispatcher Jeep'), in both open and closed body-styles. A well-known version was the right-hand drive model with sliding side-doors, used by the US Postal service. In 1961 the range was expanded with the 'Fleetvan' delivery-van, based on DJ Jeeps. 1955 USAF DJ, 1955–1964 DJ-3A, 1965–1975 DJ-5, 1965–1973 DJ-6, 1967–1975 DJ-5A, 1970–1972 DJ-5B, 1973–1974 DJ-5C, 1975–1976 DJ-5D, 1976 DJ-5E Electruck, 1977–1978 DJ-5F, 1979 DJ-5G, 1982 DJ-5L Fleetvan Jeep 1961–1975 Fleetvan, FJ-3, FJ-3A, FJ-6, FJ-6A, FJ-8, FJ-9 SUV models (1962-1991) 1962–1983 SJ Wagoneer, 1966–1969 SJ Super Wagoneer, 1974–1983 SJ Cherokee, 1984–1991 SJ Grand Wagoneer Pickup models (1962-1988) 1962–1971 Jeep Gladiator (SJ), 1971–1988 Jeep pickup truck (J-) 1984–2001 XJ Cherokee, 1984–1990 XJ Wagoneer, 1984–1985 Broughwood, 1984–1990 Limited, 1986–1992 Jeep Comanche (MJ) 1987–1995 Jeep Wrangler YJ, 1991–1993 Renegade, 1988–1995 Wrangler Long—Venezuela, 1995 Wrangler Rio Grande, 1997–2006 Wrangler TJ, 2002 TJ Se, X, Sport, Sahara models, 2003 TJ Rubicon, Rubicon Tomb Raider Edition, Sahara, Sport, X, Se models, Freedom Edition, 2004–2006 TJ Long Wheel Base (LJ) Unlimited(15" Longer than a standard TJ) Rubicon, Sport, X, Se models, 2004–2005 Willys Edition (2004–1997 made, 2005–2001 made), 2004 Columbia Edition, 2005 Rubicon Sahara Unlimited TJ LWB (LJ) (1000 made), 2006 Golden Eagle Edition, 65 Year Anniversary Edition (1,675 Black 65th Anniversary Editions made), 2007-2011 TJL AEV Brute: Compact pickup truck, 2-door version; produced by AEV with the Jeep logo., 2007–2018 Wrangler JK, 2007–2009 JK Rubicon, Sahara, X, 2010 JK Rubicon, Sahara, Mountain, Islander, and Sport Editions, 2011 70th Anniversary, , Mojave, and Oscar Mike Military (200 made) Editions, 2011 JK-8 Independence — a MOPAR JK pick-up conversion kit, mirroring the 1980s CJ-8 Scrambler pick-up, 2013 Rubicon 10th Anniversary Edition, 2013-2017 Brute Double Cab: Pickup truck, 4-door version, produced by American Expedition Vehicles, 2014 Willys Wheeler Edition, 2017 — Jeep Wrangler JL, 2019 — Jeep Gladiator JT 1993–1998 Grand Cherokee ZJ, 1993–1995 Base SE, 1993–1998 Laredo, 1993–1998 Limited, 1995–1997 Orvis "Limited Edition", 1997–1998 TSi, 1998 5.9 Limited, 1993 ZJ Jeep Grand Wagoneer, 1999–2004 Grand Cherokee WJ Grand Cherokee, 2002–2003 Sport, 2002–2004 Special edition, 2002–2004 Overland, 2004 Columbia Edition, 2005-2010 Grand Cherokee WK: Five-passenger family-oriented SUV — "WK" is the designator for the 2005–2010 Grand Cherokee, marks the beginning of the -K designation compared to the -J designation, 2011– present Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 2002–2007 Jeep Liberty KJ or Jeep Cherokee (KJ) outside North America, Sport, Limited, Renegade, 2003 Freedom Edition, 2004–05 Rocky Mountain Edition, 2004 Columbia Edition, 2006 65th Anniversary Edition, 2007 Latitude Edition(replaced Renegade), 2008–2012 Jeep Liberty KK or Jeep Cherokee (KK) outside North America 2006–2010 Jeep Commander (XK), 2006 Base, 2007–2010 Sport, 2006–2010 Limited, 2007–2009 Overland 2007–2017 Jeep Compass MK49, 2017–present Jeep Compass MP/552, 2006-2017 Jeep Patriot (MK74): Compact sport utility vehicle 1944 CJ-1 prototype, 1949 Alcoa Aluminum-bodied Jeepster Coupe (prototype), 1949/1950 X-98 prototype; with flat fenders, but a rounded hood and grille like the CJ-5, it may have been the first F-head-powered Jeep, 1950 CJ-4 prototype, 1950 CJ-4M prototype, 1950 CJ-4MA prototype, 1952 CJ Coiler: experimental design for an all independent suspension, with portal-hub swing-axles and coil-springs, 1958 DJ-3A Pickup: Prototype pickup truck version of the DJ-3A, 1958 Jeep Creep: prototype utility vehicle; several versions built for tests, including a Postal rig and an aircraft tug, 1959 Jeep J-100 Malibu and Berkeley: Later developed into the Wagoneer, 1960 Jeep Wide-Trac: Concept for developing a low-cost vehicle for third-world countries, 1962 The Brazilian Jeepster (prototype), 1963 Jeep XM-200: J200 based concept for developing a low-cost vehicle for third-world countries, 1965 Jeep/Renault Model H: A light 4x4 prototype based on the Renault 16, 1966 FWD Concept Jeepvair: Similar to the Model H but with a Chevrolet Corvair powertrain, 1970 XJ001, 1970 XJ002, 1971 Jeep Cowboy: A design study using AMC's "compact" automobile platform, 1977 Jeep II, 1979 Jeep Jeepster II, 1986 Cherokee Targa: A two-door Cherokee convertible (later revised as Jeep Freedom show car), 1987 Comanche Thunderchief: This vehicle was put into production later as the Comanche Eliminator, 1989 Jeep Concept 1: Evolved into the ZJ Grand Cherokee, 1989 Jeep Rubicon Wrangler: This vehicle was later put in production, 1990 Jeep JJ: Essentially what would later be called the Icon, 1990 Jeep Freedom: A revised Cherokee Targa, 1991 Jeep Wagoneer 2000: A large design concept, 1993 Jeep Ecco, 1997 Jeep Cherokee Casablanca: A special edition of Cherokee, never produced, 1997 Jeep Wrangler Ultimate Rescue: A tuned version of a regular TJ Wrangler developed for SEMA show, 1997 Fender Jeep Wrangler, 1997 Jeep Dakar: A fused version of a XJ Cherokee and TJ Wrangler, 1997 Jeep Icon: A design study for the next-generation Wrangler, 1999 Jeep Commander: methanol fuel cell drive train with electric motors, 1999 Jeep Journey, 1999 Jeep Jeepster Concept, 2000 Jeep Cherokee Total Exposure, 2000 Jeep Varsity: Subsequently, put into production as the Compass, 2000 Jeep Commander Concept: Subsequently, put into production as the XK, 2000 Jeep Willys, 2001 Jeep Willys2, 2002 Jeep Wrangler Tabasco, 2002 Jeep Wrangler Patriot: A special decal package for the Wrangler X/Sport, 2002 Jeep Wrangler Mountain Biker, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WJ) Concierge, 2004 Jeep Treo, 2004 Jeep Rescue, 2004 Jeep Liberator CRD, 2005 Jeep Hurricane: The 4-wheel steering system allows the vehicle to have both a zero turning circle, and "crab" sideways. Its engine was later put in the Grand Cherokee (WK) SRT-8, 2005 Jeep Gladiator Concept, 2005 Jeep Aggressor (the Rezo), 2007 Jeep Trailhawk, 2008 Jeep Renegade, 2010 Jeep J8, 2010 Jeep Nukizer: Design study inspired by the Military Kaiser M-715, 2011 Jeep Wrangler Pork Chop, 2011 Jeep Compass Canyon: uses a 2 1/8 inch lift, 2011 Jeep Cherokee Overland, 2012 Jeep Mighty FC: inspired by the 1956 to 1965 Forward Control vehicles Jeep sold, 2012 Jeep J-12 Concept: recalling the 1962-1971 Gladiator pickups, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Mopar Recon, 2013 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk EcoDiesel, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Stitch, 2013 Jeep Wrangler Flattop: featuring a one-piece, windowless hardtop, 2014 Jeep Wrangler Level Red, 2014 Jeep Cherokee Dakar, 2014 Jeep Wrangler MOJO, 2015 Jeep Chief, 2015 Jeep Wrangler Africa, 2015 Jeep Wrangler Red Rock Responder, 2015 Jeep Staff Car: a tribute to Jeep's military history starting with WWII The Jeep brand currently produces five models, but 8 vehicles are under the brand name or use the Jeep logo: Jeep Renegade BU: Subcompact Sport Utility Vehicle, Jeep Wrangler, JK: Standard wheelbase Compact Sport utility vehicle, 2-door version, JK Unlimited: Long wheelbase Mid-Size sport utility vehicle, 4-door version, J8: Mid-Size military utility vehicle; Produced by AIL, AAV, and AEV., TJL: Compact pickup truck, 2-door version; Produced by AAV., JL: Short (2-door) and long (4-door) wheelbase SUV; in production since November 2017, Jeep Gladiator (JT): mid-size pickup truck, went on sale in early 2019 as a 2020 model., Jeep Grand Cherokee: Mid-size sport utility vehicle, Jeep Compass: Compact sport utility vehicle, Jeep Cherokee KL: Mid-size sport utility vehicle Jeep Wagoneer / Grand Wagoneer: Full-Size SUVs expected for 2021. Jeeps have been built and/or assembled around the world by various companies. Argentina – IKA Jeeps 1956–current; now owned by Chrysler, Australia – Willys Motors Australia – 1940s–1980s, Brazil – Willys Overland do Brasil, purchased by Ford to become Ford do Brasil – 1957–1985 built the Jeep Rural from 1960–1977, and the Troller T4 is a fiberglass bodied Jeep version built in Brazil. Troller was purchased by Ford do Brasil in 2007., Burma/Myanmar – Two Burmese companies produce unlicensed copies of jeeps; Myanmar Jeeps and Chin Dwin Star Jeeps., Canada – Kaiser Jeep – 1959–1969, China – Beijing Jeep Corporation – 1983 to 2009 as Beijing-Benz DaimlerChrysler Automotive. Fiat-Chrysler plans to re-open Jeep production in China through joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group (GAIG)., Colombia – Willys Colombia – at least until 1999, Egypt – Arab Organization for Industrialization subsidiary Arab American Vehicles based in Cairo produces the Jeep Cherokee; the open-top, Wrangler-based Jeep AAV TJL., France – Licence produced jeeps: Hotchkiss M201 and by Cournil (now Auverland) – 1952–1962, India – Mahindra & Mahindra Limited – 1960s-current, Iran – Pars Khodro, ShahBaaz, Sahra, and Ahoo – ShahBaaz based on DJ series, Sahra based on Jeep Wrangler and CJ series, and Ahoo based on Wagoneer, Israel – Automotive Industries which produces the AIL Storm (Sufa) series of Jeep Wrangler-derivatives, Italy – 1950s, Japan – Mitsubishi Jeeps – 1953–1998, Korea – Asia Motors, Ltd, Dong A Motors (SsangYong Motor Company) and Kia. (don't use Jeep name) – 1980s-current, Mexico – VAM Jeeps – 1946–1987, Netherlands – Nekaf Jeep, NEKAF and Kemper & Van Twist – 1954-1962, Philippines – Jeepneys; MD Juan Willys MB.; "E-jeepneys" or minibuses, LSV (low-speed vehicles) which uses electricity. Portugal – Bravia Sarl – 1960s to 1980s This Lisbon company assembled a number of Kaiser Jeep M-201 models from several Spanish EBRO and VIASA parts built to order for the USAF airfields & the US Army based at the time in Portugal, of the 500 vehicles made, most had American running gear., Spain – Vehículos Industriales y Agrícolas, S.A (VIASA), absorbed by Ebro trucks, and later sold to Nissan – 1960-1990s For instance built a long-wheelbase version of the CJ-3B from 1955–1968., Turkey – Tuzla – 1954-1970s, Venezuela- Valencia Carabobo 1962–2011, 1962 Tejerias Edo Aragua Willys de Venezuela, S.A, 1979–2011 Ensambladora Carabobo C.A Valencia Edo Carabobo Jeep is also a brand of apparel of outdoor lifestyle sold under license. It is reported that there are between 600 and 1,500 such outlets in China, vastly outnumbering the number of Jeep auto dealers in the country. In April 2012 Jeep signed a shirt sponsorship deal worth €35m ($45m) with Italian football club Juventus. In August 2014 Jeep signed a sponsorship deal with Greek football club AEK Athens F.C.. Inline General "Leeping Lena Joins the Army", October 1941 first detailed article on what became known as the Jeep, Autobiography of a Jeep (1943). United Films, Prelinger Archives, Historical Public Domain video., Meet the Postwar Jeep August 1945 Popular Science, Story of the Jeep and the American Story are Intertwined A Visual History The fourth-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2) is a mid-size SUV introduced in Spring 2010 for the 2011 model year by Jeep. It was unveiled at the 2009 New York Auto Show. The fourth-generation Grand Cherokee retains its classic Jeep styling combined with a modern and sleek body style. The 2011 Grand Cherokee has won 30 awards for off-road capability, luxury, value, best-in- class, and safety, making it the most awarded SUV ever. The body design is all new and has undergone testing for aerodynamic efficiency while improving ruggedness with more than 5,400 welds in the body alone. This results in a 146% increase in torsional rigidity compared to the previous design. This improves durability and reduces noise, vibration, and harshness. Like the previous generations, the chassis is a steel unibody. Unlike previous models, the new WK2 features four-wheel independent suspension for better on-road handling. The Grand Cherokee (with the 2011 Durango) WK2 platform uses a derivative based on Mercedes-Benz's series. Four wheel drive systems include Quadra-Trac I, Quadra-Trac II, and Quadra-Drive II. Using Selec-Terrain, the driver can select modes for Auto, Sport, Snow, Sand/Mud, and Rock. Optional Quadra-Lift height adjustable air suspension can raise the vehicle's ground clearance up to . Lift modes include Park, Aero, Normal Ride Height, Off-Road 1, and Off-Road 2. Engine choices include the all new 3.6 L Pentastar V6 and 5.7 L Hemi V8. The Hemi V8 retains the Multiple Displacement System (MDS) that shuts down four cylinders in low-power driving situations. And the V8 remains coupled with the multi-speed automatic transmission which includes Electronic Range Selection (ERS) to manually limit the high gear operating range. Trailer tow is rated for Hemi models and for Pentastar models. The 3.6 L Pentastar V6 replaces the 3.7 L and 4.7 L PowerTech engines. The 5.7 L Hemi engine was retained as the V8 option, although no Hemi badging is used on the exterior of the vehicle. Also, the WK program code remains. A 3.0 L turbocharged diesel V6 developed and built by Fiat Powertrain Technologies and VM Motori (with Multijet II injection) rated at and of torque will be offered in export markets by mid-2011. The new 3.0 L CRD turbodiesel engine will also be offered in European markets as low-power version. In mid-2012, electric vehicle manufacturer Amp Electric Vehicles, announced that it would be producing an electric vehicle version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, offering a great electric range and the same features of the Grand Cherokee. Slated to be available in early 2013, the AMP Grand Cherokee will have a starting price of around $50,000.00. AMP also produces electric vehicle versions of a step van and the Mercedes-Benz ML. As of April 8, 2017 the SRT Hellcat supercharged v8 was announced for the Trackhawk edition Grand Cherokee. With , it will be the most powerful SUV Chrysler has ever produced. The Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 is available in several different trim levels, each offering their own, distinct level of standard and optional equipment: Laredo: The Laredo became the base model of the Grand Cherokee starting in 2014. Standard equipment includes: seventeen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, a five-inch, color touch screen radio (starting in 2018, a seven-inch infotainment system), a six-speaker audio system, manually-adjustable front bucket seats, a split-folding rear 60/40 bench seat with backrest recline, premium cloth seating surfaces, air conditioning, keyless access with push- button start, a seven-inch TFT color display instrument cluster, the 3.6L Pentastar VVT FlexFuel-Capable (where applicable) V6 gasoline engine, and an eight-speed automatic transmission. There are no additional options or packages available for this trim level, due to the Laredo being a "budget" trim level for the Grand Cherokee. The differences between the Laredo "E" and Laredo are that the Laredo does not offer SiriusXM Satellite Radio like the Laredo "E", has a manually-adjustable front driver's bucket seat in place of the Laredo "E" 's power-adjustable front driver's bucket seat, and offers no additional options or packages in addition to its standard equipment. Laredo "E": The Laredo "E" was the base model of the Grand Cherokee from 2011 until 2013 until the base Laredo model debuted in 2014. Standard equipment includes: seventeen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, an A/M-F/M stereo with single-disc CD/MP3 player and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (from 2014 until 2017, a five-inch, color touch screen radio, and a new, seven-inch infotainment system starting in 2017), a six-speaker audio system, power-adjustable front driver's and manually-adjustable front passenger's bucket seats, a split-folding rear 60/40 bench seat with backrest recline, premium cloth seating surfaces, air conditioning, keyless access with push-button start, the 3.6L Pentastar VVT FlexFuel-Capable (where applicable) V6 gasoline engine, and a five-speed (from 2014 on, an eight-speed) automatic transmission. Optional features on the Laredo "E" include eighteen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, an 8.4-inch infotainment system, heated front bucket seats, and remote start. An Altitude package for the Laredo "E" is also available that adds gloss black-finished twenty-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and exterior accents, leather-trimmed seating surfaces with microfiber inserts, heated front bucket seats, power rear lift gate, optional single pane moonroof, and other "value-added" features that are regularly optional equipment on the Laredo "E". Upland: The Upland, available for 2018, was based on the Laredo E trim level, and utilized styling elements from the Trailhawk trim level. It included twenty-inch black- painted aluminum-alloy wheels, light blue-accented emblems, and light blue stitching on the seats, interior door panels, and center console. Laredo "X": The Laredo "X" was available from 2011 until 2013, and was the "step-up" trim level of the Grand Cherokee. It added the following equipment to the base Laredo "E" trim level: eighteen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, leather-trimmed seating surfaces, dual power-adjustable front bucket seats, a touch-screen infotainment system, a nine-speaker, 506-watt Alpine premium surround-sound audio system, Bluetooth for both hands-free phone and wireless stereo audio streaming, heated front and (optional) heated rear seats, remote start, and an (optional) power rear tailgate. Other optional equipment for this trim level included the 5.7L HEMI MDS/VCT gasoline V8 engine, a six-speed automatic transmission, a dual-pane panoramic moonroof, and GPS navigation. Trailhawk: The Trailhawk is the "off-road" model of the Grand Cherokee, and was based on the Laredo "X" in 2013, and returned for 2017 based on the Limited. It adds the following features to these models of the Grand Cherokee: leather-trimmed seating surfaces with microfiber inserts, eighteen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels with a dark gray finish, the Selec-Terrain control system with Quadra-Lift air suspension, and Kevlar-coated on/off-road tires. Most of the optional features on the Laredo "X" and Limited are also available on the Trailhawk. Limited: The Limited is the "step-up" trim level of the Grand Cherokee, and succeeded the Laredo "X" when it was discontinued after 2013. It offers the same basic standard equipment as the Laredo "X", but offers additional optional features such as heated and ventilated front bucket seats, a driver's memory system, Nappa leather-trimmed seating surfaces, twenty-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, and other luxury features. The 5.7L HEMI MDS/VCT V8 gasoline engine, as well as the 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 turbocharged diesel engine (starting in 2014), are the other engine options for the Limited. Sterling Edition: The Sterling Edition is a celebratory trim level of the Grand Cherokee that will only be available for the 2018 Model Year (MY), celebrating its 25th year of production. While offering the same basic standard equipment as the luxurious Limited model, the Sterling Edition adds the following features to the trim level: twenty-inch (20") tires with twenty-inch (20") "Heritage" aluminum-alloy wheels, an 8.4-inch touch screen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a nine-speaker, 506-watt Alpine surround-sound premium audio system with subwoofer, special interior color combination options with perforated and patterned seats, unique interior trim, and special exterior badges commemorating the special edition model. A Sterling Edition Luxury Group is available for the Sterling Edition that adds features such as ventilated front seats, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, a panoramic dual-pane sunroof, and other luxury options. Most of the other options available on the Limited trim level are also available on the Sterling Edition, which includes the 5.7L HEMI V8 engine. Overland: The Overland is the luxury trim level of the Grand Cherokee, adding the following standard equipment to the already well-equipped Limited: Nappa leather-trimmed seating surfaces, a dual-pane panoramic moonroof, standard GPS navigation (which is otherwise an optional feature on the Limited), twenty-inch aluminum- alloy wheels, blind spot monitoring and adaptive cruise control, and other exclusive features. The 5.7L HEMI MDS/VCT V8 gasoline engine, as well as the 3.0L EcoDiesel V6 turbocharged diesel engine (starting in 2014), are the other engine options for the Overland. Overland Summit: The Overland Summit (2011-2013) and Summit (2014–present) are the most luxurious trim levels of the Grand Cherokee, and are based on the luxurious Overland, but add additional features, such as: Summit-exclusive interior color options, a nineteen-speaker Harman Kardon premium amplified surround-sound audio system with 825-watt amplifier (2014–present models ONLY), twenty-inch chrome-clad aluminum-alloy wheels, and other exclusive features. In 2017, the Summit became more luxurious by offering exclusive quilted and perforated leather- trimmed seating surfaces, lace-style polished aluminum-alloy wheels, and the Summit California Edition package, which replaces some of the chrome exterior accents with exterior color-keyed accents. SRT 392: The SRT 392 was the highest-performance Grand Cherokee model available from 2012-2017, and then became the second most high-performance Grand Cherokee model in 2018. The SRT 392 is powered by the 6.4L HEMI MDS/VCT V8 gasoline engine, and features more "performance-oriented" exterior and interior styling unique to the SRT 392. Several special edition models, such as the SRT 392 Alpine and Vapor Editions, and the SRT 392 Red Vapor Edition, were "limited-run" models that were based on the SRT 392. SRT Trackhawk: The SRT Trackhawk model debuted for 2018, and became the highest-performance model in the Grand Cherokee lineup. While offering the same standard and optional equipment as the SRT 392, the SRT Trackhawk swapped the SRT 392 's 6.4L HEMI V8 gasoline engine for the same 707-horsepower 6.2L Supercharged Hemi V8 gasoline engine that is currently used in the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and the Dodge Charger (LX) SRT Hellcat. The SRT Trackhawk is the most powerful Jeep Grand Cherokee model to ever be produced, following the 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee (ZJ) 5.9L Limited, the 2006 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK) SRT-8, and the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2) SRT 392. In 2012, Swedish automotive magazine Teknikens Värld revealed that the Jeep Grand Cherokee failed one of their avoidance maneuver tests known as the "Moose test". Other SUV models in its class had no issues passing the test. German magazine Auto, Motor und Sport (AMS) later tested the same press vehicle in a slightly different avoidance maneuver test that meets ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards. Unlike the results of the Swedish test, the Jeep remained on all four wheels and did not lose any tires to a blowout. Teknikens Värld tested the updated 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and found that it passed the test; even up to a speed of . On April 20, 2011, Jeep announced that the SRT8 version would be debuted at the 2011 New York Auto Show. According to Chrysler, it would be the most powerful Jeep ever built. It can accelerate from 0–60 mph in 4.7 seconds and can do the quarter-mile in 13.4 seconds. Auto reviews measured this at 4.5 seconds, making the 2014 SRT the fastest Jeep ever produced at the time. The 2013-14 SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee includes a 6.4L Hemi motor producing and , which was the most powerful engine ever included in a Jeep at the time of production. The Grand Cherokee SRT8 debuted alongside two other vehicles manufactured by Chrysler Corporation: the Chrysler 300 SRT8 and Dodge Charger SRT8, both of which also took a one-year hiatus while the new models debuted. The new Grand Cherokee SRT8, which started production on July 16, 2011, is equipped with a 6.4 L Hemi V8 engine. Jeep claims the new SRT8 gets 13 percent better fuel economy than its predecessor. To improve gas mileage, Jeep has employed a new active exhaust system that lets Chrysler's cylinder- deactivation Fuel Saver Technology operate over a wider rpm band. Chrysler claims that with the larger gas tank, the SUV can now travel up to on a single tank, while other sources estimate range to be . On January 14, 2013, Jeep unveiled a revised WK2 Grand Cherokee at the North American International Auto Show at Cobo Center, along with a revised 2014 Jeep Compass and Jeep Patriot. The new Grand Cherokee offered a 3.0 L DOHC V6 diesel engine that gets up to 30 MPG, a 3.6 L Pentastar V6 engine that gets up to 24 MPG and has , a 5.7 L HEMI V8 engine that gets up to 21 MPG and has , and the 6.4 L HEMI engine that produces (SRT only). The models are the Laredo, the Limited, the Overland, and the Overland Summit Edition model has been renamed Summit. A new front end with a revised body-colored grille, new, smaller headlamps, and new tail lamps round out the exterior changes. The silver bezel on the back was removed. The opening rear tailgate window of previous models has been replaced with fixed glass. There are also new seventeen, eighteen, and twenty-inch wheel and tire choices. The SRT8 model will continue to be offered but as an "SRT" and not an "SRT8" badged model, and for the first time will offer signature details like blacked-out head and tail lamps. Inside, the Summit model receives the SRT's nineteen-speaker Harman/Kardon surround sound system, all Grand Cherokees receive a new steering wheel with standard paddle shifters in every model, an eight-speed TorqueFlite 8 automatic transmission, and an 8.4-inch touch screen display with Garmin navigation software, an optional CD player, and the U Connect Access System first introduced in the all-new 2013 Ram 1500. A U Connect 5.0 touch-screen radio will also be available with an optional CD player. The Selec-Terrain System receives multiple upgrades on four-wheel-drive Grand Cherokees. New exterior colors, new interior fabrics and materials, and new interior colors become available. For 2014, "SRT8" was no longer a model of Jeep, but a separate corporate entity. The "8" was also dropped in the "SRT" line for this year, the Grand Cherokee being referred to as a "SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee." The SRT model received many new and unique features. For example, in the interior, it received a unique steering wheel with the SRT insignia, twenty-inch alloy wheels, performance tires, and additional SRT-only details including: SRT-only 6.4l V8, /, propelling it from 0-60 mph in 4.5 seconds, Six piston Brembo Brakes at the front and four piston Brembo brakes at the rear, 3 season tires (optional), SRT-only performance pages in the head unit, displaying engine statistics, quarter mile/0-60, and other metrics, Nappa leather seats with SRT-only Alcantara inserts and headliner, SRT-only fascia covering hitch (if so provisioned), SRT-only suspension modes, including track mode, SRT-only "launch" mode, designed to model world class professional driver techniques, upgraded software for transmission, with over 90 gear shift programs The 2015 Limited Edition model no longer has the dual exhausts. This feature only comes in the Overland and up editions. There are no other major changes for the 2015 model year. However, the Limited, Summit, and Overland trims will include HD Radio as part of the U Connect feature. The SRT receives a modest bump, in part due to a reflash of the PCM. This model became the last to be sold to Canadian market. At the 2016 New York International Auto Show, Jeep announced new updates for its Grand Cherokee mid size SUV, which included two new trim levels: The Trailhawk trim level is the "off-road" oriented trim level, which made its initial appearance in 2013, returns for 2017. It includes Quadra-Drive II four-wheel-drive system along with Quadra-Lift air suspension system, the Selec-Speed control, and Hill Descent Control. It will offer the same seven- slot front grille that was first offered on the 2016 Grand Cherokee Laredo and Limited 75th Anniversary Edition models, red-painted front-mounted tow hooks, standard eighteen-inch and optional twenty-inch alloy wheels, special off-road tires with Kevlar coating, Neutral Gray-painted exterior accents and badges, optional Mopar side rock rails, a standard U Connect 8.4-inch touch-screen infotainment system, red accent stitching throughout the interior, a 'Trailhawk' emblem on the steering wheel, brushed Piano black interior trim panels, and gunmetal finished interior components. The Summit trim level is the "upscale" version of the Grand Cherokee, which was revamped in 2014, and was revamped again for 2017. It offers a restyled front grille with LED front fog lamps, and new, twenty-inch polished alloy wheels. It features include cross-stitched leather-trimmed interior, Active Noise Cancellation, an acoustic windshield and front side glass, leather-trimmed dashboard and door panel inserts, a nineteen-speaker, 825-watt Harman Kardon surround-sound system with Green Edge technology, automatically-folding power side view mirrors, a suede-trimmed headliner, a Blind-Spot Monitoring System, Lane Departure Warning, Parallel and Perpendicular Park Assist Systems, Berber carpeting, and other Summit-exclusive interior appointments. New exterior paint color options include Rhino, Diamond Black Crystal Pearl Coat, Light Brown Stone, True Blue, and Ivory Pearl Coat (availability varies by trim level). All 2017 models received a second facelift that features new alloy wheel designs, reshaped headlights and a reshaped grill. The new grill and headlights come from the 75th Anniversary Edition models of 2016, however, without the bronze-painted accents. In addition, all models receive a new 'GRAND CHEROKEE' emblem for the front doors. The 75th Anniversary Edition models, based on the base Laredo and mid-level Limited, also continue on for 2017. The SRT trim for 2017 got a new front fascia and a new interior. Jeep introduced the all-new 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT Trackhawk at the 2017 New York International Auto Show. The Trackhawk is the highest performance Grand Cherokee model to date. Specifications 6.2L Hellcat HEMI V8, at 6,000 rpm and of torque at 4,800 rpm, Requires 91-octane premium unleaded fuel, Eight-speed ZF automatic transmission with steering wheel-mounted shift paddles, Flat-bottomed steering wheel, Five-passenger seating capacity, All-wheel-drive (AWD), 6,200 RPM redline, Premium Laguna leather interior with carbon fiber trim, Brembo brake system (6-piston front and 4-piston rear calipers), 55/45 weight distribution (estimated), curb weight (estimated), gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) (estimated), payload (estimated), Standard 20" x 10" polished forged aluminum wheels with "Titanium II"-painted pockets and satin-chrome wheel center caps, Optional 20" x 10" loss-gloss black lightweight aluminum wheels with gloss black wheel center caps, Standard P295/45ZR20 Pirelli Scorpion Verde runflat all-season tires, Optional P295/45ZR20 Pirelli P-Zero runflat 3-season tires, 3.70 rear axle ratio, maximum towing capacity Additional changes to the rest of the 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee lineup (aside from the all-new SRT Trackhawk model) include: Standard seven-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto (Laredo, Laredo "E", and Limited models, replaces the previously-standard five-inch color touch-screen radio), All models receive the 4C latest-generation infotainment systems with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 8.4-inch infotainment system without GPS navigation is discontinued as an option, 75th Anniversary Edition models of the Laredo "E" and Limited are discontinued, Laredo and Laredo "E" get new seventeen-inch aluminum-alloy wheels and a new cloth seating style as standard equipment, The eighteen-inch aluminum-alloy wheel available in the 18" wheel and 8.4" Radio Package for the Laredo "E" is redesigned, The 3.0L EcoDiesel Turbocharged Diesel V6 engine option returns (re-certified) for the Limited, Overland, and Summit (late availability), The SRT 392 gets new twenty-inch "Carbon Fiber Monkey" aluminum-alloy wheels as standard equipment, Summit, SRT 392, and SRT Trackhawk get a "Premium Real Metal" interior trim package, Active Noise Cancelling is now included on all audio systems but the standard six-speaker audio system, Second-generation 850RE automatic transmission replaces the previous 845RE automatic transmission (4X4 Models with 3.6L Pentastar VVT V6 engine), Jeep Brown and Summit Gray interior color options become available for Summit, Sterling Edition Package celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, is available on Limited, High Altitude Edition model, based on Overland, returns for 2018 The "base" U Connect 7.0 Infotainment System includes: AM/FM radio, Two (2) USB inputs (both syncing), Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, Bluetooth with stereo audio streaming, 3.5-millimeter auxiliary audio input jack, Full voice control, "Park Sense" rear view backup camera, Seven-inch color touch-screen display, Standard on Laredo, Laredo "E", and Limited The "upgraded" U Connect 8.4 Infotainment System with GPS Navigation includes all of the existing features of the U Connect 7.0 Infotainment System, but also adds the following features: AM/FM radio with HD Radio, SiriusXM satellite radio with 1-year subscription, SiriusXM Travel Link with 1-year subscription, U Connect Guardian Services (Provided by SiriusXM) with trial subscription (Including 9-1-1 emergency call and roadside assistance call buttons), 4G LTE mobile Wifi capabilities (Provided by AT&T; Wireless) with trial subscription, U Connect apps, GPS navigation by Garmin, 8.4-inch color touch-screen display, Standard on Altitude, Trailhawk, Sterling Edition, Overland, High Altitude, Summit, SRT, and SRT Trackhawk, Optional on Laredo "E" (Requires 18-inch wheel and 8.4 radio group) and Limited Both radios include the option to add a single-disc, center console-mounted CD/MP3 player, and some trim levels equipped with the 8.4-inch radio can also be equipped with a rear seat DVD and Blu-ray entertainment systems with dual screens, HDMI input, and independent CD/MP3/DVD/Blu-ray players, with two pairs of wireless headphones also included in the package. On Limited, Trailhawk, and Sterling Edition models, the Luxury Group is required to have the rear seat entertainment system option. The option can be selected independently on all other trim levels. A standard six-speaker, non-amplified audio system comes standard on Laredo, Laredo "E", Altitude, and Limited models. A nine-speaker, 506-watt Alpine amplified surround-sound premium audio system comes standard on Trailhawk, Sterling Edition, Overland, High Altitude, SRT, and SRT Trackhawk models, and is optional on Altitude, Limited, and Summit models. A top-of-the-line eighteen-speaker, 825-watt Harman Kardon amplified surround-sound premium audio system comes standard on the Summit model, and is optional on Overland, SRT, and SRT Trackhawk models. Largely unchanged for 2018, the 2019 model year Grand Cherokee receives only a few minor changes. The 25th Anniversary Sterling Edition model is now discontinued, though its aluminum-alloy wheel design is now standard on the luxurious Overland trim, and optional on midlevel Limited trim. Laredo, Laredo E, Upland (now available with two-wheel-drive), Altitude, Limited, Trailhawk, Overland, High Altitude, Summit, SRT 392, and SRT Trackhawk models continue for 2019. The 8.4 touchscreen is updated to a high-definition "Dissociated" display for the 2019 model year. A new Limited X Package adds SRT-inspired styling cues to the mid-level Limited trim. The Overland and Summit trims gain new aluminum-alloy wheel designs. The mid-level Limited trim receives a standard U Connect 4C 8.4 infotainment system with Garmin GPS navigation, which was previously available as an extra-cost option, leaving only the base Laredo, Laredo E, and Upland trims with the base U Connect 4 7.0 infotainment system as standard equipment. In addition, the U Connect 4C 8.4 infotainment system with Garmin GPS navigation receives a new 8.4-inch, high-definition "Dissociated" touchscreen display, which was first introduced on the 2017 Chrysler Pacifica minivan. Blind Spot Detection System (BLIS) and Forward Collision Warning System (FCWS), previously extra-cost options available as part of a package on top-level trims of the Grand Cherokee, are now standard equipment on all Grand Cherokee trim levels. Three new exterior colors, Green Metallic, Sting Gray, and Slate Blue join the exterior color lineup for 2019. A new interior color scheme, Black and Bridle Brown is also added for the Summit trim level, and both Trailhawk and Overland trims receive new Piano Black interior trim accents. Trim levels that continue for 2019 are Laredo, Laredo E, Upland, Altitude, Limited, Trailhawk, Overland, High Altitude, Summit, SRT, and SRT Trackhawk, with Limited X being new for 2019. In 2009, the company announced a US$1.8 billion, expansion of its Jefferson North Assembly plant in Detroit to allow flexible manufacture of the next- generation model, as well as the 2011+ Dodge Durango off the same platform that was developed jointly with Mercedes (ML Chassis). Approximately 1.1 million 2014-2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as 2012-2014 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger vehicles were recalled for rollaway risks. Drivers may mistakenly believe they have engaged the vehicles in park mode, allowing the vehicle to roll away. The recall was linked to 1 death, 41 injuries, 212 crashes, and 308 reports of property damage. The shift lever was changed to a more traditional unit starting with 2016 model Grand Cherokees. In 2016, Star Trek actor Anton Yelchin was in his driveway when his Grand Cherokee rolled backwards, and crushed him against a pillar outside his driveway. On March 24, 2018, it was revealed that Yelchin's family received a recall notice from Chrysler exactly one week following his death. The family has settled a wrongful death lawsuit with Chrysler. AutoWeek: Best of the Best 2011 Truck, Car and Driver: 2011 Editors' Choice Awards/Mid-size SUVs, Car and Driver: Best Performer – Interior Sound Level, Top Safety Pick for 2011 from the IIHS, Consumers Digest Best Buy for 2011, Safest SUV in America by MSN Autos, Truck of the Year for 2011 by The Detroit News Jeep Grand Cherokee website

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The Vampire Diaries is an American fantasy-drama television series which was first broadcast on The CW from 2009 to 2017, airing 171 episodes over 8 seasons. Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec adapted the TV series from L.J. Smith's novel series of the same name. Some of the characters appeared in the spin-off series, The Originals. The series is set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia. The main points of the show are a love triangle – involving Elena Gilbert/vampire/doppelganger and vampire brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore – and the town's supernatural history, involving Elena's friends and relatives. The following is a list of series regulars who have appeared in one or more of the series' eight seasons. The characters are listed in the order they were first credited in the series. Key Played by Nina Dobrev, Starring seasons: 1–6, Guest starring season: 8 Elena Gilbert (based on Elena Gilbert from the novels) is the central character and the female lead of the series for the first six seasons. She is the biological daughter of John Gilbert and Isobel Flemming, and adopted daughter of Grayson and Miranda Gilbert. She has a younger adoptive brother named Jeremy Gilbert, who is later revealed to be her biological cousin. She has an adoptive aunt named Jenna Sommers who serves as her and Jeremy's legal guardian in the first two seasons of the series but was killed by Klaus. She is the descendant and doppelgänger of Katherine Pierce. In season one, surviving a car accident which killed her parents, Elena reluctantly returns to school for her junior year and begins dating a mysterious new student named Stefan Salvatore. It is later revealed that he is a 162-year-old vampire. Stefan's brother, Damon, also begins falling for Elena. After Stefan and Elena sleep together, she finds a picture of a woman named Katherine Pierce who looks exactly like her. Stefan reveals that this woman caused the brothers to feud 145 years ago, and turned them into vampires. He says that she was adopted and is actually a descendant of Katherine, and that he saved her the night of her parents' deaths. At the end of season one, Elena meets her birth mother, Isobel, who is now a vampire, and discovers that her uncle John, who she grew up hating, is her natural father. In season two, she learns that she is a Petrova doppelgänger, exactly resembling Katherine Pierce, which means that she can be sacrificed to release Klaus' werewolf side. The sacrifice later takes place, but Elena is saved because John sacrificed himself for her after Bonnie magically enchants him. However, her Aunt Jenna is turned into a vampire and, as part of the sacrifice, is killed by Klaus, leaving Elena without a guardian. In the season two finale, while Damon is dying from a werewolf bite, she forgives him for forcing her to drink his blood and kisses him. Damon is cured by drinking Klaus' blood. However, in order to convince Klaus to give his blood to Damon, Stefan had to turn into his "Ripper" self and accompany Klaus. In season three, Elena does everything in her power to make Stefan regain his humanity, which he switched off to satisfy, and tolerate, Klaus. She grows closer to Damon while working together to save Stefan and try to defeat Klaus, eventually sharing a kiss. She later admits to Stefan that she has feelings for Damon as well, but that she never stopped loving Stefan. It is eventually revealed that Elena met Damon the night of her parents' death, though he compelled her to forget. She eventually chooses Stefan in the season finale but before she can tell him, Elena drowns while having vampire blood in her system; she then awakens as a vampire in transition. In season four, Elena must decide whether to die or to feed on human blood so she can fully transition into a vampire. After realizing Stefan's desperation to keep her alive, Elena completes her transition. She claims that choosing Stefan was the best choice she'd ever made. However, their relationship ends due to her heightened feelings for Damon. Damon later realizes there is a sire bond between them, complicating the truth behind their relationship. Damon makes Elena turn off her humanity to avoid her grief when Jeremy is killed searching for a cure for vampirism. Elena becomes ruthless without her emotions. When she turns on her emotions again, her sire bond to Damon has been broken, though she remains in love with him. During a confrontation with Katherine, Elena shoves the cure down Katherine's throat, forcing her to become human again. In season five, Elena starts at Whitmore College after spending the summer with Damon. She is kidnapped and experimented on by Wes Maxfield, and learns that her father experimented on vampires. Later, when Katherine is about to die as a result of the past 500 years catching up with her, Katherine uses a spell to possess Elena. Elena's friends trap Katherine when they realize this. Stefan stabbed her with the Traveler dagger, but ghost Katherine reveals to Bonnie, shortly before trying to cross into the Other Side, that she had injected Dr. Maxfield's enhanced ripper-werewolf virus into Elena's body, infecting her. Elena's friends are eventually able to find an antidote. She loses trust in Damon, partly because he killed her friend Aaron, so they break up, but soon get back together. Once Markos and his Traveler army begin to take over Mystic Falls, Elena and company come up with a plan to neutralize the Travelers by killing them all at the same time, overpowering Bonnie – who is now the anchor to the Other Side – and creating a possible way out of the collapsing dimension. Elena and Damon cause an explosion at the Mystic Grill, killing themselves and most of the Travelers. She wakes up as a ghost and passes to the Other Side; Elena and many others are able to pass back to the land of the living afterwards, but the spell that allows this is broken before Damon passes back through, and Bonnie is stuck as the anchor, leaving those alive mourning the loss of Damon and Bonnie. In season six, Elena begins medical school, unable to set foot in her hometown. She is unable to recover from Damon's death and lurks at the edges of Mystic Falls – preying on people, drinking their blood, and compelling them to forget. As spirit magic no longer works in Mystic Falls, her victims who cross into the town remember the ordeal, putting her identity as a vampire at risk. Elena begs Alaric to compel her to forget that she ever loved Damon, and he eventually succeeds. She is told of her former feelings for Damon soon afterwards, but doesn't want to go back to being unhappy again, and starts dating classmate Liam. After Damon comes back to life, Elena eventually decides to have the compulsion undone, but Alaric crosses into Mystic Falls and becomes human again. Elena is then left to face Damon and see if her feelings will return. Bonnie returns from the prison world with the cure to immortality which Elena takes, hoping to have family with Damon. However, in the season finale, Kai links Bonnie's life to Elena's, putting her in a magical sleep until Bonnie's dies. In season eight, Elena appears in the final episode, appearing to Bonnie when her heart stops. However, Bonnie is brought back to life and Elena's body is then taken over by Katherine and trapped in the boiler room to die with the Hellfire. Stefan sacrifices his life to save Elena. They are briefly reunited so he can say goodbye. Bonnie eventually breaks Kai's spell on Elena and reunites her with Damon and her friends. Elena goes to medical school and marries Damon while continuing to write in her diary, thanking Stefan for saving her life in the pilot. She and Damon live long and happy human lives together before they die. In the afterlife, Elena finds peace by reuniting with Jenna, John and her parents. Played by Nina Dobrev, Starring seasons: 2 and 5, Recurring seasons: 1, 3 and 4, Guest starring season: 8 Katherine Pierce, born Katerina Petrova (based on Katherine von Swartzschild from the novels), was part of a "Traveler" (or Romani) family, and was banished to England after bearing an illegitimate child. Upon meeting Klaus and Elijah, two of the original vampires, she learns that she is a Petrova doppelgänger – which means that she can be sacrificed to release Klaus' werewolf side. She tricked other vampires into turning her, thereby making her useless to Klaus, then spent 500 years running and hiding to escape his wrath. She arrives in Mystic Falls, where both Stefan and Damon Salvatore fall in love with her. She escapes the burning of vampires in the town, and gives the brothers her blood so that they both turn into vampires after being shot. Damon spends 145 years trying to free Katherine from a tomb, though she is not there when he opens it. In the last episode of season one, Katherine returns to Mystic Falls. During season two, she tells Damon that she has always been in love with Stefan and never truly cared for Damon. It is later discovered that her real reason for returning is to appease Klaus by giving him the new doppelgänger, the moonstone, and a vampire, witch, and werewolf. Stefan and Damon lock her in the tomb when they realize her plan, and even when the spell trapping vampires in the tomb is broken, she is compelled by Elijah to stay in. Elijah temporarily dies and Katherine is freed, but chooses to help Stefan and Damon. When Klaus comes to Mystic Falls, he kidnaps her and tortures her in Alaric's apartment. He eventually releases her, but she keeps track of Klaus and Stefan's whereabouts. When she learns that a vampire hunter named Mikael is the key to killing Klaus, she finds and awakens him, but goes back into hiding when Mikael's plan fails. Katherine returns in season four, allowing Jeremy to be killed by Silas so she can steal the cure. It is revealed that during her time away from Mystic Falls, she had begun a relationship with Elijah Mikaelson, having real feelings for him. She decides to give him the cure to prove that her love is real, though he eventually leaves her to be with his family in New Orleans. During a physical confrontation with Elena, Katherine is forced by Elena to drink the cure, leaving her human for the first time in 500 years. During season five Katherine struggles with being human again. She learns that her long-lost daughter, Nadia, is a vampire in Mystic Falls. Silas drains Katherine of all of her blood, to get the cure, and Katherine returns to life. However, she rapidly descends into old age from the 500 years of her existence. She uses her Traveler heritage to transfer her consciousness into Elena's body as hers dies, eventually taking control of Elena's body and masquerading as Elena to win Stefan's affection. Stefan and Caroline learn her identity and Stefan stabs her with the Traveler's Knife, releasing Katherine's soul from Elena's body. However, Katherine had injected Elena's body with Dr. Wes Maxfield's experimental "Ripper Serum", to turn Elena into a vampire who feeds from other vampires along with werewolf venom. An unknown force denies Katherine access to the Other Side and she was left in a dark void. It is later revealed that Katherine was sucked into Hell, where she became a feared presence over six years. Katherine made a bet with Kai Parker, that whoever won would replace Cade as the ruler of Hell. Katherine's manipulation resulted in Kai's imprisonment in a Spirit Rule and her ascension as the queen of Hell. She then escaped Hell and proceeded to taunt Stefan and Caroline on their wedding day. She manipulates Kelly and Vicki Donovan into doing her bidding, resulting in Kelly nearly killing Caroline's twins and Vicki ringing the bell. While everyone is distracted, Katherine steals Elena's body and traps it in the boiler room to ensure Elena dies in the Hellfire. Katherine then impersonates Elena to torture the brothers. They attempt to kill her, but she continues returning from Hell. Stefan then stays with Katherine to ensure that they both finally die in the Hellfire, destroying Hell. As Stefan went to Heaven alone, it is unknown what happened to her soul. It is possible she either found peace in the afterlife or was destroyed along with hell. Played by Paul Wesley and Sawyer Bell (young Stefan), Starring seasons: 1–8, The Originals special guest starring season: 3 Stefan Salvatore (based on Stefan Salvatore from the novels) was born and raised in Mystic Falls to Giuseppe Salvatore and Lily Salvatore, who died when he was young. Stefan is the younger brother of Damon, and the two were best friends in life. However, this changed when the brothers fell in love with Katherine Pierce. Once Stefan discovered Katherine was a vampire, Stefan was both scared and repulsed by Katherine and vampirism in general. Katherine, however, compelled Stefan to not be afraid of her, to keep her secret, and to drink her vampire blood against his will. In 1864, Stefan was turned into a vampire after being shot by his father, with Katherine's blood in his system, and accidentally killed his father. Damon, who turned into a vampire as well, promised Stefan an eternity of misery as he was angry that Stefan had forced him to turn and jealous that Katherine had also turned Stefan. A newborn vampire with uncontrollable bloodlust, Stefan became severely out of control (later known as the Ripper) and addicted to the blood, killing many people. However, Stefan was taught by a vampire named Alexia "Lexi" Branson, who later became Stefan's best friend or companion. After decades of absence from Mystic Falls, Stefan returned to visit his home and Zach. Stefan heard the Gilbert's car accident at Wickery Bridge and saved Elena, who he noticed looked exactly like Katherine. Stefan and Elena begin a relationship and he reveals to her that he is a vampire. However, Damon returns to Mystic Falls and also falls in love with Elena. As the series progresses, Damon and Stefan rebuild their brotherly bonds. Stefan only drank animal blood in the beginning of the series, which left him weaker than other vampires. In season two, Stefan starts to take small amounts of Elena's blood each day to mitigate its effect on him and to increase his strength. When Katherine returns, it is discovered that she has always been in love with Stefan and not Damon; however, Stefan is in love with Elena and not interested in Katherine. Stefan starts to build a friendship with Caroline Forbes after she is turned into a vampire. After Klaus gives Stefan his blood to save Damon from a werewolf bite, Klaus turns Stefan into a Ripper again. As an arrangement to save Damon, Stefan works for Klaus while trying to protect Elena by keeping Klaus away from Mystic Falls. Klaus later finds out Elena is alive and compels Stefan to kill her, making Stefan turn off his humanity when he resists. Stefan is later able to get his humanity back – seen when he saves Klaus' life to protect Damon – but pretends not to care about Elena. He later takes it upon himself to kill Klaus. He steals Klaus' family and tries using them as blackmail. When that fails Stefan threatens to turn Elena into a vampire if Klaus does not get his hybrids out of town; Klaus agrees at the last minute. Stefan and Elena get into a fight, but Elena chooses Stefan over Damon. Later, Elena and Matt are trapped underwater; Elena makes Stefan save Matt first and she drowns with vampire blood in her system. During season four, Stefan's relationship with Elena is tested. He becomes fixated on finding the cure to vampirism for her, which results in Damon telling him that he can only love Elena as a human. Eventually, Stefan and Elena break up as a result of her feelings for Damon, which were amplified after being turned into a vampire. Stefan then forms a casual relationship with Rebekah (with whom he had a brief affair in the 1920s). After Elena eventually turns her humanity off as a result of her sire bond to Damon and Jeremy's death, Stefan and Damon attempt to find a way to force her to turn it back on. Eventually they do, but Elena remains in love with Damon and decides to be with him. Stefan is revealed to be the doppelgänger of Silas, who locks Stefan in a large metal safe and pushes it into the bottom of a lake. Stefan is rescued by the witch Qetsiyah, who brainwashes him and he falls in love with Elena again. He later regains his memories and kills Silas. Suffering from , Stefan manages to recover with the help of Katherine. The two begin a sort of relationship before Katherine's body fails her. It is later revealed that Katherine took over Elena's body and attempts to seduce Stefan; he kills her after saying goodbye one last time. Julian (in Tyler's body) ripped out Stefan's heart, killing him and sending him to the disintegrating Other Side. He reunites with Lexie, who saves him from getting sucked into Hell. Stefan manages to return to the land of the living, though Damon and Bonnie apparently die in the process. By season six, Stefan has left Mystic Falls to attempt to live a normal life with a new girlfriend. However, a visit from Caroline and Enzo results in Enzo killing his girlfriend. Stefan returns to Mystic Falls to kill Enzo, but stays after reuniting with Damon. He later helps Caroline get through her mother's cancer and develops romantic feelings for her. In season seven, Stefan is reunited with his mother and decides to forgive her. It is revealed that Stefan had slept with Valerie, one of the Heretics, while he was human, resulting in her pregnancy. Valerie lost the baby after Julian beat her. Stefan kills Julian and later develops a relationship with Valerie that ends soon after the encounter with Rayna. By season eight, Stefan had entered into a relationship (and later engagement) with Caroline while he searched for Damon. Stefan later gave himself up in servitude to Cade (alongside Damon) in order to save Caroline's twins. Stefan's humanity is shut off and he goes on a murderous rampage to deliver souls to Cade. He is later sent for Elena and kills Enzo, but Bonnie injects him with the cure, rendering him human. Stefan's guilt greatly impacts his relationship with Caroline and friendship with Bonnie. He later kills Cade to save Damon and Bonnie. He reunites with Caroline and works towards earning Bonnie's forgiveness. Stefan and Caroline use their 'wedding' to lure Katherine out, and are married when she fails to appear. After their marriage, Stefan and Damon search for Elena's body, taken by Katherine. Stefan and Bonnie then realize they can redirect the Hellfire at Katherine to destroy Hell, but someone must sacrifice themselves to ensure she's hit while in Hell. Stefan and Damon argue over who should do it, as Stefan wants to find redemption for his killings and to give Damon a chance at happiness. Damon compels the human Stefan to leave, but Stefan had been taking vervain. Stefan injected Damon with his blood, giving him the cure, then shoves a human Damon aside and sacrifices his life to kill Katherine and save Mystic Falls. Stefan reunites with Elena, getting to say goodbye, then goes to the afterlife. Years later, Stefan is reunited with Damon. Played by Ian Somerhalder, Starring seasons: 1–8 Damon Salvatore (based on Damon Salvatore from the novels) is a vampire, turned by Katherine Pierce one hundred and forty-five years prior to the beginning of the main storyline. He is the son of late Giuseppe Salvatore and the older brother of Stefan Salvatore. He is portrayed as a charming, handsome and snide person who loves tricking humans, and takes pleasure in feeding on them and killing them during the early episodes of the first season. During the first season, Damon gradually becomes kinder to the other characters, showing brief moments of compassion such as erasing Jeremy's traumatic memory of vampires. Damon apologizes for turning Vicki Donovan into a vampire and admits it was wrong. Later, he admits to Elena he came to the town wanting to destroy it but actually found himself wanting to protect it. Damon and Elena begin to kiss passionately before getting interrupted – it is later revealed that it wasn't Elena he kissed, but Katherine Pierce. In season two, Katherine tells Damon that she loved Stefan and never loved him. Elena later says something similar, leaving Damon heartbroken. He snaps Jeremy's neck (though Jeremy is wearing a ring which reverses damage done by supernatural creatures), incurring Elena's wrath. Bonnie declares hatred for Damon when she learns his blood turned Caroline Forbes into a vampire. After saving Elena and Stefan, Damon confesses his love for Elena but then compels her to forget his selfish words. Damon joins Rose to find out why the Originals are after Elena; they have sex, and Damon comforts Rose when she suffers a fatal werewolf bite. Elena and Damon then begin to mend fences, and Elena cares for Damon when he is bitten by Tyler at the end of the season. Expecting he will die, Elena gives him a kiss, but Damon is later cured by the blood of Klaus, the original hybrid. In the third season, Damon helps Elena bring Stefan back to Mystic Falls. He is at first reluctant to involve Elena in the rescue attempts, and employs her guardian, Alaric Saltzman, in order to conceal that Elena is alive. Stefan's change in attitude causes a rift between Elena and Stefan while Damon and Elena grow closer. Elena's refusal to admit this incenses Damon, who reverts to previous uncaring and reckless behavior. This continues until, in a heated moment, Elena admits to loving both brothers. Elena chooses Stefan and Damon seems to accept this decision and his death by Alaric, but rushes to the hospital when he realizes Elena has died. Damon starts season four at Elena's bedside after learning that she died with vampire blood in her system, and is transitioning. Damon tries to kill Rebekah with a White Oak Stake, but she overpowers him and escapes. Later, Damon uses Matt as bait to draw out the deputies and Pastor Young. After dispatching the deputies, Damon is about to kill Matt when stopped by a vampiric Elena. Damon makes Elena drink his blood when she seeks his help from a new vampire hunter, which leads to a fight with Stefan over what kind of vampire Elena will become. Damon tasks Stefan with learning more about Connor, a vampire hunter, while Damon accompanies Elena to college to teach her how to hunt and erase memories from her victims. Damon declares that he loves Elena whether she's human or vampire, and they eventually begin a relationship, though it is complicated by a sire bond between them (his blood was used to turn her). Damon uses the sire bond to make Elena turn off her humanity to avoid the guilt of Jeremy's death. Later, Damon and Stefan force her to turn it back on, at which point the sire bond has broken. However, Elena remains in love with Damon and they continue their relationship. In season six, Damon and Bonnie are trapped in a 1994 Prison World, which Damon initially believes is his own personal hell, as they continually relive a painful day from his past. While working with Bonnie to find a way back to Mystic Falls, and to take down Kai, Damon becomes friends with Bonnie. Eventually, Bonnie sends Damon back, leaving herself trapped with Kai. Damon tried to win Elena back, though she lost all her memories of their relationship. Damon is devastated when Liz dies. He reunites with Bonnie when she escapes the prison world with the cure for vampirism. Damon gave the cure to Elena – which undoes Alaric's compulsion – intending to take the cure himself so they can be together as humans. However, Kai casts a spell which puts Elena into a magical sleep until the time of Bonnie's death. In season seven, Damon travels with Bonnie and Alaric and learns to live without Elena. He refuses to forgive his mother for past mistakes on her deathbed. The guilt takes a toll on Damon, and after Julian is killed, he decides to let himself desiccate in a coffin next to Elena, waiting out the years until Bonnie dies. He's later awakened by Stefan in order to help him fight Rayna. By season eight, Damon and Enzo have gone missing. It is revealed that the two were taken by the siren Sybil, who forces them to go on various killing sprees. Despite Sybil's numerous attempts, Damon's love for Elena wins out. He later is forced into servitude for Cade; compelled to kill either Elena or Stefan, Damon instead kills himself with a piece of wood from Elena's coffin. His life is saved by Bonnie, and Stefan manages to kill Cade. In the series finale, Damon desperately searches for Elena's body, stolen by Katherine. Damon attempts to sacrifice his life to save Mystic Falls (and Elena) and kill Katherine with the Hellfire. However, Stefan injects Damon with the cure and takes his place. Damon and Elena marry and live a long and happy human life. Damon is then reunited with his brother in the afterlife. Played by Steven R. McQueen, Starring seasons: 1–6, Special guest starring season: 8, Legacies special guest starring season: 1 Jeremy Gilbert (loosely based on Margaret Gilbert from the novels) is Elena Gilbert's younger brother, later revealed to be her biological cousin. In the beginning of the series, Jeremy was emotionally damaged by the death of his parents and begins to use drugs. He was in love with Vicki Donovan, another drug user, causing a rivalry with her boyfriend, Tyler Lockwood. Vicki later breaks up with Tyler and starts a relationship with Jeremy. However, Jeremy witnesses Stefan kill Vicki (after Damon turned her into a vampire). At Elena's request, Damon makes Jeremy forget this, and Jeremy becomes more stable and stops using drugs. Jeremy then starts a relationship with a vampire named Anna, but John Gilbert, Jeremy’s uncle, kills Anna at the end of season one. Jeremy tries to become a vampire by overdosing while having Anna's blood in his system, but he fails. He was later given John's ring, which protects him from a death caused by anything supernatural. In season two, Jeremy falls in love with Bonnie Bennett and they start a relationship. Jeremy later loses both his aunt and uncle on the day of the sacrifice, leaving Elena and himself without a guardian. In the season two finale, Jeremy was accidentally shot to death by Sheriff Forbes, but Bonnie was able to bring him back. However, bringing Jeremy back from the dead allowed him to see and communicate with the ghosts of his former girlfriends, Anna and Vicki, whenever he thinks about them. When the doorway to the Other Side was opened, Jeremy was able to physically interact with Anna. Bonnie finds out, resulting in their break-up. When Bonnie closes the doorway to the Other Side, Jeremy and Anna decide to let each other go. After Jeremy kills a hybrid and was almost killed by Klaus, Elena asks Damon to compel Jeremy into leaving Mystic Falls in order to live a normal life. However, after Klaus and the other Originals find out where Jeremy was, Elena takes Jeremy back home. In season four, a vampire hunter, Connor, arrives in town, and only Jeremy can see his mysterious tattoos, later revealed to be a map to the cure for vampirism. When Connor is killed, Jeremy becomes part of The Five, a group of vampire hunters, and his 'hunter's mark' grows when he kills vampires. His urge to kill grows as well, and he attempts to murder Elena. Eventually, he finds a way to control this, and Damon trains him. After killing Kol, resulting in the death of his entire bloodline, Jeremy's mark completes, revealing a map to the cure. However, once he and Bonnie reach Silas, Katherine reveals herself and allows Silas to feed on Jeremy in order to awaken. She steals the cure, and Jeremy is killed when Silas snaps his neck. Elena then burns the Gilbert house, creating a cover story for his death. When Bonnie drops the veil to the Other Side, Jeremy's ghost returns, saving Elena from Kol. Bonnie performs a spell that allows Jeremy to stay alive. The spell, however, killed Bonnie in the process, though Jeremy can see her ghost. In season five, Jeremy attempts to keep Bonnie's death a secret for her in order to preserve her friends' happiness. However, Jeremy eventually reveals the truth to his friends. Bonnie and Jeremy are reunited after she becomes the new anchor to the Other Side, though she sacrifices her life once more in the finale to save Elena, Stefan, Enzo, Tyler and Alaric. It was revealed that Jeremy's supernatural hunter status was inactive as a result of the anti-magic barrier around the town. In season six, Jeremy has become a drunk after Bonnie's death, paying her cell phone bill just to hear her voicemail recording. After Kai absorbed the Travelers' spell around Mystic Falls, Jeremy regained his hunter abilities. Later, Jeremy came to the conclusion that it was time for him to move on with his life and leave for Santa Fe, New Mexico. While nearly all of his friends and family are under the impression that Jeremy is going to art school there, in reality, Jeremy has moved there to hunt vampires, with only Alaric, who planned to feed him leads, knowing Jeremy's true plans. Jeremy returns in the series finale, shown teaching gifted youngsters how to defend themselves against the supernatural at the Salvatore School. Played by Sara Canning, Starring seasons: 1–2, Guest starring seasons: 3, 5 and 8 Jenna Sommers (loosely based on Judith Maxwell from the novels) was Elena and Jeremy Gilbert's aunt. She was the sister of their mother, Miranda Sommers- Gilbert. After her sister and brother-in-law were killed in a car crash, she took over as Elena's and Jeremy's legal guardian and moved into the Gilbert family home. In the beginning, Jenna had trouble coping as an authority figure, having been a partying college student, but as the series progresses she becomes better at it. She begins dating news reporter Logan Fell, who had cheated on her in the past. However, Logan was turned into a vampire by Anna and then killed by history teacher Alaric Saltzman; Jenna was told that he had left town. She later begins a relationship with Alaric. In season two, John Gilbert begins to cause trouble between Jenna and Alaric, and Jenna suspects that Alaric is not completely honest with her. When Isobel Flemming, Alaric's supposed dead wife, shows up at Jenna's door, Jenna becomes angry with Elena and Alaric – who then tell her everything about vampires. Jenna was later turned into a vampire by Klaus, to be used in the sacrifice to release his werewolf side. She attempts to kill Greta Martin, Klaus' witch, to stop the sacrifice and saves Elena, at which point Klaus stakes her to death. In season three, Jenna is seen in the season finale, in flashbacks of the night Elena's parents' car went off Wickery Bridge. She is later seen as one of Katherine's hallucinations in season five. Jenna then appears in the series finale, where she and her family reunite with Elena as she passes. Played by Kat Graham, Starring seasons: 1–8 Bonnie Sheila Bennett (based on Bonnie McCullough from the novels) is Elena's best friend. From season seven, she becomes one of two female leads. She is good friends with Caroline Forbes. In the beginning of the series, Bonnie discovers that she is a witch born from a line of witches. Her grandmother, Sheila Bennett, helps her learn to use her powers. When her grandmother dies, Bonnie continues training and becomes more and more powerful. In the midst of season two, she starts a relationship with Jeremy Gilbert, Elena's younger brother. She later discovers, from warlock Luca Martin, that the only way to kill Klaus, the original vampire who wants to kill Elena, is for her to get the power of one-hundred dead witches. Once she does this, she pretends to be dead in a scheme of Damon's to trick Klaus. But when she brings Klaus to the brink of death, Elijah does not kill him, as planned, and carries Klaus away before Bonnie could react. In the season two finale, Bonnie is able to save Jeremy from dying after she tells her dead ancestor Emily Bennett that she loves him. However, bringing Jeremy back from the dead allows him to see his dead ex-girlfriends. Bonnie later finds out that Jeremy kissed Anna when the doorway to the Other Side was temporarily opened, and she breaks up with him. Later on, Bonnie reconnects with her mother, Abby, who had abandoned her as a child, and who helps her to kill the original vampires. However, Abby is turned into a vampire by Damon and abandons Bonnie again. In the season three finale, Bonnie places Klaus' soul into Tyler's body, thus preventing him from being completely destroyed by Alaric and saving Tyler, Caroline, Damon, and Stefan from dying (as part of Klaus' bloodline). In the beginning of season four, Bonnie learns that there is a forbidden magic, but she is forced to use it to transfer Klaus back to his original body, as a result, angry spirits attack her grandmother's ghost. Professor Atticus Shane mentors Bonnie in regaining her powers. However, unknown to her, this 'Art of Expression' draws magic from the spirits of a massacre. It is revealed that Bonnie is a key component to finding the cure, as she was a descendant of the witch who entombed Silas, and is the only one who can open the tomb. During the course of the fourth season, she becomes closer to Jeremy again, hinting at a possible reunion between the two. However, upon finding the cure, Jeremy is killed by Silas. Feeling unimaginable grief, Silas, posing as Shane, manipulates Bonnie into believing that she can bring him back from the dead, but only if she brings back every supernatural creature who has died. When Bonnie drops the veil to the Other Side, she is overpowered by Silas. Bonnie manages to petrify Silas. Afterwards, Bonnie is determined to bring Jeremy back to life, despite Sheila's warning. The spell ends up killing Bonnie, who awakens as a spirit. She eventually brings the veil back up, leaving Jeremy (who she resurrected) as the only one who can see her. In season five, Bonnie is resurrected – but every supernatural who dies has to go through her to the afterlife, thus she feels the pain of their deaths. She and Damon are then trapped in another dimension together while the others think they are dead. In season six, Bonnie and Damon develop a friendship and find out from a psychotic killer, Kai, that they can get home by using her magic. However, the plan backfires when Kai tries to kill Bonnie and she sacrifices herself for Damon, which sends him back home. Later, Kai also returns to the living world, leaving Bonnie all alone. Bonnie eventually manages to come home but has a more-violent disposition. She got revenge when she left Kai in a prison world but he returned, due to the Heretics. At the end of the season, she is linked to Elena through a spell Kai made that put Elena in a coma as long as Bonnie lives. In season seven, Bonnie is more united with Damon and their relationship develops while she starts having feelings for Enzo. Her friendship with Damon ends because he left Bonnie while he desiccated himself in a coffin until Elena wakes, so Bonnie would never see him again. Three years later, she had romantic a relationship with Enzo. She discovers that the armory is looking for her so she hides with Enzo. They make a deal with Rayna, but she did not tell them that she was going to be the next huntress. When Bonnie woke up she tried to kill Damon, Enzo, and Caroline because Rayna marked them. She almost killed Enzo but Damon burned the last shaman in the armory so Bonnie was not the huntress anymore and saved Enzo. Finally, she forgave Damon. By season eight, Enzo and Damon disappeared and Bonnie could not locate them, leaving her without two of the people she most cared about. Bonnie manages to rescue Damon and Enzo from Sybil's control using objects from the Armory, and resumes her relationship with Enzo. They plan for him to take the cure and live as humans together, but Stefan kills Enzo after his humanity shuts off. Bonnie injects him with the cure and her grief from Enzo's death causes her to unlock her psychic abilities. She manages to forgive Stefan and uses her power to see Enzo, but she breaks off the connection in order to channel her power into saving Caroline's twins. Inspired by her ancestors and Enzo, Bonnie gains new empowerment, saving Mystic Falls by redirecting Hellfire back to hell and destroying it along with Katherine. Her newfound strength allows her to break the spell over Elena and reunite with her best friend. Bonnie then fulfills her promise to Enzo to live her life, and leaves to travel the world as he watches over her. Starring seasons: 1–8, The Originals special guest starring season: 5 Caroline Elizabeth Forbes (based on Caroline Forbes from the novels) is Elena Gilbert and Bonnie Bennett's best friend. She was born in Mystic Falls, Virginia on October 10, 1992. From season seven she becomes one of two female leads. Caroline is the daughter of the Sheriff of Mystic Falls, Liz Forbes, with whom she has a troubled relationship that develops into a more-loving relationship. Her father, Bill Forbes, leaves her and her mother after coming out as gay. In the beginning of the series, Caroline is shown as shallow, self-absorbed and envious of Elena. She is also known for being insecure and competitive, especially with Elena. However, Caroline's character deepens and matures over the seasons. After she becomes a vampire, she forms a confidence in herself that is not seen at the beginning of the series. She stops looking at her life in a shallow and negative light, and her insecurities fade as the series continues. In season one, she is first attracted to Stefan but Stefan does not show interest in her and is instead attracted to Elena. This triggers the beginning of her competitive energy with Elena. When Stefan chooses Elena instead of her, Caroline shows interest in Damon. Because of her insecurities, Caroline allows Damon to take advantage of her. Damon uses her in many ways, compelling her to forget much of it. He frequently bites her so that he can suck her blood, and he compels her to wear scarves around her neck any time that he bites her. He also compels her to stay with him so that he can have a source of amusement and so that he can have a way to get his crystal from the Lockwoods. It is also during this time that she starts dating Matt Donovan, Elena's ex-boyfriend. She dates him even though she knows that he still has feelings for Elena. At the end of season one, Caroline, Matt, and Tyler meet an accident. Tyler is driving Caroline and Matt him from the Founder's Day party, and he swerves out of control when he hears a high-pitched noise. The car crashes into a barrier, and Caroline is rushed to the hospital because she has serious internal injuries. Although the chances of survival are slim, the doctors perform surgery, attempting to save her life. In season two, Caroline is fed Damon's blood to heal her injuries; however, Katherine kills her and Caroline feeds on a bag of human blood at the hospital, turning into a vampire. When she wakes up, she is very confused. After feeding on the blood bag, she struggles dealing with her bloodlust on her own. She ends up killing Bonnie's love interest, and this is when she realizes that she needs help. Damon tries to kill Caroline immediately because he does not think that she can get her bloodlust under control. However, Stefan appears at the right time and saves her from Damon. Stefan helps Caroline control her bloodlust and they build a friendship. Caroline also becomes closer to Elena. After she loses control and feeds on Matt when he cuts his wrist, Caroline realizes that she cannot keep her bloodlust under control when she is with him. Because of this, she deliberately starts and argument and purposefully causes him to end their relationship. When Tyler Lockwood starts his werewolf transformations, Caroline helps him and he starts to develop romantic feelings for her. However, Caroline is in love with Matt and they get back together as soon as Tyler leaves town. Matt later finds out that Caroline is a vampire; feeling alienated and betrayed, he tells her mother. At first they don't accept her, but when they realize that Caroline has retained her humanity, they soften. However, Matt breaks up with her, due to his aversion of the supernatural since the vampire death of his sister, Vicki. When Tyler returns to Mystic Falls, he and Caroline become closer. He comforts her after Matt breaks up with her, and she convinces him to stay in Mystic Falls. In the season three premiere, Caroline and Tyler sleep together. She tries to sneak out of his house before anyone else can notice. However, Carol Lockwood knows that she is there, and she shoots Caroline with vervain. After she is unconscious, Carol contacts Bill, Caroline's father. However, Carol Lockwood finds out Caroline is a vampire and contacts her father, Bill Forbes. He thinks Caroline is a monster and tries to "fix" her through torture. When Carol finds out that her son is a werewolf, she calls Liz to help Caroline. Liz and Tyler find Caroline and Bill, and they save her from being tortured any further. Bill and Caroline eventually make amends, and she is devastated when he is killed during season three. Alaric Saltzman kills him while he has vampire blood in his system, and he refuses to drink blood and complete his transition into a vampire after he wakes up. His choice of not transitioning into a vampire causes his life to be cut short. After Klaus Mikaelson turns Tyler into a werewolf-vampire hybrid, there is a strain on Caroline and Tyler's relationship. After hurting Caroline because of his sire bond to Klaus, Tyler leaves Mystic Falls, hoping to break the sire bond. Klaus takes a liking to Caroline during this season and she refuses to be wooed by him, staying loyal to her friends despite her attraction to him. However, when Tyler returns to Mystic Falls after breaking the sire bond, he becomes jealous when he sees a sketch that Klaus drew for Caroline. In season four, Caroline helps Elena with her vampire transition. Her relationship with Tyler becomes strained with Klaus and the werewolf, Hayley, around. Klaus continues to pine for Caroline's attention and affection, and Hayley's friendship with Tyler causes some jealousy from Caroline. Caroline assumes something is going on between Hayley and Tyler, but Tyler denies it (which is the truth). During the plan to get the cure, Caroline and Tyler watch over Klaus, who is trapped in the Gilbert home by Bonnie. They learn there is only one dose for the cure. After a talk with Klaus, it is revealed that Caroline would never take the cure, preferring herself as a vampire. When the spell wears off, Klaus tells Tyler to run, because Klaus would kill him for tormenting and teasing him. Caroline doesn't want Tyler to go because she loves him but knows it is for the best. Caroline completes the Expression triangle by killing 12 witches in an attempt to save Bonnie, which opens up the gates to Other Side, letting all dead supernaturals loose in Mystic Falls. Caroline graduates high school with Bonnie, Matt, Stefan, and Elena, the ceremony interrupted by the 12 dead witches who make an attempt on Caroline's life. She is saved by Klaus, who she had invited to the graduation. As a graduation gift to Caroline, Klaus allows Tyler to freely return to Mystic Falls. Klaus says goodbye to her and that he intends to be her last love. In season five, Caroline and Elena start college, both thinking Bonnie will come soon. Caroline assumes that Tyler will join them at Whitmore College. Caroline and Elena meet their new roommate, Megan, and are upset about rooming with her because they want Bonnie to be their roommate. Caroline and Elena become fearful that Megan knows that they are vampires because her drinks have vervain in them. They receive a phone call from Megan at a party later, and Megan is thrown out of the second floor window. She dies and has a vampire bite on her neck, meaning that there is another vampire at Whitmore. Later, Tyler returns to let Caroline know that he will not be attending college with her. However, he also informs her that he is leaving because he wants to get revenge against Klaus because he killed Tyler's mother. He says that their relationship seems forced because it is as if they are only together because Klaus granted them permission to be together. This upsets Caroline, and as Tyler packs his things to leave, she tells him that they will be broken up forever if he leaves. Although this seems to be a tough decision for him, he leaves, and Caroline's heart breaks. Klaus returns to Mystic Falls in an attempt to gloat over a dying Katherine, but is distracted by Caroline. She confesses her hidden desires for him, and they sleep together, Klaus vowing to never come back to Mystic Falls for her confession. Despite judgement from Tyler, Caroline refuses to feel guilty for her actions and builds a strange friendship with Enzo. In season six, she realizes she has feelings for Stefan, despite his attempts to ignore her all summer. She drops out of Whitmore College while trying to cope with Bonnie and Damon's deaths. She looks for ways to break the Travelers' spell on Mystic Falls so that they can go home (this is later accomplished when Kai absorbs the magic). Although Caroline has feelings for Stefan, there is a halt in their possible relationship when Stefan's mother, Lily Salvatore, and her adopted children come to Mystic Falls. Among her children is Valerie, Stefan's former girlfriend. Caroline's mother, Liz, is diagnosed with cancer and Stefan attempts to comfort her. Caroline turns off her humanity as she can't deal with the pain of Liz dying. Stefan realizes that he has feelings for Caroline. However, he realizes that he is too late when he sees that she has already turned off her humanity. Caroline asks for a year with no humanity where she promises to behave as long as they don't attempt to trigger her humanity before then. They do not leave her alone, angering Caroline and as revenge she kidnaps Stefan and Damon's niece, Sarah Salvatore, and blackmails Stefan to turn off his humanity. Stefan attempts to make Caroline lose control, and after numerous attempts he finally succeeds. Lily, Stefan's mother, triggers his humanity with when she comes back to him, and he is determined to help Caroline turn on her humanity again. He pretends to Caroline that his humanity is off and they get locked up together in a bed and breakfast in Grove Hill by Damon and Elena. Caroline eventually turns her humanity back on. In season seven, Caroline and Stefan attempt to form a romantic relationship but his past with Valerie prevents this. Doing as Elena wishes, Caroline begins writing diary entries for Elena. Lily captures her because she knows that Caroline plans to kill her and the heretics. Caroline later discovers that the Gemini Coven had placed Alaric and Jo's twins inside her to protect them. She gives birth to two girls, Josie and Lizzie (named after Jo and her mother, Liz Forbes). Stefan decides to break-up with Caroline as he runs from the Hunter with Valerie. Caroline and Alaric move to Texas and become a family, where Caroline quickly steps into the motherly role. While living together, Alaric begins to fall for Caroline. He proposes to her and, even though she does not love him back, she accepts his proposal, hoping that this is a positive thing for their family. Caroline reunites with Stefan three years later, but their relationship is nonexistent. After working together when Bonnie becomes a vampire huntress, they form a new friendship with each other. During the season finale, Caroline and Alaric break off their engagement when Alaric encourages her to leave with Stefan. Although she is afraid of losing her family if she leaves, Alaric assures her that they will always be a family whether they live together or not. After she leaves, she kisses Stefan, and they begin to date again. By season eight, Caroline is co-parenting her children with Alaric and soon becomes engaged to Stefan. Alaric suggests that he, Caroline, Josie, and Lizzie move in together again because co-parenting proves to be difficult. However, Caroline knows that this is a bad idea and declines the offer. Throughout the first part of the season, Caroline looks for ways to free Damon and Enzo from Sybil. She continues to worry about Bonnie's well-being because of how she tirelessly searches for Enzo. Her relationship with Stefan becomes complicated when Stefan is told that he must become Cade's servant to ensure the safety of Caroline's daughters. Part of the deal is that he turns off his humanity switch. This causes him to behave in ways that impress Cade but do not impress Caroline. While she at first wants the relationship to work, Caroline becomes so annoyed with him and his actions that she throws her engagement ring at him out of anger. Although she never explicitly breaks off the engagement, she begins to wonder if their June wedding will ever happen. Caroline saves her children and Alaric from the recently returned Kai and helps Alaric open a school for supernatural children. She and Stefan resume their engagement after he flips his switch back on, and the two stage a wedding in an attempt to draw out Katherine. Shortly after, Caroline is forced to say goodbye to Stefan when he sacrifices his life to save Elena and Damon. Caroline chooses to leave town with her daughters, though she and Stefan do get a bittersweet goodbye. Caroline and Alaric open a school for gifted supernatural children after receiving a large donation from Klaus, who praises her actions. It is implied from Alaric's voiceover that the donation is the "beginning of another story." Played by Zach Roerig, Starring seasons: 1–8, The Originals special guest starring season: 3, Legacies special guest starring season: 1 Matthew G. "Matt" Donovan (based on Matthew Honeycutt from the novels) is Elena Gilbert's childhood friend and ex-boyfriend. Vicki Donovan is Matt's older sister, who he takes care of as their troubled mother has left them. When Vicki dies, Matt is devastated. He is best friends with Tyler Lockwood. He is employed at the Mystic Grill as a busboy. Elena had broken up with Matt at beginning of the series, though Matt has feelings for her and wants to get back together, since Elena and Matt were each other's "first". However, he later starts a relationship with Caroline Forbes. When Caroline is turned into a vampire in season two, she tricks Matt into breaking up with her, for she can't control her bloodlust around him. However, they later get back together. When Matt learns that Caroline is a vampire, he suspects she had something to do with Vicki's death. He asks her to make him forget, but he secretly has vervain in his system and only pretends to forget; this was a plan of Sheriff Forbes. However, Matt finds out that Caroline is still the same person and tells her about the plan. He then breaks up with her due to the fact that he has too much to handle with work and school and doesn't want to deal with the fact that Caroline is a vampire. In season three, Matt learns that Jeremy is able to see Vicki's ghost; after he drowns himself and is saved by Bonnie, he is able to see and speak to Vicki as well. She tells him that with his help, the original witch can make her come back whenever she wants without needing Matt to think about her. After he helps her, Matt finds out that the original witch wants Vicki to kill Elena in return; with the help of Bonnie, Matt makes Vicki return to the Other Side and shuts her out of his thoughts. In season four, Matt blames himself for Elena's vampire transformation – Damon also blames him and wants Matt dead. Matt holds a grudge against Rebekah for trying to kill him and causing Elena's transition. Matt later moves into the Gilbert house when Elena moves out, due to Jeremy's urge to kill her. However, Elena moves back in, only for Jeremy to be killed soon after. Matt is shown to be devastated by the loss of his friend. He later develops a relationship with Rebekah Mikaelson and leaves Mystic Falls after graduation to travel with her. They part on good terms as she goes to New Orleans in season five. Another woman the two had encountered (and slept with) in Europe, Nadia, later appeared in Mystic Falls where she followed Matt. It is revealed that she is Nadia Petrova, and is searching for her mother, Katherine. Matt was possessed by a Traveler for a brief time and was involved with Nadia. Nadia later compelled him to forget that Elena was possessed by Katherine. After Nadia's death, Matt helps his friends deal with the destruction of the Other Side with the help of Liv and Luke Parker. In season six, Matt helps Jeremy cope with the apparent death of Bonnie and the two attempt to kill Enzo. After Elena falls into a magical, coma-like slumber, Matt takes on more responsibility and eventually becomes the sheriff of Mystic Falls. During this time, Matt ejects all vampires from Mystic Falls. In season seven, Matt falls in love with his partner, Penny Ares. A vampire makes Matt kill Penny, and he becomes hellbent on getting revenge on Stefan. However, after a series of events forces Matt to try and save Bonnie from being a bloodthirsty supernatural Huntress, Matt is exhausted of the war between humans and vampires; he decides to leave Mystic Falls and start a normal life. In season eight, Matt is reunited with his long-lost father, Peter Maxwell, who had abandoned him and Vicki when they were children. Peter reveals that Matt's ancestors were the founders of Mystic Falls before the 'founding' families took it over. They had built a bell in the Clock Tower, that upon being hit twelve times by a Maxwell descendant, would unleash the Hellfire and kill everyone around it. Stefan compels Matt to ring the bell, but Damon manages to stop him on the eleventh ring. This inadvertently allows several individuals to escape Hell, including Matt's own mother and sister (and also Cade, Katherine and Kai). His mother and sister later go to work for Katherine in order to stay out of Hell: Kelly injures Peter before dying again and Vicki plans on ringing the bell. Matt tells Peter about Vicki; they all go up the clock tower and Matt watches Peter and Vicki reuniting and hugging. Matt and Peter later watch the tower erupt in flames after the twelfth ring of the bell. After Hell is destroyed, Matt continues to be sheriff and is about to run for mayor, where he's watched over by his sister and Tyler. Played by Kayla Ewell, Starring season: 1, Recurring seasons: 2, 3, 5 and 8 Vicki Donovan (loosely based on Vickie Bennett from the novels) was Matt Donovan's older sister. Vicki was a troubled drug-addict, taken care of by Matt as their mother had left them. In the beginning of the series, she was dating Tyler Lockwood. Vicki and Jeremy hooked-up a few times but Vicki didn't want people to find out, since Jeremy was younger than her. Later, acknowledging that she had feelings for Jeremy, Vicki breaks-up with Tyler and starts a relationship with Jeremy. She was later turned into a vampire by Damon. She was unable to control her bloodlust and when she attacked Jeremy, Stefan kills her. Stefan and Damon make it seem as if Vicki had left town. Her body is later found by Caroline Forbes, devastating Matt and Jeremy. Later, when Jeremy is brought back to life, he was able to see and communicate with Vicki, who asks for his help. Matt learns of this and engineers a near-death experience so he can also see Vicki. She tells him that with his help, the original witch can make sure she can come back whenever she wants. However, Matt later finds out that the original witch ordered Vicki to kill Elena in return; with the help of Bonnie, Matt makes Vicki return to the Other Side and shuts her out of his thoughts. Vicki later returns in season five, to ask Jeremy and Bonnie to tell Matt to stop sleeping with Rebekah. She reappears on the Other Side when Liz Forbes kills Matt, and is later pulled away from the Other Side in a similar way to Katherine. Vicki returns in season eight and appears in Damon's mind, when he has flashbacks of his attack upon her in the pilot episode. It is later revealed that Vicki managed to escape Hell alongside Katherine and her mother. Vicki went on a killing spree before going to the Mystic Falls Clock Tower to ring the bell and bring the hellfire to destroy Mystic Falls. Vicki is then reunited with her brother and father and completely breaks down. She had wanted to get out of the torturous Hell by ringing the bell for Katherine, but her family inspires her to become the person she always wanted to be. She goes through with their plan to save Mystic Falls and kill Katherine. Vicki then finds peace in the afterlife with Tyler, where they continue to watch over Matt. Played by Michael Trevino, Starring seasons: 1–6, Recurring seasons: 7–8, The Originals special guest starring season: 1 Tyler Lockwood (based on Tyler Smallwood from the novels) is the son of Mayor Richard Lockwood and Carol Lockwood. He plays for the Mystic Falls High School football team and is best friends with Matt Donovan. Tyler does not have a good relationship with his father, who sometimes acts violently towards him. However, when his father dies, Tyler is shown to be genuinely upset. In the beginning of the series Tyler is an arrogant bully. He is dating Vicki Donovan, who breaks-up with him for Jeremy Gilbert, causing them to become rivals. Tyler is shown to have a short temper and in season two Tyler learns from his uncle, Mason Lockwood, that he acts this way due to the werewolf gene. After Tyler accidentally kills Sarah, a classmate who was compelled by Katherine to provoke him, his fears come true as he has triggered the werewolf curse. Caroline Forbes, a young vampire, helps him prepare for his new life, and Tyler eventually falls in love with Caroline. A werewolf named Jules comes to town and tells Tyler that Caroline, Stefan and Damon are responsible for his uncle's death, making Tyler feel betrayed. After Caroline is captured by a group of werewolves and Tyler hesitates to come to her rescue, Caroline breaks off their friendship. Hurt by Caroline's decision and wishing to protect his friends, Tyler later leaves town with Jules. However, he returns when his mother is in the hospital and makes amends with Caroline, deciding to stay in Mystic Falls. Tyler and Caroline's friendship deepens and in the season three premiere, they end up sleeping together. After his mother learns that Caroline is a vampire and kidnaps her as she is trying to sneak out, Tyler reveals that he is a werewolf by transforming in front of her. After he helps Sheriff Forbes rescue Caroline from her father, they begin an official relationship. Tyler is later turned into a hybrid by Klaus. Due to his transformation to a hybrid, he is sired to Klaus, and would do anything to protect Klaus as his master. When Tyler tells Caroline that he is okay with this, she breaks up with him. Tyler eventually realizes that the sire bond isn't in his favor, and breaks it by repeatedly turning into a werewolf. He and Caroline get back together, but in the season three finale, Bonnie places Klaus' spirit in Tyler's body in order to save his bloodline (which includes Katherine, Stefan, Abby, Damon, Caroline and Tyler himself). It is unknown what happened to Tyler's spirit during this time, or if he agreed to the plan. Klaus later forces Bonnie to return him to his original body; once the transfer is complete, Tyler regains control of his body. Tyler, along with a new friend, Hayley, begin to secretly all of Klaus' hybrids. However, on learning about this, Klaus murders them all, along with Tyler's mother. As a result, Tyler is eventually forced to leave town, knowing that Klaus will seek revenge upon him. He returns briefly for prom. Klaus later grants Caroline a graduation present, allowing Tyler to return to Mystic Falls. Later, Tyler became possessed by Julian, a Traveler. After the Travelers used the Body Sealing Spell on Tyler, Julian gained permanent control of Tyler's body and due to Markos destroying the Traveler's Knife that was needed to remove Passengers, Julian could not be banished. Later, Julian was captured by the Travelers and they brought Julian to Mystic Falls, where they had cast a spell that can undo magic, including vampirism. Thus, when Julian entered Mystic Falls, he lost Tyler's vampirism and they both died, because vampirism was what kept them alive. Tyler ended up on the Other Side, but thanks to Bonnie and Damon's sacrifices, he was able to come back to life and he discovered that he was no longer a hybrid. In season six, Tyler struggles to stay human, and develops a relationship with the witch Liv Parker. At the end of the season, Liv's brother Kai attacks and critically injures them both, and Liv convinces Tyler to kill her in order to trigger his curse and thereby heal. Tyler reluctantly agrees, knowing that she was going to die anyway. He manages to injure Kai and save Alaric's life. Tyler leaves Mystic Falls after saying goodbye to Elena. Tyler returns in season seven in order to take Elena's coffin to protect her from the Heretics. He returns again in season eight and is killed by Damon. Tyler is seen in the series finale as having been reunited with Vicki, where the two find peace together and continue to watch over Matt. Played by Matt Davis, Starring seasons: 1–3 and 6–8, Recurring seasons: 4–5, The Originals special guest starring seasons: 4–5, Legacies starring seasons: 1–present Alaric J. Saltzman, known as "Ric" (based on Alaric K. Saltzman from the novels), was the history teacher at Mystic Falls High School. Alaric originally comes to town to kill Damon, to avenge his wife. However, it was later revealed that his wife, Isobel Flemming, requested that Damon turn her into a vampire. Alaric then starts to become friends with Damon. Alaric owns a Gilbert Ring, which he obtained from Isobel, which prevents him from being killed by anything supernatural. However, John Gilbert later claims the ring. Alaric starts a relationship with Jenna Sommers. In the second season, Gilbert starts causing trouble between Jenna and Alaric, and Jenna leaves when she meets Isobel and knows Alaric has been keeping secrets from her. His body was later possessed by Klaus to gain the group's trust. Eventually Klaus releases Alaric, who gets back together with Jenna, but soon afterwards Klaus turns Jenna into a vampire and kills her for his sacrifice ritual, leaving Alaric heartbroken. In season three, Alaric moves in with Elena and Jeremy to take care of them, and represents the Gilbert family on the Founders' Council. He later starts dating council-member Meredith Fell, a local doctor. It is later learned that Alaric was unknowingly killing people, due to the Gilbert ring giving him a vampire-hating alter ego, which was referred to as "The Darkness" or "Evil-aric". He was later turned into an Original vampire by Esther in order to kill Klaus with an indestructible White Oak stake. In the season three finale, he dies when Elena drowns because their lives had been linked by Esther. He appears to Jeremy as a ghost to say goodbye, stating that he will always be there for them, and later at his grave where he listens to Damon lament about his responsibilities. Late in season four, Alaric's ghost appears to Damon when Bonnie partially drops the veil to the Other Side. In the season five finale, Alaric came back to life by passing through Bonnie. Alaric is a regular in season six, having trouble adjusting to life as a vampire. He gets a job at Whitmore College as the occult studies professor. After Elena is unable to recover from Damon's death, she begs Alaric to compel her to forget that she ever loved Damon – which he can do as an enhanced Original. Alaric starts forming a relationship with Jo, a doctor at the college, but decides it would be best if they weren't together and attempts to compel her into thinking she didn't enjoy their time together; this fails to work as Jo is a witch. After Damon comes back to life, Alaric tries to convince Elena to allow him to undo the compulsion. Damon and Enzo are abducted by Tripp Cooke, who plans to kill them by driving them into Mystic Falls. Alaric and Stefan attempt to save them, but Alaric passes the border and begins to succumb to the injuries that caused his death until Jo arrives to keep him alive in a human state. This prevents him from reversing his compulsion on Elena. In season six, Alaric and Jo are married and expecting a baby. Jo is killed at their wedding and in season seven he attempts to resurrect her. In season seven, it is revealed that the Gemini Coven placed Alaric and Jo's twins inside Caroline Forbes for protection. Caroline gives birth to the twins, named Josie and Lizzie (after Jo and Liz Forbes). They eventually move to Texas and become a family. Caroline and Alaric do not remain together as she begins a relationship with Stefan. In season eight, Alaric and Caroline co- parent their children, who've begun using magic. Alaric later turns the armory into a school for children like his daughters, to teach them to control their powers. In the series finale, Alaric opens a school for gifted youngsters with Caroline in Stefan's name, where he and his daughters are watched over by Jo. Played by Michael Malarkey, Starring seasons: 6–8, Recurring seasons: 5 Lorenzo "Enzo" St. John is a vampire formerly under the imprisonment of the Augustine society, where he was Damon's cellmate in the 1950s. He and Damon later revive their friendship while he searches for his lost lover, Maggie. Enzo shuts off his humanity after Damon reveals that he was the one who killed Maggie and then killed himself by having Stefan rip his heart out. He was resurrected in the season finale. Enzo is a series regular in season six, helping Caroline discover a way to resurrect Damon and Bonnie. After they visit Stefan and learn that he had been lying about searching for a solution, Enzo kills Stefan's human girlfriend, Ivy. In response to this, Stefan later finds Enzo, incapacitates him, and turns him over to Tripp Cooke, a vampire hunter with a familial link to Mystic Falls. It is later revealed that Enzo had made Ivy drink his blood, and she became a vampire. Enzo won't reveal the names of other vampires, so Tripp plans to drive him and Damon into Mystic Falls to kill them, reuniting the two friends (in chains once again), who are narrowly saved by Stefan and Alaric. In season seven, out of love for Lily, Enzo allies himself with the Heretics. Eventually, he begins working for The Armory due to his interest in his past and later to learn his family's purposes. Enzo hides Bonnie from the Armory as they need her to open a mysterious vault. He gives her pills to mute her magic and the two fall in love. Enzo pursues Damon into a vault in the Armory when discolored and long- clawed hands grab his face and pull him backward. In season eight, Enzo falls under the control of the siren Sybil, killing many humans across the country with Damon. His love for Bonnie, however, prevents him from falling completely under Sybil's control. Bonnie rescues him and the two resume their relationship, eventually planning for Enzo to take the cure and buy a house together in New York. Enzo is murdered by Stefan (on Cade's orders), which causes Bonnie to unleash her psychic powers. She sees visions of Enzo but breaks their connection in order to channel her powers into saving Caroline's daughters. Enzo makes her promise to live her life and swears he will see her again before she lets him go. Enzo then makes Bonnie realize her strength, and continues to watch over her as she fulfills her promise by living her life as she happily travels the world. The following is a list of characters that are, or at one time were, a recurring guest on the series (but never starring). They are listed in the order that they first appeared on the show. Played by Marguerite MacIntyre, Seasons: 1–6 and 8 Elizabeth "Liz" Forbes is the sheriff of Mystic Falls and the mother of Caroline Forbes. Her husband, Bill Forbes, who was a member of the town's council, had left her for another man after revealing that he was gay. She is first introduced at a Founders Day party at Mayor Lockwood's house. There, she is shown to have a strained relationship with her daughter. However, she does care a lot for her well-being, which is shown when she arrests a bartender after Caroline gets drunk. She is revealed to be a member of the Founders' Council, a secret organization dedicated to protecting Mystic Falls from vampires. Liz becomes friends with Damon after he saves her from Lexi Branson, and is seen letting him know about the council's plans. In the season one finale, she is handcuffed by John Gilbert for disagreeing with his plan to use the town as bait to capture the tomb vampires. She is later saved by Carol Lockwood, but they are unable to save Mayor Lockwood, who is burned with the vampires. Liz then finds out that her daughter has been in a car crash and goes to the hospital, where she is comforted by Damon. In season two, Carol accuses Liz of getting Mayor Lockwood killed. Liz is later informed by Mason Lockwood that Damon and Stefan are vampires, though she is skeptical, particularly regarding Damon. She tests him by slipping vervain into his drink and he reacts negatively to it. When Damon and Stefan assume Mason did it and attempt to take care of him in the woods, Liz ambushes and shoots the brothers and has them injected with vervain. Liz tortures Damon in an attempt to learn how he and Stefan can walk in the sun, but is interrupted when Elena appears, followed by Caroline, who kills the deputies. Liz is locked in the cellar at the Salvatore House so that the vervain can get out of her system and she can be compelled to forget everything. Liz asks Damon to keep Caroline away from her, but after a talk Liz eventually accepts Caroline being a vampire; Caroline decides to compel her and Liz loses her memory of the whole ordeal. After Matt discovers the truth about vampires from Caroline, he tells Liz, who comes up with a plan to make Matt pretend to be compelled to forget, while he actually has vervain in his system. Liz then uses Matt to spy on Caroline, who she believes is a monster. Liz tries to capture and kill Damon, but accidentally shoots Jeremy instead. Believing she has killed Jeremy, she is shocked to discover that Bonnie is able to resurrect him. She finds out that Matt came clean to Caroline. After confessing that neither wanted to secretly live in fear of one another, Liz accepts her daughter for what she is. After Caroline is locked in a cellar by her father for being a vampire, Liz and Tyler come to her rescue. Liz assists her daughter and her friends throughout the series as their relationship continues to improve and she becomes closer friends with Damon, before it is revealed that she's dying from cancer in season six. Liz is seen in the series finale watching over Caroline. Played by Robert Pralgo, Season: 1 Richard Lockwood was Tyler Lockwood's father, the mayor of Mystic Falls and the head of the Founders' Council. He had a bad relationship with his son and acts very authoritative towards him. It seems that he thinks of Tyler as a disappointment and when Tyler gets into a fist-fight with Matt Donovan at a party, Richard tells him to never embarrass his family again. When Tyler gets into a fight with Jeremy, he takes them outside and tells them to fight rather than talk to solve their problems. He had an unhappy marriage with Carol Lockwood and they constantly fight; he also flirts with Pearl. Although he seems kind and amicable to the outside world, he was actually quite selfish. In the season one finale, during Founders Day, he helps John Gilbert execute his plan to kill the tomb vampires. However, it backfires when he is affected by the device that neutralizes the vampires, due to carrying the werewolf gene. The deputies believe him to be a vampire and lock him in the basement, where he was killed by one of the tomb vampires. Played by Susan Walters, Seasons: 1–4 Carol Lockwood was the wife (and later widow) of Mayor Richard Lockwood and the mother of Tyler Lockwood. She was a member of The Founders' Council and knows of the existence of vampires, but not of the existence of werewolves. Throughout season one, Carol was locked in a hostile relationship with her best friend. She acts as a bad influence on her son Tyler, with much of his negative behavior emerging as a direct result of her snobbish behavior and emotional outbursts. In the season finale she shows, for the first time, that she cares for Richard. After releasing Liz, they vainly try to save Richard from the burning basement. Carol was shaken and upset by her husband's death and blames it on the deputies. Carol finds Tyler in his father's study thrashing the room in an angry tantrum; this behavior frightens her and she was further shaken after Mason Lockwood calms Tyler. Carol later informs Damon that she was replacing Richard as the mayor until the next election and asks him to lead the council, which he accepts. After Tyler has turned into a werewolf and runs away, she finds a note from Tyler. It was later revealed that Elijah, one of the original vampires, convinced Carol to stop taking vervain in order to compel her. When Elena frees Elijah, he compels Carol to let him take refuge in the Lockwood Mansion. Later, Carol was compelled to make a phone call to Tyler, saying that she was in the hospital and wanted him to come and visit; Maddox then uses his powers to push her off the stairs, and she is hospitalized. In season three, Carol learns that Caroline Forbes is a vampire; after Caroline sleeps with Tyler in the Lockwood Mansion, Carol shoots her with vervain darts. Carol then calls Caroline's father, Bill Forbes, and tells him about her. The next day, Carol slips vervain in Tyler's coffee to test if he is a vampire, and is relieved that he isn't. However, Tyler discovers this and confronts his mother, who says Caroline a monster. Tyler then shows Carol that he is a werewolf, and Carol promises that she will make sure Caroline isn't hurt. However, when she later calls Bill, she was unable to persuade him to free Caroline. When the doorway to the Other Side was opened, the ghosts of the tomb vampires decide to take revenge on the founding families and attack Carol. Caroline comes to Carol's rescue and holds them until the doorway is closed. In the ninth episode of season four, Carol was killed by Klaus as payback for Tyler's plan to kill him. Played by Jasmine Guy, Seasons: 1, 3–5 and 8 Sheila Bennett was the grandmother of Bonnie Bennett and a very powerful witch. She died after overusing her magic to seal away the tomb vampires. She usually appears to Bonnie (as a spirit) to help guide her whenever she overuses magic or is having trouble with her powers. Sheila continues to appear throughout the series, ensuring Bonnie's (and indirectly Damon's) survival. She makes an appearance in the series finale to help Bonnie save Mystic Falls with the rest of the Bennet witches. Played by Bianca Lawson, Seasons: 1, 2 and 5 Emily Bennett was the handmaiden of Katherine Pierce in 1864 and a powerful witch. She was a direct descendant of one of the women accused of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. Emily was an ancestor of Bonnie Bennett through Sheila Bennett. She was the one who gave Katherine, Pearl, Anna, Harper, Damon and Stefan the jewelry which enabled them to walk in the sun. Although she helped these vampires, she secretly fought against them, for she enchanted Jonathan Gilbert's inventions, including a device which could hurt vampires. When the vampires were rounded-up by the Founding Families, she and Damon made a bargain: Damon would protect Emily's descendants and Emily would use her grimoire to protect Katherine by entombing her with 26 other vampires under the old Fell's Church. Emily was later burned at the stake by the Founding Families and her possessions, including her grimoire, were taken and buried in Giuseppe Salvatore's grave. Damon rescued Emily's children when the townspeople came for her. In season one, Emily possesses Bonnie in order to stop Damon from freeing Katherine from the tomb. In season two, Bonnie takes on the power of a hundred dead witches, including Emily, by performing a spell on the place where the witches were burned. Bonnie and Stefan later go there again to ask the witches if they know a cure for a werewolf bite (inflicted on Damon). Emily possesses Bonnie and tells Stefan there isn't a cure, but when Bonnie is herself again, she tells Stefan that Emily mentioned Klaus, whose blood turns out to be the cure for a werewolf bite. When Jeremy dies, Bonnie was able to save him with help of Emily after she tells Emily that she loves him. Played by Arielle Kebbel, Seasons: 1–5 and 8 Alexia "Lexi" Branson was a vampire and Stefan's best friend and companion. She had known Stefan and his brother Damon for over a century. Damon killed her to make the town council think that she was the vampire terrorizing Mystic Falls. Lexi returned as a ghost to help save Stefan. She later choked Damon for killing her but let him go. She and Stefan stayed together for the most part drinking and later parting on good terms. Through flashbacks when Damon was killing people in New York as "Son of Sam", Stefan sent Lexi to help Damon. For about 6 months they hung out while Lexi would ask Damon about Katherine, trying to help him remember love. One night Damon claimed that he didn't love Katherine and that he had fallen for Lexi, and they had a night of wild sex; the next morning he locked her on a rooftop with the sun coming up as punishment for her spying. She came back for a scene at the end of the series finale, where Stefan hugs her. Played by Malese Jow, Seasons: 1–3 Annabelle "Anna" was a vampire who comes to Mystic Falls in order to free her mother from the tomb. She was in Mystic Falls in 1864 with her mother, Pearl, and wants to open the tomb to free her mother. Anna turned Noah and Ben McKittrick into vampires to make them help her save her mother, turned Logan Fell to get Honoria Fell's diaries, and befriended Jeremy Gilbert to obtain his ancestor's journal. Anna later kidnaps Elena and Bonnie in order to make Bonnie open the tomb, but they are saved by Stefan, who kills Ben in the process. After Bonnie opens the tomb for Damon to free Katherine, Anna succeeds in freeing her mother and bringing her back to life. Anna later reveals to Damon that she knew Katherine wasn't in the tomb, but needed him to believe it in order to free her mother. Anna developed romantic feelings for Jeremy, who suspects that she was not human and tests it by forcing her to drink his blood. Anna confronts Jeremy over this, and refuses his requests to turn him into a vampire. She initially attempts to hide her involvement with Jeremy from Pearl, and Anna and Pearl eventually get into a fight. Anna agrees to turn Jeremy but learns his motive is to get over his first love, Vicki. After a short period of distance, they make up, both admitting to having used each other, but have fallen in love along the way. Anna enrolls in high school in order to spend time with Jeremy, and they begin a romantic relationship. Pearl is killed by Jeremy's uncle John Gilbert, devastating Anna, who is consoled by Jeremy. On Founder's Day, Anna gives Jeremy a vial of her blood, telling him that if he drinks it he will die and become a vampire. She goes to the remaining tomb vampires, then reveals their plans to Damon – possibly to protect Jeremy. Damon warns her about the device; she is protecting Jeremy when John Gilbert sets it off, and was immediately incapacitated. A policeman finds her with Jeremy, injects her with vervain and takes her to the Gilbert building to be burned with other vampires, repeating the 1864 plan to eradicate their kind. When John Gilbert sees Anna lying in the building with the other vampires, he stakes her; her body is burned with the others. Damon sees this and later tells Jeremy how Anna died, regretting that he wasn't able to help. Jeremy questions whether it would be better to be a vampire and Damon admits it would be easier to turn the emotions off. Later, Jeremy drinks Anna's blood and takes all of Elena's sleeping pills. In the season two finale, Anna and Vicki's spirits appear to Jeremy, after he was brought back to life by a spell of Bonnie's. In season three, Anna and Vicki appear more often to Jeremy, and Anna warns Jeremy not to trust Vicki, who asks Jeremy to help her come back to life. Later, Anna tells Jeremy that she was "on the other side". She tells Jeremy that she understands he had to move on with Bonnie. They later get in an argument when Anna warns Jeremy about the darkness, popping-up at an awkward time. Jeremy shuts Anna out, leaving her alone on the Other Side. When Jeremy tells Bonnie, she asks him to no longer talk to Anna and completely shut her out. To make Anna reveal the location of Mikael, Katherine and Damon kidnap and begin hurting Jeremy. Anna and Jeremy seem to be talking again, working together to stop Vicki. Anna's re- appearances indicate that Jeremy is thinking about her, even when he's with Bonnie. When the doorway to the Other Side is opened, they are able to touch and secretly hang out. Elena sees them as they kiss, and Bonnie is influenced to close the doorway when she learns of this. Elena continues to fight with Jeremy and Anna over their relationship. It is revealed that Anna stole a necklace which is the key to keeping the door open, in hopes of finding her mother. Crying, she tells Jeremy she didn't meant for anyone to get hurt and she just didn't want to be alone anymore. Jeremy consoles her, and she gives him the necklace, letting him know it is alright to let her go. Before the door is closed, Anna finds her mother and they make peace. Isobel Flemming was Elena's birth mother and a descendant of Katherine Pierce. When Isobel was a teenager, she had a relationship with John Gilbert, by whom she later had a baby, Elena. When Isobel was pregnant, John brought her to his brother, Grayson Gilbert, who helped her through labor. After Elena's birth, a heartbroken Isobel gave her daughter to Grayson and his wife Miranda Gilbert. Isobel attended Duke University where she studied supernatural beings. Later in life, she met and married Alaric Saltzman. However, Isobel became obsessed with vampires and after being romantically involved with him, she asked Damon to turn her. She was assumed dead by the police and Alaric thought that she was killed by Damon after seeing them together. In season one, Alaric comes to Mystic Falls to seek revenge on Damon, who admits that he killed Isobel, but that he also turned her into a vampire on her own request. Elena reaches out when she learns that Isobel is her biological mother, but Isobel avoids contact. Isobel later shows up at the Mystic Grill, greets Alaric, and threatens to kill everyone in town if she doesn't meet Elena. She is later visited by John in a loaned house, where she had two human minions, Cherie and Frank. It was revealed that Isobel, just like John, wants Jonathan's Gilbert's device – because Katherine, whom she seemingly befriended, wants all the tomb vampires dead. In season two, it was revealed that Isobel wants them dead in order to protect Elena from Klaus. She asks Elena to make Damon give her the device, threatening to hurt Matt and Jeremy. Elena convinces Damon to give her the device by saying that Bonnie can despell it. However, it is later revealed that Bonnie only pretended to despell it. Elena gives Isobel the device, saying that Damon gave it out of love for her. It was revealed that Isobel cares about Elena and they plot to use the device to kill all the tomb vampires and the Salvatore brothers in order to protect her. Before leaving town, Isobel compels Alaric to get over her and tells him that she realizes it was a mistake to become a vampire. In season two, Isobel returns and introduces herself to Jenna Sommers as Elena's mother, but Elena refuses to invite her in and slams the door in her face. However, John invites her in the next day. Isobel asks Elena to join her at a place safe from Klaus, but Elena refuses. Isobel later tells Katherine that she made a deal with Klaus for Katherine's freedom, but she has to give Klaus the moonstone and the Petrova doppelgänger, Elena. Isobel tells Katherine to retrieve the moonstone from the Salvatore brothers. It was revealed that she asked John to break up Jenna and Alaric because she was jealous. Isobel then kidnaps Alaric and takes Elena to a graveyard where her parents placed a tombstone for her. It is revealed that Klaus compelled Isobel to devise a plan to capture Katherine and retrieve the moonstone, which was why she returned. Isobel tells Elena that as a human she dreamt of meeting her daughter, but instead Elena has only met the part of her that would betray her own flesh and blood. She then receives a message from Maddox to set Elena free and kill herself by taking off her necklace, exposing herself to sunlight and being burned to death. Played by David Anders, Seasons: 1, 2, 5 and 8 Johnathan "John" Gilbert II was Grayson Gilbert's younger brother, Elena's biological father and Jeremy's uncle. In their youth, Grayson taught him about the vampires through the journals of their ancestor, Johnathan Gilbert. They inherited one ring each, which prevented them from being killed by supernatural forces. John had a crush on Isobel Flemming-Saltzman and sent her to Damon when she wanted to become a vampire. After her transformation, Isobel found John and they formed a partnership to obtain a mysterious invention created by Jonathan Gilbert. John arrived in Mystic Falls for Founder's Day and was shown as a member of the Founders' Council. However, he knew Damon was a vampire, that there had been a tomb under the Fell's Church, and he knew about Katherine. He tried to intimidate Damon into helping him find the invention but Damon threatened to kill him and everyone in the Council. Alaric and Damon discovered John was watching the vampires who had been in the tomb. John confronts Pearl about her possession of the invention but Pearl had already given it to Damon. When Isobel returns to town, John obtains the invention, and it is revealed Isobel and John were working for Katherine and planning to kill the tomb vampires. Unofficially, their goal was to kill the Salvatore brothers and save Elena from suffering in a life filled with vampires. John was additionally responsible for staking Pearl. John's fingers (including one wearing the wring) are cut off by Katherine who stabs him, posing as Elena to gain access to the Gilbert house in the season one finale. In the season two premiere, John was rushed to hospital and was confronted by Stefan and Elena about Katherine's attack on him. Stefan then tells John that Elena does not want him there and Stefan threatens to turn John into a vampire if he does not leave. John packs his bags and gives his ring to Jeremy, though it was not made clear whether he had actually left Mystic Falls. John later returns to Mystic Falls and tells Jenna that he was Elena's biological father. It was revealed that he and Isobel were working together to free Katherine. Elena had trouble believing and trusting John, especially after he invites Isobel into their house; Elena rejects them and leaves. Isobel kills John at a party at the Lockwood Mansion, but he was seen wearing his ring and was brought back to life hours later. Upon learning that Isobel had committed suicide, John comes to the conclusion that he's no longer wanted anywhere in Mystic Falls and prepares to leave. Elena asks him to stay as he's the only parent she had left. Later, he goes through with a spell to save Elena from turning into a vampire, at the cost of his own life. He leaves Elena his ring and a letter saying he would have loved her as a human or vampire. Played by Torrey DeVitto, Seasons: 3–4 Dr. Meredith Fell (based on Meredith Sulez from the novels) is a local doctor and a member of the Founders' Council. She uses vampire blood to cure people and starts dating Alaric. She knows that Alaric is unknowingly killing people because of his ring and wants to help him. Played by Paul Wesley, Seasons: 4–5 Silas, the first immortal being, was introduced in season four as the most powerful vampire in The Vampire Diaries. He is over 2000 years old and unlike the Originals is truly immortal. He poses a myriad of abilities ranging from magic (he was formerly a Traveler) and mind control. Unfortunately for Silas, he was trapped in a cave for the better part of 2000 years by his scorned lover Qetsiyah. Silas uses his psychic abilities from the cave in modern-day Nova Scotia to dupe Professor Atticus Shane into committing the three massacres needed to destroy the Other Side. Shane then convinces Bonnie, Elena, Damon, Stefan, Jeremy, and Rebekah to assist him in finding Silas. On the island, Shane steels Jeremy and Bonnie and forces them to commit the ritual to raise Silas. Upon Silas' return, he kills Jeremy and Shane Silas uses Bonnie to help him bring down the Other Side. He uses his psychic powers to change his appearance, making no one certain what he actually looks like. This, however, goes awry when Bonnie betrays Silas and uses her witch powers to desiccate him. As the Other Side is about to close up, Bonnie sacrifices her life to save Jeremy. After resealing the Other Side, Stefan attempts to dump Silas in a quarry; however, upon Bonnie's death, Silas returns and reveals himself as the originator of the Salvatore doppelgänger line, which means he looks exactly like Stefan. He then precedes to drown Stefan in a safe in the quarry. In season five, Damon and Elena help save Stefan from the quarry after they realize that Silas had been tricking them for months. Silas' old lover Qetsiyah escapes from the Other Side and reveals that the other immortal Amara is still alive. Silas and Amara become mortal but before they can achieve peace, Amara kills herself and Stefan attacks Silas. Stefan impales Silas with a switchblade. In the fifth-season finale, Enzo enlists Silas' help to save everyone from being sucked into oblivion. Silas brags about escaping the Other Side and unleashing a "plague" on earth. Bonnie allows Silas to be sucked into oblivion, finally getting revenge for the death of her father. Played by Grace Phipps, Seasons: 4 April Young is a girl from Elena and Jeremy's past; Elena used to babysit her. She returns to Mystic Falls for her father's memorial service. She is openly nice and befriends almost everyone. April becomes Rebekah's first real friend. She was unaware of the existence of supernatural creatures in Mystic Falls and was visibly frightened by Connor Jordan, who attacked her twice during his vampire hunts. When Rebekah disappears, April finds her and frees her by removing the dagger. She learns about the existence of vampires in Mystic Falls from Rebekah and helps her gain information from Elena, Stefan, and Caroline about the cure for vampirism. Played by Penelope Mitchell, Seasons: 5–6 Olivia "Liv" Parker is a powerful and talented witch. She is in a coven – one which hates everything the Travelers stand for – that protects doppelgängers from the Travelers, especially Elena. She was a witch of the Gemini Coven and the twin sister of the late Luke Parker. Liv was the younger sister of Josette Parker, Malachai Parker, Joey Parker and three deceased unnamed siblings. She was the youngest daughter of Joshua Parker. In season five, Liv was seen attending Whitmore College. She was introduced as an inexperienced witch and sought out Bonnie Bennett to help her. However, Liv and her brother were secretly sent by their coven to stop Markos and the Travelers. After Caroline Forbes snaps Luke's neck sending him to the Other Side, Liv was forced to perform a spell that allows the deceased to be resurrected. Luke was revived and, as Liv became weaker, he told her to stop the spell. The two then fled, leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped in the collapsing Other Side. In season six, Liv continued attending college and had developed a romantic relationship in Tyler Lockwood. She carefully watched over Tyler, doing everything to make sure his werewolf gene didn't trigger. Liv and Luke are later reunited with their long-lost sister, Jo; they reveal that, as the twin children of the Gemini Coven's leader, they must merge their powers on their twenty-second birthday – the stronger of the two will become more powerful while the weaker will die. In the season six finale, Liv was killed by Tyler – at her request – so that he could trigger his werewolf gene in order to heal the wounds inflicted on him by Kai. Played by Chris Brochu, Seasons: 5–6 Lucas "Luke" Parker is a warlock and Liv's twin brother. He is protective of his sister and is in the same coven as her. He is openly gay. He is a younger brother of twins Josette and Malachai Parker, Joey Parker and three unnamed deceased siblings. He was the youngest son of Joshua Parker. In season five, Luke was seen attending Whitmore College. He quickly found himself working with Elena and her friends in an effort to stop Markos and the Travelers. Luke's neck was snapped by Caroline Forbes in order to motivate Liv to cast a spell to resurrect him, Stefan and the rest of their deceased friends on the rapidly disintegrating Other Side. Liv eventually revived Luke, and when he saw how the spell was draining her of her life force, he used his magic to force her to stop the spell. The two then fled, leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped on the Other Side when it collapsed. In season six, it was revealed that Luke felt bad for leaving Damon and Bonnie trapped on the Other Side, and started providing hallucinogenic herbs to Elena so she could communicate with Damon. Luke explained to the group about his family's dark past and how he would eventually have to merge with his twin, Liv. He completed the merge ceremony with Kai through a loophole because he didn't want to kill Liv, nor did he want Kai to do the same to Jo and take the leadership of their coven. He went into the ceremony believing that he could win, but he ended up losing the merge ceremony and his life essence was absorbed by Kai, along with his ability to possess magic (something Kai was not born with). An unintended side-effect of the merge was Kai absorbing Luke's personality traits, such as his compassion and empathy, which have tempered his own sociopathic personality. Played by Chris Wood, Seasons: 6 and 8 Malachai "Kai" Parker is the twin brother of Josette, the older brother of Olivia, Lucas, Joey, and three other unnamed and deceased Parker siblings. He appears as the main antagonist in season 6 and a secondary villain in season 8. He is born as one of the twins of the Gemini coven along with Josette Parker. He poses the rare ability to siphon magic from other people but is unable to produce magic on his own. Because of this his family treated him as a pariah and an abomination leading him to murder his fellow siblings and stab his sister with a steak knife. His family imprisoned him in a prison world for 15 years before being freed by Bonnie and Damon. In the real world Kai performs the merge ceremony with Luke Parker becoming the leader of the Gemini Coven and killing Luke in the process. His sadistic and sarcastic nature is largely changed after the merge showing some humanity within him. Bonnie doesn't see it like that though trapping him in a second prison world along with Mary-Louise, Nora, Beau and the rest of the Heretics. Thanks to magic found in the Silas headstone he manages to escape bringing the Heretics along with him. Upon his arrival he murders his sister Jo on her wedding night before killing himself and becoming a vampire. He puts the sleeping spell on Elena and kills the rest of the Gemini Coven. He is eventually beheaded by Damon at the end of the 6th season. Played by Annie Wersching, Seasons: 6–7 Lillian "Lily" Salvatore is the mother of Stefan and Damon Salvatore and the widow of the late Giuseppe Salvatore. It has been suggested that she was kinder than her husband, Giuseppe. When Lily was very sick with consumption, she was sent away by Giuseppe. An unknown nurse (who was assumed to have been a vampire) fed her vampire blood while she was in the tuberculosis ward in 1858. Lily died of consumption, triggering her transformation into a vampire. Realizing this, Lily faked her death and abandoned her family, protecting them from the threat she posed. When she fled to Europe, she succumbed to her bloodlust and became a Ripper vampire, slaughtering victims for blood in the most gruesome ways. Lily moved from city to city, killing many people, until she was encountered by the Gemini Coven in Manhattan. As a punishment for killing so many people, they trapped her in a prison world on October 31, 1903, where she was stuck for over a century. Played by Elizabeth Blackmore (season 7) and Katie Lumpkin (season 6), Seasons: 6–7 Valerie is a witch-vampire hybrid, and a member of the Heretics. She had a short romance with Stefan in 1863, when she was human. Valerie shelters in Stefan's house after being disowned and nearly killed by her own family. Valerie later helps Alaric find his unborn twin daughters, who had been spelled into Caroline's vampire womb. Valerie and Stefan discover a desiccated Caroline and realize the talisman didn't work. Valerie gathers the remaining Heretics and together they perform a spell to attract the babies into being born. As others are forced to leave, Valerie stays behind, and Bonnie arrives to tell her of Beau's death. Bonnie and Valerie then perform a spell and the babies are born. Valerie speaks to Stefan of a magical safehouse for supernatural travelers in New Orleans, though then loses contact with him and informs Bonnie about it. She works with Matt – despite their antagonistic relationship – to help Stefan escape from Rayna Cruz. Valerie informs Damon of the Armory's dark intentions. While Valerie and Stefan spend three years running from Rayna, they search for a magical herb to cloak Stefan's Hunter scar from Rayna's tracking abilities, and later begin a romantic relationship. Damon gets Valerie to reveal that she knew all along about a cure for Stefan's Hunter scar, but didn't want to lose Stefan to Damon or Caroline. Valerie is subdued by Damon before she can transfer the scar onto Damon, which buys Rayna enough time to stab Stefan with her sword and trap him in the Phoenix Stone. Valerie flees on an airplane, distressed about Stefan's entrapment. Played by Nathalie Kelley, Seasons: 7–8 Sybil is a siren and the servant of Arcadius, more commonly known as the Devil. Originally, she was an innocent girl who was banished from her village because of her psychic abilities, and cast into the ocean only to wash up on a deserted island. There she met and connected with another young psychic named Seline. Tricked into partaking in cannibalism by Seline to avoid starvation, Sybil threw herself off a cliff once she learned the truth and was forcibly turned into a siren against her wishes by Arcadius and at Seline's behest. Granted immortality, beauty and youth in exchange for her service, Sybil must feast on the flesh of the wicked to keep herself beautiful and delivers to Arcadius the souls of the damned. Played by Kristen Gutoskie, Seasons: 8 Seline is the other siren and servant of the Devil. Banished to an island to die because of her psychic abilities, Seline chose to become a cannibal to avoid starvation and deceived her "sister-by-choice" Sybil into becoming a cannibal as well. After Sybil tried to take her own life once she learned the truth, Arcadius appeared before them and offered aide in exchange for their servitude. Seline accepted on both their behalf and entered into a deal with Cade. So long as they continued to serve Arcadius, he would grant them both immortality, beauty and youth. They would feast on the flesh to keep them beautiful and he would collect the souls of the wicked Hell. The following is a list of minor characters who have had a story arc on the series that lasted four episodes or more. They are listed in the order that they first appeared on the show. Zach Salvatore, portrayed by Chris William Martin, is Damon and Stefan's great-great-great-nephew, in the first five episodes of the series before being killed by Damon after Zach locked him in a cellar., Logan Fell, portrayed by Chris J. Johnson in season one, is a news reporter who has a short romantic relationship with Jenna, but is later killed by Damon. He returns as a vampire, having been fed blood by Anna, but is eventually killed by Alaric., Harper, portrayed by Sterling Sulieman in season one, is a kind-hearted vampire that escapes from the tomb when it is opened, but he is killed by John Gilbert., Kelly Donovan, portrayed by Melinda Clarke in season one, is the mother of Matt and Vicki Donovan, who returns to Mystic Falls and learns her daughter has died. After a long absence from the series, Kelly makes a brief return in season eight. She claims to have died 2 years prior to her appearance and was sent to hell; when Matt rings the Maxwell bell earlier in season eight he opened a door to hell and Katherine helped her and Vicki (Kelly's daughter and Matt's sister) escape in exchange for later help in destroying Mystic Falls. She almost kills Matt's father. Luka Martin, portrayed by Bryton James in season two, is a warlock who befriends Bonnie, but it is later found out that he and his father work for Elijah. He is burned to death by Damon's flamethrower when he tries to invisibly save Elijah., Jonas Martin, portrayed by Randy J. Goodwin in season two, is Luka's father. He is a warlock and is introduced as a friend of Elijah's who can help defeat Klaus in order to save his daughter. He is later killed by Stefan., Jules, portrayed by Michaela McManus in season two, is a werewolf who comes to town looking for answers regarding Mason's death. She helps Tyler deal with being a werewolf, but is later killed during the sacrifice., Andie Star, portrayed by Dawn Olivieri in season two and the first episode of season three, is a love-interest for Damon. He first uses her for feeding and sex, but later grows fond of her. She is killed by Stefan when he wants to prove to Damon that he is not worth saving., Maddox, portrayed by Gino Anthony Pesi at the end of season two, is a warlock who works for Klaus. He is shot by Matt in the back and killed by Damon., Dana, portrayed by Anna Enger, is a student at Mystic Falls High School who was compelled by Klaus (in Alaric's body) at the decade dance to tell Elena to save the last dance for him. She makes her second and final appearance on the show in season three, when Elena and all her classmates are at prank night and Klaus compels Stefan to kill both Dana and a student named Chad. Connor Jordan, portrayed by Todd Williams in season four, is a vampire hunter and one of "The Five", a group of supernatural vampire hunters. He comes to Mystic Falls to kill all the vampires there, but is killed by Elena. He later returns as a ghost trying to cure and kill Silas, but is stopped by the ghost of Alaric., Rudy Hopkins, portrayed by Rick Worthy in season four, is Bonnie's father and the town's new mayor, replacing Carol Lockwood. He is killed by Silas in the season five premiere., Galen Vaughn, portrayed by Charlie Bewley in season four, is a vampire hunter and one of "The Five". He attacks the group on the island to stop the waking of Silas, but gets stuck in a well and starves to death. He later returns as a ghost trying to cure and kill Silas, but is stopped by the ghost of Alaric. Jesse, portrayed by Kendrick Sampson in season five, is a student at Whitmore College who likes Caroline. He gets turned into a vampire who feeds on other vampires by Professor Maxfield but is killed by Elena when he attacks Damon., Aaron Whitmore, portrayed by Shaun Sipos in season five, is a student at Whitmore College. Professor Maxfield became his legal guardian after Damon had killed his family. He is killed by Damon after Katherine (in Elena's body) breaks up with him., Markos, portrayed by Raffi Barsoumian in season five, is the leader of the Travelers, who comes back from the dead. He wants to break the curse the witches put on the Travelers using Elena and Stefan's blood. Damon and Elena eventually kill him and all the remaining Travelers. Tripp Cooke, portrayed by Colin Ferguson in season six, is a vampire hunter and descendant of the Fell family., Ivy, portrayed by Emily C. Chang in season six, is first introduced as Stefan's human girlfriend who is later turned into a vampire after a visit from Enzo and Caroline. She is killed by Tripp who drove her and other vampires across the Mystic Falls border via the Traveler's spell., Liam Davis, portrayed by Marco James Marquez, is a medical student at Whitmore College who Elena briefly dates., Malcolm, portrayed by Kent Wagner in season six and by Justice Leak in season seven, is described as being Lily's favorite Heretic., Oscar Addams, portrayed by Wing Liu in season six and by Tim Kang in season seven, is a Heretic. Released from the 1903 Prison World by Kai, Oscar and five other Heretics are cloaked away (also by Kai). In season seven, Lily sends him on a mission to retrieve her one true love's body. Later, it is revealed he was sent by Lily to check on Damon during his time in the war. He is described as the fun or humorous Heretic. Elizabeth "Lizzie" Saltzman, portrayed by Tierney Mumford, is a siphon, the twin sister of Josie and the daughter of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin., Josette "Josie" Saltzman, portrayed by Lily Rose Mumford, is a siphon, the twin sister of Lizzie and the daughter of Alaric Saltzman and Josette Laughlin., Alexandria "Alex" St. John, portrayed by Mouzam Makkar, is a distant cousin of Enzo and the former leader of the Armory. She is looking for a Bennett witch (particularly Bonnie) to undo a spell that has her sister, Yvette, trapped in the Armory's vault. In 2013, a spin-off television series based around the Mikaelson clan of vampires, called The Originals, was ordered to series by The CW. Many of the characters on The Originals initially appeared on The Vampire Diaries, including Klaus, Elijah and Rebekah Mikaelson. The Vampire Diaries, Original Vampires (The Vampire Diaries), List of The Originals characters, List of The Vampire Diaries episodes Damon Salvatore is a fictional character in The Vampire Diaries novel series. He is portrayed by Ian Somerhalder in the television series. Initially, Damon is the main antagonist in the beginning of the show but he later falls in love with Elena and turns into a true hero. After the first few episodes, Damon begins working alongside his younger brother, Stefan Salvatore, to resist greater threats and gradually Elena begins to consider him a friend. His transition was completed after his younger brother Stefan, who is also a vampire, convinces him to drink blood. Damon thus vows to make his brother's life sorrowful – thus further causing a century-long rift between the two brothers, centering around Katherine and eventually a love triangle with Elena Gilbert. After on-again/off-again relationship with both brothers, Elena chooses to be with Damon in the series finale. Ian Somerhalder was cast as Damon Salvatore at the end of March 2009, six months before the premiere of the series. The initial casting call for the character required an actor in his early- to mid-twenties to play a "darkly handsome, strong, charming, and smug vampire who can go from casual and playful to pure evil in less than a heartbeat." Somerhalder had not read the books until filming began. Damon Salvatore is a vampire, turned by Katherine Pierce 145 years prior to the series' debut. He is the son of late Giuseppe Salvatore, ripper Lily Salvatore and older brother of Stefan Salvatore known as the better man and brother. Damon is portrayed as a charming, handsome and snarky person who loves tricking humans, and takes pleasure in feeding on them and killing them during the early episodes of the first season. Damon, because he is a vampire, drinks stolen blood from blood banks and his brother Stefan Salvatore feeds off of animals. In the first season, Damon appears as the frightening older brother to Stefan Salvatore, and plays as the main antagonist for the first initial episodes with an hidden agenda. Slowly, Damon begins to be kinder to the other characters, showing brief moments of compassion such as erasing Jeremy's memory of vampires and removing his "suffering" so Jeremy gets his life back on track. Damon apologizes for turning Vicki Donovan into a vampire and admits it was wrong. Later at the Gilbert house, Elena returns home. Damon admits that he came to the town wanting to destroy it but actually found himself wanting to protect it after everything that happened at the Founder's Day celebrations and says he's not a hero and doesn't do good, saying it's not in him - those traits are reserved for Stefan, Elena and Bonnie. The two begin to kiss passionately before getting interrupted - it is later revealed that it wasn't Elena he kissed, but Katherine Pierce. Later in the season, it also implies that he actually feels human emotions, such as pain and love, which helps the viewer sympathize toward his character in some situations. But mostly, he likes to take care of himself and do the dirty work, in his own sadistic ways. In season two, Katherine tells Damon that she never loved him and that it was always Stefan. Elena says something similar later, leaving Damon heartbroken. As an expression of his anger, pain, and hopelessness, he snaps Jeremy Gilbert's neck, not realizing he is wearing a ring which reverses damage done by supernatural creatures or forces. Jeremy survives because of the ring, but Damon's action incurs Elena's wrath and pain. When Bonnie also discovers it was his blood that enabled Caroline Forbes to become a vampire, the two declare their hatred for him, leaving angrier than ever. After saving Elena with Stefan in episode 8 of season 2, Damon shows up in Elena's room with the vervain necklace that was ripped from her neck earlier in the episode. Before he gives it back, he tells Elena that he is in love with her, and because he is in love with her, he cannot be selfish with her. He also states that he doesn't deserve her, but that his brother does. He kisses her forehead and says he wishes she could remember this, but she cannot. As the camera shows a close up of Damon's eye as he is compelling Elena to forget, a tear slips. Elena blinks and her vervain necklace is back around her neck, Damon is gone and her window is open with the curtains blowing. She had no recollection as to how the necklace was returned to her. In one episode, Damon joins Rose to find out why the originals are after Elena; after some time and clever banter, the two have sex, stating that they could rid themselves of emotion. However, when Rose, Damon's old friend who turned Katerina, suffers from a werewolf bite, he gives her the memory of her life prior to becoming a vampire, and helps her remember how good it felt to be able to walk and feel the sunlight, without it burning her. During this meaningful moment, Damon mercifully kills her, leaving him to mourn the death of his one of very few friends. Elena and Damon then begin to mend fences, and Elena gives him an affectionate hug to help comfort him after Rose's death. Damon begins showing another side of himself in small acts that help build what once was an impossible friendship between Elena and himself, after she clearly stated that he has lost her forever. After he spares Caroline's mother, Elena says how that was the person she was once friends with. It's hard for Damon to accept that he has to change to have her in his life, which he explains to Andy Star, his compelled girlfriend a few more episodes in. Damon is bitten by Tyler the werewolf at the end of the season. Elena takes care of him, and right before he is cured by the blood of Klaus, the original hybrid, she gives him a "goodbye" kiss, because she was sure he was going to die. She even forgives him, telling him that she cares for him through grief-stricken tears. In the third season, Damon helps Elena in bringing his brother, Stefan, back to Mystic Falls after Stefan becomes Klaus' henchman. The arrangement transpired after a bargain for his blood that would cure Damon of the werewolf bite he had received from Tyler. At first, he is reluctant to involve Elena in the rescue attempts, employing Alaric Saltzman, Elena's guardian, instead as Klaus does not know that Elena is alive after the sacrifice which frees Klaus' hybrid side. However, Elena involves herself, desperate to find Stefan. Damon, though hesitant at first, is unable to refuse her because of his love for her. He also points out to her that she once turned back from finding Stefan since she knew Damon would be in danger, clearly showing that she also has feelings for him. He tells her that "when (he) drag(s) (his) brother from the edge to deliver him back to (her), (he) wants her to remember the things (she) felt while he was gone." When Stefan finally returns to Mystic Falls, his attitude is different from that of the first and second seasons. This causes a rift between Elena and Stefan whereas the relationship between Damon and Elena becomes closer and more intimate. A still loyal Elena, however, refuses to admit her feelings for Damon. In 'Dangerous Liaisons', Elena, frustrated with her feelings for him, tells Damon that his love for her may be a problem, and that this could be causing all their troubles. This incenses Damon, causing him to revert to the uncaring and reckless Damon seen in the previous seasons. The rocky relationship between the two continues until the sexual tension hits the fan and in a moment of heated passion, Elena – for the first time in the three seasons – kisses Damon of her own accord. This kiss finally causes Elena to admit that she loves both brothers and realize that she must ultimately make her choice as her own ancestress, Katherine Pierce, who turned the brothers, once did. In assessment of her feelings for Damon, she states this: "Damon just sort of snuck up on me. He got under my skin and no matter what I do, I can't shake him." In the season finale, a trip designed to get her to safety forces Elena to make her choice: to go to Damon and possibly see him one last time; or to go to Stefan and her friends and see them one last time. She chooses the latter when she calls Damon to tell him her decision. Damon, who is trying to stop Alaric, accepts what she says and she tells him that maybe if she had met Damon before she had met Stefan, her choice may have been different. This statement causes Damon to remember the first night he did meet Elena which was, in fact, the night her parents died - before she had met Stefan. Not wanting anyone to know he was in town and after giving her some advice about life and love, Damon compels her to forget. He remembers this as he fights Alaric and seems accepting of his death when Alaric, whose life line is tied to Elena's, suddenly collapses in his arms. Damon is grief-stricken, knowing that this means that Elena has also died and yells, "No! You are not dead!" A heartbroken Damon then goes to the hospital demanding to see Elena when the doctor, Meredith Fell, tells him that she gave Elena vampire blood. The last shot of the season finale episode shows Elena in transition. Damon starts season 4 at Elena's bedside after finding out about her dying with vampire blood in her system, causing her to start the transition to Vampire. Damon decides to firstly try to kill Rebekah with a White Oak Stake, yet she overpowers him. Rebekah is shot at through the Window and Damon escapes. Later in part of a plan with the Sheriff and Meredith Fell, Damon uses Matt as bait to draw out the deputies and Pastor Young. After dispatching the deputies, Damon decides to take out some aggression on Matt and is about to snap his neck when stopped by the new vampire Elena. After Elena and Stefan go hunting on animals the next morning and Elena has her first feed on a deer she pukes the blood out. Meanwhile, it seems a new vampire hunter is in town. Elena goes to Damon for help, he pulls her with him to the bathroom and makes her drink his blood because he says "You need warm blood from the vein, so maybe this'll do the trick." He says it's personal and Elena wonders why but no answer was given. She drinks his blood but pukes hours later. When Stefan finds out Damon has feed Elena his blood he's very angry and hits Damon who just got in a fight with the vampire hunter. Damon has decided to leave town, but through the early episodes of Season 4 seems to be looking for reasons to stay. Meredith Fell seems to be one who convinces him in 'The Rager' to stay to help Elena with her transition to Vampire. Indeed, a renewed conflict over ideology and what sort of Vampire Elena will become drives Damon and Stefan apart. The Five, shows Damon tasking Stefan with learning more about the Vampire Hunter, Connor while Damon decides to accompany both Bonnie and Elena to College. This trip is ostensibly about teaching Elena the 'hunt': how to catch, feed and erase. After some initial problems, Elena has a Frat Party gets success and seems to enjoy herself causing friction with Bonnie. She leaves the party and later states that she doesn't want to be like Damon. In the next episode, she begins to believe that Stefan is lying to her and takes things into her own hands to kill the vampire hunter who is holding her brother, Matt, and April captive. She does, and begins to suffer from hallucinations at the end of the episode. After asking Stefan why he wants to cure Elena, Damon tells him that he loves Elena as a vampire or human. In the episode 'We All Go a Little Mad Sometimes', Damon helps Elena in dealing with her hallucinations and saves her from committing suicide. He also helps uncover the mystery about the hunter's curse with the help of Bonnie and Professor Shane. At the end of the episode, he reveals the truth about the cure to Elena and explains how Stefan has been lying to her only to find this possible cure for vampirism. However, Elena breaks up with Stefan at the end of the episode after confessing her gradually growing feelings for Damon. In the following episode "My Brother's Keeper", Elena tells Damon he is the reason she and Stefan broke up and at the end of the episode Damon and Elena finally have sex. After that it turns out Elena is sired with Damon, first they think it is the reason why Elena loves Damon, but in episode "We'll Always Have Bourbon Street" they found out that it only affects how you act, not how you feel. The sire-bond can only be broken when Damon leaves Elena and tells her to stop caring about him according to a witch in New Orleans named Nandi. In the following episode Damon goes with Elena to her family's lake house to help with Jeremy's Hunter instincts. In the episode Elena tries to act like a couple with Damon, but he refuses to even kiss her out of his guilt about the sire bond and worry that he's taking advantage of her. In the end of the episode Damon invokes the sire bond telling Elena to return to Mystic Falls while he trains Jeremy "O Come, All Ye Faithful". Elena kisses him goodbye. In 'After School Special', Damon is at the Lake House training Jeremy, along with Matt Donovan. Klaus shows up and threatens Damon, wanting him to get Jeremy's mark completed earlier rather than later. Damon is shown to be reluctant, not wanting to hurt innocents for Elena's sake, but Klaus follows through with his plans regardless. Later in the episode Elena calls Damon and confesses she's in love with him and it's the 'most real thing she's ever felt in her entire life', in a moment of weakness Damon tells her to come see him. Afterward Damon is confronted with a bar of newly turned vampires for Jeremy to kill concedes that it's the quickest way, however balks when Klaus takes control and compels the newly turned vamps to kill Matt Donovan. In Catch Me If You Can Damon tells the boys to run since Jeremy isn't ready to take on all these vampires. Later when Elena arrives her and Damon argue over the killing of innocents and tells her to take Matt home while he and Jeremy take care of Klaus's newly turned vampires. However Kol shows up and has killed all the vampires, determined to stop them from finding the cure & waking Silas, and threatens Jeremy's life. Kol compels Damon to stake himself and later to kill Jeremy and to forget what Kol compelled him to do. Upon arriving back in Mystic Falls Damon begins to seek out Jeremy due to the compulsion, however when he sees him in the grill he realizes what Kol compelled him to do and tells Jeremy to run. Damon chases Jeremy throughout Mystic Falls and advises Jeremy that he is compelled and he needs to kill him. Jeremy shoots Damon in the head and when Damon awakens later starts cursing the youngest Gilbert, calling him stupid for not killing him. At the end of the episode Damon catches up with Jeremy Elena follows and urges Damon to fight it because "You love me and I love you", but he tells her that he can't, falls to his knees and urges Jeremy to kill him. Stefan shows up just in time to break Damon's neck and lock him up until they can take care of Kol. Damon spends the next episode locked up and bled dry by a jealous and snarky Stefan and engages in a conversation with Klaus about Caroline, Rebekah and Elena. When the group goes to the mysterious island to find the Cure, Damon continues to be suspicious of Professor Shane. When Jeremy goes missing and Bonnie and Shane stay behind to try a locator spell, Damon stays to keep an eye on Shane. He later begins torturing Shane for information, but Shane starts analyzing Damon and telling him Elena will go back to Stefan once she's cured. Elena interrupts the torture session and Damon storms out and Elena follows. She tells Damon that she's sure her feelings for him are real and asks him to become human with her, however Damon tells her he has no desire to be human and that human/vampire relationships are doomed and stalks off. Afterward he is captured by Vaughn, another member of the Five, who tortures Damon and leads him around with a noose around his neck. Damon goes with Vaughn to the cavern close to where Silas is buried and eventually overpowers him, but not before Vaughn injures Rebekah. Elena and Stefan come across the injured Damon and Rebekah, Stefan stays while Elena rushes to find Jeremy. Damon urges Stefan to go get the cure for Elena, uncaring that there is only enough for one, because he wants it for the girl he loves. After Stefan leave Rebekah comments that Damon did something selfless and remarks that he will always love Elena. An exhausted Damon admits that he can't control everything and is tired. After Katherine kills Jeremy in 'Down the Rabbit Hole' Damon stays behind determined to find the missing Bonnie, telling Stefan he can't come home without her. Eventually he finds Bonnie, hugging her in relief, but when the two arrive back in Mystic Falls in informs Stefan Bonnie has lost her mind. Elena, who had been in denial about Jeremy's death, comes into reality and demands Damon bring Jeremy's body downstairs. When Elena starts breaking down Stefan urges Damon to help her, indicating he should invoke the sire bond to take away her pain, however instead Damon tells Elena to shut off her emotions. In the next episode Damon begins trying to track Katherine in order to find the cure while Rebekah attempts to tag along. He finds an old friend from his past, Will, dying from a werewolf bite and kills him out of mercy. He arrives back home just in time to stop Elena from killing Caroline and takes her with to New York. While in NY Damon begins investigating Katherine's whereabouts and tries to keep that he's looking for the cure from Elena. Elena finds out and attempts to play him all the while Damon tells her and Rebekah about his time here in the 1970s. He admits that he had his emotions off and Lexi had come to help him on Stefan's behalf, however he tricks her into believing he fell in love with her only to leave her trapped on the roof during the day as revenge. He reveals that the reason he killed Lexi in season one was out of the guilt she stirred in him. Elena kisses Damon and attempts to steal Katherine's address out of his pocket, however Damon was aware she was trying to play him the entire time, and attempts to convince her to turn her emotions back on. Rebekah shows up and snaps his neck. He then calls Stefan and the brothers attempt to track down Elena. The decide to give up on the cure after Elena kills a waitress and threatens to kill people. In 'Pictures of You' Damon, along with Stefan, decide they're going to try making Elena turn her emotions back on. The Salvatore brothers decide to take Elena to the prom, where Damon asks Elena why she told him she was in love with him and it's the most real thing she ever felt. Elena tells Damon that she only said it because of the sire bond and she feels nothing for him. However, later when Bonnie nearly kills Elena, she cries out for Damon to help her and he locks her up in the Salvatore basement. Damon then manipulates Elena's dreams in an attempt to remind how much she loves her friends in family, however when it doesn't work the Salvatore brothers (per Stefan's advice) try torturing Elena to get her to feel emotion. Elena however calls their bluff and attempts to kill herself, knowing Damon would never really hurt her and let her die. Damon realizes that Elena is smart and that torture will not work. After Katherine frees Elena Damon comes up with a plan, killing Matt in front of her (while he wore the Gilbert ring) and it works to get Elena's emotions back on. When Elena focuses her hate on Katherine Damon tells Elena where Katherine is, but tells her she shouldn't try and kill her. Damon admits he hates Katherine, however he knows once Elena kills her all her other emotions (grief & guilt) will all come flooding back in. Elena stakes Damon in the stomach when he attempts to stop her. In the season finale 'Graduation', he tries to give the cure to Elena, but Elena refuses, which tells him that there is no more sire bond. He gets shot by Vaughn with a bullet laced with werewolf venom, and almost dies, but Klaus comes back to Mystic Falls and saves him. At the end of the episode, Elena proclaims her love for him stating that of all the decisions she has made choosing him will prove to be the worse one. Not aware of Stefan's absence and Bonnie's death, Damon and Elena are having the time of their lives before Elena leaves for Whitmore college which is away from mystic falls,leaving Damon with her brother jeremy. College brings a lot of ups and downs to the on screen romance. Katherine begs Damon to protect her as she feels someone is after her, Damon by the help of Jeremy's vampire hunter instincts that Silas is possessing as Stefan. Silas gives Damon a crash course on why he looks like Stefan and tells where was he the whole summer, shocked to know about this he starts to search Stefan with the help of Stefan. Silas mind-controlled Elena to kill Damon but Elena resists it by thinking about her worries for Stefan. Both Elena and Damon, with the help of Sheriff Forbes, finds the safe where Stefan was drowning the whole summer, but only to find a dead body. Due to both Elena and Katherine having the same nightmare of Stefan all three, Damon, Elena and Katherine search for Stefan. Damon finally finds Stefan inside a hut where he is tied up in the chair and Qetsiyah makes a link of Stefan with Silas which fries Stefan's brain. Qetsiyah reveals to Damon that his relationship with Elena is doomed. Damon and Elena take Stefan where both of them finds out that he has memory loss and can't remember anything. Damon, to make Stefan remember about his past life, gives him his journals and spends quality time with him. Jeremy tells Damon that Bonnie is dead and Damon finally tells Elena about Bonnie. At Bonnie's funeral, Damon consoles Elena. Damon wants to help Silas so that Silas can do a spell to swap his life with Bonnie as Silas wants to die. Silas had seen Qetsiyah going to the party therefore both Damon and Silas goes to the ball party at Whitmore College. Silas needs Damon to kill Stefan, so that he can get back his power. Stefan, after waking up, tricked Damon and snapped his neck. At Salvatore's mansion they bring a desiccated Silas, to trade Silas's life with Bonnie he must become mortal (witch). The only way is by the cure so Elena and Damon calls Katherine who has the cure in her blood and after she arrives her blood is drained by Silas, but still Katherine lived. Amara is then awakened and revealed to be the mystic anchor. She then cures herself of her immortality by feeding off Silas. As soon as Amara is awakened, she wants to die. Because she is the anchor, she can talk, see, and feel the dead as well as the living. Amara has mental problems and tries numerous attempts to kill herself. In order for Bonnie to be "alive" again, she must swap places with Amara and become the new anchor. Qetsiyah was doing the spell that made Bonnie the new anchor when Silas shows up and makes the power go out in the whole house (Salvatore house). Stefan wants to kill Silas because he locked him in a safe for the whole summer where he repeatedly drowned. So, when the lights go off, Stefan grabs Amara and goes outside the house. He then calls Silas and tells him to come to get her. Silas originally wanted to kill Amara anyway so she could find peace. The rest of the group search the whole house to find Amara. Qetsiyah also runs when the lights are off to find Silas. When she meets up with him, they talk until he runs to Amara. Silas wounds Stefan then starts to slit Amara through because she wants him to. Stephen grabs the knife and kills Silas then Amara stabs herself. Damon runs to Amara and repeats that she should stay alive and not die. The spell works before Amara dies. Bonnie comes back alive. At the beginning of season 6, Damon is still trapped in the 1994 snapshot with Bonnie, forced to relive the same day over and over again. As the season progresses, the duo meet Kai Parker who's provides them with clues on how to get back home. In a truly selfless act, Bonnie manages to send Damon back while she remains in 1994 with Kai. Back home, things aren't as Damon expected them to be. Elena has compelled her memories of their time together and moved on. After a few initial set backs, Damon sets his mind to wooing her back. As the season progresses, Elena falls for Damon all over again as they search for a way to free Bonnie and she becomes a large part of his support as his good friend Liz Forbes becomes more and more ill with cancer. Kai, who escaped the Prison World without Bonnie and merged with Luke, has absorbed some of Luke's qualities and is now moved by guilt to help free Bonnie. With his help, he, along with Damon, Elena, and Jeremy, are able to visit the Prison World and remind Bonnie that there is still magic residing in Qetsiyah's headstone in Nova Scotia. After the death of Liz, Caroline is unable to bear the pain of losing her mother and chooses to turn off her humanity just as Bonnie returns. Bonnie brought back with her a strange video she'd caught while leaving a second Prison World she'd been moved to set in October 31, 1903. She shows the video to Damon and he recognizes his own mother, Lillian Salvatore, standing in the background. Troubled with the news that his mother is still alive after believing she'd been dead since 1858, Damon's informed by Kai that his mother was placed in a Prison World due to being a Ripper and the heinous number of deaths she'd caused. Unfortunately, Stefan is forced by Caroline to turn off his humanity and Kai, Bonnie, Damon, and Elena have to travel to Lily's 1903 Prison World to retrieve her and use her as a means to get Stefan back. Damon is disturbed to learn when he gets to Lily that she has been trapped with other vampires and they allowed her to drink their portions of blood to stay alive. She is reluctant to leave without them, but Damon threatens to leave her behind if she doesn't go. Bonnie, Damon, and Elena leave with Lily, leaving Kai behind. When they return, Bonnie gives Damon a gift she'd gotten for him during her trip to Nova Scotia in the 1994 Prison World: the cure to vampirism. He struggles with whether or not to give it to Elena and provide her with the life she'd been robbed of. After using Lily to get Stefan's humanity back and he is used to bring Caroline back, Lily is adamant about returning to her Prison World to retrieve what she considers to be her family. Damon confronts Bonnie, who had taken the Ascendant, and tells her that Lily is threatening to destroy the cure if he doesn't return with the means to get her "family" back. However, when he decides to let Bonnie destroy the Ascendant, he comes home to find that Lily had actually given the cure to Elena instead. He confesses that he was selfish and afraid of losing her but agrees that she should take it and that he'll take it with her. Elena takes the cure and, unexpectedly, her memories return and she remembers when she'd traveled to Nova Scotia with Damon in search of the cure the first time, he'd told her that he used to miss being human, but, now, he couldn't imagine anything more miserable. She tells him he needs to think about it before making that decision and enlists Stefan to try to make sure Damon is certain of his choice to become human. Damon almost decides he'd rather stay a vampire until he witnesses an interaction between an older couple. Before Jo and Ric's wedding, he tells Elena he'd made his choice to live one lifetime with her. During the wedding, Kai shows up and stabs Jo before causing an explosion. The second to last episode ends with Elena lying unconscious on the ground. In the last episode of the 6th season titled "I'm Thinking Of You All The While" Damon rushes Elena to the hospital after vampire blood fails to heal and awaken her. At the hospital the doctors tell him that she is medically healthy and they see no reason why she's not awake. Kai stumbles into the hospital injured. After consuming Lily's blood and killing himself, Kai's ability to siphon magic allowed him to become another Heretic (vampire with witch-like power), but he was soon bitten by a transforming Tyler, who had re-triggered his werewolf curse. Kai tells Damon and he's linked Elena's life to Bonnie's and as long as Bonnie lives, Elena will remain asleep but perfectly healthy. He also tells him that the spell is permanent and any attempt to find a loophole in the spell will result in the death of both Bonnie and Elena. Damon returns to the wedding to find Bonnie badly injured on the floor and Kai's reminder that letting Bonnie die will allow Elena to regain consciousness. Damon tells Bonnie he's sorry and leaves the room. Kai is irritated that his plan to torture Damon with an impossible choice had failed and, while he's distracted, Damon decapitates him from behind. Damon saves Bonnie's life and they go to the Salvatore boarding house to say their goodbyes to Elena, deciding that they will allow Bonnie to live her life and, when she dies, Elena will wake. Damon allows himself to enter Elena's subconscious to say his goodbye, dancing with her and telling her that he'll never be ready to live the next 60 years of his life without her. Stefan and Damon move the coffin holding Elena to a crypt and have Bonnie seal the door magically to keep away those seeking the Cure. The season ends with the impression that quite a bit of time has passed. Mystic Falls is desolate and run down after the return of the other Heretics, Lily's "family". The last scene shows Damon looking torn standing on the clock tower he once sat on with Elena. This season has flashbacks between three years from now and the present. Damon has to deal with finding out who his is without Elena and coming to terms that he cannot kill his best friend Bonnie to bring her back quicker. Alaric try's to find a way to get his wife Jo back from the dead. Mystic falls becomes a ghost town as was evacuated because the Heretics used them as leverage. Bodies got dropped, Matt Donovan got angry. Alric finds a Phonenix stone and try's to use it to bring Jo back with the help of Bonnie, only to realise that the stone is filled with murdered vampire souls, putting a vampire named Florence in her body by accident, where she dies because a vampire soul can't live in a human body. Caroline gets kidnapped when Damon and Bonnie murder one of Lillian's 'children', and finds out from Valerie, Stefan's first love, she's pregnant with Alaric and Jo's twin Gemini babies. The spell the Gemini's used wasn't to send Kai to another prison world but a transference spell to save the next generation by send them into a body that wouldn't die and then having them cloaked. Nora and Mary Louise Heretics spend the season dealing with their relationship problems and their own family, along with the death of two of their brothers. Beau, another Heretic is a mute with the same X mark on his throat as Julian has on his chest, which took his voice. He seems stoic at first but when Julian is brought back to life, shows his playful, joyful side. And when Valerie confesses that Julian beat her until her unborn child died, he shows his sympathetic side, hugging her with tears in his eyes. Lillian begins to love her Salvatore family and continuously try's to bring a peaceful truth. Even as Damon killed 2 of her children. She managed to bring her lunatic boyfriend back to life, shortly after she is shown his true colours. And helps her Salvatore family kill to kill him. The tide changes when Mary Louise helps Julian. Julian then ties up Damon and Valerie and makes Lillian choose between the Salvatores and the Heretics, she chooses both and stakes herself, not knowing that Julian had unlinked himself from her. She then dies and Stefan and Damon buries her. Julian grieves her death and flies off the rails, going on a murder spree and creating an army. Stating that the only reason he didn't give in to the madness of the Phoenix Stone was because of his love for Lily. At the start of season 1, Damon was a self-proclaimed loner, often keeps to himself. Despite his initially antagonistic relationships with humans such as Alaric Saltzman and Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes, Caroline's mother. Damon gradually involved himself into the lives of many people in Mystic Falls by developing friendships with several humans. After spending time with Elena Gilbert, Damon becomes more empathetic and falls deeply, madly and passionately in love with her. He always puts her safety first before anyone else, even his. Damon's most prominent love, aside from Elena, was Rose. He met her while searching for Klaus and hooked up with her shortly after. Unfortunately Damon ticked off Jules, a werewolf, and she showed up on a full moon for revenge. Damon has had a challenging relationship with his younger brother Stefan Salvatore for over a century. Before they became vampires, they both loved the vampire Katherine Pierce. Damon shows that he has nurtured a long-standing desire to reunite with Katherine throughout the first season. In the first season, we learn that it was Stefan who convinced Damon to feed and complete his transformation after Katherine turned both brothers into vampires. Despite the feud between the Salvatore brothers, both Damon and Stefan always have each other's backs. Damon is always there for Stefan when it really matters, e.g., saving him from being tortured, helping him through withdrawal, and working with him to kill common enemies. And Stefan will still give up his own life for Damon's survival. They both actually love each other but won't admit it, however: After learning of Katherine's deceit, Damon starts to fall for Elena. In general, Damon is fiercely protective of Elena and always puts her safety ahead of all else. Damon comes to Elena's rescue at the Miss Mystic Falls pageant when Elena is left stranded without a partner, and the two dance. In the episode "Rose", Damon confesses his love for her only to compel her to forget about it because he doesn't believe he is worthy of her. Throughout the third season his relationship with Elena grows; she learns to fully trust him, and they begin to rely on each other as a team. They share two passionate kisses, but Elena remains in denial about her feelings for him. After a long struggle, Elena still chooses Stefan much to Damon's dismay. In the following season, Elena realizes that her feelings for Damon cannot be denied any longer. She and Stefan break up, and in the following episode Damon and Elena finally get together and have sex. Damon and Elena then both individually discover that Elena is sired to Damon, making Elena's feelings unfortunately known; however, Elena insists that her love for Damon is the most real thing that she's ever felt in her entire life. Damon remains doubtful, so in "O Come, All Ye Faithful" he sets her "free". In an interview before the season finale, Julie Plec stated that "This year, she's had a very traumatic roller coaster of life experience and it's changed her irrevocably—and at the center of it all was the diehard belief that she loved Damon, that she loved him more than she'd ever loved anyone." In "Graduation", after the sire bond is broken and there remains no doubt about Elena's feelings, she reveals that she is in love with Damon. Damon and Elena spend the next few months together, having the summer of their lives. When Elena has to leave for college, Damon stays behind in Mystic Falls and they have a functional long distance relationship. However, in the episode "Original Sin", Tessa, who is revealed to be Qetsiyah, tells Damon that the doppelgangers are fated to fall in love and that he is only a bump in the road that makes their story interesting. Damon refuses to believe in this and assures Elena that he will fight for her and their future together as she is his life. It is later revealed that there is nothing fated about Stefan and Elena, but that they were merely drawn together by a spell. After a tumultuous, back and forth relationship, Damon and Elena get back together at the end of the season, and they choose to sacrifice themselves together to save Stefan and Alaric and their other friends on the Other Side. When Elena makes it back but Damon is trapped on the collapsing Other Side, Elena is devastated. Damon says his last goodbye to Elena, telling her that she is by far the best thing that has ever happened to him, and that being loved by her is "the epitome of a fulfilled life", as Elena sobs inconsolably. In season 6, Elena is unable to move on from Damon's death months later. She pretends to be happy, but she is secretly taking witch herbs to hallucinate Damon. When the herbs make her dangerous to humans, Elena decides to have Alaric compel away her memories of Damon, because she will never be able to move on otherwise. When Damon returns, he attempts to help her remember their love story, but the compulsion will not break. Not remembering any of the good things about Damon, Elena still decides to give him another chance. She slowly falls in love with him again, ultimately declaring that no matter whether she has memories of him or not, she always finds her way back to him. When Bonnie returns from the prison world, she gifts Damon with the cure for vampirism, knowing that he wanted to give it to Elena. However, Damon is afraid that this will mean losing Elena. They discuss what a human life together would be like. Elena initially rejects the cure, but Damon decides to take it with her so that they can have a human life together, including children. Damon always wanted Elena to have the human life she always dreamed of. Elena takes the cure, which breaks the compulsion, and her memories of Damon return to her. She recalls a memory from season 4, where Damon declares that there would be nothing more miserable than becoming human again. Elena is afraid that Damon would regret taking the cure, so she challenges him to think it through carefully. Stefan attempts to convince Damon that becoming human would be a bad decision, but Damon ultimately realizes that one lifetime with Elena is infinitely better than an immortal one without her, and confidently believes her to be his soulmate. Damon and Elena excitedly anticipate the beginning of their human future together, until Kai puts Elena under a sleeping spell, tied to Bonnie's life. Damon spends the next two seasons devoted to Elena, waiting for her to wake up. He repeatedly states that he is miserable without her, and will spend the next 60 or so years unhappily until Bonnie dies. However, Damon is committed to staying true to Elena, and doing right by her. Elena is shown to be Damon's moral compass, and his guiding force throughout the two seasons. When Damon is in the Phoenix Stone's version of hell, a vision of Stefan asks Damon "What would Elena do?" and this prompts Damon to forgive his mother, freeing him from hell. The phoenix stone's influence remains, and Damon accidentally lights Elena's coffin on fire (or so he thinks). Believing that he has unwittingly killed the love of his life, Damon becomes suicidal. When confronted with the hunter Rayna, Damon commands her to kill him because he is already in hell in a world without Elena. Enzo then reveals to Damon that Elena is still alive, renewing Damon's hope. When Damon realizes that he is a potential danger to his friends and family because he does not believe he is good without Elena, he decides to desiccate himself next to her. He writes to Alaric that before Elena, he didn't know what it was like to be happy, fulfilled or complete, and that he doesn't want to continue living without that feeling. After Stefan wakes Damon from his desiccation, Damon continues to be devoted to his future with Elena. At the end of season 7, he is lured into a trap by a siren, hearing Elena's voice calling out to him. When the siren takes control of Damon's mind in season 8, Damon spends a significant amount of time sleeping, seeking refuge in dreams of his memories of Elena. When Sybil erases Elena from Damon's consciousness only to insert herself into their memories, Damon fights back, instinctively drawn back to Elena. His love for her prevails, and he breaks the siren's mind control, regaining his memories of Elena. Julie Plec stated that "I think the only hope that he's holding on to is the idea of the two of them living in Tribeca in their brownstone and raising kids and having a life together as humans when this is all said and done." After Stefan gives Damon the cure to vampirism, turning him into a human, and Bonnie unbreaks the spell on Elena, Damon and Elena finally reunite. They begin their life together, getting married while Elena goes to medical school and becomes a doctor. Eventually they return to Mystic Falls to grow old together, where they died together of old age. We last see them walking hand in hand in the afterlife before reuniting with their respective families. Alaric is a vampire hunter looking to avenge his wife by killing the vampire that killed her. It is soon revealed that the vampire that Alaric is hunting is actually Damon. Before killing Alaric, he confesses that he didn't kill Isobel but turned her. Alaric is brought back to life by the Gilbert ring. The two remain enemies but work together on occasion. Eventually, the two become best friends and drinking buddies. Even after Alaric is turned into a vampire who kills other vampires, Damon does his best to ensure that they don't have to kill him. But with Elena's death, Alaric dies as well while Damon holds him. In the episode, "Memorial", it's clear that Damon still misses his friend as he talks to Alaric at his grave. Unknown to him, Alaric listens to the whole thing and even responds with "I miss you too, buddy". Damon's best friend. Bonnie first saw Damon in Friday Night Bites when he dropped Caroline off at cheerleading practice. They first interacted in Haunted, when Damon learned that Bonnie had come into possession of the Bennett Talisman. He needed this to open the tomb which Katherine was locked in (for 145 years or so he believed). At first, Bonnie didn't want to have anything to do with Damon, saving his life only for Elena's sake and soon blaming him for Caroline's transition into a vampire. However, as time went on, Bonnie was put into situations where she had to work with Damon to achieve what they both wanted (albeit reluctantly at first). Their teamwork has often proved to be beneficial for the both of them. Their relationship has even come to a point where Damon is visibly worried for Bonnie's well-being and was devastated when he found out about her death. The improvement of their relationship is seen in Damon's efforts to help bring Bonnie back from the dead. However, their unique friendship hit a speed bump when Damon reverted to his old ways. Finally, they stood side by side with each other as The Other Side collapsed, holding each other's hand and at peace with what is to come for the both of them. They later discover that they are trapped in a 1994 Prison World. During that time, they start to bond and form a close alliance to take down Kai. Before sending Damon back home, she mentions that he's not exactly the last person she would wanna be stuck with. When Damon returns home, he does everything he can to find a way to bring Bonnie back, including a long road trip to Oregon to seek the Gemini Coven, and also compelling Alaric to steal the Ascendant from Jo. They finally reunite at the Salvatore Boarding House with a hug after Sheriff Forbes's funeral. It's shown that Damon and Bonnie genuinely care about each other and have made sacrifices for each other. of the show The Vampire Diaries is an American supernatural horror romance television series created by Kevin Williamson based on the novels of the same name by author L. J. Smith. It was officially picked up for the 2009–10 season on May 19, 2009. It premiered on September 10, 2009, on The CW and received the highest ratings for a series premiere in the networks history scoring 4.91 million live viewers. The series focuses on the fictional town of Mystic Falls, Virginia, that is charged with supernatural history. It follows Elena Gilbert portrayed by Nina Dobrev as she begins to get over her parents' death, when two vampires pull her into a world she didn't know before, Stefan and Damon Salvatore, portrayed by Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, respectively. Kayla Ewell portrayed Vicki Donovan for the first seven episodes until her character was killed off. Matt Davis was later cast as a history teacher in a recurring role to fill the void. He was later upgraded to series regular status. The season concluded on May 13, 2010, comprising 22 episodes. Nina Dobrev as Elena Gilbert / Katherine Pierce, Paul Wesley as Stefan Salvatore, Ian Somerhalder as Damon Salvatore, Steven R. McQueen as Jeremy Gilbert, Sara Canning as Jenna Sommers, Kat Graham as Bonnie Bennett, Candice Accola as Caroline Forbes, Zach Roerig as Matt Donovan, Kayla Ewell as Vicki Donovan, Michael Trevino as Tyler Lockwood, Matt Davis as Alaric Saltzman Malese Jow as Anna (11 episodes), Marguerite MacIntyre as Sheriff Liz Forbes (10 episodes), Robert Pralgo as Mayor Richard Lockwood (8 episodes), Kelly Hu as Pearl (7 episodes), Susan Walters as Carol Lockwood (5 episodes), Chris Johnson as Logan Fell (5 episodes), Jasmine Guy as Sheila Bennett (5 episodes), David Anders as John Gilbert (5 episodes), Sterling Sulieman as Harper (5 episodes), Chris William Martin as Zach Salvatore (4 episodes), Bianca Lawson as Emily Bennett (4 episodes), Melinda Clarke as Kelly Donovan (4 episodes), Mia Kirshner as Isobel Flemming (4 episodes) Benjamin Ayres as William Tanner (3 episodes), Sean Faris as Ben McKittrick (3 episodes), Stephen Martines as Frederick (2 episodes), James Remar as Giuseppe Salvatore (2 episodes), Arielle Kebbel as Lexi Branson (1 episodes), Gina Torres as Bree (1 episodes), Brandon Quinn as Lee (1 episodes), Dillon Casey as Noah (3 episodes), Amanda Detmer as Trudie Peterson (1 episodes), Spencer Locke as Amber Bradley (1 episodes), Mike Erwin as Charlie (1 episodes), Joe Knezevich as Johnathan Gilbert (2 episodes), Cindy Busby as Brooke Fenton (1 episodes) On February 6, 2009, Variety announced that The CW had greenlit the pilot for The Vampire Diaries with Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec set as the head writers and executive producers. On May 19, 2009, the series was officially ordered for the 2009–2010 season. The pilot was filmed in Vancouver, but the rest of the episodes have been filmed in Covington, Georgia (which doubles as the fictional small town of Mystic Falls, Virginia) and various other communities around Greater Atlanta. The series was given a full, 22-episode order on October 31, 2009, after strong ratings for the first half of the season. The season begins after the deaths of Elena and Jeremy Gilbert's parents. Both are put in their Aunt Jenna's custody. Jeremy has become a loner and Elena starts dating a boy named Stefan Salvatore. It is soon revealed that Stefan is a vampire and his brother Damon shows up in Mystic Falls and kills people at random. Another supernatural revelation occurs when Elena's friend Bonnie Bennett discovers she is born into a line of witches and is a witch herself. She gets help from her grandmother to use her powers. Elena's friends and acquaintances also become involved such as Tyler Lockwood, son of the mayor, and Matt Donovan, Elena's ex-boyfriend and Caroline Forbes, daughter of the sheriff. It also turns out that Elena is the doppelganger of Katherine Pierce, a woman who, centuries ago, seduced the Salvatore brothers and turned them into vampires, turning their vampire hunting father against them, though Stefan ends up killing him. Katherine was presumably trapped in a tomb beneath the church and Damon is planning on releasing her. Lexi, a friend of Stefan's shows up and befriends Elena, but is killed by Damon, driving a wedge between brothers. Jeremy falls in love with Vicki Donovan, Matt's sister, who uses drugs like him, but she was dating Tyler and starts a rivalry between the boys. Vicki breaks up with Tyler for Jeremy. She is later turned into a vampire by Damon, but her bloodlust was out of control and she is killed by Stefan. Jeremy witnesses this and Elena asks Damon to make Jeremy forget this to spare him the pain. Matt on the other hand is devastated. After the history teacher is killed, a man named Alaric is hired to take his place. Alaric came to town to kill Damon, believing him to have killed his wife, Isobel. Damon tries to kill him in self-defense, but Alaric wears a ring that keeps him from dying at supernatural hands. It is revealed Damon didn't kill Isobel, but turned her into a vampire on her own account. Later, Alaric and Damon become friends. At one point, Damon finds the tomb under the church, and has Bonnie and her grandmother help open it to find Katherine. During the search, a number of vampires escape, and it is discovered Katherine already escaped long ago. The tomb vampires are led by a female vampire named Pearl and her daughter Anna. Bonnie's grand mother dies and Bonnie begins to resent vampires. It also turns out a group called the Founder's Council know of the vampires and wish to kill them. The Council is led by Tyler's abusive father, Richard Lockwood. Caroline's mother, Sheriff Elizabeth Forbes is also a member, despite being friends with Damon, unknown that he is a vampire. Anna also starts a relationship with Jeremy. Jenna also starts dating a man named Logan, who cheated on her in the past. Soon, Logan is turned into a vampire by Anna, and is killed by Alaric, who tells her he left town. From that point Jenna starts dating Alaric. It isn't long before Elena and Jeremy's uncle John, who they grew up hating shows up. John is working for the Council. The Council wish to use the Gilbert device to kill all vampires in Mystic Falls. Damon tries to kill John, but he is wearing a ring similar to Alaric's. It is revealed that John and Isobel, Alaric's vampire wife, are Elena's biological parents, they had Elena adopted by John's brother for her protection. It turns out they are also working for Katherine, and are using Mayor Lockwood and the others as pawns, although Isobel tells Elena their unofficial goal is to protect her. In the seasons climax, during Founders day, Richard and John execute their plan to kill the vampires, both willing to use innocent people as collateral damage. Sheriff Forbes tries to oppose their plan, but is knocked out by John and chained up. John uses the local police who are in on the scheme as foot soldiers. The device is activated and the vampires are neutralized and taken away to be burnt in a basement, but Tyler is affected by the device as he had supernatural genes himself (later revealed to be werewolf); since Richard has these genes, the deputies think he is a vampire and lock him in the basement where he is burnt alive and killed by the vampires. Richard's wife, Carol goes to the station to rescue the sheriff but they are unable to save Richard. John also kills Anna, so Jeremy, not wanting to deal with the pain tries to become a vampire via Anna's blood. During the fiasco, Caroline is in a car accident, Elena also confronts John with the knowledge that he's her father and Bonnie rescues the Salvatore brothers, letting them off with a warning so Damon doesn't kill anyone innocent. Sheriff Forbes finds her daughter has been injured and goes to the hospital where she is comforted by Damon. John heads home and finds Katherine, who is posing as Elena. Katherine stabs John several times and severs his ring finger and leaves him to die. As Katherine leaves, Elena comes in and finds her father injured. The initial reception of the show was mixed, Entertainment Weekly gave the pilot a B+, stating that the show "signals a welcome return to form for writer-producer Kevin Williamson". They end by saying that "Diaries promises us a season of sharp-tongued amusement." Metacritic gave the show a score of 50/100 based on 22 critical reviews, indicating mixed-to-average response. However, many critics felt that the series improved with each episode. Sarah Hughes of The Independent says The Vampire Diaries turns into "a well-crafted, interestingly developed series" despite a poor opening episode. The New York Post also praised the portrayal of Elena, finding the character to be a strong-minded woman who doesn't allow her feelings for her boyfriend to control her. The San Diego Union-Tribune said: "The supernatural drama is a first-class production, featuring an insanely gorgeous cast, sharp scripts and a brooding vibe that is hard for even the most levelheaded adult to resist." Mike Hale of The New York Times gave the series an honorable mention on his list of the top TV shows of 2009. The Vampire Diaries premiered on September 10, 2009, and gave The CW its biggest series premiere ratings in its network history scoring 4.9 million viewers. Adding in DVR numbers, the ratings for the premiere increased to 5.7 million viewers. Although ratings decreased as the season went on, it reached a series high in adults 18–34 (2.3/7) on October 29, with the broadcast of its Halloween episode. Including DVR ratings the second episode brought in 4.7 million viewers, the third 4.6 million, the fourth 4.3 million, the fifth 4.4 million, the sixth 4.6 million, the ninth 4.9 million, and 4.3 million viewers for the fifteenth episode. Vampire Diaries Season 1 aired in Urdu Language in Pakistan on FILMAX. The series was the No. 1 show on The CW for the 2009–10 season averaging 3.60 million viewers weekly, thus becoming the first show to overtake America's Next Top Model which had been The CW's No. 1 show since the network began in 2006. For its first season The Vampire Diaries won seven Teen Choice Awards and one People's Choice Award. Season one was released on DVD in Regions 1, 2 and 4 and on Blu-ray in Regions A and B. Both United States versions include commentary by cast and crew members on selected episodes, deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes featurettes, webisodes, and a downloadable audiobook of L.J. Smith's The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening. It was released on DVD in Region 2 on August 23, 2010. Following that release, Region 1 began selling DVDs on August 31, 2010, and Region 4 on September 1, 2010. In Region A, it was released on Blu-ray on August 31, 2010. Region B's releases varied; United Kingdom on August 23, 2010, Brazil on August 26, 2010, and Australia on September 1, 2010.

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Petroleum refining in the United States in 2013 produced 18.9 million barrels per day of refined petroleum products, more than any other country. Although the US was the world's largest net importer of refined petroleum products as recently as 2008, the US became a net exporter in 2010, and in 2014 was the largest exporter and the largest net exporter of refined petroleum. As of January 2018, there were 135 operating refineries in the US, distributed among 30 states. Largest petroleum refining companies in the United States Largest petroleum refineries in the United States The first known US petroleum refiner was Samuel Kier of Pittsburgh, who in the 1850s produced an illuminating oil for miners' lamps. American petroleum refining largely grew out of oil shale refining. When the Drake Well started producing in 1859, the oil shale industry was growing rapidly, and establishing refineries near cannel coal deposits along the Ohio River Valley. As oil production increased, the oil shale refiners discovered that their refining process worked just as well with petroleum, and that petroleum was a cheaper raw material than shale oil. In 1861, the existing oil shale refiners switched to petroleum feedstock, and the oil shale mines shut down. In the 1800s, the principal refined product was kerosene for illuminating oil. The heaviest fraction was used as lubricating oil. A market developed for fuel oil as it was discovered that petroleum was superior to coal in powering the large engines of ships and railroad locomotives. The popularity of the automobile in the early 1900s created a mass market for gasoline, and a shortage soon developed of the lighter gasoline fractions of crude oil. The shortage was solved by the invention of the catalytic cracker, which broke long hydrocarbon chains into smaller molecules. Most large refineries are near navigable waterways, especially seaports or Great Lakes ports. The single largest concentration of refineries is along the Gulf Coast. Although there are refineries in 30 states, just three states dominate US refining: Texas (47 operating refineries), Louisiana (19), and California (18). As of January 2015, these three states contain 45% of all US refineries and 59% of all US refining capacity. The three largest-volume products of US refineries are gasoline, fuel oil (including diesel fuel and home heating oil), and aviation fuel, which together make up more than 84 percent of output. Petroleum refineries recover elemental sulfur as a byproduct. In 2012, US oil refineries recovered 7.4 million metric tons of sulfur, worth about $915 million, and amounting to 88% of the elemental sulfur produced in the US. The United States was for decades, through 2008, the world's largest net importer of refined petroleum products. But the situation quickly changed in 2008 as American refineries became much more cost-competitive due to large increases in US production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. The US became a net exporter of refined petroleum in 2010, and since 2013 has been the world's largest net exporter of refined petroleum. In 2014, the US exported 3.83 million barrels per day and imported 1.35 million barrels per day of refined petroleum, for net exports of 2.48 million barrels per day. The largest net importers of US refined products in 2017 were, in descending order: Mexico, Brazil, Japan, China, and Singapore. The competitive advantage of US refiners has been attributed to the lower price of American crude oil, as reflected by the Oklahoma-based index price West Texas Intermediate, versus the more expensive European-based index price Brent Crude. Due to the great surge in American production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids since 2008, those products have been cheaper in the North American market than worldwide, giving American refiners a major cost advantage. The discount on US crude is partially attributed to the long-standing federal ban on exports of American crude oil. European Union refiners have been hard-hit by the growth in US exports. They lost much of their previous gasoline exports to the US, and also market share in the worldwide market to the newly competitive US refineries. In addition, US refineries have increasingly exported petroleum products to the EU. In 2008, US exports of gas oil (home heating fuel) surged to a 31% market share in the EU, up from 5% the previous year; in 2011, US imports held a 37% market share of gasoil in the EU. There has been discussion that EU refineries would have to shut down without government intervention. American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers The Motiva refinery is an oil refinery located in Port Arthur, Texas. It is the largest oil refinery in North America. The first processing units of the Port Arthur Refinery were constructed in 1902 by the Texas Company, later Texaco. The roots of this refinery can be traced to the Spindletop oil boom near Beaumont, Texas. It came into operation in 1903. Port Arthur is in eastern Texas on the Gulf of Mexico. At certain points during its lifespan it was considered the flagship refinery of Texaco. On January 1, 1989, Saudi Refining, Inc. purchased 50% of the Port Arthur refinery (and two others) from Texaco to form a joint venture with Texaco called Star Enterprise. In 2001, Texaco was purchased by Chevron. Shortly thereafter Chevron's interest in this refinery (and two others) was sold to Shell on February 13, 2002. This new joint venture was called Motiva Enterprises LLC. Until 2017, the Motiva Port Arthur Refinery was a joint venture with a 50% ownership between Shell Oil Products US and Saudi Refining Inc. Shell Oil Products is part of Royal Dutch Shell. Saudi Refining is part of Saudi Aramco. Approximately 1,200 people are employed at the site. In March 2016, the joint venture between Shell and Saudi Aramco was set on course to dissolve, and this refinery is now controlled by Saudi Aramco effective May 1, 2017. The completion of the expansion of the Port Arthur Refinery, officially celebrated on 31 May 2012, increased its crude oil capacity to 600,000 barrels per day – making it the largest refinery in the US. The expansion added 325,000 barrels per day of capacity. As of May 2016 the refinery has reached a maximum capacity of 636,500 barrels per day. Several of the process units added during the expansion are going through debottlenecking to increase their capacity even further. This refinery can process a wide range of crude inputs, including tight oil and heavy, sour, and acid crudes. Initially, the crude it processed came from Saudi Arabia, but it has since expanded to work with other countries, based on where the oil is available. The refinery supplies gasoline, diesel, aviation fuels, and high quality base oils to customers in the US. Four years after Port Arthur underwent its $10 billion expansion, making the facility the biggest producer of gasoline, diesel and other petroleum products in the United States, Saudi Arabia-based Saudi Aramco is poised to become the sole owner of the facility. News organizations reported that Shell and Aramco's joint business venture began to unravel shortly after the multi- billion dollar facility expansion. Reports state that the subsequent increase in operating costs and the 2015 workers strike damaged relations between these oil giants beyond repair. As per an agreement with Shell, Saudi Aramco will retain Motiva's name, Port Arthur refinery, and 24 distribution terminals. In Texas, Aramco will have the exclusive rights to use Shell brand for gasoline and diesel sales. In return, Shell will walk away with two Louisiana refineries (Convent and Norco), 11 distribution terminals, and a $2.2 billion balancing payment. Energy and Middle East experts speculate that, through acquiring Port Arthur Refinery, Saudi Aramco continues to maintain a dominant presence on the Gulf of Mexico coast. On February 1, 2015 United Steelworks union members went on strike after the union rejected oil producers' (like Shell and ExxonMobil) fifth offer. This event was the first large-scale walkout in the industry in 35 years. Union representatives called on oil companies to improve safety in (an) enforceable way. As a result, for the duration of the strike, Port Arthur Refinery was forced to implement the facility's strike contingency plan, calling for nonunion operators to operate the facility while negotiations continued. Nevertheless, according to local sources, the plant was forced to run at 50% capacity, including several units that were shut down for repairs. In mid- March 2015, representatives from both sides reached a four-year national agreement that ended the country-wide strike. A study in the Journal of Occupational Medicine found that workers at Port Arthur refineries were more likely to die from diseases like brain cancer, stomach cancer, leukemia, and other forms of cancer. Furthermore, nonwhite workers were more likely to die at younger ages than white workers. Nonwhite workers also experienced higher proportionate mortality ratios than their white counterparts with regards to deaths from all cancers, and deaths from accidents, suicide, or homicide. White workers had a higher proportionate mortality ratio for prostate cancer than nonwhite workers. However, a different study from the same journal followed a cohort of workers at the Port Arthur refinery and found conflicting evidence that said overall, the workers did not suffer from excess mortality rates compared to other Texas residents. A study found approximately 36% higher levels of lead in Port Arthur residents compared to Hanover, New Hampshire residents. A study by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston indicates that Port Arthur residents located around the refinery are four times more likely than Galveston residents to have heart and respiratory conditions, nervous system and skin disorders, headaches and muscle aches, and ear, nose, and throat ailments. Black residents in the area suffer the most. According to the Texas Cancer Registry, black Jefferson county residents have cancer rates 15% higher than that of their white counterparts, largely due to black communities living closer to Jefferson county's refineries such as Port Arthur than white communities. The Motiva Port Arthur refinery released over 15.5 million pounds of criteria pollutants in 2003, making it one of the largest polluters in the area. The facility releases six airborne chemicals in a residential area that exceeded the Health Effects Screening Levels and are linked to cancer growth and development, including benzene and chloroform. Despite largely fulfilling the requirements of the Clean Air Act legislation, the refinery experiences a large number of flares and accidental releases that push the emissions levels over regulated amounts. Accidental releases in 2002 resulted in a total of 1,149,069 pounds of toxins put into the air. The refinery also released 8000 pounds of sulfur dioxide in a flare release on April 7, 2002. An accidental release on April 14, 2003, resulted in the emission of 274,438 pounds of air contaminants into the surrounding environment; including 107,280 pounds of hexane and 37,538 pounds of pentane, both of which have severe human health impacts. In Port Arthur City, some community leaders and residents are supportive of the refinery's presence. Former Mayor Oscar Ortiz believes that Port Arthur's identity and well-being are linked with the refineries that inhabit it. He states, "If industry goes away, people might as well go away too because there'll be no money. That's the continued salvation of this city." Shell Co. underscores this sentiment by stating that its recent multi-billion dollar expansion was a boon for local economy, generating more than $17 billion in regional economic development. According to the oil giant, around 14,500 people worked on the expansion project at peak construction and more than 300 new permanent jobs were created. Additionally, Port Arthur Refinery and its affiliates provide financial support to local community organizations. Alternatively, some residents disagree with Port Arthur Refinery's local benefits. Concerns over pollution are acute in the local community. Edward Brooks II, a Port Arthur resident says, "They [the government] tell us about the emissions but they don’t do anything about it. They don’t care. Half the kids here need help breathing. A lot of them have breathing machines at home and at school." Additionally, majority of the populations around the refineries come from minority and socioeconomically disadvantaged background and lack resources to move to a less polluted area. However, local community leaders have found ways to find common ground with refinery representatives. Hilton Kelley, another Port Arthur resident, is a prominent leader in the campaign for restrictions on emissions and reparations for medical costs. His approach emphasizes the refineries' local economic importance, but calls on representatives to "clean up their act". After much community organizing and campaigning, Kelley negotiated a $2 million Community Enhancement Agreement with Motiva, to improve housing, social opportunities, and community programs. Kelley sits on the board of directors. A lawsuit was filed against Motiva Enterprises LLC in 2008 for their pollution of the Alligator Bayou next to the Port Arthur Refinery. The lawsuit yielded a settlement of $1,200,000 for the plaintiffs, the collective group of Texas General Land Office ("GLO"), the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department ("TPWD"), and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality ("TCEQ") known as the "Trustees".] In January 2015 the US EPA filed a civil lawsuit against Motiva's parent company, Equilon Enterprises, for violations of the Clean Air Act at its many oil refineries, including its Port Arthur facility. The violations included elevated levels of ethanol in gasoline, violations of the gasoline volatility and sulfur standards, violations of the diesel sulfur standards, and numerous recordkeeping, reporting, sampling and testing violations. Equilon Enterprises was required to pay a civil penalty of $900,000.] Over the course of 42 years, there have been at least five documented cases of lethal accidents at this refinery. Some accidents that have killed workers include storage tank explosions, a train accident, a bulldozer malfunction, and a falling object.]]]]] There have also been at least three documented cases of non-lethal explosions or fires breaking out at the refinery. On the morning of December 8, 2009 an accident caused an explosion in the hydrogen unit run by Praxair Inc. No one was injured. In early June 2012, after two fires erupted and a heater broke, workers noticed that caustic vapors had leaked out of a tank and caused widespread accelerated corrosion of pipes and equipment.] In late July 2015, a catalytic reformer caught fire. No one was injured.] History page of Port Arthur Refinery, Satellite Photo U.S. Oil & Refining Co. is an oil refinery located in the tideflats of Tacoma, Washington. USOR (U.S. Oil & Refining Co.) began in 1952 as Pacific Oil & Refining Co., a privately held corporation. Its first president was Dr. Ernest Lyder. The company was formed to build an oil refinery in the Pacific Northwest. In 1954, the refinery's present site in Tacoma was purchased, and in 1955 the corporation was renamed U.S. Oil & Refining Co. Construction of the initial facility, a (stream) refinery, began during the summer of 1955. Chico Marx entertained at the ground-breaking ceremony on July 22, 1955, for the new $10 million plant. Tacoma Mayor Harold Tollefson and senators Warren G. Magnuson and Henry M. Jackson also attended the ceremony. Construction was completed in mid-1957 and the refinery in full operation by the end of the year. The site had been a favorite spot for fishing, swimming, and duck hunting in earlier years. The west end of the site had once been the city landfill, which at one time contained (unmodified, unstripped) Japanese Zeros brought over from after World War II. The east end of the site was once wetlands. A second crude unit, capable of processing heavy crude oil, used in the manufacture of paving grade asphalt, became operational in 1959. USOR was sold to Astra Oil Trading, a subsidiary of Transcor, in 2006. Astra sold USOR to TrailStone in 2014, which is funded by Riverstone Holdings, a private equity firm founded by key Goldman Sachs entrepreneurs. The refinery, with current crude capacity of is located on in the deep-water Port of Tacoma, Washington. This includes of waterfront with of waterfront on the Blair Waterway which provides direct access by ocean-going barges and tankers. Five pipelines, varying in size, connect the refinery and marine terminal. There is also a pipeline connecting the refinery to McChord Air Force Base, supplying jet fuel to the base. The refinery has direct rail access and is close to both a major interstate highway system and the Seattle- Tacoma International Airport. The refinery's products include gasoline, diesel, marine and jet fuels, residual fuels, and asphalt. These products are made by use of a few different primary process units, including vacuum distillation, catalytic reforming, isomerization, and diesel hydrotreating. USOR receives most of its crude oil by rail car, and some by vessel at its dock. The refinery has storage capacity for approximately one million barrels of crude oil and one million barrels of refined petroleum products. In 2007, storage was increased by of crude oil and of other products. Distribution facilities include truck and trailer, marine and rail loading for fuels and asphalt in Tacoma, and deliveries of jet fuel via pipeline. Notes References USOR company archives and External Links below, Tacoma Public Library - Tacoma Past & Present U.S. Oil & Refining's home page, Astra Oil Trading web site, Transcor AG web site, Business Week company profile of U.S. Oil & Refining

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The Permanent Settlement, is also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal, was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire British Empire and the political realities of the Indian countryside. It was concluded in 1793 by the Company administration headed by Charles, Earl Cornwallis. It formed one part of a larger body of legislation enacted, known as the Cornwallis Code. The Cornwallis Code of 1793 divided the East India Company's service personnel into three branches: revenue, judicial, and commercial. Revenues were collected by zamindars, native Indians who were treated as the landowners. This division created an Indian landed class that supported British authority. The Permanent Settlement was introduced first in Bengal and Bihar, and then in the south district of Madras and Varanasi. The system eventually spread all over northern India by a series of regulations dated 1 May 1793. These regulations remained in place until the Charter Act of 1833. The other two systems prevalent in India were the Ryotwari System and the Mahalwari System. Many argue that the settlement and its outcome had several drawbacks when compared with its initial goals of increasing tax revenue, creating a Western- European style land market in Bengal, and encouraging investment in land and agriculture, thereby creating the conditions for long-term economic growth for both the company and region's inhabitants. Firstly, the policy of setting the rate of expected revenue for the foreseeable future meant that the income of the Company from taxation actually decreased in the long-term because revenues remained fixed while expenses increased over time. Meanwhile, the condition of the Bengali peasantry became increasingly pitiable, with famines becoming a regular occurrence as landlords (who risked immediate loss of their land if they failed to deliver the expected amount from taxation) sought to guarantee revenue by coercing the local agriculturalists to cultivate by the countrymen cash crops such as cotton, indigo, jute (opium plantations were managed directly by the Company), while the long-term private investment by the zamindars in agricultural infrastructure failed to materialis move Earlier zamindars in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha had been functionaries who held the right to collect revenue on behalf of the Mughal emperor and his representative, the diwan, in Bengal. The diwan supervised the zamindars to ensure they were neither lax nor overly stringent. When the East India Company was awarded the diwani or overlordship of Bengal by the empire following the Battle of Buxar in 1764, it found itself short of trained administrators, especially those familiar with local custom and law. As a result, landholders were unsupervised or reported to corrupt and indolent officials. The result was that revenues were extracted without regard for future income or local welfare. Following the devastating famine of 1770, which was partially caused by this shortsightedness, Company officials in Calcutta better understood the importance of oversight of revenue officials. They failed to consider the question of incentivisation; hence Warren Hastings, then governor-general, introduced a system of five-yearly inspections and temporary tax farmers. Many appointed as tax farmers absconded with as much revenue as they could during the time period between inspections. The British Parliament took note of the disastrous consequences of the system, and in 1784, British Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger directed the Calcutta administration to alter it immediately. In 1786 Charles Cornwallis was sent out to India to reform the company's practices. In 1786, the East India Company Court of Directors first proposed a permanent settlement for Bengal, changing the policy then being followed by Calcutta, which was attempting to increase taxation of zamindars. Between 1786 and 1790, the new Governor-General Lord Cornwallis and Sir John Shore (later Governor-General) entered a heated debate over whether or not to introduce a permanent settlement with the zamindars. Shore argued that the native zamindars would not trust the permanent settlement to be permanent and that it would take time before they realised it was genuine. The main aim of the introduction of the Permanent Settlement was to resolve the problem of agrarian crisis and distress, famines of the 1770s which had resulted in lower agricultural output. The British Officials thought that investment in agriculture, trade and the resources of the revenue of the State could be increased by agriculture. For this, permanently fixing the revenue and securing the rights of property was done- a system came to be known as the 'Permanent Settlement'. The British, in their naivety and aloofness of the ground reality, though that once the revenue demand of the State was permanently secured, there would be a regular flow of income. This was incentivisation as the entrepreneurs would invest in their agricultural land as the State would not claim the surplus as the revenue was fixed. This meant that the producer can keep the surplus. The British officials thought that such a process would lead to the emergence of yeomen class of farmers and rich landowners who would be investing their capital and enterprise for profiting by surplus. This new emergent class would be loyal to the British, which was still gaining a foothold in the Indian subcontinent. While the policy was well-intentioned, it ran afoul as there was a problem with identification for individuals who were willing to invest in the improvement of agriculture and contracting to pay fixed revenue perpetually. After much discussion and disagreement between the officials, the Permanent Settlement was made with the existing Rajas and Taluqdars of Bengal who were now classified as Zamindars. They had to pay fixed revenue in perpetuity. Thus, he was not the landowner but rather revenue collector agent of the State. The system failed in the long run due to operational difficulty as well as the greed of the Company whose permanent system of revenue collection did not factor the seasonal and precarious nature of the agriculture. They also did not understand the structural issues as well as the society. Cornwallis believed that they would immediately accept it and so begin investing in improving their land. In 1790, the Court of Directors issued a ten-year (decennial) settlement to the zamindars, which was made permanent in 1793. By the Permanent Settlement Act of 1793, their power of keeping the armed forces were taken back. They remained just the tax collectors of the land. There were considerably weakened as they were now banned from holding any court, as it was brought under the supervision of collector appointed by the company. British officials believed that investing in the land would improve the economy. They did not want to take direct control of local administration in villages for several reasons. They did not want to annoy those people who had traditionally enjoyed power and prestige in the village. To keep powerful people happy and collect better revenue, Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement. As per permanent system, rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars, who were supposed to collect the land revenue from the peasants. The rate of revenue was never to be increased. The company officials believed that would give some motivation for land to be invested in, as zamindars would be assured of long-term returns of continuous flow of revenue. Also was created a new social class of land owning nobility in Bengal and Bihar, loyal to the British. The question of incentivisation now being understood to be central, the security of tenure of landlords was guaranteed. In short, the former landholders and revenue intermediaries were granted proprietorial rights (effective ownership) to the land they held. In addition, the land tax was fixed in perpetuity to minimise the tendency by British administrators to amass a small fortune in sluiced-away revenue. Smallholders were no longer permitted to sell their land, but they could not be expropriated by their new landlords. Incentivization of zamindars was intended to encourage improvements of the land, such as drainage, irrigation and the construction of roads and bridges; such infrastructure had been insufficient through much of Bengal. With a fixed land tax, zamindars could securely invest in increasing their income without any fear of having the increase taxed away by the Company. Cornwallis made the motivation quite clear by declaring that "when the demand of government is fixed, an opportunity is afforded to the landholder of increasing his profits, by the improvement of his lands". The British had in mind "improving landlords" in their own country, such as Coke of Norfolk. The Court of Directors also hoped to guarantee the company's income, which was constantly plagued by defaulting zamindars who fell into arrears, making it impossible for them to budget their spending accurately. The immediate consequence of the Permanent Settlement was both very sudden and dramatic, one that nobody had apparently foreseen. By ensuring that zamindars' lands were held in perpetuity and with a fixed tax burden, they became desirable commodities. In addition, the government tax demand was inflexible, and the British East India Company's collectors refused to make allowances for times of drought, flood or other natural disaster. The tax demand was higher than that in England at the time. As a result, many zamindars immediately fell into arrears. The Company's policy of auction of any zamindari lands deemed to be in arrears created a market for land that previously did not exist. Many of the new purchasers of this land were Indian officials within the East India Company's government. The bureaucrats were ideally placed to purchase lands which they knew to be underassessed and therefore profitable. In addition, their position as officials gave them opportunity to acquire the wealth necessary to purchase land quickly through bribery and corruption. They could also manipulate the system to bring to sale land that they specifically wanted. Historian Bernard S. Cohn and others have argued that the Permanent Settlement led to a commercialisation of land, which previously did not exist in Bengal and, as a consequence, it led to a change in the social background of the ruling class from "lineages and local chiefs" to "under civil servants and their descendants, and to merchants and bankers". The new landlords were different in their outlook; "often they were absentee landlords who managed their land through managers and who had little attachment to their land". The Company hoped that the Zamindar class would not only be a revenue- generating instrument but also serve as intermediaries for the more political aspects of their rule, preserving local custom and protecting rural life from the possibly rapacious influences of its own representatives. However, it worked both ways, as zamindars became a naturally conservative interest group. Once British policy in the mid-19th century changed to one of reform and intervention in custom, the zamindars were vocal in their opposition. The zamindars were adamant for it. The Permanent Settlement had the features that state demand was fixed at 89% of the rent and 11% was to be retained by the zamindar. The state demand could not be increased but payment should be made on the due date, before sunset, so it was also known as the 'Sunset Law'. Failure to pay led to the sale of land to the highest bidder. While the worst of the tax-farming excesses were countered by the introduction of the Settlement, the use of land was not part of the agreement. There was a tendency of Company officials and Indian landlords to force their tenants into plantation-style farming of cash crops like indigo and cotton rather than rice and wheat. That was a cause of many of the worst famines of the nineteenth century. In addition, zamindars eventually became absentee landlords, with all that that implied for neglect of investment on the land. Once the salient features of the Settlement were reproduced all over India, and indeed elsewhere in the Empire, including Kenya, the political structure was altered forever. The landlord class held much greater power than they had under the Mughals, who subjected them to oversight by a trained bureaucracy with the power to attenuate their tenure. The power of the landlord caste/class over smallholders was not diluted in India until the first efforts towards land reform in the 1950s, still incomplete everywhere except West Bengal. In Pakistan, where land reform was never carried out, elections in rural areas still suffer from a tendency towards oligarchy reflecting the concentration of influence in the hands of zamindar families. This is because once Pakistan became separated from India, and the two began to fight over Kashmir, the goal of the government was revenue extraction to fund the military. As a result, the central leadership skewed the relationship between the elected and non- elected institutions of the state. Agrawal, Pramod Kumar (1993). Land Reforms in India: Constitutional and Legal Approach. New Delhi: M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. Payment and settlement systems in India are payment and settlement systems in India for financial transactions. They are covered by the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 (PSS Act), legislated in December 2007 and regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and the Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement Systems. India has multiple payments and settlement systems, both gross and net settlement systems. For gross settlement India has a Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system called by the same name and net settlement systems include Electronic Clearing Services (ECS Credit), Electronic Clearing Services (ECS Debit), credit cards, debit cards, the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system, Immediate Payment Service and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) The Reserve Bank of India is doing its best to encourage alternative methods of payments which will bring security and efficiency to the payments system and make the whole process easier for banks. The Indian banking sector has been growing successfully, innovating and trying to adopt and implement electronic payments to enhance the banking system. Though the Indian payment systems have always been dominated by paper- based transactions, e-payments are not far behind. Ever since the introduction of e-payments in India, the banking sector has witnessed growth like never before. According to a survey by Celent, the ratio of e-payments to paper based transactions has considerably increased between 2004 and 2008. This has happened as a result of advances in technology and increasing consumer awareness of the ease and efficiency of internet and mobile transactions. In the case of India, the RBI has played a pivotal role in facilitating e-payments by making it compulsory for banks to route high value transactions through Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and also by introducing NEFT (National Electronic Funds Transfer) and NECS (National Electronic Clearing Services) which has encouraged individuals and businesses to switch. India is clearly one of the fastest growing countries for payment cards in the Asia- Pacific region. Behavioral patterns of Indian customers are also likely to be influenced by their internet accessibility and usage, which currently is about 32 million PC users, 68% of whom have access to the net. However these statistical indications are far from the reality where customers still prefer to pay "in line" rather than online, with 63% payments still being made in cash. E-payments have to be continuously promoted showing consumers the various routes through which they can make these payments like ATM's, the internet, mobile phones and drop boxes. Due to the efforts of the RBI and the (BPSS) now over 75% of all transaction volume are in the electronic mode, including both large-value and retail payments. Out of this 75%, 98% come from the RTGS (large-value payments) whereas a meager 2% come from retail payments. This means consumers have not yet accepted this as a regular means of paying their bills and still prefer conventional methods. Retail payments if made via electronic modes are done by ECS (debit and credit), EFT and card payments. Known as "Credit-push" facility or one-to-many facility this method is used mainly for large-value or bulk payments where the receiver's account is credited with the payment from the institution making the payment. Such payments are made on a timely-basis like a year, half a year, etc. and used to pay salaries, dividends or commissions. Over time it has become one of the most convenient methods of making large payments. Known as many-to-one or "debit-pull" facility this method is used mainly for small value payments from consumers/ individuals to big organizations or companies. It eliminates the need for paper and instead makes the payment through banks/corporates or government departments. It facilitates individual payments like telephone bills, electricity bills, online and card payments and insurance payments. Though easy this method lacks popularity because of lack of consumer awareness is important. As mentioned above India is one of the fastest growing countries in the plastic money segment. Already there are 130 million cards in circulation, which is likely to increase at a very fast pace due to rampant consumerism. India's card market has been recording a growth rate of 30% in the last five years. Card payments form an integral part of e-payments in India because customers make many payments on their card-paying their bills, transferring funds and shopping. Ever since debit cards entered India in 1998 they have been growing in number and today they consist of nearly 3/4 of the total number of cards in circulation. Credit cards have shown a relatively slower growth even though they entered the market one decade before debit cards. Only in the last five years has there been an impressive growth in the number of credit cards—by 74.3% between 2004 and 2008. It is expected to grow at a rate of about 60% considering levels of employment and disposable income. Most credit card purchases come from expenses on jewellery, dining and shopping. Another recent innovation in the field of plastic money is co branded credit cards, which combine many services into one card-where banks and other retail stores, airlines, telecom companies enter into business partnerships. This increases the utility of these cards and hence they are used not only in ATMs but also at point of sale (POS) terminals and while making payments on the net. The acronym 'RTGS' stands for real time gross settlement. The Reserve Bank of India (India's Central Bank) maintains this payment network. Real Time Gross Settlement is a funds transfer mechanism where transfer of money takes place from one bank to another on a 'real time' and on 'gross' basis. This is the fastest possible money transfer system through the banking channel. Settlement in 'real time' means payment transaction is not subjected to any waiting period. The transactions are settled as soon as they are processed. 'Gross settlement' means the transaction is settled on one to one basis without bunching with any other transaction. Considering that money transfer takes place in the books of the Reserve Bank of India, the payment is taken as final and irrevocable. Fees for RTGS vary from bank to bank. RBI has prescribed upper limit for the fees which can be charged by all banks both for NEFT and RTGS. Both the remitting and receiving must have core banking in place to enter into RTGS transactions. Core Banking enabled banks and branches are assigned an Indian Financial System Code (IFSC) for RTGS and NEFT purposes. This is an eleven digit alphanumeric code and unique to each branch of bank. The first four letters indicate the identity of the bank and remaining seven numerals indicate a single branch. This code is provided on the cheque books, which are required for transactions along with recipient's account number. RTGS is a large value (minimum value of transaction should be 2,00,000) funds transfer system whereby financial intermediaries can settle interbank transfers for their own account as well as for their customers. The system effects final settlement of interbank funds transfers on a continuous, transaction-by-transaction basis throughout the processing day. Customers can access the RTGS facility between 9 am to 4:30 pm (Interbank up to 6:30 pm) on weekdays and 9 am to 2:00 pm (Interbank up to 3:00 pm) on Saturdays. However, the timings that the banks follow may vary depending on the bank branch. Time Varying Charges has been introduced w.e.f. 1 October 2011 by RBI. The basic purpose of RTGS is to facilitate the transactions which need immediate access for the completion of the transaction. Banks could use balances maintained under the cash reserve ratio (CRR) and the intra-day liquidity (IDL) to be supplied by the central bank, for meeting any eventuality arising out of the real time gross settlement (RTGS). The RBI fixed the IDL limit for banks to three times their net owned fund (NOF). The IDL will be charged at 25 per transaction entered into by the bank on the RTGS platform. The marketable securities and treasury bills will have to be placed as collateral with a margin of five per cent. However, the apex bank will also impose severe penalties if the IDL is not paid back at the end of the day. Since 26 August 2019, the RTGS service window for customers' transactions is available from 7:00 AM to 6:00 PM from Monday to Saturday (except the second and fourth Saturday of each month). No transactions are settled on Sundays and bank holidays. The RBI announced on 11 June 2019 that all charges for payments via RTGS and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) collected from banks would be waived from 1 July 2019, and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers. (a) Inward transaction– no charge to be levied. (b) Outward transactions – \- For transactions of 2 lakhs to 5 lakhs -up to 25 per transaction plus applicable Time Varying Charges (1/- to 5/-); total not exceeding 30 per transaction, (+ GST). \- Above 5 lakhs - 50 per transaction plus applicable Time Varying Charges (1/- to 5/-); total charges not exceeding 55 per transaction, (+ GST). No time varying charges are applicable for RTGS transactions settled up to 1300 hrs. To push digital transactions RBI has removed charges for payments via NEFT and RTGS and asked banks to pass on the benefits to customers. This means that payments via NEFT and RTGS would become either free or charges would be drastically reduced. Started in November 2005, the National Electronic Fund Transfer (NEFT) system is a nationwide system that facilitates individuals, firms and corporates to electronically transfer funds from any bank branch to any individual, firm or corporate having an account with any other bank branch in the country.It is done via electronic messages. Even though it is not on real time basis like RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement), hourly batches are run in order to speed up the transactions. For being part of the NEFT funds transfer network, a bank branch has to be NEFT-enabled. NEFT has gained popularity due to it saving on time and the ease with which the transactions can be concluded. As at 31 January 2011, 74,680 branches or offices of 101 banks in the country (out of around 82,400 bank branches) were NEFT-enabled. Steps are being taken to further widen the coverage both in terms of banks and branches offices. As on 30 December 2017 total number of NEFT enabled branches was increased to 139682 of 188 banks. Indo-Nepal Remittance Facility is a cross-border remittance scheme to transfer funds from India to Nepal, enabled under the NEFT Scheme. The scheme was launched to provide a safe and cost-efficient avenue to migrant Nepalese workers in India to remit money back to their families in Nepal. A remitter can transfer funds up to 50,000 (maximum permissible amount) from any of the NEFT-enabled branches in India.The beneficiary would receive funds in Nepalese Rupees. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) is an initiative of National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). It is a service through which money can be transferred immediately from one account to the other account, within the same bank or accounts across other banks. Upon registration, both the individuals are issued an MMID(Mobile Money Identifier) Code from their respective banks. This is a 7 digit numeric code. To initiate the transaction, the sender in his mobile banking application need to enter the registered mobile number of the receiver, MMID of the receiver and amount to be transferred. Upon successful transaction, the money gets credited in the account of the receiver instantly. This facility is available 24X7 and can be used through mobile banking application. Some banks have also started providing this service through internet banking profile of their customers. Though most banks offer this facility free of cost to encourage paperless payment system, ICICI bank and Axis bank charge for it as per their respective NEFT charges. Nowadays, money through this service can be transferred directly also by using the receiver's bank account number and IFS code. In such case, neither the receiver of the money need to be registered for mobile banking service of his bank, nor does he need MMID code. IMPS facility differs from NEFT and RTGS as there is no time limit to carry out the transaction. This facility can be availed 24X7 and on all public and bank holidays including RBI holidays. Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is an instant real-time payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of Indiafacilitating inter-bank transactions. The interface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of India and works by instantly transferring funds between two bank accounts on a mobile platform. The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) can be thought of like an email ID for your money. It will be a unique identifier that your bank uses to transfer money and make payments using the IMPS (Immediate Payments Service). IMPS is faster than NEFT and lets you transfer money immediately and unlike NEFT, it works 24×7. This means that the online payments will become much easier without requiring a digital wallet or credit or debit card. Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) is an integrated bill payment system in India offering inter operable and accessible bill payment service to customers through a network of agents, enabling multiple payment modes, and providing instant confirmation of payment. This is still in implementation stage. Guidelines for implementation of this system were issued on November 28, 2014. The key difference between RTGS and NEFT is that while RTGS is on gross settlement basis, NEFT is on net settlement basis. Besides, RTGS facilitates real-time ("push") transfer, while NEFT involves twelve settlements from 8 am to 7 pm on week days and six settlements from 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. Customers can access the RTGS facility between 9 am to 4:30 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 1:30 pm on Saturday. Thus if a customer has given instruction to its bank to transfer money through NEFT to another bank in the morning hours, money would be transferred the same day, but if the instruction is given much later during the day, money may be transferred next day. RTGS facility is available in over 1,13,000 branches across India, while NEFT is available in little over 1,15,000 branches of a 100 banks. In their effort to enable customers to make payments the electronic way banks have developed many channels of payments viz. the internet, mobiles, ATM’s (Automated Teller Machines) and drop boxes. The internet as a channel of payment is one of the most popular especially among the youth. Debit and credit payments are made by customers on various bank's websites for small purchases,(retail payments) and retail transfers( ATM transfers). ATM's serve many other purposes, apart from functioning as terminals for withdrawals and balance inquiries, such as payment of bills through ATM's, applications for cheques books and loans can also be made via ATM's. Banks also provide telephone and mobile banking facilities. Through call agents payments can be made and as the number of telephone and mobile subscribers are expected to rise, so is this channel of payment expected to gain popularity. Drop boxes provide a solution to those who have no access to the internet or to a telephone or mobile. These drop-boxes are kept in the premises of banks and the customers can drop their bills along with the bill payment slips in these boxes to be collected by third party agents. As the apex financial and regulatory institution in the country it is compulsory for the RBI to ensure that the payments system in the country is as technologically advanced as possible and in view of this aim, the RBI has taken several initiatives to strengthen the e-payments system in India and encourage people to adopt it. Raghuram Rajan, Ex-Governor, RBI, and Nandan Nilekani, Ex-Chairman, UIDAI and Advisor, NPCI, and at the launch of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in Mumbai. Imagine paying for everyday purchases directly from your bank, without the need for carrying cash. The RBI's new interface helps you do just that. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan launched the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system, as its latest offering in boosting digital money transfers. The interface has been developed by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation for all retail payments in the country. The UPI seeks to make money transfers easy, quick and hassle free. The Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 was a major step in this direction. It enables the RBI to "regulate, supervise and lay down policies involving payment and settlement space in India." Apart from some basic instructions to banks as to the personal and confidential nature of customer payments, supervising the timely payment and settlement of all transactions, the RBI has actively encouraged all banks and consumers to embrace e-payments., In pursuit of the above-mentioned goal the RBI has granted NBFC’s (Non-Banking Financial Companies) the permission to issue co branded credit cards forming partnerships with commercial banks., The Kisan Credit Card Scheme was launched by NABARD in order to meet the credit needs of farmers, so that they can be free of paper money hassles and use only plastic money., A domestic card scheme known as RuPay has recently been started by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),promoted by RBI and Indian Banks Association (IBA), inspired by Unionpay in China, which will be promoting the use of cards ie. "plastic money". Initially functioning as an NPO, Rupay will focus on potential customers from rural and semi-urban areas of India. Rupay will have a much wider coverage than Visa, MasterCard or American Express cards which have always been used for card-based settlements., The NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme) introduced by the Government will ensure rural employment in turn ensuring that the employees get wages. Each employee will have a smart card functioning as his personal identification card, driver's license, credit card which will also function as an electronic pass book, thus familiarising the rural populations with e-payments. However, the Indian banking system suffers from some defects due to certain socio-cultural factors which hampers the spread of the e-payments culture even though there are many effective electronic payment channels and systems in place. Despite the infrastructure being there nearly 63% of all payments are still made in cash. A relatively small percentage of the population pays their bills electronically and most of that population is from urban India-the metropolitans. Also in some cases the transaction is done partially online and partially "offline". The main reason for this apathy to switch to e-payments comes from lack of awareness of the customer despite various efforts by the Government. The Mahalwari system was introduced by Franics Hastings in 1822. The other two systems were the Permanent Settlement of Bengal in 1793 and the Ryotwari system in 1820. It covered the States of Punjab,Awadh and Agra, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. During the 1800s, the British tried to establish their control over the administrative machinery of India. The System of Land Revenue acted as a chief source of income of the British. Land was one of the most important source of income for the British. Thus, they used land to control the entire Revenue system, strengthening their economic condition in India. The word "Mahalwari" is derived from the Hindi word Mahal, which means house, district, neighbourhood or quarter. This system consisted of landlords or lambardars claiming to represent entire villages or even groups of villages. Along with the village communities, the landlords were jointly responsible for the payment of the revenues. But, there was individual responsibility. The land included under this system consisted of all land of the villages, even the forestland, pastures etc. This system was prevalent in the parts of Uttar Pradesh, the North Western province, parts of Central India and Punjab. The north-western states and Awadh (also known as Oudh) were two important territories acquired by the British in India. In 1801, the Nawab of Awadh surrendered the districts of Allahabad to the East India Company. The Jamuna and the Ganges came to the British after the Second Anglo-Maratha War. Lord Hastings conquered more territories of North India after the Third Anglo- Maratha War in the year 1820. The village headman or Lambardar was completely responsible for all the recommendations, the survey of lands, preparation of the records of rights in lands, settlement of the land revenues, demand in the Mahals, and the collection of the land revenue. The Regulation VII of 1822 accredited the legal sanction to these recommendations. In cases where estates were not held by the landlords, but by the cultivators in common tenancy, the state demand was allowed to be fixed at 95% of the rental. However, quite unfortunately, this system broke down as the state demand was excessively large and its working was quite rigid. The amount, payable by the cultivators was quite more than what they could afford. The government of William Bentinck made a thorough revision of the act of 1823, and thus the Mahalwari System was introduced. They realized that the result of the Regulation of 1822 was nothing other than widespread misery. After a prolonged consultation, the Government finally passed a new regulation in 1833. The mahalwari system of land revenue was introduced by Franics Hastings and Robert Merttins Bird. It played a large part in making the system more flexible. The process of preparing estimates of produce and rents was simplified too. It also introduced the fixation of the average rents for different classes of soil. This scheme functioned under Mettins Bird. The processes of measuring land, examining soil quality was improved further. The State demand was fixed at 66% of the rental value and the Settlement was made for 30 years. The Mahalwari system of land revenue worked under the scheme of 1833 was completed under the administration of James Thompson. The 66% rental demanded proved very harsh, too. In the Saharanpur Rules of 1855, it was revised to 50% by Lord Dalhousie. However, the British officers hardly cared of these rules. This created widespread discontent among the Indians. Ryotwari, Permanent Settlement The History of India, vol.2, T.G.Percival Spear, Penguin (1990), India: A History, John Keay, Grove/Atlantic (2001), A rule of property for Bengal: an essay on the idea of permanent settlement, Ranajit Guha, Durham, Duke U Press (1996)

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A "Happy Meal" is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. A small toy is included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a red cardboard box with a yellow smiley face and the McDonald's logo. The packaging and toy are frequently part of a marketing tie-in to an existing television series, film or toyline. The Happy Meal contains a main item (a hamburger, cheeseburger or small serving of Chicken McNuggets), a side item (French fries, apple slices, a Go- Gurt tube or a salad in some areas) and a drink (milk, juice or a soft drink). The choice of items changes from country to country and may depend on the size of the restaurant. In some countries, the choices have been expanded to include items such as a grilled cheese sandwich (known as a "Fry Kid"), or more healthy options such as apple slices, a mini snack wrap, salads or pasta, as one or more of the options. In the mid-1970s, Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño began working with her husband operating McDonald's restaurants in Guatemala. She created what she called the "Menu Ronald" (Ronald menu), which offered a hamburger, small fries and a small sundae to help mothers feed their children more effectively while at McDonald's restaurants. The concept was eventually brought to the attention of McDonald's management in Chicago. The company gave the development of the product to Bob Bernstein, who then came up with the idea for the Happy Meal. In 1977, the McDonald's restaurant owner clients who regularly met with Bernstein were looking for ways to create a better dining experience for families with kids. Bernstein reasoned that if kids could get a packaged meal all their own instead of just picking at their parent's food, everybody would be happier. He had often noticed his young son at the breakfast table poring over the various items on cereal boxes and thought, "Why not do that for McDonald's? The package is the key!" He then called in his creative team and had them mock up some paperboard boxes fashioned to resemble lunch pails with the McDonald's Golden Arches for handles. They called in nationally known children's illustrators and offered them the blank slate of filling the box's sides and tops with their own colorful ideas from art to jokes to games to comic strips to stories to fantasy: whatever they thought might appeal to kids, at least eight items per box. Inside the box would be a burger, small fries, packet of cookies and a surprise gift. A small drink would accompany these items. Bernstein then named it the Happy Meal and it was successfully introduced with television and radio spots and in-store posters in the Kansas City market in October 1977. Other markets followed and the national roll-out happened in 1979. Bernstein received #1136758 (Serial #73148046) for his idea in 1977 which he assigned to his valued client, McDonald's Corporation, on June 10, 1980. In 1987 at the annual McDonald's marketing meeting, he was recognized for his accomplishment with a full-size bronze replica of the Happy Meal box with the following inscription: McDonald's Happy Meal 10th Anniversary 1977-1987 To Robert A. Bernstein, Bernstein-Rein Advertising Thank you for bringing the Happy Meal, a bold idea, to the McDonald's System. Your insight and conviction truly has made McDonald's a fun place for children for the past 10 years! McDonald's Corporation September, 1987 Often, the Happy Meal is themed to promote a family-oriented film. The first such promotion was the "Star Trek Meal", which promoted in December 1979. The packaging used for the Star Trek Meal consisted of various images and games related to the film, as well as a comic strip adaptation of the film. Consumers had to buy numerous meals in order to complete the set. In 1982, McDonald's recalled Happy Meal toys because they could have been dangerous to children under three years of age. In 1992, McDonald's withdrew their range of Happy Meal toys for the film Batman Returns, after complaints from parents that the film was unsuitable for children. In July 2011, McDonald's announced plans to make Happy Meals healthier, including the addition of apples. The redesigned meals will contain a smaller portion (1.1 ounces) of fries, along with the apples. On February 4, 2013, McDonald's announced that Fish McBites (fried Alaskan pollock, the same fish used in Filet-O-Fish) would be added as an entree, which would run until March, intended to coincide with Lent. In 2014, McDonald's introduced a mascot to Happy Meals in the United States named as Happy, who originated in France as early as 2009. Reactions were mixed, with criticism that the mascot's design was too frightening. The Happy Meal did not introduce the practice of providing small toys to children. When the Happy Meal was launched in 1979, the toys were a McDoodle stencil, a McWrist wallet, an ID bracelet, a puzzle lock, a spinning top or a McDonaldland character-shaped eraser. In Canada, the promotion prior to the Happy Meal was called the "Treat of the Week", where a different toy was available free on request each week. This promotion continued after the Happy Meal was introduced in 1979 while Happy Meal toys have also become increasingly elaborate in recent years. While they were initially cheap items such as a Frisbee or ball, they have gradually been replaced with increasingly sophisticated toys, many of which are a tie-in to an existing TV series, film, video game or toy line. On November 2, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring that children's meals sold in restaurants must meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys, to reduce triggering of childhood obesity. The law, urged in part by an increase of childhood obesity in the United States, would allow toys to be included with children's meals that have less than 600 calories and less than 640 milligrams of sodium, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar. The board overturned the veto of Mayor Gavin Newsom on November 23, 2010 to pass the law. The law has been ridiculed by the satirical news program The Daily Show. McDonald's circumvented the ban by charging 10 cents for the toys. A class action lawsuit seeking to ban Happy Meal toys in California was filed in 2010. The suit was dismissed in April 2012. In Chile, the Happy Meal, along with kids' meals at other fast food chains, will no longer include free toys, in response to a law banning such toys in a move to prevent obesity. Burger King Kids Club McDonald's is one of the world's largest fast food chains, founded in 1940 in San Bernardino, California, and incorporated in Des Plaines, Illinois, in 1955. Since then, McDonald's has become a household name in America, known for selling a variety of convenience food items at thousands of locations worldwide. Throughout its history, McDonald's has experimented with a number of different offerings on the menu. In 2007, McDonald's had only 85 items on its menu, by 2013 this number had risen to 145 items on its menu. McDonald's beef patties are seasoned with salt and ground pepper. This list is based on core menu items in the United States, with some additions from global products. Hamburger (formerly known as the Junior Burger in some countries) consists of a ground beef patty, with ketchup, mustard, dill pickle slices and re-hydrated onions on a toasted bun. In most of the New York City area, it is served without mustard. It is also sold as a cheeseburger, double or triple cheeseburger all of which have 1, 2 or 3 slices of cheese respectively. A triple burger and a bacon double cheeseburger are optional items and are not available in all restaurants or markets. In Australia, the average serving size for a cheeseburger is . The hamburger and cheeseburger are the company's original grilled burger offerings, having been served as part of the 1948 menu. Double Cheeseburger – two ground beef patties, with ketchup, mustard (except in all or much of the New York City area), two slices of dill pickle, re- hydrated onions, and two pieces of cheese on a toasted bun. The double cheeseburger was offered as a promotional item in the 1950s and was added to the regular menu in 1965, though many McDonald's restaurants did not list it on their menu boards. An official variant is offered in the U.S. state of New Mexico, called the Green Chile Double Cheeseburger, topped with roasted green New Mexico chile peppers. Triple Cheeseburger – similar to the Double Cheeseburger, except it contains three burger patties, with a slice of American cheese between each patty, plus ketchup, mustard (except in all or much of the New York City area), onion, and dill pickle. Big Mac – a signature product that was introduced in 1967. A Big Mac consists of two (approx. uncooked weight) ground beef patties, special Big Mac sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and diced onions in a sesame seed bun, with an additional middle bun (called a "club layer") separating the beef patties. The Grand Mac, its bigger-sized counterpart, was added in January 2017. And January 2019 saw the Bacon Big Mac debut. Quarter Pounder – a (originally until 2015) (approx. uncooked weight) ground beef patty with ketchup, mustard, chopped onions, pickle, and two slices of cheese. As with burgers made with the smaller patties, the Quarter Pounder is prepared without mustard in all or a large portion of the New York City region. It was invented by Al Bernardin, a franchise owner and former McDonald's vice president of product development, at his McDonald's in Fremont, California, in 1971. In some markets unfamiliar with the United States customary units (such as France), it is known as a Royal Cheese, or variants thereof, such as McRoyale. It is also available as the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, which includes another patty of the same proportions. In 2013, McDonald's expanded the sandwich into a line with three additional variants to make them smaller versions of the Angus Burgers. It was renamed the Taste-Crafted Burger in 2016 in West Coast markets and later expanded to other U.S. markets in January 2017. The latest addition is the Signature Sriracha, reinstated in July through September and again since January 2018, which was replaced by Sweet Barbecue Bacon in May, before becoming Bacon Smokehouse from July 2018 to June 2019. It has since been replaced by Quarter Pounder with Cheese Bacon in July 2019. Big N' Tasty/Big Tasty – the Big N' Tasty, introduced in 1997 in California, was a beef patty with ketchup, cheese, mayonnaise with grilled, diced onions, pickles, leaf lettuce, and tomatoes. It was devised to resemble Burger King's Whopper sandwich. It is also known as the Big Xtra in Slovenia and most of Canada; the McXtra in Quebec, Canada; the McFeast Deluxe in Australia; the Big Tasty (without the 'N') in Brazil, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy (without ketchup), Ireland, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the United Kingdom; the Quarter Pounder Deluxe in South Africa; and the McNifica (a play on Spanish magnifica, 'wonderful') in Mexico and Latin America. The Big Tasty configuration is somewhat different, consisting of a third-pound (150 g) beef patty, sesame seed bun, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, Emmental cheese, and Big Tasty sauce (which has a smoke flavor). The Big Tasty Bacon variant also contains strips of bacon. This variant was sold in the US until 2011; it is now sold internationally only. However, the Big N' Tasty is still sold at restaurants located in US army and naval bases, such as the McDonald's restaurant located at the US naval base in Yokusuka, Japan. Now known as the Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe since July 2019. McDouble – similar to a Double Cheeseburger but with just one slice of cheese. Reintroduced as a permanent dollar-menu item in December 2008 – had been a short-term product in 1997, advertised with "Eddie the Echo". The original McDouble did not have cheese and was garnished with lettuce and tomatoes rather than with pickles and onions in the 2008 version. Bacon McDouble – a sandwich that is similar to the McDouble but has two pieces of Applewood smoked bacon added to it. This sandwich was added to the U.S. "Dollar Menu & More" in November 2013. Daily Double – similar to the McDouble, however, the toppings are slightly different. The Daily Double is prepared with lettuce, sliced tomato, slivered onions, and mayonnaise. It also has only one slice of cheese, like the McDouble, rather than the two slices that are on the double cheeseburger. In 2011 and 2012, the item was test marketed in various regional locations. McFeast – a hamburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise, in most markets from April 1977. McFeasts has been served since the mid-1980s in Sweden and was later introduced to the rest of the Nordic countries; the McFeast in Sweden contains a quarter pounder patty, lettuce, modified mayonnaise with lemon juice, onion and tomato. In the rest of the countries, the McFeast also contains ketchup, but not in Sweden. The same burger was sold under the name Mega Feast in New Zealand for several years during the 1990s but has since been discontinued. The McFeast Deluxe was sold in Australia until the late 1990s and contained: mustard, ketchup, large onions, McFeast Deluxe sauce, lettuce, a tomato slice, dill pickles, regular cheese and a quarter pounder patty served in a Quarter Pounder/McChicken Bun. It returned to the Australian menu in 2009 and in August 2011 using the same ingredients, however,it contained McChicken sauce in place of the original 'McFeast Deluxe' sauce. The McFeast has been sold in Germany and Austria since the 1990s under the name Hamburger Royal TS (T for "Tomate" (tomato); S for "Salat", the German word for lettuce). It contains a quarter-pounder patty, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, cheese and the McChicken sauce. For special occasions, it is sold in Germany as a McFresh which also contains cucumber slices. Renamed in U.S. as Quarter Pounder with Cheese Deluxe since July 2019. Ranger Burger and Super Ranger., 1955 Burger – this burger inspired by 1955 (according to the official site) contains beef, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, caramelized onions, ketchup and McDonald's smoky sauce (barbecue). Named after the year the fast-food chain was incorporated by Ray Kroc, the burger is popular in European markets, including Spain, Italy, and Germany. It was released in 2011 and re-released in 2013 in the UK., BBQ Ranch Burger – a very sweet hamburger containing one beef patty, cheddar cheese, BBQ Ranch sauce, and tortilla strips, added to the U.S. "Dollar Menu and More" in November 2013., McSpicy Burger – a very spicy chicken breast, lettuce, cheese and hot sauce-laced mayo, served as the McSpicy Shake Shake Meal, complete with fries., Bacon Clubhouse – a burger consisting of one quarter-pound patty, lettuce, tomato, and special sauce served on an artisan roll. This core item was added to the menu the week of March 12, 2014., Jalapeño Double – similar to the McDouble, except it contains two types of jalapeño peppers, pickled and crispy, plus a slice of white cheddar cheese between the two burger patties, and buttermilk ranch sauce. Added to the Dollar Menu in April 2014., ChiTown Classic – a regional offering that was one of two finalists out of hundreds of entries in the "Chicagoland Burger Build Off" competition to develop a breakfast-dinner mashup burger in 2015. The burger was placed on the menu in Chicago area locations starting mid-November until December 27, 2015. The burger adds breakfast's Canadian bacon and applewood smoked bacon., Denali Mac – a burger that looks like the Big Mac, but it uses two quarter-pound beef patties. Sold only in Alaska, named after Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). A McChicken is a mildly spicy chicken sandwich which is also offered in a spicier variant (the Hot n' Spicy) in some markets. The sandwich is made from 100% ground white meat chicken, mayonnaise, and shredded lettuce, on a toasted bun. A full-size version was introduced in 1980, later removed, and reintroduced in 1988. In some markets, it is not spicy, and in others, a cajun spiced version is also offered. It remains one of the biggest sellers, just behind the Big Mac. The larger sandwich was replaced with the Crispy Chicken Deluxe in 1996, and brought back in 1998 in the current smaller size, and marketed as the Cajun (Style) McChicken. In Australia, the average serving size for a McChicken is . In Canada, it remains a full-size sandwich, while the US' smaller version is sold there as the Junior Chicken. Chicken McNuggets introduced in 1983 as a replacement for the McChicken, these are small chicken chunks served with dipping sauces of barbecue, sweet n' sour, honey, and hot mustard. McNuggets are available in 4, 6, 10 (originally 9), or 20 pieces. Occasionally, they are made available in 40- or 50-piece packs on a promotional basis. While made from a combination of white and dark meat until 2003, they are now made only with white meat. In 2011, five new dipping sauces were introduced and added to the line-up: sweet chili, honey mustard, spicy buffalo, and creamy ranch. With the addition of these new dipping sauces, McDonald's began phasing out the Hot Mustard sauce, and by February 2014, it had been discontinued in most U.S. markets, while in Quebec, Canada, at least, the original four dipping sauces (barbecue, sweet 'n sour, hot mustard and honey) persist as of 2018. Premium chicken sandwiches, the Premium chicken line was added in July 2005. The Classic was a rebranding of the Crispy Chicken and Chicken McGrill sandwiches, themselves 1998 rebrandings of the Deluxe chicken line. It contains mayonnaise, leaf lettuce, and a tomato slice. The Ranch BLT contains ranch sauce instead of mayonnaise and includes bacon. The Club is similar to the Classic, with added bacon and a piece of Swiss cheese. In Latin America, the Classic and the Club are sold, but a honey mustard chicken sandwich is sold in place of the BLT. All were served on a whole-grain roll, with either a grilled or crispy chicken breast. On March 20, 2014, the Premium Crispy Chicken Bacon Clubhouse and Premium Grilled Chicken Bacon Clubhouse were added to the line-up (alongside the beef variant of the sandwich) on a new artisan roll. In February 2015 the Ranch BLT and Club were removed from the menu. The standard crispy offering was renamed the Premium Crispy Chicken Deluxe (later the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich in August 2015) and it was upgraded to sit on the artisan roll introduced with the Bacon Clubhouse. In the first week of April 2015, McDonald's replaced the Premium Grilled Chicken sandwich with the Artisan Grilled Chicken. McDonald's line of larger chicken sandwiches (The Classic, Club, Ranch BLT, and Southwest), which are part of the McDonald's Premium line were introduced in July 2005 as part of McDonald's menu revamp The Classic includes lettuce, tomato, and mayo., The Club also has lettuce, tomato and mayo but also comes with Swiss cheese and bacon., The Ranch BLT comes with a creamy ranch sauce, bacon, lettuce and tomato., The Grand Chicken Burger: Large chicken patty with two layers of cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, and sauce., The Southwest comes with a southwest style nacho chili sauce, lettuce, tomato, and spicy pepper jack cheese. All four can be chosen with either crispy or grilled chicken and all are served on a wheat ciabatta bun. Premium Chicken Deluxe – a sandwich made with a crispy chicken breast, tomato slices, and lettuce. It was first sold in 1996 and had its name changed to the Crispy Chicken Sandwich in 1998. It was replaced with a Premium chicken sandwich in July 2005 and was then brought back in 2015 under the original name with the added prefix Premium. The only other change is that it is now sold on an artisan roll instead of the potato bun that characterized the original Crispy Chicken Deluxe. By August 2015 it was renamed the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken Sandwich. This is part of the Taste-Crafted Chicken sandwiches introduced in 2016. Grilled Chicken Deluxe – this sandwich has the same ingredients as the Premium Crispy Chicken Deluxe but has a marinated, grilled chicken breast at its center. It has been sold under various names since 1996, when it was introduced as the Grilled Chicken Deluxe, and had its name changed to the Chicken McGrill in 1998. It was replaced with a Premium chicken sandwich in July 2005, which was in turn replaced with the Artisan Grilled Chicken in 2015. It is also available in India and has at times been available in Canada. Taste-Crafted Chicken sandwiches, like the Taste-Crafted Burgers, were introduced in 2016 in West Coast markets, and in all other U.S. markets in January 2017. Signature Sriracha was the latest to be added in June 2016, reinstated in July through September 2017, and reinstated again permanently in January 2018; it was replaced by Sweet Barbecue Bacon in May 2017, which by July 2018 was changed to Bacon Smokehouse. Deli Choices is a line of deli-style sandwiches that are sold internationally. It is targeted at health-conscious customers and is available in Austria, Canada, Germany, and Britain, and is testing in the United States. It is similar to the McHero sandwich, sold in parts of the United States. Snack Wrap – a wrap made with white meat chicken breast (crispy or grilled), lettuce, shredded Cheddar cheese and Monterey Jack cheese, and a sauce (Spicy Buffalo, Ranch, Honey mustard, Chipotle barbecue, or Salsa Roja, the breakfast sauce on the McSkillet), wrapped in a soft flour tortilla. It was launched on July 1, 2006. Chipotle BBQ is the most recent flavor. Available in the United States, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Brazil. There is also a Mac Snack Wrap which features the fixings of the Big Mac but without the bun. It is wrapped in a tortilla shell, and uses one half of a piece of quarter meat. In 2013, McDonald's in the U.S. introduced a larger wrap that it has had success with in parts of Europe. It comes in three variants: Sweet Chilli Chicken, Chicken & Bacon, and Chicken & Ranch. Small balls of chicken that are made from chicken breasts and are about 1.5 centimeters in diameter. These were available in the US with trials starting in September 2011 and were discontinued in 2013. They remain available in some international markets, including Italy and Australia. McArabia – there are two versions of the McArabia: grilled chicken, and grilled kofta (beef with spices). Both are served with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and garlic mayonnaise in addition to two small patties of grilled chicken or kofta, all wrapped in an Arabian-style pita bread. McDonald's has employed a rather large advertising campaign for the McArabia since its introduction in 2003, largely focusing on the Arabian-themed nature of the sandwich, and it appears to have worked well. The McArabia has been very well received throughout Southwestern Eurasia. The same product is also introduced in Malaysia with "Chicken Foldover" as an alternative name. Buttermilk Crispy Tenders are strips formulated with the buttermilk recipe used for the August 2015 revamp of the fried chicken sandwich, and were introduced in U.S. restaurants in September 2017. While they bear a resemblance to Chicken Selects, they are created and prepared differently. They feature a buttermilk chicken base and are cooked from thawed instead of frozen. This creates a juicier product than the Selects, as well as reduces cook time, though immediate supply issues caused them to effectively be removed from the menu until the end of December 2017. This was caused by demand being much higher than forecast. Chicken Fajita – chicken, cheese, red and green bell peppers, and diced onions in a flour tortilla. Comes with Picante sauce packets on request, which are available in mild and spicy. Available in only a few markets., Artisan Grilled Chicken – in the first week of April 2015, McDonald's introduced a redesigned grilled chicken patty, replacing the Premium Grilled Chicken sandwich, which contains "fewer ingredients", and those that remain can be found in consumer's "own kitchens". The sandwich sits atop the artisan roll first seen with the Bacon Clubhouse and is the last of the full-size chicken sandwiches to switch to this bun. It is part of the Taste-Crafted Chicken sandwiches menu introduced in 2016., Maharaja Mac – In India, McDonald's does not serve beef in its burgers. Instead, it has created a large Big Mac style chicken burger called the "Chicken Maharaja Mac", with a chicken patty and vegetable garnishings., Tasty Basket – Available only in Italy, the Tasty Basket consists of 30 pieces of chicken, which includes the Chicken McNugget, Chicken McBites, and chicken wings., Chicken Selects - Still available in the U.K., these are strips of chicken cooked from frozen and served in a 3- or 5-piece serving. They were discontinued in the United States and eventually replaced with Buttermilk Crispy Tenders., Southern Style Chicken Sandwich – A southern-style fried chicken breast filet is served on a steamed bun, dressed with butter and two pickles. Nearly identical to a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich. Discontinued at many franchises in early 2015. Filet-O-Fish – a fish fillet with tartar sauce and a half slice of cheese on a steamed bun. It was introduced in Cincinnati in 1962 when it was discovered that many Roman Catholics chose to eat at Frisch's Big Boy on Fridays and during Lent, as it offered a fish sandwich so customers could go without meat. This was replaced with the Fish Filet Deluxe in 1996 and brought back in 1998 albeit with a larger fish patty. During the Easter period in Hawaii and Guam, a Double Filet-O-Fish meal is offered with two pieces of fish on one bun., Fish McBites – similar to the Chicken McBites, these are small pieces of flaky whitefish dipped in batter and fried until golden brown, and served with tartar sauce for dipping. They were taken off the menu at the end of March 2013. McRib – a sandwich featuring boneless pork with barbecue sauce, slivered onions, and pickles. First seen in test-market stores near interstate highways around Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin in the late 1970s (along with early tests of personal-sized pizza), the McRib was more widely released in 1981 but pulled from the menu in 1985. It is released annually in the U.S. as a limited time promotion in some locations. Since 2005, the McRib has reappeared in late October staying on the menu for 10 weeks. The McRib was released in Canada as a promotional sandwich from March 18 through April 8, 2008, and again in summer 2011. The McRib is presently on some European menus (e.g., Germany, where it has been standard since or even before 1990)., In Vietnam, grilled pork is sold, but with rice; egg is optional. Curry Sauce (Singapore), Signature Sauce, Spicy Buffalo, Creamy Ranch Sauce, Habanero Ranch Sauce, Honey, Hot Mustard Sauce, Honey Mustard Sauce, Sweet 'N Sour Sauce, Barbecue Sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Szechuan Sauce (promotional), Tartar Sauce, Aioli (Australia), Vegemite (Australia) Szechuan Sauce or Mulan Sauce, a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets, was created to promote the 1998 Disney film, Mulan. The sauce was sold for a limited time, starting on June 16, 1998. Szechuan Sauce returned to the cultural spotlight almost twenty years later after being referenced numerous times in "The Rickshank Rickdemption", the Season 3 premiere of the Adult Swim animated comedy Rick and Morty. The sauce was announced to return to all McDonald's stores on February 26, 2018 due to popular demand., An Apple Cinnamon Sauce was released to promote the 1998 Pixar film, A Bug's Life. McDonald's introduced salads to its menu in 1987. Since that time, they have restructured their salad lines several times. In the U.S., the newest salad offerings are part of the McDonald's Premium line. First introduced in 2003, the Premium Salads are a mixture of iceberg lettuce and a special lettuce assortment (romaine, etc.), with cherry tomatoes and different toppings to differentiate them; additionally, all salads can be topped with warm grilled or crispy chicken. All of its salads are part of McDonald's move towards creating a healthier image. McDonald's sells french fries as its primary side order. Until 1967, French Fries were never frozen, but were cut on-site from potatoes and immediately fried. In some international locations, they sell potato wedges, a type of potato chip that is thick cut and wedge-shaped and fried onion pieces that are similar to onion rings. Many McDonald's locations in discount stores offer freshly popped popcorn and soft pretzels in addition to the normal menu. In PA stores, only soft pretzels are offered as a side option [citation needed]. Garlic fries were tested in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016, using locally grown garlic from Gilroy, California Bacon Cheese Fries was added to the menu in January 2019. It adds melted cheddar cheese to go with bacon pieces., In Australia all meals can have their side swapped from the default fries to Garden Salads for no extra charge. Garden Salads are small salads containing In Australia McDonald's has sold multiple varieties of 'loaded fries' which consist of a portion of fries with a topping, these toppings include: Gravy (currently offered), Sweet Chili and Sour Cream, Guacamole and Salsa, Parmesan cheese and truffle mayo, BQQ & Aioli Sauce with Grilled Onions McDonald's capitalized on Burger Chef's Funmeal concept of a children's meal when it introduced the first Happy Meal in 1979 (Sometimes later known as the Mighty Kids meal). The meal includes an entrée, a side dish, a beverage and a toy. Happy meals include a tiny order fries (around half of a small order of fries) and fruit, optional sauce for fries, and a choice of nuggets, a single patty burger, or wraps. An additional product, Pasta Zoo was discontinued in 2008. The Mighty Kids Meal contains more food than the Happy Meal, less than the adult meal, and still contains a toy. In mid-February 2012, McDonald's introduced the Happy Meals/Mighty Kids Meals so that they now come with either a Hamburger, Cheeseburger, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets, McDouble or the 6-piece Chicken McNuggets with a smaller version of the small fry for the Happy Meal or a small fry for a Mighty Kids Meal. All kids meals now come with fries, apple slices, and a toy. The apple slices have been reduced from 8 slices to only 4 and no longer come with caramel dipping sauce. McLobster – a lobster roll served in a hot dog bun with "lobster sauce" and shredded lettuce, introduced in 1993. The product had supply issues and was not very profitable nationally. Recently, it was only available in Atlantic Canada and New England region in the summer, when lobster is inexpensive. In the 2010s, McDonald's had short-term reintroductions in Canada and Italy., McCrab – in response to the McLobster, McDonald's along the eastern coast of the Delmarva Peninsula (comprising parts of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia) developed the McCrab sandwich, a McDonald's version of the Chesapeake crabcake., Poutine – originally only to be found in French-Canadian communities, poutine is now found on the menu at most McDonald's' across Canada., Angus Snack Wrap – wrap with Angus burger introduced to the U.S. market on August 9, 2010. Angus Snack wraps are available three ways: Deluxe (lettuce, tomato, onions, pickles, American cheese, mayo, mustard); Bacon & Cheese (onions, pickles, American cheese, ketchup, mustard, a strip of bacon); and Mushroom & Swiss (sauteed mushrooms, Swiss cheese, mayo). The Angus Wrap uses 1/2 of a regular Angus burger pattie., The McVeggie burger – a vegetarian burger on a whole wheat bun. Available in India, Slovenia, Greece, Malaysia, and Portugal. A special version is available in Cheung Chau branch in Hong Kong during the Cheung Chau Bun Festival., Veggie Clubhouse - first sandwich with a quinoa pattie., Brownie Melt – similar to a Cinnamelt, it is a rich chocolate brownie with chocolate and white frosting., McRice – Most McDonald's restaurants in countries in Asia serve the product due to popular demand. It is normal rice., McSpaghetti – was launched in the late 1970s as a part of McD's dinner menu which included a number of Italian dishes. The dish is still available internationally such as in the Philippines where it is popular and is generally served with McNuggets., The McBean burger – a vegan burger where the patties are made with cannellini beans, kidney beans, onions, carrots and green peppers. Available in Sweden., The menu in India has numerous unique items, all of which contain neither beef nor pork:, Maharaja Mac – Chicken - like a Big Mac, but with two pressed spiced chicken patties instead of beef, served with a mustard sauce. Veg - A vegetarian version of the Big Mac sold at Mc Donalds India, containing patties made of potato, corn, peas, and cheese. Maharaja is a Hindi word meaning emperor., Paneer Salsa Wrap (paneer is an Indian unsalted white cheese)., Chicken Mexican Wrap, McAloo Tikki – breaded potato patty with onion and tomato on a plain bun (aloo is "potato"). Available at select stores in India, Greece, and Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, FL. In India, since McDonald's does not serve beef or pork in any of its products, it has created a few vegetarian options to suit the 85% vegetarian populace. Thus, the cheeseburger is recast as a vegetarian option and served as an "Aaloo Tikki Burger" containing a potato patty and a slice of cheese., Chicken McGrill, Georgie Pie — a meat pie sold in New Zealand. The brand was also the name of a New Zealand-based chain that was bought by McDonald's New Zealand in 1996 and was revived as part of the McDonald's menu in 2013 due to popular demand., Veggie Crunch Burger - The vegetarian burger was launched in the Singapore market on September 6, 2016. Its patty is made with a mixture of up to seven types of vegetables, including green peas, carrots, tomatoes, capsicum, beans etc. However, its dressings contain garlic and eggs. The patty is fried in the same oil used for frying apple pies so it does not come in contact with meat products. The burger has received good reviews. In McDonald’s UK, EotF (Experience of the Future) restaurants offer the premium "Signature Collection", which consist of "The Spicy", "The Classic" and "The BBQ". These burgers are served on a brioche bun, and the patties are thicker, and take longer to cook. The collection costs more than the average Big Mac meal, respectively. Sweet potato fries McDonald's introduced breakfast foods in 1972 and their primary breakfast offerings are breakfast sandwiches. McMuffins are McDonald's signature breakfast sandwich. First sold at select restaurants in 1972 as the Egg McMuffin, five years before a breakfast menu officially went into effect, it consists of a fried egg, back bacon (called Canadian bacon in the U.S.) and American cheese on a toasted English muffin. Sausage or bacon McMuffins are also available. A Chicken McMuffin is offered in South Africa. Double variations of all of the muffins are available in Australia (in select states only) and the UK. McDonald's offers a line of breakfast sandwiches: bagels (introduced in 1999), biscuits, and a special type of maple flavored pancake called McGriddles. All can all be ordered with sausage, ham or bacon, with an optional choice of cheese and/or egg. Regional meat offerings include fried chicken, steak, spam and bacon. They are an internationally famous sandwich and as such have been well received. The McDonald's Hamdesal is a new breakfast sandwich which consists of a slice of ham on pandesal, which can be ordered plain, with eggs or with cheese. This sandwich is currently available in the Philippines.Australian restaurants also introduced in 2018 the Big Brekkie Burger which consists of a sesame seed bun, BBQ sauce, 2 rashers of bacon, an egg, a hash brown, a slice of Aussie Jack cheese and a Quarter Pounder patty. In the UK Bagels are offered with Jam or Philadelphia cream cheese. There are also bagels with cheese and bacon or sausage on them, bacon, egg and cheese bagels are also available in the US. There are two styles of breakfast burritos available. The Sausage Burrito, introduced in 1991, is made with a flour tortilla, sausage, American cheese, eggs, onions, and peppers. The new McSkillet wrap burrito adds potatoes and salsa. Chicken and steak variants of the McSkillet exists in limited areas. In New Mexico there is a breakfast burrito on the menu, with both bacon and sausage varieties, called the Green Chile Sunrise Burrito. In the UK Breakfast Wrap which consists of sausage, bacon, egg, hash browns (potato rösti), cheese and an optional sauce, either ketchup or brown sauce are available. In 2018, McDonald’s UK removed the breakfast snack wraps and replaced them with the cheesy bacon flatbread. Prior to removal these wraps were available in sausage and egg, bacon and egg, or cheese and egg variations. Since October 2015, McDonald's offers breakfast all day in Australia, Canada, Mexico (Tijuana, Baja California Norte only), New Zealand and the U.S. However, the full breakfast menu is not available at all hours. Only certain items, such as McMuffins, hotcakes and hash browns will be available beyond the usual 10:30 A.M. cutoff weekdays or 11:00 A.M. weekends. All U.S. restaurants expanded their all-day menu to add Biscuit sandwiches, Egg McMuffins & McGriddles in late September 2016. In Australia certain Regular Menu products are available 24/7, these being: Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Cheeseburger, Chicken McNuggets, French Fries Additional breakfast items include hotcakes; a platter known as a Big Breakfast comes with scrambled eggs, a hash brown, sausage or bacon, and a biscuit or English muffin. Since February 2016, breakfast bowls were added to the breakfast menu, available in some U.S. restaurants. Biscuits and gravy are available in parts of the southern U.S. Oatmeal was added to the breakfast menu on December 27, 2010, after it test-marketed well in Washington, D.C. and some parts of Maryland. In the test market areas, oatmeal started selling in late January 2010. A few American regional variations exist, in Hawaii and Guam McDonald's offers local breakfast items such as Spam, Portuguese sausage and fresh cut pineapple. Donut sticks were added in February 2019. Hash Browns are available internationally with 'extra value meals' being available with a muffin, coffee and hash brown. Beverages purveyed by McDonald's varies regionally. McDonald's primary soft drink supplier is The Coca-Cola Company, except in restaurants which fall under an overall contract with PepsiCo such as the Staples Center and the University of Maryland, College Park Student Union. In the U.S. and Canada, Cadbury-Schweppes supplies Dr Pepper. Irn-Bru is available in some Scottish McDonald's locations. Inca Kola is available in every Peruvian McDonald's location. S&D; Coffee, Gavina and Kraft supply McDonald's Premium Roast Coffee for McDonald's U.S. restaurants except for the New England area, for which Green Mountain Coffee Roasters supplies Newman's Own branded coffee there. Hot and iced tea (supplied by S&D; Coffee in the U.S.), hot chocolate, assorted juices and other regional beverages are available in various markets. The McCafe is an umbrella term for lattes, espresso, iced coffee, hot chocolate, mocha, malts, smoothies, and other drinks that are sold in several markets worldwide. Shakes are available in all U.S. McDonald's and many global markets Permanent flavors are vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate; regional or seasonal flavors include Caramel, Coffee, Cherry, Eggnog (during Christmas), Banana, Pumpkin (during Halloween), Strawberry Banana, Lime, Mango Raspberry, Honeycomb, Arctic Orange (sherbet), Orange Cream, Shamrock Shake (a green, spearmint Limited Time Offer shake for St. Patrick's Day), Chocolate Mint, and Rolo (available only in Canada and the UK. This flavoured milkshake was also available in the Republic of Ireland during the summer of 2007 for a limited time only). In June 1975, 13 months before the celebration of the United States Bicentennial, McDonald's introduced a blueberry-flavored shake in order to advertise "Red, White, and Blueberry Shakes" for independence day celebrations, which were available through August of that year. The run was repeated in summer 1976, but not since. In the U.S., starting in February 2010, "Triple Thick Shakes" were rebranded under the McCafe name, along with the addition of whipped cream, and a cherry on top, and a significant reduction in size. In Canada, McDonald's milkshakes are still sold under the "Triple Thick" name. Beer of different brands (varies locally) is available at McDonald's in Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and Spain. Wine, Santa Julia of the Malbec varietal is available at McDonald's restaurants in the province of Mendoza, Argentina as part of a special menu called "Sabores Mendocinos" (Mendoza flavours). , McDonald's Australia and New Zealand began offering Frozen Coke as part of their menu. It is available in small, medium or large sizes. Frozen Coke is a fixed menu item, with new flavors introduced multiple times a year, such as , Frozen Vanilla Coke, Frozen Fanta Sour Grape, Frozen Fanta Bubblegum and Frozen Sprite. As of 2018 there are now 8 permanent 'Fanta Flavours' available (at most restaurants) including Raspberry, Blueberry, Grape, Lime, Vanilla, Mango, Pineapple and Peach. The Fanta Flavours can be mixed together using the Frozen Drinks machines to enable patrons to choose up to 36 different flavour combinations. In 2012, McDonald's Australia and New Zealand began offering a 'McFloat'. It contained Frozen Coke and/or the promotional frozen beverage, a small amount of soft serve. McDonald's also offers 1% milk, 1% chocolate milk, and apple juice, most often as replacements for fountain drinks in Happy Meals. Pies were introduced in 1968, and were exclusively deep-fried until 1992, when they were replaced by baked pies in most of the American market. The sole flavor available initially was apple, later supplemented, in certain periods and/or certain markets, by cherry, strawberry and creme, s'mores, sweet potato, and holiday flavors, among others. In Canada in the 1970s, blueberry was standard, as was a mixed-fruit pie called the Great Fruit Pie. Other regional varieties, both permanent and occasionally offered, include corn (Japan), cheese (Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, and Costa Rica), banana (Brazil and Hawaii), taro (Hawaii, Guam and Thailand), haupia (Hawaii), guava (Hawaii), mango (Indonesia), chocolate (Indonesia) and apricot (Russia)., A soft serve ice cream product is available in several forms, including sundaes, cones (vanilla or at some locations also chocolate), and as the primary ingredient in the McFlurry. As with many other formulations of soft serve, cellulose gum is utilized as an extender and thickener. In Australia, the price of soft serve was 30 cents when it was introduced nearly 20 years ago., The McFlurry is a soft-serve ice cream dessert that has pieces of candy or cookies mixed into it. The McFlurry was first integrated into the menu at a Bathurst, New Brunswick, Canada franchisee in 1995 and in the U.S. in 1998. The flavors are crushed Oreo, M&M;'s Minis, Reese's, or Mars, Incorporated candy bars like Snickers, Twix, Galaxy, etc., Cadbury's candy bars like Twirl, Wispa, Creme Egg, Crunchie etc., Nestlé candy bars like Yorkie, Smarties, Drifter, Rolo, Butterfinger, etc. McDonald's also does limited time only flavors, e.g. for Shrek the Third it released the Ogre-Load flavor. In Australia, they had a special range for their 40 years in Australia celebration. The flavors were double choc fudge, bubblegum squash, strawberry crumble and caramel cookie. Also in Malaysia, a unique flavor called FuseofmyLife is offered to customers. The mixing blade for the dessert is actually a specially designed spoon with a hollow handle that attaches to the mixer spindle (except in Australia and New Zealand where the staff mix it by hand). The blade is used once then given to the customer to use as an eating utensil. Originally test marketed in Hawaii in 1997, it is now available in most of its markets., McDonaldland cookies are traditionally available and are similar to animal crackers, except the shapes of the cookies are of Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, and the Hamburglar, among other McDonaldland characters. They are manufactured by Keebler and are just re-branded animal crackers (Elfin Crackers or Our Family Animal Crackers). In Australia, the McDonaldland Cookies are manufactured by Arnotts and are sold in McDonald's restaurants., Freshly baked cookies manufactured by Nestlé are available in some markets. Among the cookies offered are sugar, oatmeal raisin, or chocolate chip. Cinnamon Melts – a popular cinnamon roll type item with cream cheese icing., Brownie melts – Similar to the Cinnamon melt, only chocolate flavored with fudge and cream cheese icing on top. Available only in selected markets., The Fruit and Yogurt Parfait – a mix of frozen strawberries and blueberries and vanilla yogurt, sold with a package of granola topping., Smoothies are available in some locations in either Blueberry Pomegranate, Strawberry Banana, or Mango-Pineapple flavors. In the test market areas, smoothies were introduced in 2009. Angus burgers – Four types: the Angus Deluxe (American cheese, sliced red onions and sliced red tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, pickles, mustard, and mayonnaise); Angus Mushroom and Swiss (sautéed mushrooms, Swiss cheese and mayonnaise); Angus Bacon and Cheese (bacon, American cheese, sliced red onions, mustard, ketchup and pickles); and the Angus Chipotle BBQ Bacon (chipotle sauce, red onions, pickles, bacon, and American cheese). In Australia and New Zealand, there are three Angus burgers sold; The Grand Angus (which is a clone of the Angus Deluxe) and the Mighty Angus (which resembles the Angus Cheese and Bacon, but with no pickles and mayonnaise and onion relish replacing the ketchup and mustard). For a limited time only, the Angus The Third, similar to the Grand Angus, but with no mustard and made with a tomato chili relish and only one slice of cheese. Also, for a limited time, Angus the Great was sold, a clone of the Angus Mushroom and Swiss. In October 2012, an Angus version of the Cheddar Bacon Onion (CBO) Sandwich was made available, consisting of a horseradish-like sauce, grilled caramelized onions, bacon and cheddar cheese. In May 2013, McDonald's stopped selling the Angus burger. Two years later the third-pound burgers returned (known as Sirloin Third Pound Burgers), but as a limited-time promotion. It came in three sandwiches: Bacon and Cheese, Lettuce and Tomato, and Steakhouse. The Angus Burgers are still available in Canada and some markets in Latin America., Arch Deluxe – An attempt to produce a "luxury" hamburger, promoted by a high-profile advertising campaign (introduced in 1996), today considered one of the most expensive failures in McDonald's history. It featured a honey mustard-type sauce, quarter-pound beef patty on a potato roll, with leaf lettuce, tomato, red onion, and cheese; peppered bacon was also offered for an extra charge. The Arch Deluxe was accompanied with three other burgers at the time, the Crispy Chicken Deluxe (later renamed the Crispy Chicken Sandwich), the Grilled Chicken Deluxe (later renamed the Chicken McGrill), and the Fish Filet Deluxe (since discontinued along with the Arch Deluxe itself)., Barry Burger – A double bacon cheeseburger with onions and barbecue sauce named after football player Barry Sanders, sold mainly in his home state of Kansas., BBQ Chicken – A toasted bun featuring shredded chicken and zesty BBQ sauce., Beef Wennington – A burger offered solely in the Chicago area in 1998–99, named after former Chicago Bulls player Bill Wennington. It featured a single patty topped with cheese, onions, barbecue sauce and a slice of Canadian bacon., Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich – test-marketed in various markets across the United States in 1980 as part of a McDonald's "Dinner Menu", offered only after 4:00 p.m. The Chopped Beefsteak Sandwich was essentially an elongated hamburger of a different quality served on a short French roll, similar to a sub or hero roll. Packets of steak sauce (A1 sauce in Chicago) were available for the sandwich., Big 33 or McJordan Special – A quarter-pound burger with bacon and special barbecue sauce named after basketball players Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, respectively., Boselli Burger – Jacksonville, Florida, franchises also featured the Triple-Double Burger in 1998, named after Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Tony Boselli., Bratwurst – For a few years during the 1990s and in 2002, Johnsonville brand bratwurst on a hot dog-like roll was sold in some U.S. markets for a limited time each fall. A few locations in Eastern Wisconsin, which is the major market for the Sheboygan County-based company still offer bratwursts on a seasonal basis., Buffalo Ranch McChicken (also the Hot 'n Spicy)., Catfish Sandwich – A sandwich made with a catfish patty, lettuce, and tangy sauce and sold on a McRib-style bun. Sold at McDonald's locations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi for a brief period in March 1991., Cheddar Melt – a quarter pound beef patty smothered with grilled onions (sauteed in butter and teriyaki), then topped with cheddar cheese sauce on a light rye bun, offered in 1988, the 1990s, 2004, and 2007. They are still available in Brazil under the name Cheddar McMelt., Chicken Fajitas – The Chicken Fajitas consisted of a small soft tortilla, a grilled vegetable medley, and grilled chicken. The fajita was in the traditional thin wrapping paper. These are still available in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland (at certain locations), Alberta (at select locations in the Edmonton area) and at all non-Walmart McDonald's in Ontario., Chicken McBites – popcorn chicken breast with "home-style seasoning" offered through April 20, 2012, in , and versions. Dipping sauces include Ranch, Sweet n' Sour, Tangy BBQ, Chipotle BBQ, Honey Mustard, Spicy Buffalo, and Sweet Chili., Chicken Parmesan Sandwich – A chicken breast covered in bread crumbs and topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella on a toasted bun., Chicken Platter – A grilled chicken burger served with lettuce and tomato on the HotCakes tray. Chicken Selects – McDonald's version of chicken strips. They were introduced in early 1998 and offered again as a permanent part of the menu in late October 2003. They are sold in 3-, 5-, or 10-piece sizes and include choices of spicy buffalo, creamy ranch, honey mustard, and chipotle barbecue dipping sauces; sauce selections in the UK are smokey barbecue, sour cream and sweet chili sauce. Sold in the United States, Canada, Israel and the UK. Available in Australia under the name Chicken McDippers. McDonald's stopped selling Chicken Selects in the United States in February 2013, but they returned to the menu on 25 February 2015, for a limited engagement and were renamed Chicken Select Tenders. Since September 2017, they were reinstated and known as Buttermilk Crispy Tenders. Chicken Selects are still sold at McDonald's restaurants in the United Kingdom and Ireland., Corn Dog McNuggets – For a brief time in 1991, McDonald's locations in Richmond, Virginia offered a multi-pack of mini corn dogs without sticks. They were offered again in 2002 as the "Mini Corn Dogs"., Cuban Sandwich – Roast pork and ham sandwich on a long roll with Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles. One of several Hispanic-inspired menu items briefly sold at South Florida units in 2001., Derby Burger – A single patty hamburger with American Cheese, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayonnaise, and bacon. It was a regional item sold in the mid-1990s in Louisville, Kentucky only during the spring to coincide with the Kentucky Derby. Discontinued in the early 2000s (decade)., Diet Coke Float and Coke Float – In 1991 McDonald's ran a limited time promotion selling a float made with Diet Coke or Coke with low-fat soft-serve frozen yogurt in a collectable Coke bell glass. It sold for $1.59 with 40 cents from every sale donated to Ronald McDonald Children's Charities., Dinner Menu – After testing pasta in the South in 1989, McDonald's began testing a pasta-based menu at 40 units across Rochester, New York, in September 1991, including lasagna, fettuccine alfredo, and spaghetti with meatballs. In the early 1990s, a new Dinner Menu was tested for 6–12 months at two locations in New York and Tennessee. It consisted of the pizza mentioned below but also included lasagna, spaghetti, fettuccine alfredo, and roasted chicken as other mains. The side dishes included mashed potatoes with gravy and a vegetable medley. For the dessert, it included a brownie à la mode or peanut butter pie., Double Tex Mex - Limited promoational menu item in Quebec sold in 1995, two beef patties, mushrooms, grilled onions, tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo on a sesame seed bun., Eggs Benedict McMuffin – Canadian style bacon, egg, special breakfast sauce, and American cheese on a toasted English muffin., Fried Roast Beef Sandwich – In 1968 this product was launched targeting adults. Sold with a package of McDonald's BBQ sauce on the side using the slogan "McDonald's is my kind of place"; it was inspired by a franchisee's version of an Arby's sandwich. The sandwich failed due to the costs of getting roast beef slicers; no matter how many sandwiches they could sell, it would never turn a profit., Grilled Cheese Happy Meal – There was a Happy Meal introduced during the early part of the 2000s (decade) that contained a grilled cheese sandwich. It was discontinued the same summer it was released but is still sold in some Canadian markets., Grilled Chicken Flatbread Sandwich – Grilled chicken strips, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, pepper jack cheese, and a creamy herb sauce served wrapped in a heated flatbread. Served briefly in June 2002, and again from December 27, 2002, until February 9, 2003., Happy Meal Breakfast – The Happy Meal Breakfast was a meal that was smaller than the traditional breakfast that lasted from the 1980s to 2009. It was discontinued by the advice of the Nutrition department at the Corporate Headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, but is still sold in Hong Kong., Hockey Hero burger, sold only in Canada., Home Fried Chicken – During 1968 McDonald's sold deep fried chicken (similar to KFC). Targeting parents who could not choose between burgers and chicken, McDonald's delivered home fried chicken served with distinct packaging. The white chicken meat was sold in light gold packages (for adults) and catering to the children—the dark chicken meat was sold in dark foil packages. TV slogan was... "so everyone can have just what they want ... McDonald's Strives to Reunite the American Family" (note the U.S. was struggling with domestic civil unrest due to the combined social upheaval of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement) McDonald's still sells deep fried chicken in Peru, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and China., Jason Kidd Burger – Downtown Phoenix, Arizona, franchises had a Limited Time Offer burger named after NBA player Jason Kidd, while he played for the Phoenix Suns., McSpin - An ice cream that is similar to McFlurry but mixed faster and with threed toppings inside. It is seen in 1996–2005., Hot dogs – In 1937, hot dogs were the first things sold in McDonald's. Then in CEO Ray Kroc's 1977 autobiography, he prohibited the company from selling them, regardless of potential demand, as he regarded them as unhygienic; however, hot dogs were reintroduced in 1995 at some Midwestern located stores (at the option of the franchise-holder) as a summer item. UK stores sold hot dogs during 2002 on the McChoice menu (later PoundSaver) and as a seasonal menu item in the summer of 1999. Also, at least one American restaurant offered Oscar Mayer hot dogs at some time, notably in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and McDonald's locations at Toronto Metro Zoo and SkyDome in Toronto offered hot dogs until 1999. Starting in the year 2007, a few McDonald's began selling Hot Dogs in central Pennsylvania due to popular demand from local sports fans. They can be found at 12 locations . In Tokyo locations, hot dogs were available from 1990 until 2004, and were reintroduced for 2009, dubbed the "McHot Dog". McDonald's locations in Chile also sold hot dogs for a brief period in 2004., Hot Ham 'N Cheese – Sliced ham, American cheese, lettuce and tomato on a triple split, sesame seed bun with a choice of mayonnaise or honey mustard sauce., Hulaburger – A Ray Kroc invention, it featured a slice of pineapple instead of meat. Originally intended for Roman Catholics who are not allowed to eat meat on Fridays during Lent. It was test-marketed in 1963 alongside the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, with the highest seller being added to the menu full-time (the Filet-O-Fish, a creation of an Ohio franchiser, won)., Italian Doubles – A limited summer promotion in Canada in 1989. Two regular patties on a hamburger bun with one slice of mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce., Kiwiburger – In the 1990s, New Zealand sold a burger reflecting their national icon the Kiwi. It was a single beef patty hamburger, with egg (identical to the egg in McMuffins), cheese, lettuce, tomato, beetroot, onions, ketchup ("tomato sauce") and American mustard. It came in distinctive packaging with 46 classic Kiwi quotes, Kiwiana, and Kiwi sporting icons, which were also used in promotions of the burger. Complications with the cooking of the egg and the use of certain ingredients, that no other McDonald's burger had, saw the Kiwiburger discontinued. It has since returned occasionally to the menu for limited times., McChicken LT (McDonald's Chicken Lettuce and Tomato) was the chicken version of the McDLT featuring the same two-sided container as the McDLT except the packaging was yellow instead of white. It was introduced about the same time as the McDLT in the mid-1980s. The chicken was a grilled, unbreaded chicken breast placed on the heel of the bun in one of the compartments. The toppings were shredded lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise assembled on the top half of the bun in the other compartment. Cheese was an optional addition for an extra US$0.10. The grilled chicken breast was then basted with a brushing of melted butter. As with the McDLT, the consumer would finalize preparation of the sandwich by combining the hot and cool sides just prior to eating. The McChicken LT was discontinued in the Fall of 1987., McDLT – The McDLT (McDonald's Lettuce and Tomato) was sold in a novel form of packaging. The McDLT was introduced in the fall of 1984 as the Lettuce and Tomato Special. The meat and bottom half of the bun were prepared separately from the lettuce, tomato, American cheese, pickles, sauces, and top half of the bun. Both were then packaged into a specially designed two-sided styrofoam container. The consumer was then expected to finalize preparation of the sandwich by combining the hot and cool sides just prior to eating. It was discontinued between December 1990 and January 1991 due to environmental concerns with styrofoam., McDonald's Own Chocolaty Chip Cookie - mini-chocolate chip cookies which came in a small rectangular box., McChicken with tomato - added in some time in the 1980s., McDonaldland Cookies - cookies shaped like the McDonald's characters. originally came in a white box with a handle and later smaller rectangular boxes with cartoon images., McDouble Cruncher – two patties with a slice of cheese, chipotle BBQ sauce and crispy onions., McGrilled Chicken Classic – A sandwich featuring a grilled chicken breast portion that was introduced in September 1993 and was produced before being replaced by the Grilled Chicken Deluxe/Chicken McGrill., McLean Deluxe – A lower-calorie Quarter Pounder-type sandwich (introduced in 1991) containing 90% lean beef and 10% water with carrageenan, a seaweed extract, to hold the water and beef together. This item was otherwise identical to the Big N' Tasty and the McDLT., McRye – a hamburger on rye bread sold in Finland in late 1990s., McSoup – Campbell's Soup sold at McDonald's available in Broccoli & Cheese and Chicken Noodle. (This product is only sold in winter months in select markets)., McStuffin – a pocket sandwich available with various fillings. McStuffins were sold for a short time in 1993 and were discontinued that same year because of their lack of popularity., McWraps – Inspired in the Mexican burritos Chicken Caesar, Chicken and Garden Salad wraps served toasted in a thick herb flatbread. McWraps is still offered in some parts of Europe (for instance in Denmark and Croatia)., Michael Dean Perry burger, for the then Cleveland Browns star., Mighty Wings – deep-fried spicy chicken wings. McDonald's began selling these in 1990 as an optional item and stopped selling them in 2003. They are still sold in China, Spain, Samoa, and the U.S. Virgin Island of St Croix as of March 6, 2010. Also sold as McWings in Pakistan, they were discontinued for a while but relaunched. On September 9, 2013, McDonald's brought the Mighty Wings back to its menus in all of its American restaurants as a limited time offer available until November 2013. The Mighty Wings did not sell well its second time around in the U.S. The main problems cited with the Mighty Wings was the price point versus the amount purchased. Compared with competitors, the pricing was determined to be too high, but McDonald's stated that due to overruns in purchasing, the company could not sell them at lower prices without losing money. On February 24, 2014, McDonald's decided to put them back on the menu for a limited engagement to liquidate the remaining inventory at a lower price in all U.S. locations., Morning Mac - A breakfast sandwich featuring the same ingredients as the Sausage McMuffin with Egg, but with two slices of cheese and two sausage patties. Sold in 2003 and 2004 at selected McDonald's restaurants in Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky., Mozzarella sticks - 3 fried cheese sticks with marinara sauce on the side. Was on the Dollar Menu & More menu from December 2015 to March 2016., Super Size was McDonald's restaurants' largest size on their french fries and soft drinks. The documentary film Super Size Me had a negative effect on the image and popularity of the Super Size fries and drinks offering. In the United States, McDonald's began to phase out the supersized option from their regular menu in March 2004. The company stated the need to simplify their menu and to offer healthier food choices., Onion Nuggets – introduced at the same time as the Beefsteak Sandwich as the side item for the Dinner Menu. Onion Nuggets were chopped onions shaped into small solid pieces, dipped in batter and deep-fried., Philly Cheesesteak – Slices of steak and Swiss cheese with onions. Served until August 2007 at Australian and American McDonald's. This sandwich is still available in Canada, made with cheese spread and green bell pepper., Pizza / McPizza – McDonald's has also attempted pizza at various times, with an apple-pie–like McPizza and more conventional McDonald's Pizza. A line of personal-sized pizzas was first seen in the late 1970s in test-market stores near interstate highways around Milwaukee and Madison. In Canada (c. 1992–99), the pizza originally began as a family-sized pizza that was brought out to the table by an employee and placed on a raised rack in the centre of the table. Later it was scaled down to a personal-sized pizza. However, variations have found their way into some international markets such as India (the pie-like "Pizza McPuff"). McDonald's also test marketed a 14-inch, round, traditional-style pizza in Evansville, Indiana, and nearby Owensboro, Kentucky, in 1989. By 1991, the McDonald's test markets for pizza had grown to over 500 McDonald's locations before the pizza test was placed on hold. Pizza was discontinued in most restaurants by 2000. The reason for eliminating pizza from the menu was that it took 11 minutes to cook a pizza, and McDonald's wanted to keep its reputation for fast service. A decade later, two McDonald's locations, one in Pomeroy, Ohio, and the other in Spencer, West Virginia still offered the family style McPizza; the Ohio and West Virginia locations ceased serving pizzas in 2017. As of December 2019, two McDonald's locations in the USA, one located at a rest stop in Bloomfield, New Jersey, as well as a large McDonald's located in Orlando, Florida still serve the family style McPizza. The former offers pizza in a separate Pizza Station section, alongside an Ice Cream dessert bar, a SuperPretzel machine, a bar selling wraps, a convenience store, and an arcade cabinet, the latter offers artisan-style McPizza made in an artisan-style oven., Roast Beef on a Roll – A roast beef sandwich made just like the Arby's roast beef sandwich. Sold in 1968., Root Beer Float – A combination of vanilla soft-serve ice cream and root beer., Rory Sparrow burger was sold in the Sacramento area. It was named after the Sacramento Kings star., Salad Shakers – A salad of lettuce, croutons and other vegetables in a tall dome-shaped plastic container. Salad Shakers were introduced in the spring of 2000 and are still available in the Netherlands., Son of Mac – Also known as the Mini Mac or Baby Mac, a version with only one patty and no centre roll piece. It sold as a Baby Mac in New Zealand, was sold in Australia, and is now discontinued. Served by some stores in the United States under the moniker "Mac Jr". It's still sold in places in Canada, known as the "kid's mac", McSpicy Burger – Once released, it was cancelled for short time until it resurfaced and is now served in Philippine markets only., Southern Fried-Chicken – Was sold in Australia up until mid-1986. This was available as a two-piece (or three-piece) pack including French Fries. This was replaced by the current McNugget range, as the nuggets became cheaper to produce and safer to cook., Spanish Omelet Bagel – existed during the mid-to-late 2000s. Now discontinued., Spicy Chicken – Chicken breast with spicy breading introduced in 2006. (Still offered in some U.S. markets.), Strawberry Shortcake McFlurry – Vanilla soft-serve ice cream with strawberry topping and Vanilla Cookie pieces mixed together., Superhero Burger – Featuring 3 patties, yellow American cheese, white American cheese, tomato, lettuce, onion, and mayo all laid out on an elongated bun like a hero sandwich. The burger was released as part of the "Taste of the Month" series that McDonald's ran in 1995 where they had a new burger every month. The Superhero Burger was also tied into the promo campaign for the film Batman Forever and the ads for it featured Batman and the Batmobile., Thome Triple was sold in the Cleveland, Ohio area. It was named after Cleveland Indians first baseman Jim Thome, Toasted ravioli - Sold in St. Louis from 1991 to 1995. Introduced with a commercial featuring the St. Louis arch sprouting a second arch., Torta – In 2000, the company released their own version of tortas, a Mexican sandwich, in Southern California on a trial basis., Triple Ripple – A mixed cone with strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate, topped with a plastic top., Triple-Double Burger – A burger featuring three beef patties and two slices of cheese, served on the same 6 inch (15.2 cm) sesame seed roll as the McRib. It was originally marketed as the Superhero Burger to promote the release of the 1995 film Batman Forever. It was also sold under the names of local sports stars in at least five markets in the 1990s and in the Cleveland area in the early 2000s (decade):, Upside Down Iced Tea – A new cup tested at select locations in the southeast United States in the late 1990s. It featured an ice compartment at top of the cup to keep the beverage cold. It was quickly discontinued. List of Burger King products – Video on a taste test of a McPizza from one of the two locations still selling it. This history of McDonald's is an overview of the original restaurant and of the chain. The McDonald family moved from Manchester, New Hampshire to Hollywood, California in the late 1930s, where brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald ("Dick" and "Mac") began working as set movers and handymen at Motion-Picture studios. In 1937, their father Patrick McDonald opened "The Airdrome", a food stand, on Huntington Drive (Route 66) near the Monrovia Airport in the Los Angeles County city of Monrovia, California with hot dogs being one of the first items sold. Hamburgers were later added to the menu at a cost of ten cents with all-you-can-drink orange juice at five cents. In 1940, Maurice and Richard moved the entire building east, to West 14th and 1398 North E Streets in San Bernardino, California. The restaurant was renamed "McDonald's Bar-B- Que" and had 25 menu items, mostly barbecue. In October 1948, after the McDonald brothers realized that most of their profits came from selling hamburgers, they closed down their successful carhop drive-in to establish a streamlined system with a simple menu which consisted of only hamburgers, cheeseburgers, potato chips, coffee, soft drinks, and apple pie. After the first year, potato chips and pie were swapped out for french fries and milkshakes. The carhops were eliminated, making the new restaurant a self- service operation. Richard and Maurice took great care in setting up their kitchen like an assembly line to ensure maximum efficiency. The restaurant's name was changed again, this time to simply "McDonald's," and reopened on December 12, 1948. In April 1952, the brothers decided they needed an entirely new building in order to achieve two goals: further efficiency improvements, and a more eye-catching appearance. They collected recommendations for an architect and interviewed at least four, finally choosing Stanley Clark Meston, an architect practicing in nearby Fontana. The brothers and Meston worked together closely in the design of their new building. They achieved the extra efficiencies they needed by, among other things, drawing the actual measurements of every piece of equipment in chalk on a tennis court behind the McDonald house (with Meston's assistant Charles Fish). The new restaurant's design achieved a high level of noticeability thanks to gleaming surfaces of red and white ceramic tile, stainless steel, brightly colored sheet metal, and glass; pulsing red, white, yellow, and green neon; and two 25-foot yellow sheet-metal arches trimmed in neon, called "golden arches" even at the design stage. A third, smaller arch sign at the roadside hosted a pudgy character in a chef's hat, known as Speedee, striding across the top, trimmed in animated neon. Further marketing techniques were implemented to change McDonald's from a sit down restaurant to a fast food chain. They used such things as turning off the heating to prevent people wanting to stay so long, fixed and angled seating so the customer would sit over their food promoting them to eat faster, spreading the seats further apart so being less of a sociable place to dine in, and giving their customers branded cone shaped cups forcing them to hold their drink whilst eating which would speed up the eating process. Other companies followed McDonald's strategies to turn their own restaurants into fast food establishments, in the 1950s, including Burger King and White Castle. In late 1953, with only a rendering of Meston's design in hand, the brothers began seeking franchisees. Their first franchisee was Neil Fox, a distributor for General Petroleum Corporation. Fox's stand, the first with Meston's golden arches design, opened in May 1953 at Central Avenue and Indian School Road in Phoenix, Arizona. Their second franchisee was the team of Fox's brother-in-law Roger Williams and Burdette "Bud" Landon, both of whom also worked for General Petroleum. Williams and Landon opened their stand on August 18, 1953 at 10207 Lakewood Boulevard in Downey, California. The Downey stand has the distinction of being the oldest surviving McDonald's restaurant. The Downey stand was never required to comply with the McDonald's Corporation's remodeling and updating requests over the years because it was franchised not by the McDonald's Corporation, but by the McDonald brothers themselves to Williams and Landon. In 1954, Ray Kroc, a seller of Prince Castle brand Multimixer milkshake machines, learned that the McDonald brothers were using eight of his machines in their San Bernardino restaurant. His curiosity was piqued, and he went to take a look at the restaurant. He was joined by good friend Charles Lewis who had suggested to Kroc several improvements to the McDonald's burger recipe. At this point, the McDonald brothers had six franchise locations in operation. Believing the McDonald's formula was a ticket to success, Kroc suggested they franchise their restaurants throughout the country. The brothers were skeptical, however, that the self-service approach could succeed in colder, rainier climates; furthermore, their thriving business in San Bernardino, and franchises already operating or planned, made them reluctant to risk a national venture. Kroc offered to take the major responsibility for setting up the new franchises elsewhere. He returned to his home outside of Chicago with rights to set up McDonald's restaurants throughout the country, except in a handful of territories in California and Arizona already licensed by the McDonald brothers. The brothers were to receive one-half of one percent of gross sales. Kroc's first McDonald's restaurant opened on April 15, 1955, at 400 North Lee Street in Des Plaines, Illinois, near Chicago. The Des Plaines interior and exterior was painted by master painter Eugene Wright, who owned Wright's Decorating Service. Eugene was asked to come up with a color scheme and he chose yellow and white, with dark brown and red being secondary trim colors. Those colors would go on to become the colors of all McDonald's franchises. The restaurant was demolished in 1984. Recognizing its historic and nostalgic value, in 1990 the McDonald's Corporation acquired the stand and rehabilitated it to a modern but nearly original condition, and then built an adjacent museum and gift shop to commemorate the site now called McDonald's #1 Store Museum. Once the Des Plaines restaurant had become operational, Kroc sought franchisees for his McDonald's chain. The first snag came quickly. In 1956 he discovered that the McDonald brothers had licensed the franchise rights for Cook County, Illinois to the Frejlach Ice Cream Company. Kroc was incensed that the McDonalds had not informed him of this arrangement. He purchased the rights back for $25,000 ($ today), five times what the Frejlacks had originally paid, and pressed forward. In 1956, Ray Kroc met Harry J. Sonneborn, a former VP of finance for Tastee- Freez, who offered an idea to accelerate the growth and investment grade of Kroc's planned McDonald's operation: Own the real estate that future franchises would be built on. Kroc hired Sonneborn and his plan was executed through forming a separate company called Franchise Realty Corp. which was solely designed to hold McDonald's real estate. The new company signed leases and took out mortgages for both lands and buildings, in turn then passing these costs on to the franchisee with a 20-40% markup and a reduced initial deposit of $950. The "Sonneborn model" of real estate ownership within the franchise persists to this day, possibly being the most important financial decision in the company's history. McDonald's present-day real estate holdings represent $37.7Bn on its balance sheet, about 99% of the company's assets and 35% of its annual gross revenue. McDonald's grew slowly for its first three years. By 1958, there were 34 restaurants. In 1959, Harry Sonneborn became the president and CEO of McDonald's. The same year, the company opened 68 new restaurants, bringing the total to 102 locations. In 1960, the McDonald's advertising campaign "Look for the Golden Arches" gave sales a big boost. Kroc believed that advertising was an investment that would in the end come back many times over, and advertising has always played a key role in the development of the McDonald's Corporation. In 1962, McDonald's introduced its now world-famous Golden Arches logo. A year later, the company sold its millionth hamburger and introduced Ronald McDonald, a red-haired clown designed to appeal to children. In the early 1960s, McDonald's really began to take off. The growth in U.S. automobile use that came with suburbanization and the interstate highway system contributed heavily to McDonald's success. In 1961 Kroc's conflict over the vision of the company with the founding brothers had grown to an unbearable extent, and he asked them how much money they wanted to leave their business to him entirely. The brothers asked for $2.7 million (about $21.6 million in today's dollars), which Kroc did not have. Harry J. Sonneborn was able to raise the money for him, and Kroc bought the founding brothers out. This purchase laid the groundwork to positioning the company for an IPO and furthering the aim at making McDonald's the number one fast-food chain in the country. The exact process of how the company was sold is not well-recorded; it is depicted as hostile takeover sides Ray Kroc in the movie The Founder but that portrayal is disputed, and interviews of the time speak of a more voluntary transition. In 1965, McDonald's Corporation went public. Common shares were offered at $22.50 per share. By the end of the first day's trading, the price had risen to $30. A block of 100 shares purchased for $2,250 in 1965 was worth, after 12 stock splits (increasing the number of shares to 74,360), over $5.7 million as of year-end market close on December 31, 2010. In 1980, McDonald's Corporation became one of the 30 companies that make up the Dow Jones Industrial Average. McDonald's success in the 1960s was in large part due to the company's skillful marketing and flexible response to customer demand. In 1962, the Filet-O-Fish sandwich, billed as "the fish that catches people", was introduced in McDonald's restaurants. The new item had originally met with disapproval from Kroc, but after its successful test marketing, he eventually agreed to add it. Another item that Kroc had backed a year previously, a burger with a slice of pineapple and a slice of cheese, known as a "hulaburger", had flopped (both it and the Filet-O-Fish were developed in Catholic neighborhoods where burger sales dropped off markedly on Fridays and during Lent). The market was not quite ready for Kroc's taste; the hulaburger's tenure on the McDonald's menu board was short. Kroc and Sonneborn had a falling-out over expansion of McDonalds and Sonneborn resigned in 1967; Croc took over the title of CEO and president. In 1968 the now legendary Big Mac made its debut, and in 1969 McDonald's sold its five billionth hamburger. Two years later, as it launched the "You Deserve a Break Today" advertising campaign, McDonald's restaurants had reached all 50 states. In 1968, McDonald's opened its 1,000th restaurant, and Fred L. Turner became the company's president and chief administrative officer. Kroc became chairman and remained CEO until 1973. Turner had originally intended to open a McDonald's franchise, but when he had problems with his backers over a location, he went to work as a grillman for Kroc in 1956. As operations vice president, Turner helped new franchisees get their stores up and running. He was constantly looking for new ways to perfect the McDonald's system, experimenting, for example, to determine the maximum number of hamburger patties one could stack in a box without squashing them and pointing out that seconds could be saved if McDonald's used buns that were presliced all the way through and were not stuck together in the package. Such attention to detail was one reason for the company's extraordinary success. By the late 1960s, many of the candy-striped Golden Arches stores had been modified with enclosed walk-up order areas and limited indoor seating. In June 1969, McDonald's introduced a new "mansard roof" building design featuring indoor seating. The natural brick and cedar shake look mansards were a response to critics who berated McDonald's architecture as too garish. It became the standard for McDonald's restaurants, and franchise holders were ultimately required to demolish older restaurants and replace them with the new design. The first McDonald's restaurant using the "mansard roof" design opened that same year in the Chicago suburb of Matteson. McDonald's spectacular growth continued in the 1970s. Americans were more on-the-go than ever, and fast service was a priority. In 1972, the company passed $1 billion in annual sales. By 1976, McDonald's had served 20 billion hamburgers, and system wide sales exceeded $3 billion. The company pioneered breakfast fast food with the introduction of the Egg McMuffin in 1972 when market research indicated that a quick breakfast would be welcomed by consumers. Five years later McDonald's added a full breakfast line to the menu, and by 1987 a quarter of all breakfasts eaten out in the United States came from McDonald's restaurants. In test market locations, such as New York City, McDonald's added a full breakfast line to its menus in 1975. Kroc was a firm believer in giving "something back into the community where you do business". In 1974 McDonald's acted upon that philosophy in an original way by opening the first Ronald McDonald House, in Philadelphia, to provide a "home away from home" for the families of children in nearby hospitals. Twelve years after this first house opened, 100 similar Ronald McDonald Houses were in operation across the United States. There was some skepticism in the company's phenomenal growth internationally. When Wally and Hugh Morris approached the corporation in 1974 to bring McDonald's into New Zealand, they were firmly shunned by Kroc, citing a visit to the country and saying "There aren't any people... I never met a more dead-than-alive hole in my life." Persistence by the brothers eventually led to their request being granted in May 1975. They managed to negotiate a deal with the corporation by selling New Zealand cheese to the US to offset the high costs of importing plant equipment. The first New Zealand restaurant opened in June 1976 at Porirua, near Wellington, to much more success than the corporation predicted. In 1975, McDonald's opened its first drive-thru window in Sierra Vista, Arizona, following Wendy's lead. This service gave Americans a fast, convenient way to procure a quick meal. The company's goal was to provide service in 50 seconds or less. Drive-thru sales eventually accounted for more than half of McDonald's systemwide sales. Meantime, the Happy Meal, a combo meal for children featuring a toy, was added to the menu in 1979. A period of aggressive advertising campaigns and price slashing in the early 1980s became known as the "burger wars". Burger King suggested to customers: "have it your way"; Wendy's offered itself as the "fresh alternative" and launched their "Where's the beef?" campaign. McDonald's sales and market still predominated, however. During the 1980s, a period of substantial expansion, McDonald's further diversified its menu to suit changing consumer tastes. The company introduced the McChicken in 1980; it proved to be a sales disappointment, and was replaced with Chicken McNuggets a year later (having originally been invented by Rene Arend in 1979). In 1985, ready-to-eat salads were introduced. Efficiency, combined with an expanded menu, continued to draw customers. McDonald's began to focus on urban centers and introduced new architectural styles. The first McDonald's Express locations opened in 1991. These are smaller-scale prototypes, usually constructed in prefabricated buildings or urban storefronts, that do not feature certain menu items such as milkshakes and Quarter Pounders. In 1992 Michael R. Quinlan became president of McDonald's Corporation, and Fred L. Turner became chairman. Quinlan, who took over as CEO in 1987, had started at McDonald's in the mail room in 1963, and gradually worked his way up. In his first year as CEO, the company opened 600 new restaurants. By 1991, 37 percent of system-wide sales came from restaurants outside the United States. McDonald's opened its first foreign restaurant in British Columbia, Canada, in 1967. By the early 1990s the company had established itself in 58 foreign countries, and operated more than 3,600 restaurants outside the United States, through wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, and franchise agreements. Its strongest foreign markets were Japan, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, Australia, and France. In the mid-1980s, McDonald's, like other traditional employers of teenagers, was faced with a shortage of labor in the United States. The company met this challenge by being the first to entice retirees back into the workforce. Focusing on off-site training, it opened its Hamburger University in 1961 to train franchisees and corporate decision- makers. By 1990, more than 40,000 people had received "Bachelor of Hamburgerology" degrees from the Oak Brook, Illinois, facility. The corporation opened a Hamburger University in Tokyo in 1971, in Munich in 1975, and in London in 1982. Braille menus were first introduced in 1979, and picture menus in 1988. In March 1992, combination Braille and picture menus were reintroduced to accommodate those with vision, speech, or hearing impairments. Clamshell grills, which cooked both sides of a hamburger simultaneously, were tested. New locations such as hospitals and military bases were tapped as sites for new restaurants. In response to the increase in microwave oven usage, McDonald's, whose name is the single most advertised brand name in the world, stepped up advertising and promotional expenditures stressing that its taste was superior to quick-packaged foods. The first McDonald's in Mainland China opened in Dongmen, Shenzhen in October 1990. McRecycle USA began in 1990 and included a commitment to purchase at least $100 million worth of recycled products annually for use in construction, remodeling, and equipping restaurants. Chairs, table bases, table tops, eating counters, table columns, waste receptacles, corrugated cartons, packaging, and washroom tissue were all made from recycled products. McDonald's worked with the U.S. Environmental Defense Fund to develop a comprehensive solid waste reduction program. Wrapping burgers in paper rather than plastic led to a 90 percent reduction in the wrapping material waste stream. It took McDonald's 33 years to open its first 10,000 restaurants. The 10,000th unit opened in April 1988. Incredibly, the company reached the 20,000-restaurant mark in only eight more years, in mid-1996. By the end of 1997 the total had surpassed 23,000, and by that time McDonald's was opening 2,000 new restaurants each year, an average of five every day. Much of the growth of the 1990s came outside the US, with international units increasing from about 3,600 in 1991 to more than 11,000 by 1998. The number of countries with McDonald's outlets nearly doubled from 59 in 1991 to 114 in late 1998. In 1993, a new region was added to the empire when the first McDonald's in the Middle East opened in Tel Aviv, Israel. As the company entered new markets, it showed increasing flexibility with respect to local food preferences and customs. In Israel, for example, the first kosher McDonald's opened in a Jerusalem suburb in 1995. In Arab countries the restaurant chain used "Halal" menus, which complied with Islamic laws for food preparation. In 1996 McDonald's entered India for the first time, where it offered a Big Mac made with lamb called the Maharaja Mac. That same year the first McSki-Thru opened in Lindvallen, Sweden. Overall, the company derived increasing percentages of its revenue and income from outside the US. In 1992 about two-thirds of systemwide sales came from U.S. McDonald's, but by 1997 that figure was down to about 51 percent. Similarly, the operating income numbers showed a reduction from about 60 percent of sales derived from the US in 1992 to 42.5 percent in 1997. In the US, the number of units grew from 9,000 in 1991 to 12,500 in 1997, an increase of about 40 percent. Although the additional units increased market share in some markets, a number of franchisees complained that new units were cannibalizing sales from existing ones. Same-store sales for outlets open for more than one year were flat in the mid-1990s, a reflection of both the greater number of units and the mature nature of the U.S. market. The Extra Value Meal, a burger, fries and drink combination deal, was introduced from 1993, originally as part of a Jurassic Park-themed tie-in. The company made several notable blunders in the US in the 1990s which hurt stateside profits. The McLean Deluxe sandwich, which featured a 91 percent fat-free beef patty, was introduced in 1991, never really caught on, and was dropped from the menu in February 1996 to make room for the Arch Deluxe, itself an underperforming product. The "grown-up" (and pricey) Arch Deluxe sandwich was launched in May 1996 and the Deluxe Line was launched in September 1996 in a $200 million campaign to gain the business of more adults, but were bombs. The following spring brought a 55-cent Big Mac promotion, which many customers either rejected outright or were confused by because the burgers had to be purchased with full-priced fries and a drink. The promotion embittered still more franchisees, whose complaints led to its withdrawal. In July 1997 McDonald's fired its main ad agency, Leo Burnett, a 15-year McDonald's partner, after the nostalgic "My McDonald's" campaign proved a failure. Several other 1990s-debuted menu items, including fried chicken, pasta, fajitas, and pizza failed as well. A seemingly weakened McDonald's was the object of a Burger King offensive when the rival fast-food maker launched the Big King sandwich, a Big Mac clone. Meanwhile, internal taste tests revealed that customers preferred the fare at Wendy's and Burger King. In response to these difficulties, McDonald's drastically cut back on its U.S. expansion. In contrast to the 1,130 units opened in 1995, only about 400 new McDonald's were built in 1997. Plans to open hundreds of smaller restaurants in Wal-Marts and gasoline stations were abandoned because test sites did not meet targeted goals. Reacting to complaints from franchisees about poor communication with the corporation and excess bureaucracy, the head of McDonald's U.S.A. (Jack M. Greenberg, who had assumed the position in October 1996) reorganized the unit into five autonomous geographic divisions. The aim was to bring management and decision-making closer to franchisees and customers. On the marketing side, McDonald's scored big in 1996 and 1997 with a Teenie Beanie Baby promotion in which about 80 million of the toys/collectibles were gobbled up virtually overnight. The chain received some bad publicity, however, when it was discovered that a number of customers purchased Happy Meals just to get the toys and threw the food away. For a similar spring 1998 Teenie Beanie giveaway, the company altered the promotion to allow patrons to buy menu items other than kids' meals. McDonald's also began to benefit from a seven years global marketing alliance signed with Disney/Pixar in 1998. Initial Disney/Pixar movies promoted by McDonald's included A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. Perhaps the most important marketing move came in the later months of 1997 when McDonald's named DDB Needham as its new lead ad agency. Needham had been the company's agency in the 1970s and was responsible for the hugely successful "You Deserve a Break Today" campaign. Late in 1997, McDonald's launched the Needham-designed "Did Somebody Say McDonald's?" campaign, which appeared to be an improvement over its predecessors. Following the difficulties of the early and mid-1990s, several moves in 1998 seemed to indicate a reinvigorated McDonald's. In February the company for the first time took a stake in another fast-food chain when it purchased a minority interest in the 16-unit, Colorado-based Chipotle Mexican Grill chain. The following month came the announcement that McDonald's would improve the taste of several sandwiches and introduce several new menu items. McFlurry desserts, developed by a Canadian franchisee in 1997, proved popular when launched in the United States in the summer of 1998. That same month, McDonald's said that it would overhaul its food preparation system in every U.S. restaurant. The new just-in-time system, dubbed "Made for You", was in development for a number of years and aimed to deliver to customers "fresher, hotter food"; enable patrons to receive special-order sandwiches (a perk long offered by rivals Burger King and Wendy's); and allow new menu items to be more easily introduced thanks to the system's enhanced flexibility. The expensive changeover was expected to cost about $25,000 per restaurant, with McDonald's offering to pay for about half of the cost; the company planned to provide about $190 million in financial assistance to its franchisees before implementation was completed by year-end 1999. In May 1998, Greenberg was named president and CEO of McDonald's Corporation, with Quinlan remaining chairman; at the same time Alan D. Feldman, who had joined the company only four years earlier from Pizza Hut, replaced Greenberg as president of McDonald's U.S.A., an unusual move for a company whose executives typically were long-timers. The following month brought another first, McDonald's first job cuts. The company said it would eliminate 525 employees from its headquarters staff, a cut of about 23 percent. In the second quarter of 1998 McDonald's took a $160 million charge in relation to the cuts. As a result, the company, for the first time since it went public in 1965, recorded a decrease in net income, from $1.64 billion in 1997 to $1.55 billion in 1998. McDonald's followed up its investment in Chipotle with several more moves beyond the burger business. In March 1999 the company bought Aroma Café, a UK chain of 23 upscale coffee and sandwich shops. In July of that year McDonald's added Donatos Pizza, a midwestern chain of 143 pizzerias based in Columbus, Ohio. Donatos had revenues of $120 million in 1997. In 1999, McDonald's 25,000th unit opened, Greenberg took on the additional post of chairman, and Jim Cantalupo was named company president. Cantalupo, who had joined the company as controller in 1974 and later became head of McDonald's International, had been vice-chairman, a position he retained. In May 2000 McDonald's completed its largest acquisition yet, buying the bankrupt Boston Market chain for $173.5 million in cash and debt. At the time, there were more than 850 Boston Market outlets, which specialized in home-style meals, with rotisserie chicken the lead menu item. Revenue at Boston Market during 1999 totaled $670 million. McDonald's rounded out its acquisition spree in early 2001 by buying a 33 percent stake in Pret A Manger, an upscale urban-based chain specializing in ready-to-eat sandwiches made on the premises. There were more than 110 Pret shops in the United Kingdom and several more in New York City. Also during 2001, McDonald's sold off Aroma Café and took its McDonald's Japan affiliate public, selling a minority stake through an initial public offering. As it was exploring new avenues of growth, McDonald's core burger chain had become plagued by problems. Most prominently, the Made for You system backfired. Although many franchisees believed that it succeeded in improving the quality of the food, it also increased service times and proved labor- intensive. Some franchisees also complained that the actual cost of implementing the system ran much higher than the corporation had estimated, a charge that McDonald's contested. In any case, there was no question that Made for You failed to reverse the chain's sluggish sales. Growth in sales at stores open more than a year (known as same-store sales) fell in both 2000 and 2001. Late in 2001 the company launched a restructuring involving the elimination of about 850 positions, 700 of which were in the US, and several restaurant closings. In 2000, a McDonald's in Dearborn, Michigan in Greater Detroit was the first one in Michigan and the only one east of the Mississippi River to offer halal food for Muslim customers. There were further black eyes as well. McDonald's was sued in 2001 after it was revealed that for flavoring purposes a small amount of beef extract was being added to the vegetable oil used to cook the french fries. The company had cooked its fries in beef tallow until 1990, when it began claiming in ads that it used 100 percent vegetable oil. McDonald's soon apologized for any "confusion" that had been caused by its use of the beef flavoring, and in mid-2002 it reached a settlement in the litigation, agreeing to donate $10 million to Hindu, vegetarian, and other affected groups. Also in 2001, further embarrassment came when 51 people were charged with conspiring to rig McDonald's game promotions over the course of several years. It was revealed that $24 million of winning McDonald's game tickets had been stolen as part of the scam. McDonald's was not implicated in the scheme, which centered on a worker at an outside company that had administered the promotions. McDonald's also had to increasingly battle its public image as a purveyor of fatty, unhealthy food. Consumers began filing lawsuits contending that years of eating at McDonald's had made them overweight. McDonald's responded by introducing low-calorie menu items and switching to a more healthful cooking oil for its french fries. McDonald's franchises overseas became a favorite target of people and groups expressing anti-American and/or anti-globalization sentiments. In August 1999 a group of protesters led by farmer José Bové destroyed a half-built McDonald's restaurant in Millau, France. In 2002 Bové, who gained fame from the incident, served a three-month jail sentence for the act, which he said was in protest against U.S. trade protectionism. McDonald's was also one of three multinational corporations (along with Starbucks Corporation and Nike, Inc.) whose outlets in Seattle were attacked in late 1999 by some of the more aggressive protesters against a World Trade Organization meeting taking place there. In the early 2000s McDonald's pulled out of several countries, including Bolivia and two Middle Eastern nations, at least in part because of the negative regard with which the brand was held in some areas. Early in 2002, Cantalupo retired after 28 years of service. Sales remained lackluster that year, and in October the company attempted to revive U.S. sales through the introduction of a low-cost Dollar Menu. In December 2002, after this latest initiative to reignite sales growth failed and also after profits fell in seven of the previous eight quarters, Greenberg announced that he would resign at the end of the year. Cantalupo came out of retirement to become chairman and CEO at the beginning of 2003. Cantalupo started his tenure by announcing a major restructuring that involved the 2002 quarterly loss, which included the closure of more than 700 restaurants (mostly in the United States and Japan), the elimination of 600 jobs, and charges of $853 million. The charges resulted in a fourth-quarter 2002 loss of $343.8 million, the first quarterly loss in McDonald's 38 years as a public company. The new CEO also shifted away from the company's traditional reliance on growth through the opening of new units to a focus on gaining more sales from existing units. By 2003, with Ray Kroc's McDonald's Corporation nearly 50 and the McDonald's fast food restaurant concept itself old enough to qualify for AARP membership, the brand had perhaps become too familiar and sales figures stalled. Analysts, management, owners, and customers alike recognized that the aged chain required revivification. The question in need of solution was: How should McDonald's reinvent itself without losing its core values and maintain relevance in the marketplace? To that end, several new menu items were successfully launched, including entree salads, McGriddles breakfast sandwiches (which used pancakes in place of bread), and white-meat Chicken McNuggets. Some outlets began test-marketing fruits and vegetables as Happy Meal options. It was quickly determined that focus on customer experience was key in reversing the slippage. Then, a new global marketing campaign was adopted which was designed around the notion of the "Rolling Energy" phase. Launched on September 29, 2003, the campaign began featuring youthful images, hip music, and pop culture celebrities touting the tagline, "I'm lovin' it". Next, James R. Cantalupo was called back from retirement to head the corporation and its efforts to recapture golden luster. His plan was to keep things simple with a focus on the basics like customer service, clean restrooms, and reliable appealing food (not unlike Ray Kroc's mantra of QSC and V: Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value). In addition to the basics he determined to position the company with a more modern coherent image in order to foster a McDonald's "experience" for customers. More than an advertising campaign he and his team approved sweeping new architecture for McDonald's restaurants, the first major overhaul since 1969 when the now universally recognized signature double mansard roof became standard. In fact, Mr. Cantalupo personally approved abandonment of the ubiquitous and familiar mansard in favor of what became the "Forever Young" prototype topped with its swish eyebrow. This was the first global campaign in McDonald's history, as the new slogan was to be used in advertising in more than 100 countries. It also proved to be the first truly successful ad campaign in years; sales began rebounding, helped also by improvements in service. Cantalupo did not live to see the fruits of his labor and he died in 2004 just as his modern vision for McDonald's was getting underway. Nonetheless he had set things into motion causing a paradigm shift for the company resulting in a refreshed image without a dilution of brand identity. In December 2003, for instance, same- store sales increased 7.3 percent. Same-store sales rose 2.4 percent for the entire year, after falling 2.1 percent in 2002. Also, in that month, McDonald's announced that it would further its focus on its core hamburger business by downsizing its other ventures. The company said that it would sell Donatos back to that chain's founder. In addition, it would discontinue development of non-McDonald's brands outside of the United States. This included Boston Market outlets in Canada and Australia and Donatos units in Germany. McDonald's kept its minority investment in Pret A Manger, but McDonald's Japan was slated to close its Pret units there. These moves would enable the company to concentrate its international efforts on the McDonald's chain, while reducing the non-hamburger brands in the United States to Chipotle and Boston Market, both of which were operating in the black. McDonald's continued to curtail store openings in 2004 and to concentrate on building business at existing restaurants. Much of the more than $1.5 billion budgeted for capital expenditures in 2004 was slated to be used to remodel existing restaurants. McDonald's also aimed to pay down debt by $400 million to $700 million and to return approximately $1 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. Cantalupo also set several long-term goals, such as sustaining annual systemwide sales and revenue growth rates of 3 to 5 percent. In a move to both simplify the menu and make its offerings less fattening, McDonald's announced in March 2004 that it would phase out Super Size french fries and soft drinks by the end of the year. In the 1960s, the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s, "no loitering" had been McDonald's motto. Ray Kroc had decreed upon the origins of his version of the chain that pay telephones, jukeboxes, and vending machines of any kind were forbidden at McDonald's restaurants. The goal had been to quickly serve customers and not force them to stay in the restaurants any longer than it took them to eat a hamburger. Along that line of thinking, dining areas were designed with minimalist hard plastic tables and chairs which were more often than not bolted in place. Thus customers consumed their fast food in scant comfort without dillydally allowing room for the next hurrying customers. With the new "Forever Young" design (adopted in 2006), the first major redesign since 1969, McDonald's turned a new page for itself. New and remodeled restaurants feature dining zones with "distinct personalities". Most of them offer three sections or zones. A linger zone was designed to accommodate people who were inclined to dawdle and socialize while sitting comfortably on armchairs or sofas using free wifi access. Another zone offers counters and stools for patrons in a hurry who might just grab and go. The third and perhaps most important zone is the one for families or groups where seating arrangements can be reconfigured to meet a variety of needs. Harsh colors and hard plastics have been replaced with custom earth tones and flexible, padded, fabric-covered booth-seating, all in hopes of engaging diners to loiter and perhaps spend more money. In addition to architecture and furnishings, the McDonald's menu has been tweaked to offer a larger variety of what the corporation refers to as more healthy food. McDonald's franchises are required to follow the directions of the parent company and perhaps more than a few have complained about the Forever Young changes. First, customers needed to recognize the mansard buildings and identify McDonald's with them—a new look may initially generate some degree of confusion. The next objection is cost: as of 2008, a newly built swish-brow store was said to cost upwards of $1 million and renovation of an existing unit to meet the new standards as much as $400,000. With a large percentage of sales from drive-in business, franchises could argue that the expensive interior redesign is unwarranted for their bottom lines. In May 2010, McDonald's redesigned its US website to a sleeker, HTML 5 friendly interface. Along with those changes, McDonald's also introduced new advertising material to its website, including the unveiling of new pictures used exclusively for in-restaurant ads, television commercials, print advertising, and online advertising, which consist of more realistic pictures of its products, which are now up close and face the camera instead of facing left or right. In July 2011, McDonald's announced that their largest pop-up restaurant in the world would be built on the 2012 London Olympics site. The temporary restaurant contained over 1,500 seats and was half the length of an American football field. Over 470 staff were employed serving on average (during the 2012 Olympics) 100,000 portions of fries, 50,000 Big Macs and 30,000 Milkshakes. In January 2012, the company announced revenue for 2011 reached an all-time high of $27 billion, and that 2,400 restaurants would be updated and 1,300 new ones opened worldwide. In the middle of the decade, the restaurant began to suffer from declining profits. In response, McDonald's began to offer a limited selection of its breakfast menu all day starting in 2015. At first, the launch was unpopular with franchisees who claimed that the changes caused service to slow down. However, the plan paid off with CNBC reporting that the company's fourth quarter earnings "easily topped analysts' forecasts". 1937: Patrick McDonald opens a food and drinks stand called "The Airdrome" on historic Route 66 (now Huntington Drive) near the Monrovia Airport in Monrovia, California., 1940: Brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald move The Airdrome building east to San Bernardino, California, where they open the first McDonald's restaurant, near U.S. Route 66, at West 14th St and 1398 North E St., on May 15. Its menu consisted of 25 items, mostly barbecue. As was common at the time, they employed around 20 carhops. It became a popular and highly profitable teen hangout., 1948: After noticing that almost all of their profits came from hamburgers, the brothers closed the restaurant for several months to remodel it and implement their innovative "Speedee Service System", a streamlined assembly line for hamburgers. The carhops are fired, and when the restaurant reopens it sells only hamburgers, milkshakes, and french fries. At 15 cents, the burgers are about half as expensive as at standard diners, and they are served immediately. The restaurant is extremely successful, and its fame spreads by word of mouth. 1952: The brothers hire Southern California architect Stanley Clark Meston to design a replacement for the San Bernardino stand which is to have even greater efficiency and a more eye-catching appearance. Meston and his assistant Charles Fish deliver the Golden Arches design., 1952: The brothers begin to franchise their restaurant. The first franchisee is Neil Fox., 1953: Fox's McDonald's opens in May in Phoenix, Arizona at N. Central Ave and Indian School Road. It is the first to feature the Golden Arches design., 1953: The third McDonald's restaurant, franchised to Roger Williams and Burdette Landon, opens in Downey, California at the corner of Lakewood Blvd and Florence Avenue. Today it is the oldest McDonald's restaurant still in operation., 1954: Entrepreneur and milkshake-mixer salesman Ray Kroc becomes fascinated by the McDonald's restaurant during a sales visit, when he learns of its extraordinary capacity and popularity. Others who had visited the restaurant and come away inspired were James McLamore, founder of Burger King, and Glen Bell, founder of Taco Bell. After seeing the restaurant in operation, Kroc approaches the McDonald brothers, who have already begun franchising, with a proposition to let him franchise McDonald's restaurants outside the company's home base of California and Arizona, with himself as the first franchisee. Kroc works hard to sell McDonald's franchises. 1955: Ray Kroc founds "McDonald's Systems, Inc." on March 2, as a legal structure for his planned franchises. Kroc opens the ninth McDonald's restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois, in suburban Chicago on April 15., 1955: Ray Kroc hires Fred L. Turner (later CEO and Chairman) as a grillman in his store in Des Plaines., 1957: The original restaurant in San Bernardino is rebuilt with a golden arches design., 1958: First New England location opens in Hamden, Connecticut., 1958: McDonald's worldwide sells its 100 millionth hamburger., 1958: First Tampa Bay Area location of McDonald's opens in Tampa, Florida., 1959: First Hawaii location opens in Honolulu., 1959: First New York location opens in Buffalo., 1959: The 100th McDonald's restaurant opens in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin., 1959: McDonald's begins billboard advertising. 1960: First Massachusetts location of McDonald's opens in Boston., 1960: First Alaska location opens in Juneau., 1960: Kroc's company is renamed "McDonald's Corporation"., 1960: First Oregon location opens in Portland, 1961: The McDonald brothers agree to sell Kroc business rights to their operation for $2.7 million, a sum that Kroc borrows from a number of investors, including Princeton University; Kroc considers the sum extreme, and it strains his relationship with the brothers. In a handshake agreement, the brothers would also receive an overriding royalty of 1% on the gross sales. At the closing table the brothers told Kroc that they were giving the real estate and rights to the original unit to the founding employees. Kroc closed the transaction, then refused to acknowledge the royalty portion of the agreement because it wasn't in writing. The brothers keep their original restaurant, but in an oversight they fail to retain the right to remain a McDonald's franchise. It was renamed "The Big M", while Kroc drives it out of business by opening a McDonald's just one block north; he attended the opening in person. Had the brothers maintained their original agreement, which granted them 0.5% of the chain's annual revenues, they or their heirs would have been collecting in excess of $100 million per year today. Had Kroc adhered to the handshake agreement, these royalties would now be over $200 million a year., 1961: Hamburger University opens in the basement of the Elk Grove Village, Illinois, McDonald's restaurant. First Bachelor of Hamburgerology degrees were awarded to a graduating class of 15., 1961: The first Idaho location opens in Boise, 1961: The first McDonald's in Georgia opens in Doraville., 1962: McDonald's first national magazine ad appears in Life magazine., 1962: The first McDonald's restaurant with seating opens in Denver, Colorado., 1962: Market research shows that people identify McDonald's primarily with the golden arches; in response, the Speedee character is dropped and the Golden Arches logo is introduced., 1963: One of Kroc's marketing insights is his decision to advertise McDonald's hamburgers to families and children. Washington, D.C. franchisees John Gibson and Oscar Goldstein (Gee Gee Distributing Corporation) sponsor a children's show on WRC-TV called Bozo the Clown, a franchised character played by Willard Scott from 1959 until 1962. After the show was cancelled, Goldstein hires Scott to portray McDonald's new mascot, named Ronald McDonald. According to Scott, they wanted to pay him in stock, but Scott decided to take the money. Scott, looking nothing like the familiar appearance of any McDonaldland character as is known today, appeared in the first three television advertisements featuring the character. After changing the character's first name to "Ronald" and replacing Scott with a new actor, and giving him the more familiar red, white, and yellow clown features, the character eventually spreads to the rest of the country via an advertising campaign. Years later, an entire cast of "McDonaldland" characters is developed., 1963: The Filet-O-Fish is introduced in Cincinnati, Ohio, in a restaurant located in a neighborhood dominated by Roman Catholics who practiced abstinence (the avoidance of meat) on Fridays. It is the first new addition to the original menu, and goes national the following year, with fish supplied by Gorton's of Gloucester. See also Lou Groen, 1963: McDonald's sells its one billionth hamburger., 1963: First Washington state location opens in Tacoma, 1963: The 500th McDonald's restaurant opens in Toledo, Ohio., 1964: McDonald's issues its first annual report., 1964: First Rhode Island location opens in Warwick, Rhode Island., 1965: McDonald's Corporation goes public. Common shares are offered at $22.50 per share. By the end of the first day's trading, the price rises to $30., 1965: Third New England location opens in Windsor, Connecticut., 1967: The first McDonald's restaurant in a territory of the United States opens in San Juan, Puerto Rico., 1967: The first McDonald's restaurant outside the United States opens in Richmond, British Columbia., 1967: The chain's stand-alone restaurant design which is still most common today, with mansard roof and indoor seating, is introduced., 1968: The Big Mac (similar to the Big Boy hamburger), the brainchild of Jim Delligatti, one of Ray Kroc's earliest franchisees, who by the late 1960s operated a dozen stores in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is first introduced in the Pittsburgh market in 1967, before going system/nationwide a year later, following its great local success. The Hot Apple Pie is also introduced this year., 1968: The 1000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois., 1969: McDonald's begins building new mansard roof locations in the United States to replace the double arch-styled drive-in locations that had been the company's standard design since the 1950s. The first mansard roof McDonald's restaurant opens that same year in Matteson, Illinois. 1970: McDonald's opens in Costa Rica, its third country after the United States and Canada., 1970: Having changed hands in 1968, the original "Big M" restaurant closes. It is demolished two years later, with only part of the sign remaining; this has since been restored., 1971: The first Asian McDonald's opens in July in Japan, in Tokyo's Ginza district., 1971: On August 21, the first European McDonald's outlet opens, in Zaandam (near Amsterdam) in the Netherlands. The franchisee is Ahold., 1971: The first McDonald's in Germany (Munich) opens in November. It is the first McDonald's to sell alcohol, as it offers beer. Other European countries follow in the early 1970s., 1971: Maurice McDonald dies on December 11, 1971: The first Australian McDonald's opens in the Sydney suburb of Yagoona in December. The restaurant becomes known locally as "Maccas"., 1972: The McDonald's system generates $1 billion in sales through 2200 restaurants., 1972: The 2000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Des Plaines, Illinois., 1972: The first McDonald's in France opens, in Créteil, even though the company officially recognizes the first outlet in Strasbourg in 1979., 1972: The first McDonald's in New York City opens on Manhattan's Upper West Side, dubbed "Townhouse" (to reflect that it was not a drive-in) and serves a record 100,000 hamburgers in its first week., 1973: The first McDonald's Playland opens in Chula Vista, California., 1973: The first Swedish McDonald's restaurant opens in Stockholm, 23 October., 1973: The Quarter Pounder is introduced., 1973: The Egg McMuffin, invented by Herb Peterson, owner and operator of a Santa Barbara franchise, is introduced to the menu., 1974: On November 13, the first McDonald's in the United Kingdom opens in Woolwich, southeast London. It is the company's 3000th restaurant., 1974: The first Ronald McDonald House opens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., 1975: The first Hong Kong McDonald's opens in January in Paterson Street, in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong Island. It is also the first McDonald's restaurant in Greater China and the Four Asian Tigers., 1975: Drive-Thru is introduced in January in Sierra Vista, Arizona in order to serve meals to soldiers from nearby Fort Huachuca who were not allowed to wear BDUs while off post except while in a vehicle. The Drive-Thru is later known as "McDrive" in some countries., 1976: The first McDonald's in Switzerland, on Rue du Mont-Blanc in Geneva., 1976: McDonald's pays its first cash dividend, 1976: The 4000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Montréal, Canada., 1978: The 5000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Kanagawa, Japan., 1978: Hamburger University celebrates the graduation of its 15,000th student., 1979: The Happy Meal is introduced in the U.S., 1979: The first McDonald's in Southeast Asia opens, in Singapore. 1980: McDonald's introduces the McChicken sandwich, its first poultry item. It flops, and is removed from the menu, but is later reintroduced after Chicken McNuggets prove successful, 1980: The 6000th McDonald's restaurant opens in Munich, Germany., 1981: The Chicken McNuggets are introduced to the menu and become a success by early 1983., 1981: The first Ronald McDonald House outside the U.S. opens in Toronto, Ontario, Canada., 1981: The first McDonald's in the Philippines opens, in Morayta, Manila., 1982: The first McDonald's in Malaysia opens, at Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur., 1982: McDonald's stages an in-house rivalry between the Chicken McNuggets and the Big Mac as the advertising campaign involved the slogan "Which will be number one?"., 1983: After gaining much success, the McNuggets begin rolling out nationwide starting in January., 1984: The first McDonald's in Taiwan opens in January, at Songshan District, Taipei., 1984: Ray Kroc dies on January 14., 1984: The company is a main sponsor of the 1984 Summer Olympics. Its U.S. restaurants lose money on the game "When The US Wins, You Win" after the Soviet bloc nations boycott the Games, leading to a high number of medals won by the U.S (this is later parodied in an episode of The Simpsons, with Krusty the Klown's Krusty Burger chain suffering a similar fate)., 1984: McDonald's introduces its newest burger, the McDLT. Which stood for McDonald's lettuce and tomato burger that was served in specifically designed two-sided container. The meat on the bottom half of the bun were placed separately from the lettuce, American cheese, pickles, sauces and top half of the bun., 1984: On July 18, James Huberty committed the worst mass murder (at the time) in the US, when he opened fire at the San Ysidro branch, killing 21 people before he was gunned down by a SWAT team sniper., 1985: McDonald's opens its first restaurant in Italy, in Bolzano., 1985: Saul Kahan opens the first McDonald's restaurant in Mexico City, Mexico., 1986: Ali Vardar opens the first McDonald's restaurant in İstanbul, Turkey., 1986: The first McDonald's is opened in Cuba on Guantanamo Bay Naval Base. It is currently the only location in the country due to the Cuban trade embargo, and is run by the Department of the Navy., 1987: McDonald's and Disney begin their promotional partnership., 1987: The first Macauese McDonald's opens on the Rua do Campo, Macau. It is also the first McDonald's restaurant in Portugal when Macau was under the control of Portugal., 1987: On August 12, a Piper Cheyenne, which started in Augsburg, Germany, was on a simulated approach to Munich's main airport Riem, when all instruments failed. The plane crashed into the McDonald's restaurant in the Wasserburger Landstrasse. Fourteen people were killed in the incident: 4 in the plane, 3 on the street or in a bus, which was also struck by the plane, and 7 in the restaurant. The McDonald's in the Wasserburger Landstrasse has since been rebuilt., 1987: On 23 November, The first Scottish store opened in Dundee, followed by Kirkcaldy. 13 years after McDonald's first appeared in Britain., 1988: The first Korean McDonald's restaurant opens in March, in Seoul's Apgujeong-dong district., 1988: McDonald's opens its first restaurant in a communist country, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (now Serbia). Budapest, Hungary follows in the same year. 1990: On January 31, the first Soviet McDonald's opens, in Moscow. At the time it is the largest McDonald's in the world. To overcome Soviet supply problems, the company creates its own supply chain, including farms, within the USSR. Unlike other foreign investments, the restaurant accepts rubles, not dollars, and is extremely popular, with waiting lines of several hours common in its early days., 1990: Many other McDonald's restaurants open in Eastern Europe., 1990: In October, the first McDonald's opens in mainland China, in the city and Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Shenzhen, Guangdong province., 1990: In November McDonald's opens its first restaurant in Chile., 1991: McDonald's opens its first restaurant in Portugal (except Macau), in Lisbon's Cascaishopping., 1992: The first McDonald's opens in Africa, in Casablanca, Morocco., 1992: Stella Liebeck receives third-degree burns from coffee purchased at a McDonald's drive-through. She sued in what became known as the McDonald's coffee case., 1992: Derek Wood, an employee, and two friends rob a McDonald's in Sydney River, Nova Scotia, killing three and severely injuring another. Wood is serving a life sentence for his role in the Sydney River McDonald's murders., 1992: On April 23, the world's largest McDonald's opens in Beijing, China (over 700 seats). Along with adjacent buildings, it is later demolished., 1992: On April 28, seven McDonald's restaurants are bombed in Taiwan, killing one policeman and injuring four., 1992: The first Polish McDonald's restaurant opens in Warsaw, 17 June., 1992: The fried apple pie is replaced with a baked apple pie., 1993: The company launches its first seagoing restaurant aboard the Finnish cruiseferry Silja Europa, sailing between Helsinki and Stockholm., 1993: On December 8, McDonald's opens its golden arches in Saudi Arabia for the first time., 1993: McCafé is launched in Melbourne, Australia by Ann Brown. By 2002 the chain had spread to 13 countries worldwide. The first one in America was launched in 2001. By 2003 it was the largest coffee shop brand in Australia and New Zealand., 1993: McDonald's Holiday Film Festival has Paramount Videocassettes (such as the children's classic Charlotte's Web or the smash hit Ghost, The Addams Family or Wayne's World), however Paramount Videocassettes are not seen at McDonald's restaurant during the 1993 holiday season., 1994: The Catalyst Award is given to McDonald's in honour of their program to foster leadership development in women., 1994: McDonald's Holiday Film Fest has MCA/Universal Videocassettes (such as Field of Dreams, Back to the Future, The Land Before Time and Fievel Goes West)., 1995: McDonald's receives complaints from franchisees that too many franchises are being granted, leading to competition among franchisees. McDonald's starts conducting market impact studies before granting further franchises., 1995: In an effort to cultivate a more "adult" image, McDonald's launches the Arch Deluxe sandwich with a massive ad campaign. Both the campaign and sandwich fail miserably and are quickly discontinued., 1995: Following the end of apartheid, the first McDonald's in South Africa opens at McDonald's Blackheath., 1996: First McDonald's opens in Belarus, marking the chain's 100th country (by its own calculation; however, this total included many non-sovereign territories). At the opening ceremony, the Belarusian militia are accused of brutality toward members of the public hoping to enter the restaurant in Minsk., 1996: First McDonald's opens in Lima, Peru, managed by Operaciones Arcos Dorados de Perú S.A., 1996: The first Indian McDonald's opens., 1997: McDonald's wins the "McLibel" case, in what many consider to be a Pyrrhic victory in terms of the company's image. Only about half of the counts are in McDonald's favour despite enormous legal resources deployed against self-representing defendants., 1997: McDonald's has Hercules Happy Meal with two toys from Disney's thirty-fifth animated feature., 1997: The McFlurry is invented by a Canadian franchise., 1998: Richard McDonald dies on July 14., 1998: Jack M. Greenberg succeeds Michael R. Quinlan as CEO., 1998: The first Pakistani McDonald's opens in Lahore immediately followed by a branch in Karachi after one week., 1999: First McDonald's restaurant opens in Tbilisi, Georgia. Jack Greenberg is elevated to Chairman and CEO., 1999: Activist José Bové and others gain worldwide attention when they destroy a half-built McDonald's franchise in Millau (Aveyron). The incident follows a European Union ban on American meat imports, on the grounds that they use hormone treatments; in response the U.S. had increased import duties on French Roquefort cheese and other European Union products. Bové was sentenced to three months in prison for his role in the incident. 2000: Eric Schlosser publishes Fast Food Nation, a book critical of fast food in general and McDonald's in particular., 2000: The company opens its 1000th British store, inside the Millennium Dome., 2001: The FBI reports that employees of Simon Worldwide, a company hired by McDonald's to provide promotion marketing services for Happy Meals and the 'Millionaire'/'Monopoly' contest, stole winning game pieces worth more than $20 million., 2002: A survey in Restaurants and Institutions magazine ranks McDonald's 15th in food quality among hamburger chains, highlighting the company's failure to enforce standards across its franchise network., 2002: McDonald's posts its first quarterly loss ($344m), for the last quarter. It responds to the stiff competition from other fast-food restaurants, offering higher quality burgers and more variety, by attempting to move more upmarket by expanding its menu and refitting restaurants. It announces it is withdrawing from three countries (including Bolivia) and closing 175 underperforming restaurants., 2002: In October of this year, McDonald's opens the first of 2 corporate stores in Lincoln, Nebraska to test concept restaurant called "3N1". The concept incorporated a "Sandwich & Platter" casual dining area, a "bakery and ice cream" area featuring gourmet coffees, and a traditional McDonald's into one building. The second store is launched approximately six months later. The concept is spearheaded by Tom Ryan, who was Executive Vice President and Chief Concept Officer at the time. The concept is abandoned in less than a year, and Ryan leaves McDonald's to join Quiznos Sub., 2002: McDonald's introduces a new menu board design featuring realistic photos of its products against a blue-white gradient background., 2003: James Richard Cantalupo is elected Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, succeeding Jack M. Greenberg. Just prior to assuming his post Cantalupo shuts down Project Innovate, a global consulting project that had already spent $170 million of a projected 5-year budget of $1.2 billion., 2003: McDonald's starts a global marketing campaign which promotes a new healthier and higher-quality image. The campaign was labeled "I'm lovin' it" and begins simultaneously in more than 100 countries around the world., 2003: According to Technomic, a market research firm, McDonald's share of the U.S. market had fallen three percentage points in five years and was at 15.2%., 2003: The firm reports a $126M USD loss for the fourth quarter., 2003: McDonald's introduces their premium salads, the McGriddles and the chicken selects., 2004: Morgan Spurlock directs and stars in Super Size Me, a documentary film in which he eats nothing but McDonald's food for 30 days to the supposed detriment of his health., 2004: After the release of Super Size Me, McDonald's does away with their Supersize options., 2004: Chairman and CEO Jim Cantalupo dies suddenly at the age of 60 in his hotel room of an apparent heart attack while attending the annual franchisee convention in Orlando, FL on April 19. A 30-year veteran of the organization, Cantalupo had previously served as President and CEO of McDonald's International. He is credited with introducing the premium salad line and reformulating Chicken McNuggets to include leaner, all-white meat. Andrew J. McKenna, Sr., a prominent Chicago businessman and a McDonald's director, is elected Nonexecutive Chairman, and Charlie Bell of Sydney, Australia, is elected President and CEO of McDonald's Corporation. A month later Bell is diagnosed with colorectal cancer during a physical exam required for his new post and dies in January of the next year. Like retired chairman and former CEO Fred L. Turner, Bell began his McDonald's career as a crew member. He was promoted frequently, serving as the corporation's Chief Operating Officer and as President of both McDonald's Europe and of the Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa Group., 2005: Jim Skinner is elected President and CEO. Skinner began his McDonald's career as a trainee restaurant manager at a McDonald's in Carpentersville, Illinois in 1971 after serving nearly ten years with the US Navy., 2005: McDonald's experiments with call centers for drive-through orders. The center, located in Fargo, North Dakota, takes orders from more than a dozen stores in Oregon and Washington. The experiment is in part motivated by labor costs, since the minimum wage in North Dakota is over 40% lower than that in Oregon or Washington., 2005: Owing in part to competitive pressure, McDonald's Australia adopts "Made for you" cooking platform in which the food is prepared from pre-cooked meat after the customer orders (as opposed to the firm's normal procedure since 1948, in which the food is cooked then sold as needed). It should become standard practice in all Australian restaurants by 2007. Some restaurants in New Zealand also follow suit. The practice had earlier been tested, and abandoned, in the U.S., 2005: McDonald's in Singapore began their McDelivery service: customers place their food orders over the phone, and it is delivered to wherever they are. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week., 2005: McDonald's opens a Wi-Fi service in selected restaurants with Nintendo DS video games., 2005: A fired employee with Asperger's Syndrome, who was terminated for hitting a customer, murders his former manager at a McDonald's outlet in West Sussex, England. Shane Freer (20) stabbed Jackie Marshall (57) to death during a children's party at the fast food restaurant she was supervising. Freer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison by Lewes Crown Court., 2005: Ronald McDonald gets a leaner, sportier look., 2006: McDonald's announces that it will include nutritional information on the packaging for all products beginning in March and that its upcoming menu changes will emphasize chicken, salads, and other "fresh foods" rather than hamburgers., 2006: McDonald's begins their "forever young" branding by redesigning their restaurants., 2006: Anna Svidersky is murdered by David Sullivan while working in an Andresen Road McDonald's in Vancouver, Washington., 2006: McDonald's and Disney end their original promotional partnership., 2006: McDonald's and DreamWorks Animation begin their promotional partnership., 2007: McDonald's reintroduces its 42-ounce super-size soda under the name Hugo., 2008: McDonald's introduces the McSkillet burrito. This larger breakfast consists of scramble eggs, red & green bell peppers, onions, potatoes, salsa and sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla., 2008: McDonald's introduces the Chicken Biscuit and the Southern Style Chicken Sandwich., 2008: In November, McDonald's starts phasing in new designs for their containers. On October 31, they also introduced a new menu board design featuring warmer, darker colors, more realistic photos with the food on plates and drinks in glasses. The design hit nationwide in 2009 and expanded across the world through 2010., 2009: McDonald's and 20th Century Fox begin their promotional partnership., 2009: McDonald's introduces three versions of Angus Burgers: Angus Deluxe, Angus Bacon & Cheese, and Angus Mushroom & Swiss., 2009: First McDonald's opens in Cusco, Peru. Since 1996 a total of 21 McDonald's, 8 McCafé and 36 soft drink/ice cream stands are opened in Lima and across Peru. 20 more McDonald's are scheduled to be opened in the next two fiscal years. 2010: McDonald's introduces Real Fruit smoothies and the Angus Snack Wrap., 2010: McDonald's introduces Fruit & Maple Oatmeal to its menu., 2010: Subway surpasses McDonald's as the largest single-brand restaurant chain and the largest restaurant operator globally., 2011: McDonald's reintroduces the Asian salad., 2011: McDonald's makes a deal with the Marine Stewardship Council to certify the fish used for the Filet-O-Fish sold in Europe., 2012: McDonald's begins posting the calories count for items on the menus and menu boards in the drive-thru., 2013: First McDonald's burger restaurant franchise in Vietnam was awarded to the son in law of the Vietnamese prime minister., 2013: McDonald's Australia trials home delivery in selected areas of Sydney, with online ordering available through Menulog, 2014: (October) McDonald's Australia trials custom made burgers with the choice of buns, cheese, sauces, etc. This was launched at the Castle Hill Store in Sydney., 2015: Steve Easterbrook succeeded the previous CEO Don Thompson who stepped down on 28 January., 2015: United States roll-out of all-day breakfast (breakfast menu available during store hours), 2015: The first McDonald's Next store opened in Hong Kong., 2016: McDonald's withdraws the Step-It activity tracker, which is worn on the wrist, and was given away with Happy Meals to children in the US and Canada. There were fears that the devices caused skin irritation., 2018: After 12 years of absence, McDonald's and Disney revive their promotional partnership., 2018: The Grand Big Mac is introduced for a limited time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Big Mac., 2018: McDonald's announces it will ban plastic drinking straws in its UK and Ireland restaurants., 2019: McDonald's purchases personalization-technology company Dynamic Yield for $300 million and acquires a 9.9% stake in mobile software company Plexure for $3.7 million., 2019: McDonald's opens the McHive, the world's smallest restaurant for bees., 2019: On September 10, McDonald's acquired Apprente, an American startup company specializing in customer service utilizing artificial intelligence.

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Western North Carolina (often abbreviated as WNC) is the region of North Carolina which includes the Appalachian Mountains, thus it is often known geographically as the state's Mountain Region. It contains the highest mountains in the Eastern United States. Western North Carolina is sometimes included with upstate South Carolina as the "Western Carolinas", which is also counted as a single media market. The region covers an area of about , and is roughly the size of the state of Massachusetts. The population of the region, as measured by the 2010 U.S. Census, is 1,473,241, which is approximately 15% of North Carolina's total population. The term Land of the Sky (or Land-of- Sky) is a common nickname for this mountainous region and has been more recently adopted to refer to the Asheville area. (Areas in the northwest portion of the region, including Boone and Blowing Rock, commonly use the nickname "The High Country", rather than "Land of the Sky") The term is derived from the title of the book, Land of the Sky, written by Mrs. Frances Tiernan, under the pseudonym Christian Reid. The book often mentions the Great Smoky Mountains and Blue Ridge Mountains, the two main ranges that are found in Western North Carolina. The Asheville area regional government body, the Land-of-Sky Regional Council, utilizes the nickname. Located east of the Tennessee state line and west of the Piedmont, Western North Carolina contains very few major urban centers. Asheville, North Carolina, located in the region's center, is the area's largest city and most prominent commercial hub. The Foothills region of the state is loosely defined as the area along Western North Carolina's eastern boundary; this region consists of a transitional terrain of hills between the Appalachians and the Piedmont Plateau of central North Carolina. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians have a reservation situated in the Western North Carolina region, adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The northern counties in Western North Carolina are commonly known as the state's High Country. Centered on Boone, the High Country boasts the area's most popular ski resorts, including Ski Beech, Appalachian Ski Mountain, and Sugar Mountain. The area also features many attractions, historical sites, and geological formations such as Linville Caverns, Grandfather Mountain, Blowing Rock, Tweetsie Railroad, Shatley Springs, and Mystery Hill. Education, skiing, tourism, and Christmas tree farming are among this area's most prominent industries, although agriculture and raising livestock also remain important. The counties that make up the High Country are: Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. The westernmost part of Western North Carolina is part of the Tennessee Valley. Asheville is the major hub of far western North Carolina. In this area, there are a few hydroelectric projects managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority, including Fontana Dam. Tourism, especially outdoor ventures such as canoeing, whitewater rafting, camping, and fishing are extremely important to local economies in the area. The Tennessee Valley has the tallest mountains in the state, including Mt. Mitchell. The Foothills is a region of transitional terrain between the Piedmont Plateau and the Appalachian Mountains, extending from the lower edge of the Blue Ridge escarpment into the upper Catawba, Yadkin, Broad, Saluda, and Savannah River valleys. The eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge drop sharply to the foothills section, going from 3500–4000 feet (1,000–1,200 m) at the top to only 1000–1500 feet at the base. The foothills region contains numerous lower peaks and isolated mountain ranges such as the South Mountains, Brushy Mountains, and Stone Mountain State Park. The foothills are divided into many small river and creek valleys that contain much of the region's population. Although no large cities are located in the foothills, the region does contain many small towns; the towns often developed around a single industry such as furniture or textiles. As these industries steadily moved to low-wage markets in Asia and Latin America since 1990, the foothills towns that depended upon them have often suffered from job and population loss; some of these towns are developing a new economy based on tourism and catering to affluent retirees who have settled in the region. Many farmers in the northern foothills are poultry farmers as well, and winemaking and vineyards are growing in popularity. Among the towns of the foothills region in North Carolina are Tryon, Columbus, Chimney Rock, Lake Lure, Forest City, Rutherfordton, Spindale, Mount Airy, Elkin, and Marion and the cities of North Wilkesboro, Wilkesboro, Hickory, Lenoir, Shelby, and Morganton.The southern mountains refer to counties bordering South Carolina. Hendersonville, Brevard, and Columbus are in this area. The region has three major public universities: Appalachian State University is located in Boone, Western Carolina University is located in Cullowhee, and UNC Asheville is located in Asheville. All three are part of the University of North Carolina system. Several small, private colleges and universities are also located in the region. Mars Hill University is located north of Asheville. Founded in 1856, it is the oldest college or university in western North Carolina. Montreat College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, is located east of Asheville. Lees-McRae College, located in Banner Elk, is also affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Warren Wilson College, located in Swannanoa, is noted for its strong pro-environment policies and social liberalism. Brevard College, located in Brevard, is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Lenoir-Rhyne University, located in Hickory, is a private liberal arts university affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Three major Interstate highways cross the region: Interstate 40, which traverses east-west, Interstate 77, which runs north-south through the northeastern section of Western North Carolina, and Interstate 26, which traverses north-south (although it is actually an east-west highway and is signed as such). Interstate 240 is the only auxiliary interstate route in the region and it serves downtown Asheville. US 421, a multi lane expressway, is the major highway in the northwestern part of the state. US 19, US 23, US 64, US 74, and US 441 are the major highways in the far western part of the region. US 70 runs east through the area connecting Hickory and Asheville. US 221 also runs through the area. This highway, which begins in Perry, Florida, connects the town of Rutherfordton to Jefferson. US 321 runs north from Hickory to Watauga and Avery Counties before going into Tennessee. A National Scenic Byway, the Blue Ridge Parkway, runs through western North Carolina, starting in Virginia and ending near the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Two major class 1 railroads run through the region, CSX and Norfolk Southern. In addition, two tourist railroads also operate in the area, the Tweetsie Railroad theme park and the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad. Asheville Regional Airport (AVL), located southeast of the city of Asheville in Fletcher, also serves the area with non-stop jet service to Charlotte, North Carolina; Newark, New Jersey; George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Orlando Sanford International Airport near Orlando, Florida; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Detroit, Michigan; O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, Illinois; and LaGuardia Airport in New York City. Non-stops to St. Petersburg–Clearwater International Airport in the Tampa Bay Area are set to begin in June 2013. Tourism is a major part of the economy in the area which contains half of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as well as the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests. There are also several lakes and dams scattered throughout Western North Carolina like Lake Lure and Fontana Dam. Many visitors travel to the region every summer and autumn from major cities like Charlotte and Atlanta to escape the hot weather and see the leaves change colors. The timber industry is also a major economic sector. The Appalachian Regional Commission was formed in 1965 to aid economic development in the Appalachian region, which was lagging far behind the rest of the nation on most economic indicators. The Appalachian region currently defined by the Commission includes 420 counties in 13 states, including 29 counties in North Carolina. The Commission gives each county one of five possible economic designations-- distressed, at-risk, transitional, competitive, or attainment-- with "distressed" counties being the most economically endangered and "attainment" counties being the most economically prosperous. These designations are based primarily on three indicators-- three-year average unemployment rate, market income per capita, and poverty rate. In 2003, Appalachian North Carolina-- which included most counties of Western North Carolina and two counties in central North Carolina-- had a three-year average unemployment rate of 6%, compared with 6.2% statewide and 5.5% nationwide. In 2002, Appalachian North Carolina had a per capita market income of $21,168, compared with $23,443 statewide and $26,420 nationwide. In 2000, Appalachian North Carolina had a poverty rate of 11.7%, compared to 12.3% statewide and 12.4% nationwide. Only one North Carolina county-- Graham-- was designated "Distressed," while six-- Cherokee, McDowell, Mitchell, Rutherford, Swain, and Yancey-- were designated "at-risk." Forsyth County (which is normally grouped with central North Carolina) was the only county given the "attainment" designation, and four others-- Buncombe, Davie, Henderson, and Polk-- were designated "competitive." Most Western North Carolina counties were designated "transitional," meaning they lagged behind the national average on one of the three key indicators. Graham County had Appalachian North Carolina's highest poverty rating, with 19.5% of its residents living below the poverty line. Forsyth had Appalachian North Carolina's highest per capita income at $26,987. Watauga County's unemployment rate of 2.3% was lowest of all 420 counties in the Appalachian region. Along with other rural regions which have received national notoriety, changes brought by heavy tourism and population growth from re-locators present a double-edged sword. Local business benefit from increased economic revenue but increases in costs of living, over-dependence on a tourism economy and lost of natural habitat to development can degrade the quality of life for which the region became noteworthy. There are 82 mountain peaks between 5,000 and 6,000 feet (1,500-1,800 m) in elevation in western North Carolina, and 43 peaks rise to over . Among the subranges of the Appalachian Mountains located in western North Carolina are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, South Mountains, Brushy Mountains, Sauratown Mountains, Great Balsam Mountains, Great Craggy Mountains, the Plott Balsams, and the Black Mountains. Mount Mitchell, in the Black Mountains, is, at , the highest point in eastern North America. Valley and foothills locations typically range from AMSL. The major rivers in the region include the French Broad River, Nolichucky River, Watauga River, Little Tennessee River, and Hiwassee River flowing into the Tennessee River valley; the New River flowing into the Ohio River valley; and the headwaters and upper valleys of the Catawba River, Yadkin River, Broad River, and Saluda River flowing through the foothills towards the Atlantic. The Eastern Continental Divide runs through the region, dividing Tennessee-bound streams from those flowing through the Carolinas. Western North Carolina generally consists of 29 counties, that when combined form a total regional area of roughly 13,000 square miles (30,000 km²). The region is roughly the size of Massachusetts. The counties commonly included in the region are as follows: 1. Alexander County 2. Alleghany County 3. Ashe County 4. Avery County 5. Buncombe County 6. Burke County 7. Caldwell County 8. Catawba County 9. Cleveland County 10. Cherokee County 11. Clay County 12. Graham County 13. Haywood County 14. Henderson County 15. Jackson County 16. Macon County 17. Madison County 18. McDowell County 19. Mitchell County 20. Polk County 21. Rutherford County 22. Stokes County 23. Surry County 24. Swain County 25. Transylvania County 26. Watauga County 27. Wilkes County 28. Yadkin County 29. Yancey County During the early 1800s, the Western counties included counties that are in the Piedmont region to distinguish them from the Eastern counties in North Carolina that were settled earlier. As the western counties became more populated, this led to a rivalry for representation in the North Carolina General Assembly and the Governor's office. Western North Carolina communities in the region include: Asheville, Hickory Shelby, Morganton, Lenoir, Hendersonville, Boone, Mount Airy, Kings Mountain, Newton Andrews, Bakersville, Balsam Grove, Banner Elk, Beech Mountain, Belwood, Biltmore Forest, Black Mountain, Blowing Rock, Boiling Springs, Bostic, Brevard, Bryson City, Burnsville, Cajah's Mountain, Canton, Casar, Cashiers, Catawba, Cedar Rock, Chimney Rock, Cliffside, Clyde, Collettsville, Columbus, Connellys Springs, Conover, Crossnore, Dillsboro, Drexel, Elk Park, Elkin, Ellenboro, Fallston, Flat Rock, Fletcher, Forest City, Franklin, Gamewell, Glen Alpine, Grandfather, Granite Falls, Hayesville, Highlands, Hildebran, Hot Springs, Hudson, Jefferson, Jonesville, King, Lake Lure, Lake Santeetlah, Lansing, Lattimore, Laurel Park, Lawndale, Maggie Valley, Marion, Mars Hill, Marshall, Mills River, Mooresboro, Murphy, Newland, North Wilkesboro, Old Fort, Pisgah Forest, Polkville, Rhodhiss, Robbinsville, Ronda, Rosman, Ruth, Rutherford College, Rutherfordton, Saluda, Sawmills, Seven Devils, Sparta, Spindale, Spruce Pine, Sugar Mountain, Sylva, Taylorsville, Toluca, Tryon, Valdese, Vale, Waynesville, Weaverville, West Jefferson, Wilkesboro, Woodfin, Yadkinville Cherokee (headquarters for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee), Cullowhee (site of Western Carolina University's main campus), Deals Gap (site of a nationally famous motorcycle and sportscar resort), Lake Junaluska (headquarters for the World Methodist Council and site of a United Methodist camp and conference center), Linville (a popular recreation area) East Tennessee, Appalachia, Geography of North Carolina, Piedmont Triad The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range. The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color. Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks – the Shenandoah National Park in the northern section, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southern section – and eight national forests including George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, Cherokee National Forest, Pisgah National Forest, Nantahala National Forest and Chattahoochee National Forest. The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crest-lines with the Appalachian Trail. Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains, the Great Balsams, the Roans, the Blacks, the Brushy Mountains (a "spur" of the Blue Ridge) and other mountain ranges. The Blue Ridge extends as far south as Mount Oglethorpe in Georgia and as far north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain. While South Mountain dwindles to mere hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, the band of ancient rocks that form the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont. The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America south of Baffin Island. About 125 peaks exceed in elevation. The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in the entire Appalachian chain) is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at . There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than ; by comparison, in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain only New Hampshire's Mt. Washington rises above 6,000 feet. Southern Sixers is a term used by peak baggers for this group of mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs along crests of the Southern Appalachians and links two national parks: Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains. In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks (gneiss) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake. Most of the rocks that form the Blue Ridge Mountains are ancient granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestone. Recent studies completed by Richard Tollo, a professor and geologist at George Washington University, provide greater insight into the petrologic and geochronologic history of the Blue Ridge basement suites. Modern studies have found that the basement geology of the Blue Ridge is made of compositionally unique gneisses and granitoids, including orthopyroxene-bearing charockites. Analysis of zircon minerals in the granite completed by John Aleinikoff at the U.S. Geological Survey has provided more detailed emplacement ages. Many of the features found in the Blue Ridge and documented by Tollo and others have confirmed that the rocks exhibit many similar features in other North American Grenville-age terranes. The lack of a calc-alkaline affinity and zircon ages less than 1,200 Ma suggest that the Blue Ridge is distinct from the Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and possibly the New York-New Jersey Highlands. The petrologic and geochronologic data suggest that the Blue Ridge basement is a composite orogenic crust that was emplaced during several episodes from a crustal magma source. Field relationships further illustrate that rocks emplaced prior to 1,078–1,064 Ma preserve deformational features. Those emplaced post-1,064 Ma generally have a massive texture and missed the main episode of Mesoproterozoic compression. The Blue Ridge Mountains began forming during the Silurian Period over 400 million years ago. Approximately 320 million years ago, North America and Europe collided, pushing up the Blue Ridge. At the time of their emergence, the Blue Ridge were among the highest mountains in the world and reached heights comparable to the much younger Alps. Today, due to weathering and erosion over hundreds of millions of years, the highest peak in the range, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, is only 6,684 feet high – still the highest peak east of the Mississippi River in the US. The English who settled colonial Virginia in the early 17th century recorded that the native Powhatan name for the Blue Ridge was Quirank. At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including the Siouan Manahoacs, the Iroquois, and the Shawnee hunted and fished. A German physician-explorer, John Lederer, first reached the crest of the Blue Ridge in 1669 and again the following year; he also recorded the Virginia Siouan name for the Blue Ridge (Ahkonshuck). At the Treaty of Albany negotiated by Lieutenant Governor Alexander Spotswood (1676–1740), of Virginia with the Iroquois between 1718 and 1722, the Iroquois ceded lands they had conquered south of the Potomac River and east of the Blue Ridge to the Virginia Colony. This treaty made the Blue Ridge the new demarcation point between the areas and tribes subject to the Six Nations, and those tributaries to the Colony. When colonists began to disregard this by crossing the Blue Ridge and settling in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1730s, the Iroquois began to object, finally selling their rights to the Valley, on the west side of the Blue Ridge, at the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744. During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War, the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee commanding, slipped across the Potomac to begin the second invasion of the North. They moved slowly across the Blue Ridge, using the mountains to screen their movements until being decisively defeated and turned back in Pennsylvania at the Battle of Gettysburg. This would be the key battle of the war, irrevocably turning the tide for the Union and removing any hope of foreign support for the Confederacy. The forest environment provides natural habitat for many plants, trees, and animals. The Blue Ridge Mountains have stunted oak and oak-hickory forest habitats, which comprise most of the Appalachian slope forests. Flora also includes grass, shrubs, hemlock and mixed-oak pine forests. While the Blue Ridge range includes the highest summits in the eastern United States, the climate is nevertheless too warm to support an alpine zone, and thus the range lacks the tree line found at lower elevations in the northern half of the Appalachian range. The highest parts of the Blue Ridge are generally vegetated in dense Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests. The area is host to many animals, including: Many species of amphibians and reptiles, A large diversity of fish species, many of which are endemic, American black bear, Songbirds and other bird species, Bobcat, Coyote, Red fox, Gray fox, Grouse, Whitetail deer, Elk, Wild boar, Wild turkey West Virginia's state song, Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver, prominently mentions the Blue Ridge Mountains along with the Shenandoah River (both found in the Eastern Panhandle)., Mentioned in and is the title of a Fleet Foxes song that bears the name of the mountain range. Appalachian balds, Appalachian bogs, Appalachian temperate rainforest, Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests, Cove (Appalachian Mountains) Olson, Ted (1998). Blue Ridge Folklife, University Press of Mississippi. . The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period. They once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before experiencing natural erosion. The Appalachian chain is a barrier to east–west travel, as it forms a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines the Appalachian Highlands physiographic division as consisting of thirteen provinces: the Atlantic Coast Uplands, Eastern Newfoundland Atlantic, Maritime Acadian Highlands, Maritime Plain, Notre Dame and Mégantic Mountains, Western Newfoundland Mountains, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Saint Lawrence Valley, Appalachian Plateaus, New England province, and the Adirondack areas. A common variant definition does not include the Adirondack Mountains, which geologically belong to the Grenville Orogeny and have a different geological history from the rest of the Appalachians. The mountain range is mostly in the United States (U.S.) but it extends into southeastern Canada, forming a zone from wide, running from the island of Newfoundland southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States. The range covers parts of the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which comprise an overseas territory of France. The system is divided into a series of ranges, with the individual mountains averaging around . The highest of the group is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at , which is the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River. The term Appalachian refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range. Most broadly, it refers to the entire mountain range with its surrounding hills and the dissected plateau region. The term is often used more restrictively to refer to regions in the central and southern Appalachian Mountains, usually including areas in the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, and North Carolina, as well as sometimes extending as far south as northern Alabama, Georgia and western South Carolina, and as far north as Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, and parts of southern upstate New York. The Ouachita Mountains in Arkansas and Oklahoma were originally part of the Appalachians as well but became disconnected through geologic history. While exploring inland along the northern coast of Florida in 1528, the members of the Narváez expedition, including Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, found a Native American village near present-day Tallahassee, Florida whose name they transcribed as Apalchen or Apalachen . The name was soon altered by the Spanish to Apalachee and used as a name for the tribe and region spreading well inland to the north. Pánfilo de Narváez's expedition first entered Apalachee territory on June 15, 1528, and applied the name. Now spelled "Appalachian," it is the fourth-oldest surviving European place-name in the US. After the de Soto expedition in 1540, Spanish cartographers began to apply the name of the tribe to the mountains themselves. The first cartographic appearance of Apalchen is on Diego Gutierrez's map of 1562; the first use for the mountain range is the map of Jacques le Moyne de Morgues in 1565. The name was not commonly used for the whole mountain range until the late 19th century. A competing and often more popular name was the "Allegheny Mountains", "Alleghenies", and even "Alleghania". In the early 19th century, Washington Irving proposed renaming the United States either Appalachia or Alleghania. In U.S. dialects in the southern regions of the Appalachians, the word is pronounced , with the third syllable sounding like "latch". In northern parts of the mountain range, it is pronounced or ; the third syllable is like "lay", and the fourth "chins" or "shins". There is often great debate between the residents of the regions as to which pronunciation is the more correct one. Elsewhere, a commonly accepted pronunciation for the adjective Appalachian is , with the last two syllables "-ian" pronounced as in the word "Romanian". The whole system may be divided into three great sections: Northern: The northern section runs from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to the Hudson River. It includes the Long Range Mountains and Annieopsquotch Mountains on the island of Newfoundland, Chic-Choc Mountains and Notre Dame Range in Quebec and New Brunswick, scattered elevations and small ranges elsewhere in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the Longfellow Mountains in Maine, the White Mountains in New Hampshire, the Green Mountains in Vermont, and The Berkshires in Massachusetts and Connecticut. The Metacomet Ridge Mountains in Connecticut and south-central Massachusetts, although contained within the Appalachian province, is a younger system and not geologically associated with the Appalachians. The Monteregian Hills, which cross the Green Mountains in Quebec, are also unassociated with the Appalachians., Central: The central section goes from the Hudson Valley to the New River (Great Kanawha) running through Virginia and West Virginia. It comprises (excluding various minor groups) the Valley Ridges between the Allegheny Front of the Allegheny Plateau and the Great Appalachian Valley, the New York–New Jersey Highlands, the Taconic Mountains in New York, and a large portion of the Blue Ridge., Southern: The southern section runs from the New River onwards. It consists of the prolongation of the Blue Ridge, which is divided into the Western Blue Ridge (or Unaka) Front and the Eastern Blue Ridge Front, the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, and the Cumberland Plateau. The Adirondack Mountains in New York are sometimes considered part of the Appalachian chain but, geologically speaking, are a southern extension of the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. In addition to the true folded mountains, known as the ridge and valley province, the area of dissected plateau to the north and west of the mountains is usually grouped with the Appalachians. This includes the Catskill Mountains of southeastern New York, the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and the Allegheny Plateau of southwestern New York, western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and northern West Virginia. This same plateau is known as the Cumberland Plateau in southern West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, western Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and northern Alabama. The dissected plateau area, while not actually made up of geological mountains, is popularly called "mountains," especially in eastern Kentucky and West Virginia, and while the ridges are not high, the terrain is extremely rugged. In Ohio and New York, some of the plateau has been glaciated, which has rounded off the sharp ridges and filled the valleys to some extent. The glaciated regions are usually referred to as hill country rather than mountains. The Appalachian region is generally considered the geographical divide between the eastern seaboard of the United States and the Midwest region of the country. The Eastern Continental Divide follows the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania to Georgia. The Appalachian Trail is a hiking trail that runs all the way from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, passing over or past a large part of the Appalachian system. The International Appalachian Trail is an extension of this hiking trail into the Canadian portion of the Appalachian range in New Brunswick and Quebec. The Appalachian belt includes, with the ranges enumerated above, the plateaus sloping southward to the Atlantic Ocean in New England, and south-eastward to the border of the coastal plain through the central and southern Atlantic states; and on the north-west, the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus declining toward the Great Lakes and the interior plains. A remarkable feature of the belt is the longitudinal chain of broad valleys, including the Great Appalachian Valley, which in the southerly sections divides the mountain system into two unequal portions, but in the northernmost lies west of all the ranges possessing typical Appalachian features, and separates them from the Adirondack group. The mountain system has no axis of dominating altitudes, but in every portion, the summits rise to rather uniform heights, and, especially in the central section, the various ridges and intermontane valleys have the same trend as the system itself. None of the summits reaches the region of perpetual snow. Mountains of the Long Range in Newfoundland reach heights of nearly . In the Chic-Choc and Notre Dame mountain ranges in Quebec, the higher summits rise above in elevation. Isolated peaks and small ranges in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick vary from . In Maine several peaks exceed , including Mount Katahdin at . In New Hampshire, many summits rise above , including Mount Washington in the White Mountains at , Adams at , Jefferson at , Monroe at , Madison at , Lafayette at , and Lincoln at . In the Green Mountains the highest point, Mt. Mansfield, is in elevation; others include Killington Peak at , Camel's Hump at , Mt. Abraham at , and a number of other heights exceeding . In Pennsylvania, there are over sixty summits that rise over ; the summits of Mount Davis and Blue Knob rise over . In Maryland, Eagle Rock and Dans Mountain are conspicuous points reaching and respectively. On the same side of the Great Valley, south of the Potomac, are the Pinnacle and Pidgeon Roost . In West Virginia, more than 150 peaks rise above , including Spruce Knob , the highest point in the Allegheny Mountains. A number of other points in the state rise above . Cheat Mountain (Snowshoe Mountain) at Thorny Flat and Bald Knob are among the more notable peaks in West Virginia. The Blue Ridge Mountains, rising in southern Pennsylvania and there known as South Mountain, attain elevations of about in that state. South Mountain achieves its highest point just below the Mason-Dixon line in Maryland at Quirauk Mountain and then diminishes in height southward to the Potomac River. Once in Virginia the Blue Ridge again reaches and higher. In the Virginia Blue Ridge, the following are some of the highest peaks north of the Roanoke River: Stony Man , Hawksbill Mountain , Apple Orchard Mountain and Peaks of Otter . South of the Roanoke River, along the Blue Ridge, are Virginia's highest peaks including Whitetop Mountain and Mount Rogers , the highest point in the Commonwealth. Chief summits in the southern section of the Blue Ridge are located along two main crests—the Western or Unaka Front along the Tennessee- North Carolina border and the Eastern Front in North Carolina—or one of several "cross ridges" between the two main crests. Major subranges of the Eastern Front include the Black Mountains, Great Craggy Mountains, and Great Balsam Mountains, and its chief summits include Grandfather Mountain near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, Mount Mitchell in the Blacks, and Black Balsam Knob and Cold Mountain in the Great Balsams. The Western Blue Ridge Front is subdivided into the Unaka Range, the Bald Mountains, the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Unicoi Mountains, and its major peaks include Roan Mountain in the Unakas, Big Bald and Max Patch in the Bald Mountains, Clingmans Dome , Mount Le Conte , and Mount Guyot in the Great Smokies, and Big Frog Mountain near the Tennessee-Georgia-North Carolina border. Prominent summits in the cross ridges include Waterrock Knob () in the Plott Balsams. Across northern Georgia, numerous peaks exceed , including Brasstown Bald, the state's highest, at and Rabun Bald. There are many geological issues concerning the rivers and streams of the Appalachians. In spite of the existence of the Great Appalachian Valley, many of the main rivers are transverse to the mountain system axis. The drainage divide of the Appalachians follows a tortuous course which crosses the mountainous belt just north of the New River in Virginia. South of the New River, rivers head into the Blue Ridge, cross the higher Unakas, receive important tributaries from the Great Valley, and traversing the Cumberland Plateau in spreading gorges (water gaps), escape by way of the Cumberland River and the Tennessee River rivers to the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, and thence to the Gulf of Mexico. In the central section, north of the New River, the rivers, rising in or just beyond the Valley Ridges, flow through great gorges to the Great Valley, and then across the Blue Ridge to tidal estuaries penetrating the coastal plain via the Roanoke River, James River, Potomac River, and Susquehanna River. In the northern section the height of land lies on the inland side of the mountainous belt, and thus the main lines of drainage run from north to south, exemplified by the Hudson River. However, the valley through which the Hudson River flows was cut by the gigantic glaciers of the Ice Ages—the same glaciers that deposited their terminal moraines in southern New York and formed the east–west Long Island. A look at rocks that are exposed in today's Appalachian mountains reveals elongated belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ancient ocean floor, which provides strong evidence that these rocks were deformed during plate collision. The birth of the Appalachian ranges, some 480 million years ago, marks the first of several mountain-building plate collisions that culminated in the construction of the supercontinent Pangaea with the Appalachians near the center. Because North America and Africa were connected, the Appalachians formed part of the same mountain chain as the Little Atlas in Morocco. This mountain range, known as the Central Pangean Mountains, extended into Scotland, before the Mesozoic Era opening of the Iapetus Ocean, from the North America/Europe collision (See Caledonian orogeny). During the middle Ordovician Period (about 496–440 million years ago), a change in plate motions set the stage for the first Paleozoic mountain-building event (Taconic orogeny) in North America. The once-quiet Appalachian passive margin changed to a very active plate boundary when a neighboring oceanic plate, the Iapetus, collided with and began sinking beneath the North American craton. With the birth of this new subduction zone, the early Appalachians were born. Along the continental margin, volcanoes grew, coincident with the initiation of subduction. Thrust faulting uplifted and warped older sedimentary rock laid down on the passive margin. As the mountains rose, erosion began to wear them down over time. Streams carried rock debris downslope to be deposited in nearby lowlands. The Taconic Orogeny was just the first of a series of mountain building plate collisions that contributed to the formation of the Appalachians, culminating in the collision of North America and Africa (see Alleghanian orogeny). By the end of the Mesozoic Era, the Appalachian Mountains had been eroded to an almost flat plain. It was not until the region was uplifted during the Cenozoic Era that the distinctive topography of the present formed. Uplift rejuvenated the streams, which rapidly responded by cutting downward into the ancient bedrock. Some streams flowed along weak layers that define the folds and faults created many millions of years earlier. Other streams downcut so rapidly that they cut right across the resistant folded rocks of the mountain core, carving canyons across rock layers and geologic structures. The Appalachian Mountains contain major deposits of anthracite coal as well as bituminous coal. In the folded mountains the coal is in metamorphosed form as anthracite, represented by the Coal Region of northeastern Pennsylvania. The bituminous coal fields of western Pennsylvania, western Maryland, southeastern Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southwestern Virginia, and West Virginia contain the sedimentary form of coal. The mountain top removal method of coal mining, in which entire mountain tops are removed, is currently threatening vast areas and ecosystems of the Appalachian Mountain region. The 1859 discovery of commercial quantities of petroleum in the Appalachian Mountains of western Pennsylvania started the modern United States petroleum industry. Recent discoveries of commercial natural gas deposits in the Marcellus Shale formation and Utica Shale formations have once again focused oil industry attention on the Appalachian Basin. Some plateaus of the Appalachian Mountains contain metallic minerals such as iron and zinc. The floras of the Appalachians are diverse and vary primarily in response to geology, latitude, elevation and moisture availability. Geobotanically, they constitute a floristic province of the North American Atlantic Region. The Appalachians consist primarily of deciduous broad-leaf trees and evergreen needle-leaf conifers, but also contain the evergreen broad-leaf American holly ('), and the deciduous needle-leaf conifer, the tamarack, or eastern larch ('). The dominant northern and high elevation conifer is the red spruce ('), which grows from near sea level to above above sea level (asl) in northern New England and southeastern Canada. It also grows southward along the Appalachian crest to the highest elevations of the southern Appalachians, as in North Carolina and Tennessee. In the central Appalachians it is usually confined above asl, except for a few cold valleys in which it reaches lower elevations. In the southern Appalachians, it is restricted to higher elevations. Another species is the black spruce ('), which extends farthest north of any conifer in North America, is found at high elevations in the northern Appalachians, and in bogs as far south as Pennsylvania. The Appalachians are also home to two species of fir, the boreal balsam fir ('), and the southern high elevation endemic, Fraser fir ('). Fraser fir is confined to the highest parts of the southern Appalachian Mountains, where along with red spruce it forms a fragile ecosystem known as the Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest. Fraser fir rarely occurs below , and becomes the dominant tree type at . By contrast, balsam fir is found from near sea level to the tree line in the northern Appalachians, but ranges only as far south as Virginia and West Virginia in the central Appalachians, where it is usually confined above asl, except in cold valleys. Curiously, it is associated with oaks in Virginia. The balsam fir of Virginia and West Virginia is thought by some to be a natural hybrid between the more northern variety and Fraser fir. While red spruce is common in both upland and bog habitats, balsam fir, as well as black spruce and tamarack, are more characteristic of the latter. However balsam fir also does well in soils with a pH as high as 6. Eastern or Canada hemlock (') is another important evergreen needle-leaf conifer that grows along the Appalachian chain from north to south but is confined to lower elevations than red spruce and the firs. It generally occupies richer and less acidic soils than the spruce and firs and is characteristic of deep, shaded and moist mountain valleys and coves. It is, unfortunately, subject to the hemlock woolly adelgid ('), an introduced insect, that is rapidly extirpating it as a forest tree. Less abundant, and restricted to the southern Appalachians, is Carolina hemlock (). Like Canada hemlock, this tree suffers severely from the hemlock woolly adelgid. Several species of pines characteristic of the Appalachians are eastern white pine ('), Virginia pine ('), pitch pine ('), Table Mountain pine (') and shortleaf pine ('). Red pine (') is a boreal species that forms a few high elevation outliers as far south as West Virginia. All of these species except white pine tend to occupy sandy, rocky, poor soil sites, which are mostly acidic in character. White pine, a large species valued for its timber, tends to do best in rich, moist soil, either acidic or alkaline in character. Pitch pine is also at home in acidic, boggy soil, and Table Mountain pine may occasionally be found in this habitat as well. Shortleaf pine is generally found in warmer habitats and at lower elevations than the other species. All the species listed do best in open or lightly shaded habitats, although white pine also thrives in shady coves, valleys, and on floodplains. The Appalachians are characterized by a wealth of large, beautiful deciduous broadleaf (hardwood) trees. Their occurrences are best summarized and described in E. Lucy Braun's 1950 classic, Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America (Macmillan, New York). The most diverse and richest forests are the mixed mesophytic or medium moisture types, which are largely confined to rich, moist montane soils of the southern and central Appalachians, particularly in the Cumberland and Allegheny Mountains, but also thrive in the southern Appalachian coves. Characteristic canopy species are white basswood ('), yellow buckeye ('), sugar maple ('), American beech ('), tuliptree ('), white ash (') and yellow birch ('). Other common trees are red maple ('), shagbark and bitternut hickories (') and black or sweet birch ('). Small understory trees and shrubs include flowering dogwood ('), hophornbeam ('), witch-hazel (') and spicebush ('). There are also hundreds of perennial and annual herbs, among them such herbal and medicinal plants as American ginseng ('), goldenseal ('), bloodroot (') and black cohosh ('). The foregoing trees, shrubs, and herbs are also more widely distributed in less rich mesic forests that generally occupy coves, stream valleys and flood plains throughout the southern and central Appalachians at low and intermediate elevations. In the northern Appalachians and at higher elevations of the central and southern Appalachians these diverse mesic forests give way to less diverse "northern hardwoods" with canopies dominated only by American beech, sugar maple, American basswood () and yellow birch and with far fewer species of shrubs and herbs. Dryer and rockier uplands and ridges are occupied by oak-chestnut type forests dominated by a variety of oaks (' spp.), hickories (' spp.) and, in the past, by the American chestnut ('). The American chestnut was virtually eliminated as a canopy species by the introduced fungal chestnut blight ('), but lives on as sapling-sized sprouts that originate from roots, which are not killed by the fungus. In present-day forest canopies, chestnut has been largely replaced by oaks. The oak forests of the southern and central Appalachians consist largely of black, northern red, white, chestnut and scarlet oaks ( and ) and hickories, such as the pignut () in particular. The richest forests, which grade into mesic types, usually in coves and on gentle slopes, have dominantly white and northern red oaks, while the driest sites are dominated by chestnut oak, or sometimes by scarlet or northern red oaks. In the northern Appalachians the oaks, except for white and northern red, drop out, while the latter extends farthest north. The oak forests generally lack the diverse small tree, shrub and herb layers of mesic forests. Shrubs are generally ericaceous, and include the evergreen mountain laurel ('), various species of blueberries (' spp.), black huckleberry ('), a number of deciduous rhododendrons (azaleas), and smaller heaths such as teaberry (') and trailing arbutus ('). The evergreen great rhododendron (') is characteristic of moist stream valleys. These occurrences are in line with the prevailing acidic character of most oak forest soils. In contrast, the much rarer chinquapin oak () demands alkaline soils and generally grows where limestone rock is near the surface. Hence no ericaceous shrubs are associated with it. The Appalachian floras also include a diverse assemblage of bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), as well as fungi. Some species are rare and/or endemic. As with vascular plants, these tend to be closely related to the character of the soils and thermal environment in which they are found. Eastern deciduous forests are subject to a number of serious insect and disease outbreaks. Among the most conspicuous is that of the introduced gypsy moth ('), which infests primarily oaks, causing severe defoliation and tree mortality. But it also has the benefit of eliminating weak individuals, and thus improving the genetic stock, as well as creating rich habitat of a type through accumulation of dead wood. Because hardwoods sprout so readily, this moth is not as harmful as the hemlock woolly adelgid. Perhaps more serious is the introduced beech bark disease complex, which includes both a scale insect (') and fungal components. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Appalachian forests were subject to severe and destructive logging and land clearing, which resulted in the designation of the national forests and parks as well many state protected areas. However, these and a variety of other destructive activities continue, albeit in diminished forms; and thus far only a few ecologically based management practices have taken hold. Appalachian bogs are boreal ecosystems, which occur in many places in the Appalachians, particularly the Allegheny and Blue Ridge subranges. Though popularly called bogs, many of them are technically fens. Animals that characterize the Appalachian forests include five species of tree squirrels. The most commonly seen is the low to moderate elevation eastern gray squirrel ('). Occupying similar habitat is the slightly larger fox squirrel (') and the much smaller southern flying squirrel ('). More characteristic of cooler northern and high elevation habitat is the red squirrel ('), whereas the Appalachian northern flying squirrel (), which closely resembles the southern flying squirrel, is confined to northern hardwood and spruce-fir forests. As familiar as squirrels are the eastern cottontail rabbit (') and the white-tailed deer ('). The latter in particular has greatly increased in abundance as a result of the extirpation of the eastern wolf (') and the cougar. This has led to the overgrazing and browsing of many plants of the Appalachian forests, as well as destruction of agricultural crops. Other deer include the moose ('), found only in the north, and the elk ('), which, although once extirpated, is now making a comeback, through transplantation, in the southern and central Appalachians. In Quebec, the Chic-Chocs host the only population of caribou (') south of the St. Lawrence River. An additional species that is common in the north but extends its range southward at high elevations to Virginia and West Virginia is the varying of snowshoe hare (). However, these central Appalachian populations are scattered and very small. Another species of great interest is the beaver (), which is showing a great resurgence in numbers after its near extirpation for its pelt. This resurgence is bringing about a drastic alteration in habitat through the construction of dams and other structures throughout the mountains. Other common forest animals are the black bear ('), striped skunk ('), raccoon ('), woodchuck ('), bobcat ('), gray fox ('), red fox (') and in recent years, the coyote ('), another species favored by the advent of Europeans and the extirpation of eastern and red wolves. European boars were introduced in the early 20th century. Characteristic birds of the forest are wild turkey ('), ruffed grouse ('), mourning dove ('), common raven ('), wood duck ('), great horned owl ('), barred owl ('), screech owl ('), red-tailed hawk ('), red-shouldered hawk ('), and northern goshawk (), as well as a great variety of "songbirds" (Passeriformes), like the warblers in particular. Of great importance are the many species of salamanders and, in particular, the lungless species (Family ') that live in great abundance concealed by leaves and debris, on the forest floor. Most frequently seen, however, is the eastern or red-spotted newt ('), whose terrestrial eft form is often encountered on the open, dry forest floor. It has been estimated that salamanders represent the largest class of animal biomass in the Appalachian forests. Frogs and toads are of lesser diversity and abundance, but the wood frog (') is, like the eft, commonly encountered on the dry forest floor, while a number of species of small frogs, such as spring peepers ('), enliven the forest with their calls. Salamanders and other amphibians contribute greatly to nutrient cycling through their consumption of small life forms on the forest floor and in aquatic habitats. Although reptiles are less abundant and diverse than amphibians, a number of snakes are conspicuous members of the fauna. One of the largest is the non-venomous black rat snake ('), while the common garter snake (') is among the smallest but most abundant. The American copperhead (') and the timber rattler (') are venomous pit vipers. There are few lizards, but the broad-headed skink ('), at up to in length, and an excellent climber and swimmer, is one of the largest and most spectacular in appearance and action. The most common turtle is the eastern box turtle ('), which is found in both upland and lowland forests in the central and southern Appalachians. Prominent among aquatic species is the large common snapping turtle (), which occurs throughout the Appalachians. Appalachian streams are notable for their highly diverse freshwater fish life. Among the most abundant and diverse are those of the minnow family (family Cyprinidae), while species of the colorful darters ( spp.) are also abundant. A characteristic fish of shaded, cool Appalachian forest streams is the wild brook or speckled trout (), which is much sought after as a game fish. However, in past years such trout waters have been much degraded by increasing temperatures due to timber cutting, pollution from various sources and potentially, global warming. Appalachia, Appalachian League, Appalachian Mountain Club, Appalachian Trail Topographic maps and Geologic Folios of the United States Geological Survey Brooks, Maurice (1965), The Appalachians: The Naturalist's America; illustrated by Lois Darling and Lo Brooks. Boston; Houghton Mifflin Company., Caudill, Harry M. (1963), Night Comes to the Cumberlands. ., Constantz, George (2004), Hollows, Peepers, and Highlanders: an Appalachian Mountain Ecology (2nd edition). West Virginia University Press; Morgantown. 359 p., Olson, Ted (1998), "Blue Ridge Folklife." University Press of Mississippi, 211 pages, ., Rehder, John (2013) "Appalachian Folkways," Koxville: University of Tennessee Press., Chapters iii., iv. and v. of Miss E. C. Semple's American History and its Geographic Conditions (Boston, 1903)., Weidensaul, Scott (2000), Mountains of the Heart: A Natural History of the Appalachians. Fulcrum Publishing, 288 pages, ., Bailey Willis, The Northern Appalachians, and C. W. Hayes, The Southern Appalachians, both in National Geographic Monographs, vol. 9. Appalachian flora and fauna-related journals Castanea, the journal of the Southern Appalachian Botanical Society., Banisteria, a journal devoted to the natural history of Virginia., The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society. Appalachian/Blue Ridge Forests images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version), Appalachian Mixed Mesophytic Forests images at bioimages.vanderbilt.edu (slow modem version), University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Forests of the Central Appalachians Project Detailed inventories of forest species at dozens of sites.

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The Xbox One is an eighth-generation home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox series of video game consoles. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Australia, and South America in November 2013, and in Japan, China, and other European countries in September 2014. It is the first Xbox game console to be released in China, specifically in the Shanghai Free-Trade Zone. Microsoft marketed the device as an "all-in-one entertainment system", hence the name 'Xbox One'. The Xbox One mainly competes against Sony's PlayStation 4 and Nintendo's Wii U and Switch. Moving away from its predecessor's PowerPC-based architecture, the Xbox One marks a shift back to the x86 architecture used in the original Xbox; it features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) built around the x86-64 instruction set. Xbox One's controller was redesigned over the Xbox 360's, with a redesigned body, D-pad, and triggers capable of delivering directional haptic feedback. The console places an increased emphasis on cloud computing, as well as social networking features, and the ability to record and share video clips or screenshots from gameplay, or live-stream directly to streaming services such as Mixer and Twitch. Games can also be played off-console via a local area network on supported Windows 10 devices. The console can play Blu-ray Disc, and overlay live television programming from an existing set-top box or a digital tuner for digital terrestrial television with an enhanced program guide. The console optionally included a redesigned Kinect sensor, marketed as the "Kinect 2.0", providing improved motion tracking and voice recognition. The Xbox One received mostly positive reviews for its refined controller design, multimedia features, and voice navigation. Its quieter and cooler design was praised for making the console more reliable than its predecessor on-launch, but the console was generally criticized for running games at a technically lower graphical level than the PlayStation 4. Its original user interface was panned for being nonintuitive, although changes made to it and other aspects of the console's software post-launch received a positive reception. Its Kinect received praise for its improved motion-tracking accuracy, its face recognition logins, and its voice commands. The original Xbox One model was succeeded by the Xbox One S in 2016, which has a smaller form factor and support for HDR10 high-dynamic-range video, as well as support for 4K video playback and upscaling of games from 1080p to 4K. It was praised for its smaller size, its on-screen visual improvements, and its lack of an external power supply, but its regressions such as the lack of a native Kinect port were noted. A high-end model, named Xbox One X, was unveiled in June 2017 and released in November; it features upgraded hardware specifications and support for rendering games at 4K resolution. It will be succeeded by the upcoming Xbox Series X consoles in Holiday 2020. The Xbox One is the successor to Xbox 360, Microsoft's previous video game console, which was introduced in 2005 as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles. Over the years, the 360 had received a number of small hardware revisions to reduce the unit's size and improve its reliability. In 2010, Microsoft's Chris Lewis stated that the 360 was about "halfway" through its lifecycle; this was aided by the introduction of the Kinect motion sensor that year, which Lewis stated would extend the lifecycle by five years. Initial hardware for the 360's successor, commonly referred to by the industry as the "Xbox 720", was reportedly under development as early as May 2011. The official developer kit was codenamed Durango, and appeared to be available to developers by mid-2012. Leaked documents suggested that the new console would include an improved Kinect sensor, cloud access to games and media, integration with phone and tablet devices, and technology to provide players heads-up displays on glasses worn by the player, codenamed "Fortaleza"; Microsoft did not comment on these reported features. Leaked design documents also suggested that Microsoft was seeking to eliminate the ability to play used games, though Microsoft later clarified it was still reviewing the design and were "thinking about what is next and how we can push the boundaries of technology like we did with Kinect", but did not comment on the validity of the information. Prior to the official unveiling, rumors had circulated that the next Xbox console would be an "always on" system requiring a persistent Internet connection, though Microsoft had not confirmed this. This had drawn some concerns from consumers, which were heightened when Microsoft Studios Adam Orth stated in a Twitter message in April 2013 that said "Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an 'always on' console...Every device now is 'always on.' That's the world we live in. #dealwithit". Orth's message drew further ire towards Microsoft, with concerns about digital rights management and practices against the sale of used games with an "always on" unit. Orth opted to leave Microsoft a few days later due to the backlash, and subsequently went to work for the studio Three One Zero for their first game Adrift. Despite Microsoft's statements following this situation, denying the rumors, the mood it created lingered over the next several months. The new console was publicly unveiled under the name Xbox One on May 21, 2013 in a press conference designed to cover the unit's broad multimedia and social capabilities. However, this event focused heavily on the multimedia capabilities, demonstrating integration with television over the first 30 minutes before video game capabilities were brought up. Not only had this approach confused consumers about the intent of the Xbox One, but also Microsoft employees who had been working on the console. Phil Spencer stated that several employees complained to him that they felt this presentation had "blow[n] up all the good work that [they]'ve done by talking about the product in a way that's not really matching what the soul of an Xbox console is about and what [their] customers are looking for from [Microsoft]". Because of the negative feedback from the May presentation, the press event for the E3 2013 was made to showcase the video game functionality of the Xbox One first and foremost; Don Mattrick described the event as "all about the games". At that time, Microsoft announced that the console would be released in 21 different markets on November 22, 2013, but this was later amended down to 13. The change, which pushed the release date for the other eight markets to 2014, was attributed to unforeseen complexity in localizing the device's voice recognition capabilities. Later, in September 2014, the Xbox One was released in 26 markets, including remaining markets in Europe, the Japanese market, and Middle Eastern markets. Microsoft initially announced a different game licensing scheme for Xbox One than what was used upon its release: all games, including those purchased at retail, would be bound to the user's Xbox Live account. Users could access their purchased games from any other Xbox One console, play games without their disc once installed, and allow users to "share" their games with up to ten designated "family" members. Users would trade games at "participating retailers", and could also transfer a game directly to any Xbox Live friend on their list for at least 30 days, but only once. To synchronize licenses, the console would be required to connect to the internet once every 24 hours; if the console could not connect, all games would be disabled until the console was connected again. Reaction to this digital rights management scheme was extremely negative in light of the previous concerns about the "always on" console from earlier in the year. Critics felt that the changes would infringe on consumers' first-sale rights for games purchased on physical media, as games would only be licensed to users rather than sold, and the disc itself would only be used to install the game and not confer ownership of its license or permission to resell. Microsoft also stated that publishers could impose restrictions or activation fees on second-hand copies of games. GameSpot editor Tom Mcshea went on to say that Microsoft had become anti-consumerist, trying to "punish their loyal customers" with strict restrictions, and that "by saying no to the used game restrictions and always-online that Microsoft is so happily implementing on the Xbox One, Sony has elevated the PlayStation 4 as the console to grab this holiday season." Xbox Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer Yusuf Mehdi explained that the system was built with digital distribution in mind, but that Microsoft wanted to maintain the availability of games on physical media. He also noted that Microsoft was not "giving in" to publishers' objections to used games, but rather trying to balance the needs of consumers and the industry, and that the trading and sharing abilities of the platform added a level of flexibility not seen on other online distribution platforms at the time. On June 19, 2013, shortly after E3 2013, Microsoft announced (in response to the negative reaction) that it would change its policy Xbox One's DRM and game licensing model and reverse course. As with Xbox 360, users would be able to share and resell physical games without restrictions, and beyond a mandatory software update upon the console's initial setup process to enable playback of Blu-ray and DVD video, the console would not require a permanent internet connection to operate. These changes required the family sharing features, along with the ability to play games without their disc after installation, to be dropped. Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten stated that the family sharing feature may return in the future, but could not be implemented on launch due to time restraints. Don Mattrick, the then president of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business, stated that the licensing changes were in response to the negative public reaction. Other analysts believed that the change was in direct response of Sony's aggressive position during its E3 press conference. Mattrick, who had been a leader in Xbox One development, announced his departure from Microsoft on July 1, 2013, to become CEO of Zynga. Analysts speculated that his departure was predicated on the poor response and subsequent reversal of the plans for Xbox One. Microsoft also backtracked on a similarly controversial requirement for the Kinect sensor to be plugged into Xbox One at all times for it to function. Privacy advocates argued that Kinect sensor data could be used for targeted advertising, and to perform unauthorized surveillance on users. In response to these claims, Microsoft reiterated that Kinect voice recognition and motion tracking can be disabled by users, that Kinect data cannot be used for advertising per its privacy policy, and that the console would not redistribute user-generated content without permission. In response to these pre-launch changes and a belief that Microsoft's decisions for the systems were in poor judgement, journalists and consumers jokingly gave Xbox One nicknames such as "Xbox 180", in reference to the Xbox 360 and Microsoft's decision to reverse its controversial decisions, and "Xbone", suggesting that the company was "throwing a bone" to consumers by making these changes. In 2015, four members of an international hacking group pleaded guilty to gaining unauthorized access to Microsoft's computer network and obtaining sensitive information relating to Xbox One and Xbox Live. At the time of the security breach, Microsoft was in the development stage for its next- generation gaming system. Between 2011 and 2013, the hackers spent hundreds of hours searching through Microsoft's network copying log-in credentials, source code, technical specifications, and other data. Group members say they were driven by an immense curiosity about Microsoft's then-unreleased Xbox One console and associated software. "Using stolen access credentials", two of the hackers also committed a physical theft by entering "a secure building on Microsoft's Redmond Washington campus" and carrying away three "Durango" development kits. On June 13, 2016, during its E3 2016 press conference, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One S, a revision of the original Xbox One hardware with a streamlined form factor. Microsoft also teased a high-end version of Xbox One with upgraded hardware codenamed "Project Scorpio", which was unveiled and released the following year as Xbox One X. On April 16, 2019, Microsoft unveiled the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which will include three digital games, Forza Horizon 3, Sea of Thieves and Minecraft. The console does not have a physical disc drive, and all games must be downloaded. It is $50 cheaper than the Xbox One S at $249 and was made available on May 7, 2019. The original Xbox One's exterior casing consists of a two-tone "liquid black" finish; with half finished in a matte grey, and the other in a glossier black. The matte side of the top of the console consists of a large air vent. The design was intended to evoke a more entertainment-oriented and simplified look than previous iterations of the console; among other changes, the LED rings used by Xbox 360 are replaced by a glowing white Xbox logo used to communicate the system's status to the user. Due to the overall ventilation design of the console, the original Xbox One is designed to only sit horizontally. Xbox One S utilizes a refreshed version of this design, with a case that is 40% smaller in size and supports vertical orientation with a stand. The main Xbox One S SKU is colored in an entirely matte "Robot White" finish, with half of the console adorned with machined holes, and a visible circular vent on top of the console's right half. It utilizes push-button controls rather than capacitive keys, the side USB port and controller sync button were moved to the front of the console, and its power supply is integrated into the console's casing rather than sitting externally (plugging directly into an outlet rather than using an external "brick"). The Xbox One is powered by an AMD "Jaguar" Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) with two quad-core modules totaling eight x86-64 cores clocked at 1.75 GHz, and 8 GB of DDR3 RAM with a memory bandwidth of 68.3 GB/s. The memory subsystem also features an additional 32 MB of "embedded static" RAM, or ESRAM, with a memory bandwidth of 109 GB/s. For simultaneous read and write operations, the ESRAM is capable of a theoretical memory bandwidth of 192 GB/s and a memory bandwidth of 133 GB/s has been achieved with operations that involved alpha transparency blending. The system includes a non-replaceable hard drive and a Blu-ray Disc optical drive. 138 GB of hard drive space is used by the operating system, with the remainder available for the storage of games. Since the June 2014 software update, up to two USB drives can be connected to Xbox One to expand its capacity. External drives must support USB 3.0 and have a capacity of at least 256 GB. It was reported that 3 GB of RAM would be reserved for the operating system and utility software, leaving 5 GB for games. With DirectX 11.2 as the console's API, the graphics processing unit (GPU) is based on an AMD GCN architecture with 12 compute units, which have a total of 768 cores, running at 853 MHz providing an estimated peak theoretical power of 1.31 TFLOPS. For networking, Xbox One supports Gigabit Ethernet, 802.11n wireless, and Wi-Fi Direct. The original Xbox One supports 1080p and 720p video output; unlike the Xbox 360, the Xbox One does not support 1080i and other interlaced resolutions. Xbox One supports HDMI 1.4 for both input and output, and does not support composite or component video. Xbox One supports 7.1 surround sound, Dolby Atmos, and DTS X. Xbox One S additionally supports 2160p (4K resolution) video output, and high dynamic range (HDR) color using HDR10 (with a future update to add Dolby Vision HDR support for streaming video). 4K video can be played from supported streaming services and Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc, Games are upscaled from 1080p resolution, and are not rendered at 4K. The GPU on Xbox One S has a higher clock speed and ESRAM bandwidth than the original model, which can provide some performance improvements on games with dynamic resolution scaling or uncapped frame rates. The console can monitor its internal temperature and adjust accordingly to prevent overheating; alongside increasing fan speed, additional measures can be taken, including forcing the hardware to run in a lower power state—a feature that was not present on Xbox 360. Restricting power consumption lowers maximum performance, but the setting would be intended as a last resort to prevent permanent hardware damage. The Xbox One's controller maintains the overall layout found in the Xbox 360's controller, but with various refinements to its form. Among its changes include a smoother form, textured analog sticks, a four-way directional pad, and redesigned triggers and shoulder buttons with a curved shape for ergonomics. "Menu" and "View" buttons have replaced the Start and Back buttons. Each trigger features independent rumble motors called "Impulse Triggers", which allows developers to program directional vibration. One trigger can be made to vibrate when firing a gun, or both can work together to create feedback that indicates the direction of an incoming hit. The controller also contains light emitters that allow it to be tracked and paired using the Kinect sensor, and to detect when it's not being held to automatically enter a low-power state. An updated revision of the controller was released in June 2015, which includes a 3.5-millimeter headphone jack and other minor changes. A third revision was introduced alongside and first bundled with Xbox One S, with textured grips and Bluetooth support. The Xbox One controller includes a micro USB port; when attached via a micro-USB cable, the controller can operate without battery power and can charge remotely, and is supported on computers running Windows 7 or later with drivers. The Xbox One Wireless Adapter accessory allows wireless use of Xbox One controllers on Windows computers also running Windows 7 or later. The Elite Wireless Controller was released in October 2015. It was described and marketed as "an elite controller for the elite gamer", containing interchangeable parts, "hair trigger locks" for the triggers that allow users to reduce the amount of distance they must be pressed to register a press, and software for remapping buttons. In May 2018, Microsoft announced the Xbox Adaptive Controller—a special controller designed for users with disabilities. It features two large dome-like buttons, and a series of connectors corresponding to standard Xbox controller buttons—which are used to attach specific types of buttons and other assertive peripherals. The controller can also be used in conjunction with Copilot—a feature introduced in 2017 that allows multiple controllers to be used in tandem on behalf of a single player. As of the November 2018 update, developers may now optionally allow their titles to support computer mice and keyboards as input. Microsoft also unveiled an exclusive partnership with Razer Inc. to produce a specific line of Xbox-optimized keyboard and mice peripherals, with Xbox system keys and support for Razer's Chroma LED lighting platform. The Kinect 2.0, an updated natural user interface sensor, was redesigned and recreated to provide motion-tracking and voice commands for the Xbox One. Kinect 2.0 features a wide-angle time-of-flight camera and a 1080p camera, in comparison to the VGA resolution of the Xbox 360 version, and processes 2GB of data per second to map its environment. Kinect 2.0 has an improved accuracy over its predecessor; it can track up to 6 people simultaneously, referred to as "skeletons", perform heart rate tracking, track controller gestures, and read QR codes to redeem Xbox Live gift cards. By default, voice recognition is active at all times, so the console can receive voice commands from the user, even when the console is in sleep mode. It is possible to wake the console with a command, although settings are available to change which individual Kinect functions are active. Prior to and after the mandate, all Xbox One consoles initially shipped with the Kinect sensor included. On June 9, 2014, cheaper Xbox One bundles were introduced, which did not include the Kinect sensor. Microsoft stated the decision to offer Xbox One bundles without Kinect was to "[offer] a choice to people that would allow people to buy an Xbox One and then ramp up to Kinect when they can afford to", while also allowing games to use processing power that was previously reserved for Kinect. An updated Xbox Development Kit issued in June 2014 allows developers to explicitly disable motion tracking functionality in games, allowing access to additional system resources that represent about 10% of the GPU processing power. These resources were previously reserved for Kinect skeletal tracking, regardless of whether the Kinect sensor was attached or in use. A Windows compatible Kinect 2.0 was released on July 15, 2014. Kinect 2.0 was released as a standalone and optional item in October 2014; it is bundled with a digital copy of Dance Central Spotlight. Xbox One S lacks the Kinect connection port, requiring a USB/power adapter to use the accessory. A free USB adapter was provided by Microsoft to Kinect owners who registered their ownership of Kinect and Xbox One S online up until March 2017. The adapter was sold separately thereafter, but has since been discontinued. Kinect for Xbox One was officially discontinued on October 25, 2017. The Xbox One runs two operating systems within a hypervisor; games run within one separate operating system, while apps and the user interface run within a stripped-down version of Microsoft Windows; the original system software was based on Windows 8, but it has since been changed to Windows 10. This architecture allows resources to be allocated specifically to different aspects of the console's functions, including multitasking and Kinect processing, ensuring an "absolute guarantee of performance" for games. Xbox One supports Universal Windows Platform apps, which can be designed to run across Xbox One, Windows 10, and Windows 10 Mobile in synchronization with the Windows platform. Xbox One's user interface uses Microsoft's Fluent Design System; previous iterations of the console's software used the Metro design language. The dashboard is divided into "Home", "Mixer", "Community", "Entertainment", and "Store" sections, with the "Home" page further divided into "blocks" that can display pinned games/apps, as well as other content. Pressing the Xbox Guide button opens a sidebar with access to common functions such as the friends list, apps, the user's party, and settings. Users can go back to the dashboard while using games or apps using either the Xbox button on their controller or a voice command; up to four apps can run (either actively or in the background) at once, but only one game can run at a time. Use of Kinect enables the ability to control the console via voice commands. Xbox One's voice control capabilities are similar to, albeit richer than those of Xbox 360. The voice assistant Cortana was added in 2016 to provide expanded voice command functionality with natural language recognition. The dashboard originally used a layout similar to Windows 8's "Start screen", with a horizontal-scrolling, tile-based interface. This design was replaced for Xbox Preview Program members in September 2015 with the current interface, known as "the New Xbox One Experience", which was publicly released as part of the November 12, 2015 system update. Alongside its new layout, support for Kinect motion controls on the dashboard were removed. The UI was refreshed again in April 2017, adding the new Guide sidebar and other new features. At this time, the ability to "snap" apps as a sidebar for multi-tasking was removed. The UI was further revamped in October 2017 to use elements of Windows 10's forthcoming design language, and adds a new, lighter color scheme option for the console's user interface. The Xbox One can view and play content from DLNA servers and USB storage devices using the "Media Player" app. An application allows playback of video from Blu-ray Disc, DVD and CD media. The console provides the ability to feed live television by serving as an HDMI pass-through for an existing television provider's set-top box or an optional Digital TV Tuner accessory that allows use of digital terrestrial television. The console provides its own electronic program guide known as OneGuide, augmenting the existing streaming functionality to provide show recommendations based on viewing history, integrated access to "App Channels" corresponding to online video services, and voice control via Kinect. The set-top box and television are controlled by OneGuide using an IR blaster. The Xbox One does not provide full DVR functionality for recording television programs: executive Yusuf Mehdi indicated that the console would "work in tandem" with existing television services, but that Microsoft would need to work with them directly to provide extended functionality, such as DVR integration. The digital TV tuner accessory allows limited DVR functionality for pausing and rewinding live TV for up to 30 minutes. In June 2016, Microsoft announced that their plans for full DVR functionality for the Xbox One were on hold. The Xbox Live service has been scaled up to use 300,000 servers for Xbox One users. Cloud storage is available to save music, films, games and saved content, and developers are able to use Live servers (along with the Microsoft Azure cloud computing platform) to offer dynamic in-game content and other functionality. Users can have up to 1,000 friends. The December 2016 software update added the new social networking feature Clubs, which allows users to join groups focused on specific interests or games, and Looking for group (LFG), a system to help users locate players to join their party for multiplayer play. Players can use the Upload Studio app to edit and share clips from the last five minutes of gameplay footage that is automatically recorded by the console. Games can also be developed so that recording can automatically be triggered in response to notable events, such as achievements. Xbox One supports streaming directly to the services Mixer and Twitch. Users can use voice commands to immediately begin streaming footage of their current game directly to the service, and use Kinect's camera and microphone to record video and audio narration. Users can feature recorded clips on their Xbox Live profile page in a "Showcase" section. As with Xbox 360, premium online features such as multiplayer, voice communication, broadcasting and Upload Studio require an Xbox Live Gold subscription to use. Unlike Xbox 360, a user's Xbox Live Gold subscription benefits apply to all other users of their designated "home" console as well, rather than requiring a separate subscription for each user. Since June 2014, applications no longer require an Xbox Live Gold membership to use. Additional subscriptions for outside services such as Netflix may still be required. Microsoft also extended its Games with Gold program to Xbox One, providing free Xbox 360 and Xbox One games to Xbox Live Gold subscribers on a monthly basis. The Xbox SmartGlass app provides extended functionality on Xbox One, allowing devices running Windows Phone, Windows 8, iOS and Android to be used as a companion device for Xbox One features, such as powering on the console, a remote control, accessing messages and the Activity Feed, purchasing content, and providing integration with certain games and content. The SmartGlass app can also be used to stream live television to Android and Windows devices if the console is using a USB digital television tuner. On Windows 10, SmartGlass is succeeded by the Xbox App, which supports the local streaming of games from Xbox One to personal computers and tablets running Windows 10. An Xbox One controller must be used, but Windows-compatible headsets and microphones can be used for voice chat. Games requiring Kinect are not supported, while Game DVR and online streaming are not available while using this functionality. Per a partnership with Oculus VR, users will also be able to stream Xbox One games to the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset by means of Xbox app for Windows 10; as of 2015 there were no immediate plans for direct integration between Xbox One and Oculus Rift. Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service from Microsoft for use with its Xbox One and Windows 10. Described as "Netflix for video games", the Xbox Game Pass grants users access to a catalog of games from a range of publishers for a single monthly subscription price. The service was launched on June 1, 2017. Xbox One games are distributed physically on Blu-ray Disc, and digitally as downloads through Microsoft Store (formerly Xbox Games Store). All Xbox One games must be installed to the console's storage: one can begin to play portions of a game (such as opening levels) once the installation or download reaches a specific point, while the remainder of the game is downloaded or installed in the background. However, for older titles (such as Xbox 360 games, see "Xbox 360 compatibility", below), one must wait until installation is completed to play. Updates to games and system software are also downloaded in the background and while in standby. If the game is installed from physical media, the disc is still required for validation purposes. If the game is installed on another console, and that console owner no longer has access to the disc, the owner has the option of unlocking the install on their hard drive by purchasing it through Xbox Live; the installed game then acts as a game installed on the hard drive. An active internet connection may be required for some games, particularly those that rely on server-side processing. Microsoft introduced an Early access program known as in 2015, which allows developers to launch unfinished games for consumers to purchase and beta test before its official launch. Since June 2017, games may be promoted with additional icons that denote compatibility with hardware enhancements found in newer Xbox One models, including support for high- dynamic-range (HDR) colors (on Xbox One S and Xbox One X), native rendering at 4K resolution (Xbox One X), and specific optimizations for Xbox One X. In February 2017, Microsoft introduced a subscription "on-demand" service known as Xbox Game Pass, separate from Xbox Live Gold, which allows users to download and play games from its library at no additional charge for the life of the subscription. In April 2019, Microsoft also introduced Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which bundles Game Pass with an Xbox Live Gold subscription. At its launch, the Xbox One did not have native backward compatibility with original Xbox or Xbox 360 games. It had been a desired launch feature by Microsoft and had been actively under development as early as 2007 under the "Trioxide" program as to get Xbox 360 code to run on 64-bit hardware. Rather than going the route of the initial PlayStation 3 which included a core PlayStation 2 system-on-a-chip processor, the Xbox One hardware was designed to include support for Xbox 360 XMA and texture processing on hardware, knowing this would be difficult to replicate in software. Following criticism of its plan for an "always on" console from the May 2013 announcement, Microsoft had to put significant effort to prepare the Xbox One software for a revised approach, and the backwards compatibility development work were put on hold. Interim solutions were suggested: senior project management and planning director Albert Penello explained that Microsoft was initially considering a cloud gaming platform to enable backward compatibility, but he felt it would be "problematic" due to varying internet connection qualities. Xbox Live director of programming Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb did state that users could theoretically use the HDMI-in port on the console to pass an Xbox 360 (or, alternatively, any other device that supports HDMI output, including competing consoles) through Xbox One. This process does generate a small amount of unnoticeable display lag. Following the release of the Xbox One and transition of Phil Spencer to the head of the Xbox division in 2014, he and software engineering vice president Kareem Choudhry restarted the backwards compatibility program in relative secret within the company. Choudhry brought on previous engineers that worked on Trioxide, including Kevin La Chapelle, Jonathan Morrison, and Barry Bond, to restart the program. The team chose to start with Castle Crashers, which included Xbox networking features, to test backwards compatibility. Castle Crashers frequently crashed to a screen with alphanumeric codes, which La Chapelle was able to obtain from the game's developers, The Behemoth, which helped them to rapidly diagnose problems and fix the compatibility issues. Solving most of the major problems through Castle Crashers, the background compatibility team decided to let the program be announced at E3 2015 with plans to have one hundred titles available by the end of 2015. However, by E3, they still found problems with some games running at extremely low framerates. During the event, Morrison recognized that a fundamental difference between the Xbox 360 and Xbox One was its scheduling rate, and when they returned, Morrison's idea helped them to rapidly complete work to meet its promised goal by the end of that year. Individual games still brought some difficulty, specifically , but this prompted the team to develop automatic tools that could be used to identify where Xbox 360 titles would be difficult to run as-is on the Xbox One and how to work around those; this further set up the potential to improve Xbox 360 games on the future iterations of the Xbox One, such as the Xbox One X to improve graphics support. Xbox 360 backward compatibility uses "Fission", a software emulator within the system software; 104 Xbox 360 titles were supported at the feature's public launch, with more added in the following months. Xbox 360 games contained within Rare Replay are packaged as standalone applications using the Xbox 360 emulation. Microsoft stated that publishers would only need to provide permission to the company to allow the repackaging, and it expected the number of supported games to increase significantly over time. Microsoft, along with fourteen other third-party publishers, will offer supported games, and all Games with Gold titles on Xbox 360 since November 2015 are made compatible. On June 10, 2019, Microsoft stated that it had wound down the addition of new titles to the backwards compatibility program in order to focus on Xbox One's successor. Xbox division head Phil Spencer had also hinted the possibility of adding support for games from the original Xbox. For the backwards compatibility team, after they completed the framework for Xbox 360 compatibility so that other engineering teams could take over, they turned to the question of compatibility with the original Xbox console. The program was started in November 2016, under the code name "Fusion", and was led by software engineer Spencer Perreault. Perreault initially tried the same approaches as the team had done with "Fission", but due to the differences in memory management sizes and chipset bit-rates, these initial tests failed. Instead, Perreault worked to bring "Dolphin", a developer tool for the original Xbox, working to get its emulation correct. La Chapelle brought in a number of personal Xbox titles to test in Perreault's emulation, getting about a 10% "hit rate" on successes, though the variety of failures helped Perreault to identify common problems, and within a month, had improved the successful hit rate to about 90%. As with Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, the Fusion emulation enables Xbox games to be scaled to 1080p resolutions, work with Xbox One networking features, and can allow mixed-console System Link connection between all three generations of Xbox. With Perreault's success, Microsoft announced the Xbox backwards compatibility on the Xbox One in June 2017. Thirteen titles were initially released on October 24, 2017. Microsoft announced an additional 19 titles to be added to the Xbox One service during April 2018. Microsoft does not anticipate that there will be as many Xbox titles brought to the program as with the Xbox 360, primarily due to legal issues related to intellectual property, contracts, and companies that have since gone defunct. While the initial unveiling of the Xbox One in May 2013 created criticism that led to significant changes in the digital rights management scheme it would use, other features of the console were highlighted by journalists. The editorial staff of Game Informer offered both praise and criticism for the console. Matt Helgeson described the console as Microsoft's intent to "control the living room". He called Xbox One's instant switching features "impressive", and that the console was "a step in the right direction" with regards to TV entertainment, especially the prospect of avoiding the usage of non-intuitive user interfaces often found on cable set-top boxes. Jeff Cork said that Microsoft had "some great ideas" for the console, but that it failed to properly communicate them. Microsoft's E3 2013 press conference was criticized for focusing too much on games that, beyond increased graphical capabilities, provided experiences that were otherwise similar to previous- generation games—giving little incentive for buying the new console. Rafi Mohammed, author of "The Art of Pricing", felt that Microsoft priced Xbox One "too high" and that the $100 premium over its competitor could "derail" the system during the 2013 holiday season. Upon its release, the Xbox One received favorable reviews from critics and reviewers. In its launch review, Polygon gave the Xbox One an 8/10. Its design was described as "inoffensive" but its larger size noted, while the console's quieter and cooler operation was praised for indicating a potentially higher reliability than Xbox 360 was on-launch. The controller was praised for its battery life and "premium" design, but some members of the site's staff felt that its shoulder buttons were stiffer than that of previous designs. The design of Xbox One's interface received mixed reviews: noting that it carried over Windows 8's design language, the interface was disfavored for hiding functions under the controller's menu button and for being awkward to use with a controller or motion gestures, seemingly encouraging users to use voice navigation instead. While praised for having more "robust" voice navigation than Xbox 360, they felt that voice navigation still had a "learning curve in understanding what works and what doesn't." Although its user following, Smart Match, and improved voice chat features were noted, Xbox Live was panned for not offering the option on-launch to add a real name to user profiles. Despite a regression in local and network multimedia functionality in comparison to Xbox 360 and how OneGuide interacted with outside set-top boxes (drawing comparisons to the operations of TiVo DVRs), Polygon felt the Xbox One's overall multimedia experience "feels like a major step forward in set-top boxes and makes the Xbox One the obvious center of any living room that has one." Ben Gilbert of Engadget was similarly modest upon its launch, assigning the console a score of 81/100 and describing the Xbox One's design as a "1993 artist's rendering of 2013's technology". Acknowledging that its controller was a mere refinement of the "ubiquit[ous]" Xbox 360 design, he praised the controller for its improved D-pad and quieter triggers but criticized its stiff shoulder buttons. Kinect received positive reviews for its face recognition login and improved motion tracking, but that whilst "magical", "every false positive or unrecognized [voice] command had us reaching for the controller." The overall interface was also considered more intuitive and flexible than that of PlayStation 4, but its game library view was described as being a "jumbled, sadly unfilterable rows of every owned piece of software", that also knowingly listed games that require their disc to run alongside those which did not. The console was also panned for missing certain promised features on-launch, such as Upload Studio, game streaming, and certain apps/services. Later on, critics felt that the Xbox One's functionality had matured over the year following its launch; Jeff Bakalar of CNET, assigning it a score of 8/10, acknowledged improvements to Xbox One's software since its original release, but that its user interface was still unintuitive in comparison to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 4, explaining that "navigating the interface seems to be much more problematic than it rightfully should be, and there's simply not enough transparency in the logic within it. There are oddities peppered throughout, which is the root for countless headaches and frustrations." Xbox One's in-game performance was mixed, with some titles showing slower performance over PS4, but some multi-platform games performing better on Xbox One than PS4. CNET praised the wider lineup of multimedia services and apps on Xbox One over PS4, not requiring Xbox Live Gold for online save data storage, support for high-speed USB 3.0 as secondary storage, and having a "slightly better" lineup of upcoming exclusives, concluding that "While the PS4 had a clear advantage at launch, that edge is slowly evaporating as Microsoft has worked feverishly to undo most of the Xbox One's original missteps." Nick Pino of TechRadar, giving it four stars out of five, similarly felt that the Xbox One "[felt] more like a media titan today than it did 12 months ago," citing OneGuide, Upload Studio, and Microsoft's decision to drop the Xbox Live Gold requirement for multimedia streaming apps, and that "there's still a lot of potential locked away inside the hardware of the system that developers are just beginning to figure out. So while PlayStation might have the upper hand for now when it comes to certain third- party titles, it may not always remain that way. Just how Microsoft will get it to that point, though, is still a mystery." However, he disfavored the console's dependence upon a subscription for most of its functionality, Kinect's voice recognition, and that some games do not natively run at 1080p resolution, but are upscaled. In an August 2016 review of the Xbox One S model, TechRadar further commended Microsoft's recent improvements to Xbox One, citing a strong lineup of first-party titles in 2015 and further improvements to the console's interface. Alaina Yee of IGN also praised how Xbox One had evolved since its launch, assigning it with Kinect a score of 8.1/10 and acknowledging that Microsoft had "made good on its promise of listening to consumers, rolling out a steady stream of updates that have both broadened and deepened what this third Xbox console offers." Regarding the console's slightly lower level of graphics capabilities in comparison to PlayStation 4, it was noted that "while videophiles might spot instances of upscaled graphics and less detailed environments immediately, most people generally won't notice a difference between Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions of a game (when there is one) unless they see both running side by side", and examples of "gorgeous" Xbox One games were noted, such as Sunset Overdrive and Forza Motorsport 5. The number of "hidden" options in Xbox One's user interface was equated to "hunting for treasure in a messy room"; as such, Kinect voice commands, in combination with access to common functions within the Xbox SmartGlass app, were praised for helping to provide a more streamlined user experience. The Xbox One S revision was critically praised for its improvements over the original model, including its streamlined design, the addition of HDR and 4K video support, and visual improvements on some games (such as Fallout 4 and Rise of the Tomb Raider) when upscaled to 4K. However, TechRadar noted regressions such as the lack of a Kinect port (considered "one last kick in the pants for all the gamers forced into buying the more expensive console bundle two short years ago"), and concerns that the revised hardware and HDR support would lead to fragmentation of Xbox One's ecosystem, as not all users will necessarily experience a game the same way. Dieter Bohn of The Verge similarly felt that although it was one of the cheapest 4K Blu-ray players on the market, consumers were more interested in streaming 4K content (which could be accomplished with cheaper digital media players) than 4K Blu-ray discs, and noted the small number of HDR-enabled games on launch. Bohn concluded that the Xbox One S would appeal best to new owners or those who wish to leverage its HDR and 4K support, but recommended that existing owners consider Xbox One X instead. The Xbox One platform has faced criticism for lacking in exclusive releases over competitors such as PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Although there have been releases in flagship Microsoft franchises such as Forza and Halo, they have underperformed in comparison to other entries, while several major Xbox One exclusives have faced notable delays, such as Crackdown 3, or outright cancellations, including Fable Legends and Scalebound. By contrast, PS4 and Switch have seen a large number of critically successful first- and third-party exclusives, and Activision would sign with Sony Interactive Entertainment for timed exclusivity on certain add-on content in the Call of Duty and Destiny franchises—the former having replaced a previous deal with Microsoft. An analyst also noted that Microsoft's first-party studios were not as strong as those of Sony, explaining that "Sony has always been about first party and Microsoft wanted to emulate that, but they allowed studios like Rare and Lionhead to fade away." In 2018, Microsoft acquired a large number of third-party studios, including Compulsion Games, InXile Entertainment, Ninja Theory, Obsidian Entertainment, Playground Games, and Undead Labs, and hired former Crystal Dynamics head Darrell Gallagher to lead a new Microsoft studio known as The Initiative. In 2016, Microsoft began to make future Xbox One- exclusive first-party releases simultaneously available on Windows 10 PCs, with digital cross-buy support via Microsoft Store under the branding Xbox Play Anywhere. This, thus, makes the games Microsoft platform exclusives rather than Xbox One exclusives. Microsoft has used the branding "console launch exclusive" to refer to titles (such as PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds) that are timed or permanent exclusives to Xbox console hardware, but were already available on, or are planned to be available on PC. Microsoft initially imposed policies referred to as the "parity clause" on indie games, which required that the Xbox One version of a game be released at the same time as versions on other platforms. Phil Spencer stated that this rule was intended to ensure that Xbox One was a "first-class" platform by discouraging staggered releases. However, these policies resulted in some studios, such as Vlambeer (developer of Nuclear Throne) choosing to negotiate console exclusivity with Sony instead, who proved to be more receptive to indie development. By July 2015, Microsoft had changed its policies in response to the criticism, with Spencer admitting that this policy was onerous on smaller studios. Spencer also stated that Microsoft was willing to work with studios to help make the Xbox launches of former timed exclusives "special in some way", so that customers are not simply purchasing "last year's game". Microsoft only publicized its sales figures during the first year after release. The last official figure was released in November 2014, with the company announcing in October 2015 that it would no longer publish sales figures for the system. On November 22, 2013, Microsoft confirmed that it had sold one million Xbox One consoles within its first 24 hours of being available. Based on approximately 102,000 shopping receipts tracked by InfoScout, 1,500 of which included a purchase of either a video game or a video game console, the Xbox One was the highest-selling console during the Black Friday sales period in the United States. On December 11, 2013, Microsoft announced that it had sold approximately 2 million units in its first 18 days on sale. On December 12, 2013, Microsoft announced it was the fastest selling console in the United States, based on NPD Group figures, however the NPD report clarified, "PlayStation 4 sales included an additional week within the November data month compared to Xbox One. When looking at sales on an average per-week basis, Xbox One led PS4. Keep in mind, however, that supply typically becomes constrained in the second week after launch." On January 6, 2014, Microsoft announced that approximately 3 million consoles had been sold worldwide in 2013. In their Q2 2014 earnings report on January 23, 2014, Microsoft announced that 3.9 million Xbox One units had been shipped worldwide. On November 12, 2014, Microsoft announced it had shipped almost 10 million units to retailers worldwide. The company also revealed that a price cut had tripled U.S. sales of the console over the previous week. On December 11, 2014, Microsoft announced, based on NPD Group figures, that Xbox One was the best-selling console in November 2014. With Microsoft's October 2015 announcement that it would no longer publish sales figures for the system, the 10 million figure from November 2014 is still the latest official cumulative sales number. Some journalists think that its lower sales figures than rival PlayStation 4 is the reason behind the decision, to make their system not look "bad" compared to Sony's. The Xbox One has sold poorly in Japan, continuing the trend of Microsoft's previous consoles which have struggled against the local Sony and Nintendo. The Xbox One sold a total figure of 23,562 consoles within its launch week. By comparison, the Xbox 360 sold 62,000 consoles in Japan during its opening week in 2005. In the week ending June 14, 2015 the Xbox One sold just 100 consoles in Japan; in the same week the Wii U sold 16,413 consoles. In January 2016, the CFO of Electronic Arts reported during a financial call that the Xbox One has sold "around 18 to 19 million" units. This is half of the 36 million units of the PlayStation 4 that Sony claimed at the time, but higher than that of the Xbox One's other main competitor, Nintendo's Wii U, which sold 12.5 million units. Research firm IHS Markit estimated 39.1 million units were sold by the end of March 2018. Video game industry analyst Daniel Ahmad estimated that approximately 41 million units had been sold through 2018. According to the International Data Corporation, of the 46.9 million Xbox Ones sold worldwide through the second quarter of 2019, just 0.3% of them have been in Japan. At Turtle Beach Corporation Q3 2019 earnings call, Xbox One sales reached 50 million. On launch, Xbox One was available in a single retail configuration, which included the console with 500 GB hard drive, one controller, and Kinect sensor. In the United States, it retailed for US$499. On June 9, 2014, Microsoft released a new Xbox One retail configuration that excludes the Kinect sensor, costing US$399. A standalone Kinect sensor for Xbox One for use with these models was released in October 2014, retailing at US$150. On June 16, 2015, Microsoft lowered the price of the stock model to US$349, and released a new US$399 model containing a 1 terabyte hard drive and in some markets, . In May 2016, Microsoft lowered the price of selected 500 GB bundles to US$299, and 1 TB bundles to US$319 as a limited time offer of unspecified length. On June 14, 2016, the price of 500 GB models was lowered once more to US$279 through October 2016, in anticipation of the launch of Xbox One S. On August 31, 2015, Microsoft announced Xbox One Elite—a new SKU with a 1 TB solid-state hybrid drive and an Elite controller. It was released in November 2015 and retails for US$499.99. In the US, the Elite bundle was a timed exclusive to GameStop and Microsoft Store. Those who pre-ordered Xbox One for its release received a special "Day One Edition", which featured a "DAY ONE 2013" inscriptions on the controller, and a unique achievement. A white "Launch Team" edition was given exclusively to Microsoft staff members, featuring the inscription "I made this, LAUNCH TEAM 2013" on the console and controller, and was bundled with Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, , and Zoo Tycoon. A similar limited edition was gifted to Respawn Entertainment employees following the release of Titanfall, with a black, white, and orange color scheme and a similarly styled controller inspired by the game (the controller itself would be released publicly as a tie-in). Xbox One consoles bundled with digital copies of specific games have also been released, including Titanfall and Forza Motorsport 5. In October 2014, a non-Kinect bundle featuring a white Xbox One and a coupon for a digital copy of Sunset Overdrive was released, marking the first public availability of white Xbox One models. A similar white hardware bundle was released for Quantum Break., In November 2014, a limited edition 1 TB bundle was released for , with a "worn", militaristic grey and black color scheme with gold accents and insignia detailing (including the emblem of the Sentinel Task Force), customized hardware sound effects for the power and eject buttons, and a matching controller. It is bundled with a coupon for a digital copy of Advanced Warfares "Day Zero" edition, which offered the pre-order incentives of pre-release access and special in-game items., 512 GB Assassin's Creed bundles were released in November 2014, which shipped with coupons for digital copies of both Assassin's Creed Unity and . This bundle was available with and without Kinect, with the Kinect version also including a coupon for a digital copy of Dance Central Spotlight., Another non-Kinect bundle was released in March 2015 that includes a coupon for a digital copy of ., A 1 TB Forza Motorsport 6 bundle was released on September 15, 2015, which features blue-colored hardware with racing stripes and a push-button start-inspired design around the power button, and customized hardware sound effects., A limited-edition 1TB bundle was released on October 20, 2015 (one week before the launch of the game itself), and features a gunmetal gray finish with metallic blue accents, military insignia detailing, and customized hardware sound effects. In August 2018, Microsoft announced that it would, for a limited time, offer a financing program known as Xbox All Access through Microsoft Store in the United States. The program will allow users to purchase an Xbox One S or X console, bundled with subscriptions to both Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, financed over a two-year contract. The customer retains ownership of the console after the two years, and if they break contract prior to that, they must pay the difference on the remaining console cost. The pricing is set to be cheaper overall than purchasing the individual elements alone. The Xbox One S is available in 500 GB, 1 TB, and a "special edition" 2 TB model, which originally retailed at US$299, $349, and $399 respectively. The 2 TB model was released on August 2, 2016, and 1 TB and 500 GB models were released on August 23, 2016. A Gears of War 4 special edition was also released. On June 11, 2017, Microsoft lowered the prices of the 500 GB Battlefield 1 and 1 TB Forza Horizon 3 Xbox One S console bundles by US$50. At Gamescom 2017, Microsoft unveiled a 1 TB Minecraft limited edition, with a grass block-themed hardware and a Creeper-themed controller. During an Inside Xbox livestream in September 2018, Microsoft unveiled a 1 TB Fortnite Battle Royale bundle, with online codes to acquire unique in-game Eon-themed items and currency. On October 9, 2018, Microsoft announced that they would be releasing a 1 TB Minecraft Creators bundle, with a download code for Minecraft, in-game currency, DLC packs, and a free trial for Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. On June 7, 2019, Microsoft released a 1 TB purple Fortnite edition bundle, with in-game currency and in-game items. On April 16, 2019, Microsoft unveiled an "all-digital" configuration of the Xbox One S named Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which excludes the Blu-ray Disc drive. It is a 1 TB model sold at a price of US$249, and is pre-loaded with Forza Horizon 3, Minecraft, and Sea of Thieves. The console was released on May 7, 2019. Microsoft first teased the Xbox One X, a high-end hardware revision of the Xbox One, at E3 2016 under the codename "Project Scorpio", and released it on November 7, 2017 with a 1 TB model priced at US$499, and a limited, pre-order exclusive "Project Scorpio Edition", with a dark-gradient finish, vertical stand-brace and green "Project Scorpio" inscriptions on the console and bundled controller. Like the Xbox One S, the Xbox One X also includes a UHD Blu-ray player. The Xbox One X features upgraded hardware, designed primarily to render games at 4K resolution and to provide performance improvements for existing games; they can be displayed at full resolution on 4K displays, or supersampled for lower-resolution displays. It uses a system-on-chip (SoC) known as Scorpio Engine, which incorporates a 2.3 GHz octa-core CPU, and a Radeon GPU with 40 Compute Units clocked at 1172 MHz, generating 6 teraflops of graphical computing performance. It also includes 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM with 9 GB allocated to games. Scorpio Engine's CPU utilizes a custom platform designed to maintain compatibility with the Jaguar CPU of the original Xbox One, but with a 31% increase in performance; the custom platform is unrelated to AMD's current Ryzen architecture. The console uses a vapor-chamber method of cooling for the SoC, and motherboards tailored to the exact voltage needs of each individual Scorpio SoC to optimize their output and energy usage. The console also supports AMD's FreeSync technology, 1440p resolution, and/or 120 Hz refresh rate on compatible displays. The Xbox One X is compatible with all existing Xbox One software and accessories. To assist in optimizing the new hardware to run existing games at 4K resolution, Microsoft developers used internal debugging software to collect GPU traces from major titles that did not run at full 1080p resolution on the original Xbox One. , which uses a scaling system that dynamically lowers the game's resolution when needed to maintain a consistent frame rate, was able to run at its native resolution with no scaling on Xbox One X hardware. Phil Spencer touted that Xbox One X's hardware could also support virtual reality, due to its power, price point, and convenience. At the 2017 Game Developers Conference, Microsoft announced plans to support Windows Mixed Reality VR headsets on Xbox One in 2018, but the company later stated that it was initially focusing on PC platforms first, and that it wanted to focus on wireless VR solutions for consoles. Games marketed by Microsoft as Xbox One X Enhanced have specific optimizations for graphical fidelity on the console's hardware. Separate iconography denotes games that natively run at 4K resolution, or support HDR. Existing games can be updated to provide these enhancements. Though Xbox Games marketing head Aaron Greenberg stated that Xbox One X will have no exclusive titles, general manager of game publishing Shannon Loftis remarked in a follow-up interview that she was not sure on this point, and exclusivity would be "up to the game development community what do they want to do". The Xbox One X has been characterized as a competitor to the PlayStation 4 Pro, a hardware update of the PlayStation 4 released in late 2016 that similarly focuses on 4K gaming and improved virtual reality performance, although Phil Spencer stated that the PlayStation 4 Pro's competition is instead the Xbox One S. In October 2016 Penello stated that the performance advantage of the Xbox One X over the PS4 Pro would be "obvious", noting that the PS4 Pro's GPU only had 4.2 teraflops of graphical computing performance in comparison to Microsoft's stated 6 teraflops. Some journalists thought that Microsoft's messaging and positioning of Scorpio alongside the release of the Xbox One S were at odds with themselves and "confusing". Table notes John Sell, Patrick O'Connor (Microsoft), "Xbox One: Main SoC and Xbox one Kinect", presented at the Hot Chips Symposium 25, 2013 BioShock is a 2007 first-person shooter game developed by 2K Boston (later Irrational Games) and 2K Australia, and published by 2K Games. It is the first game in the Bioshock series. The game's concept was developed by Irrational's creative lead, Ken Levine, and incorporates ideas by 20th century dystopian and utopian thinkers such as Ayn Rand, George Orwell, and Aldous Huxley, as well as historical figures such as John D. Rockefeller and Walt Disney. The game is considered a spiritual successor to the System Shock series, on which many of Irrational's team, including Levine, had worked previously. BioShock is set in 1960. The player guides the protagonist, Jack, after his airplane crashes in the ocean near the bathysphere terminus that leads to the underwater city of Rapture. Built by the business magnate Andrew Ryan, the city was intended to be an isolated utopia, but the discovery of ADAM, a genetic material which can be used to grant superhuman powers, initiated the city's turbulent decline. Jack tries to find a way to escape, fighting through hordes of ADAM-obsessed enemies, and the iconic, deadly Big Daddies, while engaging with the few sane humans that remain and eventually learning of Rapture's past. The player, as Jack, can defeat foes in several ways by using weapons, utilizing plasmids that give unique powers, and by turning Rapture's defenses against them. it was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 platforms in August 2007; a PlayStation 3 port by Irrational, 2K Marin, 2K Australia and Digital Extremes was released in October 2008, and an OS X port by Feral Interactive in October 2009. A scaled-down mobile version was developed by IG Fun, which contained the first few levels of the game. BioShock includes elements of role-playing games, giving the player different approaches in engaging enemies such as by stealth, as well as moral choices of saving or killing characters. Additionally, the game and biopunk theme borrow concepts from the survival horror genre, notably the Resident Evil series. BioShock received critical acclaim and was particularly praised by critics for its morality-based storyline, immersive environments, and its unique setting. It is considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time and a demonstration of video game as an art form. It received several Game of the Year awards from different media outlets, including from BAFTA, Game Informer, Spike TV, and X-Play. Since its release a direct sequel has been released, BioShock 2 by 2K Marin, as well as a third game titled BioShock Infinite by Irrational Games. A remastered version of the original game was released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2016, as part of , along with BioShock 2 and Infinite. A standalone version of BioShock Remastered was released for macOS by Feral Interactive in August 2017. BioShock is set in 1960 in the underwater city of Rapture; the city's history is mostly revealed via audio recordings the player can collect during the game. Rapture was planned and constructed in the 1940s by Objectivist business magnate Andrew Ryan who wanted to create a utopia for society's elite to flourish outside of government control and "petty morality". Scientific progress greatly expanded, including the discovery of the genetic material "ADAM" created by sea slugs on the ocean floor. ADAM allows its users to alter their DNA to grant them super-human powers like telekinesis and pyrokinesis. To protect Rapture, Ryan imposed a law that no contact with the surface world was allowed. Despite the apparent utopia, class distinctions grew, and former gangster and businessman Frank Fontaine used his influence over the lower class to plan a coup over Rapture. Fontaine profited by creating black market routes with the surface world, and together with Dr. Brigid Tenenbaum, created a cheap plasmid industry by mass-producing ADAM through the implantation of the slugs in the stomachs of orphaned girls, nicknamed "Little Sisters". Fontaine used his plasmid-enhanced army to attack Ryan, but reportedly was killed in the battle. Ryan took the opportunity to seize his assets, including the plasmid factories. In the months that followed, a second figure named Atlas rose to speak for the lower class, creating further strife. Atlas led attacks on the factories housing the Little Sisters, and Ryan countered by creating "Big Daddies", plasmid-enhanced humans surgically grafted into giant lumbering diving suits who were psychologically compelled to protect the Little Sisters at all costs. Ryan also created his army of plasmid-enhanced soldiers, named "Splicers", which he controlled using pheromones distributed through Rapture's air system. Tension came to a head on New Year's Eve of 1958, when Atlas ordered an all-out attack on Ryan. The battle left many dead, and the few sane survivors barricaded themselves away. What once was a beautiful utopia had fallen into a crumbling dystopia. Some of the events described above are revisited and expanded upon in the downloadable expansion , which takes place in Rapture during the latter months of 1958 and leads up to Atlas' assault on Ryan's forces. In 1960, at the start of the game, the protagonist, Jack, is a passenger on a plane that goes down in the Atlantic Ocean. As the only survivor, Jack makes his way to a nearby lighthouse that houses a bathysphere terminal that takes him to Rapture. Jack is contacted by Atlas via radio, and is guided to safety from the Splicers and the perils of the run-down city. Atlas requests Jack's help in stopping Ryan, directing him to a docked bathysphere where he claims Ryan has trapped his family. When Jack encounters a wandering Little Sister and its fallen Big Daddy, Atlas urges Jack to kill the Little Sister to harvest her ADAM for himself; Dr. Tenenbaum overhears this and intercepts Jack before he harms the Little Sister, urging him to spare the child and any other Little Sisters he encounters, providing him with a plasmid that would force the sea slug out of her body. Jack eventually works his way to the bathysphere, but Ryan destroys it before Jack can reach it. Enraged, Atlas directs Jack towards Ryan's mansion through Ryan's army of Splicers and Big Daddies. At times, Jack is forced to travel through areas controlled by Ryan's allies that have now become deranged, such as the mad doctor J.S. Steinman or Sander Cohen, a former musician and art dealer who now takes enjoyment in watching the death and misery of others. Eventually, Jack enters Ryan's office, where Ryan is patiently waiting for Jack by casually playing golf. Ryan explains he fully knew of Atlas' plan, and explains that Jack is his illegitimate child, taken from his mother by Fontaine who placed him out of Ryan's reach on the surface, and genetically modified to age rapidly. Fontaine had planned to use Jack as a trump card in his war with Ryan, bringing him back to Rapture when the time was right; Jack's genetics would allow him to access systems such as the bathysphere that Ryan had locked out long ago. With no place to run, Ryan is willing to accept death by his own free will, quoting one of his principles: "A man chooses. A slave obeys." He asks Jack "would you kindly" kill him with the golf club, and Jack is compelled to do so. As Ryan dies, Jack becomes aware that the phrase "would you kindly" has preceded many of Atlas' commands as a hypnotic trigger forcing him to follow Atlas' orders without question; a flashback reveals Jack himself was responsible for crashing his plane near the lighthouse after reading a letter containing the trigger phrase. Atlas reveals himself as Fontaine, having used the Atlas alias to hide his identity while providing a figure for the lower class to rally behind. Without Ryan, Fontaine takes over control of Ryan's systems and leaves Jack to die as he releases hostile security drones into Ryan's locked office. Jack is saved by Dr. Tenenbaum and the Little Sisters who had previously been rescued. Dr. Tenenbaum helps Jack to remove Fontaine's conditioned responses, including one that would have stopped his heart. With the help of the Little Sisters, Jack makes his way to Fontaine's lair to face him. Fontaine, being cornered by Jack, injects himself with a large amount of ADAM, becoming an inhuman monster. The Little Sisters aid Jack in draining the ADAM in Fontaine's body and eventually killing him. The ending depends on how the player interacted with the Little Sisters: If the player rescues all of the Little Sisters (or harvests only one of them), Jack takes them back to the surface with him and adopts five of them as his daughters, and Tenenbaum happily narrates how they go on to live full lives under his care, eventually surrounding him on his deathbed. This ending is considered canon in ., If the player harvests more than one Little Sister, Jack turns on the Little Sisters to harvest their ADAM. Tenenbaum sadly narrates what occurred, condemning Jack and his actions. A US Navy submarine then comes across the wreckage of the plane and finds itself suddenly surrounded by bathyspheres containing Splicers who attack the crew and take control of it. The submarine is revealed to be carrying nuclear missiles, with Tenenbaum claiming that Jack has now "stolen the terrible secrets of the world": the more Little Sisters are harvested, the harsher and more furious Tenenbaum's narrative becomes. BioShock is a first-person shooter with role-playing game customization and stealth elements, and is similar to System Shock 2. The player takes the role of Jack as he is guided through Rapture towards various objectives. The player collects multiple weapons and plasmids as they work their way through enemy forces. The player can switch between one active weapon and one active plasmid at any time, allowing them to find combination attacks that can be effective against certain enemies, such as first shocking a Splicer then striking them down with a wrench. Weapons are limited by ammunition that the player collects; many weapons have secondary ammo types that can be used instead for additional benefits, such as bullets that inflict fire damage. Plasmid use consumes a serum called EVE which can be restored using EVE syringes collected by the player. The player has a health meter that decreases when they take damage. The player can restore their health with medical packs found throughout Rapture. If the player's health reduces to zero, they will be regenerated at the last Vita-Chamber that they passed with limited amounts of health and EVE. A patch for the game allows players to disable these Vita- Chambers, requiring players to restart a saved game if the character dies. The game provides several options for players to face challenges. In addition to direct combat, the player can use plasmids to lure enemies into traps or to turn enemies against each other, or employ stealth tactics to avoid detection by hostiles including the security systems and turrets. The player can hack into any of Rapture's automated systems; the hacking process is done via a mini-game similar to Pipe Mania where the player must connect two points on opposite sides of a grid with a limited set of piping within a fixed amount of time, with failure to complete in time costing health and potentially sounding alarms. Early in the game, the player is given a research camera; by taking photographs of enemies, the player will cumulatively gain knowledge about the individual foes which translates into attack boosts and other benefits when facing that enemy type in the future. The player collects money by exploring Rapture and from the bodies of defeated foes; this money can be used at vending machines to restock on ammunition, health and EVE, and other items; like security cameras, vending machines can also be hacked to reduce the costs of items from it. The player will also receive rewards in the form of ADAM from completing some tasks, as well as from either saving or killing the Little Sisters after defeating their Big Daddy guardian. ADAM is used to purchase new plasmids from Gatherer's Garden machines scattered around Rapture. In addition to plasmids, the player will also collect and buy tonics that provide passive bonuses, such as increasing Jack's strength, using EVE more efficiently, or making Jack more resistant to damage. The player can only have a limited number of plasmids and tonics active at any time, and can swap between the various plasmids and tonics at certain stations located throughout Rapture. Lead developer Ken Levine had created Irrational Games in 1997 out of former members from Looking Glass Studios. Their first game was System Shock 2, a sequel to Looking Glass's System Shock, and was met with critical success, though it did not prove a financial one. Levine had attempted to pitch a sequel to System Shock 2 to Electronic Arts, but the publisher rejected the idea based on the poor performance of the earlier game. Irrational would proceed to develop other games, including Freedom Force, , the canceled title Deep Cover, and the completed The Lost which was never released due to legal complications, but at this point, Levine wanted to return to a game in the same style as System Shock 2, a more free-form game with strong narrative. In 2002, the team had come up with a core gameplay mechanic idea based on three groups of forces; drones that would carry a desirable resource, protectors that would guard the drones, and harvesters that would attempt to take the resource from the drones; these would eventually bear out as the Little Sisters, Big Daddies, and splicers in the final game, but at the time of the concept, there was no set theme. They began working on creating a setting for the game as to be able to pitch the idea to game publishers. A 2002 demonstration version was based on the Unreal Engine 2 for the first Xbox. This demonstration was primarily set aboard a space station overtaken with genetically-mutated monsters; the main character was Carlos Cuello, a "cult deprogrammer"—a person charged with rescuing someone from a cult, and mentally and psychologically readjusting that person to a normal life. Ken Levine cites an example of what a cult deprogrammer does: "[There are] people who hired people to [for example] deprogram their daughter who had been in a lesbian relationship. They kidnap her and reprogram her, and it was a really dark person, and that was the [kind of] character that you were." This story would have been more political in nature, with the character hired by a Senator. The team collectively agreed that this game was not what they had set out to make, and were having trouble finding a publisher. They considered ending development, but as news about their efforts to create a spiritual successor to System Shock 2 began to appear in gaming magazines and websites, the team opted to continue development, performing a full revamp the game. By 2004, 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, offered to publish the game primarily based on the drone/protector/harvester concept, giving Irrational the freedom to develop the story and setting. By this point, the story and setting had changed significantly, taking place in an abandoned World War II- era Nazi laboratory that had been recently unearthed by 21st-century scientists. Over the decades, the genetic experiments within the labs had gradually formed themselves into an ecosystem centered on the three groups. This version of the game included many of the gameplay elements that would remain in the final BioShock, themselves influenced by concepts from System Shock 2. These elements included the use of plasmids and EVE, the need to use stealth or other options to deal with automated security systems, direction through the environment from a non-player character relayed over a radio, and story elements delivered through audio recordings and "ghosts" of deceased characters. While the gameplay with the 2004 reveal was similar to what resulted in the released version of BioShock, both design and story changed, consistent with what Levine says was then-Irrational Games' guiding principle of putting game design first. These areas were also issued due to some internal strife and lack of communication between the various teams within Irrational, part of the result of having to expand the team from six to sixty members for the scope of the project. The environment was considered bland, and there were difficulties by the team's artists to come up with a consistent vision to meet the level designer's goals. A critical junction was a short experiment performed by level designer Jean Paul LeBreton and artist Hoagy de la Plante, setting themselves aside to co-develop a level that would later become part of the "Tea Garden" area in the released game, which Levine would later use as a prime example of a "great BioShock space", emphasizing the need for departments to work together. Levine also found that the cyberpunk theme had been overplayed considering their initial reject from Electronic Arts for System Shock 3, leading towards the underwater setting of Rapture. The game's lead level designer was Bill Gardner. He cited Capcom's survival horror series Resident Evil as a significant influence on BioShock, stating there are "all these nods and all these little elements that I think you can see where Resident Evil inspired us". The team were particularly influenced by Resident Evil 4, including its approach to the environments, combat, and tools, its game design and tactical elements, its "gameplay fuelled storytelling" and inventory system, and its opening village level in terms of how it "handled the sandbox nature of the combat" and in terms of "the environment." The thematic core of BioShock was born when Levine was walking at Rockefeller Center near the GE Building in New York City. He saw the uniqueness of the art deco styling of the building along with imagery around the building such as the statue of Atlas near it, and recognized that these were spaces that had not been experienced in the first-player shooter genre. The history of the Rockefeller Center also fed into the story concept; Levine noted how the Center had started construction prior to the Great Depression of the 1920s; when the primary financiers had pulled out, John D. Rockefeller backed the remaining construction to complete the project himself, as stated by Edge magazine "a great man building an architectural triumph against all the odds". The history of Rapture and the character of Andrew Ryan is loosely based on Rockefeller's story. He also considered that many of the characters of Rapture were all people who were oppressed once before in the lives and now free of that oppression, have turned around and become the oppressors, a fact he felt resonated throughout human history. At this point in the development, the backdrop of Rapture had been fleshed out, but they had yet to come on how to represent the drones, protectors, and harvesters from their original game idea. The Big Daddy concept as the protector class was developed early in the process, but the team had yet to reach a satisfying design for the drones, having used several possible designs including bugs and dogs in wheelchairs. The team wanted to have the player care for the drones in some way and create pathos for these characters. The idea of using little girls came out of brainstorming, but was controversial and shocking within the team at first, recognizing that they could easily be killed and make the game more horrific in the style of Night Trap. However, as Levine worked on the story, he started to incorporate the ideas of dystopian and utopian thinkers from the twentieth century, including Ayn Rand, Aldous Huxley, and George Orwell, and considered their ideas "fascinating". He brought in the ideas of Objectivism that Rand primarily outlined in the book Atlas Shrugged, that man should be driven by selfishness and not altruism, and used this to inform the philosophy behind the city of Rapture and Andrew Ryan's work, tied in with his previous observations on Rockefeller and his writings. This was extended to the use of the little girls as drones (now Little Sisters), particularly the question whether the player should try to save the girls or harvest the ADAM for their benefit. 2K Games expressed concern about the initial mechanic of the Little Sisters, where the player would actively prey on the Little Sister, which would have alerted a Big Daddy and setting up the fight with the player. This approach did not sit well with Levine, and 2K Games asserted that they would not ship a game "where the player gets punished for doing the right thing". They altered this approach where the Little Sisters would be invulnerable until the player had dealt with their Big Daddy, though LeBreton considered this "a massive kludge" into the game's fiction. The idea of creating the Little Sisters and presenting the player with this choice became a critical part of the game's appeal to the broader gaming market though would still be met with criticism from some outlets. Levine desired only to have one ending to the game, something that would have left the fate of the characters "much more ambiguous", but publisher pressure directed them to craft multiple endings depending on the choice of harvesting Little Sisters. Levine also noted that "it was never my intention to do two endings for the game. It sort of came very late and it was something that was requested by somebody up the food chain from me." Other elements came into the story design. Levine had an interest in "stem cell research and the moral issues that go around [it]". Regarding artistic influences, Levine cited the books Nineteen Eighty-Four and Logan's Run, representing societies that have "really interesting ideas screwed up by the fact that we're people". The idea of the mind control used on Jack was offered by LeBreton, inspired by films like The Manchurian Candidate, as a means to provide a better reason to limit the player's actions as opposed to the traditional use of locked doors to prevent them exploring areas they should not. The team had agreed that Jack's actions would be controlled by a key phrase but struggled with coming up with one that would not reveal Atlas' true nature. Levine happened upon "Would you kindly" after working on marketing materials for the game that asked the reader hypothetical questions such as "Would you kill people, even innocent people, to survive?", later working that phrase into the first script for the game. Numerous tensions within the team and from publisher 2K Games continued during the development process. According to LeBreton, Levine was distrustful of some of the more egotistical newer hires and was often arguing with them to enforce his vision of BioShock. 2K Games was concerned with the growing budget for the title, and told Levine to market the title more as a first-person shooter rather than the first-person shooter/role playing game hybrid they set out for. Near the targeted release date, Levine ordered the team into round-the- clock development, creating more strife in the team. Paul Hellquist, the game's lead designer, was often omitted from key design meetings, which he later recounted was due to his contrary nature to Levine, questioning several of his choices; he used his frustration to put into the design efforts for the Medical Pavilion level that he was in charge of at that time. Near the anticipated completion date, 2K decided to give Irrational another three months to polish up the game, extending the current crunch time the studio was already under. This left some hard-to-discover bugs and issues in the game undiscovered. One such case was an apparent Easter egg found in the remastered version in 2018, where under certain conditions, the player can end up looking at an object with the description "Paul Hellquist did not do his Job". Both Levine and Chris Kline, the game's lead programmer confirmed the message was a cheeky jab at Hellquist left as a debugging message; Kline and Hellquist were developing the systems to show descriptions of objects to players when looked at, and Hellquist offered to complete all the necessary descriptions in-game; to jokingly help prod Hellquist along, Kline put "Paul Hellquist did not do his Job" as the default message within the executable code. While the code message was changed for the original release, the remastered version likely used a pre-final version of the BioShock code, according to Kline. Hellquist took the revelation in good humor and tweeted that other Easter eggs should have been added to the game to display, "If you are enjoying this, Paul Hellquist did his job." A critical playtest of the game occurred in January 2007, where initial feedback from the players was mostly negative, including issues of the setting being too dark, having no idea where to go, and distrusting Atlas, who at the time was voiced in a southern drawl, described as a "lecherous Colonel Sanders". The team took this criticism to heart, revamping several elements during those extra months such as improving the lighting, implementing a quest marker, and using an Irish voice for Atlas to make him sound more trustworthy. During another late-stage playtest with the title "ninety-nine percent" complete according to Levine, the playtesters did not like the game at all as they felt no connection to the player-character Jack, and the person overseeing the tests told Levine that the game was likely to be a failure. At this point, BioShock did not have many cutscenes, as Levine was ideologically opposed to them. However, the following day, Levine and the lead group came up with a "cheap" way to correct this, by adding the initial cut scene within the plane and the subsequent plane crash, as this helped to set the time frame, place the player in the role of the character, and alluded to the "would you kindly" line later in the game. Levine likened this approach to the initial aircraft crash at the onset of the television show Lost to quickly establish character and setting. The game was successfully released in August 2007 with a final budget of about $25 million. In a 2016 interview, Levine felt that the game could have used about six more months of development to improve the gun combat system and fix lagging issues that occurred during the final boss fight. Despite the critical success of the title, many of those on the team would leave Irrational to pursue other projects due to late development strife that occurred. In an interview in 2018, Levine had come to recognize that BioShock reflected several Jewish themes, though this was not intentional. Levine, who considers himself culturally Jewish but does not follow Judaism, had grown up in New Jersey but spent much of his childhood time with his father who worked in Manhattan's Diamond District and visiting his grandparents in Queens, a neighborhood with a large proportion of Eastern European immigrants. Thus, Levine was exposed to much of the Jewish culture that flourished in the area following World War II and understood some of the anxiety Jewish people faced. In the 2018 interview, Levine recognized several of the characters, including Andrew Ryan (who was inspired by Ayn Rand who was also Jewish), Sander Cohen, and Brigid Tenenbaum, were written all as Jewish, and all seeking to escape a world they felt they did not fit into by going to Rapture; Levine said "'There's literal displacement and then there's a feeling of not fitting in, of 'I don't really belong here'. I think Jews are always going to feel a little bit like they don't belong wherever they are. There's always that 'what if we have to flee' mentality." BioShock uses a heavily modified Unreal Engine 2.5 with some of the advanced technologies from Unreal Engine 3. Irrational had previous experience with modifying and expanding on the Unreal Engine in SWAT 4, and continued this advancement of the engine within BioShock. One significant improvement they added was improved water effects, given the nature of the game's setting, hiring a programmer and artist to focus on the water effects. This graphical enhancement has been lauded by critics, with GameSpot saying, "Whether it's standing water on the floor or sea water rushing in after an explosion, it will blow you away every time you see it." BioShock also uses the Havok Physics engine that allows for an enhancement of in-game physics, the integration of ragdoll physics, and allows for more lifelike movement by elements of the environment. The Windows version was built to work in both Direct3D 10 (DirectX 10) and DirectX 9, with the DirectX 10 version supporting additional water and particle effects. BioShock contains both licensed music and an original score. The licensed music from the 1940s and 1950s can be heard playing on phonograph throughout Rapture. In total, 30 licensed songs can be heard throughout the game. The original score was composed by Garry Schyman. He works his pieces to mesh well with the chosen licensed music as to keep the same feel, while also trying to bring out something that was "eerie, frightening and at times beautiful" to mesh well with Rapture's environments. 2K Games released an orchestral score soundtrack on their official homepage on August 24, 2007. Available in MP3 format, the score—composed by Garry Schyman—contains 12 of the 22 tracks from the game. The Limited Edition version of the game came with The Rapture EP remixes by Moby and Oscar The Punk. The three remixed tracks on the CD include "Beyond the Sea", "God Bless the Child" and "Wild Little Sisters"; the original recordings of these songs are in the game. BioShock score was released on a vinyl LP with the BioShock 2 Special Edition. An initial demo of the game was made available in August 2007 for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. This demo included cutscenes to introduce the player to Rapture, the game's tutorial section, and its first levels; the demo also included weapons, plasmids, and tonics that would otherwise be introduced later in the full title, as to give the player more of the features that would be found in the published game. The Xbox demo was the fastest demo at that time to reach one million downloads on the Xbox Live service. The full game was released for these platforms on August 21, 2007. The first patch for the Xbox 360 version was released about two weeks after release to fix some of the game stability issues players had reported The patch was found to introduce more problems to the game for some users, including occasional freezes, bad framerates, and audio-related issues, though methods to resolve these issues through the console's cache system were outlined by Irrational Games. In December 2007, a common patch was released for both the Xbox and Windows version. The patch included additional content such as new Plasmids, new achievements for the Xbox 360 version, and additional graphics settings to address some of the field-of-view issues identified by players. (See below). The patch also added in an option to disable the use of Vita-Chambers, a feature requested by players to make the game more challenging, as well as an achievement to complete the game at its hardest setting without using a Vita- Chamber. In an August 2007 interview, when asked about the possibility of a PlayStation 3 version of BioShock, Ken Levine had stated only that there was "no PS3 development going on" at the time; however, on May 28, 2008, 2K Games confirmed that a PlayStation 3 version of the game was in development by 2K Marin, and it was released on October 17, 2008. On July 3, 2008, 2K Games announced a partnership with Digital Extremes and said that the PlayStation 3 version is being developed by 2K Marin, 2K Boston, 2K Australia, and Digital Extremes. Jordan Thomas was the director for the PlayStation 3 version. While there are no graphical improvements to the game over the original Xbox 360 version, the PlayStation 3 version offers the widescreen option called "horizontal plus", introduced via a patch on the 360 version, while cutscene videos are of a much higher resolution than in the DVD version. Additional add-on content will also be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 version. One addition is "Survivor Mode", in which the enemies have been made tougher, and Vita-Chambers provide less of a health boost when used, forcing the player to be more creative in approaching foes and to rely more on the less-used plasmids in the game. BioShock also supports Trophies and PlayStation Home. A demo version was released on the PlayStation Store on October 2, 2008. An update for the PlayStation 3 version was released on November 13, 2008, to fix some graphical problems and occasions where users experienced a hang and were forced to reset the console. This update also incorporated the "Challenge Room" and "New Game Plus" features. A port to OS X systems was made by Feral Interactive and released in October 2009. In early 2008, IG Fun secured the rights to develop and publish a mobile phone version of BioShock. This version was developed as a top-down, two-dimensional platformer that attempted to recreate most of the plot and game elements of the original title; IG Fun worked with Irrational to determine the critical story elements they wanted to keep in the game. IG Fun recognized they would not be able to include the full storyline within a single mobile title, and so planned to split the title into three "episodes". Only the first episode was released. A port to iOS devices done by the 2K China studio was released on August 27, 2014. The iOS version is content complete and functionally equivalent to the original Xbox 360 and Windows version, featuring either the use of touch-screen virtual gamepad controls or the use of a Bluetooth-enabled controller, and with a graphics engine optimized for iOS devices. The game was later delisted from the App Store in September 2015; the game had become unplayable for many that upgraded to iOS 8.4 on their devices, and while a patch had been discussed, a 2K representative stated that the decision to remove the game came from the developer. 2K later clarified that they will be working on resolving the issues with the game's compatibility with the new firmware and will re-release the title once that has been completed. However, by January 2017, 2K officially stated that it will no longer support the title, the game will remain on the App Store, but will not receive additional updates. BioShock has received critical acclaim. Mainstream press reviews have praised the immersive qualities of the game and its political dimension. The Boston Globe described it as "a beautiful, brutal, and disquieting computer game ... one of the best in years", and compared the game to Whittaker Chambers' 1957 riposte to Atlas Shrugged, Big Sister Is Watching You. Wired also mentioned the Ayn Rand connection (a partial anagram of Andrew Ryan) in a report on the game which featured a brief interview with Levine. The Chicago Sun-Times review said "I never once thought anyone would be able to create an engaging and entertaining video game around the fiction and philosophy of Ayn Rand, but that is essentially what 2K Games has done ... the rare, mature video game that succeeds in making you think while you play". The Los Angeles Times review concluded, "Sure, it's fun to play, looks spectacular and is easy to control. But it also does something no other game has done to date: It really makes you feel." The New York Times reviewer described it as: "intelligent, gorgeous, occasionally frightening" and added, "Anchored by its provocative, morality-based story line, sumptuous art direction and superb voice acting, BioShock can also hold its head high among the best games ever made." According to review aggregator Metacritic, the game received an average review score of 96/100 for Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows, and 94/100 for PlayStation 3. , it is one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic, tied with several other games for the third-highest aggregate score. GameSpy praised BioShock "inescapable atmosphere", and Official Xbox Magazine lauded its "inconceivably great plot" and "stunning soundtrack and audio effects." The gameplay and combat system have been praised for being smooth and open-ended, and elements of the graphics, such as the water, were commended for their quality. It has been noted that the combination of the game's elements "straddles so many entertainment art forms so expertly that it's the best demonstration yet how flexible this medium can be. It's no longer just another shooter wrapped up in a pretty game engine, but a story that exists and unfolds inside the most convincing and elaborate and artistic game world ever conceived." Reviewers did highlight a few negative issues in BioShock, however. The recovery system involving "Vita-Chambers", which revive a defeated player at half-health, but do not alter the enemies' health, makes it possible to wear down enemies through sheer perseverance, and was criticized as one of the most significant flaws in the gameplay. IGN noted that both the controls and graphics of the Xbox 360 version are inferior to those of the PC version, in that switching between weapons or plasmids is easier using the PC's mouse than the 360's radial menu, as well as the graphics being slightly better with higher resolutions. The game has been touted as a hybrid first-person shooter, but two reviewers found advances from comparable games lacking, both in the protagonist and in the challenges he faces. Some reviewers also found the combat behavior of the splicers lacking in diversity (and their A.I. behavior not very well done), and the moral choice too much "black and white" to be interesting. Some reviewers and essayists such as Jonathan Blow also claimed that the "moral choice" the game offered to the player (saving or harvesting the little sisters) was flawed because, to them, it had no real impact on the game, which ultimately lead them to think that the sisters were just mechanics of no real importance. Daniel Friedman for Polygon concurred with Blow, noting that the player only loses 10% of the possible ADAM rewards for saving the Little Sisters rather than killing them, and felt that this would have been better instituted as part of the game difficulty mechanic. Former LucasArts developer Clint Hocking wrote a noted essay that claimed that BioShock exhibited "ludonarrative dissonance" between its story and mechanics, as while he saw the story as advocating selflessness in helping others, its gameplay encourages what he views as selfishness by preying on Little Sisters. At E3 2006, BioShock was given several "Games of the Show" awards from various online gaming sites, including GameSpot, IGN, GameSpy and GameTrailers's Trailer of the Year. BioShock received an award for Best Xbox 360 Game at the 2007 Leipzig Games Convention. After the game's release, the 2007 Spike TV Video Game Awards selected BioShock as Game of the Year, Best Xbox 360 Game, and Best Original Score, and nominated it for four awards: Best Shooter, Best Graphics, Best PC Game, Best Soundtrack. The game also won the 2007 BAFTA "Best Game" award. X-Play also selected it as "Game of the Year", "Best Original Soundtrack", "Best Writing/Story", and "Best Art Direction". Game Informer named BioShock its Game of the Year for 2007. At IGN's "Best of 2007" BioShock was nominated for Game of The Year 2007, and won the award for PC Game of the Year, Best Artistic Design, and Best Use of Sound. GameSpy chose it as the third-best game of the year and gave BioShock the awards for Best Sound, Story, and Art Direction. GameSpot awarded the game for Best Story, while GamePro gave BioShock the Best Story, Xbox 360 and Best Single-Player Shooter awards. BioShock won the "Best Visual Art", "Best Writing", and "Best Audio" awards at the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards. Guinness World Records awarded the game a record for "Most Popular Xbox Live Demo" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. BioShock is ranked first on Game Informer list of The Top 10 Video Game Openings. GamesRadar placed Bioshock as the 12th best game of all time. In 2011 BioShock was awarded the number 1 spot in GameTrailers' "Top 100 Video Game Trailers of All Time", for submerging the viewer into the BioShock universe and its enduring impact. In August 2012, IGN gave it the top spot on their list of the Top 25 Modern PC Games, a ranking of the best PC games released since 2006. In November 2012, Time named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time. In July 2015, the game placed 9th on USgamer's The 15 Best Games Since 2000 list. The Xbox 360 version was the third best-selling game of August 2007, with 490,900 copies. The Wall Street Journal reported that shares in Take-Two Interactive "soared nearly 20%" in the week following overwhelmingly favorable early reviews of the game. Take-Two Interactive announced that by June 5, 2008, over 2.2 million copies of BioShock had been shipped. In a June 10, 2008 interview, Roy Taylor, Nvidia's VP of Content Business Development, stated that the PC version has sold over one million copies. According to Take-Two Interactive's chairman Strauss Zelnick, the game had sold around 3 million copies by June 2009. By March 2010, BioShock has sold 4 million copies. The initial Windows release was criticized by players for several perceived shortcomings. The game was shipped with SecuROM copy protection that required activation from 2K Games' servers over the Internet; the unavailability of these servers was reported as the reason for the cancellation of the game's midnight release in Australia. Players found that the SecuROM limited the number of times the game could be activated to two; user feedback led to 2K Games to increase the activation count to five, and later offer a tool that allowed users to revoke previous activations on their own. Ultimately 2K Games removed the activation limit, though retail versions of the game still required the activation process. Levine admitted that their initial approach to the activation process was malformed, harming their reputation during the launch period. The SecuROM software also caused some virus scanners and malware detector to believe the software was malicious. 2K Games assured players that the software installation process did not install any malicious code or rootkit. However, players observed that some of the SecuROM software was not entirely removed on uninstallation of the game. Some of the graphic capabilities of BioShock were also criticized by players. The initial release of the game was found to use a field of view (FOV) in widescreen that presented a smaller view compared to the game running at a 4:3 screen resolution, conflicting with original reports from a developer on how widescreen would have been handled. Though the choice of FOV was a design decision made during development, Irrational included an option for "Horizontal FOV Lock" in the December 2007 patch that allows widescreen users a wider field of view, without cutting anything off the image vertically. BioShock was also criticized for not supporting pixel shader 2.0b video cards (such as the Radeon X800/X850), which were considered high-end graphics cards in 2004–2005, and accounted for about 24% of surveyed hardware collected through Valve's Steam platform at the time of BioShock release. On July 8, 2014, 2K Games released a DRM-free version of BioShock on the Humble 2K Bundle, and then re-released on the Humble Store. On December 17, 2018, BioShock and BioShock 2 remastered were released DRM-free on GOG. BioShock has received praise for its artistic style and compelling storytelling. In their book, Digital Culture: Understanding New Media, Glen Creeber and Royston Martin perform a case study of BioShock as a critical analysis of video games as an artistic medium. They praised the game for its visuals, sound, and ability to engage the player into the story. They viewed BioShock as a sign of the "coming of age" of video games as an artistic medium. John Lanchester of the London Review of Books recognized BioShock as one of the first video games to break into coverage of mainstream media to be covered as a work of art arising from its narrative aspects, whereas before video games had failed to enter into the "cultural discourse", or otherwise covered due to moral controversies they created. Peter Suderman for Vox in 2016 wrote that BioShock was the first game that demonstrated that video games could be a work of art, particularly highlighting that the game plays on the theme of giving the illusion of individual control. In February 2011, the Smithsonian Institution announced it would be holding an exhibit dedicated to the art of video games. Several games were chosen initially, and the public could vote for which games they felt deserved to be displayed via a poll on the exhibit's website. BioShock was considered a front runner to be displayed because of its status as a game that demonstrated how artistic the medium could be. The game's plot twist, where the player discovers that the player- character Jack has been coerced into events by the trigger phrase, "Would you kindly...", is considered one of the strongest narrative elements of recent games, in part that it subverted the expectation that the player has control and influence on the game. The phrase was used in homage to BioShock in the video game-centric episode, "Playtest", of Black Mirror, purposely included by its director Dan Trachtenberg. In response to the game's high sales and critical acclaim, Take-Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick revealed in a conference call to analysts that the company now considered the game as part of a franchise. He also speculated on any follow-ups mimicking the development cycle of Grand Theft Auto, with a new release expected every two to three years. 2K's president Christoph Hartmann stated that BioShock could have five sequels, comparing the franchise to the Star Wars movies. BioShock 2 was announced in 2008, with its development being led by 2K Marin. Levine stated that Irrational (then 2K Boston) was not involved in the game's sequel because they wanted to "swing for the fences" and try to come up with something "very, very different", which was later revealed as BioShock Infinite. BioShock 3 was also announced, with its release assumed to likely coincide with the BioShock film. BioShock 2 takes place about ten years following the events of the first game. The player assumes the role of Subject Delta, a precursor of the Big Daddies who must search the fallen city of Rapture for his former Little Sister, Eleanor. BioShock 2 was released for Windows PC, Mac, Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3 worldwide on February 9, 2010. While BioShock Infinite, developed by Irrational Games and released in 2013, shares the name and many similar gameplay concepts with BioShock, the title is not a sequel or prequel in story, instead taking place aboard the collapsing air-city of Columbia in the year 1912, and following former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt as he tries to rescue a woman named Elizabeth from the dystopia it has become. Infinite involves the possibilities of multiple universes, and one scene during the game take place at the lighthouse and bathysphere terminus of Rapture as part of this exploration, though any direct canonical connection is not given in the main game. The episodic expansion, , takes place in Rapture in 1959, before the war between Atlas and Ryan, while continuing the story of Booker and Elizabeth. This content links the two stories while providing expansion on the causes and behind-the-scenes events alluded to by the in-game background from BioShock. After completing BioShock Infinite and its expansion, Levine announced that he was restructuring Irrational Games to focus on smaller, narrative-driven titles. 2K Games continues to hold on to the BioShock intellectual property and plans to continue to develop games in this series, considering the framework set by Levine and his team as a "rich creative canvas" for more stories. Following the creation of a fan petition for a special edition, Take-Two Interactive stated that they would publish a special edition of BioShock only if the petition received 5,000 signatures; this number of signatures was reached after just five hours. Subsequently, a poll was posted on the 2K Games operated Cult of Rapture community website in which visitors could vote on what features they would most like to see in a special edition; the company stated that developers would take this poll into serious consideration. To determine what artwork would be used for the Limited Edition cover, 2K Games ran a contest, with the winning entry provided by Crystal Clear Art's owner and graphic designer Adam Meyer. On April 23, 2007, the Cult of Rapture website confirmed that the Limited Collector's Edition would include a Big Daddy figurine (many of which were damaged due to a dropped shipping container; a replacement initiative is in place), a "Making Of" DVD, and a soundtrack CD. Before the special edition was released, the proposed soundtrack CD was replaced with The Rapture EP. BioShock was remastered to support 1080p and higher framerates as part of the 2016 release for Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One systems. The remastering was performed by Blind Squirrel Games and published by 2K Games. A standalone version of BioShock Remastered was released for macOS by Feral Interactive on August 22, 2017. BioShock: Breaking the Mold, a book containing artwork from the game, was released by 2K Games on August 13, 2007. It is available in both low and high resolution, in PDF format from 2K Games' official website. Until October 1, 2007, 2K Games was sending a printed version of the book to the owners of the collector's edition whose Big Daddy figurines had been broken, as compensation for the time it took to replace them. On October 31, 2008, the winners of "Breaking the Mold: Developers Edition Artbook Cover Contest" were announced on cultofrapture.com. A prequel novel, titled BioShock: Rapture and written by John Shirley, was published July 19, 2011. The prequel book details the construction of Rapture and the events leading to its demise. The book follows multiple BioShock characters. Industry rumors after the game's release suggested a film adaptation of the game would be made, utilizing similar green screen filming techniques as in the movie 300 to recreate the environments of Rapture. On May 9, 2008, Take- Two Interactive announced a deal with Universal Studios to produce a BioShock movie, to be directed by Gore Verbinski and written by John Logan. The film was expected to be released in 2010, but was put on hold due to budget concerns. On August 24, 2009, it was revealed that Verbinski had dropped out of the project due to the studio's decision to film overseas to keep the budget under control. Verbinski reportedly feels this would have hindered his work on Rango. Then Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was in talks to direct with Verbinski as producer. In January 2010 the project was in the pre-production stage, with director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Braden Lynch, a voice artist from BioShock 2 both working on the film. By July, the film was facing budget issues, but producer Gore Verbinski said they were working it out. He also said the film would be a hard R. Ken Levine, during an interview on August 30, 2010, said: "I will say that it is still an active thing and it's something we are actively talking about and actively working on." Verbinski later cited that by trying to maintain the "R" rating, they were unable to find any studios that would back the effort, putting the film's future in jeopardy. Levine confirmed in March 2013 that the film had been officially canceled. Levine stated that after Warner's Watchmen film in 2009 did not do as well as the studio expected, they had concerns with the $200 million budget that Verbinski had for the BioShock film. They asked him to consider doing the film on a smaller $80 million budget, but Verbinski did not want to accept this. In February 2017, Verbinski said that his crew was about eight weeks from starting filming, with plans for many elaborate sets given that the setting of Rapture could not be something easily shot on existing locations, requiring the $200 million budget. Verbinski was anticipating on releasing the film with an R-rating when Universal approached him about changing the film's direction. Universal requested that he tone down the film and aim instead for a PG-13 movie, which would be able to draw more audiences to the film and recoup the larger budget he asked for. Verbinski insisted on keeping the R-rating and refused the smaller budget Universal offered to make the R-rated version. Universal felt that that expensive a film with the limited R-rating would be too much of a risk, and pulled him from the film. Universal then subsequently brought in a new director to work with the smaller budget, but Levine and 2K Games did not feel that the new director was a good fit with the material. Universal then let Levine decide to end the project, which he did, believing that the film would not work with the current set of compromises they would have had to make. In January 2014, artwork from the canceled film surfaced online, showing what an adaptation could have looked like. Verbinski said that there is "all kinds of crazy stuff" from the pre-production stage that still exists, such as screen tests for characters. He noted in the 2017 Reddit piece that with the success of the 2016 film Deadpool, he believes that there is now justification for his vision of the BioShock film. Notes Footnotes BioShock: Rapture, by John Shirley (2011) The Cult of Rapture The PlayStation 4 (officially abbreviated as PS4) is an eighth-generation home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15 in North America, November 29 in Europe, South America and Australia, and on February 22, 2014, in Japan. It competes with Microsoft's Xbox One and Nintendo's Wii U and Switch. Moving away from the more complex Cell microarchitecture of its predecessor, the console features an AMD Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) built upon the x86-64 architecture, which can theoretically peak at 1.84 teraflops; AMD stated that it was the "most powerful" APU it had developed to date. The PlayStation 4 places an increased emphasis on social interaction and integration with other devices and services, including the ability to play games off-console on PlayStation Vita and other supported devices ("Remote Play"), the ability to stream gameplay online or to friends, with them controlling gameplay remotely ("Share Play"). The console's controller was also redesigned and improved over the PlayStation 3, with improved buttons and analog sticks, and an integrated touchpad among other changes. The console also supports HDR10 High-dynamic-range video and playback of 4K resolution multimedia. The PlayStation 4 was released to critical acclaim, with critics praising Sony for acknowledging its consumers' needs, embracing independent game development, and for not imposing the restrictive digital rights management schemes like those originally announced by Microsoft for the Xbox One. Critics and third-party studios also praised the capabilities of the PlayStation 4 in comparison to its competitors; developers described the performance difference between the console and Xbox One as "significant" and "obvious". Heightened demand also helped Sony top global console sales. By the end of September 2019, over 102 million PlayStation 4 consoles had been shipped worldwide, surpassing lifetime sales of the PlayStation 3. On September 7, 2016, Sony unveiled the PlayStation 4 Slim, a smaller version of the console; and a high-end version called the PlayStation 4 Pro, which features an upgraded GPU and a higher CPU clock rate to support enhanced performance and 4K resolution in supported games. According to lead architect Mark Cerny, development of Sony's fourth video game console began as early as 2008. Less than two years earlier, the PlayStation 3 had launched after months of delays due to issues with production. The delay placed Sony almost a year behind Microsoft's Xbox 360, which was already approaching unit sales of 10million by the time the PS3 launched. PlayStation Europe CEO Jim Ryan said Sony wanted to avoid repeating the same mistake with PS3's successor. In designing the system, Sony worked with software developer Bungie, who offered their input on the controller and how to make it better for shooting games. In 2012, Sony began shipping development kits to game developers, consisting of a modified PC running the AMD Accelerated Processing Unit chipset. These development kits were known as "Orbis". In early 2013, Sony announced that an event known as PlayStation Meeting 2013 would be held in New York City, U.S., on February 20, 2013, to cover the "future of PlayStation". Sony officially announced the PlayStation 4 at the event. It revealed details about the console's hardware and discussed some of the new features it would introduce. Sony also showed off real-time footage of games in development, as well as some technical demonstrations. The design of the console was unveiled in June at E3 2013, and the initial recommended retail prices of $399 (NA), €399 (Europe), and £349 (UK) given. The company revealed release dates for North America, Central America, South America, Europe, and Australia, as well as final pieces of information, at a Gamescom press event in Cologne, Germany, on August 20, 2013. The console was released on November 15, 2013, in the United States and Canada, followed by further releases on November 29, 2013. By the end of 2013, the PS4 was launched in more European, Asian and South American countries. The PS4 released in Japan at ¥39,980 on February 22, 2014. Sony finalized a deal with the Chinese government in May 2014 to sell its products in mainland China, and the PS4 will be the first product to be released. Kazuo Hirai, chief executive officer of Sony, said in May: "The Chinese market, just given the size of it, is obviously potentially a very large market for video game products... I think that we will be able to replicate the kind of success we have had with PS4 in other parts of the world in China." In September 2015, Sony reduced the price of the PS4 in Japan to ¥34,980, with similar price drops in other Southeast Asian markets. The first official sub £300 PS4 bundle was the £299.99 "Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection 500GB", released in the UK on October 9, 2015; a 1 TB £329.99 version was offered at the same time. On October 9, 2015, the first official price cut of the PS4 in North America was announced: a reduction of $50 to $349.99 (US) and by $20 to $429.99 (Canada). An official price cut in Europe followed in late October 2015, reduced to €349.99/£299.99. On June 10, 2016, Sony confirmed that a hardware revision of the PlayStation 4, rumored to be codenamed "Neo", was under development. The new revision is a higher-end model that is meant to support gameplay in 4K. The new model will be sold alongside the existing model, and all existing software will be compatible between the two models. Layden stated that Sony has no plans to "bifurcate the market", only that gamers playing on the Neo will "have the same experience, but one will be delivered at a higher resolution, with an enhanced graphical experience, but everything else is going to be exactly as you'd expect". The high-end console was publicly revealed on September 7, 2016, as PlayStation 4 Pro. At the same time, Sony unveiled an updated version of the original PS4 model with a smaller form factor. In May 2018 during a presentation to investors, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO John Kodera stated that the PlayStation 4 was heading into the end of its lifecycle, and that the company was anticipating decreasing year-over-year hardware sales. He explained that Sony would be countering the expected decline by focusing on "strengthen[ing] user engagement" including continued investments into new first-party games and other online services for PS4. "We will use the next three years to prepare the next step, to crouch down so that we can jump higher in the future," Kodera added in an interview with the press the following day. The technology in the PlayStation 4 is similar to the hardware found in modern personal computers. This familiarity is designed to make it easier and less expensive for game studios to develop games for the PS4. The PlayStation 4 uses an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) developed by AMD in cooperation with Sony. It combines a central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU), as well as other components such as a memory controller and video decoder. The CPU consists of two 28 nm quad-core Jaguar modules totaling 8 x86-64 cores, 7 of which are available for game developers to use. The GPU consists of 18 compute units to produce a theoretical peak performance of 1.84 TFLOPS. The system's GDDR5 memory is capable of running at a maximum clock frequency of 2.75 GHz (5500 MT/s) and has a maximum memory bandwidth of 176 GB/s. The console contains 8 GB of GDDR5 memory, 16 times the amount of RAM found in the PS3 and is expected to give the console considerable longevity. It also includes secondary custom chips that handle tasks associated with downloading, uploading, and social gameplay. These tasks can be handled seamlessly in the background during gameplay or while the system is in sleep mode. The console also contains an audio module, which can support in-game chat as well as "a very large number" of audio streams for use in-game. All PlayStation 4 models support high dynamic range (HDR) color profiles. Its read-only optical drive is capable of reading Blu-ray Discs at speeds of up to three times that of its predecessor. The console features a hardware on-the-fly zlib decompression module. The original PS4 model can output in 4K and play multimedia in the format, but does not play games in 4K. The console includes a 500 gigabyte hard drive for additional storage, which can be upgraded by the user. System Software 4.50, which was released on March 9, 2017, enabled the use of external USB hard drives up to 8 TB for additional storage. The PlayStation 4 features Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity, Bluetooth, and two USB 3.0 ports. An auxiliary port is also included for connection to the PlayStation Camera, a motion detection digital camera device first introduced on the PS3. A mono headset, which can be plugged into the DualShock 4, is bundled with the system. Audio/video output options include HDMI TV and optical S/PDIF audio. The console does not have an analog audio/video output. The PS4 features a "Rest mode" feature. This places the console in a low-power state, while allowing users to immediately resume their game or app once the console is awoken. The console also is able to download content such as game and OS updates while it is in this state. The DualShock 4 is PlayStation 4's primary controller; it maintains a similar design to previous iterations of the DualShock series, but with additional features and design refinements. Among other tweaks, the caps of the analog sticks were given a concave design (similar to the Xbox 360 controller), the shape of the triggers and shoulder buttons were refined, the D-pad buttons were given a steeper downward angle to provide a resting space in the center for the user's thumb, and the hand grips were made thicker and given microtexturing to improve their feel. A major addition to the DualShock 4 is a touchpad; it is capable of detecting up to two simultaneous touch presses, and can also be pressed down as a button. The "Start" and "Select" buttons were replaced by "Options" and "Share" buttons; the latter is designed to allow access to the PlayStation 4's social features (including streaming, video recording, and screenshot tools). The DualShock 4 is powered by a non- removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which can be charged using its micro USB connector. The controller also features an internal speaker, and a headphone jack for headsets or headphones; the console is bundled with a pair of headset earbuds. The controller's motion tracking system is more sensitive than those of the PlayStation 3's controllers. An LED "light bar" was additionally added to the front of the controller; it is designed to allow the PlayStation Camera accessory to further track its motion, but can also be used to provide visual effects and feedback within games (such as, for instance, reflecting a player's low health by turning red). Although the PS4 and DualShock 4 continue to use Bluetooth for wireless connectivity, the console is incompatible with PlayStation 3 controllers. An exception are the PlayStation Move motion controllers originally released for PS3, which are officially supported for use with the PlayStation Camera. In October 2013, Shuhei Yoshida stated on Twitter that the DualShock 4 would support "basic functions" when attached to a PC. In August 2016, Sony unveiled an official USB wireless adapter for the DualShock 4, enabling use of all of the controller's functionality on PC. In December 2016, Valve's Steam platform was updated to provide support and controller customization functionality for DualShock 4, through existing APIs for the Steam Controller. A revision of the DualShock 4 was released alongside the "Slim" and Pro models in 2016, and is bundled with these systems. It is largely identical to the original model, except that the touchpad now contains a "stripe" along the top which the light bar's LED can shine through, and the controller can communicate non-wirelessly when connected to the console over USB. The PlayStation Camera is an optional motion sensor and camera for the PlayStation 4, similar to Kinect on Xbox. It includes two 1280×800 pixel lenses operating with an aperture of 2.0, with 30 cm focusing distance, and an 85° field of view. The dual camera setup allows for different modes of operation, depending on the initiated and running application. The two cameras can be used together for depth-sensing of its surrounding objects in its field of vision. Alternatively, one of the cameras can be used for generating the video image, with the other used for motion tracking. PlayStation Camera also features a four-channel microphone array, which helps reduce unwanted background noise and can be used for voice commands. With the PlayStation Camera connected, different users can automatically log-on to the system via face detection. PlayStation VR is a virtual reality system for PlayStation 4; it consists of a headset, which features a 1080p display panel, LED lights on the headset that are used by PlayStation Camera to track its motion, and a control box that processes 3D audio effects, as well as video output to the external display (either simulcasting the player's VR perspective, or providing an asymmetrical secondary perspective). PlayStation VR can also be used with PlayStation Move motion controllers. The PlayStation 4's operating system is called "Orbis OS", based upon a customized FreeBSD 9. The console does not require an Internet connection for usage, although more functionality is available when connected. The PS4 is the first to include a WebKit-based web browser, which is a departure from its predecessor's NetFront browser; it is based on the same modern WebKit core as Google Chrome and Safari, giving it high compatibility in HTML5 compliance testing. The console introduces a customizable menu interface, the "PlayStation Dynamic Menu", featuring a variety of color schemes. The interface displays the player's profile, recent activity, notifications, and other details in addition to unlocked trophies. It allows multiple user accounts, all with their own pass-codes. Each player account has the option to share their real name with friends, or use a nickname in other situations when anonymity is important. Facebook profiles can be connected to PlayStation Network accounts, making it easier to recognize friends. The default home screen features real time content from friends. The "What's New" activity feed includes shared media, recently played games, and other notifications. Services from third-party vendors, such as Netflix and Amazon Video, can be accessible within the interface. Multitasking is available during gameplay, such as opening the browser or managing party chat, and switching between applications is done by double-tapping the "PS" button. The PlayStation Camera or a microphone enables the user to control the system using voice input. Players can command the interface to start a game, take screenshots, and save videos. Saying "PlayStation" initiates voice control, and "All Commands" displays a list of possible commands. The PlayStation 4 system software supports Blu-ray and DVD playback and 3D functionality. Playing a CD is unsupported, but custom music and video files can be played from DLNA servers and USB drives using the Media Player app. The PlayStation 4 allows users to access a variety of free and premium PlayStation Network (PSN) services, including the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Plus subscription service, PlayStation Music powered by Spotify, and the PlayStation Video subscription service, which allows owners to rent or buy TV shows and films à la carte. A United States-exclusive cloud-based television-on-demand service known as PlayStation Vue began beta testing in late November 2014. Sony intends to expand and evolve the services it offers over the console's lifespan. Unlike PS3, a PlayStation Plus membership is required to access multiplayer in most games; this requirement does not apply to free-to-play or subscription-based games. Smartphones and tablets can interact with the PlayStation 4 as second screen devices, and can also wake the console from sleep mode. A Sony Xperia smartphone, tablet or the PlayStation Vita can be used for streaming gameplay from the console to handheld, allowing supported games to be played remotely from around a household or away from home. Sony has ambitions to make all PS4 games playable on PlayStation Vita. Developers can add Vita-specific controls for use via Remote Play. This feature was later expanded to enable PS4 Remote Play functionality on Microsoft Windows PCs and on Apple OS X Macs. The update, released in April 2016, allows for Remote Play functionality on computers running Windows 8.1, Windows 10, OS X Yosemite, and OS X El Capitan. Remote Play supports resolution options of 360p, 540p, and 720p (1080p is available on PS4 Pro), frame rate options of 30-60 FPS, and the DualShock 4 can be connected via USB. The PlayStation App allows iOS and Android mobile devices to interact with the PlayStation 4 from their device. The user can use this application to purchase PS4 games from the console and have them remotely downloaded, watch live streams of other gamers, and/or view in-game maps while playing games. Sony is focused on "social" aspects as a major feature of the console. Although the PS4 has improved social functionality, the features are optional and can be disabled. Users have the option to create or join community groups based upon personal interest. Communities include a discussion board, accomplishments and game clips shared by other members, plus the ability to join group chat and launch cooperative games. Sony stated that "communities are a good way to socialize with like-minded players", particularly when "you want to tackle a big multiplayer raid, but don't have enough friends available". The DualShock 4 controller includes a "SHARE" button, allowing the player to cycle through the last 60 minutes of recorded gameplay to select a screenshot or video clip appropriate for sharing. Media is uploaded seamlessly from the console to other PSN users or social networking sites such as Dailymotion, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, or else users can copy media to a USB flash drive and upload to a social network or website of their preference. Players can also use a free video editing application named ShareFactory to cut and assemble their favorite video clips, add custom music or voice commentary with green screen effects. Subsequent updates have added options for picture-in- picture layouts, the ability to create photo collages and animated GIFs. Gamers can either watch live gameplay of games which their friends are playing through the PS4 interface with cross-game camera and microphone input, spectate silently, or broadcast their own gameplay live via DailyMotion, Twitch, Ustream, Niconico, or YouTube Gaming, allowing for friends and members of the public to view and comment upon them from other web browsers and devices. If a user is not screen-casting, a friend can send them a "Request to Watch" notification. Share Play allows users to invite an online friend to join their play session via streaming, even if they do not own a copy of the game. Users can pass control of the game entirely to the remote user, or partake in cooperative multiplayer as if they were physically present. Mark Cerny says that remote assistance is particularly useful when confronted by a potentially game- defeating obstacle. "You can even see that your friend is in trouble and reach out through the network to take over the controller and assist them through some difficult portion of the game", he said. Share Play requires a PlayStation Plus subscription and can only be used for one hour at a time. PlayStation 4 games are distributed at retail on Blu-ray Disc, and digitally as downloads through the PlayStation Store. Games are not region-locked, so games purchased in one region can be played on consoles in all regions, and players can sign-on to any PS4 console to access their entire digital game library. All PlayStation 4 games must be installed to the console's storage. Additionally a system called "PlayGo" allows users to be begin to play portions of a game (such as opening levels) once the installation or download reaches a specific point, while the remainder of the game is downloaded or installed in the background. Updates to games and system software are also downloaded in the background and while in standby. PS4 users will, in the future, be able to browse games and stream games via Gaikai to demo them almost instantaneously. Sony says it is committed to releasing an ever- increasing number of free-to-play games, including PlanetSide 2 and War Thunder. Sony also took steps to make it easier for independent game developers to release games for the PS4 by giving them the option to self- publish their own games rather than rely upon others to distribute their games. PlayStation 4 is not compatible with any game for older PlayStation consoles. Emulated versions of selected PS2 games are available for purchase via PlayStation Store, which are upscaled to high definition and have support for PS4 social features. Selected PS3 games are available for streaming via the subscription service PlayStation Now. In December 2013, Andrew House indicated that Sony was planning to launch a cloud gaming service for the PS4 in North America within the third quarter of 2014, with a European launch to follow in 2015. At Consumer Electronics Show on January 7, 2014, Sony unveiled PlayStation Now, a digital distribution service which will initially allow users to access PlayStation 3 games on the PS4 via a cloud-based streaming system, purchasing games individually or via a subscription, as a solution of no backwards compatibility on the hardware of the console. The United States Open Beta went live on July 31, 2014. The official United States release of the service was on January 13, 2015. PlayStation Now was in closed beta in the United Kingdom. Pre-release reception to the console from developers and journalists was positive. Mark Rein of Epic Games praised the "enhanced" architecture of Sony's system, describing it as "a phenomenal piece of hardware". John Carmack, programmer and co-founder of id Software, also commended the design by saying "Sony made wise engineering choices", while Randy Pitchford of Gearbox Software expressed satisfaction with the amount of high-speed memory in the console. Eurogamer also called the graphics technology in the PS4 "impressive" and an improvement from the difficulties developers experienced on the PlayStation 3. Numerous industry professionals have acknowledged the PlayStation 4's performance advantage over the Xbox One. Speaking to Edge magazine, multiple game developers have described the difference as "significant" and "obvious". ExtremeTech says the PS4's graphics processing unit offers a "serious advantage" over the competition, but due to the nature of cross-platform development, games that share the same assets will appear "very similar". In other scenarios, designers may tap some of PS4's additional power in a straightforward manner, to boost frame rate or output at a higher resolution, whereas games from Sony's own first-party studios that take full advantage of the hardware "will probably look significantly better than anything on the Xbox One". In response to concerns surrounding the possibility of DRM measures to hinder the resale of used games (and in particular, the initial DRM policies of Xbox One, which did contain such restrictions), Jack Tretton explicitly stated during Sony's E3 press conference that there would be "no restrictions" on the resale and trading of PS4 games on physical media, while software product development head Scott Rohde specified that Sony was planning to disallow online passes as well, going on to say that the policies were designed to be "consumer-friendly, extremely retailer-friendly, and extremely publisher-friendly". After Sony's E3 2013 press conference, IGN responded positively to Sony's attitude towards indie developers and trading games, stating they thought "most gamers would agree" that "if you care about games like [Sony] do, you'll buy a PlayStation 4". PlayStation 4's removable and upgradable hard drive also drew praise from IGN, with Scott Lowe commenting that the decision gave the console "another advantage" over the Xbox One, whose hard drive cannot be accessed. GameSpot called the PlayStation 4 "the gamer's choice for next-generation", citing its price, lack of restrictive digital rights management, and most importantly, Sony's efforts to "acknowledge its consumers" and "respect its audience" as major factors. The PlayStation 4 has received very positive reviews by critics. Scott Lowe of IGN gave it an 8.2 rating out of 10 praising the console's DualShock 4 design and social integration features. He criticized the console's lack of software features and for underutilizing the DualShock 4's touch pad. The Gadget Show gave a similar review complimenting the DualShock 4's new triggers and control sticks, in addition to the new Remote Play feature, yet criticized the system's lack of media support at launch. IGN compared the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 over various categories, allowing their readers to vote for their preferred system. The PS4 won every category offered, and IGN awarded the PS4 with their People's Choice Award. Shortly following the launch, it became apparent that some games released on multiple platforms were available in higher resolutions on the PS4 as opposed to other video game consoles. Kirk Hamilton of Kotaku reported on the differences in early games such as and which ran at 1080p on the PS4, but in 720p and 900p, respectively, on the Xbox One. Demand for PlayStation 4 was strong. In August 2013, Sony announced the placement of over a million preorders for the console, while on the North American launch alone, one million PlayStation 4 consoles were sold. In the UK, the PlayStation 4 became the best-selling console at launch, with the sale of 250,000 consoles within a 48-hour period and 530,000 in the first five weeks. On January 7, 2014, Andrew House announced in his Consumer Electronics Show keynote speech that 4.2 million PS4 units had been sold-through by the end of 2013, with more than 9.7 million software units sold. On February 18, 2014, Sony announced that, as of February 8, it had sold over 5.3 million console units following the release of the PS4 onto the North American and Western European markets. Within the first two days of release in Japan during the weekend of February 22, 2014, 322,083 consoles were sold. PS4 software unit sales surpassed 20.5 million on April 13, 2014. During Japan's 2013 fiscal year, heightened demand for the PS4 helped Sony top global console sales, beating Nintendo for the first time in eight years. According to data released by Nielsen in August 2014, nine months after the PS4 was released, thirty-one percent of its sales were to existing Wii and Xbox 360 owners, none of whom had by then owned a PS3. At Gamescom 2014, it was announced that 10 million PS4 units had been sold-through to consumers worldwide, and on November 13, it was announced that the PlayStation 4 was the top-selling console in the U.S. for the tenth consecutive month. In its first sales announcement of 2015, Sony confirmed on January 4 that it had sold-through 18.5 million PlayStation 4 units. Sony updated the sell-through figures for the system throughout 2015: over 20 million consoles , over 30 million , and over 35 million by the end of 2015. As of May 22, 2016, total worldwide sell- through reached 40 million. As of December 2018, over 91 million consoles and more than 876 million PlayStation 4 games have been sold worldwide. The PlayStation 4 holds a market share of at least 70% within all European countries, . The PlayStation 4 has been produced in various models: the original, the Slim, and the Pro. Successive models have added or removed various features, and each model has variations of Limited Edition consoles. On September 7, 2016, Sony announced a hardware revision of PlayStation 4, model number CUH-2000, known colloquially as the PlayStation 4 Slim. It is a revision of the original PS4 hardware with a smaller form factor; it has a rounded body with a matte finish on the top of the console rather than a two- tone finish, and is 40% smaller in size than the original model. The two USB ports on the front have been updated to the newer USB 3.1 standard and have a larger gap between them, and the optical audio port was removed. This model also features support for USB 3.1, Bluetooth 4.0 and 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi. It was released on September 15, 2016, with a 500 GB model at the same price as the original version of the PlayStation 4. On April 18, 2017, Sony announced that it had replaced this base model with a 1 TB version at the same MSRP. PlayStation 4 Pro (codenamed Neo, model number CUH-7000) was announced on September 7, 2016, and launched worldwide on November 10, 2016. It is an upgraded version of the PlayStation 4 with improved hardware to enable 4K rendering and improved PlayStation VR performance, including an upgraded GPU with 4.2 teraflops of processing power and hardware support for checkerboard rendering, and a higher CPU clock. As with PS4 "Slim", this model also features support for USB 3.1, Bluetooth 4.0 and 5.0 GHz Wi-Fi. The PS4 Pro also includes 1 GB of DDR3 memory that is used to swap out non-gaming applications that run in the background, allowing games to utilize an additional 512 MB of the console's GDDR5 memory. Although capable of streaming 4K video, the PS4 Pro does not support Ultra HD Blu-ray. Games marketed by Sony as PS4 Pro Enhanced have specific optimizations when played on this model, such as 4K resolution graphics and/or higher performance. For games not specifically optimized, an option known as "Boost Mode" was added on system software 4.5, which can be enabled to force higher CPU and GPU clock rates on existing games to possibly improve performance. Rendering games at 4K resolution is achieved through various rendering techniques and hardware features; PlayStation technical chief Mark Cerny explained that Sony could not "brute force" 4K without compromising form factor and cost, so the console was designed to support "streamlined rendering techniques" using custom hardware, "best-in-breed temporal and spatial anti-aliasing algorithms", and "many new features from the AMD Polaris architecture as well as several even beyond it". The most prominent technique used is checkerboard rendering, wherein the console only renders portions of a scene using a checkerboard pattern, and then uses algorithms to fill in the non-rendered segments. The checkerboarded screen can then be smoothed using an anti-aliasing filter. Hermen Hulst of Guerrilla Games explained that PS4 Pro could render something "perceptively so close [to 4K] that you wouldn't be able to see the difference". PS4 Pro supports Remote Play, Share Play, and streaming at up to 1080p resolution at 60 frames per second, as well as capturing screenshots at 2160p, and 1080p video at 30 frames per second. In late-2017, Sony issued a new PS4 Pro revision (model number CUH-7100) that featured updated internal components. The actual hardware specifications and performance remained the same as the original model, although it was found that the revised console has a slightly quieter fan profile than the original (and as a result, operating at a slightly higher temperature under load than the CUH-7000). In October 2018, Sony quietly issued another revision (model number CUH-7200), initially as part of Red Dead Redemption 2 hardware bundles. The revision has a different power supply which uses the same type of cord as the "Slim" model, and was shown to have further improvements to acoustics. PlayStation 4 online user guide

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My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The original Broadway and London shows starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a notable critical and popular success. It set a record for the longest run of any show on Broadway up to that time. It was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and many revivals. My Fair Lady has been called "the perfect musical". In Edwardian London, Eliza Doolittle is a Cockney flower girl with a thick, unintelligible accent. The noted phonetician Professor Henry Higgins encounters Eliza at Covent Garden and laments the vulgarity of her dialect ("Why Can't the English?"). Higgins also meets Colonel Pickering, another linguist, and invites him to stay as his houseguest. Eliza and her friends wonder what it would be like to live a comfortable life ("Wouldn't It Be Loverly?"). Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, stops by the next morning searching for money for a drink ("With a Little Bit of Luck"). Soon after, Eliza comes to Higgins's house, seeking elocution lessons so that she can get a job as an assistant in a florist's shop. Higgins wagers Pickering that, within six months, by teaching Eliza to speak properly, he will enable her to pass for a proper lady. Eliza becomes part of Higgins's household. Though Higgins sees himself as a kindhearted man who merely cannot get along with women ("I'm an Ordinary Man"), to others he appears self-absorbed and misogynistic. Eliza endures Higgins's tyrannical speech tutoring. Frustrated, she dreams of different ways to kill him ("Just You Wait"). Higgins's servants lament the stressful atmosphere ("The Servants' Chorus"). Just as Higgins is about to give up on her, Eliza suddenly recites one of her diction exercises in perfect upper-class style ("The Rain in Spain"). Though Mrs Pearce, the housekeeper, insists that Eliza go to bed, she declares she is too excited to sleep ("I Could Have Danced All Night"). For her first public tryout, Higgins takes Eliza to his mother's box at Ascot Racecourse ("Ascot Gavotte"). Though Eliza shocks everyone when she forgets herself while watching a race and reverts to foul language, she does capture the heart of Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Freddy calls on Eliza that evening, and he declares that he will wait for her in the street outside Higgins' house ("On the Street Where You Live"). Eliza's final test requires her to pass as a lady at the Embassy Ball. After more weeks of preparation, she is ready. All the ladies and gentlemen at the ball admire her, and the Queen of Transylvania invites her to dance with the prince ("Embassy Waltz"). A Hungarian phonetician, Zoltan Karpathy, attempts to discover Eliza's origins. Higgins allows Karpathy to dance with Eliza. The ball is a success; Karpathy has declared Eliza to be a Hungarian princess. Pickering and Higgins revel in their triumph ("You Did It"), failing to pay attention to Eliza. Eliza is insulted at receiving no credit for her success, packing up and leaving the Higgins house. As she leaves she finds Freddy, who begins to tell her how much he loves her, but she tells him that she has heard enough words; if he really loves her, he should show it ("Show Me"). Eliza and Freddy return to Covent Garden but she finds she no longer feels at home there. Her father is there as well, and he tells her that he has received a surprise bequest from an American millionaire, which has raised him to middle- class respectability, and now must marry his lover. Doolittle and his friends have one last spree before the wedding ("Get Me to the Church on Time"). Higgins awakens the next morning. He finds himself out of sorts without Eliza. He wonders why she left after the triumph at the ball and concludes that men (especially himself) are far superior to women ("A Hymn to Him"). Pickering notices the Professor's lack of consideration, and also leaves the Higgins house. Higgins despondently visits his mother's house, where he finds Eliza. Eliza declares she no longer needs Higgins ("Without You"). As Higgins walks home, he realizes he's grown attached to Eliza ("I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"). At home, he sentimentally reviews the recording he made the day Eliza first came to him for lessons, hearing his own harsh words. Eliza suddenly appears in his home. In suppressed joy at their reunion, Professor Higgins scoffs and asks, "Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?" The original cast of the Broadway stage production: Eliza Doolittle, a young Cockney flowerseller – Julie Andrews, Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics – Rex Harrison, Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza's father, a dustman – Stanley Holloway, Colonel Hugh Pickering, Henry Higgins's friend and fellow phoneticist – Robert Coote, Mrs. Higgins, Henry's socialite mother – Cathleen Nesbitt, Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young socialite and Eliza's suitor – John Michael King, Mrs. Pearce, Higgins's housekeeper – Philippa Bevans, Zoltan Karpathy, Henry Higgins's former student and rival – Christopher Hewett Act I "Overture" – The Orchestra, "Busker Sequence" – The Orchestra, "Why Can't the English?" – Professor Higgins, "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" – Eliza and Male Quartet, "With a Little Bit of Luck" – Alfred Doolittle, Harry, Jamie and Company, "I'm an Ordinary Man" – Professor Higgins, "With a Little Bit of Luck (Reprise)" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble, "Just You Wait" – Eliza, "The Servants' Chorus (Poor Professor Higgins)" – Mrs. Pearce and Servants, "The Rain in Spain" – Professor Higgins, Eliza, and Colonel Pickering, "I Could Have Danced All Night" – Eliza, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants, "Ascot Gavotte" – Ensemble, "On the Street Where You Live" – Freddy, "Eliza's Entrance/Embassy Waltz" – The Orchestra Act II "You Did It" – Colonel Pickering, Professor Higgins, Mrs. Pearce, and Servants, "Just You Wait (Reprise)" – Eliza, "On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)" – Freddy, "Show Me" – Freddy, then Eliza, "The Flower Market/Wouldn't It Be Loverly? (Reprise)" – Eliza and Male Quartet, "Get Me to the Church on Time" – Alfred Doolittle and Ensemble, "A Hymn to Him" – Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering, "Without You" – Eliza and Professor Higgins, "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" – Professor Higgins, "I Could Have Danced All Night (Reprise) / Finale" – The Orchestra In the mid-1930s, film producer Gabriel Pascal acquired the rights to produce film versions of several of George Bernard Shaw's plays, Pygmalion among them. However, Shaw, having had a bad experience with The Chocolate Soldier, a Viennese operetta based on his play Arms and the Man, refused permission for Pygmalion to be adapted into a musical. After Shaw died in 1950, Pascal asked lyricist Alan Jay Lerner to write the musical adaptation. Lerner agreed, and he and his partner Frederick Loewe began work. But they quickly realised that the play violated several key rules for constructing a musical: the main story was not a love story, there was no subplot or secondary love story, and there was no place for an ensemble. Many people, including Oscar Hammerstein II, who, with Richard Rodgers, had also tried his hand at adapting Pygmalion into a musical and had given up, told Lerner that converting the play to a musical was impossible, so he and Loewe abandoned the project for two years. During this time, the collaborators separated and Gabriel Pascal died. Lerner had been trying to musicalize Li'l Abner when he read Pascal's obituary and found himself thinking about Pygmalion again. When he and Loewe reunited, everything fell into place. All of the insurmountable obstacles that had stood in their way two years earlier disappeared when the team realised that the play needed few changes apart from (according to Lerner) "adding the action that took place between the acts of the play". They then excitedly began writing the show. However, Chase Manhattan Bank was in charge of Pascal's estate, and the musical rights to Pygmalion were sought both by Lerner and Loewe and by Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer, whose executives called Lerner to discourage him from challenging the studio. Loewe said, "We will write the show without the rights, and when the time comes for them to decide who is to get them, we will be so far ahead of everyone else that they will be forced to give them to us." For five months Lerner and Loewe wrote, hired technical designers, and made casting decisions. The bank, in the end, granted them the musical rights. Lerner settled on the title My Fair Lady, relating both to one of Shaw's provisional titles for Pygmalion, Fair Eliza, and to the final line of every verse of the nursery rhyme "London Bridge Is Falling Down". Recalling that the Gershwins' 1925 musical Tell Me More had been titled My Fair Lady in its out- of-town tryout, and also had a musical number under that title, Lerner made a courtesy call to Ira Gershwin, alerting him to the use of the title for the Lerner and Loewe musical. Noël Coward was the first to be offered the role of Henry Higgins, but he turned it down, suggesting the producers cast Rex Harrison instead. After much deliberation, Harrison agreed to accept the part. Mary Martin was an early choice for the role of Eliza Doolittle, but declined the role. Young actress Julie Andrews was "discovered" and cast as Eliza after the show's creative team went to see her Broadway debut in The Boy Friend. Moss Hart agreed to direct after hearing only two songs. The experienced orchestrators Robert Russell Bennett and Philip J. Lang were entrusted with the arrangements, and the show quickly went into rehearsal. The musical's script used several scenes that Shaw had written especially for the 1938 film version of Pygmalion, including the Embassy Ball sequence and the final scene of the 1938 film rather than the ending for Shaw's original play. The montage showing Eliza's lessons was also expanded, combining both Lerner's and Shaw's dialogue. The artwork on the original playbill (and the sleeve of the cast recording) is by Al Hirschfeld, who drew the playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppetmaster pulling the strings on the Henry Higgins character, while Higgins in turn attempts to control Eliza Doolittle. The musical had its pre-Broadway tryout at New Haven's Shubert Theatre. At the first preview Rex Harrison, who was unaccustomed to singing in front of a live orchestra, "announced that under no circumstances would he go on that night...with those thirty-two interlopers in the pit". He locked himself in his dressing room and came out little more than an hour before curtain time. The whole company had been dismissed but were recalled, and opening night was a success. My Fair Lady then played for four weeks at the Erlanger Theatre in Philadelphia, beginning on February 15, 1956. The musical premiered on Broadway March 15, 1956, at the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. It transferred to the Broadhurst Theatre and then The Broadway Theatre, where it closed on September 29, 1962, after 2,717 performances, a record at the time. Moss Hart directed and Hanya Holm was choreographer. In addition to stars Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway, the original cast included Robert Coote, Cathleen Nesbitt, John Michael King, and Reid Shelton. Harrison was replaced by Edward Mulhare in November 1957 and Sally Ann Howes replaced Andrews in February 1958. By the start of 1959, it was the biggest grossing Broadway show of all-time with a gross of $10 million. The Original Cast Recording, released on April 2, 1956, went on to become the best-selling album in the country in 1956. The West End production, in which Harrison, Andrews, Coote, and Holloway reprised their roles, opened on April 30, 1958, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, where it ran for five and a half years (2,281 performances). Edwardian musical comedy star Zena Dare made her last appearance in the musical as Mrs. Higgins. Leonard Weir played Freddy. Harrison left the London cast in March 1959, followed by Andrews in August 1959 and Holloway in October 1959. The first revival opened at the St. James Theatre on Broadway on March 25, 1976, and ran there until December 5, 1976; it then transferred to the Lunt- Fontanne Theatre, running from December 9, 1976, until it closed on February 20, 1977, after a total of 377 performances and 7 previews. The director was Jerry Adler, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, based on the original choreography by Hanya Holm. Ian Richardson starred as Higgins, with Christine Andreas as Eliza, George Rose as Alfred P. Doolittle and Robert Coote recreating his role as Pickering. Both Richardson and Rose were nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical, with the award going to Rose. A London revival opened at the Adelphi Theatre in October 1979, with Tony Britton as Higgins, Liz Robertson as Eliza, Dame Anna Neagle as Higgins' mother, Peter Bayliss, Richard Caldicot and Peter Land. The revival was produced by Cameron Mackintosh and directed by the author, Alan Jay Lerner. A national tour was directed by Robin Midgley. Gillian Lynne choreographed. Britton and Robertson were both nominated for Olivier Awards. Another Broadway revival of the original production opened at the Uris Theatre on August 18, 1981, and closed on November 29, 1981, after 120 performances and 4 previews. Rex Harrison recreated his role as Higgins, with Jack Gwillim, Milo O'Shea, and Cathleen Nesbitt, at 93 years old reprising her role as Mrs. Higgins. The revival co-starred Nancy Ringham as Eliza. The director was Patrick Garland, with choreography by Crandall Diehl, recreating the original Hanya Holm dances. A new revival directed by Howard Davies opened at the Virginia Theatre on December 9, 1993, and closed on May 1, 1994, after 165 performances and 16 previews. The cast starred Richard Chamberlain, Melissa Errico and Paxton Whitehead. Julian Holloway, son of Stanley Holloway, recreated his father's role of Alfred P. Doolittle. Donald Saddler was the choreographer. Cameron Mackintosh produced a new production on March 15, 2001, at the Royal National Theatre, which transferred to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on July 21. Directed by Trevor Nunn, with choreography by Matthew Bourne, the musical starred Martine McCutcheon as Eliza and Jonathan Pryce as Higgins, with Dennis Waterman as Alfred P. Doolittle. This revival won three Olivier Awards: Outstanding Musical Production, Best Actress in a Musical (Martine McCutcheon) and Best Theatre Choreographer (Matthew Bourne), with Anthony Ward receiving a nomination for Set Design. In December 2001, Joanna Riding took over the role of Eliza, and in May 2002, Alex Jennings took over as Higgins, both winning Olivier Awards for Best Actor and Best Actress in a Musical respectively in 2003. In March 2003, Anthony Andrews and Laura Michelle Kelly took over the roles until the show closed on August 30, 2003. A UK tour of this production began September 28, 2005. The production starred Amy Nuttall and Lisa O'Hare as Eliza, Christopher Cazenove as Henry Higgins, Russ Abbot and Gareth Hale as Alfred Doolittle, and Honor Blackman and Hannah Gordon as Mrs. Higgins. The tour ended August 12, 2006. In 2003 a production of the musical at the Hollywood Bowl starred John Lithgow as Henry Higgins, Melissa Errico as Eliza Doolittle, Roger Daltrey as Alfred P. Doolittle and Paxton Whitehead as Colonel Pickering. A Broadway revival produced by Lincoln Center Theater and Nederlander Presentations Inc. began previews on March 15, 2018, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater and officially opened on April 19, 2018. It was directed by Bartlett Sher with choreography by Christopher Gattelli, scenic design by Michael Yeargan, costume design by Catherine Zuber and lighting design by Donald Holder. The cast included Lauren Ambrose as Eliza, Harry Hadden-Paton as Professor Henry Higgins, Diana Rigg as Mrs. Higgins, Norbert Leo Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle, Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering, Jordan Donica as Freddy, and Linda Mugleston as Mrs. Pearce. Rosemary Harris replaced Rigg as Mrs. Higgins from September 11, 2018. Laura Benanti replaced Ambrose as Eliza from October 23, 2018, extending her engagement to July 7, 2019. Danny Burstein replaced Butz as Alfred P. Doolittle from January 8 to April 28, 2019. Alexander Gemignani replaced Burstein on April 30, 2019. The revival closed on July 7, 2019, after 39 previews and 509 regular performances. A German translation of My Fair Lady opened on October 1, 1961, at the Theater des Westens in Berlin, starring Karin Hübner and Paul Hubschmid (and conducted, as was the Broadway opening, by Franz Allers). Coming at the height of Cold War tensions, just weeks after the closing of the East Berlin–West Berlin border and the erection of the Berlin Wall, this was the first staging of a Broadway musical in Berlin since World War II. As such it was seen as a symbol of West Berlin's cultural renaissance and resistance. Lost attendance from East Berlin (now no longer possible) was partly made up by a "musical air bridge" of flights bringing in patrons from West Germany, and the production was embraced by Berliners, running for two years. In 2007 the New York Philharmonic held a full-costume concert presentation of the musical. The concert had a four-day engagement lasting from March 7–10 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. It starred Kelsey Grammer as Higgins, Kelli O'Hara as Eliza, Charles Kimbrough as Pickering, and Brian Dennehy as Alfred Doolittle. Marni Nixon played Mrs. Higgins; Nixon had provided the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the film version. A U.S. tour of Mackintosh's 2001 West End production ran from September 12, 2007, to June 22, 2008. The production starred Christopher Cazenove as Higgins, Lisa O'Hare as Eliza, Walter Charles as Pickering, Tim Jerome as Alfred Doolittle and Nixon as Mrs. Higgins, replacing Sally Ann Howes. An Australian tour produced by Opera Australia commenced in May 2008. The production starred Reg Livermore as Higgins, Taryn Fiebig as Eliza, Robert Grubb as Alfred Doolittle and Judi Connelli as Mrs Pearce. John Wood took the role of Alfred Doolittle in Queensland, and Richard E. Grant played the role of Henry Higgins at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. A new production was staged by Robert Carsen at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris for a limited 27-performance run, opening December 9, 2010, and closing January 2, 2011. It was presented in English. The costumes were designed by Anthony Powell and the choreography was by Lynne Page. The cast was as follows: Sarah Gabriel / Christine Arand (Eliza Doolittle), Alex Jennings (Henry Higgins), Margaret Tyzack (Mrs. Higgins), Nicholas Le Prevost (Colonel Pickering), Donald Maxwell (Alfred Doolittle), and Jenny Galloway (Mrs. Pearce). A new production of My Fair Lady opened at Sheffield Crucible on December 13, 2012. Dominic West played Henry Higgins, and Carly Bawden played Eliza Doolittle. Sheffield Theatres' Artistic Director Daniel Evans was the director. The production ran until January 26, 2013. The Gordon Frost Organisation, together with Opera Australia, presented a production at the Sydney Opera House from August 30 to November 5, 2016. It was directed by Julie Andrews and featured the set and costume designs of the original 1956 production by Smith and Beaton. The production sold more tickets than any other in the history of the Sydney Opera House. The show's opening run in Sydney was so successful that in November 2016, ticket pre-sales were released for a re-run in Sydney, with the extra shows scheduled between August 24 and September 10, 2017, at the Capitol Theatre. In 2017, the show toured to Brisbane from March 12 and Melbourne from May 11. The cast featured Alex Jennings as Higgins (Charles Edwards for Brisbane and Melbourne seasons), Anna O'Byrne as Eliza, Reg Livermore as Alfred P. Doolittle, Robyn Nevin as Mrs. Higgins (later Pamela Rabe), Mark Vincent as Freddy, Tony Llewellyn-Jones as Colonel Pickering, Deidre Rubenstein as Mrs. Pearce, and David Whitney as Karpathy. According to Geoffrey Block, "Opening night critics immediately recognized that My Fair Lady fully measured up to the Rodgers and Hammerstein model of an integrated musical...Robert Coleman...wrote 'The Lerner-Loewe songs are not only delightful, they advance the action as well. They are ever so much more than interpolations, or interruptions.'" The musical opened to "unanimously glowing reviews, one of which said 'Don't bother reading this review now. You'd better sit right down and send for those tickets...' Critics praised the thoughtful use of Shaw's original play, the brilliance of the lyrics, and Loewe's well-integrated score." A sampling of praise from critics, excerpted from a book form of the musical, published in 1956. "My Fair Lady is wise, witty, and winning. In short, a miraculous musical." Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune., "A felicitous blend of intellect, wit, rhythm and high spirits. A masterpiece of musical comedy ... a terrific show." Robert Coleman, New York Daily Mirror., "Fine, handsome, melodious, witty and beautifully acted ... an exceptional show." George Jean Nathan, New York Journal American., "Everything about My Fair Lady is distinctive and distinguished." John Chapman, New York Daily News., "Wonderfully entertaining and extraordinarily welcomed ... meritorious in every department." Wolcott Gibbs, The New Yorker., "One of the 'loverliest' shows imaginable ... a work of theatre magic." John Beaufort, The Christian Science Monitor., "An irresistible hit." Variety., "One of the best musicals of the century." Brooks Atkinson, The New York Times. The reception from Shavians was more mixed, however. Eric Bentley, for instance, called it "a terrible treatment of Mr. Shaw's play, [undermining] the basic idea [of the play]", even though he acknowledged it as "a delightful show". Sources: BroadwayWorld TheatreWorldAwards Sources: BroadwayWorld Drama Desk Source: Olivier Awards Source: BroadwayWorld Source: Drama Desk Source: Olivier Awards An Oscar-winning film version was made in 1964, directed by George Cukor and with Harrison again in the part of Higgins. The casting of Audrey Hepburn instead of Julie Andrews as Eliza was controversial, partly because theatregoers regarded Andrews as perfect for the part and partly because Hepburn's singing voice was dubbed (by Marni Nixon). Jack L. Warner, the head of Warner Bros., which produced the film, wanted "a star with a great deal of name recognition", but since Julie Andrews did not have any film experience, he thought a movie with her would not be as successful. (Andrews went on to star in Mary Poppins that same year for which she won both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actress.) Lerner in particular disliked the film version of the musical, thinking it did not live up to the standards of Moss Hart's original direction. He was also unhappy with the casting of Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and that the film was shot in its entirety at the Warner Bros. studio rather than, as he would have preferred, in London. Despite the controversy, My Fair Lady was considered a major critical and box office success, and won eight Oscars, including Best Picture of the Year, Best Actor for Rex Harrison, and Best Director for George Cukor. Columbia Pictures announced a new adaptation in 2008. The intention was to shoot on location in Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street and the Ascot Racecourse. John Madden was signed to direct the film, and Colin Firth and Carey Mulligan were possible choices for the leading roles. Emma Thompson wrote a new screenplay adaptation for the project, but it was shelved. Citron, David (1995). The Wordsmiths: Oscar Hammerstein 2nd and Alan Jay Lerner, Oxford University Press., Garebian, Keith (1998). The Making of My Fair Lady, Mosaic Press., Green, Benny, Editor (1987). A Hymn to Him : The Lyrics of Alan Jay Lerner, Hal Leonard Corporation., Jablonski, Edward (1996). Alan Jay Lerner: A Biography, Henry Holt & Co., Lees, Gene (2005). The Musical Worlds of Lerner and Loewe, Bison Books., Lerner, Alan Jay (1985). The Street Where I Live, Da Capo Press., McHugh, Dominic. Loverly: The Life and Times of "My Fair Lady" (Oxford University Press; 2012) 265 pages; uses unpublished documents to study the five-year process of the original production., Shapiro, Doris (1989). We Danced All Night: My Life Behind the Scenes With Alan Jay Lerner, Barricade Books. Lincoln Center production, Ovrtur Page Pygmalion is a play by George Bernard Shaw, named after a Greek mythological figure. It was first presented on stage to the public in 1913. In ancient Greek mythology, Pygmalion fell in love with one of his sculptures, which then came to life. The general idea of that myth was a popular subject for Victorian era English playwrights, including one of Shaw's influences, W. S. Gilbert, who wrote a successful play based on the story called Pygmalion and Galatea that was first presented in 1871. Shaw would also have been familiar with the burlesque version, Galatea, or Pygmalion Reversed. Shaw's play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the musical My Fair Lady and its film version. Shaw mentioned that the character of Professor Henry Higgins was inspired by several British professors of phonetics: Alexander Melville Bell, Alexander J. Ellis, Tito Pagliardini, but above all, the cantankerous Henry Sweet. Shaw wrote the play in early 1912 and read it to famed actress Mrs. Patrick Campbell in June. She came on board almost immediately, but her mild nervous breakdown contributed to the delay of a London production. Pygmalion premiered at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913, in a German translation by Shaw's Viennese literary agent and acolyte, Siegfried Trebitsch. Its first New York production opened on 24 March 1914 at the German-language Irving Place Theatre. It opened in London on 11 April 1914, at Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree's His Majesty's Theatre and starred Mrs. Campbell as Eliza and Tree as Higgins, running for 118 performances. Shaw directed the actors through tempestuous rehearsals often punctuated by at least one of the two storming out of the theatre in a rage. George Orwell claimed that "The central plot of Shaw's play, Pygmalion, is lifted out of Peregrine Pickle [by Smollett], and I believe that no one has ever pointed this out in print, which suggests that few people can have read the book." ("As I Please" TRIBUNE July 7, 1944) 'Portico of Saint Paul's Church (not Wren's Cathedral but Inigo Jones' Church in Covent Garden vegetable market)' – 11.15 p.m. A group of people are sheltering from the rain. Among them are the Eynsford-Hills, superficial social climbers eking out a living in "genteel poverty", consisting initially of Mrs. Eynsford-Hill and her daughter Clara. Clara's brother Freddy enters having earlier been dispatched to secure them a cab (which they can ill- afford), but being rather timid and faint-hearted he has failed to do so. As he goes off once again to find a cab, he bumps into a flower girl, Eliza. Her flowers drop into the mud of Covent Garden, the flowers she needs to survive in her poverty-stricken world. Shortly, they are joined by a gentleman, Colonel Pickering. While Eliza tries to sell flowers to the Colonel, a bystander informs her that a man is writing down everything she says. The man is Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics. Eliza worries that Higgins is a police officer and will not calm down until Higgins introduces himself. It soon becomes apparent that he and Colonel Pickering have a shared interest in phonetics; indeed, Pickering has come from India to meet Higgins, and Higgins was planning to go to India to meet Pickering. Higgins tells Pickering that he could pass off the flower girl as a duchess merely by teaching her to speak properly. These words of bravado spark an interest in Eliza, who would love to make changes in her life and become more mannerly, even though, to her, it only means working in a flower shop. At the end of the act, Freddy returns after finding a taxi, only to find that his mother and sister have gone and left him with the cab. The streetwise Eliza takes the cab from him, using the money that Higgins tossed to her, leaving him on his own. Higgins' home – the next day As Higgins demonstrates his phonetics to Pickering, the housekeeper Mrs. Pearce, tells him that a young girl wants to see him. Eliza has shown up because she wishes to talk like a lady in a flower shop. She tells Higgins that she will pay for lessons. He shows no interest, but she reminds him of his boast the previous day. Higgins claimed that he could pass her for a duchess. Pickering makes a bet with him on his claim, and says that he will pay for her lessons if Higgins succeeds. She is sent off to have a bath. Mrs. Pearce tells Higgins that he must behave himself in the young girl's presence, meaning he must stop swearing, and improve his table manners, but he is at a loss to understand why she should find fault with him. Alfred Doolittle, Eliza's father, appears with the sole purpose of getting money out of Higgins, having no paternal interest in his daughter's welfare. He sees himself as a member of the undeserving poor, and means to go on being undeserving. With his intelligent mind untamed by education, he has an eccentric view of life. He is also aggressive, and when Eliza, on her return, sticks her tongue out at him, he goes to hit her, but is prevented by Pickering. The scene ends with Higgins telling Pickering that they really have got a difficult job on their hands. Mrs. Higgins' drawing room Higgins bursts in and tells his mother he has picked up a "common flower girl" whom he has been teaching. Mrs. Higgins is not very impressed with her son's attempts to win her approval because it is her 'at home' day and she is entertaining visitors. The visitors are the Eynsford-Hills. Higgins is rude to them on their arrival. Eliza enters and soon falls into talking about the weather and her family. Whilst she is now able to speak in beautifully modulated tones, the substance of what she says remains unchanged from the gutter. She confides her suspicions that her aunt was killed by relatives, and mentions that gin had been "mother's milk" to this aunt, and that Eliza's own father was always more cheerful after a goodly amount of gin. Higgins passes off her remarks as "the new small talk", and Freddy is enraptured. When she is leaving, he asks her if she is going to walk across the park, to which she replies, "Walk? Not bloody likely!" (This is the most famous line from the play, and, for many years after the play's debut, use of the word 'bloody' was known as a pygmalion; Mrs. Campbell was considered to have risked her career by speaking the line on stage.) After she and the Eynsford-Hills leave, Henry asks for his mother's opinion. She says the girl is not presentable and is very concerned about what will happen to her, but neither Higgins nor Pickering understands her thoughts of Eliza's future, and leave feeling confident and excited about how Eliza will get on. This leaves Mrs. Higgins feeling exasperated, and exclaiming, "Men! Men!! Men!!!" Higgins' home – midnight Higgins, Pickering, and Eliza have returned from a ball. A tired Eliza sits unnoticed, brooding and silent, while Pickering congratulates Higgins on winning the bet. Higgins scoffs and declares the evening a "silly tomfoolery", thanking God it's over and saying that he had been sick of the whole thing for the last two months. Still barely acknowledging Eliza beyond asking her to leave a note for Mrs. Pearce regarding coffee, the two retire to bed. Higgins returns to the room, looking for his slippers, and Eliza throws them at him. Higgins is taken aback, and is at first completely unable to understand Eliza's preoccupation, which aside from being ignored after her triumph is the question of what she is to do now. When Higgins does understand he makes light of it, saying she could get married, but Eliza interprets this as selling herself like a prostitute. "We were above that at the corner of Tottenham Court Road." Finally she returns her jewellery to Higgins, including the ring he had given her, which he throws into the fireplace with a violence that scares Eliza. Furious with himself for losing his temper, he damns Mrs. Pearce, the coffee and then Eliza, and finally himself, for "lavishing" his knowledge and his "regard and intimacy" on a "heartless guttersnipe", and retires in great dudgeon. Eliza roots around in the fireplace and retrieves the ring. Mrs. Higgins' drawing room – the next morning Higgins and Pickering, perturbed by the discovery that Eliza has walked out on them, call on Mrs. Higgins to phone the police. Higgins is particularly distracted, since Eliza had assumed the responsibility of maintaining his diary and keeping track of his possessions, which causes Mrs. Higgins to decry their calling the police as though Eliza were "a lost umbrella". Doolittle is announced; he emerges dressed in splendid wedding attire and is furious with Higgins, who after their previous encounter had been so taken with Doolittle's unorthodox ethics that he had recommended him as the "most original moralist in England" to a rich American founding Moral Reform Societies; the American had subsequently left Doolittle a pension worth three thousand pounds a year, as a consequence of which Doolittle feels intimidated into joining the middle class and marrying his missus. Mrs. Higgins observes that this at least settles the problem of who shall provide for Eliza, to which Higgins objects – after all, he paid Doolittle five pounds for her. Mrs. Higgins informs her son that Eliza is upstairs, and explains the circumstances of her arrival, alluding to how marginalised and overlooked Eliza felt the previous night. Higgins is unable to appreciate this, and sulks when told that he must behave if Eliza is to join them. Doolittle is asked to wait outside. Eliza enters, at ease and self- possessed. Higgins blusters but Eliza isn't shaken and speaks exclusively to Pickering. Throwing Higgins' previous insults back at him ("Oh, I'm only a squashed cabbage leaf"), Eliza remarks that it was only by Pickering's example that she learned to be a lady, which renders Higgins speechless. Eliza goes on to say that she has completely left behind the flower girl she was, and that she couldn't utter any of her old sounds if she tried – at which point Doolittle emerges from the balcony, causing Eliza to relapse totally into her gutter speech. Higgins is jubilant, jumping up and crowing over her. Doolittle explains his situation and asks if Eliza will come with him to his wedding. Pickering and Mrs. Higgins also agree to go, and leave with Doolittle and Eliza to follow. The scene ends with another confrontation between Higgins and Eliza. Higgins asks if Eliza is satisfied with the revenge she has brought thus far and if she will now come back, but she refuses. Higgins defends himself from Eliza's earlier accusation by arguing that he treats everyone the same, so she shouldn't feel singled out. Eliza replies that she just wants a little kindness, and that since he will never stop to show her this, she will not come back, but will marry Freddy. Higgins scolds her for such low ambitions: he has made her "a consort for a king." When she threatens to teach phonetics and offer herself as an assistant to Nepommuck, Higgins again loses his temper and promises to wring her neck if she does so. Eliza realises that this last threat strikes Higgins at the very core and that it gives her power over him; Higgins, for his part, is delighted to see a spark of fight in Eliza rather than her erstwhile fretting and worrying. He remarks "I like you like this", and calls her a "pillar of strength". Mrs. Higgins returns and she and Eliza depart for the wedding. As they leave, Higgins incorrigibly gives Eliza a number of errands to run, as though their recent conversation had not taken place. Eliza disdainfully explains why they are unnecessary and wonders what Higgins is going to do without her (in another version, Eliza disdainfully tells him to do the errands himself; Mrs. Higgins says that she'll get the items, but Higgins cheerfully tells her that Eliza will do it after all). Higgins laughs to himself at the idea of Eliza marrying Freddy as the play ends. The play was well received by critics in major cities following its premieres in Vienna, London, and New York. The initial release in Vienna garnered several reviews describing the show as a positive departure from Shaw's usual dry and didactic style. The Broadway premiere in New York was praised in terms of both plot and acting, described as "a love story with brusque diffidence and a wealth of humor." Reviews of the production in London were slightly less unequivocally positive, with the Telegraph noting that the play was deeply diverting with interesting mechanical staging, although the critic ultimately found the production somewhat shallow and overly lengthy. The London Times, however, praised both the characters and actors (especially Sir Herbert Tree as Higgins and Mrs. Patrick Campbell as Eliza) and the happy if "unconventional" ending. Pygmalion was the most broadly appealing of all Shaw's plays. But popular audiences, looking for pleasant entertainment with big stars in a West End venue, wanted a "happy ending" for the characters they liked so well, as did some critics. During the 1914 run, to Shaw's exasperation but not to his surprise, Tree sought to sweeten Shaw's ending to please himself and his record houses. Shaw returned for the 100th performance and watched Higgins, standing at the window, toss a bouquet down to Eliza. "My ending makes money; you ought to be grateful," protested Tree, to which Shaw replied, "Your ending is damnable; you ought to be shot." Shaw remained sufficiently irritated to add a postscript essay, "'What Happened Afterwards," to the 1916 print edition for inclusion with subsequent editions, in which he explained precisely why it was impossible for the story to end with Higgins and Eliza getting married. He continued to protect what he saw as the play's, and Eliza's, integrity by protecting the last scene. For at least some performances during the 1920 revival, Shaw adjusted the ending in a way that underscored the Shavian message. In an undated note to Mrs. Campbell he wrote, When Eliza emancipates herself – when Galatea comes to life – she must not relapse. She must retain her pride and triumph to the end. When Higgins takes your arm on 'consort battleship' you must instantly throw him off with implacable pride; and this is the note until the final 'Buy them yourself.' He will go out on the balcony to watch your departure; come back triumphantly into the room; exclaim 'Galatea!' (meaning that the statue has come to life at last); and – curtain. Thus he gets the last word; and you get it too. Shaw fought against a Higgins- Eliza happy-end pairing as late as 1938. He sent the [[Pygmalion (1938 film)|1938 film version]]'s producer, [[Gabriel Pascal]], a concluding sequence which he felt offered a fair compromise: a tender farewell scene between Higgins and Eliza, followed by one showing Freddy and Eliza happy in their greengrocery-flower shop. Only at the sneak preview did he learn that Pascal had finessed the question of Eliza's future with a slightly ambiguous final scene in which Eliza returns to the house of a sadly musing Higgins and self-mockingly quotes her previous self announcing, "I washed my face and hands before I come, I did". [[File:Pygmalion serialized November 1914.jpg|thumb|middle|First American (serialized) publication, [[Everybody's Magazine]], November 1914]] There are two main versions of the play in circulation. One is based on the earlier version, first published in 1914; the other is a later version that includes several sequences revised by Shaw, first published in 1941. Therefore, different printed versions of the play omit or add certain lines. For instance, the Project Gutenberg version published online, which is transcribed from an early version, does not include Eliza's exchange with Mrs. Pearce in Act II, the scene with Nepommuck in Act III, or Higgins' famous declaration to Eliza, "Yes, you squashed cabbage-leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language! I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba!" – a line so famous that it is now retained in nearly all productions of the play, including the 1938 film version of Pygmalion as well as in the stage and film versions of My Fair Lady. The co- director of the 1938 film, [[Anthony Asquith]], had seen Mrs. Campbell in the 1920 revival of Pygmalion and noticed that she spoke the line, "It's my belief as how they done the old woman in." He knew "as how" was not in Shaw's text, but he felt it added color and rhythm to Eliza's speech, and liked to think that Mrs. Campbell had [[ad libitum|ad libbed]] it herself. Eighteen years later he added it to Wendy Hiller's line in the film. In the original play Eliza's test is met at an ambassador's garden party, offstage. For the 1938 film Shaw and co-writers replaced that exposition with a scene at an embassy ball; Nepommuck, the blackmailing translator spoken about in the play, is finally seen, but his name is updated to Aristid Karpathy – named so by Gabriel Pascal, the film's Hungarian producer, who also made sure that Karpathy mistakes Eliza for a Hungarian princess. In My Fair Lady he became Zoltan Karpathy. (The change of name was likely to avoid offending the sensibilities of Roman Catholics, as [[John of Nepomuk|St. John Nepomuk]] was, ironically, a Catholic martyr who refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional.) The 1938 film also introduced the famous pronunciation exercises "the rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" and "In Hertford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen". Neither of these appears in the original play. Shaw's screen version of the play as well as a new print version incorporating the new sequences he had added for the film script were published in 1941. Many of the scenes that were written for the films were separated by asterisks, and explained in a "Note for Technicians" section. Pygmalion remains Shaw's most popular play. The play's widest audiences know it as the inspiration for the highly romanticized 1956 [[My Fair Lady|musical]] and 1964 film [[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]]. Pygmalion has transcended cultural and language barriers since its first production. The British Museum contains "images of the Polish production...; a series of shots of a wonderfully Gallicised Higgins and Eliza in the first French production in Paris in 1923; a fascinating set for a Russian production of the 1930s. There was no country which didn't have its own 'take' on the subjects of class division and social mobility, and it's as enjoyable to view these subtle differences in settings and costumes as it is to imagine translators wracking their brains for their own equivalent of 'Not bloody likely'." [[Joseph Weizenbaum]] named his [[chatterbot]] computer program [[ELIZA]] after the character Eliza Doolittle. [[Peter Hogg]]'s novel [[Smilla's Sense of Snow]] features a "Professor Higgins" character - i.e., a skilled linguist able to deduce a person's geographical and social circumstances from hearing them speak; in that case, Hogg's linguist is an expert on the [[Inuit]] languages and dialects of [[Greenland]], but is equally at home in identifying at a glance the various dialects and [[sociolect]]s of Danish. [[File:Pygmalion-Fontanne-1926.jpg|thumb|[[Lynn Fontanne]] as Eliza Doolittle in the [[Theatre Guild]] production of Pygmalion (1926)]] 1914: [[Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree]] and [[Mrs Patrick Campbell]] at [[Her Majesty's Theatre|His Majesty's Theatre]], 1914: [[Philip Merivale]] and Mrs Patrick Campbell at three [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] theatres [Park, Liberty and Wallack's] (USA), 1920: [[C Aubrey Smith]] and Mrs Patrick Campbell at the [[Aldwych Theatre]], 1926: Reginald Mason and Lynn Fontanne at the [[August Wilson Theatre|Guild Theatre]] (USA), 1936: [[Ernest Thesiger]] and [[Wendy Hiller]] at the [[Festival Theatre, Malvern]], 1937: [[Robert Morley]] and [[Diana Wynyard]] at the [[Old Vic Theatre]], 1945: [[Raymond Massey]] and [[Gertrude Lawrence]] at the [[Ethel Barrymore Theatre]] (USA), 1947: [[Alec Clunes]] and [[Brenda Bruce]] at the [[Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith]], 1953: [[John Clements (actor)|John Clements]] and [[Kay Hammond]] at the [[St James's Theatre]], 1965: Ian White and [[Jane Asher]] at the [[Watford Palace Theatre]], 1974: [[Alec McCowen]] and [[Diana Rigg]] at the [[Albery Theatre]], 1984: [[Peter O'Toole]] and [[Jackie Smith-Wood]] at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]], 1987: Peter O'Toole and [[Amanda Plummer]] at the [[Plymouth Theatre]] (USA), 1992: [[Alan Howard]] and [[Frances Barber]] at the [[Royal National Theatre]], 1997: [[Roy Marsden]] and [[Carli Norris]] (who replaced [[Emily Lloyd]] early in rehearsals) at the [[Albery Theatre]], 2007: [[Tim Pigott-Smith]] and [[Michelle Dockery]] at the [[Old Vic Theatre]], 2007: [[Jefferson Mays]] and [[Claire Danes]] at [[American Airlines Theatre]] (USA), 2010: [[Simon Robson]] and [[Cush Jumbo]] at the [[Royal Exchange, Manchester|Royal Exchange]] Theatre, Manchester, 2011: [[Rupert Everett]] (later [[Alistair McGowan]]) and [[Kara Tointon]] at the [[Garrick Theatre]], 2011: [[Risteárd Cooper]] and Charlie Murphy at the [[Abbey Theatre]], Dublin [[File:Julie Andrews Rex Harrison My Fair Lady.JPG|thumb|[[Julie Andrews]] as flower girl Eliza Doolittle meets [[Rex Harrison]] as Professor Henry Higgins in the 1956 musical adaptation of Pygmalion, [[My Fair Lady]].]] Stage [[My Fair Lady]] (1956), the Broadway musical by [[Alan Jay Lerner|Lerner]] and [[Frederick Loewe|Loewe]] (based on the 1938 film), starring [[Rex Harrison]] as Higgins and [[Julie Andrews]] as Eliza Film [[File:Harry Stradling-Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.jpg|thumb|Cinematographer Harry Stradling poses with [[Audrey Hepburn]] as Eliza Doolittle on the set of the 1964 movie musical My Fair Lady.]] [[Pygmalion (1935 film)|Pygmalion]] (1935), a German film adaptation by Shaw and others, starring [[Gustaf Gründgens]] as Higgins and [[Jenny Jugo]] as Eliza. Directed by Erich Engel., [[Hoi Polloi (1935 film)|Hoi Polloi]] (1935), a short feature starring [[The Three Stooges]] comedy team. To win a bet, a professor attempts to transform the Stooges into gentlemen., [[Pygmalion (1937 film)|Pygmalion]] (1937), a Dutch film adaptation, starring [[Johan De Meester]] as Higgins and [[Lily Bouwmeester]] as Elisa. Directed by [[Ludwig Berger (director)|Ludwig Berger]]., [[Pygmalion (1938 film)|Pygmalion]] (1938), a British film adaptation by Shaw and others, starring [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]] as Higgins and [[Wendy Hiller]] as Eliza, [[Kitty (1945 film)|Kitty]] (1945), a film based on the novel of the same name by [[Rosamond Marshall]] (published in 1943). A broad interpretation of the Pygmalion story line, the film tells the rags-to-riches story of a young guttersnipe, [[Cockney]] girl., [[My Fair Lady (film)|My Fair Lady]] (1964), a film version of the musical starring [[Audrey Hepburn]] as Eliza and [[Rex Harrison]] as Higgins, [[The Opening of Misty Beethoven]] (1976), an [[Hardcore pornography|American hardcore pornography]] film take-off starring [[Constance Money]] and [[Jamie Gillis]], [[She's All That]] (1999): a modern, teenage take on Pygmalion, [[The Duff]] (2015): based on the novel of the same name by Kody Keplinger, which in turn is a modern teenage adaption of Pygmalion Television A 1963 [[Hallmark Hall of Fame]] production of Pygmalion, starring [[Julie Harris (American actress)|Julie Harris]] as Eliza and [[James Donald]] as Higgins, Pygmalion (1973), a BBC [[Play of the Month]] version starring [[James Villiers]] as Higgins and [[Lynn Redgrave]] as Eliza, [[Pygmalion (1981 film)|Pygmalion]] (1981), a film version starring [[Twiggy]] as Eliza and [[Robert Powell]] as Higgins, [[Pygmalion (1983 film)|Pygmalion (1983)]], an adaptation starring [[Peter O'Toole]] as Higgins and [[Margot Kidder]] as Eliza, The Makeover, a 2013 [[Hallmark Hall of Fame]] modern adaptation of Pygmalion, starring [[Julia Stiles]] and [[David Walton (actor)|David Walton]] and directed by [[John Gray (director)|John Gray]], [[Selfie (TV series)|Selfie]], a 2014 television sitcom on ABC, starring [[Karen Gillan]] and [[John Cho]]., [[Classic Alice]], a webseries, aired a 10-episode adaptation on YouTube, starring [[Kate Hackett]] and [[Tony Noto]] in 2014., [[Totalmente Demais]], a 2015 Brazilian telenovela, starring [[Juliana Paes]], [[Marina Ruy Barbosa]] and [[Fábio Assunção]]. Non–English language Pigmalió, an adaptation by Joan Oliver into [[Catalan language|Catalan]]. Set in 1950s Barcelona, it was first staged in [[Sabadell]] in 1957 and has had other stagings since., Ti Phulrani, an adaptation by [[Pu La Deshpande]] in [[Marathi language|Marathi]]. The plot follows Pygmalion closely but the language features are based on Marathi., Santu Rangeeli, an adaptation by [[Madhu Rye]] and [[Pravin Joshi]] in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]., A 1996 television play in [[Polish language|Polish]], translated by Kazimierz Piotrowski, directed by [[Maciej Wojtyszko]] and performed at Teatr Telewizji ([[Polish Television]] studio in [[Warsaw]]) by some of the top Polish actors at the time. It has been aired on national TV numerous times since its TV premiere in 1998., A 2007 adaptation by [[Aka Morchiladze]] and [[Levan Tsuladze]] in [[Georgian language|Georgian]] performed at the [[Marjanishvili Theatre]] in [[Tbilisi]], [[Man Pasand]], a 1980 Hindi movie directed by [[Basu Chatterjee]], [[Ogo Bodhu Shundori]], a 1981 Bengali comedy film starring [[Uttam Kumar]] directed by [[Salil Dutta]], [[My Young Auntie]], a 1981 Hong Kong action film directed by [[Lau Kar-Leung]], [[Laiza Porko Sushi]], a [[Papiamento|Papiamentu]] adaptation from writer and artist [[May Henriquez]], [[Gönülcelen]], a Turkish series starring [[Tuba Büyüküstün]] and [[Cansel Elcin]], [[Δύο Ξένοι]], a Greek series starring [[Nikos Sergianopoulos]] and [[Evelina Papoulia]] [[The First Night of Pygmalion]] (1972), a play depicting the backstage tensions during the first British production., [[Willy Russell]]'s 1980 stage comedy [[Educating Rita]] and the subsequent film adaptation are similar in plot to Pygmalion., [[Trading Places]] (1983), a film starring [[Eddie Murphy]] and [[Dan Aykroyd]]., [[Pretty Woman]] (1990), a film starring [[Julia Roberts]] and [[Richard Gere]]., [[Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen]] (2004), a film starring [[Lindsay Lohan]] where she auditions for a modernized musical version of Pygmalion called "Eliza Rocks". [[Moonlighting (TV series)|Moonlighting]]s second-season episode "My Fair David" (1985) is inspired by the movie My Fair Lady, in a plot where [[Maddie Hayes]] makes a bet with [[David Addison]] consisting in making him softer and more serious with work. She is her Henry Higgins, while he is put in the [[Eliza Doolittle]] position, as the funny, clumsy, bad-mannered part of the relationship., [[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]s third-season episode "The Galatea Affair" (1966) is a spoof of My Fair Lady. A crude barroom entertainer ([[Joan Collins]]) is taught to behave like a lady. [[Noel Harrison]], son of [[Rex Harrison]], star of the [[My Fair Lady]] film, is the guest star., In [[The Beverly Hillbillies]] episode "Pygmalion and Elly" Sonny resumes his high-class courtship of Elly May by playing Julius Caesar and Pygmalion., In [[The Andy Griffith Show]] season 4 episode "My Fair Ernest T. Bass", Andy and Barney attempt to turn the mannerless Ernest T. Bass into a presentable gentleman. References to "Pygmalion" abound: Bass' manners are tested at a social gathering, where he is assumed by the hostess to be a man from Boston. Several characters comment "if you wrote this into a play nobody'd believe it.", In [[Doctor Who]], the character of [[Leela (Doctor Who)|Leela]] is loosely based on Eliza Doolittle. She was a regular in the programme from 1977 to 1978, and later reprised in audio dramas from 2003 to present. In [[Ghost Light (Doctor Who)|Ghost Light]], the character of Control is heavily based upon Eliza Doolittle, with Redvers Fenn-Cooper in a similar role as Henry Higgins; the story also features reference to the "Rain in Spain" rhyme and the Doctor referring to companion Ace as "Eliza"., In the [[Remington Steele]] season 2 episode "My Fair Steele", Laura and Steele transform a truck stop waitress into a socialite to flush out a kidnapper. Steele references the 1938 movie Pygmalion and My Fair Lady, and references the way in which Laura has "molded" him into her fictional creation., In the [[Magnum, P.I.]] episode "Professor Jonathan Higgins" of Season 5, [[Jonathan Higgins]] tries to turn his punk rocker cousin into a high society socialite. Higgins even references Pygmalion in the episode., [[The Simpsons]] episode titled "[[Pygmoelian]]" is inspired by Pygmalion, in which infamously ugly barman Moe has a facelift. It was also parodied to a heavier extent in the episode "[[My Fair Laddy]]", where the character being changed is uncouth Scotsman [[Groundskeeper Willie]]., The [[Family Guy]] episode "[[One If By Clam, Two If By Sea]]" involves a subplot with Stewie trying to refine Eliza Pinchley, his new Cockney-accented neighbor, into a proper young lady. He makes a bet with Brian that he can improve Eliza's vocabulary and get her to speak without her accent before her birthday party. Includes "The Life of the Wife", a parody of the song "[[The Rain in Spain]]" (from [[My Fair Lady]]). The voice of Stewie was in fact originally based on that of Rex Harrison., The plot of the [[Star Trek: Voyager]] episode "[[Someone to Watch Over Me (Star Trek: Voyager)|Someone to Watch Over Me]]" is loosely based on Pygmalion., In the [[Boy Meets World]] episode "Turnaround", Cory and Shawn learn about "Pygmalion" in class, paralleling their attempt with Cory's uncool date to the dance., The [[iCarly]] episode "iMake Sam Girlier" is loosely based on Pygmalion., The Season 7 [[King of the Hill]] episode "Pigmalian" describes an unhinged local pig magnate who attempts to transform Luanne into the idealized woman of his company's old advertisements., In [[The King of Queens]] episode "Gambling N'Diction" Carrie tries to lose her accent for a job promotion by being taught by Spence. The episode was renamed to "Carrie Doolittle" in Germany., In 2014, [[ABC Television|ABC]] debuted a romantic [[situational comedy]] titled [[Selfie (TV series)|Selfie]], starring [[Karen Gillan]] and [[John Cho]]. It is a modern-day adaptation that revolves around an image-obsessed woman named Eliza Dooley (Gillan) who comes under the social guidance of marketing image guru Henry Higgs (Cho)., In the Malaysian drama [[Nur (TV series)|Nur]], Pygmalion themes are evident. The lives of a pious, upstanding man and a prostitute are considered within the context of Islam, societal expectations and norms. Pygmalion stories & art: "successive retellings of the Pygmalion story after Ovid's Metamorphoses", Shaw's Pygmalion was in a different class 2014 Irish Examiner article by Dr. R. Hume, "Bernard Shaw Snubs England and Amuses Germany." The New York Times, 30 November 1913. This article quotes the original script at length ("translated into the vilest American": Letters to Trebitsch, p. 170), including its final lines. Its author, too, hopes for a "happy ending": that after the curtain Eliza will return bearing the gloves and tie. [[Category:1913 plays]] [[Category:West End plays]] [[Category:Plays by George Bernard Shaw]] [[Category:Works originally published in Everybody's Magazine]] [[Category:Literature first published in serial form]] [[Category:Plays set in London]] [[Category:British plays adapted into films]] My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy-drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play, Pygmalion. With a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, the film depicts a poor Cockney flower seller named Eliza Doolittle who overhears an arrogant phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak "proper" English, thereby making her presentable in the high society of Edwardian London. The film stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle and Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins, with Stanley Holloway, Gladys Cooper and Wilfrid Hyde-White in supporting roles. A critical and commercial success, it won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. In 1998, the American Film Institute named it the 91st greatest American film of all time. In 2006 it was ranked eighth in the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list. In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society ("Why Can't the English?"). At Covent Garden one evening, he meets Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself a phonetics expert who had come all the way from India to see him. Higgins boasts he could teach anyone to speak so well he could pass them off as a duke or duchess at an embassy ball, even the young woman with a strong Cockney accent named Eliza Doolittle who tries to sell them flowers. Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her accent makes that impossible ("Wouldn't It Be Loverly"). The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all the attendant expenses if Higgins succeeds. Higgins agrees, and describes how women ruin lives ("I'm an Ordinary Man"). Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, a dustman, learns of his daughter's new residence ("With a Little Bit of Luck"). He shows up at Higgins' house three days later, ostensibly to protect his daughter's virtue, but in reality simply to extract some money from Higgins, and is bought off with £5. Higgins is impressed by the man's honesty, his natural gift for language, and especially his brazen lack of morals. Higgins recommends Alfred to a wealthy American who is interested in morality. Eliza endures Higgins' demanding teaching methods and treatment of her personally ("Just You Wait"). She makes little progress, but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are about to give up, Eliza finally "gets it" ("The Rain in Spain"); she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper class accent, and is overjoyed at her breakthrough ("I Could Have Danced All Night"). As a trial run, Higgins takes her to Ascot Racecourse ("Ascot Gavotte"), where she makes a good impression initially, only to shock everyone by a sudden lapse into vulgar Cockney while cheering on a horse. Higgins partly conceals a grin behind his hand. At Ascot, she meets Freddy Eynsford- Hill, a young, upper-class man who becomes infatuated with her ("On the Street Where You Live"). Higgins then takes Eliza to an embassy ball for the final test, where she dances with a foreign prince. Also present is Zoltan Karpathy, a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. After he dances with Eliza, he declares that she is a Hungarian princess. Afterward, Eliza's hard work is barely acknowledged, with all the praise going to Higgins ("You Did It"). This and his callous treatment of her, especially his indifference to her future, causes her to walk out on him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude ("Just You Wait (Reprise)"). Outside, Freddy is still waiting ("On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)"), and greets Eliza, who is irritated by him as all he does is talk ("Show Me"). Eliza tries to return to her old life, but finds that she no longer fits in. She meets her father, who has been left a large fortune by the wealthy American to whom Higgins had recommended him, and is resigned to marrying Eliza's stepmother. Alfred feels that Higgins has ruined him, lamenting that he is now bound by "middle-class morality" ("Get Me to the Church On Time"). Eliza eventually ends up visiting Higgins' mother, who is outraged at her son's callous behaviour. The next day, Higgins finds Eliza gone and searches for her ("A Hymn to Him"), eventually finding her at his mother's house. Higgins attempts to talk Eliza into coming back to him. He becomes angered when she announces that she is going to marry Freddy and become Karpathy's assistant ("Without You"). He makes his way home, stubbornly predicting that she will come crawling back. However, he comes to the unsettling realization that she has become an important part of his life ("I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"). As he listens to a recording of Eliza's voice, she reappears in the doorway behind him, turning off the recording and saying in her old Cockney accent, "I washed my hands and face before I come, I did." Higgins looks surprised, then pleased, and says “Eliza ... Where the devil are my slippers?” Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins, Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle, Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Hugh Pickering, Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Higgins, Jeremy Brett as Freddy Eynsford-Hill, Theodore Bikel as Zoltan Karpathy, Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Pearce, Higgins' housekeeper, Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill, John Holland as the Butler Uncredited: Henry Daniell as the British Ambassador (in his last film role), Charles Fredericks as the King in Eliza's fantasy, Lillian Kemble-Cooper as Female Ambassador (in yellow dress) at the ball, Queenie Leonard as Cockney bystander, Moyna Macgill as Lady Boxington, Alan Napier as Gentleman escorting Eliza to the Queen, Betty Blythe as Lady at the ball, Marjorie Bennett as Cockney with pipe, Philo McCullough as Ball Guest, Marni Nixon as Waiter from the bar ("Get Me to the Church on Time"), Barbara Pepper as Doolittle's dancing partner, Baroness Rothschild as the Queen of Transylvania, Walter Burke as Cockney bystander telling Eliza about Higgins taking notes about her 1. "Overture" – played by orchestra 2. "Why Can't the English Learn to Speak?" – performed by Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn 3. "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Marni Nixon) and chorus 4. "An Ordinary Man" – performed by Rex Harrison 5. "With a Little Bit of Luck" – performed by Stanley Holloway, John Alderson, John McLiam, and chorus 6. "Just You Wait" – sung by Audrey Hepburn (partially dubbed by Nixon) and Charles Fredericks 7. "Servants Chorus" – sung by Mona Washbourne and chorus 8. "The Rain in Spain" – performed by Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and Audrey Hepburn (partially dubbed by Nixon) 9. "I Could Have Danced All Night" – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Nixon), Mona Washbourne and chorus 10. "Ascot Gavotte" – sung by chorus 11. "Ascot Gavotte (Reprise)" – sung by chorus 12. "On the Street Where You Live" – sung by Jeremy Brett (dubbed by Bill Shirley) 13. "Intermission" – played by orchestra 14. "Transylvanian March" – played by orchestra 15. "Embassy Waltz" – played by orchestra 16. "You Did It" – performed by Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White, and chorus 17. "Just You Wait (Reprise)" – sung by Audrey Hepburn 18. "On the Street Where You Live" (reprise) – sung by Jeremy Brett (dubbed by Shirley) 19. "Show Me" – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Marni Nixon) and Jeremy Brett (dubbed by Shirley) 20. "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" (reprise) – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Marni Nixon) and chorus 21. "Get Me to the Church on Time" – performed by Stanley Holloway, John Alderson, John McLiam, and chorus 22. "A Hymn to Him (Why Can't A Woman Be More Like a Man?)" – performed by Rex Harrison and Wilfrid Hyde-White 23. "Without You" – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Nixon) and Rex Harrison 24. "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" – performed by Rex Harrison 25. "Finale" – played by orchestra The partly-spoken delivery of the songs given by Harrison is a well known example of Sprechgesang. The head of CBS, William S. Paley, put up the money for the original Broadway production in exchange for the rights to the cast album (through Columbia Records). When Warner bought the film rights in February 1962 for the then- unprecedented sum of $5 million, it was agreed that the rights to the film would revert to CBS seven years following release. The order of the songs in the show was followed faithfully, except for "With a Little Bit of Luck". The song is listed as being the third musical number in the play; in the film it is the fourth. Onstage, the song is split into two parts sung in two different scenes. Part of the song is sung by Doolittle and his cronies just after Eliza gives him part of her earnings, immediately before she makes the decision to go to Higgins's house to ask for speech lessons. The second half of the song is sung by Doolittle just after he discovers that Eliza is now living with Higgins. In the film, the entire song is sung in one scene that takes place just after Higgins has sung "I'm an Ordinary Man". However, the song does have a dialogue scene (Doolittle's conversation with Eliza's landlady) between verses. The instrumental "Busker Sequence", which opens the play immediately after the Overture, is the only musical number from the play omitted in the film version. However, there are several measures from this piece that can be heard as we see Eliza in the rain, making her way through the cars and carriages in Covent Garden. All of the songs in the film were performed near complete; however, there were some verse omissions, as there sometimes are in film versions of Broadway musicals. For example, in the song "With a Little Bit of Luck", the verse "He does not have a Tuppence in his pocket", which was sung with a chorus, was omitted, due to space and its length. The original verse in "Show Me" was used instead. The stanzas of "You Did It" that came after Higgins says "she is a Princess" were originally written for the Broadway version, but Harrison hated the lyrics, and refused to perform the song unless and until those lyrics were omitted, which they were in most Broadway versions. However, Cukor insisted that the omitted lyrics be restored for the film version or he would not direct at all, causing Harrison to oblige. The omitted lyrics end with the words "Hungarian Rhapsody" followed by the servants shouting "Bravo" three times, to the strains of Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody" before the servants sing "Congratulations, Professor Higgins". Hepburn's singing was judged inadequate, and she was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who sang all songs except "Just You Wait", where Hepburn's voice was left undubbed during the harsh-toned chorus of the song and Nixon sang the melodic bridge section. Hepburn did sing the brief reprise of the song in tears. Some of Hepburn's original vocal performances for the film were released in the 1990s, affording audiences an opportunity to judge whether the dubbing was necessary. Less well known is the dubbing of Jeremy Brett's songs (as Freddy) by Bill Shirley. Harrison declined to pre-record his musical numbers for the film, explaining that he had never talked his way through the songs the same way twice and thus could not convincingly lip-sync to a playback during filming (as musical stars had, according to Jack L. Warner, been doing for years. "We even dubbed Rin-Tin-Tin"). George Groves decided to use a wireless microphone, the first such use during filming of a motion picture. The sound department earned an Academy Award for its efforts. One of the few differences in structure between the stage version and the film is the placement of the intermission. In the stage play, the intermission comes after the embassy ball where Eliza dances with Karpathy. In the film, the intermission comes before the ball, as Eliza, Higgins, and Pickering are seen departing for the embassy. Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, and George James Hopkins won an Academy Award for Best Production Design for art direction of the film. Beaton's inspiration for the library in Higgins' home, where much of the action takes place, was a room at the Château de Groussay, Montfort-l'Amaury, in France, which had been decorated opulently by its owner Carlos de Beistegui. Hats were created by Parisian milliner at Beaton's request. All tracks played by the Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra conducted by André Previn. Between brackets the singers. 1. "Overture" 2. "Why Can't the English Learn to Speak?" (Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Wilfrid Hyde-White) 3. "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" (Marni Nixon (for Hepburn)) 4. "I'm an Ordinary Man" (Harrison) 5. "With a Little Bit of Luck" (Stanley Holloway) 6. "Just You Wait" (Hepburn, Nixon) 7. "The Rain in Spain" (Harrison, Hepburn, Nixon, Hyde-White) 8. "I Could Have Danced All Night" (Nixon, Hepburn(one line)) 9. "Ascot Gavotte" 10. "On the Street Where You Live" (Bill Shirley (for Jeremy Brett)) 11. "You Did It" (Harrison, Hyde-White) (without the choir "Congratulations") 12. "Show Me" (Nixon, Shirley) 13. "Get Me to the Church on Time" (Holloway) 14. "A Hymn to Him (Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?)" (Harrison, Hyde-White) 15. "Without You" (Nixon, Harrison) 16. "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" (Harrison) 1. "The Flower Market" 2. "Servants' Chorus" 3. "Ascot Gavotte (Reprise)" 4. "Intermission" 5. "The Transylvanian March" 6. "The Embassy Waltz" 7. "You Did It" (Harrison, Hyde-White) (with the servant's final choir "Congratulations") 8. "Just You Wait (Reprise)" (Audrey Hepburn) 9. "On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)" (Shirley) 10. "The Flowermarket" (containing the reprise of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?") (Nixon) 11. "End Titles" 12. "Exit Music" With a production budget of $17 million, My Fair Lady was the most expensive film shot in the United States up to that time. The film was re-released in 1971 and earned North American rentals of $2 million. It was re-released again in 1994 after a thorough restoration. In 2019, the film was given a limited theatrical re-release through Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events on February 17th and 20th as part of TCM Big Screen Classics. My Fair Lady currently holds a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The consensus states: "George Cukor's elegant, colorful adaptation of the beloved stage play is elevated to new heights thanks to winning performances by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison." Bosley Crowther of The New York Times opened his contemporary review: "As Henry Higgins might have whooped, 'By George, they've got it!' They've made a superlative film from the musical stage show 'My Fair Lady'—a film that enchantingly conveys the rich endowments of the famous stage production in a fresh and flowing cinematic form." Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times reported from the New York premiere that "when the curtains came together at the finish of just three hours, three hours of Technicolored entertainment, I heard myself all but echoing Col. Pickering's proud summation of Eliza Doolittle's performances as a duchess at the Embassy Ball, 'a total triumph.'" Variety wrote, "It has riches of story, humor, acting and production values far beyond the average big picture. It is Hollywood at its best, Jack L. Warner's career capstone and a film that will go on without now-forseeable limits of playoff in reserved seat policy and world rentals." The Monthly Film Bulletin of the UK declared that "with the range of talent, taste and sheer professionalism at work, from Shaw onwards, Warners could hardly have made a film which would do less than please most of the people most of the time. Their $17,000,000 investment looks as safe as houses." The review opined that Cukor directed with "great tact" but "a rather unnecessary circumspection. Scenes move at a steady, even pace, as though every word were worth its weight in gold (perhaps, in view of the price paid for the rights, it very nearly was). Especially, the decor tends to inhibit rather than release the film." Brendan Gill of The New Yorker wrote that the film "has survived very nearly intact the always risky leap from stage to screen," adding, "Miss Hepburn isn't particularly convincing as a Cockney flower girl, but, having mastered her vowels and consonants in the 'rain in Spain' scene, she comes into her own." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post also suggested that Hepburn's casting was the film's "basic flaw," describing her as "recognizably exquisite—but not 21—as the flower girl and to the later scenes she brings a real flirtatiousness quite un-Shavian." Nevertheless, Coe remarked that "there are some marvelous things which will make this a long-loved film," including Rex Harrison giving "one of the classic screen performances" that he correctly predicted was "an absolute certainty for next year's Oscars." Chicago Sun- Times critic Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four, and, in 2006, he put it on his "Great Movies" list, praising Hepburn's performance, and calling the film "the best and most unlikely of musicals." James Berardinelli wrote in a retrospective review, "Few genres of films are as magical as musicals, and few musicals are as intelligent and lively as My Fair Lady. It's a classic not because a group of stuffy film experts have labeled it as such, but because it has been, and always will be, a pure joy to experience." My Fair Lady won eight Oscars: Best Picture – Jack L. Warner, Best Director – George Cukor, Best Actor – Rex Harrison, Best Cinematography – Harry Stradling, Best Sound – George R. Groves, Warner Brothers Studio, Best Adaptation or Treatment Score – André Previn, Best Art Direction – Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, and George James Hopkins, Best Costume Design – Cecil Beaton Additional Academy Award nominations 13. Best Adapted Screenplay – Alan Jay Lerner 14. Best Film Editing – William Ziegler 15. Best Supporting Actor – Stanley Holloway 16. Best Supporting Actress – Gladys Cooper My Fair Lady won three Golden Globe Awards: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Director – Motion Picture – George Cukor, Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy – Rex Harrison My Fair Lady won the BAFTA Award for Best Film from any source The film was restored in 1994 by James C. Katz and Robert A. Harris, who had restored Spartacus three years earlier. The restoration was commissioned and financed by CBS, to which the film rights reverted from Warner Bros. in 1971. CBS would later hire Harris to lend his expertise to a new 4K restoration of the film for a 2015 Blu-ray release, working from 8K scans of the original camera negative and other surviving 65mm elements. A new film of the musical was planned in 2008 with a screenplay by Emma Thompson but the project did not materialize. Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, and Colin Firth were among those in consideration for the lead roles. List of American films of 1964

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The Chahamanas of Shakambhari (IAST: Cāhamāna), colloquially known as the Chauhans of Sambhar, were an Indian dynasty that ruled parts of the present- day Rajasthan and its neighbouring areas between 6th to 12th centuries. The territory ruled by them was known as Sapadalaksha. They were the most prominent ruling family of the Chahamana (Chauhan) clan, and were categorized among Agnivanshi Rajputs in the later medieval legends. The Chahamanas originally had their capital at Shakambhari (present-day Sambhar Lake Town). Until the 10th century, they ruled as Pratihara vassals. When the Pratihara power declined after the Tripartite Struggle, the Chahamana ruler Simharaja assumed the title Maharajadhiraja. In the early 12th century, Ajayaraja II moved the kingdom's capital to Ajayameru (modern Ajmer). For this reason, the Chahamana rulers are also known as the Chauhans of Ajmer. The Chahamanas fought several wars with their neighbours, including the Chaulukyas of Gujarat, the Tomara of Delhi, and the Paramaras of Malwa. From 11th century onwards, they started facing Muslim invasions, first by the Ghaznavids, and then by the Ghurids. The Chahamana kingdom reached its zenith under Vigraharaja IV in the mid-12th century. The dynasty's power effectively ended in 1192 CE, when the Ghurids defeated his nephew Prithviraja III. According to the 1170 CE Bijolia rock inscription of Someshvara, the early Chahamana king Samantaraja was born at Ahichchhatrapura in the gotra of sage Vatsa. Historian R. B. Singh theorizes that the Chahamanas probably started out as petty rulers of Ahichchhatrapura (identified with Nagaur), and moved their capital to Shakambhari (Sambhar) as their kingdom grew. Later, they became the vassals of the imperial Gurjara-Pratiharas. Several mythical accounts of the dynasty's origin also exist. The earliest of the dynasty's inscriptions and literary works state that the dynasty's progenitor was a legendary hero named Chahamana. They variously state that this hero was born from Indra's eye, in the lineage of the sage Vatsa, in the solar dynasty and/or during a ritual sacrifice performed by Brahma. In the later period, the Chahamanas were categorized as one of the Rajput clans, although the Rajput identity did not exist during their time. A popular medieval account classifies the dynasty among the four Agnivanshi Rajput clans, whose ancestors are said to have come out of sacrificial fire pit. The earliest source to mention this legend are the 16th century recensions of Prithviraj Raso. Some colonial-era historians interpreted this myth to suggest a foreign origin of the dynasty, speculating that the foreign warriors were initiated into the Hindu society through a fire ritual. However, the earliest extant copy of Prithviraj Raso does not mention this legend at all. Instead, it states that the first ruler of the dynasty was Manikya Rai, who is said to have been born from Brahma's sacrifice. The core territory of the Chahamanas was located in present-day Rajasthan. It was known as Sapadalaksha (IAST: Sapādalakṣa) or Jangala-desha (IAST: Jangaladeśa). The term Jangladesha ("rough and arid country") appears to be older, as it mentioned in the Mahabharata. The text does not mention the exact location of the region. The later Sanskrit texts, such as ' and ' suggest that it was a hot, arid region, where trees requiring little water grew. The region is identified with the area around Bikaner. The term Sapadalaksha (literally "one and a quarter lakhs" or 125,000) refers to the large number of villages in the area. It became prominent during the Chahamana reign. It appears that the term originally referred to the area around modern Nagaur near Bikaner. This area was known as Savalak (vernacular form of Sapadalaksha) in as late as 20th century. The early Chahamana king Samantaraja was based in Ahichchhatrapura, which can be identified with modern Nagaur. The ancient name of Nagaur was Nagapura, which means "the city of the serpent". Ahichchhatrapura has a similar meaning: "the city whose chhatra or protector is serpent". As the Chahamana territory expanded, the entire region ruled by them came to be known as Sapadalaksha. This included the later Chahamana capitals Ajayameru (Ajmer) and Shakambhari (Sambhar). The term also came to be applied to the larger area captured by the Chahamanas. The early medieval Indian inscriptions and the writings of the contemporary Muslim historians suggest that the following cities were also included in Sapadalaksha: Hansi (now in Haryana), Mandore (now in Marwar region), and Mandalgarh (now in Mewar region). The earliest historical Chahamana king is the 6th century ruler Vasudeva. According to a mythical account in Prithviraja Vijaya, he received the Sambhar Salt Lake as a gift from a vidyadhara (a supernatural being). Little is known about his immediate successors. The 8th century Chahamana ruler Durlabharaja I and his successors are known to have served the Gurjara-Pratiharas as vassals. In 10th century, Vakpatiraja I made an attempt to overthrow the Gurjara- Pratihara suzerainty, and assumed the title Maharaja ("great king"). His younger son Lakshmana established the Naddula Chahamana branch. Vakpatiraja's elder son and successor Simharaja assumed the title Maharajadhiraja ("king of great kings"), which suggests that he was a sovereign ruler. Simharaja's successors consolidated the Chahamana power by engaging in wars with their neighbours, including the Chaulukyas of Gujarat and the Tomaras of Delhi. The dynasty's earliest extant inscription (973 CE) is from the reign of Vigraharaja II. During the reign of Viryarama (r. c. 1040 CE), the Paramara king Bhoja invaded the Chahamana kingdom, and probably occupied their capital Shakambhari for a brief period. Chamundaraja restored the Chahamana power, possibly with the help of the Naddula Chahamanas. The subsequent Chahamana kings faced several Ghaznavid raids. Ajayaraja II (r. c. 1110-1135 CE) repulsed a Ghaznavid attack, and also defeated the Paramara king Naravarman. He moved the kingdom's capital from Shakambhari to Ajayameru (Ajmer), a city that he either established or greatly expanded. His successor Arnoraja raided the Tomara territory, and also repulsed a Ghaznavid invasion. However, he suffered setbacks against the Gujarat Chaulukya kings Jayasimha Siddharaja and Kumarapala, and was killed by his own son Jagaddeva. Arnoraja's younger son Vigraharaja IV greatly expanded the Chahamana territories, and captured Delhi from the Tomaras. His kingdom included parts of the present-day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi. It probably also included a part of Punjab (to the south- east of Sutlej river) and a portion of the northern Gangetic plain (to the west of Yamuna). His 1164 CE Delhi-Shivalik pillar inscription claims that he conquered the region between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas, and thus restored the rule of Aryans in Aryavarta. While this is an exaggeration, it is not completely baseless. The inscription was originally found in Topra village, near the Shivalik Hills (Himalayan foothills). Also, the exiled ruler of Malwa (Vindhyan region) possibly acknowledged his suzerainty. Thus Vigraharaja's influence extended from the Himalayas to the Vindhyas, at least in name. Vigraharaja was succeeded by his son Amaragangeya, and then his nephew Prithviraja II. Subsequently, his younger brother Someshvara ascended the throne. The most celebrated ruler of the dynasty was Someshvara's son Prithviraja III, better known as Prithviraj Chauhan. He defeated several neighbouring kings, including the Chandela ruler Paramardi in 1182-83, although he could not annex the Chandela territory to his kingdom. In 1191, he defeated the Ghurid king Muhammad of Ghor at the first Battle of Tarain. However, the next year, he was defeated at the second Battle of Tarain, and subsequently killed. Muhammad of Ghor appointed Prithviraja's son Govindaraja IV as a vassal. Prithviraja's brother Hariraja dethroned him, and regained control of a part of his ancestral kingdom. Hariraja was defeated by the Ghurids in 1194 CE. Govindaraja was granted the fief of Ranthambore by the Ghurids. There, he established a new branch of the dynasty. The Chahamanas commissioned a number of Hindu temples, several of which were destroyed by the Ghurid invaders after the defeat of Prithviraja III. Multiple Chahamana rulers contributed to the construction of the Harshanatha temple, which was probably commissioned by Govindaraja I. According to Prithviraja Vijaya: Simharaja commissioned a large Shiva temple at Pushkar, Chamundaraja commissioned a Vishnu temple at Narapura (modern Narwar in Ajmer district), Prithviraja I built a food distribution centre (anna-satra) on the road to Somnath temple for pilgrims., Someshvara commissioned a number of temples, including five temples in Ajmer. Vigraharaja IV was known for his patronage to arts and literature, and himself composed the play Harikeli Nataka. The structure that was later converted into the Adhai Din Ka Jhonpra mosque was constructed during his reign. The Chahamana rulers also patronized Jainism. Vijayasimha Suri's Upadeśāmālavritti (1134 CE) and Chandra Suri's Munisuvrata-Charita (1136 CE) state that Prithviraja I donated golden kalashas (cupolas) for the Jain temples at Ranthambore. The Kharatara-Gachchha-Pattavali states that Ajayaraja II allowed the Jains to build their temples in his capital Ajayameru (Ajmer), and also donated a golden kalasha to a Parshvanatha temple. Someshvara granted the Revna village to a Parshvanatha temple. Following is a list of Chahamana rulers of Shakambhari and Ajmer, with approximate period of reign, as estimated by R. B. Singh: Chahamana (possibly mythical), Vasu-deva (c. 6th century CE), Samanta-raja (c. 684-709 CE); identified as the legendary Manik Rai by R. B. Singh, Nara-deva (c. 709-721 CE), Ajaya-raja I (c. 721-734 CE), alias Jayaraja or Ajayapala, Vigraha-raja I (c. 734-759 CE), Chandra-raja I (c. 759-771 CE), Gopendra-raja (c. 771-784 CE), Durlabha-raja I (c. 784-809 CE), Govinda-raja I (c. 809-836 CE), alias Guvaka I, Chandra-raja II (c. 836-863 CE), Govindaraja II (c. 863-890 CE), alias Guvaka II, Chandana-raja (c. 890-917 CE), Vakpati-raja (c. 917-944 CE); his younger son established the Naddula Chahamana branch, Simha-raja (c. 944-971 CE), Vigraha-raja II (c. 971-998 CE), Durlabha-raja II (c. 998-1012 CE), Govinda-raja III (c. 1012-1026 CE), Vakpati-raja II (c. 1026-1040 CE), Viryarama (c. 1040 CE), Chamunda-raja (c. 1040-1065 CE), Durlabha-raja III (c. 1065-1070 CE), alias Duśala, Vigraha-raja III (c. 1070-1090 CE), alias Visala, Prithvi-raja I (c. 1090-1110 CE), Ajaya-raja II (c. 1110-1135 CE), moved the capital to Ajayameru (Ajmer), Arno-raja (c. 1135-1150 CE), alias Ana, Jagad-deva (c. 1150 CE), Vigraha-raja IV (c. 1150-1164 CE), alias Visaladeva, Apara-gangeya (c. 1164-1165 CE), Prithvi-raja II (c. 1165-1169 CE), Someshvara (c. 1169-1178 CE), Prithvi-raja III (c. 1178-1192 CE), better known as Prithviraj Chauhan, Govinda-raja IV (c. 1192 CE); banished by Hari-raja for accepting Muslim suzerainty; established the Chahamana branch of Ranastambhapura, Hari-raja (c. 1193-1194 CE) The Guhila dynasty ruled the Medapata (modern Mewar) region in present-day Rajasthan state of India. The Guhila kings initially ruled as Gurjara- Pratihara vassals between 8th and 10th centuries. Their capitals included Nagahrada (Nagda) and Aghata (Ahar). For this reason, they are also known as the Nagda-Ahar branch of the Guhilas. The Guhilas assumed sovereignty after the decline of the Gurjara-Pratiharas in the 11th century. During the 11th-13th centuries, they were involved in military conflicts with several of their neighbours, including the Paramaras, the Chahamanas, the Delhi Sultanate, the Chaulukyas, and the Vaghelas. In the mid-12th century, the dynasty divided into two branches. The senior branch (whose rulers are called Rawal in the later medieval literature) ruled from Chitrakuta (modern Chittorgarh), and ended with Ratnasimha's defeat against the Delhi Sultanate at the 1303 Siege of Chittorgarh. The junior branch ruled from Sesoda with the title Rana, and gave rise to the Sisodia Rajput dynasty. The history of the Guhilas has been obscured by bardic legends. In the 7th century, three different Guhila dynasties are known to have ruled in present- day Rajasthan: the Guhilas of Nagda-Ahar, the Guhilas of Kishkindha (modern Kalyanpur), and the Guhilas of Dhavagarta (present-day Dhor). None of these dynasties claimed any prestigious origin in their 7th century records. The Guhilas of Dhavagarta explicitly mentioned the Mori (later Maurya) kings as their overlords, and the early kings of the other two dynasties also bore the titles indicating their subordinate status. By the 10th century, the Guhilas of Nagda-Ahar were the only among the three dynasties to have survived. By this time, their political status had increased, and the Guhila kings had assumed high royal titles such as Maharajadhiraja. During this period, the dynasty started claiming a prestigious origin, stating that its founder Guhadatta was a mahideva (Brahmin) who had migrated from Anandapura (present- day Vadnagar in Gujarat). The 977 CE Atpur inscription of Shaktikumara lists 20 Guhila kings in an unbroken line of succession, starting with Guhadatta and ending with Shaktikumara. By the 13th century, having consolidated their rule over the Medapata (Mewar) region, the Guhilas came up with a new origin myth. Their post-13th century records and the subsequent bardic legends name the dynasty's founder as Bappa Rawal, who is not mentioned in the Atpur inscription. These accounts state that Bappa Rawal consolidated his rule with the blessings of the Pashupata sage Haritarashi. Different historians identify Bappa Rawal with different kings mentioned in the Atpur inscription, including Kalabhoja, Shiladitya, and Khummana. R. C. Majumdar theorizes that Bappa achieved a highly significant military success, because of which he gained reputation as the dynasty's founder. According to 1274 CE Chittor inscription and 1285 CE Achaleshwar (Abu) inscription of Vedasharma, Bappa Rawal "changed his priestly splendour for regal lustre". Based on this, scholars such as D. R. Bhandarkar theorized that the Guhilas were originally Brahmins. G. H. Ojha, however, believed that the statement in Vedasharma's inscription is a misinterpretation of the earlier Atpur inscription. The Atpur inscription describes Guhadatta as a "Mahideva", which according to historian R. V. Somani, can be translated as either "king" or "Brahmin". The 1274 CE Chittor inscription compares the Guhila ruler Bharttripatta with Rama, describing both of them as "Brahma-Kshatras". Based on the identification of Rama with Parashurama, scholars such as D. C. Sircar theorized that the progenitor of the dynasty had a Brahmin parent and a Kshatriya parent. However, Somani dismisses this theory, arguing that Rama here refers to Ramachandra, from whose solar dynasty the later Guhilas claimed descent. The later bardic chronicles mention a fabricated genealogy, claiming that the dynasty's founder Guhaditya was a son of Shiladitya, the Maitraka ruler of Vallabhi. This claim is not supported by historical evidence. R. C. Majumdar places Guhadatta in 5th century CE, assuming a 20-year reign for each generation. R. V Somani places him somewhere before the first quarter of the 6th century. According to the 977 CE Atpur inscription and the 1083 CE Kadmal inscription, Guhadatta was succeeded by Bhoja, who commissioned the construction of a tank at Eklingji. The 1285 CE Achaleshwar inscription describes him as a devotee of Vishnu. Bhoja was succeeded by Mahendra and Nagaditya. The bardic legends state that Nagaditya was killed in a battle with the Bhils. Nagaditya's successor Shiladitya raised the political status of the family significantly, as suggested by his 646 CE Samoli inscription, as well as the inscriptions of his successors, including the 1274 CE Chittor inscription and the 1285 CE Abu inscription. R. V. Somani theorizes that the copper and zinc mines at Jawar were excavated during his reign, which greatly increased the economic prosperity of the kingdom. The 16th century Buddhist writer Taranatha mentions a reputed artist named Shringadhara, who was patronized by the king Shila of Maru country. Somani identifies this king as the Guhila king Shiladitya, although some other historians have identified him as Harshavardhana or the Maitraka king Shiladitya. Shiladitya was succeeded by Aparajita, who is attested by the 661 CE Kunda inscription. This epigraph records the construction of a Vishnu temple by Yashomati, the wife of Aparajita's commander Varaha. According to the bardic chronicles, Aparajita was also killed in a battle with the Bhils. His son Mahendra succeeded him. Mahendra was succeeded by Kalabhoja, who has been identified as Bappa Rawal by several historians including G. H. Ojha. The Guhilas originally acknowledged the suzerainty of the Gurjara-Pratiharas. In 10th century, Bhartripatta became an independent ruler, and assumed the title Maharajadhiraja, as attested by a 943 CE inscription. His successor Allata (reigned c. 950s CE) killed one Devapala, who according to Majumdar, might have been the Gurjara-Pratihara king Devapala. Towards the end of the 10th century, Aghata became the second capital of the Guhilas. In the later half of the 10th century, the Paramara king Munja defeated the elephant forces of the Guhilas, and plundered their capital Aghata. The defeated Guhila ruler (either Naravahana or his son Shaktikumara) took shelter with Dhavala, the Rashtrakuta ruler of Hastikundi. As a result of this victory, the Paramaras gained control of the eastern part of Mewar, including Chittorgarh. Shaktikumara's son Ambaprasada was defeated and killed by the Chahamana king Vakpati II. Among his successors, Vijayasimha (r.c. 1108-1116) was a son-in-law of the Paramara king Udayaditya and a father-in- law of the Kalachuri king Gayakarna. According to the 15th century text Eklinga-Mahatmaya, the family split into two branches during the reign of Ranasimha alias Karna: the Rawal (senior) branch of Chittor, and the Rana (junior) branch of Sesoda. The later Sisodia Rajput dynasty of Sesoda thus descended from the Guhilas of Mewar. Kshemasimha succeeded his father Ranasimha alias Karna. By 1151, Chittor was under the control of the Chaulukya king Kumarapala. Kshemasimha's son Samantasimha appears to have achieved military success against Kumarapala's successor Ajayapala. However, he was defeated by Ajayapala's feudatory Prahladana, the Paramara chief of Abu. The 1231 CE Abu prashasti inscription states that Prahladana defended the Gurjara king (that is, Ajayapala) after Samantasimha had broken the king's power on the battlefield. Shortly later, the Naddula Chahamana king Kirtipala, who was also a Chaulukya feudatory, ousted Samantasimha from Mewar. Kirtipala probably launched this invasion during 1171-1179 CE, with the approval of his Chaulukya overlord. By 1182, Samantasimha's younger brother Kumarasimha regained the control of his ancestral kingdom by appeasing the Chaulukya king. This Chaulukya king was probably Ajayapala or his successor Mularaja II. Kumarasimha was succeeded by Mathanasimha, Padmasimha and Jaitrasimha. During the reign of Jaitrasimha (r. c. 1213-1252), the Guhilas achieved a high political status. Although the later Ekalinga Mahatmya mentions his title as Rajakula (Rawal), his own inscriptions call him a Maharajadhiraja ("king of great kings"). The Achaleshvara inscription suggests that Jaitrasimha destroyed Naddula and defeated the Turushkas (Turkic people). According to historian R. B. Singh, this suggests that the Turkic Ghurid invaders had captured Naddula from the Chahamanas, and Jaitrasimha defeated their local governor. Later, the Jalor Chahamana king Udayasimha (a relative of Jayatasimha), gained control of Naddula. However, D. C. Ganguly believes that Jaitrasimha may have plundered Naddula after Udayasimha's conquest of Jalore. Early in his reign, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Iltutmish invaded Mewar, and destroyed Nagahrada. Jaitrasimha (alias Jayatala) suffered heavy losses, but the invaders retreated when the Vaghela chief Viradhavala (a Chaulukya feudatory) marched northwards to check their advance. Jaitrasimha seems to have invaded the Chaulukya territory. During an attempt to capture Kottadaka (modern Kotada), his general Bala was killed by Tribhuvana-Ranaka (identified with the Chaulukya king Tribhuvanapala). According to one record, Ksehma's son Madana fought with the Panchalagudika Jaitramalla at Utthunaka (modern Arthuna), on behalf of Jesala. Based on identification of Jesala with Jaitrasimha, historian D. C. Ganguly believes that Jaitrasimha's general Madana fought with Jaitramalla, who was probably a chief of the Vagada branch of the Guhilas. The Guhila records also credit Jaitrasimha with military success against the king of Shakambhari. The Chahamana dynasty of Shakambhari had already ended by this time, therefore, this may be a reference to his victory over their descendants, the Chahamanas of Ranthambore. Jaitrasimha is also said to have defeated the Sindhuka army, whose identity is uncertain. Jaitrasimha's son Tejasimha ascended the throne sometime before 1260. The earliest Guhila inscription discovered at Chittor is from Tejasimha's reign, and refers to "Chitrakuta-maha-durga" (the great fort of Chittor). Tejasimha's son Samarasimha succeeded him sometime during 1267-1273. He defeated Krishnaraja, a ruler of the Paramara branch of Abu. He lost control of Abu soon, when Krishnaraja's son Pratapasimha, supported by the Vaghela king Sarangadeva, conquered it during 1285-1287. Sometime before 1285, Samarasimha helped Sarangadeva repulse a Turushka (Turkic) invasion of Gujarat (possibly a Delhi Sultanate army during Balban's reign). His Chirwa inscription states that he "like unto the primaeval boar [...] in a moment lifted the deeply sunk Gurjara land out of the Turushka sea". Towards the end of the 13th century, when Alauddin Khalji's army invaded Gujarat, Samarasimha saved his kingdom by paying a tribute. The Rawal branch ended when Ratnasimha was defeated by Alauddin Khalji. The Rana branch survived in form of the Sisodia dynasty. Different sources offer different lists of the Guhila kings. The earliest extant inscription that provides a genealogy of the dynasty is the 971 CE inscription of Naravahana. However, it is badly damaged, and only three names can be read: Guhila, Bappa and Naravahana. The following inscriptions are the major sources of the dynasty's genealogy: Atpur (Ahar) inscription, 977 CE (1034 VS) of Śaktikumāra, Chittor inscription, 1274 CE (1331 VS) of Samarasiṃha, Abu (Achaleshvar) inscription, 1285 CE (1342 VS) of Samarasiṃha, Sadadi (Ranpur) inscription, 1439 CE (1496 VS) of Kumbhakarna of Rana (Sisodia) branch, Kumbhalgarh inscription, 1460 CE (1517 VS) of Kumbhakarna of Rana (Sisodia) branch The following table lists the early kings of the dynasty, as given in the various inscriptions. After Raṇasiṃha, the dynasty split into the Rawal branch and the Rana branch. The following is a list of the rulers of the Rawal branch. Except Ratnasiṃha, all these rulers are mentioned in Abu, Sadadi, and Kumbhalgarh inscriptions. Ratnasiṃha is mentioned only in the Kumbhalgarh inscription. The 1439 Sadadi inscription of Kumbhakarna lists the following five rulers as Samarasiṃha's successors: Bhuvanasiṃha, Jayasiṃha, Lakṣmasiṃha, Ajayasiṃha, and Arisiṃha. These names are followed by that of Hammīra and other his Sisodia successors. These names are also mentioned in the text Ekalinga Māhātmya (also called Ekalinga Purāṇa). However, these rulers actually belonged to the Rana branch of the family. The 1460 Kumbhalgarh inscription of Kumbhakarna states that after Ratnasiṃha departed from the battlefield (during the 1303 Siege of Chittor), Lakshmasiṃha of the Rana branch died fighting to defend the fort. Rahapa, a son of Ranasimha alias Karna, established the Rana branch. According to the 1652 Eklingji inscription, Rahapa's successors were: Narapati, Dinakara, Jasakarna, Nagapala, Karnapala, Bhuvanasimha, Bhimasimha, Jayasimha, Lakhanasimha, Arisimha (Arasi), Hammira (Hammir Singh) For Sisodia successors of Hammir Singh, see . Someshvara (IAST: Someśvara, r. c. 1169–1178 CE ) was an Indian king belonging to the Chahamana dynasty, and ruled parts of present-day Rajasthan in north- western India. He was brought up at the Chaulukya court in Gujarat by his maternal relatives. After death of Prithviraja II, the Chahamana ministers brought him to the capital Ajmer and appointed him as the new king. He is said to have commissioned several Shiva temples in Ajmer, and is best known as the father of Prithviraja III (Prithviraj Chauhan). Someshvara was a son of the Chahamana king Arnoraja. His mother Kanchana-devi was a daughter of Jayasimha Siddharaja, the Chaulukya king of Gujarat. According to the legendary chronicle Prithviraja Vijaya, some astrologers told Jayasimha that Someshvara's son would be an incarnation of Rama. Because of this, Jayasimha took Someshvara to Gujarat, where he was brought up. Jayasimha's successor Kumarapala was also very affectionate towards Someshvara, although he was not on good terms with Arnoraja. During the reign of Kumarapala, Someshvara married Karpura-devi, the daughter of king Achala or Tejala of Tripuri. The Tripuri king is identified as the Kalachuri ruler Narasimha-deva. Prithviraja III and Hariraja, the two sons of Someshvara and Karpura, were born in Gujarat. The Prithviraja-Vijaya states that Someshvara beheaded the king of Kunkuna (Konkana) during Kumarapala's campaign in that region. This king is identified with Mallikarjuna, the Shilahara ruler of Konkan. This event can be dated to sometime between 1160 and 1162 CE. Kumarapala-Charita gives the credit for killing the Konkana ruler to Amrabhata (alias Ambada), a son of the Chaulukya prime minister Udayana. Historians Dasharatha Sharma and R. B. Singh theorize that Amrabhata was the chief commander of the campaign, while Someshvara was the subordinate general who actually killed Mallikarjuna. Someshvara had two half-brothers: Vigraharaja IV and Jagaddeva. His father Arnoraja was succeeded by Jagaddeva and then Vigraharaja IV. The next two rulers were Vigraharaja's son Aparagangeya and Jagaddeva's son Prithviraja II. According to Prithviraja Vijaya, the Chahamana ministers recalled Someshvara from the Chaulukya court after the death of his nephew Prithviraja II. Someshvara came to the Chahamana capital Ajmer with his family, and became the new king. According to the Bijolia inscription, he assumed the title Pratapalankeshvara. Two of his ministers, a father-son duo named Skanda and Sodha, were Gujarati Nagar Brahmins. They probably accompanied him from Gujarat to Ajmer at the time of his ascension. Five inscriptions from Someshvara's reign have been discovered so far. These inscriptions are dated between 1169 CE and 1177 CE (1226-1234 VS). They have been found at Amalda (or Anvalda), Bijolia, Dhod, and Rewasa. According to Prithviraja-Vijaya, Someshvara established a town at the place where the palaces of his brother Vigraharaja IV were located. He named this town after his father. Close to the temples commissioned by Vigraharaja IV, he also commissioned a taller temple dedicated to Vaidyanatha (an aspect of Shiva). The temple also had images of Brahma and Vishnu. This temple housed an effigy of him and his father on horseback. He also commissioned four other temples in Ajmer, one of which was dedicated to Tripurusha. Although he was a Shaivite, he was tolerant towards Jains, as indicated by his grant of the Revna village to a Parshvanatha temple. He issued Tomara-style copper coins that bear the name Shri Someshvara-deva with the picture of a horse on one side; and the legend Ashavari Shri-Samanta-deva with the picture of a humped bull on the other side. His son Prithviraja III also issued similar coins. These coins were inspired by the Tomara bull-and-horseman coins featuring the legend Shri Samanta-deva. The Chahamanas succeeded the Tomaras in Delhi, which resulted in this imitated coinage. The historically unreliable Prithviraj Raso claims that Someshvara died in a battle against Bhima II, the Chaulukya king of Gujarat. This claim is historically inaccurate, but there is some evidence of a conflict between the Chaulukyas and the Chahamanas during his reign. According to Patan inscription of Bhima II, his ancestor Ajayapala (the son of Kumarapala) extracted tribute from the ruler of Sapadalaksha (the Chahamana territory). The Gujarati poet Someshvara (not to be confused with the king), in his Kirtikaumudi, also states that Ajayapala obtained a mandapika (pavallion) and some elephants from the ruler of the Jangala country (a part of the Chahamana territory). Dasharatha Sharma identifies Someshvara as the ruler subdued by Ajayapala. Historian R. B. Singh, on the other hand, theorizes that the supposed 'tribute' was merely a gift sent by Someshvara to Ajayapala's on latter's ascension to the throne; the event was exaggerated into a claim of victory by the Gujarat poets. To support his theory, Singh argues that the Chaulukya power had weakened considerably after Kumarapala's death, and they could not have subdued the powerful Chahamanas at this time. Someshvara appears to have died in 1177 CE (1234 VS), and was succeeded by his elder son Prithviraja III (better known as Prithviraj Chauhan in the vernacular folk legends). The last inscription from Someshvara's reign and the first inscription from Prithviraja's reign are both dated to this year. Prithviraja, who was a minor at the time, ascended the throne with his mother as the regent. The Hammira Mahakavya claims that Someshvara himself installed Prithviraja on the throne, and then retired to the forest. But this claim doesn't appear to be historically accurate.

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Condition or conditions may refer to: Material conditional, a logical connective used to form "if...then..." statements, Necessary and sufficient condition, a statement which is true if and only if another given statement is true Exception handling#Condition systems, a generalization of exceptions in exception handling, Condition (SQL), a filtering mechanism in relational database queries, Condition variable, a synchronization primitive in concurrent programming Medical condition, as a synonym for disease, Medical state or condition, a patient's clinical status in a hospital Condition number, a measure of a matrix in digital computation Condition (film), a 2011 film, Conditions (album), 2009 debut album by Australian rock band The Temper Trap, Conditions (magazine), an annual lesbian feminist literary magazine, Conditions (band), an American rock band, Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In), a song written by Mickey Newbury and first released in 1967, Status effect, a temporary condition of a character in computer gaming Conditions (Russia), part of the constitution of Russia, signed by Anna of Russia in 1730, In contract law, part of covenants, conditions and restrictions, Living condition, State of being Conditional (disambiguation), Conditioner (disambiguation), Conditioning (disambiguation), State (disambiguation) Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, until 1969 billed as The First Edition, was an eclectic rock band whose styles ranged from rock and roll to R&B;, folk, and country. Its core members were Kenny Rogers (lead vocals and bass guitar), Mickey Jones (drums and percussion) and Terry Williams (guitar and vocals). The band formed in 1967, with folk musician Mike Settle (guitar and backing vocals) and the operatically-trained Thelma Camacho (lead vocals) completing the lineup. As the 1960s counterculture was heating up, The First Edition signed with Reprise Records in the summer of 1967 and had its first big hit in early 1968 with the pop-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" (US No. 5). After only one more chart hit, "But You Know I Love You" (US No. 19), the group, newly billed as "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition", once again hit the top ten, this time in the summer of 1969 with the topical "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" (US No. 6, UK No.2). For the next six years, First Edition bounced between country rock, pop and psychedelic rock, enjoying worldwide success. By the mid 1970s, frontman Kenny Rogers would embark on a solo music career, becoming one of the top-selling country artists of all time. Kenny Rogers and The First Edition were mostly made up of former New Christy Minstrels who felt creatively stifled. The exception was Mickey Jones, who had been part of Bob Dylan's backing group on his first electric world tour. In 1967, with the help of Terry Williams' mother, who worked for producer/executive Jimmy Bowen, they signed with Reprise and recorded their first single together, "I Found a Reason", which picked up minor sales. Like much of the work by the original lineup, this was a distinctly contemporary composition with an intensely performed Mike Settle vocal. Settle had first come up with the idea of forming the band as his work took on the characteristics of rock. Over the previous seven years, Mike had been writing decidedly more folk-oriented songs, most notably the oft-covered "Sing Hallelujah". It was their follow-up (sung by Rogers), the psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)", that earned them their first brush with fame. The single, with an arrangement by their producer Mike Post that had Glen Campbell playing the backward guitar intro and Mike Deasy providing various psychedelic sounds, became a hit early in 1968, climbing to No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Terry Williams played the solo that later led Jimi Hendrix to tell Kenny that it was his favorite record. The group's next three single releases failed commercially, as did their second album. The fall 1968 release "But You Know I Love You" (composed by Settle) possessed a unique brass-tinged country-folk sound, broadening their fan base. In the group's rendition on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour that aired on 8 December 1968, the audience was unwittingly fooled into clapping too soon, right after the false ending but way before the real ending. The record peaked at No. 19 on the Hot 100 just under a year after "Just Dropped In" was at its Billboard summit. According to Mickey Jones' book That Would Be Me, Thelma was fired from the group in late 1968 (soon after the release of "But You Know I Love You" and the aforementioned Smothers Brothers television appearance, but before the record would chart on the Hot 100), after missing too many gigs and rehearsals. For her part Thelma did not see it the same way. She has stated that while she always loved being with them in the studio, the road was too hard on her from a health and personal standpoint. Slowly growing apart from the others, Camacho began to feel restricted by the band in a number of ways. All agreed that the situation could not continue, and she was replaced by her roommate, Mary Arnold, an Iowa-born singer who beat out newcomer Karen Carpenter for the job. Thelma appears on the first three LPs plus half of the fourth album. Mary made her debut on "Reuben James". By the end of the decade Rogers had long brown hair, an earring, and pink sunglasses. Known affectionately in retrospect as "Hippie Kenny", Rogers had a notably smoother vocal style at the time. During the summer of 1969 the band scored another Top Ten hit with Mel Tillis' "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town." "Ruby" was the global smash that firmly established the First Edition's longevity in the business. Mickey's drumming was part of the hook. At Rogers' current shows, the song is often clapped along to, or joked around with, but it was meant seriously at the time. Telling the graphic story of a crippled veteran was admirably daring at the height of America's involvement with the war in Vietnam. The song lyrics were originally meant to address the Korean War, albeit in such a vague way that it could have referred to Korea, Vietnam, or even the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor. The song was picked up by some of the more attuned disc jockeys, and there was suddenly great demand to release the final track recorded for, and included on, the First Edition '69 album. In order to release "Ruby" at the same time as the "But You Know I Love You" soundalike "Once Again She's All Alone", the group renamed themselves "Kenny Rogers and The First Edition". When "Ruby" became the hit, the name stuck. Terry later claimed this made him feel like one of Gladys Knight's Pips. "Ruby" made them stars, and during the next two years, Kenny Rogers and The First Edition had five hits. A man Rogers at first took to be a rude fan first pitched "Reuben James" to Rogers at a golf match. The man, who turned out to be a song pitcher for American songwriter Alex Harvey followed him around the greens singing the song until Kenny listened. Rogers loved the song's look at a black man raising a white boy and agreed to record it. "Reuben James" turned out to be another daring record; though not as big a hit as "Ruby", it made a big impact on the First Edition's now sizable fan base. "Reuben James" came out at the end of 1969, by which time Mike Settle had been gone for several months, in an effort to save his ultimately doomed marriage. During his absence he was replaced by Kin Vassy. Vassy's style was a little more edgy than Settle's, allowing the band to explore different areas. It was now that Kenny and Terry, by default, became the leaders of the band. Kenny was in charge of the records, and Terry would take control of their stage presentation. The group continued to record country, rock, and folk by fairly equal measures, blurring the lines among the genres. Along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, their records in the late 1960s brought country music to the city and rock and roll to the country. Even if Jones had not also discovered Don Henley, the First Edition should get credit for being pioneers of a more modern blend of rockabilly called country rock. The First Edition reached what was arguably the peak of their fame with "Something's Burning", a No. 11 hit in early 1970. A blatantly sexual song, it was slightly hindered chart-wise by the controversy surrounding it. Regardless, Kenny's soft voice on verses and rock shouting on the chorus earned the group much acclaim. "Burning" opened with a sample of an actual heartbeat played backward to replicate the song's rhythmic beat. Meanwhile, Terry Williams had begun to record some solo singles. A number of folk rock songs met with little success. He later switched to a more teen-oriented bubblegum sound that their manager Ken Kragen felt would appeal to his fans. Williams' "I'm Gonna Sing You A Sad Song Susie" was part of the First Edition's next LP Tell It All Brother. The title track (also written by Harvey), which dealt with love and brotherhood, was a national top 20 hit and topped WRKO's August 13, 1970 top 30 survey for one week. It was the first of many songs Kenny would sing (e.g., his solo "Coward Of The County") that had elements of sadism under a gentle surface. Released a month or so after the Kent State shootings, the song drew a standing ovation the night it debuted live. In addition to the band's continuing frequent appearances on television, songs by Kenny Rogers and The First Edition were featured in two 1970 films. First up was the never released on record "If Nobody Loved" for the camp political comedy Flap. A few months later they recorded "Someone Who Cares" and "A Poem I Wrote For Your Hair" to appear in the soundtrack for the romantic film Fools starring Jason Robards, Jr., and Katharine Ross. The Fools (soundtrack) was released in 1971. At the end of 1970, the First Edition had their seventh Top 40 hit with the Vassy- penned "Heed The Call". Another song about the need for brotherhood, it was seen as an uptempo counterpart to the balladry of "Tell It All Brother." The next single, "Someone Who Cares", was taken from the Fools movie soundtrack. Though scoring high on the easy listening charts, "Someone Who Cares" failed to reach the pop top fifty. This ushered in a period during which the First Edition attempted to retool its image. Keyboard player John Hobbs was briefly in the lineup, but, though he played on future recordings, was not in the group long enough to appear on any album covers or publicity photos. His brief tenure was captured in the PBS television special Tell It All. The special provided an unusually in-depth look at the group, all of whom were at ease speaking in front of the camera. In mid-1971 the First Edition released a gospel single called "Take My Hand", which barely scraped into the bottom of the charts. After the success of a pilot shot in late 1970, the fall of 1971 saw Kenny Rogers and the First Edition become hosts of their own television series Rollin' On the River. Later to be shortened to Rollin, this was a variety show that was taped in Canada (taking advantage of recently imposed Canadian content requirements) which geared itself toward rock, blues, and folk performers and groups. Unlike the more Las Vegas-styled The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, Rollin was focused on harder-edged guests like Ike and Tina Turner, veterans like Bo Diddley, veteran Canadian based artists such as Ronnie Hawkins, and up and coming performers such as Jim Croce. The show also gave the First Edition a chance to do the comedy Kenny and Terry had long made a part of their act. Though it got good ratings, Rollin did have one ill side effect: the First Edition were now seen as television personalities instead of recording stars. Terry Williams' signature song, "What Am I Gonna Do", was to become the group's next single in late 1971. It was the first First Edition 45 not to chart since 1968. Recorded over six months in 1971, and released in March 1972, The Ballad of Calico was written by future star Michael Murphey and the First Edition's musical director and arranger Larry Cansler. Cansler replaced Hobbs on stage during this period, but despite his large creative role here, and on Rollin' On the River, he was not promoted on either as a member of the group. The album was a country rock opera about a late 19th- century mining town, but unlike most like-minded projects of the era, all of the songs were based on fact. The sleeve and booklet of this two-LP set had genuine and period-styled photos depicting the era, with all of the lyrics presented in hand-written script. The music was critically well received, with all of the group (outside of Mickey) taking at least one lead. The song chosen for a single was "School Teacher," an acoustic rhythm and blues song with a lead by Kin. In retrospect it's easy to understand the probable reasons the artistically valid "School Teacher" didn't get past No. 91\. Putting out a First Edition single where Rogers was not prominent had already shown itself to be a gamble, plus lyrics written to reflect the sexist views of the 19th century sounded odd outside of the LP's concept. "The Ballad Of Calico" has since picked up a large cult following, but back in 1972 it was all but ignored. Frustrated by the falling sales (the album hardly sold at all), Vassy began to let a drinking habit get out of control. According to Mickey Jones' book That Would Be Me, Vassy was fired several months after the "Calico's" release following a drunken backstage confrontation with Terry Williams. By early 1972, Gene Lorenzo replaced Larry Cansler on stage and was made a full First Edition member. Jimmy Hassell joined the group about six months later to replace Kin. Lorenzo was a keyboard and piano virtuoso. Hassell was a hard rock singer similar to Vassy, and physically resembled a friend of Terry's, actor Gary Busey. Both fit in well, without making the public impression of the original members. Around the time the new members hopped on board, Rogers formed his own label, Jolly Rogers (distributed by MGM, Rogers retained the name when he started his own publishing company as a solo artist) and the group left Reprise. Their first Jolly Rogers release was a late 1972 country LP called Backroads. The third single from the album, a version of Merle Haggard's "Today I Started Loving You Again" reached the lower regions of the country charts in mid-1973. Then came a soundtrack from Rollin'. Now in its second year, an album of live versions of the "Calico" songs and hits like "Ruby," "Reuben James" and "Just Dropped In" could have sold quite well, bringing proven hits to the Jolly Rogers label at the same time. Instead, they delivered a set of cover songs, of which Kenny's remake of "The Long and Winding Road" and Gene and Terry's reworking of Bach's "Joy" were most notable. The album did not check the group's declining sales, and the TV show was soon canceled. The group increasingly played on the county fair circuit. It was decided that a new image far away from their TV persona was required. Monumental tried to give them just this. Combining a wide variety of styles, it ranged from a Rogers-written rocker about prostitute "Morgana Jones" (later rerecorded by Rogers for his album The Gambler in 1978) to the nostalgic "42nd Street." The later compared the New York of 1973 to the Broadway of the 1930s. As he would continue to do in his solo career, Rogers cloaked some mature subject matter with a gentle delivery. The Dr. John-inspired medley of Alex Harvey compositions "The Hoodooin' of Miss Fannie Deberry" (also re-recorded by Rogers for "The Gambler") and "The Ritual", was the LP's centerpiece. Though in tune with other music of the day, Monumental was one of their biggest sales failures in the United States, but in New Zealand it went gold. Following on the local success of "Rollin'" and the understated ballad "Lady, Play Your Symphony," Kenny's rocking nursery rhyme "Lena Lookie" went to number six, and the group embarked on three New Zealand tours over the next two years. A documentary of their first trip, in late 1973, was aired as a 1975 TV special, Rollin Through New Zealand. As their domestic popularity continued to decline, Terry wanted to focus on the hard rockers that had done so well for them overseas. Kenny disagreed, wanting a more conservative agenda. Kenny admitted in his book Making It With Music, that he perhaps should not have complained about MGM's poor distribution on a radio show, but despite their mounting problems, New Zealand continued to consider the First Edition as superstars. The problem was that they had to go halfway around the world to benefit from their success, and travel expenses ate a big chunk out of their profits. As a thank you they put together an album called I'm Not Making My Music For Money especially for their New Zealand fans. An LP of this title was to have come out in the US but MGM rejected it. The US LP was basically going to be the same but with two new cuts replacing the two songs reused from "Monumental." Despite the retreads, the album did show continued development. A mix of new songs and remakes (possibly done because some songs were not available in New Zealand), "Love Woman" was now a hard rock jam featuring Jimmy on lead. This arrangement was borrowed from the band's stage performances of Bill Haley's "Rockin' Through The Rye". The ballads "Dirty Work" and "Daddy Was A Traveling Man" were a return to the more adult style of Terry's early work. "Making Music For Money" (another song remade for "The Gambler") is a song about art vs. commerce that Jimmy Buffett later covered. It was the band's ironic last single. It charted well, but again only in New Zealand. A last-ditch effort to jumpstart their domestic careers was done in late 1974 when they filmed a television movie called The Dream Makers. A drama about the music biz, they played the group Catweazel. It was a small role with only Kenny and Mickey speaking any major lines. Despite the film giving them a chance to perform recent songs, the exposure did not halt their decline. Kenny had become short on money by 1974, and was in debt when he decided to hawk guitar lesson records on a commercial. Wanting to give a solo career a shot, Terry left in the late spring of 1975. Kenny was upset but agreed to it, succeeding in getting Kin to come back so they could fill their pending engagements. Though he was hired to stay permanently, the reunion with Vassy did not go well and he ended up playing only one night. This more or less marked the point where The First Edition agreed to split. Mickey, realizing that it was time to move on, was the first to decide to leave in order to pursue his other dream, which was acting. Though the group would finish their pending obligations, Kenny began recording as a solo act that fall. The First Edition played their last scheduled shows in the fall of 1975 at Harrah's in Reno. Without Mickey Jones there were a few First Edition gigs in early 1976, done as a favor to Kenny who had not yet formed his solo band. Kenny later said that writing the song "Sweet Music Man" made him cut his hair and let it go gray, plus get rid of the earring. The song may have played a part in his future middle of the road image, but the change did not happen until almost a year after it was written. Mary Arnold often sang "Sweet Music Man" on the First Edition's post Terry Williams gigs and Kenny also tried the lead out a few times. This was to become one of Rogers' most covered compositions, and he himself had a No. 9 country hit with it in the fall of 1977. Though unrecorded, "Sweet Music Man" marked the end of the First Edition as a creative entity. Considering the band's then low profile, Kenny Rogers had an uncertain future when he signed a solo deal to United Artists in 1975. Searching for a new image, he soon developed a more middle-of-the-road, gravel-voiced style. For the rest of the decade and beyond he had hit after hit. "Lucille" was the first of no less than a combined 25 number 1 country and pop singles after he left the group. During his time with UA (later taken over by Liberty) he topped the country and pop album charts for a grand total of 90 weeks and sold more records than anyone in country music. In 1983 his status as one of the world's top stars (of any musical genre) was confirmed when RCA signed him for an advance sum of US$20 million, for six albums. Kenny Rogers continued to tour, including classic material by the First Edition in his performances, before retiring in 2017. In April 2013, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Thelma Camacho did a few solo records in the 1960s and 1970s and one LP in 1980. She moved to Europe in the 1980s and lost contact with the rest of the group until 2010. Thelma also recorded in Europe under the name Tess Ivie (the latter being her husband's last name). Today, she lives in California and runs a jewelry store. Mary Arnold married singer Roger Miller, after the two were introduced by Rogers, and now looks after his estate. She had performed with him for many years, and was recently inducted into the Iowa Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Kin Vassy died of lung cancer on June 23, 1994. He scored two top 40 hit singles as a country singer, but his solo career never really took off. He often worked with Kenny in the 1980s and his trademark scream enlivens hits like "Blaze Of Glory". In 1980 he released the single "Makes Me Wonder (If I Ever Said Goodbye)"; Kenny Rogers sang the backing vocals. The song was not a hit, but the following year Kenny recorded his own version of the song for his popular Share Your Love album, produced by Lionel Richie; Vassy sang the back up on Kenny's version. He also worked with Frank Zappa and Elvis Presley. Two years after he died, Martina McBride had a No. 28 hit on the U.S. country survey with the Vassy penned "Phones Are Ringing (All Over Town)". Gene Lorenzo performed for some years with country star Lee Greenwood, then some more years with Kathy Mattea. When Greenwood fired his band in 1987, Kenny asked Gene if he would like to join his stage band "Bloodline" until he found a new group. Lorenzo stayed for roughly six months. He is still listed as a working musician. Terry Williams had one easy listening hit in 1980 called "Blame It On The Night," but it was on a small label. He worked extensively with Kenny in the 1980s and managed Kenny's successful Lion Share recording studios. Today Terry is mostly retired, on a farm in the Southeast. He now composes and sings Christian music. Kin and Terry fronted a new First Edition in 1993-94. They continued on a few months after Vassy's death, but the circumstances were now too downbeat and they disbanded several months later. It was to be an attempt at relaunching the group as a contemporary country band who also played their hits. Terry's younger brother Ress played the drums. Having continued to write and perform, Mike Settle opened for The First Edition on their 1973 trek to New Zealand. He would go on to write several songs for the group's solo records over the years. By the 1980s, Mike had a lower profile in the music industry, and later became a journalist. Now basically retired, his songs ("But You Know I Love You" in particular) continue to be covered by new artists. Jimmy Hassell worked for Anne Murray for a while and after Mary married Roger Miller he worked with them as well. He released one self-titled solo LP in 1976 which was reissued with one new song in 1978, and also wrote commercial jingles. His biggest success as a solo artist came in 1977 when he produced the award- winning production show Sassy Class at the Stardust hotel. He died on January 6, 2004. Mickey Jones became the most visible member next to Kenny. Focused more on acting, he was in many films and television shows over the years, including films such as Sling Blade and The Fighting Temptations. He also had a role in Tim Allen's Home Improvement for two seasons. He died on February 7, 2018. John Hobbs stayed in touch with the group and worked with Kenny, Terry, and Kin on Rogers' early 1980s solo work as well as other projects at Lion Share. He has remained an active session musician and arranger. The groups' long time arranger Larry Cansler had a successful career in the studios in Los Angeles scoring many movies (including The Gambler series), variety shows, (the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) and many national commercials. He now lives in Arizona and continues to compose for symphony orchestras. In 1980, a compilation of some of the First Edition's greatest hits and album cuts, titled "Shine On", was issued in the United Kingdom; it sold fairly well but was overshadowed by The Kenny Rogers Singles Album, a Kenny Rogers solo greatest hits collection that, in addition to his solo hits, featured reworkings of the group's best known songs. Currently there are many compilations of their work in print on various labels, some miscredited to Kenny alone with picture not of the period. "Live Vegas '72" is the first new First Edition music to be released since 1974. The recording was a Kin Vassy era performance of an unknown date. Jimmy is oddly credited and there are other basic mistakes on the cover. The band scored a total of 11 hit singles and eight hit albums on the Billboard charts. On April 10, 2010, Kenny, Mike, Mickey, Terry, Mary, and Gene reunited as part of the Kenny Rogers: The First 50 Years TV special. This was filmed at the Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. They were joined by Wynonna Judd on a rendition of "Just Dropped In". The First Edition semi-reunited with Rogers several times in 2014-2015 when he was elected to the Country Music Hall Of Fame. These were brief press conferences and performances only. 2005: Kenny Rogers: Going Home-Live at the House Of Blues UK DVD compatible with US format contains a 1994 Disney Channel documentary. Includes a five-minute First Edition segment with rare footage., 2005: Remember The 70's 60 min compilation of Rollin' hosted by Mickey Jones. Two First Edition performances are included as well as their intros for other artists., 2006: Kenny Rogers – The Journey with The First Edition Dottie West, Willie Nelson, and Dolly Parton, 2007: Flashbacks: Pop Parade (includes selections from the View Video Rollin' releases), 2007: Flashbacks: Easy Lovin’ (includes selections from the View Video Rollin' releases), 2007: Kenny Rogers: Rollin' Volume 1 with The First Edition, Ike Turner, Tina Turner, Gladys Knight & the Pips, 2007: Kenny Rogers: Rollin' Volume 2 with The First Edition, Jim Croce, Bo Diddley, and Ronnie Hawkins Note: all View Video releases were originally issued on VHS in the early nineties. Numerous releases with miscellaneous Rollin' footage have come out in Europe and Australia. They are of dubious legality and were all were quickly pulled from the market. Rogers, Kenny (1978). Making It With Music. New York: Harper & Row. ., Jones, Mickey (2007) That Would Be Me. Bloomington, Indiana: AuthorHouse., Hume, Martha (1980). Kenny Rogers: Gambler, Lover, Dreamer. New York: New American Library. "Tell It All"-Airdate: syndicated in fall of 1972. A PBS special filmed in early 1971 during a date in South Carolina. Goes backstage, shows rehearsals, and has in depth interviews with all of the group. Some of this was reused in "Kenny Rogers-The Journey". The rest is yet to be released on home video., "Rollin' Through New Zealand"-Airdate: syndicated in early 1975. The First Edition star in this look at their visits and success in New Zealand. No official home video released, but producer Tony Williams put it online., "Kenny Rogers: A Gambler's Tale"-A&E; Biography 1999. Kenny and Mike Settle are interviewed for this 60 min doc. Was available on VHS, "The Life and Times of Kenny Rogers"-CMT 2002. Indepth look at Rogers includes interviews with Kenny, Mickey Jones, and Terry Williams, "Kenny Rogers-The Journey"-DVD 2006. A performance based documentary, that devotes about a quarter of its two-hour playing time to the First Edition. Includes vintage and new interviews with Rogers, as well as a new one by Mickey Jones. Mickey's site has photos and memories of his long career "But You Know I Love You" is a song written by Mike Settle, which was a 1969 pop hit for Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, a group that included Settle and Kenny Rogers. The song also became a major country hit by Bill Anderson in 1969. In 1981, a cover version of "But You Know I Love You" by singer Dolly Parton topped the country singles charts. In the song, "But You Know I Love You", the narrator voices regret over not being able to remain with his/her significant other, due to career demands and the need to travel for his/her job. At the time Settle was guitarist for Kenny Rogers and The First Edition, with Rogers singing lead and Settle harmonizing. The fall 1968 release, with a brass-tinged country-folk sound to broaden the group's fan base, peaked at number 19 on the Hot 100 just under a year after "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" peaked. In the group's rendition on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour that aired on 8 December 1968, the audience was unwittingly fooled to start clapping too soon, right after the false ending but way before the real ending. Bill Anderson's cover version of "But You Know I Love You" rose to No. 2 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in 1969. Country entertainer Dolly Parton (who, in 1983, would have the number 1 duet "Islands In The Stream" with Rogers) in 1980 included "But You Know I Love You", based on the occupation of on-the-road singer, on her album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs. In April 1981, Parton released the song as the album's second single, following the success of "9 to 5," and it reached No. 1 on the Hot Country Singles chart on 20 June 1981, succeeding Rogers' accompanying Dottie West on "What Are We Doin' in Love" at the top slot. Parton's version also crossed over, bowing at number 82 on 4 April 1981 and peaking at number 41 on 16 May 1981 on the Hot 100 and No. 14 on the AC chart. 1969: Bill Anderson for his album My Life / But You Know I Love You (Decca DL 75142)., 1969: Ray Stevens for his album Have a Little Talk With Myself (Monument SLP 18134)., 1969: Wynn Stewart for his album Yours Forever (Capitol ST 324)., 1969: Teresa Bennett for her album Anita Kerr Presents Teresa (Dot DLP 25944)., 1969: The Sweet Inspirations for their album Sweets for My Sweet (Atlantic SD 8225)., 1969: Kim Weston and Johnny Nash for their album Johnny Nash & Kim Weston (Major Minor SMLP 54)., 1970: Barbara Lewis for her album The Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis (Enterprise ENS 1006)., 1970: Evie Sands for her album Any Way That You Want Me (A&M; SP 4239)., 1970: Julie Rogers for her album Once More With Feeling (Ember NR 5050)., 1970: Skeeter Davis for her album A Place In the Country (RCA Victor LSP-4310)., 1972: Laura Lee for her album Love More Than Pride (Chess CH 50031)., 1972: Maria Dallas for her album Town and Country (CBS SBP-234201)., 1973: Henson Cargill for his album This Is Henson Cargill Country (Atlantic SD 7279). But You Know I Love You lyrics at Dolly Parton On-Line

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Ice Age: Collision Course is a 2016 American computer-animated science fiction comedy film produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the fifth installment in the Ice Age film series and the sequel to (2012). The film was directed by Mike Thurmeier and Galen Tan Chu from a screenplay by Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg and Yoni Brenner, and stars Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Jennifer Lopez and Simon Pegg reprising their roles from the previous films alongside Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Adam DeVine, Nick Offerman, Max Greenfield, Stephanie Beatriz, Melissa Rauch, Michael Strahan, Jessie J and Neil deGrasse Tyson. In the film, after Scrat accidentally launches several deadly meteors to Earth during an attempt to bury his acorn, Manny, the Herd, and Buck must go on a life or death mission to find a way to fend them off. The film premiered at the Sydney Film Festival on June 19, 2016, and was released in the United States on July 22. Despite earning $408 million on a $105 million budget, the film underperformed at the box office, and received negative reviews from critics aimed at the screenplay, plot, humor, inconsistent tone, lack of originality, and character development while praising its animation and John Debney's musical score; it is the first Blue Sky film to receive generally negative critic reviews and the worst-reviewed film in the Ice Age franchise to date. Scrat is once again trying to bury his acorn but accidentally activates an abandoned alien ship that takes him into deep space, where he unwittingly sends several asteroids en route to a collision with Earth. Meanwhile, Manny and Ellie are preparing upcoming marriage between Peaches and her fiancé, Julian. Diego and his wife Shira want to start a family, but their fierce appearance tends to scare kids. Sid is dumped by his girlfriend, Francine, just as he is about to propose to her, and he laments his solitude. During Manny and Ellie's wedding anniversary party, some of the asteroids strike the place and The Herd barely escape. Meanwhile, at , Buck returns a dinosaur egg back to its rightful owner after it was stolen by a trio of flying dromaeosaurs named Gavin, Gertie, and Roger. Buck discovers an ancient stone pillar and takes it to the surface, where he meets Manny and the others. Buck explains to The Herd that according to the pillar, the asteroids had caused two extinctions of "horseshoe crab-looking thingies" and dinosaurs in the past and with a massive one still incoming, he believes that the only place they could find a clue to stop it is on the site of the impact of the previous ones, as according to its engravings, they always fall at the same place. However, the three dromaeosaurs overhear their conversation, and Gavin and Gertie decide to stop them, believing that they could easily avoid the impact, thus not only getting their revenge on Buck, but also killing all mammals and securing domination over Earth for their species. Roger is reluctant, but Gavin and Gertie strong-arm him into cooperating. As The Herd travels to the crash site, they discover that the asteroids have electro-magnetic properties. Buck theorizes that if a huge quantity of smaller asteroids should be gathered and launched into orbit, they could attract the main asteroid as well and prevent it from falling on Earth. After facing several obstacles and the interference of the dromaeosaurs, The Herd arrives at "Geotopia", a community of immortal animals formed inside one of the asteroids that have fallen long ago, where Sid meets Brooke, a female ground sloth who falls in love with him. However, Shangri Llama, the leader of Geotopia, refuses to cooperate with Buck's plan to send the city's crystals into space in order to prevent the imminent impact, as they are the key to the residents' longevity. Sid inadvertently destroys the entire city when he attempts to remove one of the crystals to present Brooke with, immediately aging them to their real ages and revealing their true crone-like appearances. Once Brooke convinces the Geotopians that preventing the asteroid's fall is more important than their lost youth, they and The Herd help with Buck's plan, which is to fill up a geyser with the crystals so that the pressure launches them into space to draw the asteroid away. The dromaeosaurs attempt to intervene, but Buck convinces Roger that they will not be able to survive the asteroid, and he in turn convinces Gavin and Gertie to help. The plan works, and the asteroid is pulled back into space. The Herd then departs back home, including Sid, who parts ways from Brooke, but just after they leave, an asteroid piece falls inside a hot spring, giving it rejuvenating properties and making the Geotopians and Sid's grandmother, who stayed behind with them, regain their youth. After The Herd returns, Manny reconciles with Julian, Peaches and Julian celebrate their wedding, Diego and Shira become heroes to the kids who were scared of them before, and a rejuvenated Brooke appears during the ceremony to reunite with Sid. In the film's epilogue, Scrat keeps struggling to control the alien ship until it crashes on Mars, destroying all life on the planet. In a mid-credits scene, Scrat finds his acorn, but gets beaten by some doors. Ray Romano as Manny, a woolly mammoth and the leader of the Herd., John Leguizamo as Sid, a ground sloth and the founder of the Herd., Denis Leary as Diego, a saber-toothed tiger and the member of the Herd., Queen Latifah as Ellie, a female woolly mammoth - Manny's wife., Simon Pegg as Buck, a one-eyed weasel and a dinosaur hunter who reunites with The Herd to warn them of the coming asteroid. Pegg also voices Pythagoras Buck and Robo Buck who exist in his mind alongside with Neil deBuck Weasel., Seann William Scott and Josh Peck as Crash and Eddie, two opossums and the "brothers" of Ellie., Keke Palmer as Peaches, a young female woolly mammoth - daughter of Manny and Ellie., Adam DeVine as Julian, a young male woolly mammoth and Peaches' fiancee., Neil deGrasse Tyson as Neil deBuck Weasel, a weasel astronomer who exists in Buck's mind., Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Shangri Llama, a yoga-loving llama and the spiritual leader of Geotopia., Jessie J as Brooke, a ground sloth who is a resident of Geotopia and the love interest of Sid., Jennifer Lopez as Shira, a female saber-toothed tiger and Diego's significant other., Wanda Sykes as Granny, an aging ground sloth and Sid's grandmother., Nick Offerman as Gavin, a flying dromaeosaur - father of Roger and Gertie., Stephanie Beatriz as Gertie, a flying dromaeosaur - Gavin's daughter., Max Greenfield as Roger, a flying dromaeosaur that is freaky and cowardly - Gavin's son., Melissa Rauch as Francine, a female ground sloth who dumps Sid as she is his former girlfriend., Michael Strahan as Teddy, a fearless rabbit and a resident of Geotopia., Lilly Singh as Bubbles and Misty, a pair of "minicorns" who reside in Geotopia., Chris Wedge as Scrat, a saber-toothed squirrel. The concept of Collision Course was deeply rooted in a scene from the first Ice Age film where Manny and his friends are walking through an ice cave and they spot a spaceship that's encased in ice, an item that inspired this film in the series. As with , which was also inspired by the ice cave scene in which The Herd comes across a dinosaur that was incased in ice, the team went back to the first film to search for a possible inspiration for this next installment. The characters were first hand-drawn on animation software, complete with color and animated clips of the characters doing specific actions. They were then sent to be hand-sculpted with clay, and ultimately scanned into CGI software and animated around the model. The "Figaro's Aria" sequence which involved Buck saving an egg from a trio of dromaeosaurs proved to be one of the most challenging sequences for Blue Sky Studios' animators, as it involved a continuous uninterrupted shot that ran for around two minutes long. It was one of the first scenes put into production but also one of the last to exit production due to its time-consuming and difficult structure, as the team would only be able to produce three or four seconds of footage a week. The recording session took place in Los Angeles, California since most of the actors live there while the studio is based in New York City. Director Mike Thurmeier and co-director Galen T. Chu would take turns travelling to L.A. to head the recording sessions. In the film, Simon Pegg sang a rendition of "Figaro". Jesse Tyler Ferguson was offered the role after the producers saw his performance in Modern Family. It is his first time working in an animated film. Ferguson blew out his voice on the first day of the recording session because he did a lot of yelling. He then took a few days off and came back later to finish his part. He admitted that he struggled the first time he heard his voice come out of his character's mouth. As a result, he decided to stop watching interviews of himself on television because he found them to be "too weird". A promotional poster, shown in June 2015, at the Licensing Expo, revealed the film's full title: Ice Age: Collision Course. The film was composed by John Debney, who replaced John Powell from the previous three films due to Powell being busy with other projects. However, most of Powell's score from the third film was included, along with David Newman's score from the first film. Initially the film was scheduled for release on July 15, 2016. However, the release was delayed to July 22, to avoid competition with the Ghostbusters reboot that was also scheduled for July 15. An extended sneak peek of the movie in the form of a short film called Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe was attached to theatrical showings of Blue Sky Studios' The Peanuts Movie on November 6, 2015. The teaser poster of the film was revealed on November 6, 2015 with the words "Bring Scrat Home" spoofing The Martian. The short film was released later on November 9, 2015, on 20th Century Fox's official YouTube page. Ice Age: Collision Course was released by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, 4K Blu-ray and digital download on October 11, 2016. Special features include a new short film titled Scrat: Spaced Out, which is primarily made up of Scrat's scenes from the film, with a few unique scenes at the end. Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe is a five-minute short film, with the majority of its footage, minus the closing scene, taken from the beginning of Ice Age: Collision Course. Directed by Michael Thurmeier and Galen Chu, the short premiered on November 6, 2015, along with the film The Peanuts Movie. In the short, Scrat, trying to bury his acorn, accidentally activates an abandoned alien ship that takes him into deep space, where he unwittingly sends several asteroids en route to a collision with Earth. Scrat: Spaced Out is a 15-minute short film that compiles all Scrat's scenes from Ice Age: Collision Course with a few unique scenes at the end. The short was included on the film's home media releases. Following the events of Ice Age: Collision Course, Scrat is heading back to Earth in the saucer. An acorn- shaped ship appears and pulls the acorn, with Scrat holding onto it. In the ship, three alien squirrels (A.K.A Scratzons) are surprised by finding Scrat, and blast him away from the acorn. Scrat tries to take it back with a tractor beam in a nearby saucer, but the alien leader pulls it back with another tractor beam. Being pulled to both sides, the nutrogen inside the acorn snaps, creating a massive explosion, which destroys the ship and creates a black hole sucking everything nearby into it. Scrat jumps out of the saucer, knocks the Scratzon alien leader into the black hole while trying to save the acorn, but gets pulled in the hole nonetheless. He emerges in space along with the acorn, only for the black hole appearing again, snatching the acorn and leaving Scrat alone again. Ice Age: Collision Course grossed $64 million in North America and $344 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $408 million, against a budget of $105 million. In terms of total earnings, its biggest markets outside of North America were China ($66 million) (with the country being also its largest territory overall), France ($26.3 million), Brazil ($25 million), Germany ($24.7 million) and Mexico ($22.2 million). In the United States and Canada Ice Age: Collision Course opened on July 22, 2016, alongside Star Trek Beyond and Lights Out, and was projected to gross $30–35 million from 3,997 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $850,000 from Thursday night previews and $7.8 million on its first day. It had a $21 million debut in its opening weekend, finishing fourth at the box office. The film finished its theatrical run with a domestic gross of $64 million. Produced on a budget of $105 million, the film became the lowest-grossing film of the franchise as well as Blue Sky's lowest-grossing film. The film began its international theatrical run two weeks prior to its North American release, earning $18 million from seven markets on about 5,286 screens. In its second weekend, it added $32.2 million from 25 countries. As a result, it only topped the international box office for a non-Chinese film but also helped Fox pass the $2 billion mark internationally, making this the eighth consecutive calendar year Fox has surpassed this milestone, and the 10th time in the studio's history. The film came in third place overall, behind the two Chinese films Cold War 2 and Big Fish & Begonia. By its third weekend, after grossing another $53.5 million from 15,132 screens in a total 51 markets, it finally topped the international box office and became the biggest grosser of the weekend. It recorded the biggest opening of all time for Fox in Argentina ($3.77 million), where its debut is also the third-biggest of all time behind Furious 7 and ; Colombia ($2.18 million), Central America ($2.2 million), and Uruguay ($620,618); the second-biggest in Mexico ($8.4 million), behind ; Peru, Chile, and Ecuador; the biggest opening among the series in Brazil ($4.5 million) and the biggest non-holiday animated opening ever in India ($1.66 million). Elsewhere, it had No. 1 openings in Russia ($5.9 million), Italy ($4.5 million), Germany ($4.2 million), Austria ($893,350), and Switzerland ($514,789) and No. 5 in Australia ($3.1 million). In France, it opened amidst the 2016 Nice attack and delivered an opening weekend of $7.1 million. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it debuted in second place with $5.2 million, behind Ghostbusters which also opened the same weekend. In China, it opened on Tuesday, August 23, alongside Jason Bourne and delivered a six-day opening of $42.7 million and a Friday to Sunday debut of $23.1 million. The debut makes it the top non-local animated opening in the country that year and is also the franchise's best debut. It has so far grossed a total of $63.6 million there. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 18% based on 118 reviews and an average rating of 4.15/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Unoriginal and unfunny, Ice Age: Collision Course offers further proof that not even the healthiest box office receipts can keep a franchise from slouching toward creative extinction." Rotten Tomatoes also ranks Collision Course as the worst-reviewed of all the five films in the Ice Age franchise. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 27 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Katie Walsh of Los Angeles Times gave the film a negative review, writing that "Collision Course is simply a perfunctory, watered-down entry in the series that feels like it should have been released on home video." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film one out of four stars, saying, "The fifth entry in the Ice Age series is a loud, lazy, laugh-starved cash grab that cynically exploits its target audience (I use the term advisedly) by serving them scraps and calling it yummy." Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a positive review, saying that "The long-running series returns to form with an infectious chatterbox comedy about the end of the world as we know it." On the possibility of a sequel, co-director Galen T. Chu stated in June 2016 that there were some ideas for the sixth installment. In July 2016, Bustle noted that the chances of a sixth entry were relatively high but would depend on the box office performance of the fifth film. On October 25, 2019, after the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, it was announced that a spin-off centered on Buck was in development for Disney+. Ice Age is an American media franchise centering on a group of mammals surviving the Paleolithic ice age. It consists of computer-animated films and TV specials and a series of video games. The films are produced by Blue Sky Studios, a division of 20th Century Fox Animation as a part of Walt Disney Studios (formerly 20th Century Fox). The series features the voices of Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary and Chris Wedge, who are the only constant cast members. Five films have been released in the series thus far: the original film of the same name in 2002, in 2006, in 2009, in 2012, and in 2016. As of April 2016, the franchise had generated $6 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. Sid, a talkative sloth, is left behind by his family and the herds of mammals journeying to the south. He meets Manny, a mammoth who travels to the north, and decides to follow him. When a humans' camp is attacked by tigers, a woman takes her baby and jumps into a river and falls over a waterfall. Before she disappears, the baby is rescued by Manny and Sid. The two animals decide to search for the father and return the baby to him. Diego, one of the tigers that attacked the humans, comes also claiming the baby, and the trio form an uneasy alliance during their journey to the humans. Manny, Sid, and Diego are currently living in a large valley surrounded by an enormously high ice wall on all sides. However, the trio discovers that the ice wall is actually a wall that is barely holding a massive body of water that could flood the valley to nearly a mile underwater. A vulture tells them that there is a boat at the other end of the valley that may save them all, but they only have three days to reach it or die. Manny is also having trouble fearing the fact that he may be the last mammoth left. Along the way, they meet Ellie, a mammoth who thinks she is a possum, and her possum brothers Crash and Eddie. As they begin to travel together, Manny learns, with help from Diego and Sid, that he must move on from his past. During their journey, Scrat the sabre-toothed squirrel has his own adventure. Manny and Ellie are expecting their first child. Scrat falls in love with fellow squirrel Scratte. Diego is anxious about settling down for a domestic life with Manny's new family. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and steals some dinosaur eggs which leads to Sid ending up in a strange underground world where his herd must rescue him. The herd also meets an insane one-eyed weasel known as Buck who aids them on their quest. Taking place several years after the events of the third film, with Peaches now a teenager, Scrat's pursuit of acorns has world-changing consequences, separating Manny, Sid and Diego from the rest of their group. As they try to return home, they come into conflict with a pirate gang led by Captain Gutt. Scrat's pursuit of his elusive acorn catapults him outside of Earth aboard a UFO, where he accidentally sets off a series of cosmic events that transform and threaten the planet. To save themselves from peril, Manny, Sid, Diego, and the rest of the herd leave their home and reunite with Buck, who leads them on a journey to find a way to save the planet. On the possibility of a potential sixth film, in June 2016, Galen T. Chu, co- director of the film, stated that there were some ideas for the next installment. Gone Nutty is a 2002 animated short film, directed by Carlos Saldanha, and originally released on the Ice Age DVD. The short features the character Scrat, who is yet again having troubles with collecting his beloved acorns. The film was nominated for the 2003 Academy Award for Animated Short Film. No Time for Nuts is a 2006 animated short film, directed by Chris Renaud and Mike Thurmeier, and it was originally released on the Ice Age: The Meltdown DVD. The short follows Scrat on a chase after his nut, which has been accidentally sent back in time by a frozen time machine. No Time for Nuts was nominated for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Surviving Sid is a 2008 animated short film, directed by Galen Tan Chu and Karen Disher. It was originally released on the Horton Hears a Who! DVD and Blu-ray. Unlike the first two Ice Age short films, Surviving Sid focuses on Sid, who incompetently "leads" a small group of camping children. Scrat's Continental Crack-Up is the first of a 2012 two-part animated short. Scrat's Continental Crack-Up: Part 2 is the second of a 2012 two-part animated short. Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe is a 2015 animated short film. The short once again follows Scrat, who discovers a flying saucer frozen in a block of ice and accidentally powers it on and ends up creating the Solar System through a series of mishaps. Scrat: Spaced Out is a 2016 animated short film. The short once again follows Scrat, trying to get back to Earth after the events in Cosmic Scrat-tastrophe. In the middle of decorating for the holiday season, Sid accidentally destroys Manny's favourite decorations. Sid, convinced by Manny that he is now on Santa's naughty list, takes off with Crash, Eddie and Peaches for the North Pole to get back on the Santa's good side. When on the North Pole, Sid and his crew accidentally destroy Santa's Workshop. When Manny, Ellie and Diego, worried over Peaches's safety, arrive at the North Pole, they must come together and save Christmas. The special centers on a harried prehistoric bird mom who entrusts her precious, soon-to-hatch egg to Sid. When she recommends him to her neighbors—a condor mother, Cholly Bear and Gladys Glypto—business booms at his new egg- sitting service. However, dastardly pirate bunny Squint, who is seeking revenge on the herd, steals, camouflages and hides all the eggs. Once again, with Squint’s twin brother, Clint, assisting, Manny, Diego and the rest of the gang come to the rescue and take off on a daring mission that turns into the world’s first Easter egg hunt. CEO of 20th Century Fox Stacey Snider announced that a television series based on Ice Age and centered around the character Buck is in development. With Disney's purchase of Fox, it could potentially appear on the Disney+ streaming platform. All five films, produced on a total budget of $429 million, have grossed over $3.2 billion worldwide, making Ice Age the 18th highest-grossing franchise of all time, and the third highest-grossing animated franchise worldwide behind Despicable Me and Shrek. The first four films were the highest-grossing animated films in each year they were released, and among the eight highest- grossing films in their respective release years. However, the fifth film was considered a commercial disappointment and is the lowest-grossing film in both the franchise and Blue Sky's filmography (when adjusted for inflation). While the first film received generally positive reviews, the series has received some criticism for making no attempt to be scientifically accurate and has suffered a steadily declining critical reception with each succeeding film. Ice Age was released in 2002 by Ubisoft for Game Boy Advance., was released in 2006 by Sierra Entertainment for Wii, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, Xbox, and PC., was released by Activision on June 30, 2009, for PC, Wii, DS, PS2, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360., Ice Age 3 - Boulder Drop was an online game released in 2009., Ice Age 3 - Dino Dinner was an online game released in 2009., Ice Age 3 - Slippery Slope was an online game released in 2009., Ice Age Village was a mobile video game released by Gameloft on April 5, 2012, to iPhone, iPad, and various Android devices, and on April 24, 2013, to Windows Phone. The game allows players to build a village while characters from the films set them goals. Player's can also visit their friend's villages, play mini games and watch videos., was released by Activision on July 10, 2012, to Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, and Xbox 360., Ice Age Online was a free-to-play browser-based adventure platform game produced by Bigpoint Games for its gaming portal. Beta version of the game was launched on July 10, 2012, which put players in the role of Sid, who has to rescue lost members of his herd, separated by a volcanic eruption., Ice Age - Clueless Ice Sloth was an online game released in 2012., Ice Age Adventures was a free-to-play game was released by Gameloft on August 7, 2014 for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Android, Windows Phone and Windows 8., Ice Age: Arctic Blast was a mobile match-3 puzzle game, developed by Zynga and Eat Sleep Play, and featuring content from all five films, was released in June 2016 for iOS and Android devices., Ice Age Avalanche was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age Hailstorm was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age Mission Control was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age - Manic Meteor Run! was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age - Geode Jam! was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age - Coloring Book was an online game released in 2016., Ice Age - Matching Cards was an online game released in 2016., was released in 2019 for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch. Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure is a live arena ice show that combines ice skating, aerial arts, puppetry and film, and tells a new story based on the first three Ice Age films. The plot begins with baby mammoth Peaches being kidnapped by an evil hawk-like creature called Shadow. Her father Manny sets off to rescue Peaches, accompanied by Sid and Diego. Their mission is successful, but on the way home they encounter avalanches and rockfalls, diverting them into a fantasy underground kingdom. It is being produced by Stage Entertainment Touring Productions, and directed by Guy Caron and Michael Curry. The music and lyrics were written by Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson. With the preview shows from October 19 to 21, 2012, in Cardiff, and from October 25 to 28, 2012, in Nottingham, A Mammoth Adventure officially premiered on November 2, 2012, during its three-day tour from November 1 to 3 at Wembley Arena in London. It continued in Germany in November 2012, with a plan to visit more than 30 countries in its five-year worldwide tour. In August 2016, Ice Age Live! A Mammoth Adventure concluded its world tour and was replaced in North America by Ice Age On Ice. Ice Age inspired rides and attractions will be featured at the first 20th Century Fox theme park, called 20th Century Fox World, to open in 2019 as part of Malaysia-based Resorts World Genting. Michael "Mike" Thurmeier is a Canadian animator and director at Blue Sky Studios. He is most famous for co-directing and . Thurmeier was born and raised in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, and went to Archbishop M.C. O'Neill High School. Although he liked to draw, he wanted to become a lawyer, but he changed his mind when Aladdin came out in the last year of high school. After he joined Blue Sky Studios, he served as an animator for Fight Club and The Sopranos. He later served as a supervising animator for Ice Age, Robots, and . His first directing job was in 2006 when he co-directed a short animated film, No Time for Nuts, starring Scrat for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. (2009) was his feature directing debut, followed in 2012 by . Thurmeier returned to direct along with Galen T. Chu. It is the fifth film in the franchise, and was released to theaters on July 22, 2016.

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The Great Fire of London swept through the central parts of the English city from Sunday, 2 September to Thursday, 6 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall. It threatened but did not reach the aristocratic district of Westminster, Charles II's Palace of Whitehall, or most of the suburban slums. It destroyed 13,200 houses, 87 parish churches, St Paul's Cathedral, and most of the buildings of the City authorities. It is estimated to have destroyed the homes of 70,000 of the city's 80,000 inhabitants. The death toll is unknown but was traditionally thought to have been small, as only six verified deaths were recorded. This reasoning has recently been challenged on the grounds that the deaths of poor and middle-class people were not recorded; moreover, the heat of the fire may have cremated many victims, leaving no recognisable remains. A melted piece of pottery on display at the Museum of London found by archaeologists in Pudding Lane, where the fire started, shows that the temperature reached . The Great Fire started at the bakery (or baker's house) of Thomas Farriner (or Farynor) on Pudding Lane shortly after midnight on Sunday, 2 September, and spread rapidly west across the City of London. The major firefighting technique of the time was to create firebreaks by means of demolition; this was critically delayed owing to the indecisiveness of Lord Mayor of London Sir Thomas Bloodworth. By the time large-scale demolitions were ordered on Sunday night, the wind had already fanned the bakery fire into a firestorm that defeated such measures. The fire pushed north on Monday into the heart of the City. Order in the streets broke down as rumours arose of suspicious foreigners setting fires. The fears of the homeless focused on the French and Dutch, England's enemies in the ongoing Second Anglo-Dutch War; these substantial immigrant groups became victims of lynchings and street violence. On Tuesday, the fire spread over most of the City, destroying St Paul's Cathedral and leaping the River Fleet to threaten King Charles II's court at Whitehall. Coordinated firefighting efforts were simultaneously mobilising; the battle to quench the fire is considered to have been won by two factors: the strong east winds died down, and the Tower of London garrison used gunpowder to create effective firebreaks to halt further spread eastward. The social and economic problems created by the disaster were overwhelming. Evacuation from London and resettlement elsewhere were strongly encouraged by Charles II, who feared a London rebellion amongst the dispossessed refugees. Despite several radical proposals, London was reconstructed on essentially the same street plan used before the fire. By the 1660s, London was by far the largest city in Britain, estimated at half a million inhabitants. However, due to the Great Plague of London during the previous winter, its population had decreased. John Evelyn, contrasting London to the Baroque magnificence of Paris, called it a "wooden, northern, and inartificial congestion of Houses", and expressed alarm about the fire hazards posed by the wood and the congestion. By "inartificial", Evelyn meant unplanned and makeshift, the result of organic growth and unregulated urban sprawl. London had been a Roman settlement for four centuries and had become progressively more crowded inside its defensive city wall. It had also pushed outwards beyond the wall into squalid extramural slums such as Shoreditch, Holborn, and Southwark, and had reached far enough to include the independent City of Westminster. By the late 17th century, the City proper—the area bounded by the City wall and the River Thames—was only a part of London, covering some , and home to about 80,000 people, or one sixth of London's inhabitants. The City was surrounded by a ring of inner suburbs where most Londoners lived. The City was then, as now, the commercial heart of the capital, and was the largest market and busiest port in England, dominated by the trading and manufacturing classes. The aristocracy shunned the City and lived either in the countryside beyond the slum suburbs, or in the exclusive Westminster district (the modern West End), the site of King Charles II's court at Whitehall. Wealthy people preferred to live at a convenient distance from the traffic-clogged, polluted, unhealthy City, especially after it was hit by a devastating outbreak of bubonic plague in the Plague Year of 1665. The relationship was often tense between the City and the Crown. The City of London had been a stronghold of republicanism during the Civil War (1642–1651), and the wealthy and economically dynamic capital still had the potential to be a threat to Charles II, as had been demonstrated by several republican uprisings in London in the early 1660s. The City magistrates were of the generation that had fought in the Civil War, and could remember how Charles I's grab for absolute power had led to that national trauma. They were determined to thwart any similar tendencies in his son, and when the Great Fire threatened the City, they refused the offers that Charles made of soldiers and other resources. Even in such an emergency, the idea of having the unpopular Royal troops ordered into the City was political dynamite. By the time that Charles took over command from the ineffectual Lord Mayor, the fire was already out of control. The City was essentially medieval in its street plan, an overcrowded warren of narrow, winding, cobbled alleys. It had experienced several major fires before 1666, the most recent in 1632. Building with wood and roofing with thatch had been prohibited for centuries, but these cheap materials continued to be used. The only major stone-built area was the wealthy centre of the City, where the mansions of the merchants and brokers stood on spacious lots, surrounded by an inner ring of overcrowded poorer parishes whose every inch of building space was used to accommodate the rapidly growing population. These parishes contained workplaces, many of which were fire hazards—foundries, smithies, glaziers—which were technically illegal in the City but tolerated in practice. The human habitations were crowded to bursting point, intermingled with these sources of heat, sparks, and pollution, and their construction increased the fire risk. The typical six- or seven-storey timbered London tenement houses had "jetties" (projecting upper floors). They had a narrow footprint at ground level, but maximised their use of land by "encroaching" on the street, as a contemporary observer put it, with the gradually increasing size of their upper storeys. The fire hazard was well perceived when the top jetties all but met across the narrow alleys; "as it does facilitate a conflagration, so does it also hinder the remedy", wrote one observer—but "the covetousness of the citizens and connivancy [corruption] of Magistrates" worked in favour of jetties. In 1661, Charles II issued a proclamation forbidding overhanging windows and jetties, but this was largely ignored by the local government. Charles's next, sharper message in 1665 warned of the risk of fire from the narrowness of the streets and authorised both imprisonment of recalcitrant builders and demolition of dangerous buildings. It, too, had little impact. Wattle-and-daub was a common building material: research by fire brigades showed that well-made new wattle-and-daub was strongly fire-resistant, but old neglected wattle-and-daub with patches of daub flaked off would expose patches of wattle that readily caught fire. The river front was important in the development of the Great Fire. The Thames offered water for firefighting and the chance of escape by boat, but the poorer districts along the riverfront had stores and cellars of combustibles which increased the fire risk. All along the wharves, the rickety wooden tenements and tar paper shacks of the poor were shoehorned amongst "old paper buildings and the most combustible matter of tarr, pitch, hemp, rosen, and flax which was all layd up thereabouts." London was also full of black powder, especially along the river front. Much of it was left in the homes of private citizens from the days of the English Civil War, as the former members of Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army still retained their muskets and the powder with which to load them. Five to six hundred tons of powder was stored in the Tower of London. The ship chandlers along the wharves also held large stocks, stored in wooden barrels. Fires were common in the crowded wood-built city with its open fireplaces, candles, ovens, and stores of combustibles. There was no police or fire brigade to call, but London's local militia, known as the Trained Bands, was available for general emergencies, at least in principle, and watching for fire was one of the jobs of the watch, a thousand watchmen or "bellmen" who patrolled the streets at night. Self-reliant community procedures were in place for dealing with fires, and they were usually effective. Public-spirited citizens would be alerted to a dangerous house fire by peals on the church bells, and would congregate hastily to fight the fire. The methods available for this relied on demolition and water. By law, the tower of every parish church had to hold equipment for these efforts: long ladders, leather buckets, axes, and "firehooks" for pulling down buildings (see illustration right, see also pike pole). Sometimes taller buildings were levelled quickly and effectively by means of controlled gunpowder explosions. This drastic method of creating firebreaks was increasingly used towards the end of the Great Fire, and modern historians believe that it was what finally won the struggle. London Bridge was the only physical connection between the City and the south side of the river Thames and was itself covered with houses. It had been noted as a deathtrap in the fire of 1632 and, by dawn on Sunday, these houses were burning. Samuel Pepys observed the conflagration from the Tower of London and recorded great concern for friends living on the bridge. There were fears that the flames would cross London Bridge to threaten the borough of Southwark on the south bank, but this danger was averted by an open space between buildings on the bridge which acted as a firebreak. The 18-foot (5.5 m) high Roman wall enclosing the City put the fleeing homeless at risk of being shut into the inferno. Once the riverfront was on fire and the escape route cut off by boat, the only exits were the eight gates in the wall. During the first couple of days, few people had any notion of fleeing the burning City altogether. They would remove what they could carry of their belongings to the nearest "safe house", in many cases the parish church or the precincts of St Paul's Cathedral, only to have to move again hours later. Some moved their belongings and themselves "four and five times" in a single day. The perception of a need to get beyond the walls took root only late on the Monday, and then there were near-panic scenes at the narrow gates as distraught refugees tried to get out with their bundles, carts, horses, and wagons. The crucial factor which frustrated firefighting efforts was the narrowness of the streets. Even under normal circumstances, the mix of carts, wagons, and pedestrians in the undersized alleys was subject to frequent traffic jams and gridlock. During the fire, the passages were additionally blocked by refugees camping in them amongst their rescued belongings, or escaping outwards, away from the centre of destruction, as demolition teams and fire engine crews struggled in vain to move in towards it. Demolishing the houses downwind of a dangerous fire was often an effective way of containing the destruction by means of firehooks or explosives. This time, however, demolition was fatally delayed for hours by the Lord Mayor's lack of leadership and failure to give the necessary orders. By the time that orders came directly from the King to "spare no houses", the fire had devoured many more houses, and the demolition workers could no longer get through the crowded streets. The use of water to extinguish the fire was also frustrated. In principle, water was available from a system of elm pipes which supplied 30,000 houses via a high water tower at Cornhill, filled from the river at high tide, and also via a reservoir of Hertfordshire spring water in Islington. It was often possible to open a pipe near a burning building and connect it to a hose to spray on a fire or fill buckets. Further, Pudding Lane was close to the river. Theoretically, all the lanes from the river up to the bakery and adjoining buildings should have been manned with double rows of firefighters passing full buckets up to the fire and empty buckets back down to the river. This did not happen, or at least was no longer happening by the time that Pepys viewed the fire from the river at mid-morning on the Sunday. Pepys comments in his diary that nobody was trying to put it out, but instead they fled from it in fear, hurrying "to remove their goods, and leave all to the fire." The flames crept towards the river front with little interference from the overwhelmed community and soon torched the flammable warehouses along the wharves. The resulting conflagration cut off the firefighters from the immediate water supply from the river and set alight the water wheels under London Bridge which pumped water to the Cornhill water tower; the direct access to the river and the supply of piped water failed together. London possessed advanced fire-fighting technology in the form of fire engines, which had been used in earlier large-scale fires. However, unlike the useful firehooks, these large pumps had rarely proved flexible or functional enough to make much difference. Only some of them had wheels; others were mounted on wheelless sleds. They had to be brought a long way, tended to arrive too late, and had limited reach, with spouts but no delivery hoses. On this occasion, an unknown number of fire engines were either wheeled or dragged through the streets, some from across the City. The piped water had already failed which they were designed to use, but parts of the river bank could still be reached. Gangs of men tried desperately to manoeuvre the engines right up to the river to fill their reservoirs, and several of the engines toppled into the Thames. The heat from the flames by then was too great for the remaining engines to get within a useful distance; they could not even get into Pudding Lane. The personal experiences of many Londoners during the fire are glimpsed in letters and memoirs. The two best-known diarists of the Restoration are Samuel Pepys (1633–1703) and John Evelyn (1620–1706), and both recorded the events and their own reactions day by day, and made great efforts to keep themselves informed of what was happening all over the City and beyond. After two rainy summers in 1664 and 1665, London had lain under an exceptional drought since November 1665, and the wooden buildings were tinder-dry after the long hot summer of 1666. A fire broke out at Thomas Farriner's bakery in Pudding Lane a little after midnight on Sunday 2 September. The family was trapped upstairs but managed to climb from an upstairs window to the house next door, except for a maidservant who was too frightened to try, who became the first victim. The neighbours tried to help douse the fire; after an hour, the parish constables arrived and judged that the adjoining houses had better be demolished to prevent further spread. The householders protested, and Lord Mayor Sir Thomas Bloodworth was summoned, who alone had the authority to override their wishes. When Bloodworth arrived, the flames were consuming the adjoining houses and creeping towards the paper warehouses and flammable stores on the riverfront. The more experienced firemen were clamouring for demolition, but Bloodworth refused on the grounds that most premises were rented and the owners could not be found. Bloodworth is generally thought to have been appointed to the office of Lord Mayor as a yes man, rather than by possessing requisite capabilities for the job. He panicked when faced with a sudden emergency and, when pressed, made the oft-quoted remark, "Pish! A woman could piss it out", and left. After the City had been destroyed, Samuel Pepys looked back on the events and wrote in his diary on 7 September 1666: "People do all the world over cry out of the simplicity [the stupidity] of my Lord Mayor in general; and more particularly in this business of the fire, laying it all upon him." Pepys was a senior official in the Navy Office by then, and he ascended the Tower of London on Sunday morning to view the fire from a turret. He recorded in his diary that the eastern gale had turned it into a conflagration. It had burned down several churches and, he estimated, 300 houses and reached the riverfront. The houses on London Bridge were burning. He took a boat to inspect the destruction around Pudding Lane at close range and describes a "lamentable" fire, "everybody endeavouring to remove their goods, and flinging into the river or bringing them into lighters that lay off; poor people staying in their houses as long as till the very fire touched them, and then running into boats, or clambering from one pair of stairs by the water-side to another." Pepys continued westward on the river to the court at Whitehall, "where people come about me, and did give them an account dismayed them all, and the word was carried into the King. So I was called for, and did tell the King and Duke of Yorke what I saw, and that unless His Majesty did command houses to be pulled down nothing could stop the fire. They seemed much troubled, and the King commanded me to go to my Lord Mayor from him and command him to spare no houses, but to pull down before the fire every way." Charles' brother James, Duke of York, offered the use of the Royal Life Guards to help fight the fire. Young schoolboy William Taswell had bolted from the early morning service in Westminster Abbey. He saw some refugees arrive in hired lighter boats near Westminster Stairs, a mile west of Pudding Lane, unclothed and covered only with blankets. The services of the lightermen had suddenly become extremely expensive, and only the luckiest refugees secured a place in a boat. The fire spread quickly in the high wind and, by mid-morning on Sunday, people abandoned attempts at extinguishing it and fled. The moving human mass and their bundles and carts made the lanes impassable for firemen and carriages. Pepys took a coach back into the city from Whitehall, but reached only St Paul's Cathedral before he had to get out and walk. Pedestrians with handcarts and goods were still on the move away from the fire, heavily weighed down. The parish churches not directly threatened were filling up with furniture and valuables, which soon had to be moved further afield. Pepys found Bloodworth trying to co-ordinate the fire-fighting efforts and near to collapse, "like a fainting woman", crying out plaintively in response to the King's message that he was pulling down houses: "But the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it." Holding on to his civic dignity, he refused James's offer of soldiers and then went home to bed. King Charles II sailed down from Whitehall in the Royal barge to inspect the scene. He found that houses were still not being pulled down, in spite of Bloodworth's assurances to Pepys, and daringly overrode the authority of Bloodworth to order wholesale demolitions west of the fire zone. The delay rendered these measures largely futile, as the fire was already out of control. By Sunday afternoon, 18 hours after the alarm was raised in Pudding Lane, the fire had become a raging firestorm that created its own weather. A tremendous uprush of hot air above the flames was driven by the chimney effect wherever constrictions narrowed the air current, such as the constricted space between jettied buildings, and this left a vacuum at ground level. The resulting strong inward winds did not tend to put the fire out, as might be thought; instead, they supplied fresh oxygen to the flames, and the turbulence created by the uprush made the wind veer erratically both north and south of the main easterly direction of the gale which was still blowing. Pepys went again on the river in the early evening with his wife and some friends, "and to the fire up and down, it still encreasing". They ordered the boatman to go "so near the fire as we could for smoke; and all over the Thames, with one's face in the wind, you were almost burned with a shower of firedrops". When the "firedrops" became unbearable, the party went on to an alehouse on the South Bank and stayed there till darkness came and they could see the fire on London Bridge and across the river, "as only one entire arch of fire from this to the other side of the bridge, and in a bow up the hill for an arch of above a mile long: it made me weep to see it". Pepys described this arch of fire as "a bow with God's arrow in it with a shining point". The fire was principally expanding north and west by dawn on Monday, 3 September, the turbulence of the fire storm pushing the flames both farther south and farther north than the day before. The spread to the south was mostly halted by the river, but it had torched the houses on London Bridge and was threatening to cross the bridge and endanger the borough of Southwark on the south bank of the river. Southwark was preserved by a pre-existent firebreak on the bridge, a long gap between the buildings which had saved the south side of the Thames in the fire of 1632 and now did so again. Flying embers started a fire in Southwark but it was quickly stopped. The fire's spread to the north reached the financial heart of the City. The houses of the bankers in Lombard Street began to burn on Monday afternoon, prompting a rush to get their stacks of gold coins, so crucial to the wealth of the city and nation, to safety before they melted away. Several observers emphasise the despair and helplessness which seemed to seize Londoners on this second day, and the lack of efforts to save the wealthy, fashionable districts which were now menaced by the flames, such as the Royal Exchange—combined bourse and shopping centre – and the opulent consumer goods shops in Cheapside. The Royal Exchange caught fire in the late afternoon, and was a smoking shell within a few hours. John Evelyn, courtier and diarist, wrote: Evelyn lived in Deptford, four miles (6 km) outside the City, and so he did not see the early stages of the disaster. He went by coach to Southwark on Monday, joining many other upper-class people, to see the view which Pepys had seen the day before of the burning City across the river. The conflagration was much larger now: "the whole City in dreadful flames near the water-side; all the houses from the Bridge, all Thames-street, and upwards towards Cheapside, down to the Three Cranes, were now consumed". In the evening, Evelyn reported that the river was covered with barges and boats making their escape piled with goods. He observed a great exodus of carts and pedestrians through the bottleneck City gates, making for the open fields to the north and east, "which for many miles were strewed with moveables of all sorts, and tents erecting to shelter both people and what goods they could get away. Oh, the miserable and calamitous spectacle!" Suspicion soon arose in the threatened city that the fire was no accident. The swirling winds carried sparks and burning flakes long distances to lodge on thatched roofs and in wooden gutters, causing seemingly unrelated house fires to break out far from their source and giving rise to rumours that fresh fires were being set on purpose. Foreigners were immediately suspects because of the current Second Anglo-Dutch War. Fear and suspicion hardened into certainty on Monday, as reports circulated of imminent invasion and of foreign undercover agents seen casting "fireballs" into houses, or caught with hand grenades or matches. There was a wave of street violence. William Taswell saw a mob loot the shop of a French painter and level it to the ground, and watched in horror as a blacksmith walked up to a Frenchman in the street and hit him over the head with an iron bar. The fears of terrorism received an extra boost from the disruption of communications and news as facilities were devoured by the fire. The General Letter Office in Threadneedle Street, through which post passed for the entire country, burned down early on Monday morning. The London Gazette just managed to put out its Monday issue before the printer's premises went up in flames. The whole nation depended on these communications, and the void which they left filled up with rumours. There were also religious alarms of renewed Gunpowder Plots. Suspicions rose to panic and collective paranoia on Monday, and both the Trained Bands and the Coldstream Guards focused less on fire fighting and more on rounding up foreigners, Catholics, and any odd- looking people, arresting them or rescuing them from mobs, or both together. The inhabitants were growing desperate to remove their belongings from the City, especially the upper class. This provided a source of income for the able-bodied poor, who hired out as porters (sometimes simply making off with the goods), and it was especially profitable for the owners of carts and boats. Hiring a cart had cost a couple of shillings on the Saturday before the fire; on Monday, it rose to as much as £40, a fortune equivalent to more than £4,000 in 2005. Seemingly every cart and boat owner within reach of London made their way towards the City to share in these opportunities, the carts jostling at the narrow gates with the panicked inhabitants trying to get out. The chaos at the gates was such that the magistrates ordered the gates shut on Monday afternoon, in the hope of turning the inhabitants' attention from safeguarding their own possessions to fighting the fire: "that, no hopes of saving any things left, they might have more desperately endeavoured the quenching of the fire." This headlong and unsuccessful measure was rescinded the next day. Monday marked the beginning of organised action, even as order broke down in the streets, especially at the gates, and the fire raged unchecked. Bloodworth was responsible as Lord Mayor for co-ordinating the fire-fighting, but he had apparently left the City; his name is not mentioned in any contemporaneous accounts of the Monday's events. In this state of emergency, the King again overrode the City authorities and put his brother James, Duke of York, in charge of operations. James set up command posts round the perimeter of the fire, press-ganging into teams of well-paid and well-fed firemen any men of the lower classes found in the streets. Three courtiers were put in charge of each post, with authority from Charles himself to order demolitions. This visible gesture of solidarity from the Crown was intended to cut through the citizens' misgivings about being held financially responsible for pulling down houses. James and his life guards rode up and down the streets all Monday, rescuing foreigners from the mob and attempting to keep order. "The Duke of York hath won the hearts of the people with his continual and indefatigable pains day and night in helping to quench the Fire," wrote a witness in a letter on 8 September. On Monday evening, hopes were dashed that the massive stone walls of Baynard's Castle, Blackfriars would stay the course of the flames, the western counterpart of the Tower of London. This historic royal palace was completely consumed, burning all night. A contemporary account said that King Charles in person worked manually, that day or later, to help throw water on flames and to help demolish buildings to make a firebreak. Tuesday, 4 September was the day of greatest destruction. The Duke of York's command post at Temple Bar, where Strand meets Fleet Street, was supposed to stop the fire's westward advance towards the Palace of Whitehall. He hoped that the River Fleet would form a natural firebreak, making a stand with his firemen from the Fleet Bridge and down to the Thames. However, early on Tuesday morning, the flames jumped over the Fleet and outflanked them, driven by the unabated easterly gale, forcing them to run for it. There was consternation at the palace as the fire continued implacably westward; "Oh, the confusion there was then at that court!" wrote Evelyn. Working to a plan at last, James's firefighters had also created a large firebreak to the north of the conflagration. It contained the fire until late afternoon, when the flames leapt across and began to destroy the wide affluent luxury shopping street of Cheapside. Everybody had thought St. Paul's Cathedral a safe refuge, with its thick stone walls and natural firebreak in the form of a wide empty surrounding plaza. It had been crammed full of rescued goods and its crypt filled with the tightly packed stocks of the printers and booksellers in adjoining Paternoster Row. However, the building was covered in wooden scaffolding, undergoing piecemeal restoration by Christopher Wren, who was relatively unknown then. The scaffolding caught fire on Tuesday night. Leaving school, young William Taswell stood on Westminster Stairs a mile away and watched as the flames crept round the cathedral and the burning scaffolding ignited the timbered roof beams. Within half an hour, the lead roof was melting, and the books and papers in the crypt caught with a roar. "The stones of Paul's flew like grenados," reported Evelyn in his diary, "the melting lead running down the streets in a stream, and the very pavements glowing with fiery redness, so as no horse, nor man, was able to tread on them." The cathedral was quickly a ruin. In St.Paul's, falling heavy masonry broke through into its crypt, where booksellers had stored huge stocks of books, and all were burned. During the day, the flames began to move eastward from the neighbourhood of Pudding Lane, straight against the prevailing east wind and towards Pepys's home on Seething Lane and the Tower of London with its gunpowder stores. The garrison at the Tower took matters into their own hands after waiting all day for requested help from James's official firemen who were busy in the west. They created firebreaks by blowing up houses on a large scale in the vicinity, halting the advance of the fire. In a letter to William Coventry, Pepys wrote that he "saw how horribly the sky looks, all on a fire in the night, was enough to put us out of our wits; and, indeed, it was extremely dreadful, for it looks just as if it was at us, and the whole heaven on fire." The wind dropped on Tuesday evening, and the firebreaks created by the garrison finally began to take effect on Wednesday 5 September. Stopping the fire caused much fire and demolition damage in the lawyers' area called the Temple. Pepys walked all over the smouldering city, getting his feet hot, and climbed the steeple of Barking Church, from which he viewed the destroyed City, "the saddest sight of desolation that I ever saw." There were many separate fires still burning themselves out, but the Great Fire was over. The following Sunday, rain fell over the city extinguishing the fire. However, it took some time until the last traces were put out. Coal was still burning in cellars two month later, and Pepys recorded the following March "I did see smoke remaining, coming out of some cellars, from the late great fire, now above six months since." Pepys visited Moorfields, a large public park immediately north of the City, and saw a great encampment of homeless refugees, "poor wretches carrying their good there, and every body keeping his goods together by themselves". He noted that the price of bread had doubled in the environs of the park. Evelyn also went out to Moorfields, which was turning into the main point of assembly for the homeless, and was horrified at the numbers of distressed people filling it, some under tents, others in makeshift shacks: "Many [were] without a rag or any necessary utensils, bed or board ... reduced to extremest misery and poverty." Evelyn was impressed by the pride of these distressed Londoners, "tho' ready to perish for hunger and destitution, yet not asking one pennie for relief." Fears were as high as ever among the traumatised fire victims, fear of foreign arsonists and of a French and Dutch invasion. There was an outbreak of general panic on Wednesday night in the encampments at Parliament Hill, Moorfields, and Islington. A light in the sky over Fleet Street started a story that 50,000 French and Dutch immigrants had risen, widely rumoured to have started the fire, and were marching towards Moorfields to finish what the fire had begun: to cut the men's throats, rape the women, and steal their few possessions. Surging into the streets, the frightened mob fell on any foreigners whom they happened to encounter, and were appeased, according to Evelyn, only "with infinite pains and great difficulty" and pushed back into the fields by the Trained Bands, troops of Life Guards, and members of the court. The mood was now so volatile that Charles feared a full-scale London rebellion against the monarchy. Food production and distribution had been disrupted to the point of non-existence; Charles announced that supplies of bread would be brought into the City every day, and safe markets set up round the perimeter. These markets were for buying and selling; there was no question of distributing emergency aid. Only a few deaths from the fire are officially recorded, and deaths are traditionally believed to have been few. Porter gives the figure as eight and Tinniswood as "in single figures", although he adds that some deaths must have gone unrecorded and that, besides direct deaths from burning and smoke inhalation, refugees also perished in the impromptu camps. Hanson takes issue with the idea that there were only a few deaths, enumerating known deaths from hunger and exposure among survivors of the fire, "huddled in shacks or living among the ruins that had once been their homes" in the cold winter that followed, including, for instance, dramatist James Shirley and his wife. Hanson also maintains that "it stretches credulity to believe that the only papists or foreigners being beaten to death or lynched were the ones rescued by the Duke of York", that official figures say very little about the fate of the undocumented poor, and that the heat at the heart of the firestorms was far greater than an ordinary house fire, and was enough to consume bodies fully or leave only a few skeletal fragments. The fire was fed not merely by wood, fabrics, and thatch, Hanson points out, but also by the oil, pitch, tar, coal, tallow, fats, sugar, alcohol, turpentine, and gunpowder stored in the riverside district. It melted the imported steel lying along the wharves (melting point between 1,250 and 1,480 °C (2,300 and 2,700 °F)) and the great iron chains and locks on the City gates (melting point between 1,100 and 1,650 °C (2,000 and 3000 °F)). Nor would anonymous bone fragments have been of much interest to the hungry people sifting through the tens of thousands of tons of rubble and debris after the fire, looking for valuables, or to the workmen clearing away the rubble later during the rebuilding. Hanson appeals to common sense and "the experience of every other major urban fire down the centuries", emphasising that the fire attacked the rotting tenements of the poor with furious speed, surely trapping at the very least "the old, the very young, the halt and the lame" and burying the dust and ashes of their bones under the rubble of cellars, producing a death toll not of four or eight, but of "several hundred and quite possibly several thousand." The Bills of Mortality were not compiled for the period of the fire, due to the disruption caused by the fire. The material destruction has been computed at 13,500 houses, 87 parish churches, 44 Company Halls, the Royal Exchange, the Custom House, St Paul's Cathedral, the Bridewell Palace and other City prisons, the General Letter Office, and the three western city gates—Ludgate, Newgate, and Aldersgate. The monetary value of the loss, first estimated at £100,000,000 in the currency of the time, was later reduced to an uncertain £10,000,000 (equivalent to £ in ). Evelyn believed that he saw as many as "200,000 people of all ranks and stations dispersed, and lying along their heaps of what they could save" in the fields towards Islington and Highgate. An example of the urge to identify scapegoats for the fire is the acceptance of the confession of a simple-minded French watchmaker named Robert Hubert, who claimed that he was an agent of the Pope and had started the Great Fire in Westminster. He later changed his story to say that he had started the fire at the bakery in Pudding Lane. Hubert was convicted, despite some misgivings about his fitness to plead, and hanged at Tyburn on 28 September 1666. After his death, it became apparent that he had been on board a ship in the North Sea, and had not arrived in London until two days after the fire started. These allegations that Catholics had started the fire were exploited as powerful political propaganda by opponents of pro-Catholic Charles II's court, mostly during the Popish Plot and the exclusion crisis later in his reign. Abroad in the Netherlands, the Great Fire of London was seen as a divine retribution for Holmes's Bonfire, the burning by the English of a Dutch town during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. On 5 October, Marc Antonio Giustinian, Venetian Ambassador in France, reported to the Doge of Venice and the Senate, that Louis XIV announced that he would not "have any rejoicings about it, being such a deplorable accident involving injury to so many unhappy people". Louis had made an offer to his aunt, the British Queen Henrietta Maria, to send food and whatever goods might be of aid in alleviating the plight of Londoners, yet he made no secret that he regarded "the fire of London as a stroke of good fortune for him " as it reduced the risk of French ships crossing the Channel and the North Sea being taken or sunk by the English fleet. Louis tried to take advantage but an attempt by a Franco-Dutch fleet to combine with a larger Dutch fleet ended in failure on 17 September when they encountered a larger English fleet led by Thomas Allin off Dungeness. In the chaos and unrest after the fire, Charles II feared another London rebellion. He encouraged the homeless to move away from London and settle elsewhere, immediately issuing a proclamation that "all Cities and Towns whatsoever shall without any contradiction receive the said distressed persons and permit them the free exercise of their manual trades." A special Fire Court was set up to deal with disputes between tenants and landlords and decide who should rebuild, based on ability to pay. The Court was in session from February 1667 to September 1672. Cases were heard and a verdict usually given within a day; without the Fire Court, lengthy legal wrangles would have seriously delayed the rebuilding which was so necessary if London was to recover. Radical rebuilding schemes poured in for the gutted City and were encouraged by Charles. If it had been rebuilt under some of these plans, London would have rivalled Paris in Baroque magnificence (see Evelyn's plan on the right). The Crown and the City authorities attempted to establish "to whom all the houses and ground did in truth belong" to negotiate with their owners about compensation for the large-scale remodelling that these plans entailed, but that unrealistic idea had to be abandoned. Exhortations to bring workmen and measure the plots on which the houses had stood were mostly ignored by people worried about day-to-day survival, as well as by those who had left the capital; for one thing, with the shortage of labour following the fire, it was impossible to secure workmen for the purpose. Apart from Wren and Evelyn, it is known that Robert Hooke, Valentine Knight, and Richard Newcourt proposed rebuilding plans. With the complexities of ownership unresolved, none of the grand Baroque schemes could be realised for a City of piazzas and avenues; there was nobody to negotiate with, and no means of calculating how much compensation should be paid. Instead, much of the old street plan was recreated in the new City, with improvements in hygiene and fire safety: wider streets, open and accessible wharves along the length of the Thames, with no houses obstructing access to the river, and, most importantly, buildings constructed of brick and stone, not wood. New public buildings were created on their predecessors' sites; perhaps the most famous is St Paul's Cathedral and its smaller cousins, . On Charles' initiative, a Monument to the Great Fire of London was erected near Pudding Lane, designed by Christopher Wren and Robert Hooke, standing tall and known simply as "The Monument". It is a familiar London landmark which has since given its name to a tube station. In 1668, accusations against the Catholics were added to the inscription on the Monument which read, in part: The inscription remained until after the passage of the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 when it was removed in 1830 following a successful campaign by City Solicitor Charles Pearson. Another monument marks the spot where the fire stopped: the Golden Boy of Pye Corner in Smithfield. According to the inscription, it was evidence of God's wrath on the City of London for the sin of gluttony that the fire started at Pudding Lane and stopped at Pye Corner. The Great Plague epidemic of 1665 is believed to have killed a sixth of London's inhabitants, or 80,000 people, and it is sometimes suggested that the fire saved lives in the long run by burning down so much unsanitary housing with their rats and their fleas which transmitted the plague, as plague epidemics did not recur in London after the fire. Historians disagree as to whether the fire played a part in preventing subsequent major outbreaks. The Museum of London website claims that there was a connection, while historian Roy Porter points out that the fire left the most insalubrious parts of London, the slum suburbs, untouched. Following the Fire, the thoroughfares of Queen Street and King Street were newly laid out, cutting across more ancient thoroughfares in the City, creating a new route up from the Thames to the Guildhall; they were the only notable new streets following the fire's destruction of much of the City. List of buildings that survived the Great Fire of London, 1666 in England, Great Fire of London in popular culture See . For a review of Hanson's work, see, A "substantially different" version of Hanson's The Dreadful Judgement (front matter)., First published between 1970 and 1983, by Bell & Hyman, London. Quotations from and details involving Pepys are taken from this standard, and copyright, edition. All web versions of the diaries are based on public domain 19th century editions and unfortunately contain many errors, as the shorthand in which Pepys' diaries were originally written was not accurately transcribed until the pioneering work of Latham and Matthews., Old St Paul's, A Tale of the Plague and the Fire, novel by Harrison Ainsworth Channel 4 animation of the spread of the fire, Fire of London website produced by the Museum of London, The National Archives, the National Portrait Gallery, London Fire Brigade Museum and London Metropolitan Archives for Key Stage 1 pupils (ages 5–7) and teachers Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an administrator of the navy of England and Member of Parliament who is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man. Pepys had no maritime experience, but he rose to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under both King Charles II and King James II through patronage, hard work, and his talent for administration. His influence and reforms at the Admiralty were important in the early professionalisation of the Royal Navy. The detailed private diary that Pepys kept from 1660 until 1669 was first published in the 19th century and is one of the most important primary sources for the English Restoration period. It provides a combination of personal revelation and eyewitness accounts of great events, such as the Great Plague of London, the Second Dutch War, and the Great Fire of London. Pepys was born in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London on 23 February 1633, the son of John Pepys (1601–1680), a tailor, and Margaret Pepys (née Kite; died 1667), daughter of a Whitechapel butcher. His great uncle Talbot Pepys was Recorder and briefly Member of Parliament (MP) for Cambridge in 1625. His father's first cousin Sir Richard Pepys was elected MP for Sudbury in 1640, appointed Baron of the Exchequer on 30 May 1654, and appointed Lord Chief Justice of Ireland on 25 September 1655. Pepys was the fifth of eleven children, but child mortality was high and he was soon the oldest survivor. He was baptised at St Bride's Church on 3 March 1633. Pepys did not spend all of his infancy in London; for a while, he was sent to live with nurse Goody Lawrence at Kingsland, just north of the city. In about 1644, Pepys attended Huntingdon Grammar School before being educated at St Paul's School, London, c. 1646–1650. He attended the execution of Charles I in 1649. In 1650, he went to the University of Cambridge, having received two exhibitions from St Paul's School (perhaps owing to the influence of Sir George Downing, who was chairman of the judges and for whom he later worked at the Exchequer) and a grant from the Mercers' Company. In October, he was admitted as a sizar to Magdalene College; he moved there in March 1651 and took his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1654. Later in 1654 or early in 1655, he entered the household of one of his father's cousins, Sir Edward Montagu, who was later created the 1st Earl of Sandwich. Pepys married fourteen-year-old Elisabeth de St Michel, a descendant of French Huguenot immigrants, first in a religious ceremony on 10 October 1655 and later in a civil ceremony on 1 December 1655 at St Margaret's, Westminster. From a young age, Pepys suffered from bladder stones in his urinary tract—a condition from which his mother and brother John also later suffered. He was almost never without pain, as well as other symptoms, including "blood in the urine" (hematuria). By the time of his marriage, the condition was very severe. In 1657 Pepys decided to undergo surgery; not an easy option, as the operation was known to be especially painful and hazardous. Nevertheless, Pepys consulted surgeon Thomas Hollier and, on 26 March 1658, the operation took place in a bedroom in the house of Pepys' cousin Jane Turner. Pepys' stone was successfully removed and he resolved to hold a celebration on every anniversary of the operation, which he did for several years. However, there were long-term effects from the operation. The incision on his bladder broke open again late in his life. The procedure may have left him sterile, though there is no direct evidence for this, as he was childless before the operation. In mid-1658 Pepys moved to Axe Yard, near the modern Downing Street. He worked as a teller in the Exchequer under George Downing. On 1 January 1660 ("1 January 1659/1660" in contemporary terms), Pepys began to keep a diary. He recorded his daily life for almost ten years. This record of a decade of Pepys' life is more than a million words long and is often regarded as Britain’s most celebrated diary. Pepys has been called the greatest diarist of all time due to his frankness in writing concerning his own weaknesses and the accuracy with which he records events of daily British life and major events in the 17th century. Pepys wrote about the contemporary court and theatre (including his amorous affairs with the actresses), his household, and major political and social occurrences. Historians have been using his diary to gain greater insight and understanding of life in London in the 17th century. Pepys wrote consistently on subjects such as personal finances, the time he got up in the morning, the weather, and what he ate. He wrote at length about his new watch which he was very proud of (and which had an alarm, a new accessory at the time), a country visitor who did not enjoy his time in London because he felt that it was too crowded, and his cat waking him up at one in the morning. Pepys' diary is one of a very few sources which provides such length in details of everyday life of an upper-middle-class man during the seventeenth century. Aside from day-to-day activities, Pepys also commented on the significant and turbulent events of his nation. England was in disarray when he began writing his diary. Oliver Cromwell had died just a few years before, creating a period of civil unrest and a large power vacuum to be filled. Pepys had been a strong supporter of Cromwell, but he converted to the Royalist cause upon the Protector’s death. He was on the ship that brought Charles II home to England. He gave a firsthand account of events, such as the coronation of King Charles II and the Restoration of the British Monarchy to the throne, the Anglo-Dutch war, the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London. Pepys did not plan on his contemporaries ever seeing his diary, which is evident from the fact that he wrote in shorthand and sometimes in a "code" of various Spanish, French, and Italian words (especially when describing his illicit affairs). However, Pepys often juxtaposed profanities in his native English amidst his "code" of foreign words, a practice which would reveal the details to any casual reader. He did intend future generations to see the diary, as evidenced by its inclusion in his library and its catalogue before his death along with the shorthand guide he used and the elaborate planning by which he ensured his library survived intact after his death. The women whom he pursued, his friends, and his dealings are all laid out. His diary reveals his jealousies, insecurities, trivial concerns, and his fractious relationship with his wife. It has been an important account of London in the 1660s. The juxtaposition of his commentary on politics and national events, alongside the very personal, can be seen from the beginning. His opening paragraphs, written in January 1660, begin: The entries from the first few months were filled with news of General George Monck's march on London. In April and May of that year, he was encountering problems with his wife, and he accompanied Montagu's fleet to the Netherlands to bring Charles II back from exile. Montagu was made Earl of Sandwich on 18 June, and Pepys secured the position of Clerk of the Acts to the Navy Board on 13 July. As secretary to the board, Pepys was entitled to a £350 annual salary plus the various gratuities and benefits that came with the job–including bribes. He rejected an offer of £1,000 for the position from a rival and soon afterwards moved to official accommodation in Seething Lane in the City of London. Pepys stopped writing his diary in 1669. His eyesight began to trouble him and he feared that writing in dim light was damaging his eyes. He did imply in his last entries that he might have others write his diary for him, but doing so would result in a loss of privacy and it seems that he never went through with those plans. In the end, Pepys' fears were unjustified and he lived another 34 years without going blind, but he never took to writing his diary again. However, Pepys dictated a journal for two months in 1669–70 as a record of his dealings with the Commissioners of Accounts at that period. He also kept a diary for a few months in 1683 when he was sent to Tangier, Morocco as the most senior civil servant in the navy, during the English evacuation. The diary mostly covers work-related matters. On the Navy Board, Pepys proved to be a more able and efficient worker than colleagues in higher positions. This often annoyed Pepys and provoked much harsh criticism in his diary. Among his colleagues were Admiral Sir William Penn, Sir George Carteret, Sir John Mennes and Sir William Batten. Pepys learned arithmetic from a private tutor and used models of ships to make up for his lack of first-hand nautical experience, and ultimately came to play a significant role in the board's activities. In September 1660, he was made a Justice of the Peace; on 15 February 1662, Pepys was admitted as a Younger Brother of Trinity House; and on 30 April, he received the freedom of Portsmouth. Through Sandwich, he was involved in the administration of the short-lived English colony at Tangier. He joined the Tangier committee in August 1662 when the colony was first founded and became its treasurer in 1665. In 1663, he independently negotiated a £3,000 contract for Norwegian masts, demonstrating the freedom of action that his superior abilities allowed. He was appointed to a commission of the royal fishery on 8 April 1664. Pepys' job required him to meet many people to dispense money and make contracts. He often laments how he "lost his labour" having gone to some appointment at a coffee house or tavern, only to discover that the person whom he was seeking was not there. These occasions were a constant source of frustration to Pepys. Pepys' diary provides a first-hand account of the Restoration, and it is also notable for its detailed accounts of several major events of the 1660s, along with the lesser known diary of John Evelyn. In particular, it is an invaluable source for the study of the Second Anglo-Dutch War of 1665–7, the Great Plague of 1665, and the Great Fire of London in 1666. In relation to the Plague and Fire, C. S. Knighton has written: "From its reporting of these two disasters to the metropolis in which he thrived, Pepys' diary has become a national monument." Robert Latham, editor of the definitive edition of the diary, remarks concerning the Plague and Fire: "His descriptions of both—agonisingly vivid—achieve their effect by being something more than superlative reporting; they are written with compassion. As always with Pepys it is people, not literary effects, that matter." In early 1665, the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War placed great pressure on Pepys. His colleagues were either engaged elsewhere or incompetent, and Pepys had to conduct a great deal of business himself. He excelled under the pressure, which was extreme due to the complexity and under-funding of the Royal Navy. At the outset, he proposed a centralised approach to supplying the fleet. His idea was accepted, and he was made surveyor-general of victualling in October 1665. The position brought a further £300 a year. Pepys wrote about the Second Anglo-Dutch War: "In all things, in wisdom, courage, force and success, the Dutch have the best of us and do end the war with victory on their side". And King Charles II said: "Don't fight the Dutch, imitate them". In 1667, with the war lost, Pepys helped to discharge the navy. The Dutch had defeated England on open water and now began to threaten English soil itself. In June 1667, they conducted their Raid on the Medway, broke the defensive chain at Gillingham, and towed away the , one of the Royal Navy's most important ships. As he had done during the Fire and the Plague, Pepys again removed his wife and his gold from London. The Dutch raid was a major concern in itself, but Pepys was personally placed under a different kind of pressure: the Navy Board and his role as Clerk of the Acts came under scrutiny from the public and from Parliament. The war ended in August and, on 17 October, the House of Commons created a committee of "miscarriages". On 20 October, a list was demanded from Pepys of ships and commanders at the time of the division of the fleet in 1666. However, these demands were actually quite desirable for him, as tactical and strategic mistakes were not the responsibility of the Navy Board. The Board did face some allegations regarding the Medway raid, but they could exploit the criticism already attracted by commissioner of Chatham Peter Pett to deflect criticism from themselves. The committee accepted this tactic when they reported in February 1668. The Board was, however, criticised for its use of tickets to pay seamen. These tickets could only be exchanged for cash at the Navy's treasury in London. Pepys made a long speech at the bar of the Commons on 5 March 1668 defending this practice. It was, in the words of C. S. Knighton, a "virtuoso performance". The commission was followed by an investigation led by a more powerful authority, the commissioners of accounts. They met at Brooke House, Holborn and spent two years scrutinising how the war had been financed. In 1669, Pepys had to prepare detailed answers to the committee's eight "Observations" on the Navy Board's conduct. In 1670, he was forced to defend his own role. A seaman's ticket with Pepys' name on it was produced as incontrovertible evidence of his corrupt dealings but, thanks to the intervention of the king, Pepys emerged from the sustained investigation relatively unscathed. Outbreaks of plague were not particularly unusual events in London; major epidemics had occurred in 1592, 1603, 1625 and 1636. Furthermore, Pepys was not among the group of people who were most at risk. He did not live in cramped housing, he did not routinely mix with the poor, and he was not required to keep his family in London in the event of a crisis. It was not until June 1665 that the unusual seriousness of the plague became apparent, so Pepys' activities in the first five months of 1665 were not significantly affected by it. Indeed, Claire Tomalin writes that "the most notable fact about Pepys' plague year is that to him it was one of the happiest of his life." In 1665, he worked very hard, and the outcome was that he quadrupled his fortune. In his annual summary on 31 December, he wrote, "I have never lived so merrily (besides that I never got so much) as I have done this plague time". Nonetheless, Pepys was certainly concerned about the plague. On 16 August he wrote: He also chewed tobacco as a protection against infection, and worried that wig-makers might be using hair from the corpses as a raw material. Furthermore, it was Pepys who suggested that the Navy Office should evacuate to Greenwich, although he did offer to remain in town himself. He later took great pride in his stoicism. Meanwhile, Elisabeth Pepys was sent to Woolwich. She did not return to Seething Lane until January 1666, and was shocked by the sight of St Olave's churchyard, where 300 people had been buried. In the early hours of 2 September 1666, Pepys was awakened by his servant who had spotted a fire in the Billingsgate area. He decided that the fire was not particularly serious and returned to bed. Shortly after waking, his servant returned and reported that 300 houses had been destroyed and that London Bridge was threatened. Pepys went to the Tower to get a better view. Without returning home, he took a boat and observed the fire for over an hour. In his diary, Pepys recorded his observations as follows: The wind was driving the fire westward, so he ordered the boat to go to Whitehall and became the first person to inform the king of the fire. According to his entry of 2 September 1666, Pepys recommended to the king that homes be pulled down in the path of the fire in order to stem its progress. Accepting this advice, the king told him to go to Lord Mayor Thomas Bloodworth and tell him to start pulling down houses. Pepys took a coach back as far as St Paul's Cathedral before setting off on foot through the burning city. He found the Lord Mayor, who said, "Lord! what can I do? I am spent: people will not obey me. I have been pulling down houses; but the fire overtakes us faster than we can do it." At noon, he returned home and "had an extraordinary good dinner, and as merry, as at this time we could be", before returning to watch the fire in the city once more. Later, he returned to Whitehall, then met his wife in St. James's Park. In the evening, they watched the fire from the safety of Bankside. Pepys writes that "it made me weep to see it". Returning home, Pepys met his clerk Tom Hayter who had lost everything. Hearing news that the fire was advancing, he started to pack up his possessions by moonlight. A cart arrived at 4 a.m. on 3 September and Pepys spent much of the day arranging the removal of his possessions. Many of his valuables, including his diary, were sent to a friend from the Navy Office at Bethnal Green. At night, he "fed upon the remains of yesterday's dinner, having no fire nor dishes, nor any opportunity of dressing any thing." The next day, Pepys continued to arrange the removal of his possessions. By then, he believed that Seething Lane was in grave danger, so he suggested calling men from Deptford to help pull down houses and defend the king's property. He described the chaos in the city and his curious attempt at saving his own goods: Pepys had taken to sleeping on his office floor; on Wednesday, 5 September, he was awakened by his wife at 2 a.m. She told him that the fire had almost reached All Hallows-by-the-Tower and that it was at the foot of Seething Lane. He decided to send her and his gold—about £2,350—to Woolwich. In the following days, Pepys witnessed looting, disorder, and disruption. On 7 September, he went to Paul's Wharf and saw the ruins of St Paul's Cathedral, of his old school, of his father's house, and of the house in which he had had his stone removed. Despite all this destruction, Pepys' house, office, and diary were saved. The diary gives a detailed account of Pepys' personal life. He liked wine, plays, and the company of other people. He also spent time evaluating his fortune and his place in the world. He was always curious and often acted on that curiosity, as he acted upon almost all his impulses. Periodically, he would resolve to devote more time to hard work instead of leisure. For example, in his entry for New Year's Eve, 1661, he writes: "I have newly taken a solemn oath about abstaining from plays and wine…" The following months reveal his lapses to the reader; by 17 February, it is recorded, "Here I drank wine upon necessity, being ill for the want of it." Pepys was one of the most important civil servants of his age, and was also a widely cultivated man, taking an interest in books, music, the theatre and science. He was passionately interested in music; he composed, sang, and played for pleasure, and even arranged music lessons for his servants. He played the lute, viol, violin, flageolet, recorder and spinet to varying degrees of proficiency. He was also a keen singer, performing at home, in coffee houses, and even in Westminster Abbey. He and his wife took flageolet lessons from master Thomas Greeting. He also taught his wife to sing and paid for dancing lessons for her (although these stopped when he became jealous of the dancing master). He was known to be brutal to his servants, once beating a servant Jane with a broom until she cried. He kept a boy servant whom he frequently beat with a cane, a birch rod, a whip or a rope’s end. Pepys was an investor in the Company of Royal Adventurers Trading to Africa, which held the monopoly in England on trading along the west coast of Africa in gold, silver, ivory and slaves. Propriety did not prevent him from engaging in a number of extramarital liaisons with various women that were chronicled in his diary, often in some detail, and generally using a cocktail of languages (English, French, Spanish and Latin) when relating the intimate details. The most dramatic of these encounters was with Deborah Willet, a young woman engaged as a companion for Elisabeth Pepys. On 25 October 1668, Pepys was surprised by his wife as he embraced Deb Willet; he writes that his wife "coming up suddenly, did find me imbracing the girl con [with] my hand sub [under] su [her] coats; and endeed I was with my main [hand] in her cunny. I was at a wonderful loss upon it and the girl also..." Following this event, he was characteristically filled with remorse, but (equally characteristically) continued to pursue Willet after she had been dismissed from the Pepys household. Pepys also had a habit of fondling the breasts of his maid Mary Mercer while she dressed him in the morning. "Mrs Knep was the wife of a Smithfield horsedealer, and the mistress of Pepys"—or at least "she granted him a share of her favours". Scholars disagree on the full extent of the Pepys/Knep relationship, but much of later generations' knowledge of Knep comes from the diary. Pepys first met Knep on 6 December 1665. He described her as "pretty enough, but the most excellent, mad-humoured thing, and sings the noblest that I ever heard in my life." He called her husband "an ill, melancholy, jealous-looking fellow" and suspected him of abusing his wife. Knep provided Pepys with backstage access and was a conduit for theatrical and social gossip. When they wrote notes to each other, Pepys signed himself "Dapper Dickey", while Knep was "Barbry Allen" (that popular song was an item in her musical repertory). The diary was written in one of the many standard forms of shorthand used in Pepys' time, in this case called tachygraphy and devised by Thomas Shelton. It is clear from its content that it was written as a purely personal record of his life and not for publication, yet there are indications that Pepys took steps to preserve the bound manuscripts of his diary. He wrote it out in fair copy from rough notes, and he also had the loose pages bound into six volumes, catalogued them in his library with all his other books, and is likely to have suspected that eventually someone would find them interesting. This tree resumes, in a more compact form and with a few additional details, trees published elsewhere in a box-like form. It is meant to help the reader of the Diary and also integrates some biographical informations found in the same sources. William Pepys of Cottenham (Cambs.), Thomas Pepys, Richard Pepys, William Pepys of Norwich, draper, Richard Pepys of London, upholsterer, John Pepys of South Creak (Norf.), Thomas Pepys, Jerome Pepys, John Pepys of Ashtead (Surrey), man of business to Chief Justice Edward Coke ++ Anne Walpole, Edward Pepys of Broomsthorpe (Norf.), lawyer + Elizabeth Walpole, Elizabeth Pepys + Thomas Dyke, Jane Pepys (“Madam Turner”) ++ John Turner, Yorkshire lawyer, Charles Turner + Margaret Cholmley, Theophila Turner (“The”) ++ Sir Arthur Harris, 1st Baronet, of Stowford, M.P. for Okehampton, William Turner + Mary Foulis, Elizabeth Turner (“Betty”) + William Hooker, William Pepys of Cottenham (Cambs.), John Pepys of Cottenham and Impington (Cambs.) (1) + ? ? (2) + Edith Talbot, John Pepys + Elizabeth Bendish of Essex, Sir Richard Pepys, M.P. for Sudbury and Lord Chief Justice of Ireland (1) ++ Judith Cutte (2) + Mary Gosnold, Richard Pepys of Ashen (Essex), lawyer, Samuel Pepys of Dublin, clergyman, Elizabeth Pepys + Thomas Strudwick, confectioner, Judith Pepys + Benjamin Scott, pewterer, Thomas Pepys (“the Black”) + Mary Day, Robert Pepys of Brampton (Hunts.), bailiff at Hinchingbrooke + Anne, widow Trice, Thomas Pepys of St Alphage + Mary Syvret [Chiveret], Thomas Pepys (“the turner”), trader with the W. Indies ++ Elizabeth Howes, Charles Pepys (“the joiner”), Master-Joiner with the Chatham yard ++ Joan, widow Smith, Mary Pepys ++ Samuel de Santhune, weaver of Huguenot origin, Jane Pepys + John Perkin of Parson Drove (Cambs.), Jane Perkin, Frank Perkin, miller and fiddler, Mary Pepys + Robert Holcroft, John Holcroft, Edith Pepys (“Aunt Bell”) + John Bell, John Pepys, tailor in Salisbury Court ++ Margaret Kite, washmaid, Mary Pepys, Paulina Pepys, Esther Pepys, John Pepys, SAMUEL PEPYS, diarist, naval administrator, and M.P. for Castle Rising and Harwich ++ Élisabeth de Saint-Michel, born from an Anglo-French wedding, of Angevin gentry by her father, Thomas Pepys (“Tom”), tailor against his will, Elizabeth Taylor, an illegitimate daughter with his maid Margeret, Sarah Pepys, Jacob Pepys, Robert Pepys, Paulina Pepys (“Pall”) ++ John Jackson, farmer in Ellington (Hunts.), Samuel Jackson, John Jackson, secretary and heir to SP + Anne Edgeley, John Jackson, 1 other son and 2 daughters, Anne Jackson + Brabazon Hallows, Paulina Jackson + Admiral R. Collins, Frances Jackson ++ John Cockerell of Bishops Hull (Somer.), John Cockerell, Charles Cockerell, Samuel Pepys Cockerell, architect, Charles Robert Cockerell, architect ++ Anna Rennie, Frederick Pepys Cockerell, architect ++ Mary Mulock, 6 children, 9 other children, 2 other children dead in infancy, John Pepys, naval administrator, unmarr., Thomas Pepys (“the Red”) of Hatcham Barnes (Surrey) + Kezia ?, Thomas Pepys (“the Executor”), lawyer (1) ++ Anne Cope (2) ++ Ursula Stapleton, 1 son and 1 daughter by the second wedding, Elizabeth Pepys ++ Percival Angier, business man, Elizabeth Pepys ++ Henry Alcock, issue, Apollo Pepys, Paulina Pepys ++ Sidney Montagu, Elizabeth Montagu ++ Sir Gilbert Pickering, 1st Baronet, Lord Chamberlain to Oliver and Richard Cromwell, Elizabeth Pickering ++ John Creed, secretary to Edward Montagu and SP's principal rival, 11 children, 11 other children, Henry Montagu, Edward Montagu, 1st Earl of Sandwich (“My Lord”) ++ Jemima Crew (“My Lady”), Jemima Montagu (“Lady Jem”) ++ Philip Carteret, commissioned lieutenant in the Navy, George Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret, + Lady Grace Granville, John Carteret, 2nd Earl Granville, Prime Minister to George II + Lady Frances Worsley, 2 other sons, Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Sandwich (“Ned”) ++ Lady Anne Boyle, descent of the Earls of Sandwich, Paulina Montagu, Sidney Montagu, later Wortley-Montagu + ? ?, Yorkshire heiress, issue, Anne Montagu (1) ++ Richard Edgcumbe (2) + Christopher Montagu, Oliver Montagu, John Montagu, Dean of Durham, Charles Montagu (1) + Elizabeth Forester (2) + Sarah Rogers, issue by both weddings, Catherine Montagu (1) + Nicholas Bacon, M.P. for Ipswich (2) + Balthazar Gardeman, clergyman, James Montagu, Talbot Pepys of Impington (Cambs.), Recorder and M.P. for Cambridge, remarried 3 times + Beatrice Castell, Roger Pepys of Impington (Cambs.), Recorder and M.P. for Cambridge (1) + Anne Banks (2) ++ Barbara Bacon (3) + Parnell Duke (4) ++ Esther, widow Dickenson (“the good-humoured fat widow”), Talbot Pepys, Barbara Pepys (“Bab”) ++ Dr Thomas Gale, High Master of St Paul's School and Dean of York, Charles Gale, Thomas Gale, Elizabeth Gale, Roger Gale, antiquary, Samuel Gale, antiquary, Elizabeth Pepys (“Betty”) ++ Charles Long, fellow of Caius College and rector of Risby (Suff.), John Pepys, Dr John Pepys, fellow of Trinity Hall and lawyer + Catherine, widow Hobson, Dr Thomas Pepys, physician, poorly appreciated by SP, unmarr., Paulina Pepys + Hammond Claxton of Booton (Norf.) Pepys' health suffered from the long hours that he worked throughout the period of the diary. Specifically, he believed that his eyesight had been affected by his work. He reluctantly concluded in his last entry, dated 31 May 1669, that he should completely stop writing for the sake of his eyes, and only dictate to his clerks from then on, which meant that he could no longer keep his diary. Pepys and his wife took a holiday to France and the Low Countries in June–October 1669; on their return, Elisabeth fell ill and died on 10 November 1669. Pepys erected a monument to her in the church of St Olave's, Hart Street, London. Pepys never remarried, but he did have a long- term housekeeper named Mary Skinner who was assumed by many of his contemporaries to be his mistress and sometimes referred to as Mrs. Pepys. In his will, he left her an annuity of £200 and many of his possessions. In 1672 he became an Elder Brother of Trinity House and served in this capacity until 1689; he was Master of Trinity House in 1676–1677 and again in 1685–1686. In 1673 he was promoted to Secretary to the Admiralty Commission and elected MP for Castle Rising in Norfolk. In 1673 he was involved with the establishment of the Royal Mathematical School at Christ's Hospital, which was to train 40 boys annually in navigation, for the benefit of the Royal Navy and the English Merchant Navy. In 1675 he was appointed a Governor of Christ's Hospital and for many years he took a close interest in its affairs. Among his papers are two detailed memoranda on the administration of the school. In 1699, after the successful conclusion of a seven-year campaign to get the master of the Mathematical School replaced by a man who knew more about the sea, he was rewarded for his service as a Governor by being made a Freeman of the City of London. He also served as Master (without ever having been a Freeman or Liveryman) of the Clothworkers' Company (1677-8). At the beginning of 1679 Pepys was elected MP for Harwich in Charles II's third parliament which formed part of the Cavalier Parliament. He was elected along with Sir Anthony Deane, a Harwich alderman and leading naval architect, to whom Pepys had been patron since 1662. By May of that year, they were under attack from their political enemies. Pepys resigned as Secretary to the Admiralty. They were imprisoned in the Tower of London on suspicion of treasonable correspondence with France, specifically leaking naval intelligence. The charges are believed to have been fabricated under the direction of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury. Pepys was accused, among other things, of being a papist. They were released in July, but proceedings against them were not dropped until June 1680. Though he had resigned from the Tangier committee in 1679, in 1683 he was sent to Tangier to assist Lord Dartmouth with the evacuation and abandonment of the English colony. After six months' service, he travelled back through Spain accompanied by the naval engineer Edmund Dummer, returning to England after a particularly rough passage on 30 March 1684. In June 1684, once more in favour, he was appointed King's Secretary for the affairs of the Admiralty, a post that he retained after the death of Charles II (February 1685) and the accession of James II. The phantom Pepys Island, alleged to be near South Georgia, was named after him in 1684, having been first "discovered" during his tenure at the Admiralty. From 1685 to 1688, he was active not only as Secretary for the Admiralty, but also as MP for Harwich. He had been elected MP for Sandwich, but this election was contested and he immediately withdrew to Harwich. When James fled the country at the end of 1688, Pepys' career also came to an end. In January 1689, he was defeated in the parliamentary election at Harwich; in February, one week after the accession of William III and Mary II, he resigned his secretaryship. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1665 and served as its President from 1 December 1684 to 30 November 1686. Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica was published during this period, and its title page bears Pepys' name. There is a probability problem called the "Newton–Pepys problem" that arose out of correspondence between Newton and Pepys about whether one is more likely to roll at least one six with six dice or at least two sixes with twelve dice. It has only recently been noted that the gambling advice which Newton gave Pepys was correct, while the logical argument with which Newton accompanied it was unsound. He was imprisoned on suspicion of Jacobitism from May to July 1689 and again in June 1690, but no charges were ever successfully brought against him. After his release, he retired from public life at age 57. He moved out of London ten years later (1701) to a house in Clapham owned by his friend William Hewer, who had begun his career working for Pepys in the admiralty. Clapham was in the country at the time; it is now part of inner London. Pepys lived there until his death on 26 May 1703. He had no children and bequeathed his estate to his unmarried nephew John Jackson. Pepys had disinherited his nephew Samuel Jackson for marrying contrary to his wishes. When John Jackson died in 1724, Pepys' estate reverted to Anne, daughter of Archdeacon Samuel Edgeley, niece of Will Hewer and sister of Hewer Edgeley, nephew and godson of Pepys' old Admiralty employee and friend Will Hewer. Hewer was also childless and left his immense estate to his nephew Hewer Edgeley (consisting mostly of the Clapham property, as well as lands in Clapham, London, Westminster and Norfolk) on condition that the nephew (and godson) would adopt the surname Hewer. So Will Hewer's heir became Hewer Edgeley-Hewer, and he adopted the old Will Hewer home in Clapham as his residence. That is how the Edgeley family acquired the estates of both Samuel Pepys and Will Hewer, sister Anne inheriting Pepys' estate, and brother Hewer inheriting that of Will Hewer. On the death of Hewer Edgeley-Hewer in 1728, the old Hewer estate went to Edgeley-Hewer's widow Elizabeth, who left the estate to Levett Blackborne, the son of Abraham Blackborne, merchant of Clapham, and other family members, who later sold it off in lots. Lincoln's Inn barrister Levett Blackborne also later acted as attorney in legal scuffles for the heirs who had inherited the Pepys estate. Pepys' former protégé and friend Hewer acted as the executor of Pepys' estate. Pepys was buried along with his wife in St Olave's Church, Hart Street in London. Pepys was a lifelong bibliophile and carefully nurtured his large collection of books, manuscripts, and prints. At his death, there were more than 3,000 volumes, including the diary, all carefully catalogued and indexed; they form one of the most important surviving 17th-century private libraries. The most important items in the Library are the six original bound manuscripts of Pepys' diary, but there are other remarkable holdings, including: Incunabula by William Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and Richard Pynson, Sixty medieval manuscripts, The Pepys Manuscript, a late-15th-century English choirbook, Naval records such as two of the 'Anthony Rolls', illustrating the Royal Navy's ships c. 1546, including the Mary Rose, Sir Francis Drake's personal almanac, Over 1,800 printed ballads, one of the finest collections in existence. Pepys made detailed provisions in his will for the preservation of his book collection. His nephew and heir John Jackson died in 1723, when it was transferred intact to Magdalene College, Cambridge, where it can be seen in the Pepys Building. The bequest included all the original bookcases and his elaborate instructions that placement of the books "be strictly reviewed and, where found requiring it, more nicely adjusted". Motivated by the publication of Evelyn's Diary, Lord Granville deciphered a few pages. John Smith (later the Rector of St Mary the Virgin in Baldock) was then engaged to transcribe the diaries into plain English. He laboured at this task for three years, from 1819 to 1822, unaware until nearly finished that a key to the shorthand system was stored in Pepys' library a few shelves above the diary volumes. Others had apparently succeeded in reading the diary earlier, perhaps knowing about the key, because a work of 1812 quotes from a passage of it. Smith's transcription, which is also kept in the Pepys Library, was the basis for the first published edition of the diary, edited by Lord Braybrooke, released in two volumes in 1825. A second transcription, done with the benefit of the key, but often less accurately, was completed in 1875 by Mynors Bright and published in 1875–1879. This added about a third to the previously published text, but still left only about 80% of the diary in print. Henry B. Wheatley, drawing on both his predecessors, produced a new edition in 1893–1899, revised in 1926, with extensive notes and an index. All of these editions omitted passages (chiefly about Pepys' sexual adventures) which the editors thought too obscene ever to be printed. Wheatley, in the preface to his edition noted, "a few passages which cannot possibly be printed. It may be thought by some that these omissions are due to an unnecessary squeamishness, but it is not really so, and readers are therefore asked to have faith in the judgement of the editor." The complete, unexpurgated, and definitive edition, edited and transcribed by Robert Latham and William Matthews, was published by Bell & Hyman, London, and the University of California Press, Berkeley, in nine volumes, along with separate Companion and Index volumes, over the years 1970–1983. Various single-volume abridgements of this text are also available. The Introduction in volume I provides a scholarly but readable account of "The Diarist", "The Diary" ("The Manuscript", "The Shorthand", and "The Text"), "History of Previous Editions", "The Diary as Literature", and "The Diary as History". The Companion provides a long series of detailed essays about Pepys and his world. The first unabridged recording of the diary as an audiobook was published in 2015 by Naxos AudioBooks. On 1 January 2003 Phil Gyford started a weblog, pepysdiary.com, that serialised the diary one day each evening together with annotations from public and experts alike. In December 2003 the blog won the best specialist blog award in The Guardian's Best of British Blogs. In 1958 the BBC produced a serial called Samuel Pepys!, in which Peter Sallis played the title role. In 2003 a television film The Private Life of Samuel Pepys aired on BBC2. Steve Coogan played Pepys. The 2004 film Stage Beauty concerns London theatre in the 17th century and is based on Jeffrey Hatcher's play Compleat Female Stage Beauty, which in turn was inspired by a reference in Pepys' diary to the actor Edward Kynaston, who played female roles in the days when women were forbidden to appear on stage. Pepys is a character in the film and is portrayed as an ardent devotee of the theatre. Hugh Bonneville plays Pepys. Daniel Mays portrays Pepys in The Great Fire, a 2014 BBC television miniseries. Pepys has also been portrayed in various other film and television productions, played by diverse actors including Mervyn Johns, Michael Palin, Michael Graham Cox and Philip Jackson. BBC Radio 4 has broadcast serialised radio dramatisations of the diary. In the 1990s it was performed as a Classic Serial starring Bill Nighy, and in the 2010s it was serialised as part of the Woman's Hour radio magazine programme. One audiobook edition of Pepys' diary selections is narrated by Kenneth Branagh. A fictionalised Pepys narrates the second chapter of Harry Turtledove's science fiction novel A Different Flesh (serialised 1985–1988, book form 1988). This chapter is entitled "And So to Bed" and written in the form of entries from the Pepys diary. The entries detail Pepys' encounter with American Homo erectus specimens (imported to London as beasts of burden) and his formation of the "transformational theory of life", thus causing evolutionary theory to gain a foothold in scientific thought in the 17th century rather than the 19th. Deborah Swift's 2017 novel Pleasing Mr Pepys is described as a "re- imagining of the events in Samuel Pepys's Diary". Several detailed studies of Pepys' life are available. Arthur Bryant published his three-volume study in 1933–1938, long before the definitive edition of the diary, but, thanks to Bryant's lively style, it is still of interest. In 1974 Richard Ollard produced a new biography that drew on Latham's and Matthew's work on the text, benefitting from the author's deep knowledge of Restoration politics. Other biographies include: Samuel Pepys: A Life, by Stephen Coote (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2000) and, Samuel Pepys and His World, by Geoffrey Trease (London: Thames and Hudson, 1972). The most recent general study is by Claire Tomalin, which won the 2002 Whitbread Book of the Year award, the judges calling it a "rich, thoughtful and deeply satisfying" account that unearths "a wealth of material about the uncharted life of Samuel Pepys". John Evelyn – contemporary diarist, Rota Club, Samuel Pepys Club Andrew Godsell "Samuel Pepys: A Man and His Diary" in "Legends of British History" 2008, C. S. Knighton, ‘Pepys, Samuel (1633–1703)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, (Oxford University Press, 2004). Editions of letters and other publications by Pepys Pepys, Samuel (1995) Robert Latham ed. Samuel Pepys and the Second Dutch War. Pepys's Navy White Book and Brooke House Papers Aldershot: Scholar Press for the Navy Records Society [Publications, Vol 133], – Some historical background on Pepys and the Royal Navy. The Diary. Volume I. Introduction and 1660., Volume II. 1661., Volume III. 1662., Volume IV. 1663., Volume V. 1664., Volume VI. 1665., Volume VII. 1666., Volume VIII. 1667., Volume IX. 1668–9., Volume X. Companion., Volume XI. Index., C. S. Knighton, Pepys and the Navy (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2003)., N. A. M. Rodger, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649–1815 (London: 2004 / New York: 2005). Includes an extensive specialist annotated bibliography., James Long and Ben Long, The Plot Against Pepys (Woodstock, NY and New York: Overlook Press, 2007). . A detailed account of the Popish Plot and Pepys' involvement in it, 1679–1680., C. Driver and M. Berridale-Johnson, Pepys at Table (London: Bell & Hyman, 1984)., Stephen Coote, Samuel Pepys: A Life (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 2000)., Tul Israngura na ayudhya. "Gender and Sibling Relations in the Life of Samuel Pepys, 1660-1669." Research Report, Chulalongkorn University, 2017. Works online Portals about Pepys Phil Gyford's Samuel Pepys' diary, which provides a daily entry from the diary, detailed background articles, plus annotations from readers., Duncan Grey's pages on Pepys Other sites Pepys library online at Magdalene College, Cambridge, including an essay by Robert Latham, Magdalene College Libraries' Blog, including the Pepys Library, Pepys Ballad Archive, The Samuel Pepys Club, Pepys, Visits, Internet Movies Database: list of actors who have portrayed Pepys in visual media. Robert Hooke FRS (; – 3 March 1703) was an English natural philosopher, architect and polymath. As a young adult, he was a financially impoverished scientific inquirer, but came into wealth and good reputation following his actions as Surveyor to the City of London after the great fire of 1666 (in which he appears to have performed more than half of all the surveys after the fire). At that time, he was also the curator of experiments of the Royal Society, and a member of its council, Gresham Professor of Geometry. He was also an important architect of his time—though few of his buildings now survive and some of those are generally misattributed—and was instrumental in devising a set of planning controls for London, the influence of which remains today. Allan Chapman has characterised him as "England's Leonardo". Hooke studied at Wadham College, Oxford, during the Protectorate where he became one of a tightly knit group of ardent Royalists led by John Wilkins. Here he was employed as an assistant to Thomas Willis and to Robert Boyle, for whom he built the vacuum pumps used in Boyle's gas law experiments, and conducted the experiments themselves. He built some of the earliest Gregorian telescopes and observed the rotations of Mars and Jupiter. In 1665 he inspired the use of microscopes for scientific exploration with his book, Micrographia. Based on his microscopic observations of fossils, Hooke was an early proponent of biological evolution. He investigated the phenomenon of refraction, deducing the wave theory of light, and was the first to suggest that matter expands when heated and that air is made of small particles separated by relatively large distances. He proposed that heat was the manifestation of faster movement of the particles of matter. He performed pioneering work in the field of surveying and map-making and was involved in the work that led to the first modern plan-form map, though his plan for London on a grid system was rejected in favour of rebuilding along the existing routes. He also came near to an experimental proof that gravity follows an inverse square law, and first hypothesised that such a relation governs the motions of the planets, an idea which was developed by Isaac Newton, and formed part of a dispute between the two which caused Newton to try to erase Hooke's legacy. He originated the terraqueous globe theory of geology, disputed the literal Biblical account of the age of the Earth, hypothesised the idea of extinction, and wrote numerous times of the likelihood that fossils on hill and mountain tops had been raised there by "earthquakes", a general term of the time for geological processes. Much of Hooke's scientific work was conducted in his capacity as curator of experiments of the Royal Society, a post he held from 1662, or as part of the household of Robert Boyle. In later life, Hooke became party to jealous intellectual disputes, which may have contributed to his relative historical obscurity outside of his association with Newton in particular. Much of what is known of Hooke's early life comes from an autobiography that he commenced in 1696 but never completed. Richard Waller mentions it in his introduction to The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke, M.D. S.R.S., printed in 1705. In the chapter Of Dr. Dee's Book of Spirits, Hooke argues that John Dee made use of Trithemian steganography, to conceal his communication with Queen Elizabeth I. The work of Waller, along with John Ward's Lives of the Gresham Professors (with a list of his major works) and John Aubrey's Brief Lives, form the major near-contemporaneous biographical accounts of Hooke. Robert Hooke was born in 1635 in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight to John Hooke and Cecily Gyles. Robert was the last of four children, two boys and two girls, and there was an age difference of seven years between him and the next youngest. Their father John was a Church of England priest, the curate of Freshwater's Church of All Saints, and his two brothers (Robert's uncles) were also ministers. Robert Hooke was expected to succeed in his education and join the Church. John Hooke also was in charge of a local school, and so was able to teach Robert, at least partly at home perhaps due to the boy's frail health. He was a Royalist and almost certainly a member of a group who went to pay their respects to Charles I when he escaped to the Isle of Wight. Robert, too, grew up to be a staunch monarchist. As a youth, Robert Hooke was fascinated by observation, mechanical works, and drawing, interests that he would pursue in various ways throughout his life. He dismantled a brass clock and built a wooden replica that, by all accounts, worked "well enough", and he learned to draw, making his own materials from coal, chalk and ruddle (iron ore). On his father's death in 1648, Robert was left a sum of forty pounds that enabled him to buy an apprenticeship; with his poor health throughout his life but evident mechanical facility his father had it in mind that he might become a watchmaker or limner (a decorator of illuminated manuscripts), though Hooke was also interested in painting. Hooke was an apt student, so although he went to London to take up an apprenticeship, and studied briefly with Samuel Cowper and Peter Lely, he was soon able to enter Westminster School in London, under Dr. Richard Busby. Hooke quickly mastered Latin and Greek, made some study of Hebrew, and mastered Euclid's Elements. Here, too, he embarked on his lifelong study of mechanics. It appears that Hooke was one of a group of students whom Busby educated in parallel to the main work of the school. Contemporary accounts say he was "not much seen" in the school, and this appears to be true of others in a similar position. Busby, an ardent and outspoken Royalist (he had the school observe a fast-day on the anniversary of the King's beheading), was by all accounts trying to preserve the nascent spirit of scientific inquiry that had begun to flourish in Carolean England but which was at odds with the literal Biblical teachings of the Protectorate. To Busby and his select students the Anglican Church was a framework to support the spirit of inquiry into God's work, those who were able were destined by God to explore and study His creation, and the priesthood functioned as teachers to explain it to those who were less able. This was exemplified in the person of George Hooper, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whom Busby described as "the best scholar, the finest gentleman and will make the completest bishop that ever was educated at Westminster School". In 1653, Hooke (who had also undertaken a course of twenty lessons on the organ) secured a chorister's place at Christ Church, Oxford. He was employed as a "chemical assistant" to Dr Thomas Willis, for whom Hooke developed a great admiration. There he met the natural philosopher Robert Boyle, and gained employment as his assistant from about 1655 to 1662, constructing, operating, and demonstrating Boyle's "machina Boyleana" or air pump. It was not until 1662 or 1663 that was awarded a Master of Arts degree. In 1659 Hooke described some elements of a method of heavier-than-air flight to Wilkins, but concluded that human muscles were insufficient to the task. Hooke himself characterised his Oxford days as the foundation of his lifelong passion for science, and the friends he made there were of paramount importance to him throughout his career, particularly Christopher Wren. Wadham was then under the guidance of John Wilkins, who had a profound impact on Hooke and those around him. Wilkins was also a Royalist, and acutely conscious of the turmoil and uncertainty of the times. There was a sense of urgency in preserving the scientific work which they perceived as being threatened by the Protectorate. Wilkins' "philosophical meetings" in his study were clearly important, though few records survive except for the experiments Boyle conducted in 1658 and published in 1660. This group went on to form the nucleus of the Royal Society. Hooke developed an air pump for Boyle's experiments based on the pump of Ralph Greatorex, which was considered, in Hooke's words, "too gross to perform any great matter." It is known that Hooke had a particularly keen eye, and was an adept mathematician, neither of which applied to Boyle. It has been suggested that Hooke probably made the observations and may well have developed the mathematics of Boyle's law. Regardless, it is clear that Hooke was a valued assistant to Boyle and the two retained a mutual high regard. A chance surviving copy of Willis' pioneering De anima brutorum, a gift from the author, was chosen by Hooke from Wilkins' library on his death as a memento at John Tillotson's invitation. This book is now in the Wellcome Library. The book and its inscription in Hooke's hand are a testament to the lasting influence of Wilkins and his circle on the young Hooke. The Royal Society was founded in 1660, and in April 1661 the society debated a short tract on the rising of water in slender glass pipes, in which Hooke reported that the height water rose was related to the bore of the pipe (due to what is now termed capillary action). His explanation of this phenomenon was subsequently published in Micrography Observ. issue 6, in which he also explored the nature of "the fluidity of gravity". On 5 November 1661, Sir Robert Moray proposed that a Curator be appointed to furnish the society with Experiments, and this was unanimously passed with Hooke being named. His appointment was made on 12 November, with thanks recorded to Dr. Boyle for releasing him to the Society's employment. In 1664, Sir John Cutler settled an annual gratuity of fifty pounds on the Society for the founding of a Mechanick Lecture, and the Fellows appointed Hooke to this task. On 27 June 1664 he was confirmed to the office, and on 11 January 1665 was named Curator by Office for life with an additional salary of £30 to Cutler's annuity. Hooke's role at the Royal Society was to demonstrate experiments from his own methods or at the suggestion of members. Among his earliest demonstrations were discussions of the nature of air, the implosion of glass bubbles which had been sealed with comprehensive hot air, and demonstrating that the Pabulum vitae and flammae were one and the same. He also demonstrated that a dog could be kept alive with its thorax opened, provided air was pumped in and out of its lungs, and noting the difference between venous and arterial blood. There were also experiments on the subject of gravity, the falling of objects, the weighing of bodies and measuring of barometric pressure at different heights, and pendulums up to . Instruments were devised to measure a second of arc in the movement of the sun or other stars, to measure the strength of gunpowder, and in particular an engine to cut teeth for watches, much finer than could be managed by hand, an invention which was, by Hooke's death, in constant use. In 1663 and 1664, Hooke produced his microscopy observations, subsequently collated in Micrographia in 1665. On 20 March 1664, Hooke succeeded Arthur Dacres as Gresham Professor of Geometry. Hooke received the degree of "Doctor of Physic" in December 1691. There is a widely reported but seemingly incorrect story that Dr Hooke corresponded with Thomas Newcomen in connection with Newcomen's invention of the steam engine. This story was discussed by Rhys Jenkins, a past President of the Newcomen Society, in 1936. Jenkins traced the origin of the story to an article "Steam Engines" by Dr. John Robison (1739–1805) in the third edition of the "Encyclopædia Britannica”, which says There are to be found among Hooke's papers, in the possession of the Royal Society, some notes of observations, for the use of Newcomen, his countryman, on Papin's boasted method of transmitting to a great distance the action of an mill by means of pipes, and that Hooke had dissuaded Newcomen from erecting a machine on this principle. Jenkins points out a number of errors in Robison's article, and questions whether the correspondent might in fact have been Newton, whom Hooke is known to have corresponded with, the name being misread as Newcomen. A search by Mr. H W Dickinson of Hooke's papers held by the Royal Society, which had been bound together in the middle of the 18th century, i.e. before Robison's time, and carefully preserved since, revealed no trace of any correspondence between Hooke and Newcomen. Jenkins concluded ... this story must be omitted from the history of the steam engine, at any rate until documentary evidence is forthcoming. In the intervening years since 1936 no such evidence has been found, but the story persists. For instance, in a book published in 2011 it is said that in a letter dated 1703 Hooke did suggest that Newcomen use condensing steam to drive the piston. Hooke was irascible, at least in later life, proud, and prone to take umbrage with intellectual competitors, though he was by all accounts also a staunch friend and ally and was loyal always to the circle of ardent Royalists with whom he had his early training at Wadham College, particularly Christopher Wren. His reputation suffered after his death and this is popularly attributed to a dispute with Isaac Newton over credit for his work on gravitation, the planets and to a lesser degree light. His dispute with Oldenburg about whether Oldenburg had leaked or passed on details of Hooke's watch escapement to others is another well-known example. Newton, as President of the Royal Society, did much to obscure Hooke, including, it is said, destroying (or failing to preserve) the only known portrait of the man. It did not help that the first biography of Wren, Parentalia, was written by Wren's son, and tended to exaggerate Wren's work over all others. Hooke's reputation was revived during the twentieth century through studies by Robert Gunther and Margaret 'Espinasse. After a long period of relative obscurity he has now been recognised as one of the most important scientists of his age. Hooke was apt to use ciphers and guard his ideas. As curator of Experiments to the Royal Society he was responsible for demonstrating many ideas sent in to the Society, and there is evidence that he would subsequently assume some credit for these ideas. Hooke also was immensely busy and thus unable—or in some cases unwilling, pending a way of profiting from the enterprise via letters patent—to develop all of his own ideas. This was a time of immense scientific progress, and numerous ideas were developed in several places simultaneously. None of this should distract from Hooke's inventiveness, his remarkable experimental facility, and his capacity for hard work. His ideas about gravitation, and his claim of priority for the inverse square law, are outlined below. He was granted a large number of patents for inventions and refinements in the fields of elasticity, optics, and barometry. The Royal Society's Hooke papers (recently discovered after disappearing when Newton took over) will open up a modern reassessment. Much has been written about the unpleasant side of Hooke's personality, starting with comments by his first biographer, Richard Waller, that Hooke was "in person, but despicable" and "melancholy, mistrustful, and jealous." Waller's comments influenced other writers for well over two centuries, so that a picture of Hooke as a disgruntled, selfish, anti-social curmudgeon dominates many older books and articles. For example, Arthur Berry said that Hooke "claimed credit for most of the scientific discoveries of the time." Sullivan wrote that Hooke was "positively unscrupulous" and possessing an "uneasy apprehensive vanity" in dealings with Newton. Manuel used the phrase "cantankerous, envious, vengeful" in his description. More described Hooke having both a "cynical temperament" and a "caustic tongue." Andrade was more sympathetic, but still used the adjectives "difficult", "suspicious", and "irritable" in describing Hooke. The publication of Hooke's diary in 1935 revealed other sides of the man that 'Espinasse, in particular, has detailed carefully. She writes that "the picture which is usually painted of Hooke as a morose and envious recluse is completely false." Hooke interacted with noted craftsmen such as Thomas Tompion, the clockmaker, and Christopher Cocks (Cox), an instrument maker. Hooke often met Christopher Wren, with whom he shared many interests, and had a lasting friendship with John Aubrey. Hooke's diaries also make frequent reference to meetings at coffeehouses and taverns, and to dinners with Robert Boyle. He took tea on many occasions with his lab assistant, Harry Hunt. Within his family, Hooke took both a niece and a cousin into his home, teaching them mathematics. Robert Hooke spent his life largely on the Isle of Wight, at Oxford, and in London. He never married, but his diary records that he had sexual relations with his niece, Grace, and several of his housekeepers. He at one point records that one of these housekeepers gave birth to a girl, but doesn't note the paternity of the child. On 3 March 1703, Hooke died in London, and a chest containing £8,000 in money and gold was found in his room at Gresham College. Although he had talked of leaving a generous bequest to the Royal Society which would have given his name to a library, laboratory and lectures, no will was found and the money passed to an illiterate cousin, Elizabeth Stephens. He was buried at St Helen's Bishopsgate, but the precise location of his grave is unknown. In 1660, Hooke discovered the law of elasticity which bears his name and which describes the linear variation of tension with extension in an elastic spring. He first described this discovery in the anagram "ceiiinosssttuv", whose solution he published in 1678 as "Ut tensio, sic vis" meaning "As the extension, so the force." Hooke's work on elasticity culminated, for practical purposes, in his development of the balance spring or hairspring, which for the first time enabled a portable timepiece – a watch – to keep time with reasonable accuracy. A bitter dispute between Hooke and Christiaan Huygens on the priority of this invention was to continue for centuries after the death of both; but a note dated 23 June 1670 in the Hooke Folio (see External links below), describing a demonstration of a balance-controlled watch before the Royal Society, has been held to favour Hooke's claim. It is interesting from a twentieth-century vantage point that Hooke first announced his law of elasticity as an anagram. This was a method sometimes used by scientists, such as Hooke, Huygens, Galileo, and others, to establish priority for a discovery without revealing details. Hooke became Curator of Experiments in 1662 to the newly founded Royal Society, and took responsibility for experiments performed at its weekly meetings. This was a position he held for over 40 years. While this position kept him in the thick of science in Britain and beyond, it also led to some heated arguments with other scientists, such as Huygens (see above) and particularly with Isaac Newton and the Royal Society's Henry Oldenburg. In 1664 Hooke also was appointed Professor of Geometry at Gresham College in London and Cutlerian Lecturer in Mechanics. On 8 July 1680, Hooke observed the nodal patterns associated with the modes of vibration of glass plates. He ran a bow along the edge of a glass plate covered with flour, and saw the nodal patterns emerge. In acoustics, in 1681 he showed the Royal Society that musical tones could be generated from spinning brass cogs cut with teeth in particular proportions. While many of his contemporaries believed in the aether as a medium for transmitting attraction or repulsion between separated celestial bodies, Hooke argued for an attracting principle of gravitation in Micrographia (1665). Hooke's 1666 Royal Society lecture on gravity added two further principles: that all bodies move in straight lines till deflected by some force and that the attractive force is stronger for closer bodies. Dugald Stewart quoted Hooke's own words on his system of the world. "I will explain," says Hooke, in a communication to the Royal Society in 1666, "a system of the world very different from any yet received. It is founded on the following positions. 1. That all the heavenly bodies have not only a gravitation of their parts to their own proper centre, but that they also mutually attract each other within their spheres of action. 2. That all bodies having a simple motion, will continue to move in a straight line, unless continually deflected from it by some extraneous force, causing them to describe a circle, an ellipse, or some other curve. 3. That this attraction is so much the greater as the bodies are nearer. As to the proportion in which those forces diminish by an increase of distance, I own I have not discovered it..." Hooke's 1670 Gresham lecture explained that gravitation applied to "all celestial bodies" and added the principles that the gravitating power decreases with distance and that in the absence of any such power bodies move in straight lines. Hooke published his ideas about the "System of the World" again in somewhat developed form in 1674, as an addition to "An Attempt to Prove the Motion of the Earth from Observations". Hooke clearly postulated mutual attractions between the Sun and planets, in a way that increased with nearness to the attracting body. Hooke's statements up to 1674 made no mention, however, that an inverse square law applies or might apply to these attractions. Hooke's gravitation was also not yet universal, though it approached universality more closely than previous hypotheses. Hooke also did not provide accompanying evidence or mathematical demonstration. On these two aspects, Hooke stated in 1674: "Now what these several degrees [of gravitational attraction] are I have not yet experimentally verified" (indicating that he did not yet know what law the gravitation might follow); and as to his whole proposal: "This I only hint at present", "having my self many other things in hand which I would first compleat, and therefore cannot so well attend it" (i.e. "prosecuting this Inquiry"). In November 1679, Hooke initiated a remarkable exchange of letters with Newton (of which the full text is now published). Hooke's ostensible purpose was to tell Newton that Hooke had been appointed to manage the Royal Society's correspondence. Hooke therefore wanted to hear from members about their researches, or their views about the researches of others; and as if to whet Newton's interest, he asked what Newton thought about various matters, giving a whole list, mentioning "compounding the celestial motions of the planetts of a direct motion by the tangent and an attractive motion towards the central body", and "my hypothesis of the lawes or causes of springinesse", and then a new hypothesis from Paris about planetary motions (which Hooke described at length), and then efforts to carry out or improve national surveys, the difference of latitude between London and Cambridge, and other items. Newton's reply offered "a fansy of my own" about a terrestrial experiment (not a proposal about celestial motions) which might detect the Earth's motion, by the use of a body first suspended in air and then dropped to let it fall. The main point was to indicate how Newton thought the falling body could experimentally reveal the Earth's motion by its direction of deviation from the vertical, but he went on hypothetically to consider how its motion could continue if the solid Earth had not been in the way (on a spiral path to the centre). Hooke disagreed with Newton's idea of how the body would continue to move. A short further correspondence developed, and towards the end of it Hooke, writing on 6 January 1679|80 to Newton, communicated his "supposition ... that the Attraction always is in a duplicate proportion to the Distance from the Center Reciprocall, and Consequently that the Velocity will be in a subduplicate proportion to the Attraction and Consequently as Kepler Supposes Reciprocall to the Distance." (Hooke's inference about the velocity was actually incorrect) In 1686, when the first book of Newton's Principia was presented to the Royal Society, Hooke claimed that he had given Newton the "notion" of "the rule of the decrease of Gravity, being reciprocally as the squares of the distances from the Center". At the same time (according to Edmond Halley's contemporary report) Hooke agreed that "the Demonstration of the Curves generated therby" was wholly Newton's. A recent assessment about the early history of the inverse square law is that "by the late 1660s," the assumption of an "inverse proportion between gravity and the square of distance was rather common and had been advanced by a number of different people for different reasons". Newton himself had shown in the 1660s that for planetary motion under a circular assumption, force in the radial direction had an inverse-square relation with distance from the center. Newton, faced in May 1686 with Hooke's claim on the inverse square law, denied that Hooke was to be credited as author of the idea, giving reasons including the citation of prior work by others before Hooke. Newton also firmly claimed that even if it had happened that he had first heard of the inverse square proportion from Hooke, which it had not, he would still have some rights to it in view of his mathematical developments and demonstrations, which enabled observations to be relied on as evidence of its accuracy, while Hooke, without mathematical demonstrations and evidence in favour of the supposition, could only guess (according to Newton) that it was approximately valid "at great distances from the center". On the other hand, Newton did accept and acknowledge, in all editions of the Principia, that Hooke (but not exclusively Hooke) had separately appreciated the inverse square law in the solar system. Newton acknowledged Wren, Hooke and Halley in this connection in the Scholium to Proposition 4 in Book 1. Newton also acknowledged to Halley that his correspondence with Hooke in 1679–80 had reawakened his dormant interest in astronomical matters, but that did not mean, according to Newton, that Hooke had told Newton anything new or original: "yet am I not beholden to him for any light into that business but only for the diversion he gave me from my other studies to think on these things & for his dogmaticalness in writing as if he had found the motion in the Ellipsis, which inclined me to try it." One of the contrasts between the two men was that Newton was primarily a pioneer in mathematical analysis and its applications as well as optical experimentation, while Hooke was a creative experimenter of such great range, that it is not surprising to find that he left some of his ideas, such as those about gravitation, undeveloped. This in turn makes it understandable how in 1759, decades after the deaths of both Newton and Hooke, Alexis Clairaut, mathematical astronomer eminent in his own right in the field of gravitational studies, made his assessment after reviewing what Hooke had published on gravitation. "One must not think that this idea ... of Hooke diminishes Newton's glory", Clairaut wrote; "The example of Hooke" serves "to show what a distance there is between a truth that is glimpsed and a truth that is demonstrated". Hooke made tremendously important contributions to the science of timekeeping, being intimately involved in the advances of his time; the introduction of the pendulum as a better regulator for clocks, the balance spring to improve the timekeeping of watches, and the proposal that a precise timekeeper could be used to find the longitude at sea. In 1655, according to his autobiographical notes, Hooke began to acquaint himself with astronomy, through the good offices of John Ward. Hooke applied himself to the improvement of the pendulum and in 1657 or 1658, he began to improve on pendulum mechanisms, studying the work of Giovanni Riccioli, and going on to study both gravitation and the mechanics of timekeeping. Henry Sully, writing in Paris in 1717, described the anchor escapement as an admirable invention of which Dr. Hooke, formerly professor of geometry in Gresham College at London, was the inventor. William Derham also attributes it to Hooke. Hooke recorded that he conceived of a way to determine longitude (then a critical problem for navigation), and with the help of Boyle and others he attempted to patent it. In the process, Hooke demonstrated a pocket-watch of his own devising, fitted with a coil spring attached to the arbour of the balance. Hooke's ultimate failure to secure sufficiently lucrative terms for the exploitation of this idea resulted in its being shelved, and evidently caused him to become more jealous of his inventions. Hooke developed the balance spring independently of and at least 5 years before Christiaan Huygens, who published his own work in Journal de Scavans in February 1675. In 1665 Hooke published Micrographia, a book describing observations made with microscopes and telescopes, as well as some original work in biology. Hooke coined the term cell for describing biological organisms, the term being suggested by the resemblance of plant cells to cells of a honeycomb. The hand- crafted, leather and gold-tooled microscope he used to make the observations for Micrographia, originally constructed by Christopher White in London, is on display at the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Maryland. Micrographia also contains Hooke's, or perhaps Boyle and Hooke's, ideas on combustion. Hooke's experiments led him to conclude that combustion involves a substance that is mixed with air, a statement with which modern scientists would agree, but that was not understood widely, if at all, in the seventeenth century. Hooke went on to conclude that respiration also involves a specific component of the air. Partington even goes so far as to claim that if "Hooke had continued his experiments on combustion it is probable that he would have discovered oxygen". One of the observations in Micrographia was of fossil wood, the microscopic structure of which he compared to ordinary wood. This led him to conclude that fossilised objects like petrified wood and fossil shells, such as Ammonites, were the remains of living things that had been soaked in petrifying water laden with minerals. Hooke believed that such fossils provided reliable clues to the past history of life on Earth, and, despite the objections of contemporary naturalists like John Ray who found the concept of extinction theologically unacceptable, that in some cases they might represent species that had become extinct through some geological disaster. Charles Lyell wrote the following in his (1832). 'The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke M.D.,'... appeared in 1705, containing 'A Discourse of Earthquakes'... His treatise... is the most philosophical production of that age, in regard to the causes of former changes in the organic and inorganic kingdoms of nature. 'However trivial a thing,' he says, 'a rotten shell may appear to some, yet these monuments of nature are more certain tokens of antiquity than coins or medals, since the best of those may be counterfeited or made by art and design, as may also books, manuscripts, and inscriptions, as all the learned are now sufficiently satisfied has often been actually practised,' &c.; 'and though it must be granted that it is very difficult to read them and to raise a chronology out of them, and to state the intervals of the time wherein such or such catastrophes and mutations have happened, yet it is not impossible. One of the more-challenging problems tackled by Hooke was the measurement of the distance to a star (other than the Sun). The star chosen was Gamma Draconis and the method to be used was parallax determination. After several months of observing, in 1669, Hooke believed that the desired result had been achieved. It is now known that Hooke's equipment was far too imprecise to allow the measurement to succeed. Gamma Draconis was the same star James Bradley used in 1725 in discovering the aberration of light. Hooke's activities in astronomy extended beyond the study of stellar distance. His Micrographia contains illustrations of the Pleiades star cluster as well as of lunar craters. He performed experiments to study how such craters might have formed. Hooke also was an early observer of the rings of Saturn, and discovered one of the first observed double-star systems, Gamma Arietis, in 1664. A lesser-known contribution, however one of the first of its kind, was Hooke's scientific model of human memory. Hooke in a 1682 lecture to the Royal Society proposed a mechanistic model of human memory, which would bear little resemblance to the mainly philosophical models before it. This model addressed the components of encoding, memory capacity, repetition, retrieval, and forgetting – some with surprising modern accuracy. This work, overlooked for nearly 200 years, shared a variety of similarities with Richard Semon's work of 1919/1923, both assuming memories were physical and located in the brain. The model's more interesting points are that it (1) allows for attention and other top-down influences on encoding; (2) it uses resonance to implement parallel, cue-dependent retrieval; (3) it explains memory for recency; (4) it offers a single-system account of repetition and priming, and (5) the power law of forgetting can be derived from the model's assumption in a straightforward way. This lecture would be published posthumously in 1705 as the memory model was unusually placed in a series of works on the nature of light. It has been speculated that this work saw little review as the printing was done in small batches in a post-Newtonian age of science and was most likely deemed out of date by the time it was published. Further interfering with its success was contemporary memory psychologists' rejection of immaterial souls, which Hooke invoked to some degree in regards to the processes of attention, encoding and retrieval. Hooke was Surveyor to the City of London and chief assistant to Christopher Wren, in which capacity he helped Wren rebuild London after the Great Fire in 1666, and also worked on the design of London's Monument to the fire, the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Montagu House in Bloomsbury, and the Bethlem Royal Hospital (which became known as 'Bedlam'). Other buildings designed by Hooke include The Royal College of Physicians (1679), Ragley Hall in Warwickshire, Ramsbury Manor in Wiltshire and the parish church of St Mary Magdalene at Willen in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Hooke's collaboration with Christopher Wren also included St Paul's Cathedral, whose dome uses a method of construction conceived by Hooke. Hooke also participated in the design of the Pepys Library, which held the manuscripts of Samuel Pepys' diaries, the most frequently cited eyewitness account of the Great Fire of London. Hooke and Wren both being keen astronomers, the Monument was designed to serve a scientific function as a telescope for observing transits, though Hooke's characteristically precise measurements after completion showed that the movement of the column in the wind made it unusable for this purpose. The legacy of this can be observed in the construction of the spiral staircase, which has no central column, and in the observation chamber which remains in place below ground level. In the reconstruction after the Great Fire, Hooke proposed redesigning London's streets on a grid pattern with wide boulevards and arteries, a pattern subsequently used in the renovation of Paris, Liverpool, and many American cities. This proposal was thwarted by arguments over property rights, as property owners were surreptitiously shifting their boundaries. Hooke was in demand to settle many of these disputes, due to his competence as a surveyor and his tact as an arbitrator. For an extensive study of Hooke's architectural work, see the book by Cooper. No authenticated portrait of Robert Hooke exists. This situation has sometimes been attributed to the heated conflicts between Hooke and Newton, although Hooke's biographer Allan Chapman rejects as a myth the claims that Newton or his acolytes deliberately destroyed Hooke's portrait. German antiquarian and scholar Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach visited the Royal Society in 1710 and his account of his visit specifically mentions him being shown the portraits of 'Boyle and Hoock' (which were said to be good likenesses), but while Boyle's portrait survives, Hooke's has evidently been lost. In Hooke's time, the Royal Society met at Gresham College, but within a few months of Hooke's death Newton became the Society's president and plans were laid for a new meeting place. When the move to new quarters finally was made a few years later, in 1710, Hooke's Royal Society portrait went missing, and has yet to be found. Two contemporary written descriptions of Hooke's appearance have survived. The first was recorded by his close friend John Aubrey, who described Hooke in middle age and at the height of his creative powers: The second is a rather unflattering description of Hooke as an old man, written by Richard Waller: Time magazine published a portrait, supposedly of Hooke, on 3 July 1939. However, when the source was traced by Ashley Montagu, it was found to lack a verifiable connection to Hooke. Moreover, Montagu found that two contemporary written descriptions of Hooke's appearance agreed with one another, but that neither matched the Time's portrait. In 2003, historian Lisa Jardine claimed that a recently discovered portrait was of Hooke, but this claim was disproved by William Jensen of the University of Cincinnati. The portrait identified by Jardine depicts the Flemish scholar Jan Baptist van Helmont. Other possible likenesses of Hooke include the following: A seal used by Hooke displays an unusual profile portrait of a man's head, which some have argued portrays Hooke., The engraved frontispiece to the 1728 edition of Chambers' Cyclopedia shows a drawing of a bust of Robert Hooke. The extent to which the drawing is based on an actual work of art is unknown., A memorial window existed at St Helen's Bishopsgate in London, but it was a formulaic rendering, not a likeness. The window was destroyed in the 1993 Bishopsgate bombing. In 2003, amateur history painter Rita Greer embarked on a self-funded project to memorialise Hooke. Her project aimed to produce credible images of him, both painted and drawn, that she believes fit the descriptions of him by his contemporaries John Aubrey and Richard Waller. Greer's images of Hooke, his life and work have been used for TV programmes in UK and US, in books, magazines and for PR. 3514 Hooke, an asteroid (1971 UJ), Craters on the Moon and on Mars are named in his honour., The Hooke Medal, Robert Hooke Science Centre, Westminster School, London, List of new memorials to Robert Hooke 2005 – 2009, The Boyle-Hooke plaque in Oxford Micrographia full text at Project Gutenberg, with illustrations at Internet Archive, includes An Attempt to prove the Annual Motion of the Earth, Animadversions on the Machina Coelestis of Mr. Hevelius, A Description of Helioscopes with other instruments, Mechanical Improvement of Lamps, Remarks about Comets 1677, Microscopium, Lectures on the Spring, etc., The Posthumous Works of Robert Hooke, The posthumous works of Robert Hooke, M.D. S.R.S. Geom. Prof. Gresh. etc. containing his Cutlerian lectures, and other discourses, read at the meetings of the illustrious Royal Society... illustrated with sculptures. To these discourses is prefixt the author's life, giving an account of his studies and employments, with an enumeration of the many experiments, instruments, contrivances and inventions, by him made and produced as curator of experiments to the Royal Society published by Richard Waller, R.S. Secr. Catenary, Great red spot, Hooke's atom, List of astronomical instrument makers, Optical microscope, Reticle (crosshair), Sash window, Savart wheel, Shadowgraph, Universal joint, Hooke's law Wilson, Curtis (1989), Ch. 13 "The Newtonian achievement in astronomy", pp. 233–274 in Planetary astronomy from the Renaissance to the rise of astrophysics: 2A: Tycho Brahe to Newton, Cambridge University Press, . Robert Gunther's Early Science in Oxford, a history of science in Oxford during the Protectorate, Restoration and Age of Enlightenment, devotes five of its fourteen volumes to Hooke., Hooke, Robert (1635–1703). Micrographia: or some physiological descriptions of minute bodies made by magnifying glasses with observations and inquiries thereupon..., (Published in the US as The Forgotten Genius) UCMP – Robert Hooke (1635–1703), The Monument – Dr. Robert Hooke, Robert Hooke, hosted by Westminster School, A timeline of Hooke's life, England's Leonardo, a lecture on Robert Hooke, An engraved bust of Robert Hooke, Micrographia, Hooke's Micrographia, at Project Gutenberg (downloadable collections, including searchable ASCII text and book as complete html document with images), Hooke's Micrographia, at Linda Hall Library, Lost manuscript of Robert Hooke discovered – from The Guardian, Manuscript bought for The Royal Society – from The Guardian, A Panoramic Virtual Tour of Hooke's Church at Willen – by Peter Loud, Robert Hooke's Books, a searchable database of books that belonged to or were annotated by Robert Hooke, Exploring our archives, a blog by researchers at the Royal Society exploring Hooke's lost manuscript, – A 60-minute presentation by Prof. Michael Cooper, with links to slides, audio, video, and a transcript, with references, The posthumous works of Robert Hooke (1705) – full digital facsimile from Linda Hall Library, Digitzed images of Micrographia housed at the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center

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Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body levels charges against a government official. Impeachment does not in itself remove the official definitively from office; it is similar to an indictment in criminal law, and thus it is essentially the statement of charges against the official. Whereas in some countries the individual is provisionally removed, in others they can remain in office during the trial. Once impeached, an individual must then face the possibility of conviction on the charges by a legislative vote, which is separate from the impeachment, but flows from it, and a judgment which convicts the official on the articles of impeachment entails the official's definitive removal from office. Because impeachment and conviction of officials involve an overturning of the normal constitutional procedures by which individuals achieve high office (election, ratification, or appointment) and because it generally requires a supermajority, they are usually reserved for those deemed to have committed serious abuses of their office. In the United States, for example, impeachment at the federal level is limited to those who may have committed "Treason, Bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors". Impeachment exists under constitutional law in many countries around the world, including Brazil, France, India, Ireland, the Philippines, Russia, South Korea, and the United States. The word "impeachment" likely derives from Old French empeechier from Latin word impedīre expressing the idea of catching or ensnaring by the 'foot' (pes, pedis), and has analogues in the modern French verb empêcher (to prevent) and the modern English impede. Medieval popular etymology also associated it (wrongly) with derivations from the Latin impetere (to attack). Some contend that the word comes from the Latin impicare (through the late-Latin impiciare, impiciamentum), that is the punishment that in Latin antiquity they gave to parricides, consisting in throwing them into the sea confined in a culleus, namely a sac made of esparto or hide and covered with pitch or bitumen on the outside, so that the water delayed in entering; they sometimes confined some aggressive beasts with the convict so to increase his last torments ("Culleus, tunica ex sparto im modum crumenae facta, quae liniebatur a populo pice et bitumine, in qua imcludebantur parricidae cum simia, serpente, et gallo; insuta mittebatur in mare et, contendentibus inter se animantibus, homo maioribus poenis afficiebatur"). The process was first used by the English "Good Parliament" against Baron Latimer in the second half of the 14th century. Following the British example, the constitutions of Virginia (1776), Massachusetts (1780) and other states thereafter adopted the impeachment mechanism, but they restricted the punishment to removal of the official from office. The Austrian Federal President can be impeached by the Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) before the Constitutional Court. The constitution also provides for the recall of the president by a referendum. Neither of these courses has ever been taken. This is likely because while Austrian Presidents are vested with considerable powers on paper, they act as a largely ceremonial figurehead in practice, and are thus unlikely to abuse their powers. The President of the Federative Republic of Brazil may be impeached by the Chamber of Deputies and tried and removed from office by the Federal Senate. The Brazilian Constitution requires that two-thirds of the Deputies vote in favor of the impeachment of the President and two-thirds of the Senators vote for conviction in the subsequent trial for removal from office. State governors and municipal mayors can also be impeached, tried and removed by the respective legislative bodies. Upon conviction, the officeholder has their political rights revoked for eight years—which bars them from running for any office during that time. Fernando Collor de Mello, the 32nd President of Brazil, resigned in 1992 amidst impeachment proceedings. Despite his resignation, the Senate nonetheless voted to convict him and bar him from holding any office for eight years, due to evidence of bribery and misappropriation. In 2016, the Chamber of Deputies initiated an impeachment case against President Dilma Rousseff on allegations of budgetary mismanagement. Following her impeachment by the Chamber of Deputies and her conviction by trial in the Senate, she was definitively replaced by Vice President Michel Temer, who had served as acting president while Rousseff's case was pending in the Senate. The President of Bulgaria can be removed only for high treason or violation of the constitution. The process is started by a two-thirds majority vote of the Parliament to impeach the President, whereupon the Constitutional Court decides whether the President is guilty of the crime of which he is charged. If he is found guilty, he is removed from power. No Bulgarian President has ever been impeached. The same procedure can be used to remove the Vice President of Bulgaria, which has also never happened. The process of impeaching the President of Croatia can be initiated by a two- thirds majority vote in favor in the Sabor and is thereafter referred to the Constitutional Court, which must accept such a proposal with a two-thirds majority vote in favor in order for the president to be removed from office. This has never occurred in the history of the Republic of Croatia. In case of a successful impeachment motion a president's constitutional term of five years would be terminated and an election called within 60 days of the vacancy occurring. During the period of vacancy the presidential powers and duties would be carried out by the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament in his/her capacity as Acting President of the Republic. In 2013, the constitution was changed. Since 2013, the process can be started by at least three-fifths of present senators, and must be approved by at least three-fifths of all members of Parliament. Also, the President can be impeached for high treason (newly defined in the Constitution) or any serious infringement of the Constitution. The process starts in the Senate of the Czech Republic which has the right to only impeach the president, and the Senate passes the case to the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, which has to decide the verdict against the President. If the Court finds the President guilty, then the President is removed from office and is permanently barred from being elected President of the Czech Republic again. No Czech president has ever been impeached, though members of the Senate sought to impeach President Vaclav Klaus in 2013. This case was dismissed by the court, which reasoned that his mandate had expired. In France the comparable procedure is called la destitution. The President of France can be impeached by the French Parliament for willfully violating the Constitution or the national laws. The process of impeachment is written in the 68th article of the French Constitution. A group of senators or a group of members of the National Assembly can begin the process. Then, both the French National Assembly and the French Senate have to acknowledge the impeachment. After the upper and lower houses' agreement, they unite to form the High Court. Finally, the High Court must decide to declare the impeachment of the President of France—or not. The Federal President of Germany can be impeached both by the Bundestag and by the Bundesrat for willfully violating federal law. Once the Bundestag or the Bundesrat impeaches the president, the Federal Constitutional Court decides whether the President is guilty as charged and, if this is the case, whether to remove him or her from office. The Federal Constitutional Court also has the power to remove federal judges from office for willfully violating core principles of the federal constitution or a state constitution. The impeachment procedure is regulated in Article 61 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany. There is no formal impeachment process for the Chancellor of Germany, however the Bundestag can replace the chancellor at any time by voting for a new chancellor (constructive vote of no confidence, Article 67 of the Basic Law). There has never been an impeachment against the President so far. Constructive votes of no confidence against the Chancellor occurred in 1972 and 1982, with only the second one being successful. The Chief Executive of Hong Kong can be impeached by the Legislative Council. A motion for investigation, initiated jointly by at least one-fourth of all the legislators charging the Chief Executive with "serious breach of law or dereliction of duty" and refusing to resign, shall first be passed by the Council. An independent investigation committee, chaired by the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal, will then carry out the investigation and report back to the Council. If the Council find the evidence sufficient to substantiate the charges, it may pass a motion of impeachment by a two-thirds majority. However, the Legislative Council does not have the power to actually remove the Chief Executive from office, as the Chief Executive is appointed by the Central People's Government (State Council of China). The Council can only report the result to the Central People's Government for its decision. Article 13 of Hungary's Fundamental Law (constitution) provides for the process of impeaching and removing the President. The President enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution while in office, but may be charged with crimes committed during his term afterwards. Should the President violate the constitution while discharging his duties or commit a willful criminal offense, he may be removed from office. Removal proceedings may be proposed by the concurring recommendation of one-fifth of the 199 members of the country's unicameral Parliament. Parliament votes on the proposal by secret ballot, and if two thirds of all representatives agree, the President is impeached. Once impeached, the President's powers are suspended, and the Constitutional Court decides whether or not the President should be removed from office. The Constitution of Iceland does not provide a process to impeach the President of Iceland. The President can be removed from office by a three- fourths majority in Parliament and a subsequent majority in a referendum. Cabinet ministers can be impeached by Parliament and their cases are adjudicated by the National Court. Since cabinet ministers can be relieved of duty only by the President, a guilty verdict can result in only a fine or imprisonment. The president and judges, including the chief justice of the supreme court and high courts, can be impeached by the parliament before the expiry of the term for violation of the Constitution. Other than impeachment, no other penalty can be given to a president in position for the violation of the Constitution under of the constitution. However a president after his/her term/removal can be punished for his already proven unlawful activity under disrespecting the constitution, etc. No president has faced impeachment proceedings. Hence, the provisions for impeachment have never been tested. The sitting president cannot be charged and needs to step down in order for that to happen. The Assembly of Experts can impeach the Supreme Leader of Iran and appoint a new one. The President of Iran can be impeached jointly by the members of the Assembly (Majlis) and the Supreme Leader. A new presidential election is then triggered. Abolhassan Banisadr, Iran's first president, was impeached in June 1981 and removed from the office. Mohammad-Ali Rajai was elected as the new president. Cabinet ministers can be impeached by the members of the Assembly. Presidential appointment of a new minister is subject to a parliamentary vote of confidence. Impeachment of ministers has been a fairly commonly-used tactic in the power struggle between the president and the assembly during the last several governments. In the Republic of Ireland formal impeachment applies only to the Irish president. Article 12 of the Irish Constitution provides that, unless judged to be "permanently incapacitated" by the Supreme Court, the president can be removed from office only by the houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) and only for the commission of "stated misbehaviour". Either house of the Oireachtas may impeach the president, but only by a resolution approved by a majority of at least two thirds of its total number of members; and a house may not consider a proposal for impeachment unless requested to do so by at least thirty of its number. Where one house impeaches the president, the remaining house either investigates the charge or commissions another body or committee to do so. The investigating house can remove the president if it decides, by at least a two-thirds majority of its members, both that the president is guilty of the charge and that the charge is sufficiently serious as to warrant the president's removal. To date no impeachment of an Irish president has ever taken place. The president holds a largely ceremonial office, the dignity of which is considered important, so it is likely that a president would resign from office long before undergoing formal conviction or impeachment. The Republic's Constitution and law also provide that only a joint resolution of both houses of the Oireachtas may remove a judge. Although often referred to as the "impeachment" of a judge, this procedure does not technically involve impeachment. In Italy, according to Article 90 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic can be impeached through a majority vote of the Parliament in joint session for high treason and for attempting to overthrow the Constitution. If impeached, the President of the Republic is then tried by the Constitutional Court integrated with sixteen citizens older than forty chosen by lot from a list compiled by the Parliament every nine years. Italian press and political forces made use of the term "impeachment" for the attempt by some members of parliamentary opposition to initiate the procedure provided for in Article 90 against Presidents Francesco Cossiga (1991), Giorgio Napolitano (2014) and Sergio Mattarella (2018). Members of the Liechtenstein Government can be impeached before the State Court for breaches of the Constitution or of other laws. As a hereditary monarchy the Sovereign Prince can not be impeached as he "is not subject to the jurisdiction of the courts and does not have legal responsibility". The same is true of any member of the Princely House who exercises the function of head of state should the Prince be temporarily prevented or in preparation for the Succession. In the Republic of Lithuania, the President may be impeached by a three-fifths majority in the Seimas. President Rolandas Paksas was removed from office by impeachment on April 6, 2004 after the Constitutional Court of Lithuania found him guilty of having violated his oath and the constitution. He was the first European head of state to have been impeached. Members of government, representatives of the national assembly (Stortinget) and Supreme Court judges can be impeached for criminal offenses tied to their duties and committed in office, according to the Constitution of 1814, §§ 86 and 87. The procedural rules were modeled after the U.S. rules and are quite similar to them. Impeachment has been used eight times since 1814, last in 1927. Many argue that impeachment has fallen into desuetude. In cases of impeachment, an appointed court (Riksrett) takes effect. The country's ruling coalition said on August 7, 2008, that it would seek the impeachment of President Pervez Musharraf, alleging the U.S.-backed former general had "eroded the trust of the nation" and increasing pressure on him to resign. He resigned on August 18, 2008. Another kind of impeachment in Pakistan is known as the vote of less-confidence or vote of mis-understanding and has been practiced by provincial assemblies to weaken the national assembly. Impeaching a president requires a two-thirds majority support of lawmakers in a joint session of both houses of Parliament. Impeachment in the Philippines follows procedures similar to the United States. Under Sections2 and 3, Article XI, Constitution of the Philippines, the House of Representatives of the Philippines has the exclusive power to initiate all cases of impeachment against the President, Vice President, members of the Supreme Court, members of the Constitutional Commissions (Commission on Elections, Civil Service Commission and the Commission on Audit), and the Ombudsman. When a third of its membership has endorsed the impeachment articles, it is then transmitted to the Senate of the Philippines which tries and decide, as impeachment tribunal, the impeachment case. A main difference from U.S. proceedings however is that only one third of House members are required to approve the motion to impeach the President (as opposed to a simple majority of those present and voting in their U.S. counterpart). In the Senate, selected members of the House of Representatives act as the prosecutors and the Senators act as judges with the Senate President presiding over the proceedings (the Chief Justice jointly presides with the Senate President if the President is on trial). Like the United States, to convict the official in question requires that a minimum of two thirds (i.e. 16 of 24 members) of all the Members of the Senate vote in favor of conviction. If an impeachment attempt is unsuccessful or the official is acquitted, no new cases can be filed against that impeachable official for at least one full year. The 1987 Philippine Constitution says the grounds for impeachment include culpable violation of the Constitution, bribery, graft and corruption, and betrayal of public trust. These offenses are considered "high crimes and misdemeanors" under the Philippine Constitution. The President, Vice President, Supreme Court justices, and members of the Constitutional Commission and Ombudsman are all considered impeachable officials under the Constitution. President Joseph Estrada was the first official impeached by the House in 2000, but the trial ended prematurely due to outrage over a vote to open an envelope where that motion was narrowly defeated by his allies. Estrada was deposed days later during the 2001 EDSA Revolution. In 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, impeachment complaints were filed against President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, but none of the cases reached the required endorsement of of the members for transmittal to, and trial by, the Senate. In March 2011, the House of Representatives impeached Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, becoming the second person to be impeached. In April, Gutierrez resigned prior to the Senate's convening as an impeachment court. In December 2011, in what was described as "blitzkrieg fashion", 188 of the 285 members of the House of Representatives voted to transmit the 56-page Articles of Impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. To date, three officials had been successfully impeached by the House of Representatives, and two were not convicted. The latter, Chief Justice Renato C. Corona, was convicted on May 29, 2012, by the Senate under Article II of the Articles of Impeachment (for betraying public trust), with 20–3 votes from the Senator Judges. In Polish law there is no impeachment procedure defined, as it is present in the other countries. Infringements of the law can be investigated only by special Parliament's Committee or (if accusations involve people holding the highest offices of state) by the State Tribunal. The State Tribunal is empowered to rule for the removal of individuals from public office but it is not a common practice. The President can be impeached by Parliament and is then suspended. A referendum then follows to determine whether the suspended President should be removed from office. President Traian Băsescu was impeached twice by the Parliament: in 2007 and more recently in July 2012. A referendum was held on May 19, 2007 and a large majority of the electorate voted against removing the president from office. For the most recent suspension a referendum was held on July 29, 2012; the results were heavily against the president, but the referendum was invalidated due to low turnout. The President of Russia can be impeached if both the State Duma (which initiates the impeachment process through the formation of a special investigation committee) and the Federation Council of Russia vote by a two- thirds majority in favor of impeachment and, additionally, the Supreme Court finds the President guilty of treason or a similarly heavy crime against the nation and the Constitutional Court confirms that the constitutional procedure of the impeachment process was correctly observed. In 1995–1999, the Duma made several attempts to impeach then-President Boris Yeltsin, but they never had a sufficient number of votes for the process to reach the Federation Council. The Constitution of Singapore allows the impeachment of a sitting President on charges of treason, violation of the Constitution, corruption, or attempting to mislead the Presidential Elections Committee for the purpose of demonstrating eligibility to be elected as President. The Prime Minister or at least one-quarter of all Members of Parliament (MPs) can pass an impeachment motion, which can succeed only if at least half of all MPs (excluding nominated Members) vote in favor, whereupon the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court will appoint a tribunal to investigate allegations against the President. If the tribunal finds the President guilty, or otherwise declares that the President is "permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office by reason of mental or physical infirmity", Parliament will hold a vote on a resolution to remove the President from office, which requires a three-quarters majority to succeed. No President has ever been removed from office in this fashion. According to the Article 65 Clause 1 of Constitution of South Korea, if President, Prime Minister, or other state council members including Supreme Court and Constitutional court members, violate the Constitution or other laws of official duty, the National Assembly can impeach them. Clause2 states the impeachment bill may be proposed by one third or more of the total members of the National Assembly, and shall require majority voting and approved by two thirds or more of the total members of the National Assembly. This article also states that any person against whom a motion for impeachment has been passed shall be suspended from exercising his power until the impeachment has been adjudicated and shall not extend further than removal from public office. Provided, that it shall not exempt the person impeached from civil or criminal liability. Two presidents have been impeached since the foundation of the Sixth Republic of Korea and adoption of the new Constitution of South Korea in 1987. Roh Moo-hyun in 2004 was impeached by the National Assembly but was overturned by the Constitutional Court. Park Geun-hye in 2016 was impeached by the National Assembly, and the impeachment was confirmed by the Constitutional Court on March 10, 2017. In Taiwan, according to the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China, impeachment of the president or the vice president by the Legislative Yuan shall be initiated upon the proposal of more than one-half of the total members of the Legislative Yuan and passed by more than two-thirds of the total members of the Legislative Yuan, whereupon it shall be presented to the grand justices of the Judicial Yuan for adjudication. In Turkey, according to the Constitution, the Grand National Assembly may initiate an investigation of the President, the Vice President or any member of the Cabinet upon the proposal of simple majority of its total members, and within a period less than a month, the approval of three-fifths of the total members. The investigation would be carried out by a commission of fifteen members of the Assembly, each nominated by the political parties in proportion to their representation therein. The Commission would submit its report indicating the outcome of the investigation to the Speaker within two months. If the investigation is not completed within this period, the Commission's time renewed for another month. Within ten days of its submission to the Speaker, the report would be distributed to all members of the Assembly, and ten days after its distribution, the report would be discussed on the floor. Upon the approval of two thirds of the total number of the Assembly by secret vote, the person or persons, about whom the investigation was conducted, may be tried before the Constitutional Court. The trial would be finalized within three months, and if not, a one-time additional period of three months shall be granted. The President, about whom an investigation has been initiated, may not call for an election. The President, who is convicted by the Court, would be removed from office. The provision of this article shall also apply to the offenses for which the President allegedly worked during his term of office. During the crisis which started in November 2013, the increasing political stress of the face-down between the protestors occupying Independence Square in Kiev and the State Security forces under the control of President Yanukovych led to deadly armed force being used on the protestors. Following the negotiated return of Kiev's City Hall on February 16, 2014, occupied by the protesters since November 2013, the security forces thought they could also retake "Maidan", Independence Square. The ensuing fighting from 17 through 21 February 2014 resulted in a considerable number of deaths and a more generalised alienation of the population, and the withdrawal of President Yanukovych to his support area in the East of Ukraine. In the wake of the President's departure, Parliament convened on February 22; it reinstated the 2004 Constitution, which reduced Presidential authority, and voted impeachment of President Yanukovych as de facto recognition of his departure from office as President of an integrated Ukraine. The President riposted that Parliament's acts were illegal as they could pass into law only by Presidential signature. In the United Kingdom, in principle anybody may be prosecuted and tried by the two Houses of Parliament for any crime. The first recorded impeachment is that of William Latimer, 4th Baron Latimer during the Good Parliament of 1376. The last was that of Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville in 1806. Over the centuries, the procedure has been supplemented by other forms of oversight including select committees, confidence motions, and judicial review, while the privilege of peers to trial only in the House of Lords was abolished in 1948, and thus impeachment, which has not kept up with modern norms of democracy or procedural fairness, is generally considered obsolete. Article One of the United States Constitution gives the House of Representatives the sole power of impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try impeachments of officers of the U.S. federal government. (Various state constitutions include similar measures, allowing the state legislature to impeach the governor or other officials of the state government.) In the United States, impeachment is only the first of two stages, and conviction during the second stage requires "the concurrence of two thirds of the members present". Impeachment does not necessarily result in removal from office; it is only a legal statement of charges, parallel to an indictment in criminal law. An official who is impeached faces a second legislative vote (whether by the same body or another), which determines conviction, or failure to convict, on the charges embodied by the impeachment. Most constitutions require a supermajority to convict. Although the subject of the charge is criminal action, it does not constitute a criminal trial; the only question under consideration is the removal of the individual from office, and the possibilities of a subsequent vote preventing the removed official from ever again holding political office in the jurisdiction where they were removed. The article on Impeachment in the United States discusses the following topics: Procedure, Federal impeachment investigations formally commenced and officials impeached, History of federal constitutional impeachment, Impeachment in the states Three United States presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives: Andrew Johnson in 1868, Bill Clinton in 1998, and Donald Trump in 2019. Johnson and Clinton were both acquitted and not removed from office by the Senate. Trump's trial in the Senate began on January 16, 2020. An impeachment process was commenced against Richard Nixon, but he resigned in 1974 to avoid likely impeachment. List of presidential impeachments Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government, which carries out and enforces federal laws. Article Two vests the power of the executive branch in the office of the president of the United States, lays out the procedures for electing and removing the president, and establishes the president's powers and responsibilities. Section 1 of Article Two establishes the positions of the president and the vice president, and sets the term of both offices at four years. Section 1's Vesting Clause declares that the executive power of the federal government is vested in the president and, along with the Vesting Clauses of Article One and Article Three, establishes the separation of powers among the three branches of government. Section 1 also establishes the Electoral College, the body charged with electing the president and the vice president. Section 1 provides that each state chooses members of the Electoral College in a manner directed by each state's respective legislature, with the states granted electors equal to their combined representation in both houses of Congress. Section 1 lays out the procedures of the Electoral College and requires the House of Representatives to hold a contingent election to select the president if no individual wins a majority of the electoral vote. Section 1 also sets forth the eligibility requirements for the office of the president, provides procedures in case of a presidential vacancy, and requires the president to take an oath of office. Section 2 of Article Two lays out the powers of the presidency, establishing that the president serves as the commander-in-chief of the military, among many other roles. This section gives the president the power to grant pardons, although there is some debate about the limitation set on this power. Some argue that this power cannot be used to stop an office holder from being impeached, while others go further and argue that the president cannot pardon criminal behavior for which an office holder has been impeached. A third view suggests that the constitution withholds the pardon power from the president while he is being impeached. Section 2 also requires the "principal officer" of any executive department to tender advice. Though not required by Article Two, President George Washington organized the principal officers of the executive departments into the Cabinet, a practice that subsequent presidents have followed. The Treaty Clause grants the president the power to enter into treaties with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. The Appointments Clause grants the president the power to appoint judges and public officials subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, which in practice has meant that presidential appointees must be confirmed by a majority vote in the Senate. The Appointments Clause also establishes that Congress can, by law, allow the president, the courts, or the heads of departments to appoint "inferior officers" without requiring the advice and consent of the Senate. The final clause of Section 2 grants the president the power to make recess appointments to fill vacancies that occur when the Senate is in recess. Section 3 of Article Two lays out the responsibilities of the president, granting the president the power to convene both houses of Congress, receive foreign representatives, and commission all federal officers. Section 3 requires the president to inform Congress of the "state of the union"; since 1913 this has taken the form of a speech referred to as the State of the Union. The Recommendation Clause requires the president to recommend measures s/he deems "necessary and expedient." The Take Care Clause requires the president to obey and enforce all laws, though the president retains some discretion in interpreting the laws and determining how to enforce them. Section 4 of Article Two establishes that the president and other officers can be removed from office through the impeachment process, which is further described in Article One. Section 1 begins with a vesting clause that confers federal executive power upon the president. Similar clauses are found in Article I and Article III; the former bestows federal legislative power exclusively to Congress, and the latter grants judicial power solely to the Supreme Court, and other federal courts established by law. These three articles together secure a separation of powers among the three branches of the federal government, and individually, each one entrenches checks and balances on the operation and power of the other two branches. Article I grants to Congress, and the Vesting Clause does not reassign those powers to the President. In fact, because those actions require legislation passed by Congress which must be signed by the president to take effect, those powers are not strictly executive powers granted to or retained by Congress per se. Nor were they retained by the U.S. Congress as leftovers from the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation, Continental Congress and its powers were abolished at the time the new U.S. Congress was seated and the new federal government formally and officially replaced its interim predecessor. And although the president is implicitly denied the power to unilaterally declare war, a declaration of war is not in and of itself a vehicle of executive power since it is literally just a public declaration that the U.S. government considers itself "at war" with a foreign political entity. Regardless of the inability to declare war, the president does have the power to unilaterally order military action in defense of the United States pursuant to "a national emergency created by attack upon the United States, its territories or possessions, or its armed forces". By U.S. law, this power is limited in that he must notify Congress within 48 hours after the beginning of military operations, explaining the source of his authority for the action. Once proper legal notification is given to the required members of Congress, military action can continue for up to 60 days without further authorization from Congress, or up to 90 days if the president "determines and certifies to the Congress in writing that unavoidable military necessity respecting the safety of United States Armed Forces requires the continued use of such armed forces in the course of bringing about a prompt removal of such forces." As treaties are by U.S. law official agreements with foreign governments recognized as such only after Senate ratification, the president obviously cannot make treaties unilaterally. However, the president does determine and decide U.S. foreign policy, and can enter into non-binding discussions and give conditional approval to agreements reached with foreign governments subject to Senate ratification at a future date. Additionally, since official treaties are specifically created under and by constitutional U.S. law, and are entered into by both government and the people as a whole, in their capacity as head of state and as the single individual representative of the United States and its citizens, the president does have Coauthority and Constitutional duty to unilaterally withdraw the United States from treaties if he or she determines the best interests and well being of the U.S. and its citizens are benefited by doing so. As far as presidential appointments, as with treaties a person is not officially and legally appointed to a position until their appointment is approved by the Senate. Prior to Senate approval and publication of that approval along with an official date and time for their swearing-in and assumption of duties and responsibilities, they are nominees rather than appointees. And again, the president nominates people for specific positions at their pleasure and can do so without or in spite of Senate advice. Senate consent occurs when a majority of senators votes to approve and therefore appoint a nominee. The head of the Executive Branch is the president. Although also named in this first clause, the vice president is not constitutionally vested with any executive power. Nonetheless, the Constitution dictates that the president and vice president are to be elected at the same time, for the same term, and by the same constituency. The framers' intent was to preserve the independence of the executive branch should the person who was vice president succeed to the duties of the presidency. Under the U.S. Constitution the president and vice president are chosen by electors, under a constitutional grant of authority delegated to the legislatures of the several states. The Constitution reserves the choice of the precise manner for creating electors to the will of the state legislatures. It does not define or delimit what process a state legislature may use to create its state college of electors. In practice, the state legislatures have generally chosen to create electors through an indirect popular vote, since the 1820s. Most states have a "winner-take-all" system in which the candidate with the most votes in the state gets all the electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska allow individual congressional districts to elect one elector. In an indirect popular vote, it is the names of the candidates who are on the ballot to be elected. Most states do not put the names of the electors on the ballot. It is generally understood by the voters and the electors themselves that they are the representative "stand-ins" for the candidates and are expected to cast their electoral college ballots for the president and vice president who appeared on the ballot. The actual electors being voted for are usually selected by the candidate's party. There are a few cases where some electors have refused to vote for the designated candidate. (See "Faithless Elector".) Many states have mandated in law that electors shall cast their electoral college ballot for the designated presidential candidate. The constitutionality of such mandates is uncertain. Each state chooses as many electors as it has representatives and senators representing it in Congress. Under the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia may choose no more electors than the state with the lowest number of electoral votes (in effect, three electors), although since that amendment's ratification the District's population has never reached the threshold that would otherwise entitle it to choose four or more electors. U.S. senators, representatives and federal government officials are barred from becoming electors; in practice, the two major federal parties frequently select senior state party and government officials (up to and including governors) to serve as electors. In modern practice, each state chooses its electors in popular elections. Once chosen, the electors meet in their respective states to cast ballots for the president and vice president. Originally, each elector cast two votes for president; at least one of the individuals voted for had to be from a state different from the elector's. The individual with the majority of votes became president, and the runner-up became vice president. In case of a tie between candidates who received votes from a majority of electors, the House of Representatives would choose one of the tied candidates; if no person received a majority, then the House could again choose one of the five with the greatest number of votes. When the House voted, each state delegation cast one vote, and the vote of a majority of states was necessary to choose a president. If second-place candidates were tied, then the Senate broke the tie. A quorum in the House consisted of at least one member from two-thirds of the state delegations; there was no special quorum for the Senate. This procedure was followed in 1801 after the electoral vote produced a tie, and nearly resulted in a deadlock in the House. While the Constitution reflects the Framers' clear preference for the president to be elected by a constituency independent of the Congress, one of the most palpable limitations created by the stipulation that electors meet in their respective states as opposed to a single venue was that given the constraints of eighteenth-century technology there was no practical means for that constituency to resolve deadlocked elections in a timely manner, thus necessitating the involvement of Congress in resolving deadlocked elections. Obviously, having the electors meet in the national capital or some other single venue could have permitted the electors to choose a president by means of an exhaustive ballot without Congressional involvement, but the Framers were dissuaded from such an arrangement by two major considerations. First, it would have been quite burdensome for electors from distant states to travel to the national capital using eighteenth century means for the sole purpose of electing the president – since they were to be barred from simultaneously serving in the federal government in any other capacity, electors would likely have no other reason to go there. But probably even more importantly, many Framers genuinely feared that if the electors met in a single venue, especially under the initial assumption that they would act independently as opposed to being bound to vote for particular candidates, they would be vulnerable to the influence of mobs who might try to ensure a particular result by means of threats and intimidation – this had been a fairly common occurrence in European elections for powerful officials by relatively small constituencies (for example, and perhaps in particular, in papal elections) from the Middle Ages up to the Constitution's creation. The 12th Amendment introduced a number of important changes to the procedure. Now, electors do not cast two votes for president; rather, they cast one vote for president and another for vice president. In case no presidential candidate receives a majority, the House chooses from the top three (not five, as before the 12th Amendment). The Amendment also requires the Senate to choose the vice president from those with the two highest figures if no vice presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes (rather than only if there's a tie for second for president). It also stipulates that to be the vice president, a person must be qualified to be the president. Congress sets a national Election Day. Currently, electors are chosen on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November (the first Tuesday after November 1), in the year before the president's term is to expire. The electors cast their votes on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December (the first Monday after December 12) of that year. Thereafter, the votes are opened and counted by the vice president, as president of the Senate, in a joint session of Congress. Section 1 of Article Two of the United States Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as president of the United States: At the time the president takes office they must be: a natural born citizen (or they became a citizen before September 17, 1787), at least 35 years old, an inhabitant of the United States for at least fourteen years. A person who meets the above qualifications, however, may still be constitutionally barred from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions: , gives the U.S. Senate the option of forever disqualifying anyone convicted in an impeachment case from holding any federal office., Section 3 of the 14th Amendment prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, from becoming president. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress., The 22nd Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected to the presidency more than twice (or once if the person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a presidential term to which someone else was originally elected). The wording of this clause caused much controversy at the time it was first used. When William Henry Harrison died in office, a debate arose over whether the vice president would become president, or if he would just inherit the powers, thus becoming an acting president. Harrison's vice president, John Tyler, believed that he had the right to become president. However, many senators argued that he only had the right to assume the powers of the presidency long enough to call for a new election. Because the wording of the clause is so vague, it was impossible for either side to prove its point. Tyler took the Oath of Office as president, setting a precedent that made it possible for later vice presidents to ascend to the presidency unchallenged following the president's death. The "Tyler Precedent" established that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president. The Congress may provide for a line of succession beyond the vice president. The current Presidential Succession Act establishes the order as the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate and then the fifteen Cabinet secretaries in order of each department's establishment. There are concerns regarding the constitutionality of having members of Congress in the line of succession, however, as this clause specifies that only an "officer of the United States" may be designated as a presidential successor. Constitutional scholars from James Madison to the present day have argued that the term "officer" excludes members of Congress. The 25th Amendment explicitly states that if the president dies, resigns or is removed from office, the vice president becomes president, and also establishes a procedure for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president. The Amendment further provides that the president, or the vice president and Cabinet, can declare the president unable to discharge his duties, in which case the vice president becomes Acting president. If the declaration is done by the vice president and Cabinet, the Amendment permits the president to take control back, unless the vice president and Cabinet challenge the president and two-thirds of both Houses vote to sustain the findings of the vice president and Cabinet. If the declaration is done by the president, he may take control back without risk of being overridden by the Congress. The president's salary, currently $400,000 a year, must remain constant throughout the president's term. The president may not receive other compensation from either the federal or any state government. According to the Joint Congressional Committee on Presidential Inaugurations, George Washington added the words "So help me God" during his first inaugural, though this has been disputed. There are no contemporaneous sources for this fact, and no eyewitness sources to Washington's first inaugural mention the phrase at all—including those that transcribed what he said for his oath. Also, the president-elect's name is typically added after the "I", for example, "I, George Washington, do..." Normally, the chief justice of the United States administers the oath. It is sometimes asserted that the oath bestows upon the president the power to do whatever is necessary to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution." Andrew Jackson, while vetoing an Act for the renewal of the charter of the national bank, implied that the president could refuse to execute statutes that he felt were unconstitutional. In suspending the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, President Abraham Lincoln claimed that he acted according to the oath. His action was challenged in court and overturned by the U.S. Circuit Court in Maryland (led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney) in Ex Parte Merryman, 17 F. Cas. 144 (C.C.D. Md. 1861). Lincoln ignored Taney's order. Finally, Andrew Johnson's counsel referred to the theory during his impeachment trial. Otherwise, few have seriously asserted that the oath augments the president's powers. The vice president also has an oath of office, but it is not mandated by the Constitution and is prescribed by statute. Currently, the vice presidential oath is the same as that for members of Congress. I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. In the landmark decision Nixon v. General Services Administration, Justice William Rehnquist, afterwards the chief justice, declared in his dissent the need to "fully describe the preeminent position that the president of the United States occupies with respect to our Republic. Suffice it to say that the president is made the sole repository of the executive powers of the United States, and the powers entrusted to him as well as the duties imposed upon him are indeed a powerful and incredible responsibility but as well as a great honor." The Constitution vests the president with Executive Power. That power reaches its zenith when wielded to protect national security. And federal courts in the United States must pay proper deference to the Executive in assessing the threats that face the nation. The president is the military's commander-in- chief; however Article One gives Congress and not the president the exclusive right to declare war. Nevertheless, the power of the president to initiate hostilities has been subject to question. According to historian Thomas Woods, "Ever since the Korean War, Article II, Section 2 [...] has been interpreted 'The president has the power to initiate hostilities without consulting Congress' [...] But what the framers actually meant by that clause was that once war has been declared, it was the president’s responsibility as commander-in-chief to direct the war. Alexander Hamilton spoke in such terms when he said that the president, although lacking the power to declare war, would have "the direction of war when authorized or begun." The president acting alone was authorized only to repel sudden attacks (hence the decision to withhold from him only the power to "declare" war, not to "make" war, which was thought to be a necessary emergency power in case of foreign attack). Since World War II, every major military action has been technically a U.S. military operation or a U.N. "police action", which are deemed legally legitimate by Congress, and various United Nations Resolutions because of decisions such as the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution or the Resolution of The Congress Providing Authorization for Use of Force In Iraq. The president may require the "principal officer" of any executive department to tender his advice in writing. While the Constitution nowhere requires a formal Cabinet, it does authorize the president to seek advice from the principal officers of the various departments as he (or she) performs their official duties. George Washington found it prudent to organize his principal officers into a Cabinet, and it has been part of the executive branch structure ever since. Presidents have used Cabinet meetings of selected principal officers but to widely differing extents and for different purposes. Secretary of State William H. Seward advocated the use of a parliamentary-style Cabinet government to President Abraham Lincoln, but was rebuffed. Later, Woodrow Wilson advocated use of a parliamentary-style Cabinet while he was a professor, but as president he would have none of it in his administration. In recent administrations, cabinets have grown to include key White House staff in addition to department and agency heads. President Ronald Reagan formed seven subcabinet councils to review many policy issues, and subsequent presidents have followed that practice. Pardons and reprieves may be granted by the president, except in cases of impeachment. There is currently no universally accepted interpretation of the impeachment exception. Some argue that the president simply cannot use a pardon to stop an officeholder from being impeached, while others suggest that crimes underlying an impeachment cannot be pardoned by the president. As ruled by the Supreme Court in United States v. Wilson (1833), the pardon could be rejected by the convict. Then, in Burdick v. United States (1915), the court specifically said, "Circumstances may be made to bring innocence under the penalties of the law. If so brought, escape by confession of guilt implied in the acceptance of a pardon may be rejected, preferring to be the victim of the law rather than its acknowledged transgressor, preferring death even to such certain infamy." Commutations (reduction in prison sentence), unlike pardons (restoration of civil rights after prison sentence had been served) may not be refused. In Biddle v. Perovich , the subject of the commutation did not want to accept life in prison but wanted the death penalty restored. The Supreme court said, "[a] pardon in our days is not a private act of grace from an individual happening to possess power. It is a part of the Constitutional scheme. When granted it is the determination of the ultimate authority that the public welfare will be better served by inflicting less than what the judgment fixed." The president exercises the powers in the Advice and Consent Clause with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president may enter the United States into treaties, but they are not effective until approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate. In Article II however, the Constitution is not very explicit about the termination of treaties. The first abrogation of a treaty occurred in 1798, when Congress passed a law terminating a 1778 Treaty of Alliance with France. In the nineteenth century, several presidents terminated treaties after Congress passed resolutions requesting the same. In 1854, however, President Franklin Pierce terminated a treaty with Denmark with the consent of the Senate alone. A Senate committee ruled that it was correct procedure for the president to terminate treaties after being authorized by the Senate alone, and not the entire Congress. President Pierce's successors, however, returned to the former procedure of obtaining authorization from both Houses. Some presidents have claimed to themselves the exclusive power of terminating treaties. The first unambiguous case of a president terminating a treaty without authorization, granted prior to or after the termination, occurred when Jimmy Carter terminated a treaty with the Republic of China. For the first time, judicial determination was sought, but the effort proved futile: the Supreme Court could not find a majority agreeing on any particular principle, and therefore instructed the trial court to dismiss the case. The president may also appoint judges, ambassadors, consuls, ministers and other officers with the advice and consent of the Senate. By law, however, Congress may allow the president, heads of executive departments, or the courts to appoint inferior officials. The Senate has a long-standing practice of permitting motions to reconsider previous decisions. In 1931, the Senate granted advice and consent to the president on the appointment of a member of the Federal Power Commission. The officer in question was sworn in, but the Senate, under the guise of a motion to reconsider, rescinded the advice and consent. In the writ of quo warranto proceedings that followed, the Supreme Court ruled that the Senate was not permitted to rescind advice and consent after the officer had been installed. After the Senate grants advice and consent, however, the president is under no compulsion to commission the officer. It has not been settled whether the president has the prerogative to withhold a commission after having signed it. This issue played a large part in the seminal court case Marbury v. Madison. At times the president has asserted the power to remove individuals from office. Congress has often explicitly limited the president's power to remove; during the Reconstruction Era, Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act, purportedly preventing Andrew Johnson from removing, without the advice and consent of the Senate, anyone appointed with the advice and consent of the Senate. President Johnson ignored the Act, and was later impeached and acquitted. The constitutionality of the Act was not immediately settled. In Myers v. United States, the Supreme Court held that Congress could not limit the president's power to remove an executive officer (the Postmaster General), but in Humphrey's Executor v. United States, it upheld Congress's authority to restrict the president's power to remove officers of the Federal Trade Commission, an "administrative body [that] cannot in any proper sense be characterized as an arm or an eye of the executive." Congress may repeal the legislation that authorizes the appointment of an executive officer. But it "cannot reserve for itself the power of an officer charged with the execution of the laws except by impeachment." During recesses of the Senate, the president may appoint officers, but their commissions expire at the conclusion of the Senate's next session. The president must give the Congress information on the "State of the Union" "from time to time." This is called the State of the Union Clause. Originally, presidents personally delivered annual addresses to Congress. Thomas Jefferson, who felt that the procedure resembled the speech from the throne delivered by British monarchs, chose instead to send written messages to Congress for reading by clerks. Jefferson's procedure was followed by future presidents until Woodrow Wilson reverted to the former procedure of personally addressing Congress, which has continued . Kesavan and Sidak explain the purpose of the State of the Union clause: The State of the Union Clause imposes an executive duty on the president. That duty must be discharged periodically. The president's assessment of the State of the Union must be publicized to Congress, and thus to the nation. The publication of the president's assessment conveys information to Congress—information uniquely gleaned from the president's perspective in his various roles as commander-in- chief, chief law enforcer, negotiator with foreign powers, and the like—that shall aid the legislature in public deliberation on matters that may justify the enactment of legislation because of their national importance. The president has the power and duty to recommend, for the consideration of Congress, such measures which the president deems as "necessary and expedient". At his inauguration George Washington declared in his : "By the article establishing the executive department it is made the duty of the president 'to recommend to your consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.'" This is the Recommendation Clause. Kesavan and Sidak explain the purpose of the Recommendation Clause: The Recommendation Clause also imposes an executive duty on the president. His recommendations respect the equal dignity of Congress and thus embody the anti-royalty sentiment that ignited the American Revolution and subsequently stripped the trappings of monarchy away from the new chief executive. Through his recommendations to Congress, the president speaks collectively for the People as they petition Government for a redress of grievances, and thus his recommendations embody popular sovereignty. The president tailors his recommendations so that their natural implication is the enactment of new legislation, rather than some other action that Congress might undertake. Finally, the president shall have executive discretion to recommend measures of his choosing. Sidak explained that there is a connection between the Recommendation Clause and the Petition Clause of the 1st Amendment: "Through his performance of the duty to recommend measures to Congress, the president functions as the agent of a diffuse electorate who seek the redress of grievances. To muzzle the president, therefore, is to diminish the effectiveness of this right expressly reserved to the people under the first amendment." Kesavan and Sidak also cited a Professor Bybee who stated in this context: "The Recommendation Clause empowers the president to represent the people before Congress, by recommending measures for the reform of government, for the general welfare, or for the redress of grievances. The Right of Petition Clause prevents Congress from abridging the right of the people to petition for a redress of grievances." The Recommendation clause imposes a duty, but its performance rests solely with the president. Congress possesses no power to compel the president to recommend, as he alone is the "judge" of what is "necessary and expedient." Unlike the Necessary and Proper Clause of Article I, which limits Congress's discretion to carrying out only its delegated powers, the phrase "necessary and expedient" implies a wider range of discretion for the president. Because this is a political question, there has been little judicial involvement with the president's actions under the clause as long as presidents have not tried to extend their legislative powers. In Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952), the Supreme Court noted that the Recommendations Clause serves as a reminder that the president cannot make law by himself: "The power to recommend legislation, granted to the president, serves only to emphasize that it is his function to recommend and that it is the function of the Congress to legislate." The Court made a similar point in striking down the line-item veto in Clinton v. City of New York (1998). When President Bill Clinton attempted to shield the records of the President's Task Force on Health Care Reform as essential to his functions under the Recommendations Clause, a federal circuit court rejected the argument and noted in Ass'n of American Physicians & Surgeons v. Clinton (1993): "[T]he Recommendation Clause is less an obligation than a right. The president has the undisputed authority to recommend legislation, but he need not exercise that authority with respect to any particular subject or, for that matter, any subject." To allow the government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered to call a special session of one or both houses of Congress. Since John Adams first did so in 1797, the president has called the full Congress to convene for a special session on 27 occasions. Harry Truman was the most recent to do so in July 1948 (the so called "Turnip Day Session"). Additionally, prior to ratification of the Twentieth Amendment (which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from December to January) in 1933, newly inaugurated presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties. Article II, Section 3, Clause 3 also authorizes the president to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this administrative power. The president receives all foreign ambassadors. This clause of the Constitution, known as the Reception Clause, has been interpreted to imply that the president possesses broad power over matters of foreign policy, and to provide support for the president's exclusive authority to grant recognition to a foreign government. The president must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." This clause in the Constitution imposes a duty on the president to enforce the laws of the United States and is called the Take Care Clause, also known as the Faithful Execution Clause or Faithfully Executed Clause. This clause is meant to ensure that a law is faithfully executed by the president even if he disagrees with the purpose of that law. Addressing the North Carolina ratifying convention, William Maclaine declared that the Faithful Execution Clause was "one of the [Constitution's] best provisions." If the president "takes care to see the laws faithfully executed, it will be more than is done in any government on the continent; for I will venture to say that our government, and those of the other states, are, with respect to the execution of the laws, in many respects mere ciphers." President George Washington interpreted this clause as imposing on him a unique duty to ensure the execution of federal law. Discussing a tax rebellion, Washington observed, "it is my duty to see the Laws executed: to permit them to be trampled upon with impunity would be repugnant to [that duty.]" According to former United States Assistant Attorney General Walter E. Dellinger III, the Supreme Court and the Attorneys General have long interpreted the Take Care Clause to mean that the president has no inherent constitutional authority to suspend the enforcement of the laws, particularly of statutes. The Take Care Clause demands that the president obey the law, the Supreme Court said in Humphrey's Executor v. United States, and repudiates any notion that he may dispense with the law's execution. In Printz v. United States, the Supreme Court explained how the president executes the law: "The Constitution does not leave to speculation who is to administer the laws enacted by Congress; the president, it says, "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed," Art. II, §3, personally and through officers whom he appoints (save for such inferior officers as Congress may authorize to be appointed by the "Courts of Law" or by "the Heads of Departments" with other presidential appointees), Art. II, §2." The president may not prevent a member of the executive branch from performing a ministerial duty lawfully imposed upon him by Congress. (See Marbury v. Madison (1803); and Kendall v. United States ex rel. Stokes (1838).) Nor may the president take an action not authorized either by the Constitution or by a lawful statute. (See Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952).) Finally, the president may not refuse to enforce a constitutional law, or "cancel" certain appropriations, for that would amount to an extra-constitutional veto or suspension power. Some presidents have claimed the authority under this clause to impound money appropriated by Congress. President Jefferson, for example, delayed the expenditure of money appropriated for the purchase of gunboats for over a year. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his successors sometimes refused outright to expend appropriated money. The Supreme Court, however, has held that impoundments without Congressional authorization are unconstitutional. It has been asserted that the president's responsibility in the "faithful" execution of the laws entitles him to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus. Article One provides that the privilege may not be suspended save during times of rebellion or invasion, but it does not specify who may suspend the privilege. The Supreme Court ruled that Congress may suspend the privilege if it deems it necessary. During the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the privilege, but, owing to the vehement opposition he faced, obtained congressional authorization for the same. Since then, the privilege of the writ has only been suspended upon the express authorization of Congress, except in the case of Mary Surratt, whose writ was suspended by President Andrew Johnson regarding her alleged involvement in the assassination of President Lincoln. In Mississippi v. Johnson, , the Supreme Court ruled that the judiciary may not restrain the president in the execution of the laws. In that case the Supreme Court refused to entertain a request for an injunction preventing President Andrew Johnson from executing the Reconstruction Acts, which were claimed to be unconstitutional. The Court found that "[t]he Congress is the legislative department of the government; the president is the executive department. Neither can be restrained in its action by the judicial department; though the acts of both, when performed, are, in proper cases, subject to its cognizance." Thus, the courts cannot bar the passage of a law by Congress, though it may later strike down such a law as unconstitutional. A similar construction applies to the executive branch. The president commissions "all the Officers of the United States." These include officers in both military and foreign service. (Under Article I, Section 8, the States have authority for "the Appointment of the Officers . . . of the [State] Militia . . ..") The presidential authority to commission officers had a large impact on the 1803 case Marbury v. Madison, where outgoing Federalist President John Adams feverishly signed many commissions to the judiciary on his final day in office, hoping to, as incoming Democratic- Republican President Thomas Jefferson put it, "[retire] into the judiciary as a stronghold." However, in his haste, Adams' secretary of State neglected to have all the commissions delivered. Incoming President Jefferson was enraged with Adams, and ordered his secretary of State, James Madison, to refrain from delivering the remaining commissions. William Marbury took the matter to the Supreme Court, where the famous Marbury was decided. The Constitution also allows for involuntary removal from office of the president, vice president, Cabinet secretaries, and other executive officers, as well as judges, who may be impeached by the House of Representatives and tried in the Senate. Any official convicted by the Senate is immediately removed from office, and the Senate may also order, by a simple majority, that the removed official be forever disqualified from holding any federal office. While no other punishments may be inflicted pursuant to the impeachment proceeding, the convicted party remains liable to trial and punishment in the courts for civil and criminal charges. Unitary executive theory Kilman, Johnny and George Costello (Eds). (2000). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation., CRS Annotated Constitution: Article 2, Mount, Steve. (2003). "Presidential Pardons." Impeachment in the Philippines is an expressed power of the Congress of the Philippines to formally charge a serving government official with an impeachable offense. After being impeached by the House of Representatives, the official is then tried in the Senate. If convicted, the official is either removed from office or censured. Impeachment followed by conviction is often the only way to forcibly remove a sitting official. While "impeachment" is often used to refer to the entire process of removing an official from office, it only formally refers to the indictment stage in the House of Representatives, not the trial stage in the Senate. Under the current Constitution, an official can be impeached if one third of the House of Representatives votes in favor. Since it takes only a simple majority to set the agenda or to adjourn the House, it can be difficult for a minority of one third to bring a vote and impeach an official. President Elpidio Quirino was accused in 1949 of using government fund to renovate Malacañang Palace, using government funds to purchase furniture for the Presidential Palace and linking him to alleged diamond smuggling. A Congressional committee rejected this complaint for lack of factual and legal basis. In 1964, President Diosdado Macapagal was accused of illegally importing rice to build public support in an election, illegally dismissing officials, using the military to intimidate the political opposition, and ordering the deportation of an American businessman who was in the custody of Congress in violation of the separation of governmental powers. A Congressional committee dismissed all the charges. President Ferdinand Marcos was accused by 56 lawmakers on 1985 of graft, economic plunder, unexplained wealth, granting monopolies to cronies, and other crimes. the following day the National Assembly committee dismissed the complaints after roughly five hours of discussions for continuing unsupported conclusions. President Corazon Aquino was accused by lawmakers in 1988 of graft and violating the Constitution. The charges were rejected the following month due to lack of evidence. President Joseph Estrada was accused of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust, and culpable violation of the Constitution during the impeachment of 2000, to determine the accusations, the House of Representatives choose 11 members to act as prosecutors with the Senate as the impeachment court and the senators as judges. On November 13, 2000, then-House Speaker Manny Villar sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial. The impeachment trial started on December 7, 2000, which was presided by then-Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. but was aborted on January 16, 2001 after the House private prosecutors walked out from the impeachment proceedings, to protest against the perceived dictatorial tendency of the eleven senator-judges, who supported President Estrada. The walkout led to Second EDSA Revolution and the downfall of President Estrada. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was accused in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 impeachment complaints for different imputations, specially attempting lying, cheating and stealing during 2004 presidential election against opposition candidate Fernando Poe, Jr.. However all impeachment cases were failed due to absence of one third vote from the members of Congress. President Benigno Aquino III was charged in 2014, of 4 impeachment complaints, in relations to the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) which was declared by the Supreme Court as Unconstitutional and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and United States, but the House Justice Committee rejects the complaints due to lack of substance. In 2017 and 2019, impeachment complaints have been filed against both President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo. Ombudsman Aniano Desierto was criticized by some for not aggressively investigating and prosecuting cases of corruption. The impeachment failed. COMELEC commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco was accused of graft and corruption, betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution. She allegedly showed bias for the multi-billion-peso voters registration and information system (VRIS) project, deciding to undertake it despite the lack of funds. Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. was accused of culpable violation of the Constitution, betrayal of the public trust and other high crimes. COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos was accused of ZTE national broadband network (NBN) deal and Hello Garci controversy but resigned eventually. Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was impeached on March 22, 2011 on charges of the office's underperformance and failure to act on several cases during then- President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's administration. The first impeachment complaint against Gutierrez was filed in 2009, but was dismissed later in that year in a House dominated by Arroyo's Lakas Kampi CMD party. In December 2011, 188 of the 285 members of the House of Representatives voted to transmit the 56-page Articles of Impeachment against Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona. Commission on Elections Chairman Andres D. Bautista had filed a resignation on October 11, 2017 but with effectivity date on December 31, 2017. But due to not stating immediate effectivity of the resignation, on the same day, the House of Representatives still voted to impeach the poll chief with 137 votes (more than 1/3 votes) from the House, overturning a justice committee resolution that earlier dismissed the complaint against him. Bautista eventually made his resignation effective later in the month, before the Senate convened as an impeachment court. Impeachment proceeding of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno was terminated after she was removed on May 11, 2018, via quo warranto by a special en banc session of the Supreme Court which also ruled that the Chief Justice post vacant; the petition alleged Sereno's appointment was void ab initio due to her failure in complying with the Judicial and Bar Council requirements These are the people who were impeached by the House of Representatives in plenary. To date, Corona's removal as Chief Justice and disqualification from public office is the only completion of the impeachment process. Estrada's impeachment trial ended prematurely, while Gutierrez and Bautista resigned before the Senate convened as an impeachment court. Based on Article XI, Section 2 of the Constitution The following officials may be subjected to impeachment: President of the Philippines, Vice President of the Philippines, Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Members of the Constitutional Commissions:, Ombudsman Other officials can be removed from offices but not by impeachment: those under the executive department may be dismissed by the president; members of Congress can be expelled by two-thirds vote of the chamber the member is a part of; local elected officials can be removed from office through recall. In the 1935 and 1973 constitutions, the President, the Vice President, the Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Auditor General were the impeachable officials. The Constitution limits the offenses to the following: culpable violation of the Constitution, treason, bribery, graft and corruption, other high crimes, or betrayal of public trust. In the 1935 and 1973 constitution, betrayal of public trust was not an impeachable offense. For purposes of impeachment, "culpable violation of the Constitution" is defined as "the deliberate and wrongful breach of the Constitution." Further, "Violation of the Constitution made unintentionally, in good faith, and mere mistakes in the proper construction of the Constitution, do not constitute an impeachable offense." According to the Revised Penal Code, treason is defined as "Any Filipino citizen who levies war against the Philippines or adheres to his/her enemies, giving them aid or comfort within the Philippines or elsewhere." The Revised Penal Code defines bribery in two forms: Direct bribery is "committed by any public officer who shall agree to perform an act constituting a crime, in connection with the performance of this official duties, in consideration of any offer, promise, gift or present received by such officer, personally or through the mediation of another.", Indirect bribery is "committed by a public officer when he accept gifts offered to him by reason of his office." Any violation of the Republic Act No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act is an impeachable offense, on which A public official found to have acquired, whether in his name or in the name of other persons, an amount of property and/or money manifestly out of proportion to his salary. Betrayal of public interest, inexcusable negligence of duty, tyrannical abuse of power, breach of official duty by malfeasance or misfeasance, cronyism favoritism, etc. to the prejudice of public interest and which tend to bring the office into disrepute. Offenses which like treason and bribery, are so serious and enormous a nature as to strike at the very life or the orderly workings of the government In Francisco Jr. vs. Nagmamalasakit na mga Manananggol ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino, Inc., the Supreme Court purposely refused to define the meaning of "other high crimes or betrayal of public trust," saying that it is "a non- justiciable political question which is beyond the scope of its judicial power." However, the Court refuses to name which agency can define it; the Court impliedly gives the power to the House of Representatives, which initiates all cases of impeachment. The Impeachment proceedings shall proceed in accordance to Article XI, Section 3 of the Constitution of the Philippines, as follows: Any citizen with an endorsement of a member of the House of Representative may file charges., The House Committee on Justice will decide by majority vote if the complaint, The House Committee will refer it to House Plenary that will be voted upon with at least one-third votes, The Senate will then try to convict the impeached official. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote., If convicted, there are two punishments the Senate can mete out: In the 1935 constitution, a two-thirds vote was needed to impeach an official by the House of Representatives, while a three-fourths vote in the Senate was required to convict. The 1987 (current) constitution limits the number of impeachment complaints that can be filed against an official to one per year. There has been controversy over what counts as an impeachment complaint. While some argued that for a complaint to count against the limit it must be voted on, and others have proposed other interpretations, the House has decided that any complaint filed fulfills the quota regardless of how well-formed it is or who filed it. Therefore, supporters of a vulnerable official can file a weak, flawed, or unconstitutional complaint, thereby using up the quota and protecting that official from impeachment for that year. There has also been debate about whether a year should be a calendar year, say 2006, or a full 12-month period. An example of how this limit works in practice are the attempts to impeach President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. While the Philippine impeachment procedures parallel the United States' impeachment procedures, the two procedures differ in two significant ways: the percentage needed to impeach and the numerical limit on impeachment procedures. If the President of the Philippines is on trial, such as in 2001, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines shall preside but not vote. Constitutional Basis and Annotations from lawphil.net, Rules of Procedure in Impeachment Proceedings (pdf), Archives for Arroyo Impeachment, Judging the Chief Justice: A Recapitulation by The CenSEI Report

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In photosynthesis, the light-dependent reactions take place on the thylakoid membranes. The inside of the thylakoid membrane is called the lumen, and outside the thylakoid membrane is the stroma, where the light-independent reactions take place. The thylakoid membrane contains some integral membrane protein complexes that catalyze the light reactions. There are four major protein complexes in the thylakoid membrane: Photosystem II (PSII), Cytochrome b6f complex, Photosystem I (PSI), and ATP synthase. These four complexes work together to ultimately create the products ATP and NADPH. The four photosystems absorb light energy through pigments—primarily the chlorophylls, which are responsible for the green color of leaves. The light-dependent reactions begin in photosystem II. When a chlorophyll a molecule within the reaction center of PSII absorbs a photon, an electron in this molecule attains an excited energy level. Because this state of an electron is very unstable, the electron is transferred from one to another molecule creating a chain of redox reactions, called an electron transport chain (ETC). The electron flow goes from PSII to cytochrome bf to PSI. In PSI, the electron gets the energy from another photon. The final electron acceptor is NADP. In oxygenic photosynthesis, the first electron donor is water, creating oxygen as a waste product. In anoxygenic photosynthesis various electron donors are used. Cytochrome bf and ATP synthase work together to create ATP. This process is called photophosphorylation, which occurs in two different ways. In non-cyclic photophosphorylation, cytochrome bf uses the energy of electrons from PSII to pump protons from the stroma to the lumen. The proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane creates a proton-motive force, used by ATP synthase to form ATP. In cyclic photophosphorylation, cytochrome bf uses the energy of electrons from not only PSII but also PSI to create more ATP and to stop the production of NADPH. Cyclic phosphorylation is important to create ATP and maintain NADPH in the right proportion for the light-independent reactions. The net-reaction of all light-dependent reactions in oxygenic photosynthesis is: The two photosystems are protein complexes that absorb photons and are able to use this energy to create a photosynthetic electron transport chain. Photosystem I and II are very similar in structure and function. They use special proteins, called light-harvesting complexes, to absorb the photons with very high effectiveness. If a special pigment molecule in a photosynthetic reaction center absorbs a photon, an electron in this pigment attains the excited state and then is transferred to another molecule in the reaction center. This reaction, called photoinduced charge separation, is the start of the electron flow and is unique because it transforms light energy into chemical forms. In chemistry, many reactions depend on the absorption of photons to provide the energy needed to overcome the activation energy barrier and hence can be labelled light-dependent. Such reactions range from the silver halide reactions used in photographic film to the creation and destruction of ozone in the upper atmosphere. This article discusses a specific subset of these, the series of light-dependent reactions related to photosynthesis in living organisms. The reaction center is in the thylakoid membrane. It transfers light energy to a dimer of chlorophyll pigment molecules near the periplasmic (or thylakoid lumen) side of the membrane. This dimer is called a special pair because of its fundamental role in photosynthesis. This special pair is slightly different in PSI and PSII reaction center. In PSII, it absorbs photons with a wavelength of 680 nm, and it is therefore called P680. In PSI, it absorbs photons at 700 nm, and it is called P700. In bacteria, the special pair is called P760, P840, P870, or P960. "P" here means pigment, and the number following it is the wavelength of light absorbed. If an electron of the special pair in the reaction center becomes excited, it cannot transfer this energy to another pigment using resonance energy transfer. In normal circumstances, the electron should return to the ground state, but, because the reaction center is arranged so that a suitable electron acceptor is nearby, the excited electron can move from the initial molecule to the acceptor. This process results in the formation of a positive charge on the special pair (due to the loss of an electron) and a negative charge on the acceptor and is, hence, referred to as photoinduced charge separation. In other words, electrons in pigment molecules can exist at specific energy levels. Under normal circumstances, they exist at the lowest possible energy level they can. However, if there is enough energy to move them into the next energy level, they can absorb that energy and occupy that higher energy level. The light they absorb contains the necessary amount of energy needed to push them into the next level. Any light that does not have enough or has too much energy cannot be absorbed and is reflected. The electron in the higher energy level, however, does not want to be there; the electron is unstable and must return to its normal lower energy level. To do this, it must release the energy that has put it into the higher energy state to begin with. This can happen various ways. The extra energy can be converted into molecular motion and lost as heat. Some of the extra energy can be lost as heat energy, while the rest is lost as light. (This re-emission of light energy is called fluorescence.) The energy, but not the e- itself, can be passed onto another molecule. (This is called resonance.) The energy and the e- can be transferred to another molecule. Plant pigments usually utilize the last two of these reactions to convert the sun's energy into their own. This initial charge separation occurs in less than 10 picoseconds (10 seconds). In their high- energy states, the special pigment and the acceptor could undergo charge recombination; that is, the electron on the acceptor could move back to neutralize the positive charge on the special pair. Its return to the special pair would waste a valuable high-energy electron and simply convert the absorbed light energy into heat. In the case of PSII, this backflow of electrons can produce reactive oxygen species leading to photoinhibition. Three factors in the structure of the reaction center work together to suppress charge recombination nearly completely. Another electron acceptor is less than 10 Å away from the first acceptor, and so the electron is rapidly transferred farther away from the special pair., An electron donor is less than 10 Å away from the special pair, and so the positive charge is neutralized by the transfer of another electron, The electron transfer back from the electron acceptor to the positively charged special pair is especially slow. The rate of an electron transfer reaction increases with its thermodynamic favorability up to a point and then decreases. The back transfer is so favourable that it takes place in the inverted region where electron-transfer rates become slower. Thus, electron transfer proceeds efficiently from the first electron acceptor to the next, creating an electron transport chain that ends if it has reached NADPH. The photosynthesis process in chloroplasts begins when an electron of P680 of PSII attains a higher-energy level. This energy is used to reduce a chain of electron acceptors that have subsequently lowered redox-potentials. This chain of electron acceptors is known as an electron transport chain. When this chain reaches PS I, an electron is again excited, creating a high redox-potential. The electron transport chain of photosynthesis is often put in a diagram called the z-scheme, because the redox diagram from P680 to P700 resembles the letter Z. The final product of PSII is plastoquinol, a mobile electron carrier in the membrane. Plastoquinol transfers the electron from PSII to the proton pump, cytochrome b6f. The ultimate electron donor of PSII is water. Cytochrome bf proceeds the electron chain to PSI through plastocyanin molecules. PSI is able to continue the electron transfer in two different ways. It can transfer the electrons either to plastoquinol again, creating a cyclic electron flow, or to an enzyme called FNR (Ferredoxin—NADP(+) reductase), creating a non- cyclic electron flow. PSI releases FNR into the stroma, where it reduces to NADPH. Activities of the electron transport chain, especially from cytochrome bf, lead to pumping of protons from the stroma to the lumen. The resulting transmembrane proton gradient is used to make ATP via ATP synthase. The overall process of the photosynthetic electron transport chain in chloroplasts is: PS II is extremely complex, a highly organized transmembrane structure that contains a water-splitting complex, chlorophylls and carotenoid pigments, a reaction center (P680), pheophytin (a pigment similar to chlorophyll), and two quinones. It uses the energy of sunlight to transfer electrons from water to a mobile electron carrier in the membrane called plastoquinone: Plastoquinone, in turn, transfers electrons to cyt bf, which feeds them into PS I. The step → P680 is performed by a poorly understood structure embedded within PS II called the water-splitting complex or the oxygen-evolving complex. It catalyzes a reaction that splits water into electrons, protons and oxygen: 2 → 4H + 4e + The actual steps of the above reaction are running in the following way (Dolai's diagram of S-states): The electrons are transferred to special chlorophyll molecules (embedded in PS II) that are promoted to a higher-energy state by the energy of photons. The excitation P680 → P680of the reaction center pigment P680 occurs here. These special chlorophyll molecules embedded in PS II absorb the energy of photons, with maximal absorption at 680 nm. Electrons within these molecules are promoted to a higher-energy state. This is one of two core processes in photosynthesis, and it occurs with astonishing efficiency (greater than 90%) because, in addition to direct excitation by light at 680 nm, the energy of light first harvested by antenna proteins at other wavelengths in the light- harvesting system is also transferred to these special chlorophyll molecules. This is followed by the step P680→ pheophytin, and then on to plastoquinone, which occurs within the reaction center of PS II. High-energy electrons are transferred to plastoquinone before it subsequently picks up two protons to become plastoquinol. Plastoquinol is then released into the membrane as a mobile electron carrier. This is the second core process in photosynthesis. The initial stages occur within picoseconds, with an efficiency of 100%. The seemingly impossible efficiency is due to the precise positioning of molecules within the reaction center. This is a solid-state process, not a chemical reaction. It occurs within an essentially crystalline environment created by the macromolecular structure of PS II. The usual rules of chemistry (which involve random collisions and random energy distributions) do not apply in solid-state environments. When the chlorophyll passes the electron to pheophytin, it obtains an electron from P. In turn, P can oxidize the Z (or Y) molecule. Once oxidized, the Z molecule can derive electrons from the oxygen-evolving complex (OEC). Dolai's S-state diagrams show the reactions of water splitting in the oxygen-evolving complex. PS II is a transmembrane structure found in all chloroplasts. It splits water into electrons, protons and molecular oxygen. The electrons are transferred to plastoquinone, which carries them to a proton pump. Molecular oxygen is released into the atmosphere. The emergence of such an incredibly complex structure, a macromolecule that converts the energy of sunlight into potentially useful work with efficiencies that are impossible in ordinary experience, seems almost magical at first glance. Thus, it is of considerable interest that, in essence, the same structure is found in purple bacteria. PS II and PS I are connected by a transmembrane proton pump, cytochrome bf complex (plastoquinol—plastocyanin reductase; ). Electrons from PS II are carried by plastoquinol to cyt bf, where they are removed in a stepwise fashion (reforming plastoquinone) and transferred to a water-soluble electron carrier called plastocyanin. This redox process is coupled to the pumping of four protons across the membrane. The resulting proton gradient (together with the proton gradient produced by the water-splitting complex in PS II) is used to make ATP via ATP synthase. The structure and function of cytochrome bf (in chloroplasts) is very similar to cytochrome bc (Complex III in mitochondria). Both are transmembrane structures that remove electrons from a mobile, lipid- soluble electron carrier (plastoquinone in chloroplasts; ubiquinone in mitochondria) and transfer them to a mobile, water-soluble electron carrier (plastocyanin in chloroplasts; cytochrome c in mitochondria). Both are proton pumps that produce a transmembrane proton gradient. In fact, cytochrome b and subunit IV are homologous to mitochondrial cytochrome b and the Rieske iron- sulfur proteins of the two complexes are homologous. However, cytochrome f and cytochrome c are not homologous. PS I accepts electrons from plastocyanin and transfers them either to NADPH (noncyclic electron transport) or back to cytochrome bf (cyclic electron transport): PS I, like PS II, is a complex, highly organized transmembrane structure that contains antenna chlorophylls, a reaction center (P700), phylloquinine, and a number of iron-sulfur proteins that serve as intermediate redox carriers. The light-harvesting system of PS I uses multiple copies of the same transmembrane proteins used by PS II. The energy of absorbed light (in the form of delocalized, high-energy electrons) is funneled into the reaction center, where it excites special chlorophyll molecules (P700, maximum light absorption at 700 nm) to a higher energy level. The process occurs with astonishingly high efficiency. Electrons are removed from excited chlorophyll molecules and transferred through a series of intermediate carriers to ferredoxin, a water-soluble electron carrier. As in PS II, this is a solid- state process that operates with 100% efficiency. There are two different pathways of electron transport in PS I. In noncyclic electron transport, ferredoxin carries the electron to the enzyme ferredoxin reductase (FNR) that reduces to NADPH. In cyclic electron transport, electrons from ferredoxin are transferred (via plastoquinone) to a proton pump, cytochrome bf. They are then returned (via plastocyanin) to P700. NADPH and ATP are used to synthesize organic molecules from . The ratio of NADPH to ATP production can be adjusted by adjusting the balance between cyclic and noncyclic electron transport. It is noteworthy that PS I closely resembles photosynthetic structures found in green sulfur bacteria, just as PS II resembles structures found in purple bacteria. PS II, PS I, and cytochrome bf are found in chloroplasts. All plants and all photosynthetic algae contain chloroplasts, which produce NADPH and ATP by the mechanisms described above. In essence, the same transmembrane structures are also found in cyanobacteria. Unlike plants and algae, cyanobacteria are prokaryotes. They do not contain chloroplasts. Rather, they bear a striking resemblance to chloroplasts themselves. This suggests that organisms resembling cyanobacteria were the evolutionary precursors of chloroplasts. One imagines primitive eukaryotic cells taking up cyanobacteria as intracellular symbionts in a process known as endosymbiosis. Cyanobacteria contain both PS I and PS II. Their light-harvesting system is different from that found in plants (they use phycobilins, rather than chlorophylls, as antenna pigments), but their electron transport chain is, in essence, the same as the electron transport chain in chloroplasts. The mobile water-soluble electron carrier is cytochrome c in cyanobacteria, plastocyanin in plants. Cyanobacteria can also synthesize ATP by oxidative phosphorylation, in the manner of other bacteria. The electron transport chain is where the mobile electron carriers are plastoquinone and cytochrome c, while the proton pumps are NADH dehydrogenase, cyt bf and cytochrome aa (member of the COX3 family). Cyanobacteria are the only bacteria that produce oxygen during photosynthesis. Earth's primordial atmosphere was anoxic. Organisms like cyanobacteria produced our present-day oxygen-containing atmosphere. The other two major groups of photosynthetic bacteria, purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria, contain only a single photosystem and do not produce oxygen. Purple bacteria contain a single photosystem that is structurally related to PS II in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts: This is a cyclic process in which electrons are removed from an excited chlorophyll molecule (bacteriochlorophyll; P870), passed through an electron transport chain to a proton pump (cytochrome bc complex; similar to the chloroplastic one), and then returned to the chlorophyll molecule. The result is a proton gradient, which is used to make ATP via ATP synthase. As in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, this is a solid-state process that depends on the precise orientation of various functional groups within a complex transmembrane macromolecular structure. To make NADPH, purple bacteria use an external electron donor (hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, sulfur, sulfite, or organic molecules such as succinate and lactate) to feed electrons into a reverse electron transport chain. Green sulfur bacteria contain a photosystem that is analogous to PS I in chloroplasts: There are two pathways of electron transfer. In cyclic electron transfer, electrons are removed from an excited chlorophyll molecule, passed through an electron transport chain to a proton pump, and then returned to the chlorophyll. The mobile electron carriers are, as usual, a lipid-soluble quinone and a water-soluble cytochrome. The resulting proton gradient is used to make ATP. In noncyclic electron transfer, electrons are removed from an excited chlorophyll molecule and used to reduce NAD to NADH. The electrons removed from P840 must be replaced. This is accomplished by removing electrons from , which is oxidized to sulfur (hence the name "green sulfur bacteria"). Purple bacteria and green sulfur bacteria occupy relatively minor ecological niches in the present day biosphere. They are of interest because of their importance in precambrian ecologies, and because their methods of photosynthesis were the likely evolutionary precursors of those in modern plants. The first ideas about light being used in photosynthesis were proposed by Colin Flannery in 1779 who recognized it was sunlight falling on plants that was required, although Joseph Priestley had noted the production of oxygen without the association with light in 1772. Cornelis Van Niel proposed in 1931 that photosynthesis is a case of general mechanism where a photon of light is used to photo decompose a hydrogen donor and the hydrogen being used to reduce . Then in 1939, Robin Hill showed that isolated chloroplasts would make oxygen, but not fix showing the light and dark reactions occurred in different places. Although they are referred to as light and dark reactions, both of them take place only in the presence of light. This led later to the discovery of photosystems I and II. Light-independent reaction, Photosynthetic reaction centre, Photosystem II, Compensation point An electron transport chain (ETC) is a series of complexes that transfer electrons from electron donors to electron acceptors via redox (both reduction and oxidation occurring simultaneously) reactions, and couples this electron transfer with the transfer of protons (H ions) across a membrane. This creates an electrochemical proton gradient that drives the synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), a molecule that stores energy chemically in the form of highly strained bonds. The molecules of the chain include peptides, enzymes (which are proteins or protein complexes), and others. The final acceptor of electrons in the electron transport chain during aerobic respiration is molecular oxygen although a variety of acceptors other than oxygen such as sulfate exist in anaerobic respiration. Electron transport chains are used for extracting energy via redox reactions from sunlight in photosynthesis or, such as in the case of the oxidation of sugars, cellular respiration. In eukaryotes, an important electron transport chain is found in the inner mitochondrial membrane where it serves as the site of oxidative phosphorylation through the action of ATP synthase. It is also found in the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast in photosynthetic eukaryotes. In bacteria, the electron transport chain is located in their cell membrane. In chloroplasts, light drives the conversion of water to oxygen and NADP to NADPH with transfer of H ions across chloroplast membranes. In mitochondria, it is the conversion of oxygen to water, NADH to NAD and succinate to fumarate that are required to generate the proton gradient. Electron transport chains are major sites of premature electron leakage to oxygen, generating superoxide and potentially resulting in increased oxidative stress. The electron transport chain consists of a spatially separated series of redox reactions in which electrons are transferred from a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule. The underlying force driving these reactions is the Gibbs free energy of the reactants and products. The Gibbs free energy is the energy available ("free") to do work. Any reaction that decreases the overall Gibbs free energy of a system is thermodynamically spontaneous. The function of the electron transport chain is to produce a transmembrane proton electrochemical gradient as a result of the redox reactions. If protons flow back through the membrane, they enable mechanical work, such as rotating bacterial flagella. ATP synthase, an enzyme highly conserved among all domains of life, converts this mechanical work into chemical energy by producing ATP, which powers most cellular reactions. A small amount of ATP is available from the substrate- level phosphorylation, for example, in glycolysis. In most organisms the majority of ATP is generated in electron transport chains. Most eukaryotic cells have mitochondria, which produce ATP from products of the citric acid cycle, fatty acid oxidation, and amino acid oxidation. At the mitochondrial inner membrane, electrons from NADH and FADH2 pass through the electron transport chain to oxygen, which is reduced to water. The electron transport chain comprises an enzymatic series of electron donors and acceptors. Each electron donor will pass electrons to a more electronegative acceptor, which in turn donates these electrons to another acceptor, a process that continues down the series until electrons are passed to oxygen, the most electronegative and terminal electron acceptor in the chain. Passage of electrons between donor and acceptor releases energy, which is used to generate a proton gradient across the mitochondrial membrane by actively "pumping" protons into the intermembrane space, producing a thermodynamic state that has the potential to do work. This entire process is called oxidative phosphorylation, since ADP is phosphorylated to ATP using the energy of hydrogen oxidation in many steps. A small percentage of electrons do not complete the whole series and instead directly leak to oxygen, resulting in the formation of the free-radical superoxide, a highly reactive molecule that contributes to oxidative stress and has been implicated in a number of diseases and aging. Energy obtained through the transfer of electrons down the ETC is used to pump protons from the mitochondrial matrix into the intermembrane space, creating an electrochemical proton gradient (ΔpH) across the inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM). This proton gradient is largely but not exclusively responsible for the mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨ). It allows ATP synthase to use the flow of H through the enzyme back into the matrix to generate ATP from adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate. Complex I (NADH coenzyme Q reductase; labeled I) accepts electrons from the Krebs cycle electron carrier nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), and passes them to coenzyme Q (ubiquinone; labeled Q), which also receives electrons from complex II (succinate dehydrogenase; labeled II). Q passes electrons to complex III (cytochrome bc complex; labeled III), which passes them to cytochrome c (cyt c). Cyt c passes electrons to Complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase; labeled IV), which uses the electrons and hydrogen ions to reduce molecular oxygen to water. Four membrane-bound complexes have been identified in mitochondria. Each is an extremely complex transmembrane structure that is embedded in the inner membrane. Three of them are proton pumps. The structures are electrically connected by lipid-soluble electron carriers and water- soluble electron carriers. The overall electron transport chain: In Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, NADH-CoQ reductase, or NADH dehydrogenase; ), two electrons are removed from NADH and ultimately transferred to a lipid-soluble carrier, ubiquinone (UQ). The reduced product, ubiquinol (UQH), freely diffuses within the membrane, and Complex I translocates four protons (H) across the membrane, thus producing a proton gradient. Complex I is one of the main sites at which premature electron leakage to oxygen occurs, thus being one of the main sites of production of superoxide. The pathway of electrons is as follows: NADH is oxidized to NAD, by reducing Flavin mononucleotide to FMNH in one two-electron step. FMNH is then oxidized in two one-electron steps, through a semiquinone intermediate. Each electron thus transfers from the FMNH to an Fe-S cluster, from the Fe-S cluster to ubiquinone (Q). Transfer of the first electron results in the free- radical (semiquinone) form of Q, and transfer of the second electron reduces the semiquinone form to the ubiquinol form, QH. During this process, four protons are translocated from the mitochondrial matrix to the intermembrane space. This complex is inhibited by Alkylguanides (Example : Guanethidine), Rotenone, Barbiturates, Chlorpromazine, Piericidin. In Complex II (succinate dehydrogenase or succinate-CoQ reductase; ) additional electrons are delivered into the quinone pool (Q) originating from succinate and transferred (via flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD)) to Q. Complex II consists of four protein subunits: succinate dehydrogenase, (SDHA); succinate dehydrogenase [ubiquinone] iron-sulfur subunit, mitochondrial, (SDHB); succinate dehydrogenase complex subunit C, (SDHC) and succinate dehydrogenase complex, subunit D, (SDHD). Other electron donors (e.g., fatty acids and glycerol 3-phosphate) also direct electrons into Q (via FAD). Complex 2 is a parallel electron transport pathway to complex 1, but unlike complex 1, no protons are transported to the intermembrane space in this pathway. Therefore, the pathway through complex 2 contributes less energy to the overall electron transport chain process. This complex is inhibited by Carboxin. In Complex III (cytochrome bc complex or CoQH-cytochrome c reductase; ), the Q-cycle contributes to the proton gradient by an asymmetric absorption/release of protons. Two electrons are removed from QH at the Q site and sequentially transferred to two molecules of cytochrome c, a water-soluble electron carrier located within the intermembrane space. The two other electrons sequentially pass across the protein to the Q site where the quinone part of ubiquinone is reduced to quinol. A proton gradient is formed by one quinol (2H+2e-) oxidations at the Q site to form one quinone (2H+2e-) at the Q site. (In total, four protons are translocated: two protons reduce quinone to quinol and two protons are released from two ubiquinol molecules.) When electron transfer is reduced (by a high membrane potential or respiratory inhibitors such as antimycin A), Complex III may leak electrons to molecular oxygen, resulting in superoxide formation. This complex is inhibited by dimercaprol (British Antilewisite, BAL), Napthoquinone and Antimycin. In Complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase; ), sometimes called cytochrome AA3, four electrons are removed from four molecules of cytochrome c and transferred to molecular oxygen (O), producing three molecules of water. At the same time, eight protons are removed from the mitochondrial matrix (although only four are translocated across the membrane), contributing to the proton gradient. The activity of cytochrome c oxidase is inhibited by cyanide, carbon monoxide, azide, and hydrogen sulphide(HS). Cyanide blocks complex IV of the electron transport chain in mitochondria. If Complex IV is prohibited from performing its tasks, then the H+ ion gradient will not form within the mitochondrial membrane. This will then prohibit the production of ATP molecules. According to the chemiosmotic coupling hypothesis, proposed by Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner Peter D. Mitchell, the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation are coupled by a proton gradient across the inner mitochondrial membrane. The efflux of protons from the mitochondrial matrix creates an electrochemical gradient (proton gradient). This gradient is used by the FF ATP synthase complex to make ATP via oxidative phosphorylation. ATP synthase is sometimes described as Complex V of the electron transport chain. The F component of ATP synthase acts as an ion channel that provides for a proton flux back into the mitochondrial matrix. It is composed of a, b and c subunits. Protons in the inter-membranous space of mitochondria first enters the ATP synthase complex through a subunit channel. Then protons move to the c subunits. The number of c subunits it has determines how many protons it will require to make the F turn one full revolution. For example, in humans, there are 8 c subunits, thus 8 protons are required. After c subunits, protons finally enters matrix using a subunit channel that opens into the mitochondrial matrix. This reflux releases free energy produced during the generation of the oxidized forms of the electron carriers (NAD and Q). The free energy is used to drive ATP synthesis, catalyzed by the F component of the complex. Coupling with oxidative phosphorylation is a key step for ATP production. However, in specific cases, uncoupling the two processes may be biologically useful. The uncoupling protein, thermogenin—present in the inner mitochondrial membrane of brown adipose tissue—provides for an alternative flow of protons back to the inner mitochondrial matrix. Thyroxine is also a natural uncoupler. This alternative flow results in thermogenesis rather than ATP production. Synthetic uncouplers (e.g., 2,4-dinitrophenol, 2,4-dinitrocresol, CCCP) also exist, and can be lethal at high doses. In the mitochondrial electron transport chain electrons move from an electron donor (NADH or QH) to a terminal electron acceptor (O) via a series of redox reactions. These reactions are coupled to the creation of a proton gradient across the mitochondrial inner membrane. There are three proton pumps: I, III, and IV. The resulting transmembrane proton gradient is used to make ATP via ATP synthase. The reactions catalyzed by Complex I and Complex III work roughly at equilibrium. This means that these reactions are readily reversible, by increasing the concentration of the products relative to the concentration of the reactants (for example, by increasing the proton gradient). ATP synthase is also readily reversible. Thus ATP can be used to build a proton gradient, which in turn can be used to make NADH. This process of reverse electron transport is important in many prokaryotic electron transport chains. In eukaryotes, NADH is the most important electron donor. The associated electron transport chain is NADH → Complex I → Q → Complex III → cytochrome c → Complex IV → O where Complexes I, III and IV are proton pumps, while Q and cytochrome c are mobile electron carriers. The electron acceptor is molecular oxygen. In prokaryotes (bacteria and archaea) the situation is more complicated, because there are several different electron donors and several different electron acceptors. The generalized electron transport chain in bacteria is: Note that electrons can enter the chain at three levels: at the level of a dehydrogenase, at the level of the quinone pool, or at the level of a mobile cytochrome electron carrier. These levels correspond to successively more positive redox potentials, or to successively decreased potential differences relative to the terminal electron acceptor. In other words, they correspond to successively smaller Gibbs free energy changes for the overall redox reaction Donor → Acceptor. Individual bacteria use multiple electron transport chains, often simultaneously. Bacteria can use a number of different electron donors, a number of different dehydrogenases, a number of different oxidases and reductases, and a number of different electron acceptors. For example, E. coli (when growing aerobically using glucose as an energy source) uses two different NADH dehydrogenases and two different quinol oxidases, for a total of four different electron transport chains operating simultaneously. A common feature of all electron transport chains is the presence of a proton pump to create a transmembrane proton gradient. Bacterial electron transport chains may contain as many as three proton pumps, like mitochondria, or they may contain only one or two. They always contain at least one proton pump. In the present day biosphere, the most common electron donors are organic molecules. Organisms that use organic molecules as an electron source are called organotrophs. Organotrophs (animals, fungi, protists) and phototrophs (plants and algae) constitute the vast majority of all familiar life forms. Some prokaryotes can use inorganic matter as an energy source. Such an organism is called a lithotroph ("rock-eater"). Inorganic electron donors include hydrogen, carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrite, sulfur, sulfide, manganese oxide, and ferrous iron. Lithotrophs have been found growing in rock formations thousands of meters below the surface of Earth. Because of their volume of distribution, lithotrophs may actually outnumber organotrophs and phototrophs in our biosphere. The use of inorganic electron donors as an energy source is of particular interest in the study of evolution. This type of metabolism must logically have preceded the use of organic molecules as an energy source. Bacteria can use a number of different electron donors. When organic matter is the energy source, the donor may be NADH or succinate, in which case electrons enter the electron transport chain via NADH dehydrogenase (similar to Complex I in mitochondria) or succinate dehydrogenase (similar to Complex II). Other dehydrogenases may be used to process different energy sources: formate dehydrogenase, lactate dehydrogenase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, H dehydrogenase (hydrogenase), etc. Some dehydrogenases are also proton pumps; others funnel electrons into the quinone pool. Most dehydrogenases show induced expression in the bacterial cell in response to metabolic needs triggered by the environment in which the cells grow. Quinones are mobile, lipid-soluble carriers that shuttle electrons (and protons) between large, relatively immobile macromolecular complexes embedded in the membrane. Bacteria use ubiquinone (Coenzyme Q, the same quinone that mitochondria use) and related quinones such as menaquinone (Vitamin K). Archaea in the genus Sulfolobus use caldariellaquinone. A proton pump is any process that creates a proton gradient across a membrane. Protons can be physically moved across a membrane; this is seen in mitochondrial Complexes I and IV. The same effect can be produced by moving electrons in the opposite direction. The result is the disappearance of a proton from the cytoplasm and the appearance of a proton in the periplasm. Mitochondrial Complex III uses this second type of proton pump, which is mediated by a quinone (the Q cycle). Some dehydrogenases are proton pumps; others are not. Most oxidases and reductases are proton pumps, but some are not. Cytochrome bc is a proton pump found in many, but not all, bacteria (it is not found in E. coli). As the name implies, bacterial bc is similar to mitochondrial bc (Complex III). Proton pumps are the heart of the electron transport process. They produce the transmembrane electrochemical gradient that enables ATP Synthase to synthesize ATP. Cytochromes are pigments that contain iron. They are found in two very different environments. Some cytochromes are water-soluble carriers that shuttle electrons to and from large, immobile macromolecular structures imbedded in the membrane. The mobile cytochrome electron carrier in mitochondria is cytochrome c. Bacteria use a number of different mobile cytochrome electron carriers. Other cytochromes are found within macromolecules such as Complex III and Complex IV. They also function as electron carriers, but in a very different, intramolecular, solid-state environment. Electrons may enter an electron transport chain at the level of a mobile cytochrome or quinone carrier. For example, electrons from inorganic electron donors (nitrite, ferrous iron, etc.) enter the electron transport chain at the cytochrome level. When electrons enter at a redox level greater than NADH, the electron transport chain must operate in reverse to produce this necessary, higher-energy molecule. When bacteria grow in aerobic environments, the terminal electron acceptor (O) is reduced to water by an enzyme called an oxidase. When bacteria grow in anaerobic environments, the terminal electron acceptor is reduced by an enzyme called a reductase. In mitochondria the terminal membrane complex (Complex IV) is cytochrome oxidase. Aerobic bacteria use a number of different terminal oxidases. For example, E. coli does not have a cytochrome oxidase or a bc complex. Under aerobic conditions, it uses two different terminal quinol oxidases (both proton pumps) to reduce oxygen to water. Anaerobic bacteria, which do not use oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor, have terminal reductases individualized to their terminal acceptor. For example, E. coli can use fumarate reductase, nitrate reductase, nitrite reductase, DMSO reductase, or trimethylamine-N-oxide reductase, depending on the availability of these acceptors in the environment. Most terminal oxidases and reductases are inducible. They are synthesized by the organism as needed, in response to specific environmental conditions. Just as there are a number of different electron donors (organic matter in organotrophs, inorganic matter in lithotrophs), there are a number of different electron acceptors, both organic and inorganic. If oxygen is available, it is invariably used as the terminal electron acceptor, because it generates the greatest Gibbs free energy change and produces the most energy. In anaerobic environments, different electron acceptors are used, including nitrate, nitrite, ferric iron, sulfate, carbon dioxide, and small organic molecules such as fumarate. Since electron transport chains are redox processes, they can be described as the sum of two redox pairs. For example, the mitochondrial electron transport chain can be described as the sum of the NAD/NADH redox pair and the O/HO redox pair. NADH is the electron donor and O is the electron acceptor. Not every donor-acceptor combination is thermodynamically possible. The redox potential of the acceptor must be more positive than the redox potential of the donor. Furthermore, actual environmental conditions may be far different from standard conditions (1 molar concentrations, 1 atm partial pressures, pH = 7), which apply to standard redox potentials. For example, hydrogen-evolving bacteria grow at an ambient partial pressure of hydrogen gas of 10 atm. The associated redox reaction, which is thermodynamically favorable in nature, is thermodynamically impossible under "standard" conditions. Bacterial electron transport pathways are, in general, inducible. Depending on their environment, bacteria can synthesize different transmembrane complexes and produce different electron transport chains in their cell membranes. Bacteria select their electron transport chains from a DNA library containing multiple possible dehydrogenases, terminal oxidases and terminal reductases. The situation is often summarized by saying that electron transport chains in bacteria are branched, modular, and inducible. In oxidative phosphorylation, electrons are transferred from a low-energy electron donor (e.g., NADH) to an acceptor (e.g., O) through an electron transport chain. In photophosphorylation, the energy of sunlight is used to create a high-energy electron donor and an electron acceptor. Electrons are then transferred from the donor to the acceptor through another electron transport chain. Photosynthetic electron transport chains, like the mitochondrial chain, can be considered as a special case of the bacterial systems. They use mobile, lipid-soluble quinone carriers (phylloquinone and plastoquinone) and mobile, water-soluble carriers (cytochromes, etc.). They also contain a proton pump. It is remarkable that the proton pump in all photosynthetic chains resembles mitochondrial Complex III. Photosynthetic electron transport chains are discussed in greater detail in the articles Light-dependent reaction. See also Photophosphorylation, Photosynthesis, and Photosynthetic reaction center. Electron transport chains are redox reactions that transfer electrons from an electron donor to an electron acceptor. The transfer of electrons is coupled to the translocation of protons across a membrane, producing a proton gradient. The proton gradient is used to produce useful work. About 30 work units are produced per electron transport. CoRR hypothesis, Electron equivalent, Hydrogen hypothesis, Respirasome Khan Academy, video lecture Oxidative phosphorylation (UK , US or electron transport-linked phosphorylation) is the metabolic pathway in which cells use enzymes to oxidize nutrients, thereby releasing energy which is used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In most eukaryotes, this takes place inside mitochondria. Almost all aerobic organisms carry out oxidative phosphorylation. This pathway is so pervasive because it is a highly efficient way of releasing energy, compared to alternative fermentation processes such as anaerobic glycolysis. During oxidative phosphorylation, electrons are transferred from electron donors to electron acceptors such as oxygen in redox reactions. These redox reactions release energy, which is used to form ATP. In eukaryotes, these redox reactions are carried out by a series of protein complexes within the inner membrane of the cell's mitochondria, whereas, in prokaryotes, these proteins are located in the cells' intermembrane space. These linked sets of proteins are called electron transport chains. In eukaryotes, five main protein complexes are involved, whereas in prokaryotes many different enzymes are present, using a variety of electron donors and acceptors. The energy released by electrons flowing through this electron transport chain is used to transport protons across the inner mitochondrial membrane, in a process called electron transport. This generates potential energy in the form of a pH gradient and an electrical potential across this membrane. This store of energy is tapped when protons flow back across the membrane and down the potential energy gradient, through a large enzyme called ATP synthase; this process is known as chemiosmosis. The ATP synthase uses the energy to transform adenosine diphosphate (ADP) into adenosine triphosphate, in a phosphorylation reaction. The reaction is driven by the proton flow, which forces the rotation of a part of the enzyme; the ATP synthase is a rotary mechanical motor. Although oxidative phosphorylation is a vital part of metabolism, it produces reactive oxygen species such as superoxide and hydrogen peroxide, which lead to propagation of free radicals, damaging cells and contributing to disease and, possibly, aging (senescence). The enzymes carrying out this metabolic pathway are also the target of many drugs and poisons that inhibit their activities. It is the terminal process of cellular respiration in eukaryotes and accounts for high ATP yield. Oxidative phosphorylation works by using energy-releasing chemical reactions to drive energy-requiring reactions: The two sets of reactions are said to be coupled. This means one cannot occur without the other. The flow of electrons through the electron transport chain, from electron donors such as NADH to electron acceptors such as oxygen, is an exergonic process – it releases energy, whereas the synthesis of ATP is an endergonic process, which requires an input of energy. Both the electron transport chain and the ATP synthase are embedded in a membrane, and energy is transferred from electron transport chain to the ATP synthase by movements of protons across this membrane, in a process called chemiosmosis. In practice, this is like a simple electric circuit, with a current of protons being driven from the negative N-side of the membrane to the positive P-side by the proton-pumping enzymes of the electron transport chain. These enzymes are like a battery, as they perform work to drive current through the circuit. The movement of protons creates an electrochemical gradient across the membrane, which is often called the proton-motive force. It has two components: a difference in proton concentration (a H gradient, ΔpH) and a difference in electric potential, with the N-side having a negative charge. ATP synthase releases this stored energy by completing the circuit and allowing protons to flow down the electrochemical gradient, back to the N-side of the membrane. The electrochemical gradient drives the rotation of part of the enzyme's structure and couples this motion to the synthesis of ATP. The two components of the proton-motive force are thermodynamically equivalent: In mitochondria, the largest part of energy is provided by the potential; in alkaliphile bacteria the electrical energy even has to compensate for a counteracting inverse pH difference. Inversely, chloroplasts operate mainly on ΔpH. However, they also require a small membrane potential for the kinetics of ATP synthesis. In the case of the fusobacterium Propionigenium modestum it drives the counter- rotation of subunits a and c of the F motor of ATP synthase. The amount of energy released by oxidative phosphorylation is high, compared with the amount produced by anaerobic fermentation. Glycolysis produces only 2 ATP molecules, but somewhere between 30 and 36 ATPs are produced by the oxidative phosphorylation of the 10 NADH and 2 succinate molecules made by converting one molecule of glucose to carbon dioxide and water, while each cycle of beta oxidation of a fatty acid yields about 14 ATPs. These ATP yields are theoretical maximum values; in practice, some protons leak across the membrane, lowering the yield of ATP. The electron transport chain carries both protons and electrons, passing electrons from donors to acceptors, and transporting protons across a membrane. These processes use both soluble and protein-bound transfer molecules. In mitochondria, electrons are transferred within the intermembrane space by the water-soluble electron transfer protein cytochrome c. This carries only electrons, and these are transferred by the reduction and oxidation of an iron atom that the protein holds within a heme group in its structure. Cytochrome c is also found in some bacteria, where it is located within the periplasmic space. Within the inner mitochondrial membrane, the lipid-soluble electron carrier coenzyme Q10 (Q) carries both electrons and protons by a redox cycle. This small benzoquinone molecule is very hydrophobic, so it diffuses freely within the membrane. When Q accepts two electrons and two protons, it becomes reduced to the ubiquinol form (QH); when QH releases two electrons and two protons, it becomes oxidized back to the ubiquinone (Q) form. As a result, if two enzymes are arranged so that Q is reduced on one side of the membrane and QH oxidized on the other, ubiquinone will couple these reactions and shuttle protons across the membrane. Some bacterial electron transport chains use different quinones, such as menaquinone, in addition to ubiquinone. Within proteins, electrons are transferred between flavin cofactors, iron–sulfur clusters, and cytochromes. There are several types of iron–sulfur cluster. The simplest kind found in the electron transfer chain consists of two iron atoms joined by two atoms of inorganic sulfur; these are called [2Fe–2S] clusters. The second kind, called [4Fe–4S], contains a cube of four iron atoms and four sulfur atoms. Each iron atom in these clusters is coordinated by an additional amino acid, usually by the sulfur atom of cysteine. Metal ion cofactors undergo redox reactions without binding or releasing protons, so in the electron transport chain they serve solely to transport electrons through proteins. Electrons move quite long distances through proteins by hopping along chains of these cofactors. This occurs by quantum tunnelling, which is rapid over distances of less than 1.4 m. Many catabolic biochemical processes, such as glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, and beta oxidation, produce the reduced coenzyme NADH. This coenzyme contains electrons that have a high transfer potential; in other words, they will release a large amount of energy upon oxidation. However, the cell does not release this energy all at once, as this would be an uncontrollable reaction. Instead, the electrons are removed from NADH and passed to oxygen through a series of enzymes that each release a small amount of the energy. This set of enzymes, consisting of complexes I through IV, is called the electron transport chain and is found in the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. Succinate is also oxidized by the electron transport chain, but feeds into the pathway at a different point. In eukaryotes, the enzymes in this electron transport system use the energy released from the oxidation of NADH to pump protons across the inner membrane of the mitochondrion. This causes protons to build up in the intermembrane space, and generates an electrochemical gradient across the membrane. The energy stored in this potential is then used by ATP synthase to produce ATP. Oxidative phosphorylation in the eukaryotic mitochondrion is the best-understood example of this process. The mitochondrion is present in almost all eukaryotes, with the exception of anaerobic protozoa such as Trichomonas vaginalis that instead reduce protons to hydrogen in a remnant mitochondrion called a hydrogenosome. NADH-coenzyme Q oxidoreductase, also known as NADH dehydrogenase or complex I, is the first protein in the electron transport chain. Complex I is a giant enzyme with the mammalian complex I having 46 subunits and a molecular mass of about 1,000 kilodaltons (kDa). The structure is known in detail only from a bacterium; in most organisms the complex resembles a boot with a large "ball" poking out from the membrane into the mitochondrion. The genes that encode the individual proteins are contained in both the cell nucleus and the mitochondrial genome, as is the case for many enzymes present in the mitochondrion. The reaction that is catalyzed by this enzyme is the two electron oxidation of NADH by coenzyme Q10 or ubiquinone (represented as Q in the equation below), a lipid-soluble quinone that is found in the mitochondrion membrane: The start of the reaction, and indeed of the entire electron chain, is the binding of a NADH molecule to complex I and the donation of two electrons. The electrons enter complex I via a prosthetic group attached to the complex, flavin mononucleotide (FMN). The addition of electrons to FMN converts it to its reduced form, FMNH. The electrons are then transferred through a series of iron–sulfur clusters: the second kind of prosthetic group present in the complex. There are both [2Fe–2S] and [4Fe–4S] iron–sulfur clusters in complex I. As the electrons pass through this complex, four protons are pumped from the matrix into the intermembrane space. Exactly how this occurs is unclear, but it seems to involve conformational changes in complex I that cause the protein to bind protons on the N-side of the membrane and release them on the P-side of the membrane. Finally, the electrons are transferred from the chain of iron–sulfur clusters to a ubiquinone molecule in the membrane. Reduction of ubiquinone also contributes to the generation of a proton gradient, as two protons are taken up from the matrix as it is reduced to ubiquinol (QH). Succinate-Q oxidoreductase, also known as complex II or succinate dehydrogenase, is a second entry point to the electron transport chain. It is unusual because it is the only enzyme that is part of both the citric acid cycle and the electron transport chain. Complex II consists of four protein subunits and contains a bound flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) cofactor, iron–sulfur clusters, and a heme group that does not participate in electron transfer to coenzyme Q, but is believed to be important in decreasing production of reactive oxygen species. It oxidizes succinate to fumarate and reduces ubiquinone. As this reaction releases less energy than the oxidation of NADH, complex II does not transport protons across the membrane and does not contribute to the proton gradient. In some eukaryotes, such as the parasitic worm Ascaris suum, an enzyme similar to complex II, fumarate reductase (menaquinol:fumarate oxidoreductase, or QFR), operates in reverse to oxidize ubiquinol and reduce fumarate. This allows the worm to survive in the anaerobic environment of the large intestine, carrying out anaerobic oxidative phosphorylation with fumarate as the electron acceptor. Another unconventional function of complex II is seen in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Here, the reversed action of complex II as an oxidase is important in regenerating ubiquinol, which the parasite uses in an unusual form of pyrimidine biosynthesis. Electron transfer flavoprotein-ubiquinone oxidoreductase (ETF-Q oxidoreductase), also known as electron transferring-flavoprotein dehydrogenase, is a third entry point to the electron transport chain. It is an enzyme that accepts electrons from electron-transferring flavoprotein in the mitochondrial matrix, and uses these electrons to reduce ubiquinone. This enzyme contains a flavin and a [4Fe–4S] cluster, but, unlike the other respiratory complexes, it attaches to the surface of the membrane and does not cross the lipid bilayer. In mammals, this metabolic pathway is important in beta oxidation of fatty acids and catabolism of amino acids and choline, as it accepts electrons from multiple acetyl-CoA dehydrogenases. In plants, ETF-Q oxidoreductase is also important in the metabolic responses that allow survival in extended periods of darkness. Q-cytochrome c oxidoreductase is also known as cytochrome c reductase, cytochrome bc complex, or simply complex III. In mammals, this enzyme is a dimer, with each subunit complex containing 11 protein subunits, an [2Fe-2S] iron–sulfur cluster and three cytochromes: one cytochrome c and two b cytochromes. A cytochrome is a kind of electron-transferring protein that contains at least one heme group. The iron atoms inside complex III's heme groups alternate between a reduced ferrous (+2) and oxidized ferric (+3) state as the electrons are transferred through the protein. The reaction catalyzed by complex III is the oxidation of one molecule of ubiquinol and the reduction of two molecules of cytochrome c, a heme protein loosely associated with the mitochondrion. Unlike coenzyme Q, which carries two electrons, cytochrome c carries only one electron. As only one of the electrons can be transferred from the QH donor to a cytochrome c acceptor at a time, the reaction mechanism of complex III is more elaborate than those of the other respiratory complexes, and occurs in two steps called the Q cycle. In the first step, the enzyme binds three substrates, first, QH, which is then oxidized, with one electron being passed to the second substrate, cytochrome c. The two protons released from QH pass into the intermembrane space. The third substrate is Q, which accepts the second electron from the QH and is reduced to Q, which is the ubisemiquinone free radical. The first two substrates are released, but this ubisemiquinone intermediate remains bound. In the second step, a second molecule of QH is bound and again passes its first electron to a cytochrome c acceptor. The second electron is passed to the bound ubisemiquinone, reducing it to QH as it gains two protons from the mitochondrial matrix. This QH is then released from the enzyme. As coenzyme Q is reduced to ubiquinol on the inner side of the membrane and oxidized to ubiquinone on the other, a net transfer of protons across the membrane occurs, adding to the proton gradient. The rather complex two-step mechanism by which this occurs is important, as it increases the efficiency of proton transfer. If, instead of the Q cycle, one molecule of QH were used to directly reduce two molecules of cytochrome c, the efficiency would be halved, with only one proton transferred per cytochrome c reduced. Cytochrome c oxidase, also known as complex IV, is the final protein complex in the electron transport chain. The mammalian enzyme has an extremely complicated structure and contains 13 subunits, two heme groups, as well as multiple metal ion cofactors – in all, three atoms of copper, one of magnesium and one of zinc. This enzyme mediates the final reaction in the electron transport chain and transfers electrons to oxygen, while pumping protons across the membrane. The final electron acceptor oxygen, which is also called the terminal electron acceptor, is reduced to water in this step. Both the direct pumping of protons and the consumption of matrix protons in the reduction of oxygen contribute to the proton gradient. The reaction catalyzed is the oxidation of cytochrome c and the reduction of oxygen: Many eukaryotic organisms have electron transport chains that differ from the much-studied mammalian enzymes described above. For example, plants have alternative NADH oxidases, which oxidize NADH in the cytosol rather than in the mitochondrial matrix, and pass these electrons to the ubiquinone pool. These enzymes do not transport protons, and, therefore, reduce ubiquinone without altering the electrochemical gradient across the inner membrane. Another example of a divergent electron transport chain is the alternative oxidase, which is found in plants, as well as some fungi, protists, and possibly some animals. This enzyme transfers electrons directly from ubiquinol to oxygen. The electron transport pathways produced by these alternative NADH and ubiquinone oxidases have lower ATP yields than the full pathway. The advantages produced by a shortened pathway are not entirely clear. However, the alternative oxidase is produced in response to stresses such as cold, reactive oxygen species, and infection by pathogens, as well as other factors that inhibit the full electron transport chain. Alternative pathways might, therefore, enhance an organisms' resistance to injury, by reducing oxidative stress. The original model for how the respiratory chain complexes are organized was that they diffuse freely and independently in the mitochondrial membrane. However, recent data suggest that the complexes might form higher-order structures called supercomplexes or "respirasomes". In this model, the various complexes exist as organized sets of interacting enzymes. These associations might allow channeling of substrates between the various enzyme complexes, increasing the rate and efficiency of electron transfer. Within such mammalian supercomplexes, some components would be present in higher amounts than others, with some data suggesting a ratio between complexes I/II/III/IV and the ATP synthase of approximately 1:1:3:7:4. However, the debate over this supercomplex hypothesis is not completely resolved, as some data do not appear to fit with this model. In contrast to the general similarity in structure and function of the electron transport chains in eukaryotes, bacteria and archaea possess a large variety of electron-transfer enzymes. These use an equally wide set of chemicals as substrates. In common with eukaryotes, prokaryotic electron transport uses the energy released from the oxidation of a substrate to pump ions across a membrane and generate an electrochemical gradient. In the bacteria, oxidative phosphorylation in Escherichia coli is understood in most detail, while archaeal systems are at present poorly understood. The main difference between eukaryotic and prokaryotic oxidative phosphorylation is that bacteria and archaea use many different substances to donate or accept electrons. This allows prokaryotes to grow under a wide variety of environmental conditions. In E. coli, for example, oxidative phosphorylation can be driven by a large number of pairs of reducing agents and oxidizing agents, which are listed below. The midpoint potential of a chemical measures how much energy is released when it is oxidized or reduced, with reducing agents having negative potentials and oxidizing agents positive potentials. As shown above, E. coli can grow with reducing agents such as formate, hydrogen, or lactate as electron donors, and nitrate, DMSO, or oxygen as acceptors. The larger the difference in midpoint potential between an oxidizing and reducing agent, the more energy is released when they react. Out of these compounds, the succinate/fumarate pair is unusual, as its midpoint potential is close to zero. Succinate can therefore be oxidized to fumarate if a strong oxidizing agent such as oxygen is available, or fumarate can be reduced to succinate using a strong reducing agent such as formate. These alternative reactions are catalyzed by succinate dehydrogenase and fumarate reductase, respectively. Some prokaryotes use redox pairs that have only a small difference in midpoint potential. For example, nitrifying bacteria such as Nitrobacter oxidize nitrite to nitrate, donating the electrons to oxygen. The small amount of energy released in this reaction is enough to pump protons and generate ATP, but not enough to produce NADH or NADPH directly for use in anabolism. This problem is solved by using a nitrite oxidoreductase to produce enough proton- motive force to run part of the electron transport chain in reverse, causing complex I to generate NADH. Prokaryotes control their use of these electron donors and acceptors by varying which enzymes are produced, in response to environmental conditions. This flexibility is possible because different oxidases and reductases use the same ubiquinone pool. This allows many combinations of enzymes to function together, linked by the common ubiquinol intermediate. These respiratory chains therefore have a modular design, with easily interchangeable sets of enzyme systems. In addition to this metabolic diversity, prokaryotes also possess a range of isozymes – different enzymes that catalyze the same reaction. For example, in E. coli, there are two different types of ubiquinol oxidase using oxygen as an electron acceptor. Under highly aerobic conditions, the cell uses an oxidase with a low affinity for oxygen that can transport two protons per electron. However, if levels of oxygen fall, they switch to an oxidase that transfers only one proton per electron, but has a high affinity for oxygen. ATP synthase, also called complex V, is the final enzyme in the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. This enzyme is found in all forms of life and functions in the same way in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes. The enzyme uses the energy stored in a proton gradient across a membrane to drive the synthesis of ATP from ADP and phosphate (P). Estimates of the number of protons required to synthesize one ATP have ranged from three to four, with some suggesting cells can vary this ratio, to suit different conditions. This phosphorylation reaction is an equilibrium, which can be shifted by altering the proton-motive force. In the absence of a proton-motive force, the ATP synthase reaction will run from right to left, hydrolyzing ATP and pumping protons out of the matrix across the membrane. However, when the proton-motive force is high, the reaction is forced to run in the opposite direction; it proceeds from left to right, allowing protons to flow down their concentration gradient and turning ADP into ATP. Indeed, in the closely related vacuolar type H+-ATPases, the hydrolysis reaction is used to acidify cellular compartments, by pumping protons and hydrolysing ATP. ATP synthase is a massive protein complex with a mushroom-like shape. The mammalian enzyme complex contains 16 subunits and has a mass of approximately 600 kilodaltons. The portion embedded within the membrane is called F and contains a ring of c subunits and the proton channel. The stalk and the ball-shaped headpiece is called F and is the site of ATP synthesis. The ball-shaped complex at the end of the F portion contains six proteins of two different kinds (three α subunits and three β subunits), whereas the "stalk" consists of one protein: the γ subunit, with the tip of the stalk extending into the ball of α and β subunits. Both the α and β subunits bind nucleotides, but only the β subunits catalyze the ATP synthesis reaction. Reaching along the side of the F portion and back into the membrane is a long rod-like subunit that anchors the α and β subunits into the base of the enzyme. As protons cross the membrane through the channel in the base of ATP synthase, the F proton-driven motor rotates. Rotation might be caused by changes in the ionization of amino acids in the ring of c subunits causing electrostatic interactions that propel the ring of c subunits past the proton channel. This rotating ring in turn drives the rotation of the central axle (the γ subunit stalk) within the α and β subunits. The α and β subunits are prevented from rotating themselves by the side-arm, which acts as a stator. This movement of the tip of the γ subunit within the ball of α and β subunits provides the energy for the active sites in the β subunits to undergo a cycle of movements that produces and then releases ATP. This ATP synthesis reaction is called the binding change mechanism and involves the active site of a β subunit cycling between three states. In the "open" state, ADP and phosphate enter the active site (shown in brown in the diagram). The protein then closes up around the molecules and binds them loosely – the "loose" state (shown in red). The enzyme then changes shape again and forces these molecules together, with the active site in the resulting "tight" state (shown in pink) binding the newly produced ATP molecule with very high affinity. Finally, the active site cycles back to the open state, releasing ATP and binding more ADP and phosphate, ready for the next cycle. In some bacteria and archaea, ATP synthesis is driven by the movement of sodium ions through the cell membrane, rather than the movement of protons. Archaea such as Methanococcus also contain the AA synthase, a form of the enzyme that contains additional proteins with little similarity in sequence to other bacterial and eukaryotic ATP synthase subunits. It is possible that, in some species, the AA form of the enzyme is a specialized sodium-driven ATP synthase, but this might not be true in all cases. The transport of electrons from redox pair NAD/ NADH to the final redox pair 1/2 O/ HO can be summarized as 1/2 O+ NADH + H → HO + NAD The potential difference between this two redox pair is 1.14 Volt which is equivalent to 52 Cal./ Mol. When one NADH is oxidized through ETC, three ATP are produced which is equal to 21.9 Cal.(7.3 X 3). The conservation of the energy can be calculated by following formula Efficiency = (21.9 X 100) / 52 = 42% So we can conclude that when NADH is oxidized, about 42% of energy is conserved in the form of three ATPs and the remaining (58%) energy is lost as heat (entropy). Molecular oxygen is an ideal terminal electron acceptor because it is a strong oxidizing agent. The reduction of oxygen does involve potentially harmful intermediates. Although the transfer of four electrons and four protons reduces oxygen to water, which is harmless, transfer of one or two electrons produces superoxide or peroxide anions, which are dangerously reactive. These reactive oxygen species and their reaction products, such as the hydroxyl radical, are very harmful to cells, as they oxidize proteins and cause mutations in DNA. This cellular damage might contribute to disease and is proposed as one cause of aging. The cytochrome c oxidase complex is highly efficient at reducing oxygen to water, and it releases very few partly reduced intermediates; however small amounts of superoxide anion and peroxide are produced by the electron transport chain. Particularly important is the reduction of coenzyme Q in complex III, as a highly reactive ubisemiquinone free radical is formed as an intermediate in the Q cycle. This unstable species can lead to electron "leakage" when electrons transfer directly to oxygen, forming superoxide. As the production of reactive oxygen species by these proton-pumping complexes is greatest at high membrane potentials, it has been proposed that mitochondria regulate their activity to maintain the membrane potential within a narrow range that balances ATP production against oxidant generation. For instance, oxidants can activate uncoupling proteins that reduce membrane potential. To counteract these reactive oxygen species, cells contain numerous antioxidant systems, including antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin E, and antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, and peroxidases, which detoxify the reactive species, limiting damage to the cell. As oxygen is fundamental for oxidative phosphorylation, a shortage in O level likely alters ATP production rates. However, proton motive force and ATP production can be maintained by intracellular acidosis., which raises in hypoxic conditions due to enhanced glycolytic rates. Cytosolic protons that have accumulated with ATP hydrolysis and lactic acidosis can freely diffuse across the mitochondrial outer-membrane and acidify the inter-membrane space, hence directly contributing to the proton motive force and ATP production. There are several well-known drugs and toxins that inhibit oxidative phosphorylation. Although any one of these toxins inhibits only one enzyme in the electron transport chain, inhibition of any step in this process will halt the rest of the process. For example, if oligomycin inhibits ATP synthase, protons cannot pass back into the mitochondrion. As a result, the proton pumps are unable to operate, as the gradient becomes too strong for them to overcome. NADH is then no longer oxidized and the citric acid cycle ceases to operate because the concentration of NAD falls below the concentration that these enzymes can use. Many site specific inhibitors of ETC have contributed in the present knowledge of the mitochondrial respiration. Synthesis of ATP is also depend on the ETC, so all site specific inhibitors also inhibit ATP formation. Fish poison rotenone, barbitutate drug amytal and antibiotic piercidin A inhibit NADH and coenzyme Q. Carbon monoxide, cyanide, hydrogen sulphide and azide effectively inhibit cytochrome oxidase. Carbon monoxide reacts with reduced form of the cytochrome while cyanide and azide react with oxidised form. An antibiotic - antimycin A British antile wisite- an antidote used against war-gas re the two important inhibitors of the site between cytochrome B and C1. Not all inhibitors of oxidative phosphorylation are toxins. In brown adipose tissue, regulated proton channels called uncoupling proteins can uncouple respiration from ATP synthesis. This rapid respiration produces heat, and is particularly important as a way of maintaining body temperature for hibernating animals, although these proteins may also have a more general function in cells' responses to stress. The field of oxidative phosphorylation began with the report in 1906 by Arthur Harden of a vital role for phosphate in cellular fermentation, but initially only sugar phosphates were known to be involved. However, in the early 1940s, the link between the oxidation of sugars and the generation of ATP was firmly established by Herman Kalckar, confirming the central role of ATP in energy transfer that had been proposed by Fritz Albert Lipmann in 1941. Later, in 1949, Morris Friedkin and Albert L. Lehninger proved that the coenzyme NADH linked metabolic pathways such as the citric acid cycle and the synthesis of ATP. The term oxidative phosphorylation was coined by in 1939. For another twenty years, the mechanism by which ATP is generated remained mysterious, with scientists searching for an elusive "high-energy intermediate" that would link oxidation and phosphorylation reactions. This puzzle was solved by Peter D. Mitchell with the publication of the chemiosmotic theory in 1961. At first, this proposal was highly controversial, but it was slowly accepted and Mitchell was awarded a Nobel prize in 1978. Subsequent research concentrated on purifying and characterizing the enzymes involved, with major contributions being made by David E. Green on the complexes of the electron-transport chain, as well as Efraim Racker on the ATP synthase. A critical step towards solving the mechanism of the ATP synthase was provided by Paul D. Boyer, by his development in 1973 of the "binding change" mechanism, followed by his radical proposal of rotational catalysis in 1982. More recent work has included structural studies on the enzymes involved in oxidative phosphorylation by John E. Walker, with Walker and Boyer being awarded a Nobel Prize in 1997. Respirometry, TIM/TOM Complex Animated diagrams illustrating oxidative phosphorylation Wiley and Co Concepts in Biochemistry, On-line biophysics lectures Antony Crofts, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, ATP Synthase Graham Johnson PDB molecule of the month:, ATP synthase, Cytochrome c, Cytochrome c oxidase, Interactive molecular models at Universidade Fernando Pessoa:, NADH dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, Coenzyme Q - cytochrome c reductase, cytochrome c oxidase

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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn: Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon, based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. Constituting the first of a two-part adaptation of the novel, the film is the fourth and penultimate installment in The Twilight Saga film series, the sequel to in 2010, and was followed by in 2012. All three main cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprised their roles. Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt served as producers of the film, along with the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer; the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of the first three entries. It was released in theaters on November 18, 2011, and released to DVD on February 11, 2012, in the United States. Although negatively reviewed by critics, the film was commercially successful, grossing over $712 million worldwide. Bella Swan is preparing for her wedding. During the reception, Jacob Black, who had quickly left town upon receiving an invitation to Bella and Edward Cullen's wedding, returns. While dancing with Jacob in the woods, away from everyone else, Bella admits that she and Edward plan to consummate their marriage on their honeymoon while she is still human. Jake becomes furious, knowing that such an act could kill her. Sam and other pack members restrain Jacob before he phases. After the wedding, the couple spends their honeymoon on Isle Esme, and they make love for the first time. The next morning, Edward realizes that Bella has numerous bruises and is upset at himself for hurting her, though Bella insists that she enjoyed the experience. Edward swears not to make love again until she becomes a vampire. Two weeks after the wedding, Bella vomits after waking and notices her period is late. Alice and Carlisle call Bella, asking if she is alright. She states that she is not completely sure and realises she is pregnant. Edward, worried, predicts that Bella will not survive the pregnancy. He tells her that Carlisle should remove the baby. She refuses, as she wants to keep her child, and convinces Edward's sister, Rosalie, to act as her bodyguard. They fly back home to Forks, Washington. Though Bella has only been pregnant for two weeks, the baby rapidly grows. Jacob rushes over to the Cullens' house. Bella, now heavily pregnant, is pale and underweight. Jacob, upset by Bella's failing health, says that Carlisle should terminate the pregnancy as soon as possible so that Bella may survive. Bella ignores Carlisle's medical advice and Alice's visions and continues her pregnancy. As her pregnancy progresses, the quality of her health declines rapidly, then, as she starts drinking human blood to satisfy the baby's vampiric thirst, improves rapidly. The pregnancy progresses at an alarming rate and, as a half-vampire the fetus is far more accelerated than a human one and so, Edward is able to bond with it by reading its thoughts. Bella is sharing her baby names with Edward and Jacob when her backbone suddenly breaks and she collapses. They realize that Bella cannot cope with the pregnancy and the baby is suffocating, so they begin to perform a cesarean section on her. Rosalie begins the procedure, as Carlisle is out getting blood, but due to her hunger, the blood on the blade tempts her greatly. Jacob stops her as Edward picks up the blade and finishes the procedure. Bella, in agony, goes unconscious. After the procedure, Bella wakes up and sees her newborn daughter, and chooses Renesmee as the baby's name, before further laboring. Jacob and Edward do everything they can to revive her, all to no avail. To save her life, Edward injects Bella's heart with his venom to transform her into a vampire, before biting her neck, arms, and legs. Their attempts appear to fail. Jacob then runs outside of the house, feeling remorseful. Seth and Leah appear and realize that Bella will not survive and tell the pack. Distraught, Jacob goes back inside and attempts to kill Renesmee, but when they look into each other's eyes, he sees all the future versions of her and decides not to kill her, imprinting her instead. When the werewolves learn of Bella's "death", they attack the Cullens' house in an attempt to kill the baby, fearing that it would become too great a threat. Edward, Alice, and Jasper, defend their home with the help of Leah and Seth, and are later assisted by Carlisle, Esme, and Emmett. Jacob then runs outside to stop the fight and transforms into his wolf form. Jacob and Sam shortly communicate with each other telepathically. Edward reads Jacob's mind, announcing that Jacob has imprinted on Renesmee, and since the wolves' most absolute law is not to harm anyone who has been imprinted on, they leave. Bella is cleaned and dressed. Edward's venom begins to work in her body; her bite marks heal, her broken back and chest repair, and her figure returns to normal. When her eyes open, they are blood-red. In a post-credits scene, Aro and his brothers, Marcus and Caius, receive a letter from Carlisle announcing that the Cullens have a new member of the family. Aro informs his brothers that his feud with the Cullens is not yet over, as they have something he wants. Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, Edward's wife and Jacob's best friend. She marries Edward in this installment and realizes that she is pregnant by Edward, meaning she will give birth to a half-vampire child., Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen, Bella's husband and Jacob's romantic rival. Convinced her pregnancy will kill Bella, he urges her to have an abortion., Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, Bella's best friend and Edward's romantic rival. He was heartbroken over Bella's choice to marry Edward, but he imprints on Bella and Edward's daughter, Renesmee. He is also the great-grandson of a Chief, and the Alpha of the Black Pack., Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen, Esme's husband and the patriarch of the Cullen family. He is a doctor and helps Bella during her unnaturally accelerated pregnancy and provides human blood for Bella to drink to maintain her strength., Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen, Carlisle's wife and the matriarch of the Cullen family., Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen, a member of the Cullen family who can see "subjective" visions of the future and who is close friends with Bella. She is Jasper's wife., Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen, the strongest member of the Cullen family. He is Rosalie's husband., Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale, a member of the Cullen family who helps Bella through her pregnancy., Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale, a member of the Cullen coven who can feel, control and manipulate emotions. He is Alice's husband., Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, the Chief of the Forks Police Department, and Bella's father., Sarah Clarke as Renée Dwyer, Bella's mother, who remarried to Phil Dwyer., Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater, Seth's older sister and the only female werewolf in existence., Booboo Stewart as Seth Clearwater, Leah's younger brother and Edward and Jacob's friend., MyAnna Buring as Tanya, the leader of the Denali coven., Maggie Grace as Irina, a member of the Denali coven whose lover, Laurent, was killed by the werewolves., Casey LaBow as Kate, a member of the Denali coven who has the ability to release an electric current over her body., Michael Sheen as Aro, Caius and Marcus's brother who has the ability to read every thought a person has ever had once he has made physical contact. One of the three main founders of the Volturi., Jamie Campbell Bower as Caius, Aro and Marcus's brother. One of the three main founders of the Volturi., Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus, Aro and Caius's brother who has the power to sense the strength and nature of relationships. One of the three main founders of the Volturi., Chaske Spencer as Sam Uley, the Alpha of the main werewolf pack., Mackenzie Foy as Renesmee Cullen, Bella and Edward's half-mortal, half-immortal daughter and Jacob Blacks Imprintee., Christian Camargo as Eleazar, a member of the Denali coven who has the ability to identify the special powers of other vampires., Mía Maestro as Carmen, a member of the Denali coven and mate of Eleazar., Olga Fonda as Valentina, a secretary to the Volturi who announces Edward and Bella's wedding. Fonda's scenes, which also included one where she has sex with Aro to obtain information, were cut in the theatrical release, but they were restored in the extended edition., Stephenie Meyer makes a cameo as an attendee of Edward and Bella's wedding. Talks for a Breaking Dawn film started after Summit Entertainment approved the second and third adaptations of the franchise, and scheduled the two films to be released six months apart. Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of Breaking Dawn, but Stephenie Meyer, author of the series, explained on her website's Breaking Dawn FAQ that if an adaptation were to be created, it would have to be split into two films because "The book is just so long!", saying that she would have made the book shorter if it were possible. She also believed it to be impossible to make a film due to Renesmee, writing that an actress could not play her because she is a baby that has complete awareness, "The one thing that I've never seen is a CGI human being who truly looks real"; however, she did acknowledge the film might be possible due to the quickly-advancing technologies. Moreover, because of the mature and explicit nature of the Breaking Dawn book, fans and critics questioned if the studio would be able to keep a PG-13 rating, noting that the movie should not be rated R for the ever-growing fan base. In March 2010, Variety reported that Summit Entertainment was considering splitting the 754-page book into two films, along the same lines as Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Since under contract for only four films, the status of Stewart's, Pattinson's, and Lautner's contracts were in question, making the possibility of a split unlikely. Producer Wyck Godfrey stated that all three main cast members were signed onto one Breaking Dawn film. In March 2010, it was announced that Summit was searching for Academy Award-nominated directors to helm the project, with names like Sofia Coppola, Gus Van Sant, and Bill Condon rumored to have been approached to direct. On April 28, 2010, Summit announced that Bill Condon, who directed Dreamgirls, would direct Breaking Dawn; Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, and author Stephenie Meyer would be producing the film. "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on-screen. As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book—and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience", said Bill Condon. Condon spoke about Summit approaching him saying, "The very nice folks at Summit… they sent me the novel. I loved it. I quickly imprinted on the material". Another reason Condon cited was the desire to collaborate with Stewart. Gus Van Sant later explained that Robert Pattinson mentioning him as the ideal director for Breaking Dawn was what made him audition for the job and described the audition as "very nerve-wracking". However, after Condon was hired, Sant suggested that the reason behind not getting hired was his style and way of auditioning being different from what the executive producers were used to. In June, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start filming in November. The first part was released on November 18, 2011, and the second part's release date is set for November 16, 2012. The Twilight Saga also helped motivate Rosenberg into launching a female-centric production company, Tall Girls Productions: "The charter of it, if there is one, would be to create some strong roles for women… the female Batman, the female Tony Soprano." She explained that, despite the fact of the many hours of hard work ahead of her, it is what she wants to do. After confirming one film, Summit had been keeping their eye on a fifth installment. In May 2010, Billy Burke and Peter Facinelli were the only cast actors who were confirmed for both parts of Breaking Dawn, while other cast members such as Ashley Greene and Kellan Lutz were still in negotiations for a second part. If the actors holding Summit back from making an official announcement did not reach an agreement with them, the studio would not have minded recasting their roles, as was done in with Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Victoria. However, in June 2010, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaptation of the fourth book would start production and it was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles, the Cullen family, and Charlie Swan, would return for both parts. Actresses Christie Burke, Rachel St. Gelais, Sierra Pitkin, and Eliza Faria play Renesmee at her various ages in the film. Since the first film was released, fans and critics speculated whether Breaking Dawn would be adapted into a film considering the adult nature of the book. In March 2010, Rosenberg spoke about adapting the book saying, "It's the big one, it's gonna be a big challenge, and I guarantee you that not all of the fans will be happy, and I guarantee you some of them will be. You have to give up the ideal of making everybody happy, it's just not gonna happen, but you hope you make the majority happy. Again, for that last book it is about taking that specific character Bella on her journey. It's a big journey, it's a massive change for her, and you hope to realize that." One of the scenes that aroused the speculations that the film would be rated R is the infamous graphic birth scene in the novel. In August, Rosenberg addressed such speculations saying, "On the fan site, on Facebook, all the comments are "It has to be R rated! You have to show the childbirth! Gore and guts and sex!" For me it's actually more interesting to not see it. You know, you can do childbirth without seeing childbirth … it doesn't mean it's any less evocative of an experience." Producer Wyck Godfrey addressed those speculations further saying, "it would be a crime against our audience to go R-rated" as the core fans of the series are below 18 years old, but insisted that the film is based on a mature book, so more progress and sophistication are needed. To compromise the necessary sophistication in adapting such a mature book and the need for maintaining a PG-13 rating, Rosenberg stated that the scene would be shown from Bella's point of view. Godfrey described it saying, "She is looking through the haze, experiencing pain and everything rushing around her. We only see what she sees". In June, Rosenberg stated in an interview that the decision on where to split the film had not been decided, as she was still in the drafting stage of the scripts. "I think it comes down to Bella as human and Bella as vampire", she said, hinting at a potential splitting point. She thought that Condon would probably disagree with the statement, explaining that the decision is ultimately up to him. Later in January 2011, Godfrey confirmed that the Part 1 will cover the wedding, honeymoon, pregnancy and birth and ends just before her transformation into a vampire as the filmmakers wanted to "take the audience through the emotional part of Bella's journey as she becomes a vampire". Part 2 will follow her transformation, the "first exhilarating moments" of her vampire life and the final confrontation with the Volturi. Godfrey also confirmed that Part 1 will follow the book's storyline as it breaks away from Bella and switches into Jacob's perspective. "There is a sense that as Bella and the Cullens (Edward's makeshift vampire clan) deal with her pregnancy, the world is still turning outside with Jacob", he explains. However, in March 2011, Meyer said in interview with USA Today that Part 1 will end when Bella opens her eyes as a vampire. By August, Rosenberg said that the scripts for Part 1 and 2 were 75 to 85 percent completed. She found the greatest challenge in writing the scripts to be the final sequence of Part 2: "The final battle sequence is a big challenge because it lasts 25 pages", she said. "It's almost an entire three-act story in and of itself. You have to track [keep it all in one setting] hundreds of characters. It's an enormous challenge to choreograph on the page and for Bill [Condon] to choreograph on the stage." She had written various drafts of the scene but, at that, hadn't revised or discussed them with Condon yet. She said, "That's the next big hurdle to sit down with the stunt coordinator and create the ballet. It's a lot of work. I'm exhausted, but we're intent on making them the best scripts yet." Godfrey called Part 2 "an action film in terms of life-and-death stakes" and said that in Part 1 "there are the pangs of newlywed tension that occur that are relatable even in a fantasy film. Marriage is not quite the experience that they thought it was." Condon thought of Part 1 "as a real companion piece to Catherine Hardwicke's movie". Condon explains, "Like, everything that got set up there gets resolved here. I think you'll find that there are stylistic and other nods to that film." Godfrey considered releasing the second film in 3D to differentiate between the time before and after Bella becomes a vampire, an idea originally proposed for , but said that the decision is up to Condon. However, he said that if the second film were to be released in 3D, he would like to shoot it with the proper equipment in "real" 3D as was done with Avatar (2009), not convert it into 3D in post-production as was done with Clash of the Titans (2010). In order to keep the budget on both parts of Breaking Dawn reasonable, even though it is substantially greater than the previous installments in the series, much of the film was shot in and around Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Celtic Studios in Baton Rouge. Shooting in Louisiana provided larger tax credits, which a small studio like Summit Entertainment would find favorable. Summit announced in a press release on July 9, 2010, that filming was to take place in Baton Rouge, Ucluelet, and Vancouver, with the wedding being shot in Squamish. (Also shot in near by Pemberton, British Columbia.) Both parts will be shot back-to-back as one project. The film will attempt to keep its PG-13 rating, and it will not feature any of the gruesome scenes from the novel with Kristen Stewart confirming that the birth scene wasn't as grotesque as described in the book and that she didn't "puke up blood", though director Bill Condon said that they shot everything as "powerful and potent as they could". Though there were many reports of the cast in Whistler, British Columbia, none of the actual filming took place in Whistler itself, but to the north and south of the town in nearby Pemberton (north) & Squamish (south). The Stars were housed in Whistler at 4 and 5 star hotels, the crew in Squamish & Pemberton. Filming officially began on November 1, 2010 in Brazil, with locations in Rio de Janeiro and Paraty, Rio de Janeiro. The first scenes were shot in the Lapa District in Rio de Janeiro for one night. A long city block was rented for shooting, and Summit Entertainment paid residents 50 to 500 reais (30 to 300 U.S. dollars) to not allow paparazzi or fans to overlook filming from their windows. Moreover, owners of bars and restaurants were paid 10,000 and 20,000 reais (6,000 to 12,000 U.S. dollars) to stay closed for the evening to eliminate noise and provide a clear street. Shooting then moved to Paraty, Rio de Janeiro where the honeymoon scenes were shot. According to Paraty's Tourism Office, filming took place in the Taquari area, near an unidentified waterfall and at Mamangua Bay where a mansion is located. It rained on every day of shooting. In late November, shooting moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where most of the indoor scenes were shot on a sound stage and in a house. Stewart had to wear heavy make-up to look thin and ghastly to show Bella through a phase of pregnancy where the baby starts breaking her bones. The birth scene took two nights to shoot after the cast had a long conversation with Meyer, a midwife and a doctor to discuss the mechanics of the scene, particularly to decide the area where Edward should place his mouth to bite into Bella's placenta if this situation could ever occur in real life. An animatronic baby was used to film a few scenes of newborn Rensemee. The cast and crew spent two months of the filming process shooting in a green- screen room on fake snow. Reportedly, a few scenes were also shot in Arsenal Park using green screens. In late February and early March, filming of most of the exterior shots, along with Bella's vampire scenes, occurred in Canada. The film's first shooting location in Canada was Vancouver. However, the cast and crew were evacuated from the set due to the tsunami advisories resulting from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011. Toni Atterbury, a spokeswoman for the film, said that "the crew was moved to higher ground" as a safety precaution and "the shoot was delayed for a few hours, but the day's work was accomplished". Therefore, filming relocated to Squamish, British Columbia, but a few scenes were shot in the Orpheum theater in Vancouver with the Vancouver police covering all the entrances of the theater. The wedding scene in Part 1 was the last scene the cast and crew shot. It was also shot under tight security. A helicopter hovered above the set, off-duty police officers surrounded the location, and sheets and umbrellas were used to protect the set from aerial shots being taken. Stewart spoke about the wedding at Comic-Con, describing it as "insane". She went on to say that it was "secret service style. The crew was incredibly inconvenienced. No cell phone, etc. They wanted to keep the dress secret." Concerning the wedding dress, Stewart was locked in a room wearing a Volturi cloak to cover the dress. Stewart further talked about filming the scene, saying "I wanted to run down the aisle. I was literally pulling away from Billy Burke. Now it's a trip to watch the wedding scenes. It was so volatile and emotional—I was being such a crazy person." Condon spoke about it saying, "The last scene we filmed was the dance scene between Jacob and Bella at the wedding. The last shot is Jacob leaving. I called "Cut!" and then Kristen yelled, "Jacob!" and hiked her dress up and started running after him into the woods, saying, "Come back! Don't leave!" Filming wrapped—for most of the cast—on April 15, 2011. However, on April 22, what is believed to be additional scenes that will fit into the honeymoon sequence were filmed on Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, which was officially the last day of shooting. The crew, Stewart and Pattinson were shooting in the sea all day long, then went out for cocktails on the beach and watched the sunrise. On the subject of the final day and her final moment as Bella, Stewart stated, "After that scene, my true final scene, I felt like I could shoot up into the night sky and every pore of my body would shoot light. I felt lighter than I've ever felt in my life." Pattinson thought the day was "amazing" and commented, "I then asked myself why we didn't do this in those four years. Every difficult moment just vanished." In October 2010, it was announced that Michael Wilkinson would be the film's costume designer. However, Bella's wedding dress was designed by someone other than Wilkinson. Meyer's description of the dress was "a simpler style than the frillier Edwardian stuff. …Elegant white satin, cut on the bias, with long sleeves." At first, Zac Posen was rumored to be the designer of Bella's wedding dress; however, these rumors proved false when Posen tweeted: "Heard the Bella/Twilight rumor and it's just that. I design for real women like Kristen Stewart and Anna Kendrick". In April 2011, Summit announced that Carolina Herrera is the designer of the dress. Stewart described the dress as very tight, but still liked it and thought that "it was very pretty". Meyer told USA Today that the dress was "an interesting mix" and has a "vintage feel, but at the same time, there's an edge to it". Concerning Alice's bridesmaid dress, its designer remains unknown, however it was presumably designed by Wilkinson. Ashley Greene described the dress as "magical and beautiful" and spoke about the design process, saying, "We wanted to have all the bridesmaids fit together and also have their own identity. So, we took a little bit of Alice's past and put it into her dress." Corsets were added to all the cast's wedding dresses, but were removed during filming because the cast felt uncomfortable wearing them while dancing. Alfred Angelo has been named the exclusive and official licensed manufacturer of Bella's bridal gown. The gown will be a replica of Bella's wedding dress and marketed under the brand Twilight Bridal by Alfred Angelo. It will be revealed in late November 2011, following the release of Part 1, and will be available in Alfred Angelo Signature Stores and independent retailers worldwide. In October 2010, Condon announced that Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor John Bruno, along with his team, would helm the visual effects for Breaking Dawn, including the effects necessary to show Renesmee in her various stages of life in Part 2. Later in February, Adam Howard was added to the Breaking Dawn visual effects team to help create the visual effects for Renesmee, due to his notable work on a similar issue in The Social Network. Condon revealed that Mackenzie Foy's face and expressions will be placed digitally on the bodies of the other actresses playing the same character through her various stages of life. Condon spoke about the process saying, "Sometimes it was hard because the other actresses were actually just there. It was always going to be just Mackenzie's expressions and things like that, so it was a very specific technical thing that even I was learning as we did it. But I have to say, they were real troopers these girls." Furthermore, special effects were also used to illustrate the invisible powers and forces between the vampires in the final battle sequence of Part 2. Montreal-based Modus FX created subtle CG effects for Part 1. It created stylized effects to emphasize the supernatural capabilities of the main characters without making them too obvious or noticeable. A team of 12 artists spent six weeks working on the film. Shots included creating the belly of a pregnant Bella, removing a wrist brace Stewart was wearing in the wedding scene due to an injury, and a variety of subtle cosmetic refinements. Bella's pregnancy was a challenge for Modus; the production team wanted the baby to kick and move around inside her belly, so the artists and cinematographer had to match the camera moves, the lighting, even the film grain, along with the subtleties of Stewart's skin. On the subject, CG supervisor Martin Pelletier said, During the wedding scene, the camera pans around Pattinson and Stewart. Due to a minor wrist injury Stewart had, she was wearing a brace on the day of the shoot. Therefore, Modus was required to create a CG model of the hand and then carefully craft a rig to create natural motions. Once that was finished, every minute movement of the hand had to be matched exactly. The rotational panning shot totals 300 frames and called for elaborate camera and object tracking. Modus used subsurface scattering to accurately capture the partial translucence of her skin to make it look more authentic. Pelletier explained that "tracking was particularly challenging, because when they were shooting it, they weren't thinking about it as an effects shot. There was no camera metadata for the sequence." The solution was to do a series of careful manual adjustments until the light sources were correctly replicated on the set. In July, Condon said that the first cut of Part 1 would be finished in a few weeks, but the visual effects were still in development. Godfrey later stated that they were "very close to locking picture on part one", and that its running time is equal to Twilight, and , therefore approximately two hours. A few weeks later, Godfrey announced that he had seen numerous cuts of the film and called it "incredibly powerful already. …It definitely captures what the book captures." Concerning the subject of the MPAA rating, Godfrey said that the studio does not "have any word yet on the rating", but insisted that it is going to be rated PG-13. Condon discussed the matter further saying, "I think it's a good challenge because the thing that makes something R is literally showing it and if you give yourself that rule: I'm not gonna show, it's not going to be frontal nudity, no one wants that", and added, "we're not going to, again, show splattering blood against the walls but it's gonna be very visceral. It actually becomes a fun challenge to make sure you feel like you have the same experience without having to watch something clinical. I think it makes it better." On January 14, 2011, it was announced that Carter Burwell, composer of the first film in the series, will be returning to score both parts of the final installment. The score of Part 1 was recorded in Abbey Road Studios, London in early September. Alexandre Desplat and Howard Shore, the composers of and , respectively, happened to be in London at the time of the recording session and stopped by to visit Burwell. On September 22, 2011, it was confirmed that the lead single of the soundtrack is a song by American pop singer Bruno Mars called "It Will Rain" to be released exclusively on iTunes on September 27. The teaser poster of Breaking Dawn was released on May 24. After giving fans a sneak peek on June 2, MTV released the first official teaser trailer on June 5, the night of the MTV Movie Awards. It was released online shortly before the awards show began and then made its television debut during the broadcast. On July 21, Summit held a sold-out Comic-Con panel in Hall H, which held 6,500 fans, promoting Part 1. Condon, Stewart, Pattinson and Lautner attended the panel and answered the fans' questions along with showing them exclusive clips from the film. Cast members arrived early in the morning and signed autographs and posters for the midnight-camping fans and Summit booths offered them Breaking Dawn: Part 1 character trading cards. Breaking Dawn: Part 1 footage was screened in Empire Movie Con in the UK on August 13. In addition, Alfred Angelo will host a private screening of Part 1 for forty-nine selected fans on November 15 and another screening for twenty friends two days later via sweepstakes. When the filming started on November 7, 2010 in the Lapa District and Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, leaked set photos and footage videos surfaced online. Summit Entertainment responded to the leaks by removing the photos and videos from YouTube, fansites and gossip websites. On January 13, 2011, scans of a still of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in one of their honeymoon scenes in an Entertainment Weekly article ran online, prior to the magazine's official release of the still. On March 31 and April 1, 2011, a mass leak of a 14-second video and numerous low-quality stills hit the Internet resulting to enthusiastic fan reaction and speculations that the film wouldn't be able to maintain a PG-13 rating. Summit Entertainment released an official statement in response to the leaks saying: Additionally, the first teaser trailer leaked online hours before its debut at the MTV Movie Awards. On August 1, 2011, Summit released a press release announcing the identification of some of the alleged people responsible for the leak of images and video from Breaking Dawn on March 31 and April 1 and the decision to take legal action. Summit claimed that the leak came from Posadas, Argentina, but due to the possibility that other people might be involved in the leak, the investigation is still ongoing. The only person Summit named was a woman called Daiana Santia, resident in Posadas, allegedly being involved in the group that stole the images and footage. Civil action has been filed in the U.S. and Argentina, while criminal action has also been filed in Argentina. Summit hired law firm Keats McFarland & Wilson LLP to search four continents, North America, South America, Europe and Australia, to find the other people behind the leak. On the other hand, Santia hosted a press conference in her town and denied Summit's claims. She claimed that she only saw the images "while surfing the Internet" and didn't send them to anyone. She also stated that she didn't log in anywhere to see them and denies having the technical knowledge of hacking, specifically saying that she "in no way be considered a "hacker" because [she] has no computer skills other than simple user level". Her attorney confirmed that Santia and her family are considering a counterclaim against Summit due to defamation of character and continual harassment by the film's producers who kept requesting that she would let them check her computer to see if she still has the images on her hard disk, although she refused more than once claiming that she is innocent and her computer contains personal items. Her attorney called the situation "a harm to privacy and personal right". Summit's official response to the press conference said, "First and most important this is NOT about greed or the Studio wanting to bully a woman from a small town in Argentina—rather, it is about stolen material that is private and sensitive which was obtained by illegally accessing private/secure servers as well as personal email accounts." Summit gave details about the case stating that the studio has been in contact with Santia since May 2011, but "with no resolution or further good faith efforts on their part, thus the only alternative left was to pursue legal action to ascertain that Ms. Santia no longer holds the images and video in any shape or form". In the response, Summit announced the following claims: Specifically on June 8, 2011, Ms. Santia confessed in the presence of her attorney that she accessed servers and email accounts via a systematic attack—stealing photographs, unfinished images and video footage over several months. Additionally there is indisputable evidence linking her directly to IP addresses that were used in the unauthorized access. Her actions appear to be premeditated and not done on a whim, but rather using technology and tactics that require thought as well as time and skill. Because Ms. Santia decided that she does not want to cooperate, Summit has been unable to settle this matter privately with Ms. Santia and her representatives in Argentina. According to the entertainment site MovieWeb, the DVD and Blu-ray Disc for Part 1 was made available to purchase on February 11, 2012. Both editions include bonus features such as Bella and Edward's wedding video, fast- forwarding to favorite scenes, audio commentary with director Bill Condon, and a 6-part "Making Of" documentary. The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by Universal Studios. In North American DVD sales, Part 1 has currently grossed $94,845,346 and has sold more than 5,234,876 units. An "extended version" was released on March 2, 2013; this version features an additional seven minutes of footage, making the film 124 minutes, including eight additional scenes, two missing scenes, and three alternate scenes. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 grossed $281,287,133 in North America and $430,884,723 in other countries, bringing its worldwide total to $712,171,856. It earned a franchise-best $291.0 million on its worldwide opening weekend, marking the tenth-largest worldwide opening of all time. It reached $500 million worldwide in 12 days, a record time for the franchise. It ranks as the fourth-highest-grossing film of 2011 worldwide and the second- highest-grossing film of the franchise. The film is also currently the fiftieth-highest-grossing film of all time. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (which opened on November 18, 2011 in 4,061 theaters) was projected to reap at least $140 million in its opening weekend. The film earned $30.25 million in midnight showings, which was the second-highest midnight gross ever, at the time, behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($43.5 million) as well as the highest midnight gross of the franchise, until it was surpassed by s gross of $30.4 million. On its opening day, the movie topped the box office with $71.6 million (including midnight showings), which is the fifth-highest opening and single-day gross of all time. On its opening weekend, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 claimed first place with $138.1 million, which was the second-highest opening weekend of the film series, at the time, behind ($142.8 million), as well as the fourth-highest November opening ever behind , New Moon, and Breaking Dawn – Part 2. It is also the tenth-highest opening weekend of all time. The movie also had the second-best opening weekend of 2011 in North America behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169.2 million). It retained first place on its second three-day weekend, declining 70% to $41.9 million, and earned $61.8 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 remained No. 1 for a third weekend, marking the best third-weekend gross for a Twilight film ($16.5 million) and the second film of 2011 to top the weekend box office three times, along with The Help. Closing on February 23, 2012, with $281.3 miilion, it is the third-highest-grossing movie of 2011. It is also the fourth-highest-grossing film in the series, only ahead of the first film ($192.8 million). The film earned $8.9 million in its first two days from five markets. By the end of its first weekend, it earned $152.9 million at about 9,950 locations in 54 markets, which was a new franchise high. Its biggest debut was in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Malta with £13,910,877 ($22.0 million), which was a new high for the series. It was also huge in many European and Latin American countries. It remained in first place at the box office outside North America for three consecutive weekends. With $423.8 million, it is the highest-grossing film of the franchise and the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2011. Its highest-grossing region after North America is the UK, Ireland, and Malta ($48.8 million), followed by Brazil ($35.0 million) and Germany ($33.1 million). Breaking Dawn – Part 1 received generally negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 25% of critics (of the 206 counted reviews) gave the film a positive review with an average rating of 4.35/10, and the site's consensus reads, "Slow, joyless, and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, Breaking Dawn Part 1 may satisfy the Twilight faithful, but it's strictly for fans of the franchise." The review site Metacritic gave the film a 45 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics. It is the lowest-rated installment in the franchise, which was previously . Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a "B+" grade, the audience was 80% female and 60% over 21 years old. Among females only the film received an improved "A-" grade. Justin Chang of Variety gave the film a negative review, calling the film "disappointing". Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter also gave the film a negative review, calling Part 1 "bloated". Brent Simon of Screen International called the film "soapy and melodramatic". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film one star out of a possible five, and referred to it as the next stage of an "emo-operetta" that "sweeps us away on a new riptide of euphoria". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun- Times gave the film two-and-a-half stars, saying that it is filled with a lot of unanswered questions, but calling Stewart's portrayal of Bella "pretty good". The television show Film 2011s Claudia Winkleman gave the film a negative review, calling it "hilarious". Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers said Breaking Dawn – Part 1 is "the worst Twilight movie yet" and thought Taylor Lautner looked like a "petulant five-year-old". Mary Pols of Time magazine named it one of the Top 10 Worst Movies of 2011, saying "this entry, which held within it the teasing promise of explosive consummation, instead delivered soap-opera-level dry humping in high-thread-count sheets", and concluded, "This was the bloodiest of the Twilight movies but somehow the most bloodless." Conversely, Gabriel Chong of "Movie Exclusive" gave the film four stars out of a possible five, praising the dialogue, wedding and action scenes, and particularly Condon's direction, stating, "In the hands of a lesser director, the turn of events could very well descend into farce—thankfully then, this movie has found a masterful helmsman in Condon." He went on to praise Stewart's performance, calling it "mesmerising" and saying that she "makes [Bella's] every emotion keenly felt that runs the gamut from joy, trepidation, anxiety, distress and above all quiet and resolute determination." Mark Adams of Daily Mirror also gave the film four stars out of five and said, "The Twilight films manage to cleverly blend melodrama with supernatural thrills, and while the film is not without its silly moments and cringeworthy dialogue it does deliver the drama and emotional highs we have come to expect". He also praised the wedding, describing it as "beautifully staged", and Stewart's performance. Other positive reviewers from The New York Times and Philadelphia Inquirer said the dialogue was improving and the whole movie played out with style, while being faithful to the book and servicing hardcore fans. MSN Entertainment critic Alaina O'Connor gave Condon some praise for bringing "a certain visual elegance that helps with some of the more-absurd elements of the story." O'Connor also felt that the film did a good job of "examining the relationship between Edward and Bella", but felt that the narrative was weak otherwise. The film was also ranked the tenth best film of 2011 by E!. Will Brooker, writing for Times Higher Education, makes the case that Breaking Dawn has a feminist element, stating that it "reverse(s) the embedded cinematic conventions of male voyeur and female-as- spectacle", and that "the lack of attention to (Bella) as sex object is remarkable." The film also drew both criticism and praise for having what was seen as a pro-life theme. Natalie Wilson, writing for the Ms. magazine blog, described what she saw as the book's "latent anti-abortion message" as "problematic from a feminist perspective" and found this element "heightened, not diminished, in the film", citing scenes in which Rosalie scolds Alice for using the word "fetus". Richard Lawson of The Atlantic said that Bella's pregnancy "serves as the narrative dais from which Meyer, and in complicity Condon and the screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, delivers a startlingly direct and uncovered anti-abortion sermon", adding "it seems there was no escaping the firmly anti-choice themes of this leg of the story, and so we must sit and grumble while sickly Bella is scored by plaintive strings as she chooses the one true moral path". Neil Morris of Independent Weekly said that the film "takes up a radically pro-life mantle when Bella refuses to abort her baby, even though her life may depend on it". Sandie Angulo Chen of Moviefone described the "bulk" of the film as "one long pro-life debate", in which "Bella says it's her body, her choice (terms usually used in the pro-choice movement), but her decision is pro-life to the extreme, because the baby can and will kill her". In contrast, John Mulderig of the Catholic News Service praised the "strongly pro-life message being conveyed via Bella's unusual plight", saying it "presents a welcome counterpoint to the all-too-frequent motif in popular entertainment whereby pregnancy is presented as a form of disease or an almost unbearable curse". In an interview with Screen Rant, screenwriter Rosenberg addressed the perception of a pro-life message in the film, stating, "If I could not find my way into it that didn't violate my beliefs (because I am extremely pro-choice very outspoken about it, very much a feminist) I would not have written this move. They could have offered me the bank and I still wouldn't have. In order to embrace it I had to find a way to deal with it. I also had no interest in violating Stephenie's belief system or anyone on the other side". On February 25, Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was nominated for eight Razzie Awards, including: Worst Picture; Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel; Worst Screen Ensemble; Worst Director (for Bill Condon); Worst Screenplay; Worst Actor (for Taylor Lautner), and Worst Actress (for Kristen Stewart). The Worst Screen Couple award for Kristen Stewart with either Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson was also included. The film lost all categories to Jack and Jill. A week following the film's release, incidents began occurring of the birthing scene having triggered epileptic seizures in moviegoers. The visual effects during the scene involves several pulsating red, white, and black flashing lights, which creates an effect similar to a strobe light. Reports of such photosensitive seizures have been reported in Sacramento, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The incidents have become more widespread as news of the incidents began to flood several news sites, making people aware that health issues that attendees were experiencing might have been caused by the scene. Famed comic book artist Jim Lee tweeted that he and his family had to leave a screening of the film after "our 11 year old son literally threw up during the birthing scene." The people who have experienced seizures during the film are reportedly "perfectly healthy people". Vampire film The Twilight Saga is a series of five romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $3.3 billion in worldwide receipts. The first installment, Twilight, was released on November 21, 2008. The second installment, , followed on November 20, 2009, breaking box office records as the biggest midnight screening and opening day in history, grossing an estimated $72.7 million. The third installment, , was released on June 30, 2010, and was the first Twilight film to be released in IMAX. The series had been in development since 2004 at Paramount Pictures, during which time a screen adaptation of Twilight that differed significantly from the novel was written. Three years later, Summit Entertainment acquired the rights to the film. After Twilight grossed $35.7 million on its opening day, Summit Entertainment announced they would begin production on New Moon; they had acquired the rights to the remaining novels earlier that same month. A two-part adaptation of Breaking Dawn began shooting in November 2010 with release dates of November 18, 2011, and November 16, 2012, respectively. Twilight was in development for approximately three years at Paramount Pictures's MTV Films, during which time a screen adaptation differing significantly from the novel was written. For example, the script transformed Bella into a star athlete. Reports were released that super fan, Ally Coots- Cavendish was stalking lead actor. Stephenie Meyer stated that there was some debate in allowing the movie to be made because of the negative or positive outcome of the movie compared to the book, '"They could have put that [earlier] movie out, called it something else, and no one would have known it was Twilight!" The idea of seeing a scene converted correctly, specifically the meadow scene, convinced Meyer to sell the rights. In seeing the script, she was frightened that she had made the wrong decision. When Summit Entertainment reinvented itself as a full-service studio in April 2007, it successfully acquired the rights to the novel. Erik Feig, President of Production at Summit Entertainment, guaranteed a close adaptation to the book. The company perceived the film as an opportunity to launch a franchise based on the success of Meyer's book and its sequels. Meyer felt that Summit was open to letting her be a part of the film. Catherine Hardwicke was hired to direct the film, and soon afterward, Melissa Rosenberg was selected to be the film's structural base as the writer of the film. Rosenberg developed an outline by the end of August and collaborated with Hardwicke on writing the screenplay during the following month. "She was a great sounding board and had all sorts of brilliant ideas... I'd finish off scenes and send them to her, and get back her notes." Because of the impending WGA strike, Rosenberg worked full-time to finish the screenplay before October 31. In adapting the novel for the screen, she "had to condense a great deal." Some characters were left out, and others were combined. "[O]ur intent all along was to stay true to the book," Rosenberg explained, "and it has to do less with adapting it word for word and more with making sure the characters' arcs and emotional journeys are the same." Hardwicke suggested the use of voice over to convey the protagonist's internal dialogue, since the novel is told from Bella's point of view; and she sketched some of the storyboards during pre-production. Meyer, the author, and Hardwicke, the director, had a close relationship while developing Twilight. Hardwicke wanted to embrace the experience and make the characters in the books come to life. She would call Meyer after changing a scene slightly, which surprised the author because, "I've heard the stories...I know it's not normally like that when you adapt a book." Meyer, a natural pessimist, was waiting for the worst but, instead, called her experience in the book's film adaptation "the best I could have hoped for." Originally scheduled for release in December 2008, Twilight was moved to a worldwide release of November 21, 2008, after Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince moved from a November 2008 release to being released in July 2009. Kristen Stewart was on the set of Adventureland when Hardwicke visited her for an informal screen test, which "captivated" the director. Hardwicke did not initially choose Robert Pattinson for the role of Edward Cullen; but, after an audition at her home with Stewart, he was selected. Meyer allowed Pattinson to view a manuscript of the unfinished Midnight Sun, which chronicles the events in Twilight from Edward's point of view. Meyer was "excited" and "ecstatic" in response to the casting of the two main characters. She had expressed interest in having Emily Browning and Henry Cavill cast as Bella and Edward, respectively, prior to pre-production. Peter Facinelli was not originally cast as Carlisle Cullen: "[Hardwicke] liked [him], but there was another actor that the studio was pushing for." For unknown reasons, that actor was not able to play the part, and Facinelli was selected in his place. The choice of Ashley Greene to portray Alice Cullen was criticized by some fans because Greene is taller than her character as described in the novel. Meyer said that Rachael Leigh Cook resembled her vision of Alice. Nikki Reed, who portrayed Rosalie Hale, had previously worked with Hardwicke on the successful Thirteen (2003), which they co-wrote, and Lords of Dogtown (2005). Kellan Lutz was in Africa, shooting the HBO miniseries Generation Kill, when the auditions for the character of Emmett Cullen were conducted. The role had already been cast by the time the HBO production ended in December 2007, but the selected actor "fell through". Lutz subsequently auditioned and was flown to Oregon, where Hardwicke personally chose him. Rachelle Lefèvre wanted a role in the film because Hardwicke was director; she saw "the potential to explore a character, hopefully, over three films"; and she wanted to portray a vampire. "[She] thought that vampires were basically the best metaphor for human anxiety and questions about being alive." Christian Serratos initially auditioned for Jessica Stanley, but she "fell totally in love with Angela" after reading the books and took advantage of a later opportunity to audition for Angela Weber. The role of Jessica Stanley went to Anna Kendrick, who got the part after two mix-and-match auditions with various actors. Because of major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between Twilight and New Moon, director Chris Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black." Trying to keep the role, Lautner worked out extensively and put on 30 lbs. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue as Jacob in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. In late March 2009, Summit Entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the "wolf pack" alongside Lautner. The casting for the rest of the Quileute people was headed by casting director Rene Haynes, who has worked on films with large American Indian casts, such as Dances with Wolves and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In mid-2009, it was announced that Bryce Dallas Howard would be replacing Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria for the third Twilight film, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Summit Entertainment attributed the change to scheduling conflicts. Lefevre said she was "stunned" and "greatly saddened" by the decision. Jodelle Ferland was cast as the newly turned vampire, Bree. Other new cast members for the third film include Xavier Samuel as Riley, Jack Huston as Royce King II, Catalina Sandino Moreno as Maria, Julia Jones as Leah Clearwater, and Booboo Stewart as Seth Clearwater. Principal photography for Twilight took 44 days, after more than a week of rehearsals, and completed on May 2, 2008. Similar to her directorial debut Thirteen, Hardwicke opted for an extensive use of hand-held cinematography to make the film "feel real". Meyer visited the production set three times, and was consulted on different aspects of the story; she also has a brief cameo in the film. To make their bodily movements more elegant, and to get used to their characters' fighting styles, the cast playing vampires participated in rehearsals with a dance choreographer and observed the physicality of different panthera. Instead of shooting at Forks High School itself, scenes taking place at the school were filmed at Kalama High School and Madison High School. Other scenes were also filmed in St. Helens, Oregon, and Hardwicke conducted some reshooting in Pasadena, California, in August. In early November 2008, Summit announced that they had obtained the rights to the remaining books in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series: New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. On November 22, 2008, one day after the theatrical release of Twilight, Summit confirmed that they would begin working on New Moon. Melissa Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to Twilight's release and handed in the draft for New Moon during Twilight's opening weekend in November 2008. In early December 2008, it was announced that Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel. Hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project. Instead, Chris Weitz, director of The Golden Compass and co-director of American Pie, was hired to direct The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Filming for New Moon began in Vancouver in late March 2009, and in Montepulciano, Italy, in late May 2009. In early 2009, before the release of , Summit confirmed that they would begin production on The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Since Weitz would be in post- production for New Moon when The Twilight Saga: Eclipse began shooting, he would not be directing the third film. Instead, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse was helmed by director David Slade, with Melissa Rosenberg returning as screenwriter. Filming began on August 17, 2009 at Vancouver Film Studios and finished in late October, with post-production beginning early the following month. In April 2010, it was revealed that re-shoots of the film were needed. Slade, who previously said he would not be around for them, was seen, along with Stephenie Meyer, on set. The three main stars were also present. Wyck Godfrey, producer of the previous films in the series, stated in mid-2009 that they had every intention to make the film version of Breaking Dawn. Following months of speculation and cast rumors, it was officially announced on April 28, 2010, that Academy Award winner Bill Condon, who directed Gods and Monsters and Dreamgirls, would direct Breaking Dawn; producing the film will be Wyck Godfrey, Karen Rosenfelt, and author Stephenie Meyer. "I'm very excited to get the chance to bring the climax of this saga to life on-screen. As fans of the series know, this is a one-of-a-kind book – and we're hoping to create an equally unique cinematic experience," said Bill Condon. A November 18, 2011 release date has been set for the first part, while the second is scheduled for release on November 16, 2012. Following that announcement, Summit officially confirmed that a two-part adaption of the fourth book would start production in the fall on June 11, 2010. With this announcement, it was made clear that all major actors, including the three lead roles, the Cullen family, and Charlie Swan, would return for both parts. Bill Condon was also confirmed to direct both parts. In order to keep the budget on both parts of Breaking Dawn reasonable, which would be substantially greater than the previous instalments in the series, filming in Louisiana was also negotiated, providing larger tax credits for the studio to benefit from. Twilight was directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Melissa Rosenberg. It focuses on the development of a personal relationship between human teenager Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), and the subsequent efforts of Edward and his family to keep Bella safe from a separate group of hostile vampires. Edward refuses to grant Bella's request that he would transform her into a vampire, so that they could be together forever, his argument being that she should have a normal, human life. The film was released theatrically starting on November 21, 2008. It grossed $35.7 million on its opening day, and has come to gross US$408.9 million worldwide. The DVD was released on March 21, 2009 and grossed an additional $238 million from sales. The Blu-ray disc edition of the film was released on March 21, 2009, in select locations, but was made more widely available at further retailers on May 5, 2009, grossing over $26 million; getting to a total of over $264 million in home media sales. was directed by Chris Weitz and written by Melissa Rosenberg. The film follows the Cullens' departure from Forks, and Bella Swan's fall into a deep depression. This depression persists until Bella develops a strong friendship with Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). She consequently discovers that Jacob has unwillingly become a werewolf. Jacob and his tribe must protect Bella from Victoria, and a gregarious herd of vampires. Edward tells Bella that he will change her into a vampire if she agrees to marry him. The film was released theatrically starting on November 20, 2009, and set numerous records. It was at the time the biggest advance-ticket seller on Fandango and held the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million. Its sequel, , broke that record in June 2010, grossing $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history. New Moon is the thirteenth highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137. was directed by David Slade and written by Melissa Rosenberg. The film follows the human Bella Swan as she develops awareness of the complications of marrying vampire Edward Cullen. Jacob Black and the rest of the wolves form a temporary alliance with the Cullens to battle Victoria and her army of newborn vampires to keep Bella safe. Jacob unsuccessfully tries to convince Bella to leave Edward and be with him instead. Edward proposes to Bella and she accepts it. The film was released theatrically starting on June 30, 2010, and is the first Twilight film to be released in IMAX. It set a new record for biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) in box office history, grossing an estimated $30 million in over 4,000 theaters. The previous record holder was the previous film in the series, with $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters. The film then scored the biggest Wednesday opening in domestic history with $68,533,840 beating 's $62 million. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse has also become the film with the widest release ever, playing in over 4,416 theaters. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn was directed by Bill Condon, and author Stephenie Meyer co-produced the film along with Karen Rosenfelt and Wyck Godfrey, with Melissa Rosenberg penning the script. The book's plot was split into two films, the first of which was released on November 18, 2011. The filming of Breaking Dawn began in November 2010. The first part follows Bella and Edward as they get married and Bella becomes pregnant. They deal with her struggle of being pregnant and nearly dying because of her half-human, half- vampire child. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 was directed by Bill Condon, and author Stephenie Meyer co-produced the film along with Karen Rosenfelt and Wyck Godfrey, with Melissa Rosenberg penning the script. The book's plot was split into two films, the first of which was released on November 18, 2011. The second was released on November 16, 2012. The second part of Breaking Dawn saw the climax of Bella and Edward's relationship. Bella must learn, as a newly transformed vampire, to use her special shield powers, as well as protect her half-human half-vampire daughter, Renesmee. The film also shows the final battle between The Cullens, along with vampires from the Denali Clan, and other vampire friends, as well as the wolves from the Quileute Tribe, against The Volturi. Twilight: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas. The album was released on November 4, 2008 by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records, and debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, having sold about 165,000 copies in its first week of release, 29% of which were digital downloads. Twilight is the best-selling theatrical movie soundtrack in the United States since (2002). "Decode", by Paramore, was the first single released from the soundtrack. It premiered on Paramore's fan club site and Stephenie Meyer's official website on October 1, 2008. The song was certified Platinum in the U.S on February 16, 2010, selling over 1,000,000 copies. It was also nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010 for Best Song Written for a Movie. "Go All the Way (Into the Twilight)", by Perry Farrell, was the second single released from the soundtrack. It premiered on Meyer's website on October 23, 2008. Twilight: The Score was composed and orchestrated by Carter Burwell over a 9- to 10-week period, and was recorded and mixed in about 2 weeks in late September 2008. Burwell began the score with a "Love Theme" for Bella and Edward's relationship, a variation of which became "Bella's Lullaby" that Robert Pattinson plays in the film, and that is included on the Twilight Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. The original theme is featured throughout the film, and serves to "play the romance that drives the story". Another theme Burwell composed was a "Predator Theme", which opens the film, and is intended to play Edward's vampire nature. Other themes include a bass-line, drum beat and distorted guitar sound for the nomadic vampires, and a melody for the Cullen family. Twilight: The Score was released digitally on November 25, 2008 and in stores on December 9. had, once again, Alexandra Patsavas as music supervisor; while , was composed by Alexandre Desplat. The movie's director, Chris Weitz, has a working relationship with Desplat, who scored one of his previous films, The Golden Compass (2007). The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released on October 16, 2009 by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The album debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, later jumped to #1 with 153,000 copies sold. The Twilight Saga: New Moon: The Score was released on November 24, 2009. had, once again, Alexandra Patsavas as music supervisor. It was released on June 8, 2010, by Patsavas' Chop Shop label, in conjunction with Atlantic Records. The lead single from the soundtrack, "Neutron Star Collision (Love Is Forever)", performed by the British band Muse, was released on May 17, 2010. The soundtrack debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 albums chart with estimated sales of 144,000 copies. The film's score, , was composed by Howard Shore, who composed the scores for The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003). saw the release of two singles: "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri and "It Will Rain" by Bruno Mars. The former reached number one and the latter of the two number three on the Billboard Hot 100. Twilight grossed over $7 million in ticket sales from midnight showings alone on November 21, 2008. It grossed $35.7 million on its opening day. For its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, Twilight accumulated $69.6 million from 3,419 theaters at an average of $20,368 per theater. The film has made $192.7 million in the United States and Canada, and a further $200.8 million in international territories for a total of $393.6 million worldwide. The film was released on DVD in North America on March 21, 2009 through midnight release parties, and sold over 3 million units in its first day. It has continued to sell units, totaling as of July 2012, making $201,323,629. The Twilight Saga: New Moon set records for advance ticket sales, causing some theaters to add additional showings. The film set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada) box office history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million in 3,514 theatres, before expanding to 4,024 theaters. The record was previously held by Harry Potter and the Half- Blood Prince, which grossed $22.2 million domestically during its midnight premiere. The film grossed $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history, beating The Dark Knight's $67.2 million. This opening strongly contributed to another record: the first time that the top ten films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $100 million in a single day. The opening weekend of The Twilight Saga: New Moon is the ninth-highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137. The film also has the sixth highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total. While The Twilight Saga has been successful at the box office, critical reception of the films was mixed. New York Press critic Armond White called Twilight "a genuine pop classic", and praised Hardwicke for turning "Meyer's book series into a Brontë-esque vision". USA Today gave the film two out of four stars and Claudia Puig wrote: "Meyer is said to have been involved in the production of Twilight, but her novel was substantially more absorbing than the unintentionally funny and quickly forgettable film." Robert Ignizio of the Cleveland Scene described The Twilight Saga: New Moon as an "entertaining fantasy", and noted that it "has a stronger visual look [than Twilight] and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle." Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film two and half stars out of four, praised Kristen Stewart's performance in the film and wrote: "Despite melodrama that, at times, is enough to induce diabetes, there's enough wolf whistle in this sexy, scary romp to please anyone." The Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave the film a "B" grading and said, "the movie looks tremendous, the dialogue works, there are numerous well placed jokes, the acting is on point." Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle responded with a more mixed review, stating, "[E]xpect this film to satisfy its fans. Everybody else, get ready for a bizarre soap opera/pageant, consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they're thinking." Roger Ebert gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it "takes the tepid achievement of Twilight, guts it, and leaves it for undead." The release of the movie has also inspired feminist criticism, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly making light of the claim that Edward Cullen is little better than a stalker. In any case, the influx of female viewers into the theaters indicates the increasing importance of the female demographic in dictating Hollywood's tastes. The Hollywood Reporter posted a positive review of , saying the film "nails it". Variety reports that the film "finally feels more like the blockbuster this top-earning franchise deserves". One review stated the film was the best in The Twilight Saga so far, acknowledging that, "The person who should be worried is Bill Condon, the director tapped for the two-part finale, . He's got a real challenge to make movies as good as Eclipse." A.O. Scott of The New York Times praised David Slade's ability to make an entertaining film, calling it funny and better than its predecessors, but pointed out the acting hasn't improved much. A more negative review said that while "Eclipse restores some of the energy New Moon zapped out of the franchise and has enough quality performances to keep it involving", the film "isn't quite the adrenaline- charged game-changer for love story haters that its marketing might lead you to believe. The majority of the 'action' remains protracted and not especially scintillating should-we-or-shouldn't-we conversations between the central triangle." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film a more positive review than for the first two films in the saga, but still felt the movie was a constant, unclever conversation between the three main characters. He criticized the "gazes" both Edward and Jacob give Bella throughout the movie, and noted that the mountain range that appears in the film looks "like landscapes painted by that guy on TV who shows you how to paint stuff like that." He also predicted that a lack of understanding for the film series in general would not bode well with the audience, stating, "I doubt anyone not intimately familiar with the earlier installments could make head or tails of the opening scenes." He gave the film 2 stars out of 4. Breaking Dawn – Part 1 received mostly negative reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 24% of critics (of the 195 counted reviews) gave the film a positive review, and the site's consensus reads "Slow, joyless and loaded with unintentionally humorous moments, Breaking Dawn Part 1 may satisfy the Twilight faithful, but it's strictly for fans of the franchise". Part 2 had a mixed critical reception but was much more favorable than Part 1. Richard Roeper said that "The fifth and final entry in the historically successful Twilight franchise is the most self-aware and in some ways the most entertaining", giving it a grade C+. The 2010 Portuguese teen series Lua Vermelha (Red Moon) had a similar premise of vampire romance but differed in the story. A parody film released that same year titled, Vampires Suck spoofed the film series. A television show within the canon of Canadian teen vampire film My Babysitter's a Vampire and the television series sequel called Dusk is a parody of Twilight. The 2012 film Breaking Wind (parodying the title of Breaking Dawn, but parodying the whole film series), directed by Craig Moss (best known for The 41-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It), is also a spoof of the films and a parody version of Breaking Dawn Part – 1. The animated movie Hotel Transylvania was released the same year, and has a scene inspired by Twilight. The 2013 Filipino comedy sitcom entitled My Daddy is a Vampire resembled some Twilight scenes. Movie prop collection located in Forks, WA Isabella "Bella" Marie Swan (later Isabella "Bella" Marie Cullen) is a character and the protagonist of the Twilight novel series, written by Stephenie Meyer. The Twilight series, consisting of the novels Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, is primarily narrated from Bella's point of view, but partway through Breaking Dawn it is written from Jacob Black's perspective. In the film series, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart. In Twilight, a human, 17-year-old Bella, moves to her father's home in Forks, Washington, meets the mysterious Cullen family, and falls in love with a young vampire 17-year-old Edward Cullen. However, she soon discovers that the family is a coven of vampires. Bella expresses a desire to become a vampire herself, but Edward refuses to "turn" her. In the second novel, New Moon, young 17-year-old vampire Edward and the other Cullens leave Forks in an effort to keep a young now-18-year-old human Bella safe from the vampire world. Jacob Black, a member of the Quileute tribe who is also a shape shifter taking a wolf form, comforts the distraught and severely depressed Bella. She comes to care deeply for Jacob, though less than she loves Edward. At the end of Eclipse, three days before Bella turns 19, she becomes engaged to Edward Cullen (who is still physically 17), and they marry in Breaking Dawn. On their honeymoon, she becomes pregnant by Bella and, due to the peculiar nature of her baby, Bella nearly dies giving birth to their daughter, Renesmee Cullen. Edward turns Bella into a vampire to save her. The premise for both the Bella Swan character and the Twilight series originated in a dream Stephenie Meyer had in which an "average girl" and a "fantastically beautiful, sparkly ... vampire ... were having an intense conversation in a meadow in the woods." In this dream, the pair "were discussing the difficulties inherent in the facts that ... they were falling in love with each other while ... the vampire was particularly attracted to the scent of her blood, and was having a difficult time restraining himself from killing her." Meyer's original characters were unnamed; she took to calling the characters, who would later become Edward Cullen and Bella, 'he' and 'she' for the purpose of convenience as she, "didn't want to lose the dream." The name 'Isabella' was decided upon, Meyer explains, because "after spending so much time with [the character], I loved her like a daughter. ... Inspired by that love, I gave her the name I was saving for my daughter... Isabella." Bella's positive reception at her new school in Forks, particularly her popularity with male characters, was modelled after Meyer's real life move from high school to college. Meyer has said that there are similarities between Bella and the title character of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, a novel which she has cited as an influence on the Twilight series. Bella, who first appears in Twilight, is a young 17-year-old human girl, who moves from her mother's home in Phoenix, Arizona, to live with her father, Charlie Swan, a police chief, in her birthplace of Forks, Washington. There, she is enrolled at Forks High School, where she becomes intrigued by a young 17-year-old vampire student, Edward Cullen and his family. When Edward saves her life, he exhibits super-human qualities. Bella learns from Jacob Black that Quileute legends say the Cullen family are Cold Ones. Edward eventually admits that he is a vampire, though his family have what they call a "vegetarian" diet-only hunting animals. Edward constantly warns Bella against being with him, perceiving her life to be at constant risk because her blood's scent is more seductive to him than any other human he has ever met. Bella's love and confidence in Edward's restraint is such that his warnings go unheeded, While playing baseball with the Cullen family, she becomes the target of a sadistic vampire, James. Edward saves Bella from James' predation, though Edward is still unwilling to change Bella into a vampire himself. New Moon begins on Bella's eighteenth birthday. She has a dream where she is an old woman while her vampire boyfiend, Edward Cullen is perpetually young. During a birthday celebration at the Cullen residence, Bella gets a small paper cut while unwrapping a present. Edward's brother, Jasper, instinctively thirsting for her blood, lunges for Bella but Edward and Emmett restrain him. In a misguided attempt to protect Bella, Edward moves away with his family. Edward's departure results in Bella falling into a deep depression and isolation lasting months. Charlie, concerned about Bella, wants her to live with her mother in Jacksonville, hoping a new environment will help. In an effort to stay in Forks, Bella begins seeing her old friends and attends a movie with Jessica. While there, she carelessly approaches a group of dangerous-looking bikers gathered outside a bar; she discovers she can hear Edward's voice when her adrenaline runs high. Desperate to hear his voice again, Bella continually seeks out danger and convinces Jacob to repair two old motorcycles and teach her how to ride. Their friendship deepens and Jacob admits his romantic feelings for Bella, though she does not reciprocate them. When the vampire Laurent returns to Forks, he tries to attack Bella. She is saved by a pack of giant wolves. Later, Bella learns that Jacob and other tribe members are shape-shifters who phase into wolf form to protect humans from vampires. Bella also discovers that Victoria has also returned to Forks, seeking to kill Bella to avenge her vampire mate, James' death. To hear Edward's voice again, Bella attempts cliff jumping and nearly drowns, but Jacob rescues her. Alice returns to Forks after having a vision that Bella jumped off a cliff and has died, only to discover that Bella is alive. After Harry Clearwater died from a heart attack, her vision misread his funeral for Bella's. Edward, believing Bella has committed suicide, travels to Volterra, Italy, to request the Volturi to destroy him, though they refuse his request. Alice and Bella follow Edward to Italy, barely in time prevent him from showing himself in daylight to humans, an act that would result in his execution. The trio is taken to the Volturi. Because Bella knows about vampires, the Volturi would either kill her or have her become a vampire. Alice shows Aro a vision she had of Bella as a vampire, and they are free to leave and are given a strict warning that there will be consequences if Bella remains human. Upon returning home, Edward tells Bella that he never stopped loving her and only left Forks to protect her. Edward promises never to leave Bella again. Edward still opposes Bella becoming a vampire and intends to fool the Voltari. Intent on becoming an immorta, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her fate. Only Rosalie and Edward oppose it. Later, Jacob reminds Edward about the treaty, and biting any human will nullify it. Bella insists it is her choice. Edward later agrees he will change her if she will marry him. Eclipse continues the paranormality of 18-year-olds human and vampire, Bella and Edward's relationship. Edward is reluctant to change Bella into a vampire, believing vampires is a curse. Bella agrees to marry Edward on the condition that he will make love to her while she is still human and then turn her into a vampire. Edward initially declines, saying that he could easily lose control and unintentionally kill her. He reminds Bella that he is from another era, where relationships had fewer complications and couples remained celibate until marriage. The plot is driven by the machinations of the vampire Victoria, who first encountered Bella and the Cullens during the first novel, Twilight. Victoria, seeking to avenge her lover, James' death, hunts Bella while building a new vampire army to wipe out the Cullen coven. To combat this threat, a reluctant truce is struck between the Cullen s, and the shape- shifting wolf pack led by Sam Uley. Jacob Black pits himself against Edward as a love interest for Bella, but she considers him as a friend. Despite her love for Edward, she shares a kiss with Jacob and realizes she loves him, too, but loves Edward more. Bella acknowledges that Edward is the most important person in her life. After Victoria is killed and Edward has formally proposed, Bella must now tell her father Charlie, knowing he will oppose her marrying Edward. Breaking Dawn begins with the wedding of human Bella and vampire, Edward at the Cullen residence. They spend their honeymoon on Isle Esme, a small island off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil the Cullens own. Their lovemaking sparks a conflict between the newlyweds: Edward is horrified that he has bruised Bella, but she insists she is fine and wants Edward to make love to her again. Although he vows not to do so again while she is still human, he eventually gives in. Two weeks into their honeymoon, Bella thinks she may be pregnant, even though it is believed a vampire cannot father a child. Edward and Bella return to Forks. Carlisle, a doctor, confirms that Bella is indeed pregnant. Her health quickly deteriorates as the baby's growth accelerates. Edward wants the pregnancy terminated to save Bella. Bella refuses, and asks her sister-in-law, Rosalie, to intervene as her advocate and protector. Edward comes to love the baby after hearing its thoughts, and learns it loves Bella and does not mean to harm her. Bella goes into labor and Edward is forced to perform an emergency cesarean to deliver their daughter, Renesmee. As Bella lies dying, Edwards repeatedly injects his venom into Bella's body. During Bella's transformation and recovery, Jacob imprints—an involuntary process in which a shape-shifter finds his soulmate — on Edward and Bella's baby, Renesmee. After the Cullens' vampire cousin, Irina, mistakes Renesmee for an immortal child (a forbidden creation in the vampire world), she reports it to the Volturi. Alice foresees the Volturi arriving to destroy the Cullen coven for the alleged transgression. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses to verify Renesmee's mortality, only to realize later the Volturi always intended to destroy their coven and recruit Alice for her foresight ability. Meanwhile, Bella learns that she is a "shield" and can block other's mental thoughts and senses. She can also project a protective barrier around others. Edward and Bella stand with the other Cullens and their allies to convince the Volturi that Renesmee is not an immortal child or poses a threat to their existence. Once the Volturi are impelled to leave or else face their own destruction as Alice has foreseen, Edward, Bella, Renesmee, and the other Cullens can finally live their lives in peace. Bella is described as being petite, with a height of roughly 5'4", and a very translucent, pale complexion. She has thick, long, brown hair, with a wide forehead, and a widows peak. Her eyes are described as being "chocolate brown" and widely spaced. She has a small, thin nose, prominent cheekbones, lips a bit too full for her slim jawline, and thin eyebrows that are straighter than they are arched. Her fingernails are described as stubby from being bitten down. The scent of her O negative blood is incredibly attractive to vampires, described by Bree Tanner to be the "sweetest scent she'd ever smelled", though it is a thousand times more intense to Edward Cullen. As for distinguishing features, Bella has a small crescent-shaped scar on her hand where she was bitten by James, a tracker vampire, in Twilight. The scar is described as being pale, always a few degrees colder than the rest of her body, and it shines like a vampire's skin when exposed to the sunlight. After Bella is changed into a vampire by Edward, she becomes extremely beautiful with even paler skin, straight waist-length hair, and crimson red eyes that will eventually turn gold after months of drinking animal blood. Her features are also heightened and perfected by the transformation. Bella wears plain shirts, jeans, and sneakers for everywhere she goes, as she lacks care in her appearance. Bella is described as being clumsy, having a weak constitution, being nonathletic and hating anything physical. Bella is also described as a reclusive loner, insecure, and very sensitive. She also cares for the rest of the Cullen family, her husband Edward, her daughter Renesmee, her parents Charlie and Renée, and her friend Jacob Black. She has a tendency to underestimate the people around her mainly because of her concerns for their safety. Having learned to take care of her mother over the years and being naturally responsible, Bella had developed into a very mature person, especially for her age. She mostly prefers to spend her free time reading classics from school. When it comes to fashion, Bella is not traditionally feminine. She hates dressing up, saying that makeup "is a pain" and that she feels uncomfortable in impractical, elegant clothes; however, Alice does not care what Bella thinks and continues to persuade her to dress up and look glamorous. She is not materialistic and does not like spending money on luxurious items, telling Edward in New Moon "not to spend a dime on [her] birthday," and that fast cars are unnecessary, saying that Edward gave her himself and anything else he gives her would throw their relationship off balance. She hates being singled out and does not like her birthday being celebrated. She also has very negative views on teen marriage due to her parents' early experience but learns to overcome them later. She is an extremely private person who keeps her thoughts and feelings to herself and hates when someone tries to understand her, which is thought to be why Edward is unable to hear her thoughts. She is also known to be incredibly stubborn with herself, because of her determination to become a vampire in order to be with Edward forever. She is also said to possess poor acting skills. Ironically, she demonstrates good acting ability in Twilight when she makes her father believe that she has dumped Edward and is leaving Forks. She is a very reserved girl with a stiff uptight position, habit of biting her lip, which she shares with Kristen Stewart. Bella knits together her eyebrows when feeling strong emotions such as nervousness. As a human, Bella easily fainted at the sight of blood, though it changes after she became a vampire. Bella is also shown in Breaking Dawn, to have a good mood climate, and is able to run away from the smell of human blood when she goes on her first hunting trip as a vampire. Bella has a sarcastic sense of humor, especially when she gets mad; Bella is almost always a very soft and forgiving person who is hard to anger. She can surprisingly be very brave, able to block painful thoughts and memories (hence her special vampire ability), and tends to come face-to-face with life-threatening danger head-on, even though she can get scared later. She puts Edward before herself and everybody and everything else, but several 'selfish' tendencies emerge (as when she asked Edward to stay with her instead of fighting vampires in Eclipse). Meyer has stated that Bella's "tragic flaw" in Eclipse is her lack of self-knowledge. This is most obviously illustrated in her consistent denial of any romantic feelings for Jacob Black, despite the fact that she later realizes that she is, indeed, in love with him. Bella is also a very bad liar except to herself. According to Eclipse, Jacob and Edward saying that she's a terrible liar, are evidence to this. Besides, she also admits this throughout the whole saga, though she seemingly manages to lie to herself about her romantic feelings for Jacob. In contrary to her low profile demeanor, Bella, according to Edward in Midnight Sun, has no sense of fear when she finds out Edward is a vampire. Instead of running away, as she should have, she decides to ask lots of questions with extreme curiosity. This makes Edward believe that it is not bad luck that follows her around, but that she has no sense of self-preservation. Bella isn't very rational nor sensible as she lacks common sense and street intelligence. She hates anything cold and wet, even snow, which is why she initially hated to live in Forks. However, after meeting Edward, she found the town much more comfortable, even calling it "home". As a vampire, she also dislikes the idea of feeding on humans, but is glad to have found the strength she needed to protect her loved ones. Bella inherited her mother's high perceptiveness to some degree, as she was able to guess Edward was a mind reader, the first human to do so. However, she was not able to guess that Edward was in love with her. After being turned into a vampire, she describes having a much clearer view of the world. She is also very self-controlled, being able to ignore the scent of human blood on her first hunting trip. Bella's private mind that was able to repel some vampires' mental abilities while she was human evolved after she became a vampire; her skill strengthened, allowing her to shield herself and those around her from other vampires' mental gifts. By the end of Breaking Dawn, she is able to cast the shield away from herself. She is also described by Edward as "very graceful", even for a vampire, in comparison to her earlier clumsiness as a human. In the film adaptations, Bella is portrayed by actress Kristen Stewart. Meyer stated that she was "very excited" to see Stewart play the part and that she was "thrilled to have a Bella who has practice [in a vast array of film genres]", since, according to Meyer, Twilight has moments that fit into many genres. Stewart wears contact lenses in the films in order to achieve a chocolate brown eye color as described in the books. Bella has received a generally negative reception from critics. Publishers Weekly states that, after her transformation into a vampire, "it's almost impossible to identify with her" in Breaking Dawn. Lilah Lohr of the Chicago Tribune compares Bella's character to the story of the Quileute wolves and describes it as "less satisfying." During Twilight, Kirkus Reviews stated that "Bella's appeal is based on magic rather than character", but that her and Edward's "portrayal of dangerous lovers hits the spot". In the review of New Moon, Kirkus Reviews said that Bella's personality was "flat and obsessive". Laura Miller of salon.com said, in regards to Edward and Bella, "neither of them has much personality to speak of." Entertainment Weekly's Jennifer Reese, in her review of Breaking Dawn noted, in regard to Bella, "You may wish she had loftier goals and a mind of her own, but these are fairy tales, and as a steadfast lover in the Disney Princess mold, Bella has a certain saccharine appeal", and that during Bella's pregnancy "she is not only hard to identify with but positively horrifying, especially while guzzling human blood to nourish the infant." Washington Post journalist Elizabeth Hand noted how Bella was often described as breakable and that "Edward's habit of constantly pulling her onto his lap or having her ride on his back further emphasize her childlike qualities", continuing to write that "the overall effect is a weird infantilization that has repellent overtones to an adult reader and hardly seems like an admirable model to foist upon our daughters (or sons)." Gina Dalfonzo, in an article posted on the National Review website, calls Bella "self-deprecating" before her transformation into a vampire, and afterwards she is "insufferably vain". Dalfonzo also states that Bella gets what she wants and discovers her worth "by giving up her identity and throwing away nearly everything in life that matters." Stephenie Meyer - Official Website

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Biltmore Estate is a historic house museum and tourist attraction in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore House, the main residence, is a Châteauesque-style mansion built for George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1889 and 1895 and is the largest privately owned house in the United States, at of floor space (135,280 square feet of living area). Still owned by George Vanderbilt's descendants, it remains one of the most prominent examples of Gilded Age mansions. In the 1880s, at the height of the Gilded Age, George Washington Vanderbilt II began to make regular visits with his mother, Maria Louisa Kissam Vanderbilt, to the Asheville area. He loved the scenery and climate so much that he decided to build his own summer house in the area, which he called his "little mountain escape". His older brothers and sisters had built luxurious summer houses in places such as Newport, Rhode Island, and Hyde Park, New York. Vanderbilt named his estate Biltmore, derived from "De Bilt", Vanderbilt's ancestors' place of origin in the Netherlands, and "More", Anglo-Saxon for open, rolling land. Vanderbilt bought almost 700 parcels of land, including over 50 farms and at least five cemeteries; a portion of the estate was once the community of Shiloh. A spokesperson for the estate said in 2017 that archives show much of the land "was in very poor condition, and many of the farmers and other landowners were glad to sell." Construction of the house began in 1889. In order to facilitate such a large project, a woodworking factory and brick kiln, which produced 32,000 bricks a day, were built onsite, and a three-mile railroad spur was constructed to bring materials to the building site. Construction on the main house required the labor of about 1,000 workers and 60 stonemasons. Vanderbilt went on extensive trips overseas to purchase decor as construction on the house was in progress. He returned to North Carolina with thousands of furnishings for his newly built home including tapestries, hundreds of carpets, prints, linens, and decorative objects, all dating between the 15th century and the late 19th century. Among the few American-made items were the more practical oak drop-front desk, rocking chairs, a walnut grand piano, bronze candlesticks and a wicker wastebasket. George Vanderbilt opened his opulent estate on Christmas Eve of 1895 to invited family and friends from across the country, who were encouraged to enjoy leisure and country pursuits. Notable guests to the estate over the years included author Edith Wharton, novelist Henry James, ambassadors Joseph Hodges Choate and Larz Anderson, and U.S. Presidents. George married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser in 1898 in Paris, France; their only child, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt, was born at Biltmore in the Louis XV room in 1900, and grew up at the estate. Driven by the impact of the newly imposed income taxes, and the fact that the estate was getting harder to manage economically, Vanderbilt initiated the sale of to the federal government. After Vanderbilt's unexpected death in 1914 of complications from an emergency appendectomy, his widow completed the sale to carry out her husband's wish that the land remain unaltered, and that property became the nucleus of the Pisgah National Forest. Overwhelmed with running such a large estate, Edith began consolidating her interests and sold Biltmore Estate Industries in 1917 and Biltmore Village in 1921. Edith intermittently occupied the house, living in an apartment carved out of the former Bachelors' Wing, until the marriage of her daughter to John Francis Amherst Cecil in April 1924. The Cecils went on to have two sons who were born in the same room as their mother. In an attempt to bolster the estate's financial situation during the Great Depression, Cornelia and her husband opened Biltmore to the public in March 1930 at the request of the City of Asheville, which hoped the attraction would revitalize the area with tourism. Biltmore closed during World War II and in 1942, 62 paintings and 17 sculptures were moved to the estate by train from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. to protect them in the event of an attack on the United States. The Music Room on the first floor was never finished, so it was used for storage until 1944, when the possibility of an attack became more remote. Among the works stored were the Gilbert Stuart portrait of George Washington and works by Rembrandt, Raphael, and Anthony van Dyck. David Finley, the gallery director, was a friend of Edith Vanderbilt and had stayed at the estate. After the divorce of the Cecils in 1934, Cornelia left the estate never to return; however, John Cecil maintained his residence in the Bachelors' Wing until his death in 1954. Their eldest son, George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil, occupied rooms in the wing until 1956. At that point Biltmore House ceased to be a family residence and continued to be operated as a historic house museum. Their younger son William A. V. Cecil, Sr. returned to the estate in the late 1950s and joined his brother to manage the estate when it was in financial trouble and make it a profitable and self-sustaining enterprise like his grandfather envisioned. He eventually inherited the estate upon the death of his mother, Cornelia, in 1976, while his brother, George, inherited the then more profitable dairy farm which was split off into Biltmore Farms. In 1995, while celebrating the 100th anniversary of the estate, Cecil turned over control of the company to his son, William A. V. Cecil, Jr. The Biltmore Company is privately held. Of the 4,306.86 acres that make up Biltmore Estate, only 1.36 acres are in the city limits of Asheville, and the Biltmore House is not part of any municipality. The estate was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1963, and remains a major tourist attraction in Western North Carolina, with 1.4 million visitors each year. After the death of William A. V. Cecil in October 2017 and his wife Mimi Cecil in November, their daughter Dini Pickering is serving as board chair and their son Bill Cecil as CEO. The house is assessed at $157.2 million, although due to an agricultural deferment, county property taxes are paid on only $79.1 million of that. Vanderbilt commissioned prominent New York architect Richard Morris Hunt, who had previously designed houses for various Vanderbilt family members, to design the house in the Châteauesque style. Hunt used French Renaissance chateaus as inspiration. Vanderbilt and Hunt had visited several in early 1889, including Château de Blois, Chenonceau and Chambord in France and Waddesdon Manor in England. These estates shared steeply pitched roofs, turrets, and sculptural ornamentation. Hunt sited the four-story Indiana limestone-built home to face east with a 375-foot facade to fit into the mountainous topography behind. The facade is asymmetrically balanced with two projecting wings connecting to the entrance tower with an open loggia to the left side and a windowed arcade to the right, which holds the Winter Garden that was fashionable during the Victorian era. The entrance tower contains a series of windows with decorated jambs that extend from the front door to the most decorated dormer at Biltmore on the fourth floor. The carved decorations include trefoils, flowing tracery, rosettes, gargoyles, and at prominent lookouts, grotesques. The staircase is one of the more prominent features of the east facade, with its three-story, highly decorated winding balustrade with carved statues of St. Louis and Joan of Arc by the Austrian-born architectural sculptor Karl Bitter. The south facade is the house's smallest and is dominated by three large dormers on the east side and a polygonal turret on the west side. An arbor is attached to the house and is accessed from the library which is located on the ground floor. On the north end of the house, Hunt placed the attached stables, carriage house and its courtyard to protect the house and gardens from the wind. The 12,000-square-foot complex housed Vanderbilt's prized driving horses and the carriage house opposite the stables stored his 20 carriages in addition to any of his guest's carriages. The rear western elevation is less elaborate than the front facade, with some windows not having any decoration at all. Two matching polygonal towers in the center are connected to the polygonal south turret by an open loggia that opens the main rooms of the house to the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance. The loggia is decorated overhead with terracotta tiles set in a herringbone pattern. The self-supporting ceramic tile vault and arch system was used extensively inside and outside of Biltmore, and was patented by Rafael Guastavino, a Spanish architect and engineer who personally supervised the installation. The limestone columns were carved to reflect the sunlight in aesthetically pleasing and varied ways per Vanderbilt's wish. The rusticated base is a contrast to the smooth limestone used on the remainder of the house. The steeply pitched roof is punctuated by 16 chimneys and covered with slate tiles that were affixed one by one. Each tile was drilled at the corners and wired onto the attic's steel infrastructure. Copper flashing was then installed at the junctions to prevent water from penetrating. The fanciful flashing on the ridge of the roof was embossed with George Vanderbilt's initials and motifs from his family crest, though the original gold leaf no longer survives. Biltmore House had electricity from the time it was built, though initially with DC, due to a friendship with Thomas Edison. With electricity less safe and fire more of a danger at the time, the house had six separate sections divided by brick fire walls. Vanderbilt paid little attention to the family business or his own investments and it is believed that the construction and upkeep of Biltmore depleted much of his inheritance. Biltmore has four acres of floor space and 250 rooms in the house, including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, three kitchens and 19th-century novelties such as electric elevators, forced-air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms, and a call-bell system. The principal rooms of the house are located on the ground floor. To the right of the marbled Entrance Hall, the octagonal sunken Winter Garden is surrounded by stone archways with a ceiling of architecturally sculptured wood and multifaceted glass. The centerpiece is a marble and bronze fountain sculpture titled Boy Stealing Geese created by Karl Bitter. On the walls just outside the Winter Garden are copies of the Parthenon frieze. The Banquet Hall is the largest room in the house, measuring 42 feet wide and 72 feet long, with a 70-foot-high barrel-vaulted ceiling. The table could seat 64 guests surrounded by rare Flemish tapestries and a triple fireplace that spans one end of the hall. On the opposite end of the hall is an organ gallery that houses a 1916 Skinner pipe organ. Left unfinished with bare brick walls, the Music Room was not completed and opened to the public until 1976. It showcases a mantle designed by Hunt, and a large engraving by Albrecht Dürer called the Triumphal Arch commissioned by Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. The mantle had been stored in the stable for over 80 years. To the left of the entrance hall is the 90-foot-long Tapestry Gallery, which leads to the Library, featuring three 16th-century tapestries representing The Triumph of Virtue Over Vice. Elsewhere on the walls are family portraits by John Singer Sargent, Giovanni Boldini and James Whistler. The two-story Library contains over 10,000 volumes in eight languages, reflecting George Vanderbilt's broad interests in classic literature as well as works on art, history, architecture, and gardening. The second-floor balcony is accessed by an ornate walnut spiral staircase. The baroque detailing of the room is enhanced by the rich walnut paneling and the ceiling painting, The Chariot of Aurora, brought to Biltmore by Vanderbilt from the Palazzo Pisani Moretta in Venice, Italy. The painting by Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini is the most important work by the artist still in existence. The second floor is accessed by the cantilevered Grand Staircase of 107 steps spiraling around a four-story, wrought-iron chandelier holding 72 light bulbs. The Second Floor Living Hall is an extension of the grand staircase as a formal hall and portrait gallery, and was restored to its original configuration in 2013. Several large-scale masterpieces are displayed in the hall, including two John Singer Sargent portraits of Biltmore's architect, Richard Morris Hunt, and landscaper, Frederick Law Olmsted, both commissioned for the home by Vanderbilt. Located nearby in the south tower is George Vanderbilt's gilded bedroom with furniture designed by Hunt. His bedroom connects to his wife's Louis XV-style, oval-shaped bedroom in the north tower through a Jacobean carved oak paneled sitting room with an intricate ceiling. The suite of rooms includes the Damask Room; the Claude Room, named after one of Vanderbilt's favorite artists, Claude Lorrain; the Tyrolean Chimney Room; and the most grand, the Louis XV Room, so named due to its architectural scheme and furnishings that were very popular in the late nineteenth century. The suite was restored and opened to the public for the first time in 100 years in 2011. The third floor has a number of guest rooms with names that describe the furnishing or artist that they were decorated with. The fourth floor has 21 bedrooms that were inhabited by housemaids, laundresses, and other female servants. Also included on the fourth floor is an Observatory with a circular staircase that leads to a wrought iron balcony with doorways to the rooftop where Vanderbilt could view his estate. Male servants were not housed here, however, but instead resided in rooms above the stable and complex. The Billiard Room is decorated with an ornamental plaster ceiling and rich oak paneling and was equipped with both a custom-made pool table and a carom table (table without pockets). The room was mainly frequented by men, but ladies were welcome to enter as well. Secret door panels on either side of the fireplace led to the private quarters of the Bachelors' Wing where female guests and staff members were not allowed. The wing includes the Smoking Room, which was fashionable for country houses, and the Gun Room, which held mounted trophies and displayed George Vanderbilt's gun collection. The basement level featured activity rooms including an indoor 70,000-gallon (265,000-litre and 265-cubic meter) heated swimming pool with underwater lighting, a bowling alley, and a gymnasium with once state-of-the-art fitness equipment. The service hub of the house is also found in the largest basement in the US, as the location for the main kitchen, pastry kitchen, rotisserie kitchen, walk-in refrigerators that provided an early form of mechanical refrigeration, the servants' dining hall, laundry rooms and additional bedrooms for staff. Vanderbilt envisioned a park-like setting for his home and employed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted to design the grounds. Olmsted was not impressed with the condition of the and advised for a park surrounding the house, establishing farms along the river and replanting the rest as a commercial timber forest, a plan to which Vanderbilt agreed. Gifford Pinchot and later Carl A. Schenck were hired to manage the forests, with Schenck establishing the first forestry education program in the U.S., the Biltmore Forest School, on the estate grounds in 1898. Another important aspect of the landscaping was the intentionally rustic four-mile (5 km) Approach track that began at the brick quoined and pebbledash stucco Lodge Gate at the edge of Biltmore Village, and ended at the sphinx-topped stone pillars at the Esplanade. In between, the lane was densely filled with natural and uncultivated looking foliage and shrubbery to provide a relaxing journey for guests. Olmsted made sure to incorporate of formal gardens that had been requested by Vanderbilt for the grounds directly surrounding the house. He constructed a Roman formal garden, a formal garden, a bush and tulip garden, water fountains, and a conservatory with individual rooms for palms and roses. There was also a bowling green, an outdoor tea room, and a terrace to incorporate the European statuary that Vanderbilt had brought back from his travels. At the opposite end of the Esplanade is the Rampe Douce, a graduated stairway zigzagging along a rough-cut limestone wall that leads to the grassy slope known as the Vista, topped with a statue of Diana, the goddess of the hunt. Water was an important aspect of Victorian landscaping and Olmsted incorporated two for the estate: the Bass Pond created from an old creek-fed millpond and the Lagoon. Each was used for guest recreation like fishing and rowing. To supply water for the estate, Olmsted engineered two reservoirs. One was a spring-fed man-made lake on nearby Busbee Mountain. The other was a man- made, brick-lined reservoir, located behind the statue of Diana in the Vista, at an elevation of approximately 266 feet above the Esplanade. Vanderbilt's idea was to replicate the working estates of Europe. He asked Hunt and Olmsted to design a village with architecturally compatible buildings and picturesque landscaping as a source of income through building rental, a place to help carry out philanthropic programs, and an easy point of access between the estate and the train station. The result was Biltmore Village. The village included rental cottages complete with plumbing and central heating, a post office, shops, doctor's office, school, and a church, known today as the Cathedral of All Souls. Intending that the estate could be self-supporting, Vanderbilt set up scientific forestry programs, poultry farms, cattle farms, hog farms, and a dairy. His wife, Edith, also enthusiastically supported agricultural reform and promoted the establishment of a state agricultural fair. In 1901, the Vanderbilts provided financial assistance to Biltmore Industries, started by Biltmore Village resident Eleanor Vance, which taught young people how to make hand-carved furniture, woven baskets, homespun wool fabric, and more. The estate today covers approximately and is split in half by the French Broad River. The estate is overseen by The Biltmore Company, a trust set up by the family. The company is a large enterprise that is one of the largest employers in the Asheville area. Restaurants were opened in 1979 and 1987 as well as four gift shops in 1993. The former dairy barn was converted into the Biltmore Winery in 1985. The 210-room Inn on Biltmore Estate opened in 2001, and in 2010, the estate opened Antler Hill Village, as well as a remodeled winery, and connected farmyard. The grounds and buildings of Biltmore Estate have appeared in a number of major motion pictures and TV series: Tap Roots (1948), The Swan (1956), The Pruitts of Southampton (1966), Being There (1979), The Private Eyes (1980), A Breed Apart (1984), Mr. Destiny (1990), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Richie Rich (1994), My Fellow Americans (1996), Patch Adams (1998), Return to the Secret Garden (2000), Hannibal (2001), One Tree Hill (2003), The Clearing (2004), The Odd Life of Timothy Green (2012), Hannibal (2015) The estate and its surrounding forest make up the setting of Robert Beatty's 2015 middle-grade novel Serafina and the Black Cloak and its sequels. Wayne Johnston's 2011 novel A World Elsewhere is partly set in a fictionalised version of Biltmore known as 'Vanderland.' List of Gilded Age mansions, List of largest houses in the United States, List of National Historic Landmarks in North Carolina, National Register of Historic Places listings in Buncombe County, North Carolina, Richard Sharp Smith General Hewitt, Mark Alan: The Architect & the American Country House. Yale University Press: New Haven & London 1990, pp. 1–10. Landmark designation Bowman-Biltmore Hotels was a hotel chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. The name has since been adopted by other unrelated hotels. For a time, the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels Corporation was a publicly traded company. A Detroit Biltmore was planned for the site of the Hotel Tuller on Detroit's Grand Circus Park. The Tuller was to have been demolished in 1929 and replaced by a towering 35-story, 1500 room hotel with an attached 14-story garage and 18-story office building. The plans were abandoned when the stock market crashed that year. The Palm Beach Biltmore was not connected to the Bowman Biltmore group. It was built in 1926 as the Alba, renamed The Ambassador in 1929, and sold to Henry L. Doherty in 1933. Doherty, who had bought the Miami Biltmore two years earlier, renamed the hotel the Palm Beach Biltmore. It was later owned by Hilton Hotels, closed in the 1970s, and was converted to condos from 1979-1981. The Tahoe Biltmore Lodge & Casino, a hotel-casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada, very near the California border among the communities known as North Shore Tahoe. Opened In 1947. The Oklahoma Biltmore in Oklahoma City was an unassociated hotel that once stood downtown, at 228 West Grand Avenue. It was built in 1932 during the Great Depression by the city's prominent civic leaders at the time, headed by Charles F. Colcord. Designed by architects Hawk & Parr, the Biltmore had 619 rooms and was 24 stories high, making it the state's second tallest building only to the Ramsey Tower built in 1931, when it was completed. In 1936 alone, the Biltmore was headquarters for 104 conventions and saw 114,171 guests. After a $3 million renovation in the mid-1960s the Biltmore was renamed the Sheraton-Oklahoma Hotel. By 1973, the hotel had left Sheraton, and the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority agreed with the owners that the Biltmore had outlived its useful life. In contrast, architect I. M. Pei had envisioned keeping the hotel, and his sketches and models all showed the tower overlooking the surrounding "Tivoli Gardens". The hotel was one of the largest demolitions in the country at the time it was blown up on October 16, 1977 by a team of demolition specialists to make way for the "Myriad Gardens". Hundreds of low-yield explosives were planted throughout the building so that it would collapse and fall inward into an acceptable area only slightly larger than the hotel's foundation. Movies filmed at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel from MoviePlaces.tv The following is a list of the 100 largest extant and historic houses in the United States, ordered by square footage of the main house. This list includes houses that have been demolished, houses that are currently under construction, and buildings that are not currently used as private homes, but were used as such previously. List of Gilded Age mansions

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Gogumal Kishenchand Harisinghani (14 April 1925, Karachi – 16 April 1997, Baroda) was Indian Test cricketer. Kishenchand had a crouched stance but was a good driver and hooker, and an occasional leg break bowler. While studying in the Model High School in Karachi, he was elected the best schoolboy cricketer in Sind for the year 1939/40. In that season he hit twelve hundreds with a highest score of 175 notout. He made his debut for Sind at the age of 15. In his first season in the Bombay Pentangular, he hit a brilliant 75 against the Parsis and a 175* against Muslims. He migrated to the Western India States in the early 1940s, and later played for Gujarat, and Baroda as well for Sind. In his second term with Sind, he captained the team in 1945/46. He scored 264 runs at 26.40 in his eight unofficial Tests with a highest score of 73. In the Pentangular matches, he scored 611 at an average of 101, with three hundreds. His career highest first class score of 218 in the Zonal Quadrangular in 1946/47 helped his selection to the tour of Sri Lanka, and Australia in 1947/48. He did not achieve much in the Test matches but it was off his bowling that Don Bradman completed his 100th first class century. When Bradman reached 99, in the match for an Australian XI against the Indians, the Indian captain Lala Amarnath brought Kishenchand on to bowl. It was his first try at bowling during the tour. After playing a few balls carefully, Bradman took a single past mid-on to reach his hundred. He scored a duck in each of the five Tests that he played. Kishenchand served the Maharaja of Baroda as a member of his staff, and later worked for Satyadev Chemicals in Baroda. He was a small man, standing only 5 feet and four inches. His death was due to a heart attack. Obituary in Indian Cricket 1998, Christopher Martin-Jenkins, The Complete Who's Who of Test Cricketers Cricinfo Profile, Cricketarchive Profile Karen Sheila Gillan (; born 28 November 1987) is a Scottish actress and filmmaker. She portrayed Amy Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor, in the BBC One series Doctor Who (2010–2013). She received international recognition for playing Nebula in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017), On stage, Gillan appeared in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence in 2011. Her first feature film as a writer and director, titled The Party's Just Beginning, was released in 2018. Gillan was born and raised in Inverness, the daughter of Marie and Raymond Gillan. When she turned 16, Gillan moved to Edinburgh and completed an HNC Acting and Performance course at Telford College. She moved to London at age 18 to study at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school. While studying at Italia Conti, Gillan was scouted by a modelling agency. Prior to her acting career, she worked as a model, premiering at London Fashion Week in 2007. Gillan has said she would not give up her acting career to return to modelling, stating that while she enjoyed modelling, acting had always been her main interest and goal. Gillan's early television acting career included guest appearances on several television shows, with her first role being in an episode of ITV crime drama Rebus, a role for which she had to drop out of school. Gillan then undertook a two-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show, in which she played multiple characters including celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as a series of episodic short films on BBC Two and later as a web series on BBC.co.uk. Part of the BBC's multimedia "switch" programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series. In 2008, she starred in the Channel 4 television film Stacked. Gillan went on to portray Amy Pond, companion to the Eleventh Doctor (portrayed by Matt Smith), on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who. Before being cast in the role in May 2009, she had previously appeared on Doctor Who in Series 4 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a soothsayer. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy in "The Eleventh Hour" with her cousin Caitlin Blackwood portraying a younger version of the same character. In 2010, she won in the Entertainment category at the Young Scot Awards. She appeared in the sixth series in 2011 and the first five episodes of the seventh series in 2012, after which her character and Rory Williams (portrayed by Arthur Darvill) left the series. Gillan reprised her role in the 2013 Christmas special "The Time of the Doctor", to coincide with Smith's departure as the Doctor. Gillan was cast in the third season of A Touch of Cloth, which was co-created by Charlie Brooker. She then joined the regular cast of Adult Swim's for the show's third season in 2013. In February 2014, Gillan was cast as the lead in Selfie, an American single-camera sitcom for ABC produced by Warner Bros. Television which was greenlit for the 2014–15 US television season. Gillan played a socialite named Eliza Dooley, a modern-day take on Eliza Doolittle, who is obsessed with social media. This was Gillan's first time in the lead role of an American television series. The series was cancelled by ABC on 7 November 2014 after seven episodes; the remaining six episodes were made available on Hulu starting 25 November 2014. After making an appearance in Outcast, it was announced that Gillan would star in an indie Scottish romantic comedy called Not Another Happy Ending alongside Emun Elliott in August 2011. She was selected by director John McKay because he came to know her during the production of We'll Take Manhattan, which he also directed, as "a very bubbly, vibrant, energetic, funny, slightly clumsy person" who was a perfect fit for the character. Filming took place in July 2012, though Elliott was replaced by Stanley Weber. Gillan told journalists that she was happy to be involved in a Scottish production that "isn't about drug use or fighting the English". The film premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in June 2013. In 2012, Gillan appeared in the television film We'll Take Manhattan playing the part of supermodel Jean Shrimpton, which told the story of Shrimpton's relationship with the photographer David Bailey. Gillan starred in the lead role in the supernatural horror movie Oculus, which was filmed in Alabama and released in April 2014. In May 2013, Gillan was cast as Nebula in the Marvel superhero science fiction film Guardians of the Galaxy, which was released in August 2014. Gillan had her head shaved bald for the role, which Marvel turned into the wig that Gillan wore during the production of Selfie. In May 2014, Gillan was cast in the Western film In a Valley of Violence directed by Ti West, opposite John Travolta, Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga. Gillan portrayed Ellen, the older sister to Farmiga's character. In 2015, Gillan appeared in the drama film The Big Short directed by Adam McKay, alongside Brad Pitt, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Steve Carell and Melissa Leo. She wrote and directed her first short film, Coward, which screened at the 2015 Edinburgh Film Festival, and was nominated for several awards. Later in the year she wrote, directed, and starred in another short film called Conventional. She won in the Best Female Newcomer category at the 20th Empire Awards for Guardians of the Galaxy and Oculus. On 2 November 2016, it was announced that Gillan would write, direct and star in her directorial feature film debut with Burbank-based development and production company Mt. Hollywood Films' indie drama project titled Tupperware Party. Set in her home city of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands, filming began in January 2017 and wrapped in the following month. The title of the film was later changed to The Party's Just Beginning. The film was nominated for Best Feature Film at the British Academy Scotland Awards. In 2017, Gillan reprised her role as Nebula in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, this time becoming a member of the film's eponymous team, and co-starred in The Circle, alongside Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, and John Boyega. The latter film, released in April, was directed and written by James Ponsoldt, and was based on the novel by Dave Eggers. Also in that year, Gillan played the lead female role in , the third instalment of the Jumanji franchise, starring alongside Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Nick Jonas. She reprised her role as Nebula in (2018) and (2019), which were filmed back-to-back. began in January 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia and ended in January 2018. In 2019, aside from her leading role in Avengers: Endgame, she co-starred in the films Stuber and Spies in Disguise, and starred in All Creatures Here Below and . In 2020, she is set to appear in The Call of the Wild, and will star in Gunpowder Milkshake alongside Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Carla Gugino, Michelle Yeoh and Paul Giamatti. In 2011, Gillan made her first theatre appearance playing the role of Shirley in John Osborne's play Inadmissible Evidence along with Douglas Hodge. The play debuted at the Donmar Warehouse on 16 October 2011. In November 2013, Gillan appeared on Broadway in a play called Time to Act, one of the plays included in "The 24 Hour Plays on Broadway" to benefit the non-profit Urban Arts Partnership. In 2011, Gillan helped promote Fashion Targets Breast Cancer (FTBC) and the opening of Squirrel Ward at the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Gillan has also voiced advertisements for eHarmony and The Royal Bank of Scotland. She also appeared in TV on the Radio's "Happy Idiot" music video, released on 3 October 2014. In 2018, she visited the Mikeysline crisis support centre in Inverness after presenting her film The Party's Just Beginning. The film is about the high suicide rate in the Scottish Highlands, and Gillan made a public pledge to support the mental health charity. During a 2012 interview on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, she stated that she had relocated to the US to star in the film Oculus. She has stated that, although her family is Catholic, she has not been christened and is not religious, instead agreeing with the statement that, "we're just minuscule dots in the vast cosmic emptiness of the universe". Gogie Stewart (2 January 1929 – 12 May 2003) was a multi-sport athlete from British Columbia, notably a former Canadian soccer player and lacrosse player. He was a three-time national soccer champion with Canadian clubs Vancouver City FC (1950) and Westminster Royals FC (1955, 1960) as well as a two-time national lacrosse champion with Vancouver Burrards (1949) and Nanaimo Timbermen (1956). He was one of Canada's starting inside forwards during FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957. After his retirement, he became an honoured member of the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame. In the Pacific Coast League, Stewart won six championships, five with Westminster Royals FC (1952–53, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960-61) and one with Vancouver Firefighters FC (1964–65). From 1948-49 to 1960-61, he was a British Columbia or Vancouver all-star in 11 of 13 seasons. He notably helped British Columbia win 2-0 over Tottenham Hotspur in Vancouver on 3 June 1957. As a teenager in 1947-48, Stewart won the Ed Bayley Trophy as BC Soccer's most outstanding player in his first year in senior soccer. He scored 10 goals in that first season with the Pacific Coast League runners up North Shore FC. He then joined Vancouver St. Andrews FC before the start of the 1948-49 season, helping his new club reach the 1948 Canadian final. After joining Vancouver City FC in 1949-50, he won his first Canadian title in 1950. Stewart spent much of the 1950s with the Westminster Royals FC, first joining the team in 1950-51. He moved to England in July 1953 to play for Everton's second team, staying in England until May 1954. He returned to Canada and rejoined the Royals in time to win his second Canadian title in 1955. At the end of that calendar year, Stewart was named one of 10 candidates for the Vancouver Sun Athlete of the Year. Stewart won his third Canadian title in 1960, again with the Westminster Royals. From there, the team rolled into the 1960-61 season and won the Pacific Coast League championship with an undefeated 12-4-0 record. Stewart won the Austin Delany Memorial Trophy as most valuable player of the Pacific Coast League. In the 1960s, Stewart also played in two editions of the Pacific Coast International Championship for the J.F. Kennedy Trophy, helping Royals finish runners up in 1961 and then the Firefighters finish in third place in 1965. Just 10 days after the 1965 Pacific Coast International Championship, Stewart played in his final Pacific Coast League match with Firefighters. On 15 May 1965, Stewart knocked out North Shore's John Woods, breaking his jaw and sending him to the hospital. Stewart eventually received a two-year suspension from the BC Soccer Commission and did not return to the Pacific Coast League. At the international level, Stewart first played for Canada in a 1956 all-star match against FC Lokomotiv Moscow. After representing Canada in FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in 1957, he was part of Canada's side during a 1960 tour of the Soviet Union and Britain. His senior lacrosse career spanned between 1949 and 1961 - playing in 152 regular season games and 59 playoff games at the Senior 'A' level in British Columbia. He won two Mann Cup championships (1949, 1956) and also reached the 1951 and 1960 finals. While playing junior lacrosse, he won back-to-back Minto Cup championships in 1948 and 1949. Stewart played four seasons (1949-1952) with Vancouver, then signed with Nanaimo in 1954. After six seasons there, he signed with New Westminster for his final Senior 'A' season in 1961. In 1967, he was a referee in the Prince George Lacrosse Association and helped lay the foundations for the revival of the sport in that city. Alongside his career in soccer and lacrosse, he was also a boxer and notable basketball player. As a boxer, he was a Golden Gloves winner as a teenager in 1944 and 1945. Stewart was inducted into the British Columbia Sports Hall of Fame in 1988. Canada Soccer Hall of Fame profile, Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, Canada Soccer Records & Results, B.C. Sports Hall of Fame inductee page

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The history of the personal computer as a mass-market consumer electronic device began with the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time-sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers – were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. An early use of the term "personal computer" appeared in a 3 November 1962, New York Times article reporting John W. Mauchly's vision of future computing as detailed at a recent meeting of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Mauchly stated, "There is no reason to suppose the average boy or girl cannot be master of a personal computer". In 1968, a manufacturer took the risk of referring to their product this way, when Hewlett-Packard advertised their "Powerful Computing Genie" as "The New Hewlett-Packard 9100A personal computer". This advertisement was deemed too extreme for the target audience and replaced with a much drier ad for the HP 9100A programmable calculator. Over the next seven years, the phrase had gained enough recognition that Byte magazine referred to its readers in its first edition as "[in] the personal computing field", and Creative Computing defined the personal computer as a "non-(time)shared system containing sufficient processing power and storage capabilities to satisfy the needs of an individual user." In 1977, three new pre-assembled small computers hit the markets which Byte would refer to as the "1977 Trinity" of personal computing. The Apple II and the PET 2001 were advertised as personal computers, while the TRS-80 was described as a microcomputer used for household tasks including "personal financial management". By 1979, over half a million microcomputers were sold and the youth of the day had a new concept of the personal computer. The history of the personal computer as mass-market consumer electronic devices effectively began in 1977 with the introduction of microcomputers, although some mainframe and minicomputers had been applied as single-user systems much earlier. A personal computer is one intended for interactive individual use, as opposed to a mainframe computer where the end user's requests are filtered through operating staff, or a time sharing system in which one large processor is shared by many individuals. After the development of the microprocessor, individual personal computers were low enough in cost that they eventually became affordable consumer goods. Early personal computers – generally called microcomputers– were sold often in electronic kit form and in limited numbers, and were of interest mostly to hobbyists and technicians. Computer terminals were used for time sharing access to central computers. Before the introduction of the microprocessor in the early 1970s, computers were generally large, costly systems owned by large corporations, universities, government agencies, and similar-sized institutions. End users generally did not directly interact with the machine, but instead would prepare tasks for the computer on off-line equipment, such as card punches. A number of assignments for the computer would be gathered up and processed in batch mode. After the job had completed, users could collect the results. In some cases, it could take hours or days between submitting a job to the computing center and receiving the output. A more interactive form of computer use developed commercially by the middle 1960s. In a time-sharing system, multiple computer terminals let many people share the use of one mainframe computer processor. This was common in business applications and in science and engineering. A different model of computer use was foreshadowed by the way in which early, pre-commercial, experimental computers were used, where one user had exclusive use of a processor. In places such as Carnegie Mellon University and MIT, students with access to some of the first computers experimented with applications that would today be typical of a personal computer; for example, computer aided drafting was foreshadowed by T-square, a program written in 1961, and an ancestor of today's computer games was found in Spacewar! in 1962. Some of the first computers that might be called "personal" were early minicomputers such as the LINC and PDP-8, and later on VAX and larger minicomputers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Data General, Prime Computer, and others. By today's standards, they were very large (about the size of a refrigerator) and cost prohibitive (typically tens of thousands of US dollars). However, they were much smaller, less expensive, and generally simpler to operate than many of the mainframe computers of the time. Therefore, they were accessible for individual laboratories and research projects. Minicomputers largely freed these organizations from the batch processing and bureaucracy of a commercial or university computing center. In addition, minicomputers were relatively interactive and soon had their own operating systems. The minicomputer Xerox Alto (1973) was a landmark step in the development of personal computers because of its graphical user interface, bit-mapped high resolution screen, large internal and external memory storage, mouse, and special software. In 1945, Vannevar Bush published an essay called "As We May Think" in which he outlined a possible solution to the growing problem of information storage and retrieval. In 1968, SRI researcher Douglas Engelbart gave what was later called The Mother of All Demos, in which he offered a preview of things that have become the staples of daily working life in the 21st century: e-mail, hypertext, word processing, video conferencing, and the mouse. The demo was the culmination of research in Engelbart's Augmentation Research Center laboratory, which concentrated on applying computer technology to facilitate creative human thought. The minicomputer ancestors of the modern personal computer used early integrated circuit (microchip) technology, which reduced size and cost, but they contained no microprocessor. This meant that they were still large and difficult to manufacture just like their mainframe predecessors. After the "computer-on-a-chip" was commercialized, the cost to manufacture a computer system dropped dramatically. The arithmetic, logic, and control functions that previously occupied several costly circuit boards were now available in one integrated circuit, making it possible to produce them in high volume. Concurrently, advances in the development of solid state memory eliminated the bulky, costly, and power-hungry magnetic core memory used in prior generations of computers. The basic building block of every microprocessor and memory chip is the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, or MOS transistor), which was originally invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959. The MOSFET made it possible to build high-density integrated circuits, which led to the development of the first microprocessors. The single-chip microprocessor was made possible by an improvement in MOS technology, the silicon-gate MOS chip, developed in 1968 by Federico Faggin, who later used silicon-gate MOS technology to develop the first single-chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004, in 1971. A few researchers at places such as SRI and Xerox PARC were working on computers that a single person could use and that could be connected by fast, versatile networks: not home computers, but personal ones. After the 1972 introduction of the Intel 4004, microprocessor costs declined rapidly. In 1974 the American electronics magazine Radio-Electronics described the Mark-8 computer kit, based on the Intel 8008 processor. In January of the following year, Popular Electronics magazine published an article describing a kit based on the Intel 8080, a somewhat more powerful and easier to use processor. The Altair 8800 sold remarkably well even though initial memory size was limited to a few hundred bytes and there was no software available. However, the Altair kit was much less costly than an Intel development system of the time and so was purchased by companies interested in developing microprocessor control for their own products. Expansion memory boards and peripherals were soon listed by the original manufacturer, and later by plug compatible manufacturers. The very first Microsoft product was a 4 kilobyte paper tape BASIC interpreter, which allowed users to develop programs in a higher-level language. The alternative was to hand-assemble machine code that could be directly loaded into the microcomputer's memory using a front panel of toggle switches, pushbuttons and LED displays. While the hardware front panel emulated those used by early mainframe and minicomputers, after a very short time I/O through a terminal was the preferred human/machine interface, and front panels became extinct. The IBM 610 was designed between 1948 and 1957 by John Lentz at the Watson Lab at Columbia University as the Personal Automatic Computer (PAC) and announced by IBM as the 610 Auto-Point in 1957. Although it was faulted for its speed, the IBM 610 handled floating-point arithmetic naturally. With a price tag of $55,000, only 180 units were produced. Simon was a project developed by Edmund Berkeley and presented in a thirteen articles series issued in Radio-Electronics magazine, from October 1950. Although there were far more advanced machines at the time of its construction, the Simon represented the first experience of building an automatic simple digital computer, for educational purposes. In fact, its ALU had only 2 bits, and the total memory was 12 bits (2bits x6). In 1950, it was sold for US$600. The Elea 9003 is one of a series of mainframe computers Olivetti developed starting in the late 1950s. The first prototype was created in 1957. The system, made entirely with transistors for high performance, was conceived, designed and developed by a small group of researchers led by Mario Tchou (1924–1961). It was the first solid-state computer designed (it was fully manufactured in Italy). The knowledge obtained was applied a few years later in the development of the successful Programma 101 electronic calculator, often called "the first desktop computer". Designed in 1962, the LINC was an early laboratory computer especially designed for interactive use with laboratory instruments. Some of the early LINC computers were assembled from kits of parts by the end users. First produced in 1965, the Programma 101 was a printing programmable calculator described in advertisements as a "desktop computer". It was designed and produced by the Italian company Olivetti with Pier Giorgio Perotto being the lead developer. The Olivetti Programma 101 was presented at the 1965 New York World's Fair after 2 years work (1962- 1964). Over 44,000 units were sold worldwide; in the US its cost at launch was $3,200. It was targeted to offices and scientific entities for their daily work because of its high computing capabilities in small space and cost; also the NASA was amongst the first owners. Built without integrated circuits or microprocessors, it used only transistors, resistors and condensers for its processing, the Programma 101 had features found in modern personal computers, such as memory, keyboard, printing unit, magnetic card reader/recorder, control and arithmetic unit. HP later copied the Programma 101 architecture for its HP9100 series. The Soviet MIR series of computers was developed from 1965 to 1969 in a group headed by Victor Glushkov. It was designed as a relatively small-scale computer for use in engineering and scientific applications and contained a hardware implementation of a high-level programming language. Another innovative feature for that time was the user interface combining a keyboard with a monitor and light pen for correcting texts and drawing on screen. K-202 was a Polish PC computer designed between 1969 and 1970 and made its debut in 1971 in Poznań at the Poznań International Fair. The MSRP was $5000 which was an extremely competitive price. At the time of its introduction K-202 was the fastest PC computer in the world capable of performing one million operations per second. K-202 was designed by Polish computer engineer Jacek Karpiński and featured multiprogramming, multiprocessing, 16bit word architecture, and was based on TTL/MSI integrated circuits. Only 30 units of K-202 were ever produced and the company was shut down by a decree of communist regime. The Computer Genius the Communists Couldn't Stand Released in June 1970, the programmable terminal called the Datapoint 2200 is among the earliest known devices that bears significant resemblance to the modern personal computer, with a CRT screen, keyboard, programmability, and program storage. It was made by CTC (now known as Datapoint) and was a complete system in a case with the approximate footprint of an IBM Selectric typewriter. The system's CPU was constructed from roughly a hundred (mostly) TTL logic components, which are groups of gates, latches, counters, etc. The company had commissioned Intel, and also Texas Instruments, to develop a single-chip CPU with that same functionality. TI designed a chip rather quickly, based on Intel's early drawings. But their attempt had several bugs and so did not work very well. Intel's version was delayed and both were a little too slow for CTC's needs. A deal was made that in return for not charging CTC for the development work, Intel could instead sell the processor as their own product, along with the supporting ICs they had developed. The first customer was Seiko, which approached Intel early on with this idea, based on what they had seen Busicom do with the 4004. This became the Intel 8008. Although it demanded several additional ICs, it is generally known as the first 8-bit microprocessor. The requirements of the Datapoint 2200 determined the 8008 architecture, which was later expanded into the 8080 and the Z80 upon which CP/M was designed. These CPUs in turn influenced the 8086, which defined the whole line of "x86" processors used in all IBM-compatible PCs to this day (2019). Although the design of the Datapoint 2200's TTL based bit serial CPU and the Intel 8008 were technically very different, they were largely software-compatible. From a software perspective, the Datapoint 2200 therefore functioned as if it were using an 8008. The Kenbak-1, released in early 1971, is considered by the Computer History Museum to be the world's first personal computer. It was designed and invented by John Blankenbaker of Kenbak Corporation in 1970, and was first sold in early 1971. Unlike a modern personal computer, the Kenbak-1 was built of small-scale integrated circuits, and did not use a microprocessor. The system first sold for US$750. Only around 40 machines were ever built and sold. In 1973, production of the Kenbak-1 stopped as Kenbak Corporation folded. With only 256 bytes of memory, an 8-bit word size, and input and output restricted to lights and switches, and no apparent way to extend its power, the Kenbak-1 was most useful for learning the principles of programming but not capable of running application programs. Interestingly, 256 bytes of memory, 8 bit word size, and I/O limited to switches and lights on the front panel, are also the characteristics of the 1975 Altair 8800, whose faith was diametrically opposed to that of the Kenbak. The differentiating factor might have been the extensibility of the Altair, without which it was practically useless. The French company R2E was formed by two former engineers of the Intertechnique company to sell their Intel 8008-based microcomputer design. The system was developed at the Institut national de la recherche agronomique to automate hygrometric measurements. The system ran at 500 kHz and included 16 kB of memory, and sold for 8500 Francs, about $1300US. A bus, called Pluribus, was introduced that allowed connection of up to 14 boards. Boards for digital I/O, analog I/O, memory, floppy disk were available from R2E. The Micral operating system was initially called Sysmic, and was later renamed Prologue. R2E was absorbed by Groupe Bull in 1978. Although Groupe Bull continued the production of Micral computers, it was not interested in the personal computer market, and Micral computers were mostly confined to highway toll gates (where they remained in service until 1992) and similar niche markets. The Xerox Alto, developed at Xerox PARC in 1973, was the first computer to use a mouse, the desktop metaphor, and a graphical user interface (GUI), concepts first introduced by Douglas Engelbart while at International. It was the first example of what would today be recognized as a complete personal computer. The first machines were introduced on 1 March 1973. In 1981, Xerox Corporation introduced the Xerox Star workstation, officially known as the "8010 Star Information System". Drawing upon its predecessor, the Xerox Alto, it was the first commercial system to incorporate various technologies that today have become commonplace in personal computers, including a bit-mapped display, a windows-based graphical user interface, icons, folders, mouse, Ethernet networking, file servers, print servers and e-mail. While its use was limited to the engineers at Xerox PARC, the Alto had features years ahead of its time. Both the Xerox Alto and the Xerox Star would inspire the Apple Lisa and the Apple Macintosh. In 1972-1973 a team led by Dr. Paul Friedl at the IBM Los Gatos Scientific Center developed a portable computer prototype called SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) based on the IBM PALM processor with a Philips compact cassette drive, small CRT and full function keyboard. SCAMP emulated an IBM 1130 minicomputer in order to run APL\1130. In 1973 APL was generally available only on mainframe computers, and most desktop sized microcomputers such as the Wang 2200 or HP 9800 offered only BASIC. Because it was the first to emulate APL\1130 performance on a portable, single-user computer, PC Magazine in 1983 designated SCAMP a "revolutionary concept" and "the world's first personal computer". The prototype is in the Smithsonian Institution. IBM 5100 was a desktop computer introduced in September 1975, six years before the IBM PC. It was the evolution of SCAMP (Special Computer APL Machine Portable) that IBM demonstrated in 1973. In January 1978 IBM announced the IBM 5110, its larger cousin. The 5100 was withdrawn in March 1982. When the PC was introduced in 1981, it was originally designated as the IBM 5150, putting it in the "5100" series, though its architecture wasn't directly descended from the IBM 5100. Development of the single-chip microprocessor was the gateway to the popularization of cheap, easy to use, and truly personal computers. It was only a matter of time before one such design was able to hit a sweet spot in terms of pricing and performance, and that machine is generally considered to be the Altair 8800, from MITS, a small company that produced electronics kits for hobbyists. The Altair was introduced in a Popular Electronics magazine article in the January 1975 issue. In keeping with MITS's earlier projects, the Altair was sold in kit form, although a relatively complex one consisting of four circuit boards and many parts. Priced at only $400, the Altair tapped into pent-up demand and surprised its creators when it generated thousands of orders in the first month. Unable to keep up with demand, MITS sold the design after about 10,000 kits had shipped. The introduction of the Altair spawned an entire industry based on the basic layout and internal design. New companies like Cromemco started up to supply add-on kits, while Microsoft was founded to supply a BASIC interpreter for the systems. Soon after a number of complete "clone" designs, typified by the IMSAI 8080, appeared on the market. This led to a wide variety of systems based on the S-100 bus introduced with the Altair, machines of generally improved performance, quality and ease-of-use. The Altair, and early clones, were relatively difficult to use. The machines contained no operating system in ROM, so starting it up required a machine language program to be entered by hand via front-panel switches, one location at a time. The program was typically a small driver for an attached cassette tape reader, which would then be used to read in another "real" program. Later systems added bootstrapping code to improve this process, and the machines became almost universally associated with the CP/M operating system, loaded from floppy disk. The Altair created a new industry of microcomputers and computer kits, with many others following, such as a wave of small business computers in the late 1970s based on the Intel 8080, Zilog Z80 and Intel 8085 microprocessor chips. Most ran the CP/M-80 operating system developed by Gary Kildall at Digital Research. CP/M-80 was the first popular microcomputer operating system to be used by many different hardware vendors, and many software packages were written for it, such as WordStar and dBase II. Although the Altair spawned an entire business, another side effect it had was to demonstrate that the microprocessor had so reduced the cost and complexity of building a microcomputer that anyone with an interest could build their own. Many such hobbyists met and traded notes at the meetings of the Homebrew Computer Club (HCC) in Silicon Valley. Although the HCC was relatively short- lived, its influence on the development of the modern PC was enormous. Members of the group complained that microcomputers would never become commonplace if they still had to be built up, from parts like the original Altair, or even in terms of assembling the various add-ons that turned the machine into a useful system. What they felt was needed was an all-in-one system. Out of this desire came the Sol-20 computer, which placed an entire S-100 system – QWERTY keyboard, CPU, display card, memory and ports – into an attractive single box. The systems were packaged with a cassette tape interface for storage and a 12" monochrome monitor. Complete with a copy of BASIC, the system sold for US$2,100. About 10,000 Sol-20 systems were sold. Although the Sol-20 was the first all-in-one system that we would recognize today, the basic concept was already rippling through other members of the group, and interested external companies. Other 1977 machines that were important within the hobbyist community at the time included the Exidy Sorcerer, the NorthStar Horizon, the Cromemco Z-2, and the Heathkit H8. By 1976, there were several firms racing to introduce the first truly successful commercial personal computers. Three machines, the Apple II, PET 2001 and TRS-80 were all released in 1977, becoming the most popular by late 1978. Byte magazine later referred to them as the "1977 Trinity". Also in 1977, Sord Computer Corporation released the Sord M200 Smart Home Computer in Japan. Steve Wozniak (known as "Woz"), a regular visitor to Homebrew Computer Club meetings, designed the single-board Apple I computer and first demonstrated it there. With specifications in hand and an order for 100 machines at US$500 each from the Byte Shop, Woz and his friend Steve Jobs founded Apple Computer. About 200 of the machines sold before the company announced the Apple II as a complete computer. It had color graphics, a full QWERTY keyboard, and internal slots for expansion, which were mounted in a high quality streamlined plastic case. The monitor and I/O devices were sold separately. The original Apple II operating system was only the built-in BASIC interpreter contained in ROM. Apple DOS was added to support the diskette drive; the last version was "Apple DOS 3.3". Its higher price and lack of floating point BASIC, along with a lack of retail distribution sites, caused it to lag in sales behind the other Trinity machines until 1979, when it surpassed the PET. It was again pushed into 4th place when Atari introduced its popular Atari 8-bit systems. Despite slow initial sales, the Apple II's lifetime was about eight years longer than other machines, and so accumulated the highest total sales. By 1985 2.1 million had sold and more than 4 million Apple II's were shipped by the end of its production in 1993. Chuck Peddle designed the Commodore PET (short for Personal Electronic Transactor) around his MOS 6502 processor. It was essentially a single-board computer with a simple TTL-based CRT driver circuit driving a small built-in monochrome monitor with 40×25 character graphics. The processor card, keyboard, monitor and cassette drive were all mounted in a single metal case. In 1982, Byte referred to the PET design as "the world's first personal computer". The PET shipped in two models; the 2001-4 with 4 kB of RAM, or the 2001-8 with 8 kB. The machine also included a built-in Datassette for data storage located on the front of the case, which left little room for the keyboard. The 2001 was announced in June 1977 and the first 100 units were shipped in mid October 1977. However they remained back-ordered for months, and to ease deliveries they eventually canceled the 4 kB version early the next year. Although the machine was fairly successful, there were frequent complaints about the tiny calculator-like keyboard, often referred to as a "Chiclet keyboard" due to the keys' resemblance to the popular gum candy. This was addressed in the upgraded "dash N" and "dash B" versions of the 2001, which put the cassette outside the case, and included a much larger keyboard with a full stroke non-click motion. Internally a newer and simpler motherboard was used, along with an upgrade in memory to 8, 16, or 32 KB, known as the 2001-N-8, 2001-N-16 or 2001-N-32, respectively. The PET was the least successful of the 1977 Trinity machines, with under 1 million sales. Tandy Corporation (Radio Shack) introduced the TRS-80, retroactively known as the Model I as improved models were introduced. The Model I combined the motherboard and keyboard into one unit with a separate monitor and power supply. Although the PET and the Apple II offered certain features that were greatly advanced in comparison, Tandy's 3000+ Radio Shack storefronts ensured that it would have widespread distribution that neither Apple nor Commodore could touch. The Model I used a Zilog Z80 processor clocked at 1.77 MHz (the later models were shipped with a Z80A processor). The basic model originally shipped with 4 kB of RAM, and later 16 kB, in the main computer. The expansion unit allowed for RAM expansion for a total of 48K. Its other strong features were its full stroke QWERTY keyboard, small size, well written Microsoft floating-point BASIC and inclusion of a monitor and tape deck for approximately half the cost of the Apple II. Eventually, 5.25 inch floppy drives were made available by Tandy and several third party manufacturers. The expansion unit allowed up to four floppy drives to be connected, provided a slot for the RS-232 option and a parallel port for printers. The Model I could not meet FCC regulations on radio interference due to its plastic case and exterior cables. Apple resolved the issue with an interior metallic foil but the solution would not work for Tandy with the Model I. Since the Model II and Model III were already in production Tandy decided to stop manufacturing the Model I. Radio Shack had sold 1.5 million Model I's by the cancellation in 1981. Byte in January 1980 announced in an editorial that "the era of off-the-shelf personal computers has arrived". The magazine stated that "a desirable contemporary personal computer has 64 K of memory, about 500 K bytes of mass storage on line, any old competently designed computer architecture, upper and lowercase video terminal, printer, and high-level languages". The author reported that when he needed to purchase such a computer quickly he did so at a local store for $6000 in cash, and cited it as an example of "what the state of the art is at present ... as a mass-produced product". By early that year Radio Shack, Commodore, and Apple manufactured the vast majority of the one half-million microcomputers that existed. As component prices continued to fall, many companies entered the computer business. This led to an explosion of low-cost machines known as home computers that sold millions of units before the market imploded in a price war in the early 1980s. Atari, Inc. was a well-known brand in the late 1970s, both due to their hit arcade games like Pong, as well as the hugely successful Atari VCS game console. Realizing that the VCS would have a limited lifetime in the market before a technically advanced competitor came along, Atari decided they would be that competitor, and started work on a new console design that was much more advanced. While these designs were being developed, the Trinity machines hit the market with considerable fanfare. Atari's management decided to change their work to a home computer system instead. Their knowledge of the home market through the VCS resulted in machines that were almost indestructible and just as easy to use as a games machine—simply plug in a cartridge and go. The new machines were first introduced as the Atari 400 and 800 in 1978, but production problems prevented widespread sales until the next year. With a trio of custom graphics and sound co-processors and a 6502 CPU clocked ~80% faster then most competitors, the Atari machines had capabilities that no other microcomputer could match. In spite of a promising start with about 600,000 sold by 1981, they were unable to compete effectively with Commodore's introduction of the Commodore 64 in 1982, and only about 2 million machines were produced by the end of their production run. The 400 and 800 were tweaked into superficially improved models—the 1200XL, 600XL, 800XL, 65XE—as well as the 130XE with 128K of bank-switched RAM. Sinclair Research Ltd is a British consumer electronics company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair in Cambridge. It was incorporated in 1973 as Ablesdeal Ltd. and renamed "Westminster Mail Order Ltd" and then "Sinclair Instrument Ltd." in 1975. The company remained dormant until 1976, when it was activated with the intention of continuing Sinclair's commercial work from his earlier company Sinclair Radionics; it adopted the name Sinclair Research in 1981. In 1980, Clive Sinclair entered the home computer market with the ZX80 at £99.95, at the time the cheapest personal computer for sale in the UK. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, later becoming Britain's best selling computer, competing aggressively against Commodore and British Amstrad. At the height of its success, and largely inspired by the Japanese Fifth Generation Computer programme, the company established the "MetaLab" research centre at Milton Hall (near Cambridge), in order to pursue artificial intelligence, wafer-scale integration, formal verification and other advanced projects. The combination of the failures of the Sinclair QL computer and the TV80 led to financial difficulties in 1985, and a year later Sinclair sold the rights to their computer products and brand name to Amstrad. Sinclair Research Ltd exists today as a one-man company, continuing to market Sir Clive Sinclair's newest inventions. ZX80 The ZX80 home computer was launched in February 1980 at £79.95 in kit form and £99.95 ready-built. In November of the same year Science of Cambridge was renamed Sinclair Computers Ltd. ZX81 The ZX81 (known as the TS 1000 in the United States) was priced at £49.95 in kit form and £69.95 ready-built, by mail order. ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum was launched on 23 April 1982, priced at £125 for the 16 KB RAM version and £175 for the 48 KB version. Sinclair QL The Sinclair QL was announced in January 1984, priced at £399. Marketed as a more sophisticated 32-bit microcomputer for professional users, it used a Motorola 68008 processor. Production was delayed by several months, due to unfinished development of hardware and software at the time of the QL's launch. ZX Spectrum+ The ZX Spectrum+ was a repackaged ZX Spectrum 48K launched in October 1984. ZX Spectrum 128 The ZX Spectrum 128, with RAM expanded to 128 kB, a sound chip and other enhancements, was launched in Spain in September 1985 and the UK in January 1986, priced at £179.95. Texas Instruments (TI), at the time the world's largest chip manufacturer, decided to enter the home computer market with the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A. Announced long before its arrival, most industry observers expected the machine to wipe out all competition – on paper its performance was untouchable, and TI had enormous cash reserves and development capability. When it was released in late 1979, TI took a somewhat slow approach to introducing it, initially focusing on schools. Contrary to earlier predictions, the TI-99's limitations meant it was not the giant-killer everyone expected, and a number of its design features were highly controversial. A total of 2.8 million units were shipped before the TI-99/4A was discontinued in March 1984. Realizing that the PET could not easily compete with color machines like the Apple II and Atari, Commodore introduced the VIC-20 in 1980 to address the home market. The tiny 5 kB memory and its relatively limited display in comparison to those machines was offset by a low and ever falling price. Millions of VIC-20s were sold. The best-selling personal computer of all time was released by Commodore International in 1982. The Commodore 64 sold over 17 million units before its end. The C64 name derived from its 64kb of RAM. It used the 6510 microprocessor, a variant of the 6502. MOS Technology, Inc. was then owned by Commodore. The BBC became interested in running a computer literacy series, and sent out a tender for a standardized small computer to be used with the show. After examining several entrants, they selected what was then known as the Acorn Proton and made a number of minor changes to produce the BBC Micro. The Micro was relatively expensive, which limited its commercial appeal, but with widespread marketing, BBC support and wide variety of programs, the system eventually sold as many as 1.5 million units. Acorn was rescued from obscurity, and went on to develop the ARM processor (Acorn RISC Machine) to power follow-on designs. The ARM is widely used to this day, powering a wide variety of products like the iPhone. The Micro is not to be confused with the BBC Micro Bit, another BBC microcomputer released in March 2016. In 1982, the TI 99/4A and Atari 400 were both $349, Radio Shack's Color Computer sold at $379, and Commodore had reduced the price of the VIC-20 to $199 and the Commodore 64 to $499. TI had forced Commodore from the calculator market by dropping the price of its own-brand calculators to less than the cost of the chipsets it sold to third parties to make the same design. Commodore's CEO, Jack Tramiel, vowed that this would not happen again, and purchased MOS Technology to ensure a supply of chips. With his supply guaranteed, and good control over the component pricing, Tramiel launched a war against TI soon after the introduction of the Commodore 64. Now vertically integrated, Commodore lowered the retail price of the 64 to $300 at the June 1983 Consumer Electronics Show, and stores sold it for as little as $199. At one point the company was selling as many computers as the rest of the industry combined. Commodore—which even discontinued list prices—could make a profit when selling the 64 for a retail price of $200 because of vertical integration. Competitors also reduced prices; the Atari 800's price in July was $165, and by the time TI was ready in 1983 to introduce the 99/2 computer—designed to sell for $99—the TI-99/4A sold for $99 in June. The 99/4A had sold for $400 in the fall of 1982, causing a loss for TI of hundreds of millions of dollars. A Service Merchandise executive stated "I've been in retailing 30 years and I have never seen any category of goods get on a self- destruct pattern like this". Such low prices probably hurt home computers' reputation; one retail executive said of the 99/4A, '"When they went to $99, people started asking 'What's wrong with it?'" The founder of Compute! stated in 1986 that "our market dropped from 300 percent growth per year to 20 percent". While Tramiel's target was TI, everyone in the home computer market was hurt by the process; many companies went bankrupt or exited the business. In the end even Commodore's own finances were crippled by the demands of financing the massive building expansion needed to deliver the machines, and Tramiel was forced from the company. From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, Japan's personal computer market was largely dominated by domestic computer products. NEC's PC-88 and PC-98 was the market leader, though with some competition from the Sharp X1 and X68000, the FM-7 and FM Towns, and the MSX and MSX2, the latter also gaining some popularity in Europe. A key difference between Western and Japanese systems at the time was the latter's higher display resolutions (640x400) in order to accommodate Japanese text. Japanese computers also employed Yamaha FM synthesis sound boards since the early 1980s which produce higher quality sound. Japanese computers were widely used to produce video games, though only a small portion of Japanese PC games were released outside of the country. The most successful Japanese personal computer was NEC's PC-98, which sold more than 18 million units by 1999. IBM responded to the success of the Apple II with the IBM PC, released in August 1981. Like the Apple II and S-100 systems, it was based on an open, card-based architecture, which allowed third parties to develop for it. It used the Intel 8088 CPU running at 4.77 MHz, containing 29,000 transistors. The first model used an audio cassette for external storage, though there was an expensive floppy disk option. The cassette option was never popular and was removed in the PC XT of 1983. The XT added a 10MB hard drive in place of one of the two floppy disks and increased the number of expansion slots from 5 to 8. While the original PC design could accommodate only up to 64k on the main board, the architecture was able to accommodate up to 640KB of RAM, with the rest on cards. Later revisions of the design increased the limit to 256K on the main board. The IBM PC typically came with PC DOS, an operating system based upon Gary Kildall's CP/M-80 operating system. In 1980, IBM approached Digital Research, Kildall's company, for a version of CP/M for its upcoming IBM PC. Kildall's wife and business partner, Dorothy McEwen, met with the IBM representatives who were unable to negotiate a standard non-disclosure agreement with her. IBM turned to Bill Gates, who was already providing the ROM BASIC interpreter for the PC. Gates offered to provide 86-DOS, developed by Tim Paterson of Seattle Computer Products. IBM rebranded it as PC DOS, while Microsoft sold variations and upgrades as MS-DOS. The impact of the Apple II and the IBM PC was fully demonstrated when Time named the home computer the "Machine of the Year", or Person of the Year for 1982 (3 January 1983, "The Computer Moves In"). It was the first time in the history of the magazine that an inanimate object was given this award. The original PC design was followed up in 1983 by the IBM PC XT, which was an incrementally improved design; it omitted support for the cassette, had more card slots, and was available with a 10MB hard drive. Although mandatory at first, the hard drive was later made an option and a two floppy disk XT was sold. While the architectural memory limit of 640K was the same, later versions were more readily expandable. Although the PC and XT included a version of the BASIC language in read-only memory, most were purchased with disk drives and run with an operating system; three operating systems were initially announced with the PC. One was CP/M-86 from Digital Research, the second was PC DOS from IBM, and the third was the UCSD p-System (from the University of California at San Diego). PC DOS was the IBM branded version of an operating system from Microsoft, previously best known for supplying BASIC language systems to computer hardware companies. When sold by Microsoft, PC DOS was called MS-DOS. The UCSD p-System OS was built around the Pascal programming language and was not marketed to the same niche as IBM's customers. Neither the p-System nor CP/M-86 was a commercial success. Because MS-DOS was available as a separate product, some companies attempted to make computers available which could run MS-DOS and programs. These early machines, including the ACT Apricot, the DEC Rainbow 100, the Hewlett-Packard HP-150, the Seequa Chameleon and many others were not especially successful, as they required a customized version of MS-DOS, and could not run programs designed specifically for IBM's hardware. (See List of early non-IBM-PC-compatible PCs.) The first truly IBM PC compatible machines came from Compaq, although others soon followed. Because the IBM PC was based on relatively standard integrated circuits, and the basic card-slot design was not patented, the key portion of that hardware was actually the BIOS software embedded in read-only memory. This critical element got reverse engineered, and that opened the floodgates to the market for IBM PC imitators, which were dubbed "PC clones". At the time that IBM had decided to enter the personal computer market in response to Apple's early success, IBM was the giant of the computer industry and was expected to crush Apple's market share. But because of these shortcuts that IBM took to enter the market quickly, they ended up releasing a product that was easily copied by other manufacturers using off the shelf, non- proprietary parts. So in the long run, IBM's biggest role in the evolution of the personal computer was to establish the de facto standard for hardware architecture amongst a wide range of manufacturers. IBM's pricing was undercut to the point where IBM was no longer the significant force in development, leaving only the PC standard they had established. Emerging as the dominant force from this battle amongst hardware manufacturers who were vying for market share was the software company Microsoft that provided the operating system and utilities to all PCs across the board, whether authentic IBM machines or the PC clones. In 1984, IBM introduced the IBM Personal Computer/AT (more often called the PC/AT or AT) built around the Intel 80286 microprocessor. This chip was much faster, and could address up to 16MB of RAM but only in a mode that largely broke compatibility with the earlier 8086 and 8088. In particular, the MS-DOS operating system was not able to take advantage of this capability. The bus in the PC/AT was given the name Industry Standard Architecture (ISA). Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) was released in 1992, and was supposed to replace ISA. VESA Local Bus (VLB) and Extended ISA were also displaced by PCI, but a majority of later (post-1992) 486-based systems were featuring a VESA Local Bus video card. VLB importantly offered a less costly high speed interface for consumer systems, as only by 1994 was PCI commonly available outside of the server market. PCI is later replaced by PCI-E (see below). In 1983 Apple Computer introduced the first mass-marketed microcomputer with a graphical user interface, the Lisa. The Lisa ran on a Motorola 68000 microprocessor and came equipped with 1 megabyte of RAM, a black-and-white monitor, dual 5¼-inch floppy disk drives and a 5 megabyte Profile hard drive. The Lisa's slow operating speed and high price (US$10,000), however, led to its commercial failure. Drawing upon its experience with the Lisa, Apple launched the Macintosh in 1984, with an advertisement during the Super Bowl. The Macintosh was the first successful mass-market mouse-driven computer with a graphical user interface or 'WIMP' (Windows, Icons, Menus, and Pointers). Based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, the Macintosh included many of the Lisa's features at a price of US$2,495. The Macintosh was introduced with 128 kb of RAM and later that year a 512 kb RAM model became available. To reduce costs compared the Lisa, the year-younger Macintosh had a simplified motherboard design, no internal hard drive, and a single 3.5" floppy drive. Applications that came with the Macintosh included MacPaint, a bit-mapped graphics program, and MacWrite, which demonstrated WYSIWYG word processing. While not a success upon its release, the Macintosh was a successful personal computer for years to come. This is particularly due to the introduction of desktop publishing in 1985 through Apple's partnership with Adobe. This partnership introduced the LaserWriter printer and Aldus PageMaker (now Adobe PageMaker) to users of the personal computer. During Steve Jobs' hiatus from Apple, a number of different models of Macintosh, including the Macintosh Plus and Macintosh II, were released to a great degree of success. The entire Macintosh line of computers was IBM's major competition up until the early 1990s. In the Commodore world, GEOS was available on the Commodore 64 and Commodore 128. Later, a version was available for PCs running DOS. It could be used with a mouse or a joystick as a pointing device, and came with a suite of GUI applications. Commodore's later product line, the Amiga platform, ran a GUI operating system by default. The Amiga laid the blueprint for future development of personal computers with its groundbreaking graphics and sound capabilities. Byte called it "the first multimedia computer... so far ahead of its time that almost nobody could fully articulate what it was all about." In 1985, the Atari ST, also based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor, was introduced with the first color GUI: Digital Research's GEM. In 1987, Acorn launched the Archimedes range of high-performance home computers in Europe and Australasia. Based on their own 32-bit ARM RISC processor, the systems were shipped with a GUI OS called Arthur. In 1989, Arthur was superseded by a multi-tasking GUI-based operating system called RISC OS. By default, the mice used on these computers had three buttons. The transition from a PC-compatible market being driven by IBM to one driven primarily by a broader market began to become clear in 1986 and 1987; in 1986, the 32-bit Intel 80386 microprocessor was released, and the first '386-based PC-compatible was the Compaq Deskpro 386. IBM's response came nearly a year later with the initial release of the IBM Personal System/2 series of computers, which had a closed architecture and were a significant departure from the emerging "standard PC". These models were largely unsuccessful, and the PC Clone style machines outpaced sales of all other machines through the rest of this period. Toward the end of the 1980s PC XT clones began to take over the home computer market segment from the specialty manufacturers such as Commodore International and Atari that had previously dominated. These systems typically sold for just under the "magic" $1000 price point (typically $999) and were sold via mail order rather than a traditional dealer network. This price was achieved by using the older 8/16 bit technology, such as the 8088 CPU, instead of the 32-bits of the latest Intel CPUs. These CPUs were usually made by a third party such as Cyrix or AMD. Dell started out as one of these manufacturers, under its original name PC Limited. In 1990, the NeXTstation workstation computer went on sale, for "interpersonal" computing as Steve Jobs described it. The NeXTstation was meant to be a new computer for the 1990s, and was a cheaper version of the previous NeXT Computer. Despite its pioneering use of Object-oriented programming concepts, the NeXTstation was somewhat a commercial failure, and NeXT shut down hardware operations in 1993. In the early 1990s, the CD-ROM became an industry standard, and by the mid-1990s one was built into almost all desktop computers, and towards the end of the 1990s, in laptops as well. Although introduced in 1982, the CD ROM was mostly used for audio during the 1980s, and then for computer data such as operating systems and applications into the 1990s. Another popular use of CD ROMs in the 1990s was multimedia, as many desktop computers started to come with built-in stereo speakers capable of playing CD quality music and sounds with the Sound Blaster sound card on PCs. IBM introduced its successful ThinkPad range at COMDEX 1992 using the series designators 300, 500 and 700 (allegedly analogous to the BMW car range and used to indicate market), the 300 series being the "budget", the 500 series "midrange" and the 700 series "high end". This designation continued until the late 1990s when IBM introduced the "T" series as 600/700 series replacements, and the 3, 5 and 7 series model designations were phased out for A (3&7) & X (5) series. The A series was later partially replaced by the R series. By the mid-1990s, Amiga, Commodore and Atari systems were no longer on the market, pushed out by strong IBM PC clone competition and low prices. Other previous competition such as Sinclair and Amstrad were no longer in the computer market. With less competition than ever before, Dell rose to high profits and success, introducing low cost systems targeted at consumers and business markets using a direct-sales model. Dell surpassed Compaq as the world's largest computer manufacturer, and held that position until October 2006. In 1994, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh series of high-end professional desktop computers for desktop publishing and graphic designers. These new computers made use of new Motorola PowerPC processors as part of the AIM alliance, to replace the previous Motorola 68k architecture used for the Macintosh line. During the 1990s, the Macintosh remained with a low market share, but as the primary choice for creative professionals, particularly those in the graphics and publishing industries. Also in 1994, Acorn Computers launched its Risc PC series of high-end desktop computers. The Risc PC (codenamed Medusa) was Acorn's next generation ARM- based RISC OS computer, which superseded the Acorn Archimedes. Due to the sales growth of IBM clones in the '90s, they became the industry standard for business and home use. This growth was augmented by the introduction of Microsoft's Windows 3.0 operating environment in 1990, and followed by Windows 3.1 in 1992 and the Windows 95 operating system in 1995. The Macintosh was sent into a period of decline by these developments coupled with Apple's own inability to come up with a successor to the Macintosh operating system, and by 1996 Apple was almost bankrupt. In December 1996 Apple bought NeXT and in what has been described as a "reverse takeover", Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. The NeXT purchase and Jobs' return brought Apple back to profitability, first with the release of Mac OS 8, a major new version of the operating system for Macintosh computers, and then with the PowerMac G3 and iMac computers for the professional and home markets. The iMac was notable for its transparent bondi blue casing in an ergonomic shape, as well as its discarding of legacy devices such as a floppy drive and serial ports in favor of Ethernet and USB connectivity. The iMac sold several million units and a subsequent model using a different form factor remains in production as of August 2017. In 2001 Mac OS X, the long-awaited "next generation" Mac OS based on the NeXT technologies was finally introduced by Apple, cementing its comeback. The ROM in CD-ROM stands for Read Only Memory. In the late 1990s CD-R and later, rewritable CD-RW drives were included instead of standard CD ROM drives. This gave the personal computer user the capability to copy and "burn" standard Audio CDs which were playable in any CD player. As computer hardware grew more powerful and the MP3 format became pervasive, "ripping" CDs into small, compressed files on a computer's hard drive became popular. "Peer to peer" file sharing networks such as Napster, Kazaa and Gnutella arose to be used almost exclusively for sharing music files and became a primary computer activity for many individuals. Since the late 1990s, many more personal computers started shipping that included USB (Universal Serial Bus) ports for easy plug and play connectivity to devices such as digital cameras, video cameras, personal digital assistants, printers, scanners, USB flash drives and other peripheral devices. By the early 21st century, all shipping computers for the consumer market included at least two USB ports. Also during the late 1990s DVD players started appearing on high-end, usually more expensive, desktop and laptop computers, and eventually on consumer computers into the first decade of the 21st century. In 2002, Hewlett-Packard (HP) purchased Compaq. Compaq itself had bought Tandem Computers in 1997 (which had been started by ex-HP employees), and Digital Equipment Corporation in 1998. Following this strategy HP became a major player in desktops, laptops, and servers for many different markets. The buyout made HP the world's largest manufacturer of personal computers, until Dell later surpassed HP. In 2003, AMD shipped its 64-bit based microprocessor line for desktop computers, Opteron and Athlon 64. Also in 2003, IBM released the 64-bit based PowerPC 970 for Apple's high-end Power Mac G5 systems. Intel, in 2004, reacted to AMD's success with 64-bit based processors, releasing updated versions of their Xeon and Pentium 4 lines. 64-bit processors were first common in high end systems, servers and workstations, and then gradually replaced 32-bit processors in consumer desktop and laptop systems since about 2005. In 2004, IBM announced the proposed sale of its PC business to Chinese computer maker Lenovo Group, which is partially owned by the Chinese government, for US$650 million in cash and $600 million US in Lenovo stock. The deal was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in March 2005, and completed in May 2005. IBM will have a 19% stake in Lenovo, which will move its headquarters to New York State and appoint an IBM executive as its chief executive officer. The company will retain the right to use certain IBM brand names for an initial period of five years. As a result of the purchase, Lenovo inherited a product line that featured the ThinkPad, a line of laptops that had been one of IBM's most successful products. In the early 21st century, Wi-Fi began to become increasingly popular as many consumers started installing their own wireless home networks. Many of today's laptops and desktop computers are sold pre-installed with wireless cards and antennas. Also in the early 21st century, LCD monitors became the most popular technology for computer monitors, with CRT production being slowed down. LCD monitors are typically sharper, brighter, and more economical than CRT monitors. The first decade of the 21st century also saw the rise of multi-core processors (see following section) and flash memory. Once limited to high-end industrial use due to expense, these technologies are now mainstream and available to consumers. In 2008 the MacBook Air and Asus Eee PC were released, laptops that dispense with an optical drive and hard drive entirely relying on flash memory for storage. The invention in the late 1970s of local area networks (LANs), notably Ethernet, allowed PCs to communicate with each other (peer-to-peer) and with shared printers. As the microcomputer revolution continued, more robust versions of the same technology were used to produce microprocessor based servers that could also be linked to the LAN. This was facilitated by the development of server operating systems to run on the Intel architecture, including several versions of both Unix and Microsoft Windows. In May 2005, AMD and Intel released their first dual-core 64-bit processors, the Pentium D and the Athlon 64 X2 respectively. Multi-core processors can be programmed and reasoned about using symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) techniques known since the 60s (see the SMP article for details). Apple switches to Intel in 2006, also thereby gaining multiprocessing. In 2013, a Xeon Phi extension card is released with 57 x86 cores, at a price of $1695, equalling circa 30 dollars per core. In 2005, the ARM Cortex-A8 is released, the first Cortex design to be adopted on a large scale for use in consumer devices. An ARM core is later used in the Raspberry Pi, a very cheap minicomputer. PCI Express is released in 2003. It becomes the most commonly used bus in PC- compatible desktop computers. The rise of cheap 3D accelerators displaced low-end products of Silicon Graphics (SGI), which went bankrupt in 2009. Silicon Graphics was a major 3D business that had grown annual revenues of $5.4 million to $3.7 billion from 1984 to 1997. The addition of 3D graphic capabilities to PCs, and the ability of clusters of Linux- and BSD-based PCs to take on many of the tasks of larger SGI servers, ate into SGI's core markets. Three former SGI employees had founded 3dfx in 1994. Their Voodoo Graphics extension card relied on PCI to provide cheap 3D graphics for PC's. Towards the end of 1996, the cost of EDO DRAM dropped significantly. A card consisted of a DAC, a frame buffer processor and a texture mapping unit, along with 4 MB of EDO DRAM. The RAM and graphics processors operated at 50 MHz. It provided only 3D acceleration and as such the computer also needed a traditional video controller for conventional 2D software. NVIDIA bought 3dfx in 2000. In 2000, NVIDIA grew revenues 96%. SGI had made OpenGL. Control of the specification was passed to the Khronos Group in 2006. In 1993, Samsung introduced its KM48SL2000 synchronous DRAM, and by 2000, SDRAM had replaced virtually all other types of DRAM in modern computers, because of its greater performance. For more information see Synchronous dynamic random-access memory#SDRAM history. Double data rate synchronous dynamic random-access memory (DDR SDRAM) is introduced in 2000. Compared to its predecessor in PC-clones, single data rate (SDR) SDRAM, the DDR SDRAM interface makes higher transfer rates possible by more strict control of the timing of the electrical data and clock signals. Released in December 1996, ACPI replaced Advanced Power Management (APM), the MultiProcessor Specification, and the Plug and Play BIOS (PnP) Specification. Internally, ACPI advertises the available components and their functions to the operating system kernel using instruction lists ("methods") provided through the system firmware (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) or BIOS), which the kernel parses. ACPI then executes the desired operations (such as the initialization of hardware components) using an embedded minimal virtual machine. First-generation ACPI hardware had issues. Windows 98 first edition disabled ACPI by default except on a whitelist of systems. In 2011, Intel announces the commercialisation of Tri-gate transistor. The Tri-Gate design is a variant of the FinFET 3D structure. FinFET was developed in the 1990s by Chenming Hu and his colleagues at UC Berkeley. Through-silicon via is used in High Bandwidth Memory (HBM), a successor of DDR-SDRAM. HBM was released in 2013. In 2016 and 2017, Intel, TSMC and Samsung begin releasing 10 nanometer chips. At the ≈10 nm scale, quantum tunneling (especially through gaps) becomes a significant phenomenon. In 2001, 125 million personal computers were shipped in comparison to 48,000 in 1977. More than 500 million PCs were in use in 2002 and one billion personal computers had been sold worldwide since mid-1970s till this time. Of the latter figure, 75 percent were professional or work related, while the rest sold for personal or home use. About 81.5 percent of PCs shipped had been desktop computers, 16.4 percent laptops and 2.1 percent servers. United States had received 38.8 percent (394 million) of the computers shipped, Europe 25 percent and 11.7 percent had gone to Asia-Pacific region, the fastest-growing market as of 2002. Almost half of all the households in Western Europe had a personal computer and a computer could be found in 40 percent of homes in United Kingdom, compared with only 13 percent in 1985. The third quarter of 2008 marked the first time laptops outsold desktop PCs in the United States. As of June 2008, the number of personal computers worldwide in use hit one billion. Mature markets like the United States, Western Europe and Japan accounted for 58 percent of the worldwide installed PCs. About 180 million PCs (16 percent of the existing installed base) were expected to be replaced and 35 million to be dumped into landfill in 2008. The whole installed base grew 12 percent annually. Timeline of electrical and electronic engineering, Computer museum and Personal Computer Museum, Expensive Desk Calculator, MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Educ-8 a 1974 pre-microprocessor "micro-computer", Mark-8, a 1974 microprocessor-based microcomputer, Programma 101, a 1965 programmable calculator with some attributes of a personal computer, SCELBI, another 1974 microcomputer, Simon (computer), a 1949 demonstration of computing principles, List of pioneers in computer science A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology (PDF), BlinkenLights Archaeological Insititute – Personal Computer Milestones, Personal Computer Museum – A publicly viewable museum in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, Old Computers Museum – Displaying over 100 historic machines., Chronology of Personal Computers – a chronology of computers from 1947 on, "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures", Obsolete Technology – Old Computers Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user. These computers were a distinct market segment that typically cost much less than business, scientific or engineering-oriented computers of the time such as the IBM PC, and were generally less powerful in terms of memory and expandability. However, a home computer often had better graphics and sound than contemporary business computers. Their most common uses were playing video games, but they were also regularly used for word processing, doing homework, and programming. Home computers were usually not electronic kits; home computers were sold already manufactured in stylish metal or plastic enclosures. There were, however, commercial kits like the Sinclair ZX80 which were both home and home-built computers since the purchaser could assemble the unit from a kit. Advertisements in the popular press for early home computers were rife with possibilities for their practical use in the home, from cataloging recipes to personal finance to home automation, but these were seldom realized in practice. For example, using a typical 1980s home computer as a home automation appliance would require the computer to be kept powered on at all times and dedicated to this task. Personal finance and database use required tedious data entry. By contrast, advertisements in the specialty computer press often simply listed specifications. If no packaged software was available for a particular application, the home computer user could program one—provided they had invested the requisite hours to learn computer programming, as well as the idiosyncrasies of their system. Since most systems shipped with the BASIC programming language included on the system ROM, it was easy for users to get started creating their own simple applications. Many users found programming to be a fun and rewarding experience, and an excellent introduction to the world of digital technology. The line between 'business' and 'home' computer market segments blurred or vanished completely once IBM PC compatibles became commonly used in the home, since now both categories of computers typically use the same processor architectures, peripherals, operating systems, and applications. Often the only difference may be the sales outlet through which they are purchased. Another change from the home computer era is that the once-common endeavour of writing one's own software programs has almost vanished from home computer use. As early as 1965, some experimental projects, such as Jim Sutherland's ECHO IV, explored the possible utility of a computer in the home. In 1969, the Honeywell Kitchen Computer was marketed as a luxury gift item, and would have inaugurated the era of home computing, but none were sold. Computers became affordable for the general public in the 1970s due to the mass production of the microprocessor starting in 1971. such as the Altair 8800 had front-mounted switches and diagnostic lights (nicknamed "blinkenlights") to control and indicate internal system status, and were often sold in kit form to hobbyists. These kits would contain an empty printed circuit board which the buyer would fill with the integrated circuits, other individual electronic components, wires and connectors, and then hand-solder all the connections. While two early home computers (Sinclair ZX80 and Acorn Atom) could be bought either in kit form or assembled, most home computers were only sold pre-assembled. They were enclosed in plastic or metal cases similar in appearance to typewriter or hi-fi equipment enclosures, which were more familiar and attractive to consumers than the industrial metal card-cage enclosures used by the Altair and similar computers. The keyboard - a feature lacking on the Altair - was usually built into the same case as the motherboard. Ports for plug-in peripheral devices such as a video display, cassette tape recorders, joysticks, and (later) disk drives were either built-in or available on expansion cards. Although the Apple II series had internal expansion slots, most other home computer models' expansion arrangements were through externally accessible 'expansion ports' that also served as a place to plug in cartridge-based games. Usually the manufacturer would sell peripheral devices designed to be compatible with their computers as extra cost accessories. Peripherals and software were not often interchangeable between different brands of home computer, or even between successive models of the same brand. To save the cost of a dedicated monitor, the home computer would often connect through an RF modulator to the family TV set, which served as both video display and sound system. By 1982, an estimated 621,000 home computers were in American households, at an average sales price of US$530 (). After the success of the Radio Shack TRS-80, the Commodore PET and the Apple II in 1977, almost every manufacturer of consumer electronics rushed to introduce a home computer. Large numbers of new machines of all types began to appear during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mattel, Coleco, Texas Instruments and Timex, none of which had any previous connection to the computer industry, all had short-lived home computer lines in the early 1980s. Some home computers were more successful - the BBC Micro, Sinclair ZX Spectrum, Atari 800XL and Commodore 64, sold many units over several years and attracted third-party software development. Almost universally, home computers had a BASIC interpreter combined with a line editor in permanent read-only memory which one could use to type in BASIC programs and execute them immediately or save them to tape or disk. In direct mode, the BASIC interpreter was also used as the user interface, and given tasks such as loading, saving, managing, and running files. One exception was the Jupiter Ace, which had a Forth interpreter instead of BASIC. A built-in programming language was seen as a requirement for any computer of the era, and was the main feature setting home computers apart from video game consoles. Still, home computers competed in the same market as the consoles. A home computer was often seen as simply as a higher end purchase than a console, adding abilities and productivity potential to what would still be mainly a gaming device. A common marketing tactic was to show a computer system and console playing games side by side, then emphasizing the computer's greater ability by showing it running user- created programs, education software, word processing, spreadsheet and other applications while the game console showed a blank screen or continued playing the same repetitive game. Another capability home computers had that game consoles of the time lacked was the ability to access remote services over telephone lines by adding a serial port interface, a modem, and communication software. Though it could be costly, it permitted the computer user to access services like Compuserve and private or corporate bulletin board systems to post or read messages, or to download or upload software. Some enthusiasts with computers equipped with large storage capacity and a dedicated phone line operated bulletin boards of their own. This capability anticipated the internet by nearly twenty years. Some game consoles offered "programming packs" consisting of a version of BASIC in a ROM cartridge. Atari's BASIC Programming for the Atari 2600 was one of these. For the ColecoVision console, Coleco even announced an expansion module which would convert it into a full- fledged computer system. The Magnavox Odyssey² game console had a built-in keyboard to support its C7420 Home Computer Module. Books of type-in program listings like BASIC Computer Games were available dedicated for the BASICs of most models of computer with titles along the lines of 64 Amazing BASIC Games for the Commodore 64. While most of the programs in these books were short and simple games or demos, some titles such as Compute!s SpeedScript series, contained productivity software that rivaled commercial packages. To avoid the tedious process of typing in a program listing from a book, these books would sometimes include a mail-in offer from the author to obtain the programs on disk or cassette for a few dollars. Before the Internet, and before most computer owners had a modem, books were a popular and low-cost means of software distribution--one that had the advantage of incorporating its own documentation. These books also served a role in familiarizing new computer owners with the concepts of programming; some titles added suggested modifications to the program listings for the user to carry out. Modifying software to be compatible with one's system or writing a utility program to fit one's needs was a skill every advanced computer owner was expected to have. During the peak years of the home computer market, scores of models were produced, usually as individual design projects with little or no thought given to compatibility between different manufacturers or even within product lines of the same manufacturer. Except for the Japanese MSX standard, the concept of a computer platform was still forming, with most companies considering rudimentary BASIC language and disk format compatibility sufficient to claim a model as "compatible". Things were different in the business world, where cost-conscious small business owners had been using CP/M running on Z80 based computers from Osborne, Kaypro, Morrow Designs and a host of other manufacturers. For many of these businesses, the development of the microcomputer made computing and business software affordable where they had not been before. Introduced in August 1981, the IBM Personal Computer would eventually supplant CP/M as the standard platform used in business. This was largely due to the IBM name and the system's 16 bit open architecture, which expanded maximum memory tenfold, and also encouraged production of third-party clones. In the late 1970s, the 6502-based Apple II series had carved out a niche for itself in business, thanks to the industry's first killer app, VisiCalc, released in 1979. However the Apple II would quickly be displaced for office use by IBM PC compatibles running Lotus 1-2-3. Apple Computer's 1980 Apple III was underwhelming, and although the 1984 release of the Apple Macintosh introduced the modern GUI to the market, it wasn't common until IBM- compatible computers adopted it. Throughout the 1980s, businesses large and small adopted the PC platform, leading, by the end of the decade, to sub- US$1000 IBM PC XT-class white box machines, usually built in Asia and sold by US companies like PCs Limited. In 1980 Wayne Green, the publisher of Kilobaud Microcomputing, recommended that companies avoid the term "home computer" in their advertising as "I feel is self-limiting for sales ... I prefer the term "microcomputers" since it doesn't limit the uses of the equipment in the imagination of the prospective customers". With the exception of Tandy, most computer companies – even those with a majority of sales to home users – agreed, avoiding the term "home computer" because of its association with the image of, as Compute! wrote, "a low-powered, low-end machine primarily suited for playing games". Apple consistently avoided stating that it was a home- computer company, and described the IIc as "a serious computer for the serious home user" despite competing against IBM's PCjr home computer. John Sculley denied that his company sold home computers; rather, he said, Apple sold "computers for use in the home". In 1990 the company reportedly refused to support joysticks on its low-cost Macintosh LC and IIsi computers to prevent customers from considering them as "game machines". Although the Apple II and Atari computers are functionally similar, Atari's home-oriented marketing resulted in a game-heavy library with much less business software. By the late 1980s, many mass merchants sold video game consoles like the Nintendo Entertainment System, but no longer sold home computers. Toward the end of the 1980s, clones also became popular with non-corporate customers. Inexpensive, highly compatible clones succeeded where the PCjr had failed. Replacing the hobbyists who had made up the majority of the home computer market were, as Compute! described them, "people who want to take work home from the office now and then, play a game now and then, learn more about computers, and help educate their children". By 1986 industry experts predicted an "MS-DOS Christmas", and the magazine stated that clones threatened Commodore, Atari, and Apple's domination of the home-computer market. The declining cost of IBM compatibles on the one hand, and the greatly increased graphics, sound, and storage abilities of fourth generation video game consoles such as the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System on the other, combined to cause the market segment for home computers to vanish by the early 1990s in the US. In Europe, the home computer remained a distinct presence for a few years more, with the low-end models of the 16-bit Amiga and Atari ST families being the dominant players, but by the mid-1990s even the European market had dwindled. The Dutch government even ran a program that allowed businesses to sell computers tax-free to its employees, often accompanied by home training programs. Naturally, these businesses chose to equip their employees with the same systems they themselves were using. Today a computer bought for home use anywhere will be very similar to those used in offices – made by the same manufacturers, with compatible peripherals, operating systems, and application software. Many home computers were superficially similar. Most had a keyboard integrated into the same case as the motherboard, or, more frequently, a mainboard—while the expandable home computers appeared from the very start (the Apple II offered as many as seven expansion slots), as the whole segment was generally aimed downmarket, few offers were priced or positioned high enough to allow for such expandability. Some systems have only one expansion port, often realized in the form of cumbersome "sidecar" system, such as on the TI-99/4, or required finicky and unwieldy ribbon cables to connect the expansion modules. Sometimes they were equipped with a cheap membrane or chiclet keyboard in the early days, although full-travel keyboards quickly became universal due to overwhelming consumer preference. Most systems could use an RF modulator to display 20–40 column text output on a home television. Indeed, the use of a television set as a display almost defines the pre-PC home computer. Although dedicated composite or "green screen" computer displays were available for this market segment and offered a sharper display, a monitor was often a later purchase made only after users had bought a floppy disk drive, printer, modem, and the other pieces of a full system. The reason for this was that while those TV-monitors had difficulty displaying the clear and readable 80-column text that became the industry standard at the time, the only consumers who really needed that were the power users utilizing the machine for business purposes, while the average casual consumer would use the system for games only and was content with the lower resolution for which a TV worked fine. An important exception was the Radio Shack TRS-80, the first mass-marketed computer for home use, which included its own 64-column display monitor and full-travel keyboard as standard features. This "peripherals sold separately" approach is another defining characteristic of the home computer era. A first time computer buyer who brought a base C-64 system home and hooked it up to their TV would find they needed to buy a disk drive (the Commodore 1541 was the only fully compatible model) or Datasette before they could make use of it as anything but a game machine or TV Typewriter. In the early part of the 1980s, the dominant microprocessors used in home computers were the 8-bit MOS Technology 6502 (Apple, Commodore, Atari, BBC Micro) and Zilog Z80 (TRS-80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 128, Amstrad CPC). One exception was the TI-99 series, announced in 1979 with a 16-bit TMS9900 CPU. The TI was originally to use the 8-bit 9985 processor designed especially for it, but this project was cancelled. However, the glue logic needed to retrofit the 16-bit CPU to an 8-bit 9985 system negated the advantages of the more powerful CPU. Another exception was the Soviet Elektronika BK series of 1984, which used the fully 16-bit and powerful for the time 1801 series CPU, offering a full PDP-11 compatibility and a fully functional Q-Bus slot, though at the cost of very anemic RAM and graphics. The Motorola 6809 was used by the Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Computer, the Fujitsu FM-7, and Dragon 32/64. Processor clock rates were typically 1–2 MHz for 6502 and 6809 based CPU's and 2–4 MHz for Z80 based systems (yielding roughly equal performance), but this aspect was not emphasized by users or manufacturers, as the systems' limited RAM capacity, graphics abilities and storage options had a more perceivable effect on performance than CPU speed. For low-price computers the cost of RAM memory chips contributed greatly to the final product price to the consumer, and fast CPUs demanded expensive, fast memory. So designers kept clock rates only adequate; in some cases like the Atari and Commodore 8-bit machines, coprocessors were added to speed processing of graphics and audio data. For these computers clock rate was considered a technical detail of interest only to users needing accurate timing for their own programs. To economize on component cost, often the same crystal used to produce color television compatible signals was also divided down and used for the processor clock. This meant processors rarely operated at their full rated speed, and had the side-effect that European and North American versions of the same home computer operated at slightly different speeds and different video resolution due to different television standards. Initially, many home computers used the then-ubiquitous compact audio cassette as a storage mechanism. A rough analogy to how this worked would be to place a recorder on the phone line as a file was uploaded by modem to "save" it, and playing the recording back through the modem to "load". Most cassette implementations were notoriously slow and unreliable, but 8" drives were too bulky for home use, and early 5.25" form factor drives were priced for business use, out of reach of most home buyers. An innovative alternative was the Exatron Stringy Floppy, a continuous loop tape drive which was much faster than a datacassette drive and could perform much like a floppy disk drive. It was available for the TRS-80 and some others. A closely related technology was the ZX Microdrive developed by Sinclair Research in the UK for their ZX Spectrum and QL home computers. Eventually mass production of 5.25" drives resulted in lower prices, and after about 1984 they pushed cassette drives out of the US home computer market. 5.25" floppy disk drives would remain standard until the end of the 8-bit era. Though external 3.5" drives were made available for home computer systems toward the latter part of the 1980s, almost all software sold for 8-bit home computers remained on 5.25" disks; 3.5" drives were used for data storage, with the exception of the Japanese MSX standard, on which 5.25" floppies were never popular. Standardization of disk formats was not common; sometimes even different models from the same manufacturer used different disk formats. Almost universally the floppy disk drives available for 8-bit home computers were housed in external cases with their own controller boards and power supplies contained within. Only the later, advanced 8-bit home computers housed their drives within the main unit; these included the TRS-80 Model III, TRS-80 Model 4, Apple IIc, MSX2, and Commodore 128D. The later 16-bit machines such as the Atari 1040ST (not the 520ST), the Commodore Amigas, and the Tandy 1000s did house floppy drive(s) internally. At any rate, to expand any computer with additional floppy drives external units would have to be plugged in. Toward the end of the home computer era, drives for a number of home computer models appeared offering disk-format compatibility with the IBM PC. The disk drives sold with the Commodore 128, Amiga and Atari ST were all able to read and write PC disks, which themselves were undergoing the transition from 5.25" to 3.5" format at the time (though 5.25" drives remained common on PCs until the late 1990s, due to existence of the large software and data archives on five-inch floppies). 5.25" drives were made available for the ST, Amiga and Macintosh, otherwise 3.5" based systems with no other use for a 5.25" format. Hard drives were never popular on home computers, remaining an expensive, niche product mainly for BBS sysops and the few business users. Various copy protection schemes were developed for floppy disks; most were broken in short order. Many users would only tolerate copy protection for games, as wear and tear on disks was a significant issue in an entirely floppy-based system. The ability to make a "working backup" disk of vital application software was seen as important. Copy programs that advertised their ability to copy or even remove common protection schemes were a common category of utility software in this pre-DMCA era. In another defining characteristic of the home computer, instead of a command line, the BASIC interpreter served double duty as a user interface. Coupled to a character- based screen or line editor, BASIC's file management commands could be entered in direct mode. In contrast to modern computers, home computers most often had their operating system (OS) stored in ROM chips. This made startup times very fast – no more than a few seconds – but made OS upgrades difficult or impossible without buying a new unit. Usually only the most severe bugs were fixed by issuing new ROMs to replace the old ones at the user's cost. Also, the small size and limited scope of home computer "operating systems" (really little more than what today would be called a kernel) left little room for bugs to hide. Although modern operating systems include extensive programming libraries to ease development and promote standardization, home computer operating systems provided little support to application programs. Professionally written software often switched out the ROM based OS anyway to free the address space it occupied and maximize RAM capacity. This gave the program full control of the hardware and allowed the programmer to optimize performance for a specific task. Games would often turn off unused I/O ports, as well as the interrupts that served them. As multitasking was never common on home computers, this practice went largely unnoticed by users. Most software even lacked an exit command, requiring a reboot to use the system for something else. In an enduring reflection of their early cassette-oriented nature, most home computers loaded their disk operating system (DOS) separately from the main OS. The DOS was only used for disk and file related commands and was not required to perform other computing functions. One exception was Commodore DOS, which was not loaded into the computer's main memory at all - Commodore disk drives contained a 6502 processor and ran DOS from internal ROM. While this gave Commodore systems some advanced capabilities - a utility program could sideload a disk copy routine onto the drive and return control to the user while the drive copied the disk on its own - it also made Commodore drives more expensive and difficult to clone. Many home computers had a cartridge interface which accepted ROM-based software. This was also used for expansion or upgrades such as fast loaders. Application software on cartridge did exist, which loaded instantly and eliminated the need for disk swapping on single drive setups, but the vast majority of cartridges were games. From the introduction of the IBM Personal Computer (ubiquitously known as the PC) in 1981, the market for computers meant for the corporate, business, and government sectors came to be dominated by the new machine and its MS-DOS operating system. Even basic PCs cost thousands of dollars and were far out of reach for typical home computerists. However, in the following years technological advances and improved manufacturing capabilities (mainly greater use of robotics and relocation of production plants to lower-wage locations in Asia) permitted several computer companies to offer lower-cost PC style machines that would become competitive with many 8-bit home-market pioneers like Radio Shack, Commodore, Atari, Texas Instruments, and Sinclair. PCs could never become as affordable as these because the same price-reducing measures were available to all computer makers. Furthermore, software and peripherals for PC style computers tended to cost more than those for 8-bit computers because of the anchoring effect caused by the pricey IBM PC. As well, PCs were inherently more expensive since they could not use the home TV set as a video display. Nonetheless, the overall reduction in manufacturing costs narrowed the price difference between old 8-bit technology and new PCs. Despite their higher absolute prices PCs were perceived by many to be better values for their utility as superior productivity tools and their access to industry- standard software. Another advantage was the 8088/8086's wide, 20-bit address bus: the PC could access more than 64 kilobytes of memory relatively inexpensively (8-bit CPUs, which generally had multiplexed 16-bit address buses, required complicated, tricky memory management techniques like bank- switching). Similarly, the default PC floppy was double-sided with about twice the storage capacity of floppy disks used by 8-bit home computers. PC drives tended to cost less because they were most often built-in, requiring no external case, controller, and power supply. The faster clock rates and wider buses available to later Intel CPUs compensated somewhat for the custom graphics and sound chips of the Commodores and Ataris. In time the growing popularity of home PCs spurred many software publishers to offer gaming and children's software titles. Many decision makers in the computer industry believed there could be a viable market for office workers who used PC/DOS computers at their jobs and would appreciate an ability to bring diskettes of data home on weeknights and weekends to continue work after-hours on their "home" computers. So the ability to run industry-standard MS-DOS software on affordable, user-friendly PCs was anticipated as a source of new sales. Furthermore, many in the industry felt that MS-DOS would eventually (inevitably, it seemed) come to dominate the computer business entirely, and some manufacturers felt the need to offer individual customers PC-style products suitable for the home market. In early 1984 market colossus IBM produced the PCjr as a PC/DOS-compatible machine aimed squarely at the home user. It proved a spectacular failure because IBM deliberately limited its capabilities and expansion possibilities in order to avoid cannibalizing sales of the profitable PC. IBM management believed that if they made the PCjr too powerful too many buyers would prefer it over the bigger, more expensive PC. Poor reviews in the computer press and poor sales doomed the PCjr. Tandy Corporation capitalized on IBM's blunder with its PCjr-compatible Tandy 1000 in November. Like the PCjr it was pitched as a home, education, and small- business computer featuring joystick ports, better sound and graphics (same as the PCjr but with enhancements), combined with near-PC/DOS compatibility (unlike Tandy's earlier Tandy 2000). The improved Tandy 1000 video hardware became a standard of its own, known as Tandy Graphics Adapter or TGA. Later Tandy produced Tandy 1000 variants in form factors and price-points even more suited to the home computer market, comprised particularly by the Tandy 1000 EX and HX models (later supplanted by the 1000 RL), which came in cases resembling the original Apple IIs (CPU, keyboard, expansion slots, and power supply in a slimline cabinet) but also included floppy disk drives. The proprietary Deskmate productivity suite came bundled with the Tandy 1000s. Deskmate was suited to use by computer novices with its point-and-click (though not graphical) user interface. From the launch of the Tandy 1000 series, their manufacture were price-competitive because of Tandy's use of high-density ASIC chip technology, which allowed their engineers to integrate many hardware features into the motherboard (obviating the need for circuit cards in expansion slots as with other brands of PC). Tandy never transferred its manufacturing operation to Asia; all Tandy desktop computers were built in the USA (this was not true of the laptop and pocket computers, nor peripherals). In 1985 the Epson corporation, a popular and respected producer of inexpensive dot-matrix printers and business computers (the QX-10 and QX-16), introduced its low-cost Epson Equity PC. Its designers took minor shortcuts such as few expansion slots and a lack of a socket for an 8087 math chip, but Epson did bundle some utility programs that offered decent turnkey functionality for novice users. While not a high performer, the Equity was a reliable and compatible design for half the price of a similarly-configured IBM PC. Epson often promoted sales by bundling one of their printers with it at cost. The Equity I sold well enough to warrant the furtherance of the Equity line with the follow-on Equity II and Equity III. In 1986 UK home computer maker Amstrad began producing their PC1512 PC-compatible for sale in the UK. Later they would market the machine in the US as the PC6400. In June 1987 an improved model was produced as the PC1640. These machines had fast 8086 CPUs, enhanced CGA graphics, and were feature-laden for their modest prices. They had joystick adapters built into their keyboards and shipped with a licensed version of the Digital Research's GEM, a GUI for the MS-DOS operating system. They became marginal successes in the home market. In 1987 longtime small computer maker Zenith introduced a low-cost PC they called the EaZy PC. This was positioned as an "appliance" computer much like the original Apple Macintosh: turnkey startup, built-in monochrome video monitor, and lacking expansion slots requiring proprietary add-ons available only from Zenith, but instead with the traditional MS-DOS Command-line interface. The EaZy PC used a turbo NEC V40 CPU (uprated 8088) which was rather slow for its time, but the video monitor did feature 400 pixel vertical resolution. This unique computer failed for the same reasons as did IBM's PCjr: poor performance and expandability, and a price too high for the home market. Another company that offered low-cost PCs for home use was Leading Edge with their Model M and Model D computers. These were configured like full-featured business PCs yet still could compete in the home market on price because Leading Edge had access to low-cost hardware from their Asian manufacturing partners Mitsubishi with the Model M and Daewoo with the Model D. The LEWP was bundled with the Model D. It was favorably reviewed by the computer press and sold very well. By the mid-80s the market for inexpensive PCs for use in the home market was expanding at a rate such that the two leaders in the US, Commodore and Atari, themselves felt compelled to enter the market with their own lines. They were only marginally successful compared to other companies that made only PCs. Still later prices of white box PC clone computers by various manufacturers became competitive with the higher-end home computers (see below). Throughout the 1980s costs and prices continued to be driven down by: advanced circuit design and manufacturing, multifunction expansion cards, shareware applications such as PC-Talk, PC-Write, and PC-File, greater hardware reliability, and more user-friendly software that demanded less customer support services. The increasing availability of faster processor and memory chips, inexpensive EGA and VGA video cards, sound cards, and joystick adapters also bolstered the viability of PC/DOS computers as alternatives to specially-made computers and game consoles for the home. From about 1985 the high end of the home computer market began to be dominated by "next generation" home computers using the 16-bit Motorola 68000 chip, which enabled the greatly increased abilities of the Amiga and Atari ST series (in the UK the Sinclair QL was built around the Motorola 68008 with its external 8-bit bus). Graphics resolutions approximately doubled to give roughly NTSC-class resolution, and color palettes increased from dozens to hundreds or thousands of colors available. The Amiga was built with a custom chipset with dedicated graphics and sound coprocessors for high performance video and audio. The Amiga found use as a workstation for motion video, a first for a standalone computer costing far less than dedicated motion-video processing equipment costing many thousands of dollars. Stereo sound became standard for the first time; the Atari ST gained popularity as an affordable alternative for MIDI equipment for the production of music. Clock rates on the 68000-based systems were approximately 8 MHz with RAM capacities of 256 KB (for the base Amiga 1000) up to 1024 KB (1 megabyte, a milestone, first seen on the Atari 1040ST). These systems used 3.5" floppy disks from the beginning but 5.25" drives were made available to facilitate data exchange with IBM PC compatibles. The Amiga and ST both had GUIs with windowing technology. These were inspired by the Apple Macintosh, but at a list price of US$2495 (), the Macintosh itself was too expensive for most households. The Commodore Amiga in particular had true multitasking capability and unlike all other low-cost computers of the era could run multiple applications in their own windows. MSX was a standard for a home computing architecture that was intended and hoped to become a universal platform for home computing. It was conceived, engineered and marketed by Microsoft Japan with ASCII Corporation. Computers conforming to the MSX standard were produced by most all major Japanese electronics manufacturers, as well as two Korean ones and several others in Europe and South America. Some 5 million units are known to have been sold in Japan alone. They sold in smaller numbers throughout the world. Due to the "price wars" being waged in the USA home computer market during the 1983-85 period, MSX computers were never marketed to any great extent in the USA. Eventually more advanced mainstream home computers and game consoles obsoleted the MSX machines. The MSX computers were built around the Zilog Z80 8-bit processor, assisted with dedicated video graphics and audio coprocessors supplied by Intel, Texas Instruments, and General Instrument. MSX computers received a great deal of software support from the traditional Japanese publishers of game software, but never garnered such support from publishers of productivity applications. Microsoft did, however, produce a special version of the BASIC programming language that ran under MSX. After the first wave of game consoles and computers landed in American homes, the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began receiving complaints of electromagnetic interference to television reception. By 1979 the FCC demanded that home computer makers submit samples for radio frequency interference testing. It was found that "first generation" home computers emitted too much radio frequency noise for household use. The Atari 400 and 800 were designed with heavy RF shielding to meet the new requirements. Between 1980 and 1982 regulations governing RF emittance from home computers were phased in. Some companies appealed to the FCC to waive the requirements for home computers, while others (with compliant designs) objected to the waiver. Eventually techniques to suppress interference became standardized. In 1977, referring to computers used in home automation at the dawn of the home computer era, Digital Equipment Corporation CEO Ken Olsen is quoted as saying "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." Despite Olsen's warning, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, from about 1977 to 1983, it was widely predicted that computers would soon revolutionize many aspects of home and family life as they had business practices in the previous decades. Mothers would keep their recipe catalog in "kitchen computer" databases and turn to a medical database for help with child care, fathers would use the family's computer to manage family finances and track automobile maintenance. Children would use online encyclopedias for school work and would be avid video gamers. The computer would even be tasked with babysitting younger children. Home automation would bring about the intelligent home of the 1980s. Using Videotex, NAPLPS or some sort of vaguely conceptualized computer technology, television would gain interactivity. It would be possible to do the week's grocery shopping through the television. The "personalized newspaper" (to be displayed on the television screen) was another commonly predicted application. Morning coffee would be brewed automatically under computer control. The same household computer would control the home's lighting and temperature. Robots would take the garbage out, and be programmed to perform new tasks via the home computer. Electronics were expensive, so it was generally assumed that each home would have only one computer for the entire family to use. Home control would be performed in a multitasking time- sharing arrangement, with interfaces to the various devices it was expected to control. All this was predicted to be commonplace by the end of the 1980s, but by 1987 Dan Gutman wrote that the predicted revolution was "in shambles", with only 15% of American homes owning a computer. Virtually every aspect that was foreseen would be delayed to later years or would be entirely surpassed by later technological developments. The home computers of the early 1980s could not multitask, which meant that using one as a home automation or entertainment appliance would require it be kept powered on at all times and dedicated exclusively for this use. Even if the computers could be used for multiple purposes simultaneously as today, other technical limitations predominated; memory capacities were too small to hold entire encyclopedias or databases of financial records; floppy disk-based storage was inadequate in both capacity and speed for multimedia work; and the home computers' graphics chips could only display blocky, unrealistic images and blurry, jagged text that would be difficult to read a newspaper from. Although CD-ROM technology was introduced in 1985 with much promise for its future use, the drives were prohibitively expensive and only interfaced with IBM PCs and compatibles. The Boston Phoenix stated in 1983 that "people are catching on to the fact that 'applications' like balancing your checkbook and filing kitchen recipes are actually faster and easier to do with a pocket calculator and a box of index cards". inCider observed that "companies cannot live by dilettantes alone". Gutman wrote that when the first computer boom ended in 1984, "Suddenly, everybody was saying that the home computer was a fad, just another hula hoop". Robert Lydon, publisher of Personal Computing, stated in 1985 that the home market "never really existed. It was a fad. Just about everyone who was going to buy a computer for their home has done it", and predicted that Apple would cease to exist within two years. A backlash set in; computer users were "geeks", "nerds" or worse, "hackers". The North American video game crash of 1983 soured many on home computer technology as users saw large investments in 'the technology of the future' turn into dead-ends when manufacturers pulled out of the market or went out of business. The computers that were bought for use in the family room were either forgotten in closets or relegated to basements and children's bedrooms to be used exclusively for games and the occasional book report. Home computers of the 1980s have been called "a technology in search of a use". In 1984 Tandy executive Steve Leininger, designer of the TRS-80 Model I, admitted that "As an industry we haven't found any compelling reason to buy a computer for the home" other than for word processing. A 1985 study found that, during a typical week, 40% of adult computer owners did not use their computers at all. Usage rates among children were higher, with households reporting that only 16-20% of children aged 6––17 did not use the computer during a typical week. It would take another 10 years for technology to mature, for the graphical user interface to make the computer approachable for non-technical users, and for the World Wide Web to provide a compelling reason for most people to want a computer in their homes. Separate 1998 studies found that 75% of Americans with Internet access accessed primarily from home and that not having Internet access at home inhibited Internet use. Predicted aspects of the revolution were left by the wayside or modified in the face of an emerging reality. The cost of electronics dropped precipitously and today many families have a computer for each family member, although shared desktop machines are still common. Encyclopedias, recipe catalogs and medical databases are kept online and accessed over the World Wide Web – not stored locally on floppy disks or CD- ROM. TV has yet to gain substantial interactivity; instead, the web has evolved alongside television, giving rise to the second screen concept. The HTPC and services like Netflix, Google TV or Apple TV, along with internet video sites such as YouTube and Hulu, may one day replace traditional broadcast and cable television. Our coffee may be brewed automatically every morning, but the computer is a simple one embedded in the coffee maker, not under external control. As of 2008, robots are just beginning to make an impact in the home, with Roomba and Aibo leading the charge. This delay wasn't out of keeping with other technologies newly introduced to an unprepared public. Early motorists were widely derided with the cry of "Get a horse!" until the automobile was accepted. Television languished in research labs for decades before regular public broadcasts began. In an example of changing applications for technology, before the invention of radio, the telephone was used to distribute opera and news reports, whose subscribers were denounced as "illiterate, blind, bedridden and incurably lazy people". Likewise, the acceptance of computers into daily life today is a product of continuing refinement of both technology and perception. Retrocomputing is the use of vintage hardware, possibly performing modern tasks such as surfing the web and email. As programming techniques evolved and these systems were well-understood after decades of use, it became possible to write software giving home computers capabilities undreamed of by their designers. The Contiki OS implements a GUI and TCP/IP stack on the Apple II, Commodore 8-bit and Atari ST (16-bit) platforms, allowing these home computers to function as both internet clients and servers. The Commodore 64 has been repackaged as the C-One and C64 Direct-to-TV, both designed by Jeri Ellsworth with modern enhancements. Throughout the 1990s and 1st decade of the 21st century, many home computer systems were available inexpensively at garage sales and on eBay. Many enthusiasts started to collect home computers, with older and rarer systems being much sought after. Sometimes the collections turned into a virtual museum presented on web sites. As their often- inexpensively manufactured hardware ages and the supply of replacement parts dwindles, it has become popular among enthusiasts to emulate these machines, recreating their software environments on modern computers. One of the more well-known emulators is the Multi Emulator Super System (MESS) which can emulate most of the better-known home computers. A more or less complete list of home computer emulators can be found in the List of computer system emulators article. Games for many 8 and 16 bit home computers are becoming available for the Wii Virtual Console. The time line below describes many of the most popular or significant home computers of the late 1970s and of the 1980s. The most popular home computers in the USA up to 1985 were: the TRS-80 (1977), various models of the Apple II family (first introduced in 1977), the Atari 400/800 (1979) along with its follow up models the 800XL and 130XE, and the Commodore VIC-20 (1980) and the Commodore 64 (1982). The VIC was the first computer of any type to sell over one million units, and the 64 is still the highest-selling single model of personal computer ever, with over 17 million produced before production stopped in 1994 – a 12-year run with only minor changes. At one point in 1983 Commodore was selling as many 64s as the rest of the industry's computers combined. The British market was different, as relatively high prices and lower disposable incomes reduced the appeal of most American products. New Scientist stated in 1977 that "the price of an American kit in dollars rapidly translates into the same figure in pounds sterling by the time it has reached the shores of Britain". The Commodore 64 was also popular, but a BYTE columnist stated in 1985: Many of the British-made systems like Sinclair's ZX81 and Spectrum, and later the Amstrad/Schneider CPC were much more widely used in Europe than US systems. A few low-cost British Sinclair models were sold in the US by Timex Corporation as the Timex Sinclair 1000 and the ill- fated Timex Sinclair 2068, but neither established a strong following. The only transatlantic success was the Commodore 64, which competed favorably price-wise with the British systems, and was the most popular system in Europe as in the USA. Until the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981, computers such as the Apple II and TRS 80 also found considerable use in office work. In 1983 IBM introduced the PCjr in an attempt to continue their business computer success in the home computer market, but incompatibilities between it and the standard PC kept users away. Assisted by a large public domain software library and promotional offers from Commodore, the PET had a sizable presence in the North American education market until that segment was largely ceded to the Apple II as Commodore focused on the C-64's success in the mass retail market. Three microcomputers were the prototypes for what would later become the home computer market segment; but when introduced they sold as much to hobbyists and small businesses as to the home. June 1977: Apple II (North America), color graphics, eight expansion slots; one of the first computers to use a typewriter-like plastic case design., August 1977: Tandy Radio Shack TRS-80 (N. Am.), first home computer for less than US$600, used a dedicated monitor for US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules compliance., October 1977: Commodore PET (N. Am.), first all-in-one computer: keyboard/screen/tape storage built into stamped sheet metal enclosure. The following computers also introduced significant advancements to the home computer segment: 1979: TI-99/4, first home computer with a 16-bit processor and first to add sprite graphics, 1979: Atari 400/800 (N. Am.), first computer with custom chip set and programmable video chip and built-in audio output January 1980: Sinclair ZX80, available in the United Kingdom for less than a hundred pounds, 1980: Commodore VIC-20 (N. Am.), under US$300; first computer of any kind to pass one million sold., 1980: TRS-80 Color Computer (N. Am.), Motorola 6809, optional OS-9 multi-user multi-tasking., July 1980: TRS-80 Model III (N. Am.), essentially a TRS-80 Model I repackaged in an all-in-one cabinet, to comply with FCC regulations for radiofrequency interference, to eliminate cable clutter, and use only one electrical outlet. Some enhancements like extended character set, repeating keys, and real time clock., June 1981: Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, based on the less successful TI-99/4., 1981: Sinclair ZX81 (Europe), £49.95 in kit form; £69.95 pre-built, released as Timex Sinclair 1000 in US in 1982., 1981: BBC Micro (Europe), premier educational computer in the UK for a decade; advanced BBC BASIC with integrated 6502 machine code assembler, and a large number of I/O ports, ~ 1.5 million sold., April 1982: Sinclair ZX Spectrum (Europe), best-selling British home computer; catalysed the UK software industry, widely cloned by the Soviet Union., June 1982: MicroBee (Australia), initially as a kit, then as a finished unit., August 1982: Dragon 32 (UK) became, for a short time, the best-selling home micro in the United Kingdom., August 1982: Commodore 64 (N. Am.), custom graphic & synthesizer chipset, best-selling computer model of all time: ~ 17 million sold., Jan. 1983: Apple IIe, Apple II enhanced. Reduced component count and production costs enabled high-volume production, until 1993., April 1983: TRS-80 Model 4, major upgrade compatible with Model III. Ran industry-standard CP/M, updated TRSDOS 6, 4 MHz speed, 128KB RAM max, 80x24 screen, 640x240 high-res option. In September the transportable "luggable" Model 4P unveiled., 1983: Acorn Electron A stripped down 'sibling' of the BBC microcomputer with limited functionality. The Electron recovered from a slow start to become one of the more popular home computers of that era in the UK., 1983: Sanyo PHC-25, with 16k of RAM, one of a number of Sanyo models, 1983: Coleco Adam, one of the few home computers to be sold only as a complete system with storage device and printer; cousin to the ColecoVision game console., 1983: MSX (Japan, Korea, the Arab League, Europe, N+S. Am., USSR), a computer 'reference design' by ASCII and Microsoft, produced by several companies: ~ 5 million sold., 1983: VTech Laser 200, entry level computer aimed at being the cheapest on market, also sold as Salora Fellow, Texet TX8000 & Dick Smith VZ 200., 1983: Oric 1 and Oric Atmos, a home computer equipped with a full travel keyboard and an extended version of Microsoft BASIC in ROM., January 1984: The Apple Macintosh is introduced, providing many consumers their first look at a graphical user interface, which would eventually replace the home computer as it was known., April 1984: Apple IIc, Apple II compact. No expansion slots, and built-in ports for pseudo-plug and play ease of use. The Apple II most geared to home use, to complement the Apple IIe's dominant education market share., 1984: Tiki 100 (Norway), Zilog Z80-based home/educational computer made by Tiki Data., 1984: Amstrad/Schneider, CPC, PCW ranges (Europe), British standard before IBM PC; German sales next to C64., 1985: TRS-80 Model 4D: updated Model 4 with double-sided drives and Deskmate productivity suite., 1985: Elektronika BK-0010, one of the first 16-bit home computers; made in USSR., 1985: Robotron KC 85/1 (Europe), one of the few home computers produced by the East German VEB Robotron-Meßelektronik "Otto Schön" Dresden., 1985: Atari ST (N. Am.), first with a graphical user interface (GEM) for less than US$1000; first with built-in MIDI interface; also 1 MB RAM and 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor for under US$1000., June 1985: Commodore 128 (N. Am.) Final, most advanced 8-bit Commodore, retained full C64 compatibility while adding CP/M in a complex multi-mode architecture, July 1985: Commodore Amiga 1000 (N. Am.), custom chip set for graphics and digital audio; multitasking OS with both GUI and CLI interfaces; 16-bit Motorola 68000 processor. Initially designed as a game console but repositioned as a home computer., 1986: Apple IIGS, Fifth and final model in the Apple II series, with greatly enhanced graphics and sound abilities. Used a 16-bit 65C816 CPU, the same as used in the Super Nintendo Entertainment System., June 1987: Acorn Archimedes (Europe), launched with an 8 MHz 32-bit ARM2 microprocessor, with between 512 KB and 4 MB of RAM, and an optional 20 or 40 MB hard drive., October 1987: Commodore Amiga 500 (N. Am.), Amiga 1000 repackaged into a C64-like housing with keyboard and motherboard in the same enclosure, along with a 3.5" floppy disk drive. Introduced at the same time as the more expandable Amiga 2000., 1989: SAM Coupé (Europe), based on 6 MHz Z80 microprocessor; marketed as a logical upgrade from the Sinclair ZX Spectrum. Rune's PC Museum, Home of the home computer, Collection of old analog and digital computers at Old Computer Museum, Computer History Museum – An online museum of home computing and gaming, HCM - Home Computer Museum, "Total share: 30 years of personal computer market share figures" – From Ars Technica, article on computing in the 1980s, Google Books link to A history of the personal computer: the people and the technology by Roy A. Allan Compaq (a portmanteau of Compatibility And Quality, occasionally referred to as CQ prior to its final logo) was a company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers, being the first company to legally reverse engineer the IBM Personal Computer. It rose to become the largest supplier of PC systems during the 1990s before being overtaken by HP in 2001. Struggling to keep up in the price wars against Dell, as well as with a risky acquisition of DEC, Compaq was acquired for US$25 billion by HP in 2002. The Compaq brand remained in use by HP for lower-end systems until 2013 when it was discontinued. The company was formed by Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto former Texas Instruments senior managers. Murto (SVP of sales) departed Compaq in 1987, while Canion (president and CEO) and Harris (SVP of engineering) left under a shakeup in 1991, which saw Eckhard Pfeiffer appointed president and CEO. Pfeiffer served through the 1990s. Ben Rosen provided the venture capital financing for the fledgling company and served as chairman of the board for 17 years from 1983 until September 28, 2000, when he retired and was succeeded by Michael Capellas, who served as the last chairman and CEO until its merger with HP. Prior to its takeover the company was headquartered in northwest unincorporated Harris County, Texas, that now continues as HP's largest United States facility. Compaq was founded in February 1982 by Rod Canion, Jim Harris and Bill Murto, three senior managers from semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments. The three of them had left due to lack of faith and loss of confidence in TI's management, and initially considered but ultimately decided against starting a chain of Mexican restaurants. Each invested $1,000 to form the company, which was founded with the temporary name Gateway Technology. The name "COMPAQ" was said to be derived from "Compatibility and Quality" but this explanation was an afterthought. The name was chosen from many suggested by Ogilvy & Mather, it being the name least rejected. The first Compaq PC was sketched out on a placemat by Ted Papajohn while dining with the founders in a Houston pie shop. Their first venture capital came from Benjamin M. Rosen and Sevin Rosen Funds who helped the fledgling company secure $1.5 million to produce their initial computer. Overall, the founders managed to raise $25 million from venture capitalists, as this gave stability to the new company as well as providing assurances to the dealers or middlemen. Unlike many startups, Compaq differentiated its offerings from the many other IBM clones by not focusing mainly on price, but instead concentrating on new features, such as portability and better graphics displays as well as performance—and all at prices comparable to those of IBM's PCs. In contrast to Dell Computer and Gateway 2000, Compaq hired veteran engineers with an average of 15 years experience, which lent credibility to Compaq's reputation of reliability among customers. Due to its partnership with Intel, Compaq was able to maintain a technological lead in the market place as it was the first one to come out with computers containing the next generation of each Intel processor. Under Canion's direction, Compaq sold computers only through dealers to avoid potential competition that a direct sales channel would foster, which helped foster loyalty among resellers. By giving dealers considerable leeway in pricing Compaq's offerings, either a significant markup for more profits or discount for more sales, dealers had a major incentive to advertise Compaq. During its first year of sales (second year of operation), the company sold 53,000 PCs for sales of $111 million, the first start-up to hit the $100 million mark that fast. Compaq went public in 1983 on the NYSE and raised $67 million. In 1986, it enjoyed record sales of $329 million from 150,000 PCs, and became the youngest-ever firm to make the Fortune 500. In 1987, Compaq hit the $1 billion revenue mark, taking the least amount of time to reach that milestone. By 1991, Compaq held the fifth place spot in the PC market with $3 billion in sales that year. Two key marketing executives in Compaq's early years, Jim D'Arezzo and Sparky Sparks, had come from IBM's PC Group. Other key executives responsible for the company's meteoric growth in the late 80s and early 90s were Ross A. Cooley, another former IBM associate, who served for many years as SVP of GM North America; Michael Swavely, who was the company's chief marketing officer in the early years, and eventually ran the North America organization, later passing along that responsibility to Cooley when Swavely retired. In the United States, Brendan A. "Mac" McLoughlin (another long time IBM executive) led the company's field sales organization after starting up the Western U.S. Area of Operations. These executives, along with other key contributors, including Kevin Ellington, Douglas Johns, Steven Flannigan, and Gary Stimac, helped the company compete against the IBM Corporation in all personal computer sales categories, after many predicted that none could compete with the behemoth. The soft-spoken Canion was popular with employees and the culture that he built helped Compaq to attract the best talent. Instead of headquartering the company in a downtown Houston skyscraper, Canion chose a West Coast-style campus surrounded by forests, where every employee had similar offices and no-one (not even the CEO) had a reserved parking spot. At semi-annual meetings, turnout was high as any employee could ask questions to senior managers. In 1987, company co-founder Bill Murto resigned to study at a religious education program at the University of St. Thomas. Murto had helped to organize the company's marketing and authorized-dealer distribution strategy, and held the post of senior vice president of sales since June 1985. Murto was succeeded by Ross A. Cooley, director of corporate sales. Cooley would report to Michael S. Swavely, vice president for marketing, who has been given increased responsibility and the title of vice president for sales and marketing. In November 1982, Compaq announced their first product, the Compaq Portable, a portable IBM PC compatible personal computer. It was released in March 1983 at $2995, considerably more affordable than the Canadian Hyperion. The Compaq Portable was one of the progenitors of today's laptop; some called it a "suitcase computer" for its size and the look of its case. It was the second IBM PC compatible, being capable of running all software that would run on an IBM PC. It was a commercial success, selling 53,000 units in its first year and generating $111 million in sales revenue. The Compaq Portable was the first in the range of the Compaq Portable series. Compaq was able to market a legal IBM clone because IBM mostly used "off the shelf" parts for their PC. Furthermore, Microsoft had kept the right to license the operating system to other computer manufacturers. The only part which had to be duplicated was the BIOS, which Compaq did legally by using clean room design at a cost of $1 million. Unlike other companies, Compaq did not bundle application software with its computers. Vice President of Sales and Service H. L. Sparks said in early 1984: Compaq instead emphasized PC compatibility, of which Future Computing in May 1983 ranked Compaq as among the "Best" examples. By October 1983, when the company announced the Compaq Plus with a 10 MB hard drive, PC Magazine wrote of "the reputation for compatibility it built with its highly regarded floppy disk portable". Compaq computers remained the most compatible PC clones into 1984, and maintained its reputation for compatibility for years, even as clone BIOSes became available from Phoenix Technologies and other companies that also reverse engineered IBM's design, then sold their version to clone manufacturers. On June 28, 1984, Compaq released the Compaq Deskpro, a 16-bit desktop computer using an Intel 8086 microprocessor running at 7.14 MHz. It was considerably faster than an IBM PC and was, like the original Compaq Portable, also capable of running IBM software. It was Compaq's first non-portable computer and began the Deskpro line of computers. When Compaq introduced the first PC based on Intel's new 80386 microprocessor, the Compaq Deskpro 386, in 1986, it marked the first CPU change to the PC platform that was not initiated by IBM. An IBM-made 386 machine eventually reached the market seven months later, but by that time Compaq was the 386 supplier of choice and IBM had lost its image of technical leadership. For the first three months after announcement, the Deskpro 386 shipped with Windows/386. This was a version of Windows 2.1 adapted for the 80386 processor. Support for the virtual 8086 mode was added by Compaq engineers. Compaq's technical leadership and the rivalry with IBM was emphasized when the SystemPro server was launched in late 1989 – this was a true server product with standard support for a second CPU and RAID, but also the first product to feature the EISA bus, designed in reaction to IBM's MCA (MicroChannel Architecture) which was incompatible with the original AT bus. Although Compaq had become successful by being 100 percent IBM-compatible, it decided to continue with the original AT bus—which it renamed ISA—instead of licensing IBM's MCA. Prior to developing EISA Compaq had invested significant resources into reverse engineering MCA, but its executives correctly calculated that the $80 billion already spent by corporations on IBM-compatible technology would make it difficult for even IBM to force manufacturers to adopt the new MCA design. Instead of cloning MCA, Compaq formed an alliance with Hewlett Packard and seven other major manufacturers, known collectively as the "Gang of Nine", to develop EISA. By 1989, Compaq was so influential that observers and its executives spoke of "Compaq compatible". InfoWorld reported that "In the [ISA market] Compaq is already IBM's equal in being seen as a safe bet", quoting a sell-side analyst describing the company as "now the safe choice in personal computers". Even rival Tandy Corporation acknowledged Compaq's leadership, stating that within the Gang of Nine "when you have 10 people sit down before a table to write a letter to the president, someone has to write the letter. Compaq is sitting down at the typewriter". Michael S. Swavely, president of Compaq's North American division since May 1989, took a six-month sabbatical in January 1991 (which would eventually become retirement effective on July 12, 1991). Eckhard Pfeiffer, then president of Compaq International, was named to succeed him. Pfeiffer also received the title of chief operating officer, with responsibility for the company's operations on a worldwide basis, so that Canion could devote more time to strategy. Swavely's abrupt departure in January led to rumors of turmoil in Compaq's executive suite, including friction between Canion and Swavely, likely as Swavely's rival Pfeiffer had received the number two leadership position. Swavely's U.S. marketing organization was losing ground with only 4% growth for Compaq versus 7% in the market, likely due to short supplies of the LTE 386s from component shortages, rivals that undercut Compaq's prices by as much as 35%, and large customers who did not like Compaq's dealer-only policy. Pfeiffer became president and CEO of Compaq later that year, as a result of a boardroom coup led by board chairman Ben Rosen that forced co-founder Rod Canion to resign as president and CEO. Pfeiffer had joined Compaq from Texas Instruments, and established operations from scratch in both Europe and Asia. Pfeiffer was given $20,000 USD to start up Compaq Europe He started up Compaq's first overseas office in Munich in 1984. By 1990, Compaq Europe was a $2 billion business and number two behind IBM in that region, and foreign sales contributed 54 percent of Compaq's revenues. Pfeiffer, while transplanting Compaq's U.S. strategy of dealer-only distribution to Europe, was more selective in signing up dealers than Compaq had been in the U. S. such that European dealers were more qualified to handle its increasingly complex products. During the 1980s, under Canion's direction Compaq had focused on engineering, research, and quality control, producing high-end, high-performance machines with high profit margins that allowed Compaq to continue investing in engineering and next-generation technology. This strategy was successful as Compaq was considered a trusted brand, while many other IBM clones were untrusted due to being plagued by poor reliability. However, by the end of the eighties many manufacturers had improved their quality and were able to produce inexpensive PCs with off-the-shelf components, incurring none of the R&D; costs which allowed them to undercut Compaq's expensive computers. Faced with lower-cost rivals such as Dell Computer, AST Research, and Gateway 2000, Compaq suffered a $71 million loss for that quarter, their first loss as a company, while the stock had dropped by over two-thirds. An analyst stated that "Compaq has made a lot of tactical errors in the last year and a half. They were trend-setters, now they are lagging". Canion initially believed that the 1990s recession was responsible for Compaq's declining sales but insisted that they would recover once the economy improved, however Pfeiffer's observation of the European market noted that it was competition as rivals could match Compaq at a fraction of the cost. Under pressure from Compaq's board to control costs as staff was ballooning at their Houston headquarters despite falling U.S. sales, while the number of non-U.S. employees had stayed constant, Compaq made its first-ever layoffs (1400 employees which was 12% of its workforce) while Pfeiffer was promoted to EVP and COO. Rosen and Canion had disagreed about how to counter the cheaper Asian PC imports, as Canion wanted Compaq to build lower cost PCs with components developed in-house in order to preserve Compaq's reputation for engineering and quality, while Rosen believed that Compaq needed to buy standard components from suppliers and reach the market faster. While Canion developed an 18-month plan to create a line of low-priced computers, Rosen sent his own Compaq engineering team to Comdex without Canion's knowledge and discovered that a low-priced PC could be made in half the time and at lower cost than Canion's initiative. It was also believed that Canion's consensus- style management slowed the company's ability to react in the market, whereas Pfeiffer's autocratic style would be suited to price and product competition. Rosen initiated a 14-hour board meeting, and the directors also interviewed Pfeiffer for several hours without informing Canion. At the conclusion, the board was unanimous in picking Pfeiffer over Canion. As Canion was popular with company workers, 150 employees staged an impromptu protest with signs stating "We love you, Rod." and taking out a newspaper ad saying "Rod, you are the wind beneath our wings. We love you." Canion declined an offer to remain on Compaq's board and was bitter about his ouster as he didn't speak to Rosen for years, although their relationship became cordial again. In 1999, Canion admitted that his ouster was justified, saying "I was burned out. I needed to leave. He [Rosen] felt I didn't have a strong sense of urgency". Two weeks after Canion's ouster, five other senior executives resigned, including remaining company founder James Harris as SVP of Engineering. These departures were motivated by an enhanced severance or early retirement, as well as an imminent demotion as their functions were to be shifted to vice presidents. Under Pfeiffer's tenure as chief executive, Compaq entered the retail computer market with the Compaq Presario as one of the first manufacturers in the mid-1990s to market a sub-$1000 PC. In order to maintain the prices it wanted, Compaq became the first first-tier computer manufacturer to utilize CPUs from AMD and Cyrix. The two price wars resulting from Compaq's actions ultimately drove numerous competitors from the market, such as Packard Bell and AST Research. From third place in 1993, Compaq had overtaken Apple Computer and even surpassed IBM as the top PC manufacturer in 1994, as both IBM and Apple were struggling considerably during that time. Compaq's inventory and gross margins were better than that of its rivals which enabled it to wage the price wars. Compaq had decided to make a foray into printers in 1989, and the first models were released to positive reviews in 1992. However, Pfeiffer saw that the prospects of taking on market leader Hewlett Packard (who had 60% market share) was tough, as that would force Compaq to devote more funds and people to that project than originally budgeted. Compaq ended up selling the printer business to Xerox and took a charge of $50 million. On June 26, 1995, Compaq reached an agreement with Cisco Systems Inc. in order to get into networking, including digital modems, routers, and switches favored by small businesses and corporate departments, which was now a $4 billion business and the fastest-growing part of the computer hardware market. Compaq also built up a network engineering and marketing staff. In 1996, despite record sales and profits at Compaq, Pfeiffer initiated a major management shakeup in the senior ranks. John T. Rose, who previously ran Compaq's desktop PC division, took over the corporate server business from SVP Gary Stimac who had resigned. Rose had joined Compaq in 1993 from Digital Equipment Corporation where he oversaw the personal computer division and worldwide engineering, while Stimac had been with Compaq since 1982 and was one of the longest-serving executives. Senior Vice-President for North America Ross Cooley announced his resignation effective at the end of 1996. CFO Daryl J. White, who joined the company in January, 1983 resigned in May, 1996 after 8 years as CFO. Michael Winkler, who joined Compaq in 1995 to run its portable computer division, was promoted to general manager of the new PC products group. Earl Mason, hired from Inland Steel effective on May 1996, immediately made an impact as the new CFO. Under Mason's guidance, Compaq utilized its assets more efficiently instead of focusing just on income and profits, which increased Compaq's cash from $700 million to nearly $5 billion in one year. Also Compaq's return on invested capital (after-tax operating profit divided by operating assets) has doubled to 50 percent from 25 percent in that period. Compaq had been producing the PC chassis at its plant in Shenzhen, China to cut costs. In 1996, instead of expanding its own plant, Compaq asked a Taiwanese supplier to set up a new factory nearby to produce the mechanicals, with the Taiwanese supplier owning the inventory until it reached Compaq in Houston. Pfeiffer also introduced a new distribution strategy, to build PCs made-to-order which would eliminate the stockpile of computers in warehouses and cut the components inventory down to two weeks, with the supply chain from supplier to dealer linked by complex software. Vice-President for Corporate Development Kenneth E. Kurtzman assembled five teams to examine Compaq's businesses and assess each unit's strategy and that of key rivals. Kurtzman's teams recommended to Pfeiffer that each business unit had to be first or second in its market within three years—or else Compaq should exit that line. Also, the company should no longer use profits from high-margin businesses to carry marginally profitable ones, as instead each unit must show a return on investment. Pfeiffer's vision was to make Compaq a full-fledged computer company, moving beyond its main business of manufacturing retail PCs and into the more lucrative business services and solutions that IBM did well at, such as computer servers which would also require more "customer handholding" from either the dealers or Compaq staff themselves. Unlike IBM and HP, Compaq was not going to build up field technicians and programmers in-house as these could be costly assets, instead Compaq would leverage its partnerships (including these with Andersen Consulting and software maker SAP) to install and maintain corporate systems. This allowed Compaq to compete in the "big- iron market" without incurring the costs of running its own services or software businesses. In January 1998, Compaq was at its height. CEO Pfeiffer boldly predicted that the Microsoft/Intel "Wintel" duopoly would be replaced by "Wintelpaq". Pfeiffer also made several major (and some minor) acquisitions. In 1997, Compaq bought Tandem Computers, known for their NonStop server line. This acquisition instantly gave Compaq a presence in the higher end business computing market. Minor acquisitions centered around building a networking arm and included NetWorth (1998) based in Irving, Texas and Thomas-Conrad (1998) based in Austin, Texas. In 1997 Microcom was also acquired, based in Norwood, MA, which brought a line of modems, Remote Access Servers (RAS) and the popular Carbon Copy software. In 1998, Compaq acquired Digital Equipment Corporation for a then-industry record of $9 billion USD. The merger made Compaq, at the time, the world's second largest computer maker in the world in terms of revenue behind IBM. Digital Equipment, which had nearly twice as many employees as Compaq while generating half the revenue, had been a leading computer company during the 1970s and early 1980s. However, Digital had struggled during the 1990s, with high operating costs. For nine years the company had lost money or barely broke even, and had recently refocused itself as a "network solutions company". In 1995, Compaq had considered a bid for Digital but only became seriously interested in 1997 after Digital's major divestments and refocusing on the Internet. At the time of the acquisition, services accounted for 45 percent of Digital's revenues (about $6 billion) and their gross margins on services averaged 34 percent, considerably higher than Compaq's 25% margins on PC sales and also satisfying customers who had demanded more services from Compaq for years. Compaq had originally wanted to purchase only Digital's services business but that was turned down. When the announcement was made, it was initially viewed as a master stroke as it immediately gave Compaq a 22,000 person global service operation to help corporations handle major technological purchases (by 2001 services made up over 20% of Compaq's revenues, largely due to the Digital employees inherited from the merger), in order to compete with IBM. However it was also risky merger, as the combined company would have to lay off 2,000 employees from Compaq and 15,000 from Digital which would potentially hurt morale. Furthermore, Compaq fell behind schedule in integrating Digital's operations, which also distracted the company from its strength in low-end PCs where it used to lead the market in rolling out next-generation systems which let rival Dell grab market share. Reportedly Compaq had three consulting firms working to integrate Digital alone. However, Pfeiffer had little vision for what the combined companies should do, or indeed how the three dramatically different cultures could work as a single entity, and Compaq struggled from strategy indecisiveness and lost focus, as a result being caught in between the low end and high end of the market. Mark Anderson, president of Strategic News Service, a research firm based in Friday Harbor, Wash. was quoted as saying, "The kind of goals he had sounded good to shareholders – like being a $50 billion company by the year 2000, or to beat I.B.M. – but they didn't have anything to do with customers. The new C.E.O. should look at everything Eckhard acquired and ask: did the customer benefit from that. If the answer isn't yes, they should get rid of it." On one hand, Compaq had previously dominated the PC market with its price war but was now struggling against Dell, which sold directly to buyers, avoiding the dealer channel and its markup, and built each machine to order to keep inventories and costs at a minimum. At the same time, Compaq, through its acquisitions of the Digital Equipment Corporation last year and Tandem Computer in 1997, had tried to become a major systems company, like IBM and Hewlett-Packard. While IBM and HP were able generate repeat business from corporate customers to drive sales of their different divisions, Compaq had not yet managed to make its newly acquired sales and services organizations work as seamlessly. In early 1998, Compaq had the problem of bloated PC inventories. By summer 1998, Compaq was suffering from product-quality problems. Robert W. Stearns, SVP of Business Development, said "In [Pfeiffer's] quest for bigness, he lost an understanding of the customer and built what I call empty market share-- large but not profitable", while Jim Moore, a technology strategy consultant with GeoPartners Research in Cambridge, Mass., says Pfeiffer "raced to scale without having economies of scale." The "colossus" that Pfeiffer built up was not nimble enough to adapt to the fast-changing computer industry. That year Compaq forecast demand poorly and overshipped too many PCs, causing resellers to dump them at fire sale prices, and since Compaq protected resellers from heavy losses it cost them two quarters of operating profits. Pfeiffer also refused to develop a potential successor, rebuffing Rosen's suggestion to recruit a few executives to create the separate position of Compaq president. The board complained that Pfeiffer was too removed from management and the rank-and-file, as he surrounded himself with a "clique" of Chief Financial Officer Earl Mason, Senior Vice-President John T. Rose, and Senior Vice- President of Human Resources Hans Gutsch. Current and former Compaq employees complained that Gutsch was part of a group of senior executives, dubbed the "A team", who controlled access to Pfeiffer. Gutsch was said to be a "master of corporate politics, pitting senior vice presidents against each other and inserting himself into parts of the company that normally would not be under his purview". Gutsch, who oversaw security, had an extensive security system and guard station installed on the eight floor of CCA-11, where the company's senior vice presidents worked. There were accusations that Gutsch and others sought to divide top management, although this was regarded by others as sour grapes on the part of executives who were shut out of planning that involved the acquisitions of Tandem and Digital Equipment Corp. Pfeiffer reduced the size of the group working on the deal due to news leaks, saying "We cut the team down to the minimum number of people - those who would have to be directly involved, and not one person more". Robert W. Stearns, Compaq's senior vice president for business development, with responsibility for mergers and acquisitions, had opposed the acquisition of Digital as the cultural differences between both companies were too great, and complained that he was placed on the "B team" as a result. Compaq entered 1999 with strong expectations. Fourth-quarter 1998 earnings reported in January 1999 beat expectations by six cents a share with record 48 percent growth. The company launched Compaq.com as the key for its new direct sales strategy, and planned an IPO for AltaVista toward the end of 1999 in order to capitalize on the dotcom bubble. However, by February 1999, analysts were sceptical of Compaq's plan to sell both direct and to resellers. Compaq was hit with two class-action lawsuits, as a result of CFO Earl Mason, SVP John Rose, and other executives selling $50 million USD of stock before a conference call with analysts, where they noted that demand for PCs was slowing down. On April 17, 1999, just nine days after Compaq reported first-quarter profit being at half of what analysts had expected, the latest in a string of earnings disappointments, Pfeiffer was forced to resign as CEO in a coup led by board chairman Ben Rosen. Reportedly, at the special board meeting held on April 15, 1999, the directors were unanimous in dismissing Pfeiffer. The company's stock had fallen 50 percent since its all-time high in January 1999. Compaq shares, which traded as high as $51.25 early in 1999, dropped 23 percent on April 12, 1999, the first day of trading after the first-quarter announcement and closed the following Friday at $23.62. During three out of the last six quarters of Pfeiffer's tenure, the company's revenues or earnings had missed expectations. While rival Dell Computer had 55% growth in U.S. PC sales in the first quarter of 1999, Compaq could only manage 10%. Rosen suggested that the accelerating change brought about by the Internet had overtaken Compaq's management team, saying "As a company engaged in transforming its industry for the Internet era, we must have the organizational flexibility necessary to move at Internet speed." In a statement, Pfeiffer said "Compaq has come a long way since I joined the company in 1983" and "under Ben's guidance, I know this company will realize its potential." Rosen's priority was to have Compaq catchup as an E-commerce competitor, and he also moved to streamline operations and reduce the indecision that plagued the company. Roger Kay, an analyst at International Data Corporation, observed that Compaq's behavior at times seemed like a personal vendetta, noting that "Eckhard has been so obsessed with staying ahead of Dell that they focused too hard on market share and stopped paying attention to profitability and liquidity. They got whacked in a price war that they started." Subsequent earnings releases from Compaq's rivals, Dell, Gateway, IBM, and Hewlett-Packard suggested that the problems were not affecting the whole PC industry as Pfeiffer had suggested. Dell and Gateway sold direct, which helped them to avoid Compaq's inventory problems and compete on price without dealer markups, plus Gateway sold web access and a broad range of software tailored to small businesses. Hewlett-Packard's PC business had similar challenges like Compaq but this was offset by HP's extremely lucrative printer business, while IBM sold PCs at a loss but used them to lock in multi-year services contracts with customers. After Pfeiffer's resignation, the board established an office of the CEO with a triumvirate of directors; Rosen as interim CEO and vice chairmen Frank P. Doyle and Robert Ted Enloe III. They began "cleaning house", as shortly afterward many of Pfeiffer's top executives resigned or were pushed out, including John J. Rando, Earl L. Mason, and John T. Rose. Rando, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq Services, was a key player during the merger discussions and the most senior executive from Digital to remain with Compaq after the acquisition closed and had been touted by some as the heir-apparent to Pfeiffer. Rando's division had performed strongly as it had sales of $1.6 billion for the first quarter compared to $113 million in 1998, which met expectations and was anticipated to post accelerated and profitable growth going forward. At the time of Rando's departure, Compaq Services ranked third behind those of IBM and EDS, while slightly ahead of Hewlett-Packard's and Andersen Consulting, however customers switched from Digital and Tandem technology-based workstations to those of HP, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Mason, senior vice president and chief financial officer, had previously been offered the job of chief executive of Alliant Foodservice, Inc., a foodservice distributor based in Chicago, and he informed Compaq's board that he accepted the offer. Rose, senior vice president and general manager of Compaq's Enterprise Computing group, resigned effective as of June 3 and was succeeded by Tandem veteran Enrico Pesatori. Rose was reportedly upset that he was not considered for the CEO vacancy, which became apparent once Michael Capellas was named COO. While Enterprise Computing, responsible for engineering and marketing of network servers, workstations and data-storage products, reportedly accounted for one third of Compaq's revenues and likely the largest part of its profits, it was responsible for the earnings shortfall in Q1 of 1999. In addition, Rose was part of the "old guard" close to former CEO Pfeiffer, and he and other Compaq executives had been criticized at the company's annual meeting for selling stock before reporting the sales slowdown. Rose was succeeded by SVP Enrico Pesatori, who had previously worked as a senior executive at Olivetti, Zenith Data Systems, Digital Equipment Corp. and Tandem Computers. Capellas was appointed COO after pressure mounted on Rosen to find a permanent CEO, however it was reported that potential candidates did not want to work under Rosen as chairman. Around the same time Pesatori was placed in charge of the newly created Enterprise Solutions and Services Group, making him Compaq's second most powerful executive in operational responsibility after Capellas. Pfeiffer's permanent replacement was Michael Capellas, who had been serving as Compaq's SVP and CIO for under a year. A couple months after Pfeiffer's ouster, Capellas was elevated to interim chief operating officer on June 2, 2000, and was soon appointed president and CEO. Capellas also assumed the title of chairman on September 28, 2000 when Rosen stepped down from the board of directors. At his retirement, Rosen proclaimed "These are great achievements—to create 65,000 jobs, $40 billion in sales and $40 billion in market value, all starting with a sketch and a dream". Capellas was able to restore some of the luster lost in the latter part of the Pfeiffer era and he repaired the relationship with Microsoft which had deteriorated under his predecessor's tenure. However Compaq still struggled against lower-cost competitors with direct sales channels such as Dell who took over the top spot of PC manufacturer from Compaq in 2001. Compaq relied significantly on reseller channels, so their criticism caused Compaq to retreat from its proposed direct sales plan, although Capellas maintained that he would use the middlemen to provide value-added services. Despite falling to No. 2 among PC manufacturers, Capellas proclaimed "We are No. 2 in the traditional PC market, but we're focused on industry leadership in the next generation of Internet access devices and wireless mobility. That's where the growth and the profitability will be." The company's longer-term strategy involves extending its services to servers and storage products, as well as handheld computers such as the iPAQ PocketPC which accounted for 11 percent of total unit volume. During November 1999, Compaq began to work with Microsoft to create the first in a line of small-scale, web-based computer systems called MSN Companions. In 1998, Compaq also signed new sales and equipment alliance with NaviSite. Under the pact, Compaq agreed to promote and sell NaviSite Web hosting services. In return, NaviSite took Compaq as a preferred provider for its storage and Intel-based servers. Compaq struggled as a result of the collapse of the Dot-com bubble bust, which hurt sales of their high-end systems in 2001 and 2002, and they managed only a small profit in a few quarters during these years. They also accumulated $1.7 billion in short-term debt around this time. The stock price of Compaq, which was around $25 when Capellas became CEO, was trading at half that by 2002. In 2002, Compaq signed a merger agreement with Hewlett-Packard for $24.2 billion, including $14.45 billion for goodwill, where each Compaq share would be exchanged for 0.6325 of a Hewlett-Packard share. There would be a termination fee of $675 million USD that either company would have to pay the other to break the merger. Compaq shareholders would own 36% of the combined company while HP's would have 64%. Hewlett-Packard had reported yearly revenues of $47 billion, while Compaq's was $40 billion, and the combined company would have been close to IBM's $90 billion revenues. It was projected to have $2.5 billion in annual cost savings by mid-2004. The expected layoffs at Compaq and HP, 8500 and 9000 jobs, respectively, would leave the combined company with a workforce of 145,000. The companies would dole out a combined $634.5 million in bonuses to prevent key employees from leaving if shareholders approve the proposed merger, with $370.1 million for HP employees and $264.4 million for Compaq employees. Both companies had to seek approval from their shareholders through separate special meetings. While Compaq shareholders unanimously approved the deal, there was a public proxy battle within HP as the deal was strongly opposed by numerous large HP shareholders, including the sons of the company founders, Walter Hewlett and David W. Packard, as well as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. Walter Hewlett only reluctantly approved the merger, in his duty as a member of the board of directors, since the merger agreement "called for unanimous board approval in order to ensure the best possible shareholder reception". While supporters of the merger argued that there would be economies of scale and that the sales of PCs would drive sales of printers and cameras, Walter Hewlett was convinced that PCs were a low-margin but risky business that would not contribute and would likely dilute the old HP's traditionally profitable Imaging and Printing division. David W. Packard in his opposition to the deal "[cited] massive layoffs as an example of this departure from HP’s core values...[arguing] that although the founders never guaranteed job security, 'Bill and Dave never developed a premeditated business strategy that treated HP employees as expendable.'" Packard further stated that "[Carly] Fiorina’s high-handed management and her efforts to reinvent the company ran counter to the company’s core values as established by the founders". The founders' families who controlled a significant amount of HP shares were further irked because Fiorina had made no attempt to reach out to them and consult about the merger, instead they received the same standard roadshow presentation as other investors. Analysts on Wall Street were generally critical of the merger, as both companies had been struggling before the announcement, and the stock prices of both companies dropped in the months after the merger agreement was made public. Particularly rival Dell made gains from defecting HP and Compaq customers who were wary of the merger. Carly Fiorina, initially seen as HP's savior when she was hired as CEO back in 1999, had seen the company's stock price drop to less than half since she assumed the position, and her job was said to be on shaky ground before the merger announcement. HP's offer was regarded by analysts to be overvaluing Compaq, due to Compaq's shaky financial performance in the past recent years (there were rumors that it could run out of money in 12 months and be forced to cease business operations had it stayed independent), as well as Compaq's own more conservative valuation of its assets. Detractors of the deal noted that buying Compaq was a "distraction" that would not directly help HP take on IBM's breadth or Dell Computer's direct sales model. Plus there were significant cultural differences between HP and Compaq; which made decisions by consensus and rapid autocratic styles, respectively. One of Compaq's few bright spots was its services business, which was outperforming HP's own services division. The merger was approved by HP shareholders only after the narrowest of margins, and allegations of vote buying (primarily involving an alleged last-second back-room deal with Deutsche Bank) haunted the new company. It was subsequently disclosed that HP had retained Deutsche Bank's investment banking division in January 2002 to assist in the merger. HP had agreed to pay Deutsche Bank $1 million guaranteed, and another $1 million contingent upon approval of the merger. On August 19, 2003, the U.S. SEC charged Deutsche Bank with failing to disclose a material conflict of interest in its voting of client proxies for the merger and imposed a civil penalty of $750,000. Deutsche Bank consented without admitting or denying the findings. Compaq's pre-merger ticker symbol was CPQ. This was combined with Hewlett-Packard's ticker symbol (HWP) to create the current ticker symbol (HPQ). Capellas, Compaq's last chairman and CEO, became president of the post-merger Hewlett-Packard, under chairman and CEO Carly Fiorina, to ease the integration of the two companies. However, Capellas was reported not to be happy with his role, being said not to be utilized and being unlikely to become CEO as the board supported Fiorina. Capellas stepped down as HP president on November 12, 2002, after just six months on the job, to become CEO of MCI Worldcom where he would lead its acquisition by Verizon. Capellas' former role of president was not filled as the executives who reported to him then reported directly to the CEO. Fiorina helmed the post-merger HP for nearly three years after Capellas left. HP laid off thousands of former Compaq, DEC, HP, and Tandem employees, its stock price generally declined and profits did not perk up. Several senior executives from the Compaq side including Jeff Clarke and Peter Blackmore would resign or be ousted from the post-merger HP. Though the combination of both companies' PC manufacturing capacity initially made the post-merger HP number one, it soon lost the lead and further market share to Dell which squeezed HP on low end PCs. HP was also unable to compete effectively with IBM in the high-end server market. In addition, the merging of the stagnant Compaq computer assembly business with HP's lucrative printing and imaging division was criticized for obstructing the profitability of the printing/imaging segment. Overall, it has been suggested that the purchase of Compaq was not a good move for HP, due to the narrow profit margins in the commoditized PC business, especially in light of IBM's 2004 announcement to sell its PC division to Lenovo. The Inquirer noted that the continued low return on investment and small margins of HP's personal computer manufacturing business, now named the Personal Systems Group, "continues to be what it was in the individual companies, not much more than a job creation scheme for its employees". One of the few positives was Compaq's sales approach and enterprise focus that influenced the newly combined company's strategy and philosophy. In February 2005, the board of directors ousted Fiorina, with CFO Robert Wayman being named interim CEO. Former Compaq CEO Capellas was mentioned by some as a potential successor, but several months afterwards, Mark Hurd was hired as president and CEO of HP. Hurd separated the PC division from the imaging and printing division and renamed it the Personal Systems Group, placing it under the leadership of EVP Todd R. Bradley. Hewlett Packard's PC business has since been reinvigorated by Hurd's restructuring and now generates more revenue than the traditionally more profitable printers. By late 2006, HP had retaken the #1 sales position of PCs from Dell, which struggled with missed estimates and poor quality, and held that rank until supplanted in the mid-2010s by Lenovo. Most Compaq products have been re- branded with the HP nameplate, such as the company's market leading ProLiant server line (now owned by Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which spun off from HP in 2015), while the Compaq brand was repurposed for some of HP's consumer- oriented and budget products, notably Compaq Presario PCs. HP's business computers line was discontinued in favour of the Compaq Evo line, which was rebranded HP Compaq. HP's Jornada PDAs were replaced by Compaq iPAQ PDAs, which were renamed HP iPAQ. Following the merger, all Compaq computers were shipped with HP software. In May 2007, HP announced in a press release a new logo for their Compaq Division to be placed on the new model Compaq Presarios. In 2008, HP reshuffled its business line notebooks. The "Compaq" name from its "HP Compaq" series was originally used for all of HP's business and budget notebooks. However, the HP EliteBook line became the top of the business notebook lineup while the HP Compaq B series became its middle business line. As of early 2009, the "HP ProBook" filled out HP's low end business lineup. In 2009, HP sold part of Compaq's former headquarters to the Lone Star College System. On August 18, 2011, then-CEO of HP Leo Apotheker announced plans for a partial or full spinoff of the Personal Systems Group. The PC unit had the lowest profit margin although it accounted for nearly a third of HP's overall revenues in 2010. HP was still selling more PCs than any other vendor, shipping 14.9 million PCs in the second quarter of 2011 (17.5% of the market according to Gartner), while Dell and Lenovo were tied for second place, each with more than a 12% share of the market and shipments of over 10 million units. However, the announcement of the PC spinoff (concurrent with the discontinuation of WebOS, and the purchase of Autonomy Corp. for $10 billion) was poorly received by the market, and after Apotheker's ouster, plans for a divestiture were cancelled. In March 2012, the printing and imaging division was merged into the PC unit. In October 2012, according to Gartner, Lenovo took the lead as the number one PC manufacturer from HP, while IDC ranked Lenovo just right behind HP. In Q2 2013, Forbes reported that Lenovo ranked ahead of HP as the world's number-one PC supplier. HP discontinued the Compaq brand name in the United States in 2013. In 2015, the Argentine company Grupo Newsan acquired the brand's license, alongside with a $3 million investment, and developed two new lines of Presario notebooks for the local market over the course of the year. By March 2019, Compaq's Argentine web site went offline, with the last archived copy dated October 2018, featuring the same models introduced in 2016. Compaq World Headquarters (now HP United States) campus consisted of of land which contained 15 office buildings, 7 manufacturing buildings, a product conference center, an employee cafeteria, mechanical laboratories, warehouses, and chemical handling facilities. Instead of headquartering the company in a downtown Houston skyscraper, then-CEO Rod Canion chose a West Coast-style campus surrounded by forests, where every employee had similar offices and no- one (not even the CEO) had a reserved parking spot. As it grew, Compaq became so important to Houston that it negotiated the expansion of Highway 249 in the late 1980s, and many other technology companies appeared in what became known as the "249 Corridor". After Canion's ouster, senior vice-president of human resources, Hans W. Gutsch, oversaw the company's facilities and security. Gutsch had an extensive security system and guard station installed on the eight floor of CCA-1, where the company's senior vice presidents had their offices. Eckhard Pfeiffer, president and CEO, introduced a whole series of executive perks to a company that had always had an egalitarian culture; for instance, he oversaw the construction of an executive parking garage, previously parking places had never been reserved. On August 31, 1998, the Compaq Commons was opened in the headquarters campus, which featured a conference center, an employee convenience store, a wellness center, and an employee cafeteria. In 2009, HP sold part of Compaq's former headquarters to the Lone Star College System. Hewlett Packard Buildings #7 & #8, two eight- story reinforced concrete buildings totaling 450,000 square feet, plus a 1,200-car parking garage and a central chiller plant, were all deemed by the college to be too robust and costly to maintain so they were demolished by implosion on September 18, 2011. Compaq originally competed directly against IBM, manufacturing computer systems equivalent with the IBM PC, as well as Apple Computer. In the 1990s, as IBM's own PC division declined, Compaq faced other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers like Dell Computer, Packard Bell, AST Research, and Gateway 2000. By the mid-1990s, Compaq's price war had enabled it to overtake IBM and Apple, while other IBM PC Compatible manufacturers such as Packard Bell and AST were driven from the market. Dell became the number-one supplier of PCs in 2001. At the time of their 2002 merger, Compaq and HP were the second and third largest PC manufacturers, so their combination made them number one. However, the combined HP-Compaq struggled and fell to second place behind Dell from 2003 to 2006. Due to Dell's struggles in late 2006, HP has led all PC vendors since 2007 onwards. During its existence as a division of HP, Compaq primarily competed against other budget-oriented personal computer series from manufacturers including Acer, Lenovo, and Toshiba. Most of Compaq's competitors except Dell were later acquired by bigger rivals like Acer (Gateway 2000 and Packard Bell) and Lenovo absorbing IBM's PC division. Before its merger with HP, Compaq sponsored the Williams Formula One team when it was still powered by BMW engines. HP inherited and continued the sponsorship deal for a few years. Compaq Portable series, List of computer system manufacturers, Market share of personal computer vendors HP-Compaq merger (washingtontechnology.com), Silicon Cowboys (2016) Documentary, web site of OPEN - How Compaq Ended IBM's PC Domination and Helped Invent Modern Computing book

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The Man. The Music. The Show. is a concert tour by Australian entertainer Hugh Jackman. It showcases material from the soundtrack album, and Broadway and Hollywood musical numbers backed by a live orchestra. Comprising 90 shows, the tour will visit North America, Europe, and Oceania. It began on 7 May 2019 in Glasgow and is scheduled to conclude on 20 October 2019 in Mexico City. The tour was officially announced on 30 November 2018, through the tour's website and is produced by AEG Presents, TEG-Dainty and helmed by Robert Fox. The show is inspired by Classical Hollywood as well as the 2017 film The Greatest Showman with Warren Carlyle as the creative director, and Ashley Wallen as the choreographer. The tour featured costumes from Tom Ford, and an elevated stage with a runway and a round-shaped front. The central theme of the show was Hollywood glamour and extravagant style, and consisted of different segments, with each inspired by different topics. Inspirations varied from Broadway and Hollywood classic numbers to circus. The setlist had more than 20 songs picked from Jackman's career. Jackman's previous one-man shows including were critically praised for his vocal performance and stage presence and the album received widespread commercial success and earned him a Grammy award; It all led to The Man. The Music. The Show. tour which was announced by Jackman on November 29, 2018, via Twitter. The tour is led by AEG Presents, helmed by Robert Fox and directed by Warren Carlyle. It is Jackman's fourth collaboration with Carlyle. In an interview about the tour, Jackman explained, "Doing an arena show, for me, is perhaps the ultimate because of the amount of energy and excitement that you can create. Surprisingly to me, [...] you can create a special kind of intimacy." He later clarified, "I want every night to feel like those people saw something that only happened that night [...] I've been on stage a lot over my life and I probably feel more at home there than anywhere." The tour has been described as an 'extravaganza and characteristically theatrical spectacle' included songs from his musical career. Rehearsals for the tour commenced on January 2019 with involvement from the team of creative directors, producers, designers and choreographers. and the rehearsals occurred for 8 hours per day. The title of the show was explained, "You know the man, you enjoyed the music and now you can see the show." Hollywood glamour and extravaganza were listed as the central themes of the show. Inspirations for The Man. The Music. The Show. tour came from the film, The Greatest Showman, Broadway and Hollywood classic numbers and circus. Jackman would 'get into different characters' — from Gaston and Jean Valjean to The Boy from Oz’s Peter Allen — when he performs their respective songs. "It’s a state of mind and a commitment and I think the audiences really enjoy the transformation." Jackman said. Speaking to Billboard Jackman stated, "I’m going to do an homage to some of the great musicals. I’m going to dance like I’ve never danced before." and about the setlist, he told, "If I hear the intro to a song and don’t get a tingle, then I take it out. For me, it has to feel like, “I can’t wait to sing this song.” Because if I don’t feel that, how can the audience feel excited about it?" Warren Carlyle was signed as the creative director for the show, while Ashley Wallen choreographed the dancers through intricate dance steps. The large main stage was elevated and set up at the end of the arenas, with a long runway extending from its middle, the pathway ended into a round-shaped front. The tour featured costumes from Tom Ford including, a black snake-print velvet jacket, a metallic silver jacket and an ensemble of white shirt with pleated bib, silk-satin cummerbund and black fedora. The show began with a video montage of Jackman's film characters, as Jackman ascended to the stage, clad in a silver tuxedo to sing "The Greatest Show" followed by a performance of "Come Alive". The show continued with "A Million Dreams", which included a sign language interpreter to translate the lyrics. General sales for the tour started from December 7, 2018. Prices ranged from $50 to $430. Tickets for the shows started selling out rapidly; due to the huge demand for tickets, extra dates were added for Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Dublin and London. Some of the UK cities sold out within minutes of being available, resulting in Aiken Promotions, warning buyers not to purchase tickets on the website Viagogo, a platform for third-party sellers, claiming, "There is no proof tickets appearing online actually exist." however Viagogo stated, "The tickets sold on our platform are genuine tickets that have been sold on by the original ticket purchaser in good faith." During the North American leg of the tour, Jackman urged his social media followers to stay vigilant, after an alleged scammer set up fake social media profiles and some became embroiled in a ticket scam. Taking to Twitter, he revealed that fake accounts in his name are targeting his followers, promising meet and greets, to take money from them. In June 2019, Billboard announced the first boxscores for the tour, reporting the first leg dates. Total gross was $23.4 million with 289,586 tickets sold from 26 shows in Europe. The tour launched May 7 at Glasgow’s SSE Hydro, where he earned $2.7 million across three shows. Jackman continued the trek through May and into June, where he posted sell-out finals at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome (May 17; $783,000; 10,825 tickets), Zurich’s Hallenstadion (May 19; $609,000; 6,313 tickets), and the AccorHotels Arena in Paris (May 22; $834,000; 10,566 tickets), among others. The leg finished on a high note with a six-show run at London’s O2 Arena from June 2–7. There, Jackman grossed $7.4 million from 93,566 tickets sold. Mark Fisher of The Guardian gave the concert a score of 5/5, and said, "The renaissance man’s song-and-dance spectacular skips merrily through Jackman's acting career with celebrity pizzazz and unashamed sentimentality." David Pollock of The Daily Telegraph gave it 4/5 stating, "The sense of natural showmanship that made him perfect for the role of PT Barnum was tangible, and – along with his raw, rustic baritone – it carried the evening." Paul Little of The Times reacted positively, saying: "[...]for Hugh Jackman, a combination of charm, being multi-talented and possessing leading man looks defines him." Natalie O'Donoghue of BroadwayWorld gave it 5/5, stating "Jackman is a born entertainer who had the 13,000 strong audience in the palm of his hand the entire evening." Steven MacKenzie of The Big Issue referred to the dramatic moments of the musicals saying, "Of all his formidable, envy-inducing skills, he is a truly great actor." Emily Heward of Manchester Evening News gave it 4/5, writing, "It’s hard to imagine any of Hollywood’s other leading men carrying off an all-singing, all-dancing revue with such charisma. Schmaltzy? Yes. Indulgent? Absolutely. But it’s also irresistibly good fun." Ciara O'Brien of The Irish Times simply wrote, "He came, he tap-danced to AC/DC, he conquered." Francesca Steele of The Times gave it 5/5 saying, "Jackman has oodles of pizzazz and his charm filled the arena." Andre Paine of Evening Standard wrote, "The greatest showman, or a self-indulgent superstar? A bit of both, perhaps. But Jackman’s energetic arena show is supremely entertaining." Sophia Dellapina of Manchester’s Finest branded the show, "A colourful, wild, energetic, stunning hybrid of cinema, theatre, and music." and said, "Although I was slightly distracted by how great his bum looked for the duration of the concert, his dancing was yet another highlight- especially the tap dancing sequence." The critic of EILE Magazine said, "It was slick but had a sense of spontaneity, It was polished but personal." Calling Jackman "An old-fashioned hoofer, crooner and matinee idol." Kate Goerner of TheatreReviewsNorth said, "Indeed you only have to look at the audience to see that here is a performer who appeals to all demographics. From girls' nights out to middle-aged couples to small children dressed up in ringmaster garb, it’s rare to see such a mixed bunch making up a 17,000 strong sell-out Manchester Arena audience." Writing for the Houston Chronicle, Joey Guerra noted that "Jackman can sing and dance marvelously, to be sure. But he's also gifted with the ability to fully inhabit a character. It turned every song into a real moment." Ross Raihala from St. Paul Pioneer Press dubbed the show "campy and engaging" saying, "Jackman delivered the sort of old-fashioned, high-glamour evening of Hollywood spectacle that was once common on stage and screen, but is rarely produced at this level today." Jon Bream of Star Tribune branded the concert, "uncompromisingly ambitious, flashily entertaining and consistently uplifting." Gary Graff from The Oakland Press described the show as, "an arena-sized song, dance and video spectacular, extravagantly staged and delivered with an engaging, sincere exuberance that transcends its script." Barbara Schuler from Newsday reviewed the show at Madison Square Garden, saying "Jackman was captivated the audience with song-and-dance numbers, along with some lovely, intimate moments." Melissa Ruggieri from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution labeled the show "Jackman’s own Broadway spectacle" whose talents can "ably command the arena." Sarah Harris of Daily Herald wrote, "Jackman put on a thrilling spectacle and dazzled the arena with showmanship." Gil Kaan of BroadwayWorld dubbed the show "sensational" and said, "Utilizing his spectacular combo of sturdy vocals, fancy footwork, and multi-watt charm, Jackman owned the Bowl stage. He certainly knows how to work his audience into a frenzy, hitting all emotions." Naming Jackman, "The last of a dying breed: the all-round entertainer." Charles McNulty from Los Angeles Times wrote, "The two sides of his performing identity — movie star and musical trouper — came together in a homage to movie musicals. He knows how to punctuate a big number with an arm hoisted like a victory flag." Angelique Jackson of Variety stated, "The show is a wide-ranging experience overall, but the setlist feels cohesive because it’s personal, navigating Jackman’s history as a performer and showing off his eclectic musical tastes." Setlist from the concert on 7 May 2019 in Glasgow, Scotland. It does not represent all shows throughout the tour. 1. "The Greatest Show" 2. "Come Alive" 3. "Gaston" 4. "The Way You Look Tonight" 5. "I've Been Everywhere" 6. "You Will Be Found" 7. "Someone to Love" 8. "Soliloquy" 9. "This Is Me" 10. "Valjean's Soliloquy/I Dreamed a Dream/One Day More" Intermission 1. "The Boy Next Door" 2. "Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)/Don't Cry Out Loud/I Honestly Love You/Quiet Please, There's a Lady on Stage/I Go to Rio" 3. "Tenterfield Saddler" 4. "A Million Dreams" 5. "Luck Be a Lady / Singin' in the Rain / I Got Rhythm / Steppin' Out With My Baby / Sing Sing Sing" 6. "Nomad Two Worlds - Art Song" 7. "Nomad Two Worlds - Inhibition" 8. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" 9. "Mack the Knife" 10. "From Now On" 11. "Once Before I Go" "The Greatest Show" is a song by performed by Hugh Jackman, Keala Settle, Zac Efron and Zendaya for the film The Greatest Showman (2017). It is the opening track from (2017). Despite not being released as an official single, "The Greatest Show" was the 18th biggest song of 2018 in the United Kingdom. For (2018), the song was covered by American rock band Panic! at the Disco. Rolling Stones Ryan Reed wrote that the Panic! at the Disco's version "[...] stays faithful to the original's theatrical arrangement of brass fanfare and densely layered harmony vocals", and "beefs up the rhythm section with a booming drum sound and ends the track with a Queen-styled guitar solo. The Greatest Showman is a 2017 American musical biographical drama film directed by Michael Gracey in his directorial debut, written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon and starring Hugh Jackman, Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson, and Zendaya. Featuring nine original songs from Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the film is inspired by the story of P. T. Barnum's creation of Barnum's American Museum and the lives of its star attractions. Principal photography began in New York City in November 2016. The film premiered on December 8, 2017, aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2. It was released in the United States on December 20, 2017, by 20th Century Fox, seven months after Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ceased operations, and grossed over $434million worldwide, making it the fifth-highest grossing live-action musical of all time. The Greatest Showman received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the performances, music, and production values, but criticism for its artistic license, with some reviewers calling it "faux-inspiring and shallow". At the 75th Golden Globe Awards, the film received nominations for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for Jackman. For the song "This Is Me", the film won the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 90th Academy Awards and won the Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. In the mid-19th century, P. T. Barnum and his troupe perform a show at the circus ("The Greatest Show (Part 1)"). As a child, Barnum and his tailor father Philo work for the Hallett family. He loves their daughter Charity who is being sent to finishing school. The two keep in touch through letters ("A Million Dreams"), eventually marrying and raising two daughters, Caroline and Helen, in New York City. They live a humble life; though Charity is happy, Barnum craves more. Barnum loses his job as a clerk at a shipping company after the company goes bankrupt, and returns home for Caroline's birthday ("A Million Dreams (Reprise)"). He takes out a loan from a bank, deceiving them into accepting his former employer's lost ships as collateral. He uses this loan to set up Barnum's American Museum in downtown Manhattan, an attraction showcasing various wax models. Initially, sales are slow. On the suggestion of his children to showcase something "alive", Barnum searches for "freaks" to serve as performers for his museum ("Come Alive"). He gathers a large group of them including Lettie Lutz. This attracts a large audience despite protests and poor reviews from James Gordon Bennett, prompting Barnum to rename his venture "Barnum's Circus". Searching for ways to further his reputation, Barnum meets playwright Phillip Carlyle and convinces him to join his venture ("The Other Side"). Phillip is mesmerized by the African American trapeze artist Anne Wheeler, but he hides his feelings. During a trip, Phillip arranges for Barnum and his troupe to meet Queen Victoria. Afterwards, Barnum convinces famed Swedish singer Jenny Lind to perform in America with him as her manager. Lind's first American performance is a rousing success ("Never Enough"); during the song, Phillip and Anne are spotted by Phillip's parents as they are holding hands. As Barnum gains favor with the aristocratic patrons, he begins to distance himself from his troupe as he advises them to work on that night's show. Dejected, they decide to stand against their local harassers ("This Is Me"). Phillip and Anne attend the theatre but they run into Phillip's parents, who chastise Phillip for "parading around with the help". Anne runs off, and Phillip angrily berates them, then chases Anne and tries to convince her that they can be together, but she rejects him ("Rewrite the Stars"). As Barnum takes Lind on a US tour, Charity feels isolated from her husband as she stays home with their daughters ("Tightrope"). While on tour, Lind begins falling in love with Barnum. When he refuses her advances, she threatens to quit later the day she tries to kiss him which is photographed by the press ("Never Enough (Reprise)"). Barnum returns home to find his circus on fire, caused by a fight between the protesters and the troupe. Phillip runs into the burning building, believing that Anne is still inside, and suffers serious injuries before being rescued by Barnum. Barnum gets word from a sympathetic Bennett that the culprits have been caught and that Lind has canceled her tour after her and Barnum's "scandal". Barnum's mansion is foreclosed upon and Charity takes their daughters to her parents' home. Devastated by his selfishness, Barnum retreats to a local bar where his troupe find him and explain that despite their disappointments, they still consider themselves a family that needs him. Inspired, he resolves to start a new show and not let ambition overtake his love ("From Now On"). Phillip wakes in a hospital with Anne by his side. Barnum finds Charity and they mend their relationship. Barnum is faced with the financial difficulty of rebuilding the circus, but the recovering Phillip steps in, offering to use his share of the circus's profits to rebuild it under condition of becoming a full partner, which Barnum happily accepts. To save money, Barnum transforms the enterprise into an open-air tent circus by the docks. The revamped circus is a huge success ("The Greatest Show (Part 2)"). Barnum gives full control of the show to Phillip to spend more time with his family. Pointe Ballerinas portrayed by Emerson Tate Alexander, Victoria Llodra, Louise Hindsbo, Laci Justice, GiaNina Paolantonio, Rachel Quiner, Madison Smith, and Brando Speach During rehearsals for the 81st Academy Awards in 2009, producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon compared host Jackman to Barnum. After Jackman expressed interest in a Barnum project, Mark and Condon approached Jenny Bicks, a writer for the ceremony. She and Condon wrote The Greatest Showman. The project was first announced in 2009, with Jackman already set for the title role. In August 2011, Michael Gracey was chosen to direct. In 2013, Fox hired lyricists Pasek and Paul to write the songs. On June 15, 2016, Zac Efron began negotiations to star in the film, and in July 2016, Michelle Williams was cast. The film was choreographed by Ashley Wallen. Rehearsals on the film began in October 2016 in New York City, and principal photography began on November 22, 2016. In December 2017, it was reported that James Mangold, who had worked with Jackman on several projects (including 2017's Logan), had been brought in to serve as an executive producer during the film's post-production. In an interview, director Michael Gracey noted, "There were eight producers on this film, and it was amazing having one of them be a filmmaker." Benj Pasek and Justin Paul wrote all the songs appearing in the film. 1. "The Greatest Show" – Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman Ensemble 2. "A Million Dreams" – Ziv Zaifman, Jackman, Michelle Williams 3. "A Million Dreams (Reprise)" – Austyn Johnson, Cameron Seely, Jackman 4. "Come Alive" – Jackman, Keala Settle, Daniel Everidge, Zendaya 5. "The Other Side" – Jackman & Zac Efron 6. "Never Enough" – Loren Allred 7. "This Is Me" – Settle & Ensemble 8. "Rewrite the Stars" – Efron, Zendaya 9. "Tightrope" – Williams 10. "Never Enough (Reprise)" – Allred 11. "From Now On" – Jackman, Ensemble 12. "The Greatest Show" – Jackman, Efron, Settle, Zendaya, Ensemble The soundtrack album is produced by Justin Paul, Benj Pasek, Greg Wells, Kevin Weaver and Pete Ganbarg, featuring the eleven tracks performed by the cast. In the United Kingdom, on March 23, 2018, it became only the second album in 30 years to achieve 11 consecutive weeks at number 1, equalling the record set by Adele's 21. , the album has spent the sixth most time at number one at 28 non- consecutive weeks, matching the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On November 16, 2018, a remix album was also released, The Greatest Showman: Reimagined, which features covers of songs from the soundtrack by musicians including James Arthur and Anne-Marie, Sara Bareilles, Kelly Clarkson, Kesha, Pink, Panic! At the Disco, Years & Years and Jess Glynne, and Zac Brown Band among others. The Greatest Showman held its premiere on December 8, 2017, aboard the RMS Queen Mary 2, while it was docked in New York City. The film was then released in the United States on December 20, 2017. As with Disney's live-action Beauty and the Beast, a sing-along version of the film was released in the United Kingdom on 23 February 2018. The film had a limited IMAX release on 2 February 2018. On June 28, 2017, 20th Century Fox released the first international trailer to promote the film. On November 13, 2017, the second trailer was released. On December 17, 2017, Fox televised a live performance of "Come Alive" from Warner Bros. Studios during its live musical special A Christmas Story Live! (which was based on fellow Pasek and Paul work ). The number featured the film's stars and a cast of 150 dancers. In the United States, the film was released via digital download on March 20, 2018, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on April 10, 2018. In the United Kingdom, the film was released first on digital download on April 27, 2018, while DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD copies went on sale on May 14, 2018. These versions included the sing-along version, two hours of behind-the- scenes footage, and music machine jukebox features. The Greatest Showman spent 219 days in release, closing on July 26, 2018, having grossed $174.3million in the United States and Canada, and $260.7million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $435million, against a production budget of $84million. It is the third-highest grossing musical ever in North America and also the third-highest globally, and Deadline Hollywood estimated the film would turn a profit of $50–100 million. In the United States and Canada, The Greatest Showman was released alongside , and was projected to gross around $21million from 3,006 theaters over its first six days. It took in $2.5million on its first day and $2.1million on its second. Over the three day weekend, it grossed $9million (for a six-day total of $19million), finishing fourth at the box office, behind , Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Pitch Perfect 3. In its second weekend, the film grossed $15.5million, again finishing 4th at the box office. The weekend-to-weekend increase of 76.3% marked the largest ever for a film playing in over 3,000 theaters, and the fourth biggest ever. In its third week, the film dropped 11% to $14million. The film made $13million in its fourth weekend and $11million in its fifth, finishing 4th and 5th at the box office, respectively. The film continued to hold well in its sixth week of release, grossing $9.5million and returning to 4th place, and again finished fourth in its seventh week, this time grossing $7.8million (a drop of just 18%). It is the 14th highest- grossing film that never reached first place at the American box office. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 56% based on 243 reviews, and an average rating of 5.93/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Greatest Showman tries hard to dazzle the audience with a Barnum-style sense of wonder – but at the expense of its complex subject's far more intriguing real-life story." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars and a 70% "definite recommend". Owen Gleiberman of Variety gave the film a positive review, writing, "The Greatest Showman is a concoction, the kind of film where all the pieces click into place, yet at an hour and 45 minutes it flies by, and the link it draws between P. T. Barnum and the spirit of today is more than hype." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film 3/4 stars, saying, "With all that corn and cheese and old-timey sentiment, The Greatest Showman ends up scoring some very timely social arguments. P. T. Barnum himself would have approved the dramatic sleight of hand." Steve Persall of Tampa Bay Times gave the film an 'A', and said, "The Greatest Showman is the feel-good movie the holiday season needs," while William Bibbiani of IGN gave The Greatest Showman a score of 7.9/10, and called the film, "wildly entertaining". Britton Peele of The Dallas Morning News said, "The story is interesting and the beats are well-acted, but it's the musical numbers that make The Greatest Showman." Jackie K Cooper of HuffPost gave the film a score of 10/10 and wrote, "You will be overwhelmed by the music and magic that explode on the screen. The film has a message that should resonate with today's world concerning acceptance and courage." Hugh Armitage of Digital Spy said, "The Greatest Showman is a broad and solid crowd-pleaser. An undemanding spectacle for all the family." Alan Jones of Radio Times called it "A joyously uplifting potpourri of visual resplendence, stylish choreography and solid gold magic, one engineered to approximate the lavish spectacle the movie musical once offered." Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com gave it 3.5/4, stating "The Greatest Showman is an unabashed piece of pure entertainment punctuated by memorable songs." Douglas Davidson of CLTure called the film, "An undeniable spectacle with a infectious soundtrack, a movie that dazzles and delights." James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film a 3/4 score, and said, "The film has show-stopping well-choreographed numbers with catchy tunes," and Calvin Wilson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch called the film "highly enjoyable." Carl Kozlowski of Pasadena Weekly gave the film an 'A', calling it "Groundbreaking & grandly innovative." Sean P. Means of The Salt Lake Tribune gave The Greatest Showman 3.5/4 stars, stating, "A strong cast give emotional power to this romanticized, tune-filled biography." Manuela Lazic of Little White Lies gave it 4/5, saying, "The Greatest Showman deserves to become a Christmas classic. The film's severe romanticism and ridiculous but affecting enthusiasm make it irresistibly life-affirming." Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and called it, "A fantasia of song and dance, a joyous exercise in pure entertainment that is made for the holiday crowd." Conversely, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gave the film a negative review, criticizing the songs and characters and saying "There's idiotic, and there's magnificent, but The Greatest Showman is that special thing that happens sometimes. It's magnificently idiotic. It's an awful mess, but it's flashy. The temptation is to cover your face and watch it through your fingers, because it's so earnest and embarrassing and misguided – and yet it's well-made." In a negative review for The Hollywood Reporter, David Rooney wrote "This ersatz portrait of American big-top tent impresario P. T. Barnum is all smoke and mirrors, no substance. It hammers pedestrian themes of family, friendship and inclusivity while neglecting the fundaments of character and story." Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "How do you cast a virtuoso Hugh Jackman as P. T. Barnum, spare no expense in production values, add a score by Oscar and Tony winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and still end up with the shrill blast of nothing that is The Greatest Showman? Ask first-time director Michael Gracey, who cut his teeth on commercials and music videos without ever mastering the crucial knack of building snippets of musical comedy and drama into a satisfying whole." Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times wrote that the film's failures "are rooted in something deeper: a dispiriting lack of faith in the audience's intelligence, and a dawning awareness of its own aesthetic hypocrisy. You've rarely seen a more straight-laced musical about the joys of letting your freak flag fly." The film has been criticized for whitewashing Barnum's life and his perpetuation of human zoos as a form of entertainment. Barnum, 1980 Broadway show with music by Cy Coleman, The Greatest Show on Earth, 1952 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus The Greatest Showman at History vs. Hollywood

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Hell's Kitchen is an American reality competition television series based on the British series of the same name, and also hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. It has been broadcast on Fox since 2005. Each season, two teams of chefs compete for a job as head chef at a restaurant, while working in the kitchen of a restaurant set up in the television studio. A progressive elimination format reduces a field of 12 to 20 to a single winner over the course of each season. In a typical episode a single contestant is selected for elimination. The first 18 seasons were produced at a modified warehouse in Los Angeles that included the restaurant, dual kitchen facilities and a dormitory where the contestants resided while on the show. In February 2019 Fox renewed the series for a nineteenth and twentieth season, this time to be filmed at the Hell's Kitchen restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hell's Kitchen has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. Hell's Kitchen is a reality television show that uses a progressive elimination format to narrow down a field of 12 to 20 aspiring chefs to a single winner over the course of one season. The U.S. version of Hell's Kitchen follows the format of the UK version though the show is recorded and not performed live, nor is there audience participation in the elimination of chefs. The show is produced at Hell's Kitchen, a modified warehouse in Los Angeles that includes the restaurant, dual kitchen facilities and a dormitory where the chefs reside while on the show. They are also given knife sets that they get to keep, regardless of their progress. At the start of each season, Gordon Ramsay breaks the chefs into two teams. With the exception of the first and 18th seasons, this puts women on the red team and men on the blue team; each is given a chef's jacket with panels of that color on the shoulders. The chefs remain on these teams throughout most of the competition, but Ramsay may reassign a chef to the other team if the team numbers are uneven or if he feels the chef will perform better on the other team. Each episode typically includes a challenge and a dinner service, followed by the elimination of a chef. When only five or six chefs remain, they are brought into a single common team wearing black-paneled jackets. From this point onward, they compete individually to be one of the final two. In challenges, the teams or individual is tasked with a cooking challenge by Ramsay. The type of challenges are varied, including ingredient preparation, meal preparation and taste tests. The first challenge of each season is a signature dish cook-off, giving the chefs an opportunity to show Ramsay their cooking. Each season typically includes one or more challenges that allows teams to construct several dishes either for a banquet to be held the next dinner service or as part of designing their own menus. Other challenges typically include a "taste it, now make it" task, where chefs must attempt to recreate a dish Ramsay has prepared after tasting it only, and a "blind taste- test" where chefs identify ingredients while blindfolded and wearing sound- blocking headphones. Some challenges have been full breakfast or lunch services, where the team completing the service first is declared the winner. The winner of the challenge is determined by either a scoring system set for that challenge or by Ramsay's and/or guest judges' opinions. The winning team or chef receives a reward (a recreational activity away from Hell's Kitchen and other potential prizes), while the losing team or chefs are forced to do a mundane task, such as cleaning the kitchens, preparing a specific ingredient for the following dinner, having to prepare the food for both kitchens, and sometimes eating something unsavory (such as food waste blended into a smoothie) for lunch. For dinner services, the chefs are expected to work their station (such as appetizers, meat, fish, or garnish) on the kitchen line to prepare food in coordination with their teammates and to Ramsay's high standards for quality and presentation. Dinner service is for about 100 guests (volunteers for the show), with each diner expecting to receive an appetizer, an entree, and a dessert. The chefs are given menus and recipe books by Ramsay to study and memorize, which include some of Ramsay's more difficult dishes including risotto and Beef Wellington. The chefs spend several hours before each service preparing their ingredients. Menus may be customized for a specific dinner service, such as ethnic-themed dishes or plates that resulted from the earlier challenge. Some seasons feature a service allowing for the teams to develop their own menus, which are reviewed by Ramsay for quality and presentation beforehand. Later seasons may feature a private dinner service, where each team must serve a five course meal to 12 guests, with each member leading their teammates to prepare one course. Dinner services may include additional challenges. A chef from each team may be asked to serve a table-side meal for their team, serve celebrities sitting at the kitchen's chef's table, or act as a server for the evening taking and fulfilling orders. After the chefs are on a single black team, the last dinner service before the finale usually has each chef run the pass as a test of their quality control, including deliberate mistakes made by the sous chefs or Ramsay himself. During a service, Ramsay demands that all orders for each course for a table go out together, and will send back entire orders if one item is improperly prepared, such as being over- or undercooked or not seasoned correctly. While the chefs are in two teams, Ramsay is assisted by two trusted sous-chefs, each monitoring one of the kitchens, demanding the same standards and alerting Ramsay to any issues. Ramsay's goal is to complete every dinner service, but exceptionally poor kitchen performance by one or both teams will cause him to close their respective halves of the kitchen early and send them back to the dorms. Ramsay may also evict individual chefs from the kitchen based on repeated poor performances during a service, and on rare occasions (once every two seasons on average), may eliminate a chef on the spot. Chefs may also walk out when under pressure from Ramsay. Once the dinner service is complete, Ramsay gathers everyone in the kitchen, announces which team is the losing team, and directs them to select two members of their team as nominees for elimination. It is possible that both teams are declared losers, or a different number of chefs may be requested for nomination. In some cases, Ramsay has named both teams winners, but still requires them to each nominate someone for elimination. This is a group consensus, but Ramsay may occasionally name a chef "best of the worst" on their team and instruct them to choose the nominees. This concept, however, has faded away over time due to the "best of the worst" sometimes making nominations based on personal bias rather than kitchen performance. Ramsay has also on some occasions declared that nobody would be sent home, but those cases are generally accompanied by a double elimination, a team reassignment, or occur after someone has been sent home on the spot for insubordination or exceptionally poor performance. Ramsay reassembles the teams in the dining hall and hears out the nominations from the losing team(s). Ramsay may also nominate other chefs for elimination if he sees fit. After giving these nominees the chance to defend themselves, Ramsay selects one to hand over their jacket and "leave Hell's Kitchen." On rarer occasions, Ramsay can overrule nominations or even eliminate a chef who has not been nominated, even a chef on a winning team. The eliminated chef is shown leaving the restaurant, providing some last thoughts on the experience. After dismissing the chefs, Ramsay goes back upstairs to his office. He symbolically hangs the chef's jacket on a sharp hook below their picture in a row with the others, igniting the chef's picture and signaling their departure. During this scene, there is a voiceover of Ramsay explaining his reasons for eliminating the chef. If an eliminated chef has performed exceptionally well, Ramsay may allow them to keep their jacket as a token of their success up to that point, if he sees fit. Chefs may be eliminated from the competition due to medical reasons, both voluntarily and involuntarily. Chefs that violate the competition's rules may be immediately eliminated. Chefs may also exit the competition voluntarily for any other reason; though this is not encouraged, their wishes are ultimately granted (with reasons by Ramsay explained, if applicable). Once the number of chefs drops below a certain level (usually once 5 or 6 are left) they are awarded black jackets and assembled into a single team. In the most recent seasons, black jackets are awarded by a series of rigorous individual challenges rather than dinner service. Eliminations continue until two are left. In the finale, the final two chefs are each given the opportunity to develop their own menus and lead a brigade of former competitors through a full dinner service on their own. In the first five seasons, this included the opportunity to decorate half of the Hell's Kitchen restaurant to their liking. Prior to the dinner service, the two chefs compete in a challenge to prepare their menus, and the winner will earn the advantage of picking their brigade of chefs first. Ramsay will ensure that all menu items meet his standards for high cuisine prior to service, and he and his sous chefs will oversee the service to make sure that his high quality standards are retained, but does not otherwise get involved, allowing the two remaining chefs to demonstrate their ability to run the line. The finalists are allowed to reassign stations, or even kick their teammates out of the kitchen should they see fit; the latter has happened four times in the show's history. Ramsay uses his own observations and those from the diners and other sources to decide who is the winning chef. He has two doors in his office leading out to the balcony above the Hell's Kitchen seating area. Each chef stands at a door and Ramsay tells them to both turn their handles at the same time. After a commercial break, only the door of the winning chef is unlocked allowing the winner to walk through and be greeted by the crowd below. The winning chef receives two prizes including the opportunity to work as the head chef or executive chef at a restaurant of Ramsay's choosing, as well as a cash prize of $250,000. In a similar manner to the voiceover at each elimination, Ramsay has a voiceover to explain his reasons for choosing that chef as the winner. In addition, the winner hangs a picture of themselves alongside the previous winners that is seen at the restaurant's front entrance. Gordon Ramsay is the head chef. Jason Thompson is the narrator. Jean-Philippe Susilovic, a Belgian maître d'hôtel, comes from Petrus, one of Ramsay's London restaurants and appeared in the first seven seasons and later returned for Season 11. He left after Season 12 and was replaced by Marino Monferrato for Season 13. Susilovic was also the maître d'hôtel for the first series of the original British version. James Lukanik replaced Susilovic for Seasons 8–10. Each team also has the services of one of two sous-chefs. Season 10 winner Christina Wilson is the current sous chef for the Red Team with Season 7 runner-up Jason "Jay" Santos set to takeover for Jocky as the Blue Team's sous chef in the upcoming nineteenth and twentieth seasons. Previous sous-chefs were Mary Ann Salcedo, Gloria Felix, Season 2 winner Heather West, Scott Leibfried, James Avery, Aaron Mitrano, Andi Van Willigan, and James "Jocky" Petrie. In Season 15, Wilson filled in for Van Willigan-Cutspec who was getting married at the time of filming but returned for one episode when her reception was one of the themed dinner services for that season. Van-Willigan returned in season 16 but was replaced by Wilson again for Seasons 17 onwards due to personal reasons. The theme song is Fire by the Ohio Players. When the U.S. version is broadcast in the U.K., Italy, Portugal and some countries (shown on the table below), it features only the instrumental version. The instrumental version also appeared in the uncensored DVD release for the U.S. version. For the show's first two seasons, the Hell's Kitchen restaurant set itself was housed in the former studios of Los Angeles television station KCOP at 915 North La Brea Avenue, in Hollywood, which at one time hosted production of game shows Tic Tac Dough and The Joker's Wild. KCOP was acquired by News Corporation in 2001 and its studios were integrated with those of Fox affiliate KTTV in 2003, leaving the La Brea facility vacant. Originally the studio was put up for sale, but in the end they were retooled for the production of Hell's Kitchen. The dining room area was the location of the former KCOP news studios, and living quarters for the contestants were built behind the restaurant. Before season three, the Hell's Kitchen facility was moved to Century Studios at 3322 La Cienega Place in Los Angeles. Since the fourth season, Hell's Kitchen's venue has been located at 8660 Hayden Place in Culver City. According to Arthur Perkins, the soundstage is only open for audience members when taping is taking place. The studio sits on the former location of the famous RKO Forty Acres backlot, which was used in movies such as Gone With The Wind and television series such as The Andy Griffith Show and Adventures of Superman. The studio building sits on the location of the military camp seen in the television series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. The series has drawn numerous online and editorial accusations of staging and dramatic license, mostly due to editing techniques of the producers, who splice together several hours of footage from a dinner service, in order to make certain contestants appear as poor performers, later justifying their elimination. This was most obvious when one episode featured clips showing an already eliminated contestant in the background, still cooking. One of the most controversial accusations of staging on Hell's Kitchen relates to an incident with contestant Joseph Tinnelly from Season 6, who, during one elimination round, angrily confronted Ramsay, challenging him to fight, and was then escorted off the set. The incident drew immediate fire from critics as an overplayed and possibly faked scene, conducted to cause action and tension on the show in order to spark viewer interest. In a 2013 interview, Ramsay admitted that the vast majority of his anger towards contestants was acting, his on-camera rage being done to force contestants to give their all and that when off-camera he treated all contestants with friendliness and respect. Ramsay further stated he would often meet with eliminated contestants after their departure from the show, offering positive criticism and advice. Staff and production members further affirmed that in real life, Ramsay was a sociable and friendly person and most of the on-camera drama is played out for the benefit of the audience. Notes Hell's Kitchen has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards in the Outstanding Art Direction for Variety, Music or Nonfiction Programming category in 2007, 2008, and 2009. It has also been nominated for two Art Directors Guild Awards in the Television — Awards Show, Variety, Music or Non- Fiction Program category in 2007 and 2008, winning one in 2008. It has also been nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Summer Series. In 2009, Gordon Ramsay won an Astra Award for Favourite International Personality or Actor. At the 2011 People's Choice Awards, Hell's Kitchen was nominated for Favorite Reality Show and Gordon Ramsay was nominated for Favorite TV Chef. At the 2014 Reality TV Awards ceremony, Hell's Kitchen won an award for best new cast. In 2015, Hell's Kitchen won awards for best overall show and guilty pleasure at the 2015 Reality TV Awards. Visual Entertainment has released the first fourteen seasons of Hell's Kitchen on DVD in Region 1. Season 14 was released on March 15, 2016, and to the Blu- ray format for the first time. In Region 4, Shock Entertainment has released seasons 1–8 on DVD in Australia. On September 11, 2008, Ubisoft released for the Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, and iOS, which features the likeness of Ramsay, and the many important tasks shown in the U.S. version of the show. On April 2, 2009, Ludia and Social2u released the official Facebook version of the Hell's Kitchen video game. Season 7 of the American competitive reality television series Hell's Kitchen aired on the Fox Network from June 1, 2010 to August 10, 2010. Gordon Ramsay returned as host, as well as Maître d' Jean-Philippe Susilovic and Blue Team Sous chef Scott Leibfried. Andi Van Willigan, a chef from Santa Monica, California became the sous chef for the Red Team. Banquet chef Holli Ugalde won the season, she was promised to be the position at Chef Ramsay's newly renovated restaurant at the Savoy Hotel in London. Filming had concluded on February 2009, 16 months prior to seventh season premiere, when the hotel reopened in 2010; however, Ugalde was not given the job. Ramsay stated that the American Ugalde could not work in London due to visa problems, but Ugalde called that explanation an excuse, saying, "I don't know if they even applied for my visa." Ugalde was later awarded an undisclosed amount of money in compensation and retained her title as the winner of season 7. The intro depicts the chefs in a literal hell's kitchen with Ramsay as the devil. 16 chefs competed in season 7. Notes Each episode consists of a challenge with a reward, a service and an elimination. Hell's Kitchen is an American reality television cooking competition (based on the British series of the same name) broadcast on Fox and premiered on May 30, 2005. It is hosted by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. , 282 episodes of Hell's Kitchen have aired, concluding the eighteenth season.

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The Lion King II: Simba's Pride (later retitled The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride) is a 1998 American animated direct-to-video romantic musical film and a sequel to Disney's 1994 animated feature film, The Lion King. The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa and was influenced by William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. According to co-director Darrell Rooney, the final draft gradually became a variation of Romeo and Juliet. Produced by Walt Disney Video Premiere and Walt Disney Animation Australia and released on October 27, 1998, the film centers on Simba and Nala's daughter Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male rogue lion from a banished pride that was once loyal to Simba's evil uncle, Scar. Separated by Simba's prejudice against the banished pride and a vindictive plot planned by Kovu's mother Zira, Kiara and Kovu struggle to unite their estranged prides and be together. Most of the original cast returned to their roles from the first film with a few exceptions. Rowan Atkinson, who voiced Zazu in the first film, was replaced by Edward Hibbert for both this film and The Lion King 1½. Jeremy Irons, who voiced Scar in the first film, was replaced by Jim Cummings. In the Pride Lands of Africa, King Simba and Queen Nala's newborn daughter, Kiara, is presented to the assembled animals by Rafiki, a mandrill who serves as shaman and advisor. Simba's father Mufasa proudly watches over the ceremony from the Heavens above. Kiara becomes annoyed with her father's overprotective parenting. Simba assigns Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, to follow her. After entering the forbidden "Outlands", Kiara meets a young cub, Kovu, and they escape from crocodiles while befriending each other. When Kovu retaliates to Kiara's playing, Simba confronts the young cub just as he is confronted by Zira, Kovu's mother and the Outsiders' leader. Zira reminds Simba of how he exiled her and the other Outsiders, and she reveals that Kovu was to be the successor of Simba's uncle, Scar. After returning to the Pride Lands, Nala and the rest of the pride head back to Pride Rock while Simba lectures Kiara about the danger posed by the Outsiders. He then tells her that they are a part of each other. In the Outlands, Zira reminds Kovu that Simba killed Scar and exiled the lions who respect him. Kovu explains that he does not think it is so bad to have Kiara as a friend, but Zira realizes that she can use Kovu's friendship with Kiara to seek revenge on Simba. Several years later, Kiara, now a young adult, begins her first solo hunt. Simba has Timon and Pumbaa follow her in secret, causing her to hunt away from the Pride Lands. As part of Zira's plan, Kovu's siblings Nuka and Vitani trap Kiara in a fire, allowing Kovu to rescue her. Simba is forced to accept Kovu's place since he rescued Kiara. Later that night, Simba has a nightmare about attempting to save Mufasa from falling into the wildebeest stampede but is stopped by Scar who then morphs into Kovu and sends Simba to his death. Kovu contemplates attacking Simba, but he is interrupted by Kiara and starts spending more time with her. Kovu becomes conflicted between his mission and his feelings for Kiara until Rafiki leads them to the jungle, where he introduces them to "upendi" (an erroneous form of upendo, which means "love" in Swahili), helping the two lions fall in love. That night, Simba allows Kovu to sleep inside Pride Rock with the rest of the pride after being encouraged by Nala to give Kovu a chance. Upon learning of Kovu's failure to kill Simba, Zira sets a trap for them. The next day, Kovu once again attempts to explain his mission to Kiara, but Simba takes him around the Pride Lands and tells him Scar's story. The Outsiders then attack Simba, resulting in Nuka's death and Simba's escape. In the aftermath, Zira scratches Kovu for his brother's death, causing him to turn on her. Kovu returns to Pride Rock to plead Simba for forgiveness but is exiled. Kiara makes Simba realize he is acting irrationally, and flees to find Kovu. The two lions later find each other and profess their love. Realizing that they must reunite the two prides, Kiara and Kovu return to the Pride Lands and convince them to stop fighting. Zira, however, attempts to kill Simba, but Kiara intervenes and Zira dies falling into the flooding river. With his enemy gone, Simba accepts the Outsiders back into the Pride Lands, and appoints Kovu and Kiara as his successors. Matthew Broderick as Simba, son of Mufasa and Sarabi, King of the Pride Lands, Nala's mate and Kiara's overprotective father. Cam Clarke provided his singing voice after previously voicing the character in the Timon & Pumbaa television series. Ian Harrowell served as the supervising animator for Simba., Neve Campbell as Kiara, daughter of Simba and Nala and Kovu's love interest and later wife. Liz Callaway provided adult Kiara's singing voice. Lianne Hughes served as the supervising animator for Kiara., Michelle Horn voiced young Kiara, while Charity Sanoy provided her singing voice and Ashley Edner provided her lion growls., Jason Marsden as Kovu, Zira's son, Nuka and Vitani's younger brother, and Kiara's love interest and later husband. Gene Miller provided Kovu's singing voice. Andrew Collins served as the supervising animator for Kovu., Ryan O'Donohue provided the voice of young Kovu., Suzanne Pleshette as Zira, the leader of the Outsiders, Scar's most loyal follower, and the mother of Nuka, Vitani, and Kovu. Kevin Peaty served as the supervising animator for Zira., Moira Kelly as Nala, Queen of the Pride Lands, Simba's mate, daughter-in-law of Mufasa and Sarabi, and Kiara's mother. Ian Harrowell served as the supervising animator for Nala., Nathan Lane as Timon, a wise-cracking and self-absorbed yet somewhat loyal meerkat who is Pumbaa and Simba's best friend. Bob Baxter served as the supervising animator for Timon., Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, a naïve warthog who is Timon's and Simba's best friend. Bob Baxter served as the supervising animator for Pumbaa., Robert Guillaume as Rafiki, an old mandrill who serves as the shaman of The Pride Lands. Bob Baxter served as the supervising animator for Rafiki., Edward Hibbert as Zazu, a red-billed hornbill who serves as the king's majordomo. Bob Baxter served as the supervising animator for Zazu. He was voiced by Rowan Atkinson in the original film., Andy Dick as Nuka, Zira's son, Vitani and Kovu's older brother and the oldest male of Zira's family. Ian Harrowell served as the supervising animator for Nuka., Jennifer Lien as Vitani, Zira's daughter and Nuka and Kovu's sister. Kevin Peaty served as the supervising animator for Vitani., Lacey Chabert voiced young Vitani while Crysta Macalush provided her singing voice., James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Simba's father, Kiara's grandfather, Nala's father-in-law and the previous King of the Pride Lands., Jim Cummings as Scar, Mufasa's younger brother, Simba's uncle, Kiara's great-uncle, and Kovu's mentor who appears in a brief cameo. He was voiced by Jeremy Irons in the original film, but Cummings briefly provided the voice during a section of the song "Be Prepared." Discussion began about the possibility of a sequel to The Lion King before the first film even hit theaters. In January 1995, it was reported that a Lion King sequel was to be released "in the next twelve months". However, it was delayed, and then it was reported in May 1996 that it would be released in early 1997. By 1996, producer Jeannine Roussel and director Darrell Rooney signed on board to produce and direct the sequel. In August 1996, Cheech Marin reported that he would reprise his role as Banzai the hyena from the first film, but the character was ultimately cut from the sequel. In December 1996, Matthew Broderick was confirmed to be returning as Simba while his wife, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Jennifer Aniston were in talks to voice Aisha, Simba's daughter. Andy Dick was also confirmed to have signed on to voice Nunka, the young villain-in-training-turned hero, who attempts to romance Aisha. Ultimately, the character was renamed Kiara (after it was discovered that Aisha was the name of a female Power Ranger), and voiced by Neve Campbell, from the Scream trilogy. Nunka was renamed Kovu, and voiced by Jason Marsden. Then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner urged for Kovu's relationship to Scar to be changed during production as being Scar's son would make him Kiara's first cousin once-removed. According to Rooney, the final draft gradually became a variation of Romeo and Juliet. "It's the biggest love story we have," he explained. "The difference is that you understand the position of the parents in this film in a way you never did in the Shakespeare play." Because none of the original animators were involved in the production, the majority of the animation was done by Walt Disney Television Animation's studio in Sydney, Australia. However, all storyboarding and pre-production work was done at the Feature Animation studio in Burbank, California. The additional animation was by Disney's Canadian animation studio and Toon City in Manila, Philippines. By March 1998, Disney confirmed the sequel would be released on October 27, 1998. Coincided with its direct-to-video release, Simba's Pride was accompanied with a promotional campaign which included tie-ins with McDonald's, Mattel, and Lever 2000. Unlike the North American release, Simba's Pride was theatrically released in European and Latin American countries in spring 1999. The film was first released on VHS in the United States on October 27, 1998 and on DVD as a limited issue on November 23, 1999. The DVD release featured the film in a letterboxed 1.66:1 aspect ratio, the trailer for the movie, and a music video of "Love Will Find A Way" performed by Heather Headley and Kenny Lattimore. In 1998, Disney believed that The Lion King II: Simba's Pride would be so popular that it shipped 13 million copies to stores for the October 27 release date. In March 2001, it was reported that in its first three days, 3.5 million VHS copies were sold, and ultimately about thirteen million copies were sold. In September 2001, it was reported that Simba's Pride had sold more than 15 million copies. Overall, consumer spending on The Lion King II: Simba's Pride accumulated about $300 million — roughly the same figure of its predecessor's theatrical release at that time, and continues to be one of the top-selling direct-to-video releases of all time, with $464.5 million worldwide in sales and rentals. On August 31, 2004, the film was re-released on VHS and a 2-Disc Special Edition DVD. The DVD edition featured optional pop-up informational commentary, interactive games (the "Virtual Safari") featuring Timon, Pumbaa and Rafiki, five humorous "Find Out Why" shorts, an animated short based on Lebo M's "One By One", and a "Proud of Simba's Pride" featurette. The Special Edition version featured changes made to the film such as Kovu in the water being inexplicably re-animated as well as other alterations. A DVD boxed set of the three The Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium. On October 4, 2011, Simba's Pride was included in an eight-disc box set trilogy set with the other two films. The Blu-ray edition for the film was released as a separate version on March 6, 2012. The Blu-ray edition has three different versions, a 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, a 1-disc edition, and a digital download. The Blu-ray edition has also been attached with a new Timon & Pumbaa short, in which the two friends gaze at the night sky as the star constellations resemble their favorite meal, insects. The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reports that the film has an approval rating of 62% based on 13 reviews with an average rating of 5.97/10. Siskel & Ebert gave the film a "two-thumbs up" and said it was a "satisfactory sequel to one of the most popular films of all time, The Lion King". However, they also said it was best that it went to video, citing that the music was lacking and not remotely equal to the original's soundtrack. TV Guide gave the film 2½ stars out of four, claiming that, despite being of slightly higher quality than Disney's previous direct-to-video animated sequels, "comes nowhere near the level of its big-screen predecessor", either musically or artistically. The review later went on to say that "Though most of the original characters and their voices are back, they all sound bored, apart from the zesty addition of Suzanne Pleshette as the scheming Zira. The overall result is OK for kids, who will enjoy the low humor provided by the comical meerkat Timon and the flatulent warthog Pumbaa, but it could have been so much better." Writing for Variety, Joe Leydon commented in his review: "In marked contrast to most of the studio's small screen sequels to bigscreen animated hits, the new pic isn't merely kids' stuff. Not unlike its predecessor, Lion King II has enough across-the-board appeal to entertain viewers of all ages." Caryn James of The New York Times concluded her review with "It's the rare sequel that matches the creative flair of an original, of course. The Lion King II may be derivative, but it is also winning on its own." The parental website Screen It rated the movie 7 out of 10, claimed "...while it doesn't have the mighty roar of its predecessor, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride is clearly one of the better straight to video releases ever to come out of Hollywood. Although the animation isn't quite up to par with the original, the new songs don't have that special touch that made them and The Lion King such a success, and the fact that the film suffers somewhat from a heavy dose of familiarity, this is still a pretty decent picture." Entertainment Weekly critic Stephen Witty, who graded the sequel a C+, wrote, "Despite its drawbacks, The Lion King II could make a decent rental for undemanding under-7 fans of the original, who won't be overburdened by the psychodrama. For true believers who've already watched and rewound their copies to shreds, it might even make a good buy. And for them, hey, hakuna matata. But for the rest of us, caveat emptor might be a better motto." James Plath of Movie Metropolis gave the film 6/10, saying that, "Simply put, we've seen it all before." Felix Vasquez Jr. of Cinema Crazed derided, "the sequel is as predictable a sequel as can be. It takes from The Fox and the Hound with shades of Romeo and Juliet and side steps the interesting Simba in favor of his bland daughter Kiara, and Timon and Pumba [sic]." The songwriters were Marty Panzer, Tom Snow, Kevin Quinn, Randy Petersen, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Lebo M, Jack Feldman, Scott Warrender, and Joss Whedon. "He Lives in You" – Sung by Lebo M and his African choir. This song represents Kiara's birth and is the equivalent of "Circle of Life". The song is a reference to when Rafiki told Simba in the first film that Mufasa "lives" in him. Also appears in the Broadway version of the first film. The end title is performed by Tina Turner., "We Are One" – Sung by Cam Clarke and Charity Sanoy. Following Kiara's encounter with Kovu and Zira in which she endangers herself, Simba explains how important she is to the pride and that the pride is one., "My Lullaby" – Sung by Suzanne Pleshette, Andy Dick, and Crysta Macalush. Zira's lullaby to Kovu, which outlines her plot for him to kill Simba and how proud it would make her., "Upendi" – Sung by Robert Guillaume, Liz Callaway, Gene Miller, and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Rafiki's song to Kiara and Kovu about love, friendship, and happiness. Sung by Rafiki and his animal friends., "One of Us" – Sung following Kovu being exiled by Simba after he accuses Kovu of betraying him. This was the first time the animals other than lions outside of the main characters (excluding The Lion King 1½) have been seen talking., "Love Will Find a Way" – Sung by Liz Callaway and Gene Miller. A romantic love song that plays during Kiara and Kovu's first encounter following Kovu's banishment. The pair concludes that their mutual feelings for each other are too strong and true for their differences to keep them apart. The end title version is performed by R&B; artists Kenny Lattimore and Heather Headley. An audio CD entitled Walt Disney Records Presents: Return to Pride Rock: Songs Inspired by Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride was released on September 8, 1998. Although not promoted as a soundtrack to the film, it contained all the songs from the film and some additional songs inspired by it by Lebo M. In January 2016, a television series titled The Lion Guard began airing on Disney Junior, following a television pilot film The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar in November 2015. The majority of the series takes place during the years in-between Kiara's first meeting with Kovu as a cub and her first hunt as a young adult. It focuses on Kiara's younger brother Kion who as second-born, becomes leader of The Lion Guard, a group who protect the Pride Lands and defend the Circle of Life. Kovu, Vitani, Nuka, and Zira appear in the season 1 episode "Lions of the Outlands". Additionally, Kovu and Vitani make an appearance in the season 3 episode "Return to the Pride Lands", which takes place after the events of Simba's Pride. In the Season 3 premiere, Battle for the Pride Lands, the Lion Guard and Makini leave Pride Rock in search for the Tree of Life, after being injured in the final battle against Scar, the main antagonist of the original film (whom had previously returned in Season 2), thus explaining his disappearance from the sequel. The Lion King is a 1994 American animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd Disney animated feature film, and the fifth animated film produced during a period known as the Disney Renaissance. The Lion King was directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and has a screenplay credited to Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Its original songs were written by composer Elton John and lyricist Tim Rice, with a score by Hans Zimmer. The film features an ensemble voice cast that includes Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, Rowan Atkinson, Robert Guillaume, Madge Sinclair, Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings. The story takes place in a kingdom of lions in Africa and was influenced by the Biblical stories of Joseph and Moses, and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. The Lion King tells the story of Simba (Swahili for lion), a young lion who is to succeed his father, Mufasa, as King of the Pride Lands; however, after Simba's paternal uncle Scar murders Mufasa, Simba is manipulated into thinking he was responsible and flees into exile. After growing up in the company of the carefree outcasts Timon and Pumbaa, Simba receives valuable perspective from his childhood friend, Nala, and his shaman, Rafiki, before returning to challenge Scar to end his tyranny and take his place in the Circle of Life as the rightful King. Development of The Lion King began in 1988 during a meeting between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and Peter Schneider while promoting Oliver & Company in Europe. Thomas M. Disch wrote a film treatment, and Woolverton developed the first scripts, while George Scribner was signed on as director, being later joined by Allers. Production began in 1991 concurrently with Pocahontas, which wound up attracting many of Disney's top animators. Some time after the staff traveled to Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya to research the film's setting and animals, Scribner left production, disagreeing with the decision to turn the film into a musical, and was replaced by Minkoff. When Hahn joined the project, he was dissatisfied with the script and the story was promptly rewritten. Nearly 20 minutes of animation sequences were produced at the Disney-MGM Studios theme park in Florida. Computer animation was also used in several scenes, most notably in the wildebeest stampede sequence. The Lion King was released on June 15, 1994, to a positive reaction from critics, who praised the film for its music, story, and animation. However, the film also drew several controversies, particularly for its similarities to Osamu Tezuka's 1960s anime series Kimba the White Lion. With an initial worldwide gross of $766 million, it finished its theatrical run as the highest-grossing release of 1994, the highest-grossing animated film and the second-highest-grossing film of all time. It is also the highest- grossing traditionally animated film of all time, as well as the best-selling film on home video, having sold over 30million VHS tapes. The Lion King garnered two Academy Awards for its achievement in music and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. The film has led to many derived works, such as a Broadway adaptation; two direct-to-video follow- ups—the sequel, (1998), and the prequel/parallel, The Lion King 1½ (2004); two television series, Timon and Pumbaa and The Lion Guard; a 3D re-release in 2011; and a photorealistic remake in 2019, which also became the highest- grossing animated film at the time of its release. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It is, as of December 2019, the only Disney film to have been dubbed in Zulu, the only African language aside from Arabic to have been used for a feature length Disney dub. In the Pride Lands of Africa, a pride of lions rule over the animal kingdom from Pride Rock. King Mufasa's and Queen Sarabi's newborn son, Simba, is presented to the gathering animals by Rafiki the mandrill, the kingdom's shaman and advisor. Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands and explains to him the responsibilities of kingship and the "circle of life", which connects all living things. Mufasa's younger brother, Scar, covets the throne and plots to eliminate Mufasa and Simba, so he may become king. He tricks Simba and his best friend Nala (to whom Simba is betrothed) into exploring a forbidden elephants' graveyard, where they are attacked by three spotted hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who are in league with Scar. Mufasa is alerted about the incident by his majordomo, the hornbill Zazu, and rescues the cubs. Though upset with Simba, Mufasa forgives him and explains that the great kings of the past watch over them from the night sky, from which he will one day watch over Simba. Scar sets a trap for his brother and nephew, luring Simba into a gorge and having the hyenas drive a large herd of wildebeest into a stampede that will trample him. Scar himself does not interfere to save Simba, but instead informs Mufasa of Simba's peril, knowing that the king will rush to save his son. Mufasa saves Simba but ends up hanging perilously from the gorge's edge. Scar refuses to help Mufasa, instead, sending him falling to his death. He then convinces Simba that the tragedy was Simba's own fault and advises him to leave the kingdom and never return. He orders the hyenas to kill the cub, but Simba escapes. Scar tells the pride that both Mufasa and Simba were killed in the stampede and steps forward as the new king, allowing his three hyena minions and the rest of their large pack to live in the Pride Lands. Simba collapses in a desert and is rescued by Timon and Pumbaa, a meerkat and warthog, who are fellow outcasts and chase away the vultures. Simba grows up in the jungle with his two new friends, living a carefree life under the motto "hakuna matata" ("no worries" in Swahili). Now a young adult, Simba rescues Timon and Pumbaa from a hungry lioness, who turns out to be Nala. She and Simba reunite and fall in love, and she urges him to return home, telling him that Pride Lands have become a drought-stricken wasteland under Scar's reign. Feeling guilty over his father's death, Simba refuses and storms off. He then encounters Rafiki, who tells him that Mufasa's spirit lives on in Simba. Simba is visited by the ghost of Mufasa in the night sky, who tells him that he must take his rightful place as king. Realizing that he can no longer run from his past, Simba decides to return to the Pride Lands. Aided by his friends, Simba sneaks past the hyenas at Pride Rock and confronts Scar, who had just struck Sarabi. Scar taunts Simba over his role in Mufasa's death and backs him to the edge of the rock, where he reveals to him that he murdered Mufasa. Enraged, Simba pins Scar to the ground and forces him to reveal the truth to the rest of the pride. Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the lionesses fend off the hyenas while Scar, attempting to escape, is cornered by Simba at the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for mercy and attempts to blame the hyenas for his actions; Simba spares his life but orders him to leave the Pride Lands forever. Scar attacks his nephew, but Simba manages to toss him from the top of the rock. Scar survives the fall but is attacked and killed by the hyenas, who overheard his attempt to betray them. Afterward, Simba takes over the kingship as rain begins to fall. He also makes Nala his queen. Later, with Pride Rock restored to its usual state, Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub to the assembled animals, continuing the circle of life. Matthew Broderick as Simba, son of Mufasa and Sarabi, who grows up to become King of the Pride Lands. Rock singer Joseph Williams provided adult Simba's singing voice. Mark Henn and Ruben A. Aquino respectively served as the supervising animators for young and adult Simba., Jonathan Taylor Thomas voiced young Simba, while Jason Weaver provided the cub's singing voice., Jeremy Irons as Scar, Mufasa's younger brother and Simba's uncle, who takes the throne. Andreas Deja served as the supervising animator for Scar., James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Simba's father, former King of the Pride Lands as the film begins. Tony Fucile served as the supervising animator for Mufasa. James Earl Jones reprised his role in the 2019 remake., Moira Kelly as Nala, Simba's best friend and later his wife and Queen of the Pride Lands. Sally Dworsky provided her singing voice. Aaron Blaise and Anthony de Rosa respectively served as the supervising animators for young and adult Nala., Niketa Calame provided the voice of young Nala while Laura Williams provided her singing voice., Nathan Lane as Timon, a wise-cracking and self-absorbed yet somewhat loyal meerkat who becomes one of Simba's best friends and adoptive parents. Michael Surrey served as his supervising animator., Ernie Sabella as Pumbaa, a naïve warthog who suffers from flatulence and is Timon's best friend and also becomes one of Simba's best friends and adoptive parents. Tony Bancroft served as his supervising animator., Robert Guillaume as Rafiki, an old baboon (with mandrill markings) who serves as shaman of the Pride Lands and presents newborn cubs of the King and Queen to the animals of the Pride Lands. James Baxter served as the supervising animator for Rafiki., Rowan Atkinson as Zazu, a hornbill who serves as the king's majordomo (or "Mufasa's little stooge", as Shenzi calls him). Ellen Woodbury served as the supervising animator for Zazu., Madge Sinclair as Sarabi, Mufasa's mate, Simba's mother, and the leader of the lioness hunting party. Russ Edmonds served as the supervising animator for Sarabi., The three spotted hyenas who serve Scar were animated by Alex Kupershmidt and David Burgess., Whoopi Goldberg as Shenzi, the sassy and short-tempered female leader of the trio., Cheech Marin as Banzai, an aggressive and hot-headed hyena prone to complaining and acting on impulse., Jim Cummings as Ed, a dim-witted hyena who does not talk, only communicating through laughter. Cummings also voiced a mole that talks with Zazu and made a guest appearance as Scar in certain lines of "Be Prepared" after Irons blew his voice., Zoe Leader as Sarafina, Nala's mother, who is shown briefly talking to Simba's mother, Sarabi. The idea for The Lion King was conceived in late 1988 during a conversation between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney and Peter Schneider on a plane to Europe to promote Oliver & Company. During the conversation, the topic of a story set in Africa came up, and Katzenberg immediately jumped at the idea. The idea was then developed by Walt Disney Feature Animation's vice president for creative affairs Charlie Fink. Katzenberg decided to add elements involving coming of age and death, and ideas from personal life experiences, such as some of his trials in his bumpy road in politics, saying about the film, "It is a little bit about myself." In November of that year Thomas Disch (author of The Brave Little Toaster) wrote a treatment entitled King of the Kalahari, and afterwards, Linda Woolverton spent a year writing drafts of the script, which was titled King of the Beasts and then King of the Jungle. The original version of the film was very different from the final film. The plot was centered in a battle being between lions and baboons with Scar being the leader of the baboons, Rafiki being a cheetah, and Timon and Pumbaa being Simba's childhood friends. Simba would also not leave the kingdom but become a "lazy, slovenly, horrible character" due to manipulations from Scar, so Simba could be overthrown after coming of age. By 1990, producer Thomas Schumacher, who had just completed The Rescuers Down Under, decided to attach himself to the project "because lions are cool". Schumacher likened the script for King of the Jungle to "an animated National Geographic special". Oliver & Company director George Scribner was the initial director of the film, being later joined by Roger Allers, who was the lead story man on Beauty and the Beast in October 1991. Allers brought with him Brenda Chapman, who would become the head of story. Afterwards, several of the lead crew members, including Allers, Scribner, Hahn, Chapman, and production designer Chris Sanders, took a trip to Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya, in order to study and gain an appreciation of the environment for the film. After six months of story development work Scribner decided to leave the project, as he clashed with Allers and the producers on their decision to turn the film into a musical, as Scribner's intention was of making a documentary-like film more focused on natural aspects. Rob Minkoff replaced Scribner, and producer Don Hahn joined the production as Schumacher became only an executive producer due to Disney promoting him to Vice President of Development for Feature Animation. Hahn found the script unfocused and lacking a clear theme, and after establishing the main theme as "leaving childhood and facing up to the realities of the world", asked for a final retool. Allers, Minkoff, Chapman, and Hahn then rewrote the story across two weeks of meetings with directors Kirk Wise and Gary Trousdale, who had just finished Beauty and the Beast. The script also had its title changed from King of the Jungle to The Lion King, as the setting was not the jungle but the savannah. It was also decided to make Scar and Mufasa brothers since the writers felt that it was much more interesting if the threat came from someone within the family. The Lion King was the first Disney animated feature to be an original story, rather than be based on an already existing work. The filmmakers have said that the story of The Lion King was inspired by the lives of Joseph and Moses, from the Bible, and William Shakespeare's Hamlet. During the summer of 1992, the team was joined by screenwriter Irene Mecchi, with a second screenwriter, Jonathan Roberts, joining a few months later. Mecchi and Roberts took charge of the revision process, fixing unresolved emotional issues in the script and adding a comic business for Pumbaa, Timon, and the hyenas. Lyricist Tim Rice worked closely with the writing team, flying to California at least once a month because his songs needed to work in the narrative continuity. Rice's lyrics—which were reworked up to the production's end—were pinned to the storyboards during development. Rewrites were frequent, with animator Andreas Deja saying that completed scenes would be delivered, only for the response to be that parts needed to be reanimated because of dialog changes. The voice actors were chosen for how they fit and could add to the characters—for instance, James Earl Jones was cast because the directors found his voice "powerful" and similar to a lion's roar. Jones commented that during the years of production, Mufasa "became more and more of a dopey dad instead of [a] grand king". Nathan Lane originally auditioned for Zazu, and Ernie Sabella for one of the hyenas. Upon meeting each other at the recording studio, the actors, who at the time both co-starred in Guys and Dolls, were asked to record together as hyenas. The directors laughed at their performance and decided to cast them as Timon and Pumbaa. For the hyenas, the original intention was to reunite Cheech & Chong, but while Cheech Marin accepted to play Banzai, Tommy Chong was unavailable. Thus his role was changed into a female hyena, Shenzi, who was voiced by Whoopi Goldberg. Matthew Broderick was cast as adult Simba early during production, and during the three years of voice acting only recorded with another actor once, and only discovered Moira Kelly voiced Nala at the premiere. English actors Tim Curry and Malcolm McDowell were originally considered for the role of Scar, however, Curry left the role due to , and it was ultimately won by English actor Jeremy Irons. Irons initially refused the role due to not being comfortable going from the dramatic performance as Claus von Bülow in Reversal of Fortune to a comedic role. But once he came in, Irons' performance even inspired the writers to incorporate more of his acting as von Bülow—adding one of that character's lines, "You have no idea"—and animator Andreas Deja to watch both Reversal of Fortune and Damage to pick up Irons's facial traits and tics. The development of The Lion King coincided with that of Pocahontas, which most of the animators of Walt Disney Feature Animation decided to work on instead, believing it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. The story artists also did not have much faith in the project, with Chapman declaring she was reluctant to accept the job "because the story wasn't very good", and writer Burny Mattinson saying to co-worker Joe Ranft "I don't know who is going to want to watch that one." Most of the leading animators either were doing their first major work supervising a character, or had much interest in animating an animal. Thirteen of these supervising animators, both in California and in Florida, were responsible for establishing the personalities and setting the tone for the film's main characters. The animation leads for the main characters included Mark Henn on young Simba, Ruben A. Aquino on adult Simba, Andreas Deja on Scar, Aaron Blaise on young Nala, Anthony DeRosa on adult Nala, and Tony Fucile on Mufasa. Nearly 20 minutes of the film, including the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence, was animated at the Disney-MGM Studios facility. More than 600 artists, animators, and technicians contributed to The Lion King. Weeks before the film was to be released, the 1994 Northridge earthquake shut down the studio and required the animators to finish their work from home. The character animators studied real-life animals for reference, as was done for the 1942 Disney film Bambi. Jim Fowler, renowned wildlife expert, visited the studios on several occasions with an assortment of lions and other savannah inhabitants to discuss behavior and help the animators give their drawings authenticity. The animators also studied animal movements at the Miami MetroZoo under guidance from wildlife expert Ron Magill. The Pride Lands are modeled on the Kenyan national park visited by the crew. Varied focal lengths and lenses were employed to differ from the habitual portrayal of Africa in documentaries—which employ telephoto lenses to shoot the wildlife from a distance. The epic feel drew inspiration from concept studies by artist Hans Bacher—which, following Scribner's request for realism, tried to depict effects such as lens flare—and the works of painters Charles Marion Russell, Frederic Remington and Maxfield Parrish. Art director Andy Gaskill and the filmmakers sought to give the film a sense of grand sweep and epic scale similar to David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. Gaskill explained: "We wanted audiences to sense the vastness of the savannah and to feel the dust and the breeze swaying through the grass. In other words, to get a real sense of nature and to feel as if they were there. It's very difficult to capture something as subtle as a sunrise or rain falling on a pond, but those are the kinds of images that we tried to get." The filmmakers also watched the films of John Ford and other filmmakers, which also influenced the design of the film. Because the characters were not anthropomorphized, all the animators had to learn to draw four-legged animals, and the story and character development was done through the use of longer shots following the characters. Computers helped the filmmakers present their vision in new ways. For the "wildebeest stampede" sequence, several distinct wildebeest characters were created in a 3D computer program, multiplied into hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable movement of a herd. Five specially trained animators and technicians spent more than two years creating the two-and-a-half-minute stampede. The CAPS helped simulate camera movements such as tracking shots, and was employed in coloring, lighting, and particle effects. Lyricist Tim Rice, who was working with composer Alan Menken on songs for Aladdin, was invited to write the songs, and accepted on the condition of finding a composing partner. As Menken was unavailable, the producers accepted Rice's suggestion of Elton John, after Rice's invitation of ABBA fell through due to Benny Andersson being busy with the musical Kristina från Duvemåla. John expressed an interest in writing "ultra-pop songs that kids would like; then adults can go and see those movies and get just as much pleasure out of them", mentioning a possible influence of The Jungle Book, where he felt the "music was so funny and appealed to kids and adults". John and Rice wrote five original songs for the film ("Circle of Life", "I Just Can't Wait to Be King", "Be Prepared", "Hakuna Matata" and "Can You Feel the Love Tonight"), with John's performance of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" playing over the end credits. The IMAX and DVD releases added another song, "The Morning Report", based on a song discarded during development that eventually featured in the live musical version of The Lion King. The score was composed by Hans Zimmer, who was hired based on his work in two films in African settings, The Power of One and A World Apart, and supplemented the score with traditional African music and choir elements arranged by Lebo M. Zimmer's partners Mark Mancina and Jay Rifkin helped with arrangements and song production. The Lion King original motion picture soundtrack was released by Walt Disney Records on April 27, 1994. It was the fourth-best-selling album of the year on the Billboard 200 and the top-selling soundtrack. It is the only soundtrack for an animated film to be certified Diamond (10× platinum) by the Recording Industry Association of America. Zimmer's complete instrumental score for the film was never originally given a full release, until the soundtrack's commemorative in 2014. The Lion King also inspired the 1995 release Rhythm of the Pride Lands, with eight songs by Zimmer, Mancina, and Lebo M. The use of the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" in a scene with Timon and Pumbaa led to disputes between Disney and the family of South African Solomon Linda, who composed the song (originally titled "Mbube") in 1939. In July 2004, Linda's family filed suit, seeking $1.6 million in royalties from Disney. In February 2006, Linda's heirs reached a legal settlement with Abilene Music, who held the worldwide rights and had licensed the song to Disney for an undisclosed amount of money. For The Lion Kings first film trailer, Disney opted to feature a single scene, the entire opening sequence with the song "Circle of Life". Buena Vista Pictures Distribution president Dick Cook said the decision was made for such an approach because "we were all so taken by the beauty and majesty of this piece that we felt like it was probably one of the best four minutes of film that we've seen", and Don Hahn added that "Circle of Life" worked as a trailer as it "came off so strong, and so good, and ended with such a bang". The trailer was released in November 1993, accompanying The Three Musketeers and in theaters; by then, only a third of The Lion King had been completed. Audience reaction was enthusiastic, causing Hahn to have some initial concerns as he became afraid of not living up to the expectations raised by the preview. Prior to the film's release, Disney did 11 test screenings. The Lion King had a limited release in North America on Wednesday, June 15, 1994, playing in only two theaters, El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles and Radio City Music Hall in New York City featuring live shows with ticket prices up to $30. The wide release followed on June 24, 1994, in 2,550 screens. The digital surround sound of the film led many of those theaters to implement Dolby Laboratories' newest sound systems. Upon release, The Lion King was accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign which included tie-ins with Burger King, Mattel, Kodak, Nestlé and Payless ShoeSource, and various merchandise, accounting 186 licensed products. In 1994, Disney earned approximately $1 billion with products based on the film, with $214 million for Lion King toys during Christmas 1994 alone. When the movie was first released in 1994, it numbered 28 versions overall in as many languages and dialects worldwide, including a special Zulu version made specifically for the movie in South Africa, where a Disney USA team went to find the Zulu voice-actors. This is not just the only Zulu dubbing ever made by Disney, but also the only one made in any African language, other than Arabic. The Lion King marks also the first time a special dubbing is released in honour of a Disney movie background, but not the last: in 2016 the movie Moana received a special Tahitian-language version, followed in 2017 by a Māori version, and in 2018 by a Hawaiian version; in 2019 the movie Frozen 2 was dubbed into Northern Sami, even though the first movie wasn't. The Lion King was first released on VHS and laserdisc in the United States on March 3, 1995, under Disney's "Masterpiece Collection" video series. The VHS tape contained a special preview for Walt Disney Pictures' then-upcoming animated film Pocahontas, in which the title character (voiced by Judy Kuhn) sings the musical number "Colors of the Wind". In addition, Deluxe Editions of both formats were released. The VHS Deluxe Edition included the film, an exclusive lithograph of Rafiki and Simba (in some editions), a commemorative "Circle of Life" epigraph, six concept art lithographs, another tape with the half-hour TV special The Making of The Lion King, and a certificate of authenticity. The CAV laserdisc Deluxe Edition also contained the film, six concept art lithographs and The Making of The Lion King, and added storyboards, character design artwork, concept art, rough animation, and a directors' commentary that the VHS edition did not have, on a total of four double sided discs. The VHS tape quickly became the best-selling videotape of all time: 4.5 million tapes were sold on the first day and ultimately sales totaled more than 30 million before these home video versions went into moratorium in 1997. The VHS releases have sold a total of 32million units in North America, and grossed in sales revenue. In addition, 23million units were shipped overseas to international markets. On October 7, 2003, the film was re-released on VHS and released on DVD for the first time, titled The Lion King: Platinum Edition, as part of Disney's Platinum Edition line of animated classic DVDs. The DVD release featured two versions of the film on the first disc, a remastered version created for the 2002 IMAX release and an edited version of the IMAX release purporting to be the original 1994 theatrical version. A second disc, with bonus features, was also included in the DVD release. The film's soundtrack was provided both in its original Dolby 5.1 track and in a new Disney Enhanced Home Theater Mix, making this one of the first Disney DVDs so equipped. By means of seamless branching, the film could be viewed either with or without a newly created scene – a short conversation in the film replaced with a complete song ("The Morning Report"). A Special Collector's Gift Set was also released, containing the DVD set, five exclusive lithographed character portraits (new sketches created and signed by the original character animators), and an introductory book entitled The Journey. The Platinum Edition of The Lion King featured changes made to the film during its IMAX re-release, including re-drawn crocodiles in the "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" sequence as well as other alterations. More than two million copies of the Platinum Edition DVD and VHS units were sold on the first day of release. A DVD box set of the three The Lion King films (in two-disc Special Edition formats) was released on December 6, 2004. In January 2005, the film, along with the sequels, went back into moratorium. The DVD releases have sold a total of 11.9million units and grossed . Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released the Diamond Edition of The Lion King on October 4, 2011. This marks the first time that the film has been released in high- definition Blu-ray and on Blu-ray 3D. The initial release was produced in three different packages: a two-disc version with Blu-ray and DVD; a four-disc version with Blu-ray, DVD, Blu-ray 3D, and digital copy; and an eight-disc box set that also includes the sequels and The Lion King 1½. A standalone single- disc DVD release also followed on November 15, 2011. The Diamond Edition topped the Blu-ray charts with over 1.5 million copies sold. The film sold 3.83 million Blu-ray units in total, leading to a $101.14 million income. The Lion King was once again released to home media as part of the Walt Disney Signature Collection first released on Digital HD on August 15, 2017, and on Blu-ray and DVD on August 29, 2017. The Lion King was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray and 4K digital download on December 3, 2018. It was the first traditionally animated, "classic" Disney film to be re-released in 4K. The Lion King grossed $422.8 million in North America and $545.7 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $968.5 million. It is currently the 46th highest-grossing film of all time, the eleventh highest-grossing animated film of all time worldwide and the fourth highest-grossing film of Walt Disney Animation Studios (behind Frozen, Frozen 2 and Zootopia). The film was also the highest-grossing motion picture of 1994 worldwide. After its initial run, having earned $763.4 million, it ranked as the second-highest- grossing film of all time worldwide, behind Jurassic Park. It held the record for the highest-grossing animated feature film (in North America, outside North America, and worldwide) until it was surpassed by the computer animated Finding Nemo (2003). With the earnings of the 3D run, The Lion King surpassed all the aforementioned films but Toy Story 3 to rank as the second-highest- grossing animated film worldwide—later dropping to ninth, and then tenth, surpassed by its photorealistic CGI remake counterpart—and it remains the highest-grossing hand-drawn animated film. It is also the biggest animated movie of the last 50 years in terms of estimated attendance. The Lion King was also the highest-grossing G-rated film in the United States from 1994 to 2003 and again from 2011 to 2019 until its total was surpassed by the computer- animated Toy Story 4 in August 2019 (unadjusted for inflation). In the first two days of it limited release in two theaters it grossed $622,277 and for the following weekend it earned $1,586,753, standing at the tenth place of the box office ranking. The average of $793,377 per theater stands as the largest ever achieved during a weekend. The film grossed $3,766,690 from the 2 screens in just 10 days. When it opened wide, The Lion King grossed $40.9 million – which at the time was the fourth biggest opening weekend ever and the highest sum for a Disney film – to top the weekend box office. It also earned a rare "A+" rating from CinemaScore. In September 1994, Disney pulled the film from movie theaters and announced it would be re- released during Thanksgiving in order to take advantage of the holiday season. By the end of its original theatrical run, in spring 1995, it had earned $312.9 million, being the second-highest-grossing 1994 film in North America behind Forrest Gump. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold over 74 million tickets in the US in its initial theatrical run, equivalent to $812.1 million adjusted for inflation in 2018. Outside of North America, the film grossed in 1994, before grossing worldwide in 1995. It went on to earn $455.8 million overseas during its initial run, for a worldwide total of $768.6 million. The film was re-issued on December 25, 2002, for IMAX and large-format theaters. Don Hahn explained that eight years after The Lion King got its original release, "there was a whole new generation of kids who haven't really seen it, particularly on the big screen." Given the film had already been digitally archived during production, the restoration process was easier, while also providing many scenes with enhancements that covered up original deficiencies. An enhanced sound mix was also provided to, as Hahn explained, "make the audience feel like they're in the middle of the movie." On its first weekend, The Lion King made $2.7 million from 66 locations, a $27,664 per theater average. This run ended with $15.7 million on May 30, 2003. In 2011, The Lion King was converted to 3D for a two-week limited theatrical re-issue and subsequent 3D Blu-ray release. The film opened at the number one spot on Friday, September 16, 2011, with $8.9 million and finished the weekend with $30.2 million, ranking number one at the box office. This made The Lion King the first re-issue release to earn the number-one slot at the American weekend box office since the re-issue of Return of the Jedi in March 1997. The film also achieved the fourth-highest September opening weekend of all time. It held off very well on its second weekend, again earning first place at the box office with a 27 percent decline to $21.9 million. Most box-office observers had expected the film to fall about 50 percent in its second weekend and were also expecting Moneyball to be at first place. After its initial box- office success, many theaters decided to continue to show the film for more than two weeks, even though its 3D Blu-ray release was scheduled for two-and- a-half weeks after its theatrical release. In North America, the 3D re-release ended its run in theaters on January 12, 2012, with a gross $94.2 million. Outside North America, it earned $83.4 million. The successful 3D re-release of The Lion King made Disney and Pixar plan 3D theatrical re-releases of Beauty and the Beast, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., and The Little Mermaid during 2012 and 2013. However, none of the re-releases of the first three films achieved the enormous success of The Lion King 3D and the theatrical re- release of The Little Mermaid was ultimately cancelled. In 2012, Ray Subers of Box Office Mojo wrote that the reason why the 3D version of The Lion King succeeded was because, "the notion of a 3D re-release was still fresh and exciting, and The Lion King (3D) felt timely given the movie's imminent Blu- ray release. Audiences have been hit with three 3D re-releases in the year since, meaning the novelty value has definitely worn off." The Lion King was released to critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 93%, based on 128 reviews, with an average rating of 8.39/10. It also ranked 56th on their "Top 100 Animation Movies". The site's critical consensus reads, "Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully animated, The Lion King stands tall within Disney's pantheon of classic family films." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 88 out of 100, based on 30 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film a rare "A+" grade. Roger Ebert gave the film three and a half stars out of a possible four and called it "a superbly drawn animated feature" and wrote in his print review, "The saga of Simba, which in its deeply buried origins owes something to Greek tragedy and certainly to Hamlet, is a learning experience as well as an entertainment." On the television program Siskel & Ebert, the film was praised but received a mixed reaction when compared to previous Disney films. Ebert and his partner Gene Siskel both gave the film a "Thumbs Up" but Siskel said that it was not as good as earlier films such as Beauty and the Beast and was "a good film, not a great one". Hal Hinson of The Washington Post called it "an impressive, almost daunting achievement" and felt that the film was "spectacular in a manner that has nearly become commonplace with Disney's feature-length animations", but was less enthusiastic toward the end of his review saying, "Shakespearean in tone, epic in scope, it seems more appropriate for grown-ups than for kids. If truth be told, even for adults it is downright strange." Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly praised the film, writing that it "has the resonance to stand not just as a terrific cartoon but as an emotionally pungent movie". Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers praised the film and felt that it was "a hugely entertaining blend of music, fun, and eye-popping thrills, though it doesn't lack for heart". James Berardinelli from ReelViews praised the film saying, "With each new animated release, Disney seems to be expanding its already-broad horizons a little more. The Lion King is the most mature (in more than one sense) of these films, and there clearly has been a conscious effort to please adults as much as children. Happily, for those of us who generally stay far away from 'cartoons', they have succeeded." Some reviewers still had problems with the film's narrative. The staff of TV Guide wrote that while The Lion King was technically proficient and entertaining, it "offers a less memorable song score than did the previous hits, and a hasty, unsatisfying dramatic resolution." The New Yorkers Terrence Rafferty considered that despite the good animation, the story felt like "manipulat[ing] our responses at will", as "Between traumas, the movie serves up soothingly banal musical numbers and silly, rambunctious comedy". The Lion King received four Golden Globe Award and Oscar nominations. The film would go on to win two Golden Globes; for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Original Score, as well as two Academy Awards, for Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer) and Best Original Song with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" by Elton John and Tim Rice. The songs "Circle of Life" and "Hakuna Matata" were also nominated. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" also won the Grammy Award for Best Male Vocal Performance. The Lion King also won Annie Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Achievement in Voice Acting (for Jeremy Irons) and Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation. At the Saturn Awards, the film was nominated in two categories, Best Fantasy Film and Best Performance by a Younger Actor although it did not win in either category. The film also received two nominations at the British Academy Film Awards, for Best Sound as well as the Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music although it lost in both categories to Speed and Backbeat respectively. The film received two BMI Film & TV Awards for Film Music and Most Performed Song with "Can You Feel the Love Tonight." At the 1995 MTV Movie Awards, the film received nominations for Best Villain and Best Song, though it lost in both categories. The Lion King won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie at the 1995 Kids' Choice Awards. In 2008, The Lion King was ranked as the 319th greatest film ever made by Empire magazine, and in June 2011, TIME named it one of "The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films". In June 2008, the American Film Institute listed The Lion King as the fourth best film in the animation genre in its AFI's 10 Top 10 list, having previously put "Hakuna Matata" as 99th on its AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs ranking. In 2016, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Certain elements of the film were considered to bear a resemblance to Osamu Tezuka's 1960s Japanese anime television series, Jungle Emperor (known as Kimba the White Lion in the United States), with characters having similar analogs, and various individual scenes being similar in composition to the show. Matthew Broderick believed initially that he was, in fact, working on an American version of Kimba since he was familiar with the Japanese original. The Lion King director Roger Allers claimed complete unfamiliarity with the show until the movie was almost completed, and did not remember it being ever mentioned during development. However, Allers had previously lived in Tokyo and worked in animation there during the 1980s, when Tezuka had already become known as "Japan's Walt Disney" and a remake of Kimba was airing on prime time television. Co-director Rob Minkoff also stated that he was unfamiliar with it. Minkoff also observed that whenever a story is based in Africa, it is "not unusual to have characters like a baboon, a bird or hyenas." Yoshihiro Shimizu, of Tezuka Productions, which created the anime series Kimba the White Lion, has refuted rumors that the studio was paid hush money by Disney but explains that they rejected urges from within the industry to sue because, "we're a small, weak company. It wouldn't be worth it anyway ... Disney's lawyers are among the top twenty in the world!" Fred Ladd, who was involved early on with importing Kimba and other Japanese anime into America for NBC, expressed incredulity that Disney's people could remain ignorant. Ladd stated there was at least one animator remembered by his colleagues as being an avid Kimba fan and being quite vociferous about Disney's conduct during production. Animators Tom Sito and Mark Kausler, who both have story credits, have admitted to watching Kimba, and assumed many of their colleagues had too, especially if they grew up in the 1960s. However, Sito insisted there was no conscious effort to derive work from Kimba, and Kausler emphasized Disney's own Bambi as being their model during development. The 1994 release of The Lion King drew a protest in Japan, where Kimba and its creator Osamu Tezuka are cultural icons. 488 Japanese cartoonists and animators, led by manga author Machiko Satonaka, signed a petition accusing Disney of plagiarism and demanding that they give due credit to Tezuka. The controversy surrounding Kimba and The Lion King was parodied in a 1995 episode of The Simpsons, where a lion appearing in the clouds is saying, "You must avenge my death, Kimba... I mean, Simba." Protests were raised against one scene where it appears as if the word "SEX" might have been embedded into the dust flying in the sky when Simba flops down, which conservative activist Donald Wildmon asserted was a subliminal message intended to promote sexual promiscuity. Animator Tom Sito has stated that the letters spell "SFX" (a common abbreviation for "special effects"), not with an "E" instead of the "F", and were intended as an innocent "signature" created by the effects animation team. Hyena biologists protested against the animal's portrayal, though the complaints may have been somewhat tongue-in-cheek. One hyena researcher, who had organized the animators' visit to the University of California, Berkeley's Field Station for the Study of Behavior, Ecology, and Reproduction, where they would observe and sketch captive hyenas, listed "boycott The Lion King" in an article listing ways to help preserve hyenas in the wild, and later "joke[d] that The Lion King set back hyena conservation efforts." Even so, the film was also credited with "spark[ing] an interest" in hyenas at the Berkeley center. The film has also been criticized for race and class issues. The hyenas have also been seen as reflecting negative stereotypes of black and Latino ethnic communities. The film has also been criticized for advancing a fascist narrative in its portrayal of the lion kingdom and the circle of life where "only the strong and the beautiful triumph, and the powerless survive only by serving the strong." The first Lion King-related animated projects involved the characters of Timon and Pumbaa. First, the duo starred in the animated short "Stand by Me", featuring Timon singing the eponymous song, which was released in 1995 accompanying the theatrical release of Tom and Huck. The duo then received their own animated series, The Lion King's Timon & Pumbaa, which ran for three seasons and 85 episodes between 1995 and 1999. Ernie Sabella continued to voice Pumbaa, while Timon was voiced by Quinton Flynn and Kevin Schon in addition to Nathan Lane. Disney released two direct-to-video films related to The Lion King. The first was sequel , released in 1998 on VHS. The film centers around Simba and Nala's daughter, Kiara, who falls in love with Kovu, a male lion who was raised in a pride of Scar's followers, the Outsiders. The Lion King 1½, another direct-to-video Lion King film, saw its release in 2004. It is a prequel in showing how Timon and Pumbaa met each other, and also a parallel in that it also depicts what the characters were retconned to have done during the events of the original movie. In June 2014, it was announced that a new TV series based on the film would be released called The Lion Guard, featuring Kion, the second-born cub of Simba and Nala. The Lion Guard is a sequel to The Lion King and takes place during the time-gap within The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, with the last 2 episodes of Season 3 taking place after the events of that film. It was first broadcast on Disney Channel as a television film titled The Lion Guard: Return of the Roar in November 2015 before airing as a series on Disney Junior in January 2016. In September 2016, following the critical and financial success of The Jungle Book, Walt Disney Pictures announced that they were developing a CGI remake of The Lion King by the same name, with Jon Favreau directing. The following month, Jeff Nathanson was hired to write the script for the film. Favreau originally planned shoot it back to back with the sequel to The Jungle Book. However, it was reported in early 2017 that the latter film was put on hold in order for Favreau to instead focus mainly on The Lion King. In February 2017, Favreau announced that Donald Glover had been cast as Simba and that James Earl Jones would be reprising the role of Mufasa. The following month, it was reported that was Favreau's top choice to voice Nala, but she had not accepted the role yet due to a pregnancy. In April 2017, Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen joined the film as Timon and Pumbaa, respectively. Two months later, John Oliver was cast as Zazu. At the end of July 2017, had reportedly entered final negotiations to play Nala and contribute the soundtrack as well. The following month, Chiwetel Ejiofor entered talks to play Scar. Later on, Alfre Woodard and John Kani joined the film as Sarabi and Rafiki, respectively. On November 1, 2017, and Chiwetel Ejiofor were officially confirmed to voice Nala and Scar with Eric Andre, Florence Kasumba, Keegan-Michael Key, JD McCrary and Shahadi Wright Joseph joining the cast as the voices of Azizi, Shenzi and Kamari, young Simba and young Nala, respectively while Hans Zimmer would return to score the film's music. On November 28, 2017, it was reported that Elton John had signed onto the project to rework his musical compositions from the original film. Production for the film began in May 2017. It was released on July 19, 2019. Along with the film release, three different video games based on The Lion King were released by Virgin Interactive in December 1994. The main title was developed by Westwood Studios, and published for PC and Amiga computers and the consoles SNES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. Dark Technologies created the Game Boy version, while Syrox Developments handled the Master System and Game Gear version. The film and sequel Simba's Pride later inspired another game, Torus Games' (2000) for the Game Boy Color and PlayStation. Timon and Pumbaa also appeared in Timon & Pumbaa's Jungle Games, a 1995 PC game collection of puzzle games by 7th Level, later ported to the SNES by Tiertex. The Square Enix series Kingdom Hearts features Simba as a recurring summon, as well as a playable in the Lion King world, known as Pride Lands, in Kingdom Hearts II. There the plotline is loosely related to the later part of the original film, with all of the main characters except Zazu and Sarabi. The Lion King also provides one of the worlds featured in the 2011 action-adventure game Disney Universe, and Simba was featured in the Nintendo DS title Disney Friends (2008). Walt Disney Theatrical produced a musical stage adaptation of the same name, which premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota in July 1997, and later opened on Broadway in October 1997 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. The Lion King musical was directed by Julie Taymor and featured songs from both the movie and Rhythm of the Pride Lands, along with three new compositions by Elton John and Tim Rice. Mark Mancina did the musical arrangements and new orchestral tracks. The musical became one of the most successful in Broadway history, winning six Tony Awards including Best Musical, and despite moving to the Minskoff Theatre in 2006, is still running to this day in New York, becoming the third longest- running show and highest grossing Broadway production in history. The show's financial success led to adaptations all over the world. The Lion King inspired two attractions retelling the story of the film at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. The first, "The Legend of the Lion King", featured a recreation of the film through life-size puppets of its characters, and ran from 1994 to 2002 at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Another that is still running is the live-action 30-minute musical revue of the movie, "Festival of the Lion King", which incorporates the musical numbers into gymnastic routines with live actors, along with animatronic puppets of Simba and Pumbaa and a costumed actor as Timon. The attraction opened in April 1998 at Disney World's Animal Kingdom, and in September 2005 in Hong Kong Disneyland's Adventureland. A similar version under the name "The Legend of the Lion King" was featured in Disneyland Paris from 2004 to 2009. Cultural depictions of lions, Hamlet The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Walt Disney Animation Studios' animated feature film of the same name with music by Elton John, lyrics by Tim Rice, and book by Roger Allers and Irene Mecchi, along with additional music and lyrics by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin, Julie Taymor, and Hans Zimmer. Directed by Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets. The show is produced by Disney Theatrical Productions. The musical debuted on July 8, 1997 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Orpheum Theatre and was successful before premiering on Broadway at the New Amsterdam Theatre on October 15, 1997 in previews, with the official opening on November 13, 1997. On June 13, 2006, the Broadway production moved to the Minskoff Theatre to make way for the musical version of Mary Poppins, where it is still running after more than 9,000 performances. It is Broadway's third longest- running show in history, and has grossed more than $1 billion, making it the highest grossing Broadway production of all time. Over 100 million people worldwide have seen the musical and it has earned numerous awards and honors, including six Tony Awards, one for Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical, making director Julie Taymor the first woman to earn such an honor. The show opened in the West End's Lyceum Theatre on October 19, 1999, and is still running after more than 7,500 performances. The cast of the West End production were invited to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in 1999 and 2008, in the presence of senior members of the British Royal Family. In September 2014, The Lion King became the top-earning title in box-office history for both stage productions and films, surpassing the record previously held by The Phantom of the Opera. Both the Broadway and Hamburg productions have passed the $1 billion in cumulative gross. Two additional productions were announced for the new Walt Disney Grand Theatre at Shanghai Disney Resort and the Telcel Theatre in Mexico City. The Lion King musical has grossed nearly as of 2017, its 20th aniversary on Broadway. As the sun rises, Rafiki the mandrill calls the animals to Pride Rock. She greets King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi before presenting their cub to the gathered animals ("Circle of Life"). Elsewhere, Mufasa's brother, Scar, laments his lost chance at becoming King. Back at her baobab tree, Rafiki paints an image of the cub and asks the spirits to conjure the new prince's name: Simba. Time passes and Simba grows into a lively young cub ("Grasslands Chant"). Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands from the top of Pride Rock and explains that everything exists in a delicate balance known as the Circle of Life. Mufasa warns Simba not to stray beyond the boundaries of the Pride Lands, pointing out a shadowy area in the distance. Zazu, a hornbill who acts as Mufasa's advisor, arrives and delivers his daily report on the state of affairs in the King's domain ("The Morning Report", now cut from the Broadway production). Simba goes to see his Uncle Scar. The scheming lion piques the cub's curiosity by mentioning the elephant graveyard, where Simba is forbidden to go. Meanwhile, the lionesses go hunting ("The Lioness Hunt"). Simba arrives and asks his best friend, a female cub named Nala, to come with him to the elephant graveyard. He lies to the lionesses about where they are going, and Sarafina (Nala's mother) and Sarabi allow the cubs to go, escorted by Zazu. Simba and Nala formulate a plan and manage to lose Zazu, while Simba brags about his future position ("I Just Can't Wait to Be King"). The cubs go to the graveyard and begin to explore. Zazu catches up, but they are confronted by three hyenas: Shenzi, Banzai and Ed. The hyenas intend to eat the trespassers and they gloat about their find ("Chow Down"). Mufasa rescues the cubs and frightens off the hyenas. Mufasa is disappointed and angry at Simba's reckless disobedience, and explains the difference between bravery and bravado. Mufasa tells Simba about the great kings of the past and how they watch over everything from the stars ("They Live in You"). Mufasa says that he will always be there for his son. Later he discusses Simba's behavior with Zazu, who reminds Mufasa that he had the same tendency to get into trouble at Simba's age. Back at the elephant graveyard, Scar tells the hyenas of his plan to kill Mufasa and Simba so that he can become king. He raises an army of hyenas, promising that they will never go hungry again if they support him ("Be Prepared"). Scar takes Simba to a gorge and tells him to wait there. On Scar's signal, the hyenas start a wildebeest stampede into the gorge ("The Stampede"). Scar tells Mufasa that Simba is trapped in the gorge. Mufasa leaps into the stampede and manages to save his son, but as he tries to escape, Scar throws him off the cliff back into the stampede, killing him. Scar convinces Simba that his father's death was his fault and tells him to run away, but as he leaves, Scar orders the hyenas to kill him. Simba escapes but the hyenas tell Scar that he is dead. Rafiki and the lionesses mourn the deaths ("Rafiki Mourns"). Scar claims the throne and allows the hyenas into the Pride Lands ("Be Prepared (Reprise)"). Rafiki returns to her tree and smears the drawing of Simba, while Sarabi and Nala quietly grieve. Out in the desert, Simba collapses from heat exhaustion. Vultures begin to circle, but are scared away by Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. Simba feels responsible for Mufasa's death, but the duo take the cub to their jungle home and show him their carefree way of life and bug diet ("Hakuna Matata"). Simba grows to adulthood in the jungle. The chorus, dressed in colorful clothes with ornate bird puppets and kites, begin the Second Act ("One by One"). As the song ends, however, the beautiful birds are replaced by vultures and gazelle skeletons. Under Scar's rule, the Circle of Life is out of balance and a drought has hit the Pride Lands. Zazu, now a prisoner of Scar, listens to the king's woes. The hyenas are complaining about the lack of food, but Scar is only concerned with himself and why he is not loved. He is haunted by visions of Mufasa and rapidly switches between delusional confidence and paranoid despair ("The Madness of King Scar"). Nala arrives to confront Scar about the famine and Scar decides she will be his queen and give him cubs. Nala fiercely rebukes him and resolves to leave the Pride Lands to find help. Rafiki and the lionesses bless her for her journey ("Shadowland"). Back in the jungle, Timon and Pumbaa want to sleep, but the restless Simba is unable to settle. Annoyed, Simba leaves them, but Timon and Pumbaa lose their courage and follow him. Simba leaps across a fast-moving river and challenges Timon to do the same. Timon falls in and is swept downstream. He grabs a branch over a waterfall and calls for Simba's help, but Simba is paralyzed by a flashback of Mufasa's death. Timon falls from the branch and Simba snaps out of the flashback, rescuing his friend. Simba is ashamed that Timon nearly died because of his recklessness. The three friends settle to sleep and discuss the stars. Simba recalls Mufasa's words, but his friends laugh at the notion of dead kings watching them. Simba leaves, expressing his loneliness and bitterly recalling Mufasa's promise to be there for him ("Endless Night"). Rafiki hears the song on the wind, joyfully realizes that Simba is alive, and draws a mane onto her painting of Simba. In the jungle, Pumbaa is hunted and chased by a lioness. Simba confronts her and saves his friend, but recognizes the lioness as Nala. She is amazed to find Simba alive, knowing that he is the rightful king. Timon and Pumbaa are confused, but Simba asks them to leave him and Nala alone. Timon realizes what is happening and laments the end of Simba's Hakuna Matata lifestyle ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight"). Nala tells Simba about the devastated Pride Lands, but Simba still feels responsible for Mufasa's death and refuses to return home. On his own, Simba meets Rafiki, who explains that his father lives on ("He Lives in You"). Mufasa's spirit appears in the sky and tells Simba he is the one true king and must take his place in the Circle of Life. Reawakened, Simba finds his courage and heads for home. Meanwhile, Nala wakes Timon and Pumbaa to ask where Simba is, and Rafiki appears to tell them all the news. The three of them catch up with him in the Pride Lands, where he witnesses the ruin of his home. Timon and Pumbaa distract some hyenas by doing the Charleston, allowing Simba and Nala to reach Pride Rock. Scar calls for Sarabi and demands to know why the lionesses are not hunting. Sarabi stands up to him about the lack of anything to hunt, angrily comparing him to Mufasa, and Scar strikes his sister-in-law, saying he's ten times the king Mufasa was. Enraged, Simba reveals himself. Scar forces a confession of murder from Simba and corners him. Believing that he has won, Scar taunts Simba by admitting that he killed Mufasa. Furious, Simba recovers and forces Scar to reveal the truth to the lionesses ("Simba Confronts Scar"). Simba's friends fight the hyenas while Simba battles Scar to the top of Pride Rock. Scar begs for his life, blaming the hyenas for everything. Simba lets him leave out of mercy, but Scar attacks again. Simba blocks the attack and Scar falls from the cliff. The hyenas, who heard Scar's betrayal and are still starving, tear him to shreds. With the battle won, Simba's friends come forward and acknowledge Simba as the rightful king. Simba ascends Pride Rock and roars out across the kingdom ("King of Pride Rock"). The Pride Lands recover and the animals gather in celebration as Rafiki presents Simba and Nala's newborn cub, continuing the Circle of Life ("Circle of Life (Reprise)"). Cut from the show as of June 27, 2010 The musical incorporates several changes and additions to the storyline as compared to the film. The mandrill Rafiki's gender was changed to a female role because Taymor believed that there was generally no leading female character in the film. Rafiki was portrayed by Tsidii Le Loka in the original Broadway musical, and by Josette Bushell-Mingo in the original London production. Several new scenes are present, including a conversation between Mufasa and Zazu about Mufasa's parenting and a perilous scene in which Timon finds himself nearly drowning in a waterfall while Simba feels powerless to help him. A major narrative addition is the depiction of Nala's departure in the scene "The Madness of King Scar", where the mentally deteriorating villain tries to make Nala his mate. Nala refuses and later announces her intention to depart the Pride Lands and find help. She receives the blessings of the lionesses and Rafiki during the new song "Shadowland". Like its predecessor, the Beauty and the Beast musical, the show adds more songs to its stage production, including "Morning Report", sung by Zazu the hornbill and later added to the film for the Platinum Edition DVD release. "Shadowland". originally featured on the CD Rhythm of the Pride Lands with Zulu lyrics as "Lea Halelela", was adapted for the musical with new English lyrics. It is sung by Nala, the lionesses, and Rafiki. "Endless Night", also from Rhythm of the Pride Lands with Swahili lyrics as "Lala", is sung by Simba while reflecting on Mufasa's promise to always be there. "One by One", from the Rhythm of the Pride Lands CD, was adapted as the rousing African-styled entre act sung by the chorus at the opening of the second act. Many of the animals portrayed in the production are actors in costume using extra tools to move their costumes. For example, the giraffes are portrayed by actors walking on stilts. For principal characters such as Mufasa and Scar, the costumes feature mechanical headpieces that can be raised and lowered to foster the illusion of a cat "lunging" at another. Other characters, such as the hyenas, Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa, are portrayed by actors in life-sized puppets or costumes. The Timon character is described by Taymor as one of the hardest roles to master because the movement of the puppet's head and arms puts a strain on the actor's arms, back, and neck. Composer Lebo M led the original Broadway chorus. The chorus members are usually visible in the production, rather than being hidden in the shadows as seen in some other musical shows. A new section of the production, the Lioness Hunt, features a particularly complicated dance sequence for the actresses, and the dance is made even more difficult by the large headpieces worn during the scene. During the show's run in China, Chinese elements were included in the musical. One of the songs was adapted to a well-known Chinese pop song, "Laoshu ai dami" or "Mice Love Rice". The cast even cracked jokes and attempted conversations with the audience in Chinese. As of June 27, 2010, nine minutes of the Broadway version were cut, among them the entire "Morning Report" musical number. The song was also removed from subsequent productions and cast recordings, such as the Spanish one. The musical is touring North America for the third time. This tour, named the Rafiki Tour, began on October 26, 2017. The tour version is very similar to the original Broadway production; however, certain scenic elements which rise out of the stage floor (such as Pride Rock, the stampede, and the grasslands) were converted to less costly configurations for the touring productions. The sun during the opening is reduced in size for the shorter-lasting tours. Stage sizes are also smaller, and the size of the pit orchestra is decreased. The first national tour (Gazelle Tour) launched on April 17, 2002 and closed on July 23, 2017. The second tour (Cheetah Tour) began on April 23, 2003 and ended on March 2, 2008. A Las Vegas production opened at Mandalay Bay on May 15, 2009, with previews beginning May 5, 2009. The Las Vegas cast performed on the ninth season of the American dance competition Dancing With the Stars on September 23, 2009. Led by Buyi Zama, the cast performed Circle of Life. When this production closed, on December 30, 2011, it turned into the second longest run the show had in a same American city (only coming after Broadway), running longer than the 2000–2003 Los Angeles Production. A Los Angeles production began performances at the Pantages Theatre on September 29, 2000, with an official opening on October 19, 2000. The show closed on January 12, 2003, after 952 performances. The cast of this production performed a set of the show's songs in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on October 2, 2001. The cast was led by Walker. A Canadian production was staged in Toronto and ran for nearly four years at the Princess of Wales Theatre. The show was directed by the original director Julie Taymor and premiered on April 25, 2000. The Lion King ran until January 2004 when it had its final performance. This first Canadian staging comprised 1,560 performances and was seen by 2.9 million people according to David Mirvish, whose Mirvish Productions theater and management company owns and operates the theater. The star Raymond Ablack starred as Young Simba In 2001. The show returned for a five-week engagement that began in April 2011, as part of the North American tour The musical had a Mexican limited run (in English) between January 3 and January 27, 2008, in Mexico City, as part of the U.S. national tour. In May 2014, it was confirmed a new production of the musical, this time in Spanish. The production ran from May 7, 2015 to January 14, 2018 at the Teatro Telcel in Mexico City for 930 performances. Carlos Rivera returned to the role of Simba, which he also took in Spain four years earlier. The lyrics of the songs of this production differed from the European Spanish one. South-African actress Shirley Hlahatse was chosen as Rafiki, marking the first time in years a completely new actress was elected for that role. A Brazilian production was confirmed to debut in São Paulo in March 28, 2013. Auditions took place in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. The cast contained mainly Brazilian actors and seven South African actors. The Portuguese lyrics were translated by Brazilian singer Gilberto Gil. Actress Phindile Mkhize, who had previously performed in many of the show's productions, was selected as Rafiki for this production, leaving in October 2013 and being replaced by Ntsepa Pitjeng. The show closed its doors on December 14, 2014. After the success of the Broadway show, the show opened in the United Kingdom in on October 19, 1999. The cast included Cornell John as Mufasa, Luke Youngblood as Young Simba, Dominique Moore as Young Nala, Martyn Ellis as Pumbaa, Simon Gregor as Timon, Rob Edwards as Scar, Paul J. Medford as Banzai and Josette Bushell-Mingo as Rafiki. As of October 2015, it has been playing at the Lyceum Theatre in London for 16 years. Taymor directed the British production of the show, with Melissa De Melo as the producer. The show also toured the UK from 2012 until March 2015. The West End cast of the show performed twice at the traditional Royal Variety Performance: in 1999 (led by Josette Bushell-Mingo) and 2008 (led by Brown Lindiwe Mkhize). In both performances, the song Circle of Life was performed. The company also performed at the show Strictly Come Dancing special Strictly African Dancing, broadcast in 2005, led once again by Mkhize and performed the same song. The German production has been playing in Hamburg at the Theater in Hafen since December 2001 and had its 5000th performance on January 14, 2014. Access to the theater is by ferry, where the boats are decorated in the colors of the musical and are named after characters in the musical (such as Nala and its sister ship Rafiki). By September 2014, the Hamburg production along with the Broadway produciton had passed the $1 billion in cumulative gross. A Dutch production of the show was produced by Joop van den Ende Theaterproducties/Stage Entertainment and played at the Circustheater in Scheveningen, The Hague, running from April 4, 2004, until August 27, 2006, when it was replaced by another Disney musical, Tarzan. A revival of the Dutch production ran for 1139 performances at the same Circustheater from October 30, 2016 to July 21, 2019. The show's French production debuted in Paris on September 22, 2007, in Stage Entertainment's Théâtre Mogador. This production won several Moliére Awards and closed on July 25, 2010, after being watched by over a million people. On October 20, 2011, the first Spanish production opened at Teatro Lope de Vega in Madrid, where it is still running after more than 3,000 performances. In Basel, Switzerland, the musical was performed for the first time from March 12, 2015, until October 11, 2015. Beginning in June 2007, The Lion King debuted its first-ever performance on the African continent in Johannesburg, South Africa at the Teatro at Montecasino. The Lion King was the first production to take place in the new theatre. The cast featured 53 artists, of whom all were South African. The opening night in Johannesburg was celebrated with key persons involving the creation of the musical and American talk show host Oprah Winfrey who had recently opened an educational academy for girls in Johannesburg The show closed on February 17, 2008. The show was translated into Japanese and staged by the Shiki Theatre Company. The Tokyo production began in 1998 and continues to the present day at the Shiki Theatre HARU. The production achieved its 10,000th performance on July 15, 2015. It is the second longest-running musical production in Japan, running only behind the musical Cats, selling 10.26million tickets as of March 2016. The musical had a Korean production from October 28, 2006, to October 28, 2007, at the Charlotte Theater in Seoul, where it ran for 330 performances. In August 2008, a production opened in Taipei, Taiwan, closing on August 24, 2009. The show had a limited run at Shanghai's Grand Theatre from July to September 2006. This production was led by Buyi Zama and was performed in English, though a couple of Chinese elements were added to the story. From June 14, 2016, until October 8, 2017, The Lion King returned to China, in a new production that was staged at the 1,200 capacity Walt Disney Grand Theatre, in the Shanghai Disney Resort, where it ran for 500 performances. This production was performed in Mandarin and led by Ntsepa Pitjeng. The show played at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, Australia, from October 16, 2003, until June 26, 2005. The production then ran at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne from July 28, 2005, until June 4, 2006. The Lion King returned to Sydney's Capitol Theatre on December 12, 2013. On March 28, 2018, the first international tour officially opened at the Solaire Resort & Casino in Manila, with confirmed stops in Singapore, South Korea (Daegu, Seoul, and Busan), Taipei, Bangkok, Hong Kong, China (Wuhan, and Beijing), and South Africa. All these countries have had productions so far, except the Philippines and Thailand. The tour is performed in English and led by Ntsepa Pitjeng. Simba: a male lion who is next in line to become king, son of Mufasa, Scar: a male lion, Simba's uncle and Mufasa's brother; he kills Mufasa in order to become king, Mufasa: a male lion, King of the Pridelands; Simba's father and Sarabi's husband, Sarabi: a lioness, Simba's mother and Mufasa's wife, Nala: a lioness who later becomes Simba's love interest, Rafiki: a female mandrill who serves as narrator, Timon: a male meerkat who becomes a friend with Simba, Pumbaa: a male warthog who also becomes a friend with Simba, Zazu: a male hornbill, Mufasa's majordomo, Shenzi: a female hyena; one of Scar's minions, Banzai: a male hyena; one of Scar's minions, Ed: a male hyena who cannot speak; one of Scar's minions, The ensemble consists of a variety of African animals, Scar's hyenas, and plants The original principal casts of all major productions. The original production crew for the Broadway production. Phindile Mkhize and Ntsepa Ptjeng are the only actresses who performed as leadings in three different languages the musical's been performed in. Phindile performed in English (American tour and Las Vegas, 2002–2010), Spanish (from 2012 to 2013) and Portuguese (2013); while Ntsepa was leading in Brazil (2014, as a substitute to Phindile), Basel (2015) and Shanghai (2016)., They are followed by Zama Magudulela, who performed as leading in two different languages the musical's been performed in: French (2007 to 2010) and Spanish (2011 to the present day). Zama is also the sole actress ever to perform in four different companies, as she was in the first Australian tour (2003–2006), German (2006), French (2007–2010) and Spanish (2011-present) productions., Portia Manyike is the only actress ever to perform in three different languages, though she was never promoted to leading cast member. She's been part of the ensemble in France, Brazil and Mexico., Nteliseng Nkhela (German and English), Nomvula Dlamini (English and Dutch), Ntsepa Pitjeng (English, Portuguese and Mandarin), Thabile Mtshali (English and Portuguese) and Mukelisiwe Goba (English and Spanish) are the only actresses who performed as leading Rafikis in productions in two different languages., John Vickery was the first actor to move from Broadway into a different production of the show, when he chose to leave Broadway in 1999 to move to the Los Angeles production in 2000., Sheila Gibbs was the first actress to move from a standby into a leading role. She was a Rafiki understudy for Tsidi Le Loka from 1997 to 1998 and was selected as leading from 2001 to 2002. This was followed by Gugwana Dlamini, who was a standby (1999–2002) and a leading (2002–2005) in the show's London production and Buyisile Zama, who was a standby for Gugwana in London (2002–2003) and leading actress for the show's first Australian tour (2003–2006)., Nomvula Dlamini was the first, and so far the only, actress who moved from Broadway into a production performed in a different language, being the leading Rafiki on Broadway (2002–2004) and Holland (2004–2006)., Spanish actors Esteban Oliver and Mukelisiwe Goba were the first actors who moved from Spain into Broadway, when they respectively took over the role of Zazu and Rafiki understudy in 2014 for a couple of months. Mukelisiwe then was transferred to the Gazelle Tour, taking over Tshidi Manye in September 2015., Having been in the show since its 1997 premiere, actress Lindiwe Dlamini is the actress who's been for more time in the show. She's followed by Joachim Benoit, who's been regularly performing as Zazu since the show premiered in Germany, in 2001., Melina M'Poy was the first actress to perform as the two leading lionesses. She was Sarabi (France, 2007–2010) and Nala (Basel, London, UK tour and Singapore, 2011–2015)., The Londoner production is known to have been the first to have selected non-African actresses to perform as Rafiki, since actresses Josette Bushell-Mingo (1999–2001) and Sharon D. Clarke (2001–2003) are English, though their understudies were South African. The American tour companies followed this when Fredi Walker and Fuchsia Walker were chosen as Rafiki in 2001 as leadings for the first American tour and the Los Angeles one, respectively., The Japanese and Korean productions also stand out since never throughout them the productions had leading African actresses. Native Japanese and Korean actresses performed as Rafiki during the productions., Buyi Zama (2002–2016), Zama Magudulela (2002 up to the present day), Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (starting in 2005), Futhi Mhlongo (2000–2004; 2010–2018), Tshidi Manye (2000 up to the present day), Gugwana Dlamini (2002– up to present day), Thandazile A. Soni (2002–2010; 2012 up to the present day), and Mpume Sikakane (2002 up to the present day) are the actresses who've been performing as either leading or stand-bys to Rafiki for the longest time, having performed in several productions., Alton Fitzgerald White (2002–2015), Nathaniel Stampley (2006–2010), and David Comrie (leading in the Spanish production from 2011 to 2017) performed as Mufasa for longer than any other actor. Behind them comes Jean-Luc Guizonne, who performed in Paris, Singapore and German (from 2007 to 2014)., On several occasions, members from different productions agreed to change places. That happened twice: when Patrick Brown (American tour) and Gareth Saxe (Broadway) changed places as leading Scar in 2014–2015; Buyi Zama (American tour) changed places with Tshidi Manye (Broadway) as Rafiki in 2013–2014 and when Brown Lindiwe Mkhize (London) changed places with Nteliseng Nkhela (American tour) again as Rafiki in 2013. More recently, Tryphena Wade and Chondra Profit agreed to change places from the North American tour to Broadway., When actress Shirley Hlahatse was chosen as the leading Rafiki in the Mexican production of the show, it marked the first time in years an actress who had never been in the show before was given the role. In most occasions, understudies or standbys were promoted to leading., South African dancer Keswa was 18 years old when she arrived on Broadway in 1999. She was the youngest performer ever to be given a role in the show's ensemble group., Balungile Gumede and Marvette Williams are the actresses who have played Sarabi for the longest timespan in the show. Balungile as of February 2018 is a cover Sarabi, however she started in the German production of the show in 2010 taking over Marvette playing Sarabi until 2017 when she was replaced by Kerry Jean. They are followed by Tryphena Wade, who's also performing as the lioness since 2010., Enrique Segura is the actor who played Ed for the longest timespan in the show, being on it for more than a decade., Segura is followed by Bonita J. Hamilton and James Brown-Orleans, who have been performing as hyenas Shenzi and Banzai for more than 5 years., Nokubonga Khuzwayo has been performing as Nala for the longest timespan in the show. She's performed in South Africa (2007–2008), Taiwan (2008), Las Vegas (2010–2011), American tour (2011) and Germany (2012–2017)., Lebo M, Tsidii LeLoka, Willi Welp and Gustavo Vaz were the only actors who were performers and directors of the show. Lebo M was the composer of various of the show's songs and performed on Broadway (1997–2000), Willi Welp performed as Scar from 2005 to 2015 and then left to be the resident director of the show's German production and Gustavo was the resident director of the show's Brazilian production at the same time he was a Scar and Pumbaa standby. Original Broadway Rafiki Tsidi LeLoka was also part of the show's creative team, as she's the one responsible for adding Rafiki's chants to the story and writing her mourning song., When Carlos Rivera played his 1000th performance on January 27, 2016, he turned into the actor who's been performing as a leading Simba for the longest time in the show. He played the role in Spain for 700 times and for more than 300 times in Mexico. He finally left the show in May 2016., Rivera is also the sole leading cast member whose voice can be heard in two different recordings. He takes part in the Spanish (2011) and Mexican (2015) cast recordings., While it's a rule for all the productions of the show to have at least 6 South African performers in their casts, the South African one had a cast fully made of native actors., Nosipho Nkonqa is the cast member who's been in more productions than any other. She was in the Holland (2004–2006), South African (2007–2008), Taiwan (2008), Singapore (2011), United Kingdom tour (2012–2015), Basel (2015) and London (2016 up to the present time) productions., Andile Gumbi is the actor who performed as Simba for the longest time in the show. He was in the original Australian tour (2003–2006), Shanghai (2006), Johannesburg (2007–2008), London (2009–2012) and Broadway (2012–2013). He is followed by Jonathan Andrew Hume, who performed as a standby (2001–2011) and as a full-time cast member (2011–2016) for the role., Vusi Sondyazi is one of the actors who've been on the show for the longest time. He's been serving as an ensemble singer and Mufasa understudy since 2003 and stays in the Gazelle Tour cast at the present, after having performed on Broadway, Taipei and Las Vegas as well., Ntomb'Khona Dlamini is the actress who served as an understudy or ensemble member for the longest time. She was in the original Broadway company as an understudy to Tsidi LeLoka. After leaving for a brief time between 2000 and 2001, she went on to perform in the American tours. Summing up all this time, she's been in the show for more than 15 years, finally leaving the company in 2013., Gaia Aikman will be the first actress ever to perform as both Young and Adult Nala. She was one of the children assigned for that role in the original Dutch production (2004–2006) and was selected as the leading for the adult version of the same character in the Dutch revival production (2016–2017). Other notable young actors and actress' who have gone on to be a part of the Adult Ensemble include: Lauren Alexandra Young Nala (London 2000) Ensemble Cover Nala (London 2013-2014), André Fabien Francis Young Simba (London 2004) Ensemble (Germany 2015-2018), Jermaine Woods Young Simba (London 2005) Ensemble Cover Ed (UK Tour 2014-2015). Most of the show's international productions had cast recordings which are available on CD, including: 1997 Broadway Cast, The original Broadway cast recording is the only cast recording of the musical that comes with the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". It's also the only cast recording that does not come with the full reprise of "Circle of Life", the last four verses of that song being added to the CD., 1999 Japanese Cast, The Japanese cast recording was re-released in 2011 with four extra karaoke tracks and new renditions of the songs using the instrumental tracks of the 1999 CD. (Walt Disney Records, ASIN: B0058X1C3S), 2002 German Cast, At sometime after the show's German debut, alternate versions of the songs "Der ewige kreis", "Endlose Nacht", "Er lebt in dir" and "Kann es wirklich liebe sein" (German versions of "Circle of Life", "Endless Night", "He Lives in You" and "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?") were released., 2004 Dutch Cast, The 2016 Dutch revival production had a newly live recorded cast album with different instrumental tracks for the songs., 2007 French Cast, Some time during the promotion of the French promotion, a CD-single containing a medley of the songs "Ils Vivent en Toi" and "Il Vit en Toi" (French versions of "They Live in You" and "He Lives in You") was released, with a music video being recorded with actors Zama Magudulela (Rafiki), Jeremy Fontanet (Adult Simba) and Jean-Luc Guizonne (Mufasa) performing and singing the song with natives chanting in the background. This new version of the songs were also included in a special, double edition of the French cast recording that also came with a bonus DVD., 2007 South African Cast (live performance audio CD), The song "Rafiki Mourns" was cut from this CD, while every other song was included in their complete form. The CD also comes with a remix of the song "One by One" performed by the cast., 2011 Spanish Cast, The Spanish CD already comes with the cuts made to the Broadway production in 2010. The song "The Morning Report" was totally cut, with some minutes of "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "The Madness of King Scar". Also, it is the only non-English CD where "One by One" was renamed due to the language (in Spanish, it became "Somos mil"), though the song is performed with its original lyrics., 2015 Mexican Cast, In this release, the Mexican Spanish versions of Simba Confronts Scar and Circle of Life (Reprise) were comprised into a single song, this version being named Confrontación/Finale. It also includes the song which Timon sings to fool the hyenas, which was recorded in the studio and added to the cast album., With the release of the Mexican cast recording, Spanish was the first language in which the musical was performed that spawned two different cast recordings. Mexican Spanish lyrics were translated by Aleks Syntek and Armando Manzanero., Note: A recording entitled The Lion King, by the London Theatre Orchestra and Singers, was released on November 14, 2000 (D-3 Entertainment, ASIN: B00004ZDR6). This is not the London original cast recording. Of all the show's productions (counting the English ones), only the Brazilian and the Korean ones didn't have cast recordings released. The Lion King: Original Broadway Cast Recording is a cast recording released on 1997 by The Walt Disney Company, a recording of the songs as heard in the stage musical. Most of the tracks were composed by African composer Lebo M. and focused primarily on the African influences of the film's original music, with most songs being sung either partially or entirely in various African languages. Rafiki's chants in "Rafiki Mourns" were written by Tsidii Le Loka, who originated the role on Broadway. 1. "Circle of Life" – Faca Kulu, Lebo M, The Lion King Ensemble and Tsidii Le Loka 2. "Grasslands Chant" – The Lion King Ensemble 3. "The Morning Report" – Geoff Hoyle, Samuel E. Wright and Scott Irby-Ranniar 4. "The Lioness Hunt" – Lebo M and The Lion King Ensemble 5. "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" – Geoff Hoyle, Kajuana Shuford, Scott Irby-Ranniar and The Lion King Ensemble 6. "Chow Down" – Kevin Cahoon, Stanley Wayne Mathis and Tracy Nicole Chapman 7. "They Live in You" – Samuel E. Wright and The Lion King Ensemble 8. "Be Prepared" – John Vickery, Kevin Cahoon, Stanley Wayne Mathis, The Lion King Ensemble and Tracy Nicole Chapman 9. "The Stampede" – The Lion King Ensemble 10. "Rafiki Mourns" – The Lion King Ensemble and Tsidii Le Loka 11. "Hakuna Matata" – Jason Raize, Max Casella, Scott Irby-Ranniar, The Lion King Ensemble and Tom Alan Robbins 12. "One by One" – Lebo M and The Lion King Ensemble 13. "The Madness of King Scar" – Geoff Hoyle, Heather Headley, John Vickery, Kevin Cahoon, Stanley Wayne Mathis and Tracy Nicole Chapman 14. "Shadowland" – Heather Headley, The Lion King Ensemble and Tsidii Le Loka 15. "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" – Lebo M 16. "Endless Night" – Jason Raize and The Lion King Ensemble 17. "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" – Heather Headley, Jason Raize, Max Casella, The Lion King Ensemble and Tom Alan Robbins 18. "He Lives in You (Reprise)" – Jason Raize, The Lion King Ensemble and Tsidii Le Loka 19. "Simba Confronts Scar" – Mark Mancina and Robert Elhai 20. "King of Pride Rock/Circle of Life (Reprise)" – Geoff Hoyle, Heather Headley, Jason Raize, Lebo M, Max Casella, The Lion King Ensemble, Tom Alan Robbins and Tsidii Le Loka Note: The songs "Grasslands Chant", "The Lioness Hunt", "Chow Down", "They Live in You", "Rafiki Mourns", "One by One", "The Madness of King Scar", "Shadowland", "Endless Night" and "Simba Confronts Scar" are new songs written for the musical. The original Broadway show included: 1 wood flute soloist/flute/piccolo, 1 concertmistress, 2 violins, 1 violin/viola, 2 cellos, 1 flute/clarinet/bass clarinet, 3 French horns, 1 trombone, 1 bass trombone/tuba, 1 upright & electric basses, 1 drums, 1 guitar, 2 mallets/percussion, 2 percussion, 3 keyboard synthesizers The Lion King Musical Lyrics

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Buc-ee's is a Texas chain of convenience stores and gas stations located in the Central, North, South, and Southeast regions of Texas as well as locations in Southern Alabama, and Florida. The company is owned by Arch "Beaver" Aplin III and Don Wasek and has its headquarters in Lake Jackson, Texas. The chain is known for its very large-format stores and clean restrooms (relative to other convenience stores) and a logo depicting a beaver. Co-Founders Don Wasek and Arch "Beaver" Aplin opened their first store as partners, which is still open as of 2020, in Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. Aplin formed the name Buc-ee's by combining his childhood nickname; the name of his Labrador Retriever, Buck; as well as the appeal of Ipana toothpaste's animated mascot, Bucky the beaver. Aplin was born in Southeast Texas, with his father originating from, and grandparents residing in, Harrisonburg, Louisiana. Buc-ee's expanded and opened its first travel center in Luling, Texas, in 2001. Buc-ee's are large stores with fuel pumps that range from 80-120 fueling positions for gas and diesel (some stores include Ethanol Free and DEF) and a large selection of jerky, pastries, fresh sandwiches, tacos, Dippin' Dots and fudge and other items. In 2012, Buc-ee's opened its largest travel center in New Braunfels, Texas, on Interstate 35. The New Braunfels location is the largest convenience store in the world at 68,000 square feet. The store features 120 fueling positions, 83 toilets, 31 cash registers, 4 Icee machines, and 80 fountain dispensers. It also offers tubing and water gear for enjoying the nearby Guadalupe River. The New Braunfels, Texas store was named the 2012 "Best Restroom in America" by Cintas. The first Buc-ee's in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex opened in Terrell, Texas, on June 22, 2015. The travel center is located three miles west of Tanger Outlets on Interstate 20. In September 2015 it was announced that at least part of Buc-ee's corporate operations would move to office space at Pearland Town Center. The "partial headquarters" would house legal and human resources departments of the company. The space was to be ready by the early part of 2016, The second Buc-ee's in the Metroplex opened on May 23, 2016. The store is located in far northern Fort Worth, across the street from Texas Motor Speedway. The third DFW location opened in Denton, Texas, on October 29, 2018. Buc-ee's broke ground on another North Texas location in Melissa, Texas, on February 5, 2018. The store is located off New Davis Road and U.S. Highway 75. The store is expected to open in February 2019. In June 2018, Buc-ee's approached landowners in Texarkana, Texas, with interest in acreage off Interstate 30 and State Line Ave., for a future store site. The company has the option to buy the property, but as of yet, has not exercised that option. In late 2018, Buc- ee's announced a deal with Tooshlights to put special indicator lights in bathrooms to alert customers to which stalls are occupied or not. This is similar to the indicator lights used at some parking facilities that tell drivers which parking spaces are available and which are not. The Katy and Temple Buc-ee's stores would be the first to get the special bathroom indicator lights. On March 8, 2016, Buc-ee's announced a possible first location outside of the state of Texas would be located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The location was expected to open in early 2017; however, on October 4, 2016, Buc-ee's announced that the plans for the Baton Rouge location had been terminated. On April 12, 2017, Buc-ee's announced that it would open their first convenience store/gas station outside of Texas in Daytona Beach, Florida, located on the north side of LPGA Boulevard across from Tanger Outlets, just east of Interstate 95 and immediately west of Stonewood Grill & Tavern (formerly Vince Carter's). At 50,000 square feet with 120 fueling positions the Daytona Beach travel center would be the largest in Florida and the largest outside of Texas. Construction began in summer 2018. However, delays in the project pushed the construction date to sometime in 2020 or 2021. Since the announcement of the Daytona Beach location, Buc-ee's also announced a new location to be built near St. Augustine, Florida. In January 2018, Buc-ee's broke ground on what became its first location outside of Texas, in Baldwin County, Alabama. A few weeks after the Baldwin County location began construction, Buc-ee's announced that a second Southern Alabama location will be built in Mobile. And in June 2019, Buc-ee's broke ground on a third Alabama location, to be located along Interstate 20 in Leeds, not far from Barber Motorsports Park. Buc-ee's broke ground on its first store in Georgia in Warner Robins on November 18, 2019. Buc-ee's chose Warner Robins as the location of its first Georgia store for its central location between Alabama and Florida, its fast population growth as well as the presence of Robins Air Force Base. The Warner Robins location is expected to open in 2021 and will bring 200 jobs to the area. Buc-ee's offers products found at most convenience stores such as fuel, cigarettes, tobacco, chips, drinks, and soft drinks at their smaller neighborhood stores. Travel centers include a deli, coffee shop, exterior tunnel car washes, Texas-themed specialty gifts and food, and products catering to hunters and river rafters. All Buc-ee's are open 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Buc-ee's offers private labeled beef jerky, novelty candy, trail mixes, granola, pralines, jarred vegetables, preserves, and salsa. A popular branded product is caramel and butter-glazed corn puffs known as 'Beaver Nuggets.' In recent years, during the company's rapidly growing success, Buc-ee's has filed numerous lawsuits against other convenience store chains, most of them based in Texas, for trademark and trade dress infringement. In 2014, Buc-ee's filed a lawsuit against Texas based convenience store chain "Frio Beaver". Frio Beaver, a company with a logo also depicting a beaver in a yellow circle with a black outline, was accused of copying the iconic Buc-ee's beaver head logo, which the company is widely known for in Texas. In 2016, Buc-ee's sued "Choke Canyon BBQ", another Texas convenience store, for copyright infringement and trade dressing. Choke Canyon uses a logo of a grinning alligator in the middle of a yellow circle, which Buc-ee's claims is an attempt by the chain to resemble the Buc-ee's logo. Choke Canyon is also calling their new stores "Bucky's". In 2017, Buc-ee's again filed a lawsuit for breaking an agreement, this time against a Nebraska-based convenience store chain known as "Bucky's". The two companies had agreed to remain in their respective states and expand only to states where the other did not operate. There was also a non-logo related lawsuit filed in 2013 against "Chicks", a convenience store located in Bryan, Texas, for trade dressing by allegedly copying Buc-ee's mega convenience store designs and layout. The case was settled out of court. Buc-ee's also lost a Texas Employee Retention Agreement case on an appeal in 2017. A year after a trial court ordered a former employee pay Buc-ee's close to $100,000 in damages and attorney's fees for breaching a "Retention Agreement," a Texas court of appeals reversed the decision and ordered that Buc-ee's take nothing on its claims against the former employee. The court reasoned that the contract violated Texas' employment-at-will doctrine. It could only be valid if it met the requirements of an actual non-compete agreement, but as this did not meet Texas requirement for non-compete, the contract was not enforceable. "Buc-ee's in New Braunfels vying for best restrooms in America", KHOU.com, September 2, 2012., Miguel Bustillo, "Roadside Stopper: Can Something Be Too Big in Texas?", Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2012., Peter Carbonara, "How Two Texans Made Buc-ee's Convenience Stores A Phenomenon", Forbes, September 5, 2017., Priya Krishna, "Meet Me at Buc-ee's: The Best Rest Stop in America", Bon Appetit, September 19, 2016., Amy McCarthy, "How Buc-ee’s Became Texas’s Most Beloved Road Trip Destination", Eater, June 14, 2017., Hollis Johnson, Kate Taylor, "We visited a convenience-store chain with a cult following in Texas, and we were amazed by what we found", BusinessInsider.com, July 22, 2018. Buc-ee's on Facebook The QuikTrip Corporation, more commonly known as QuikTrip (QT), is an American chain of convenience stores based in Tulsa, Oklahoma that primarily operates in the Midwestern, Southern, and Southeastern United States as well as in Arizona. The first QuikTrip was opened in 1958 in Tulsa by Burt Holmes and Chester Cadieux. The company expanded outside of Oklahoma in 1968, and started selling gasoline in 1971. Chester's son, Chet, Jr., is the current CEO. In 2005, QuikTrip and Chevron were the first two retailers to earn a "Top Tier" rating from General Motors, BMW, Honda, Volkswagen, Audi, and Toyota. The "Top Tier" rating exceeds the United States Environmental Protection Agency's standards for gasoline additives. QuikTrip was ranked as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. In January 2006, QT ranked No. 21, ninth among companies classified as "mid-size". In 2008, QT was ranked No. 27 on Fortune's Top 100 list. QuikTrip often uses this fact in recruiting new employees. QuikTrip also ranked No. 33 on Forbes magazine's list of largest private companies in 2016. While driving through Dallas, Burt Holmes was intrigued by the success of 7-Eleven and decided to open a small grocery store in his hometown of Tulsa. He took on classmate Chester Cadieux as a partner in his planned venture. Holmes and Cadieux each invested $5,000, and three other investors put up $2,000 each for the venture. The first QuikTrip store was opened in a Tulsa strip mall in 1958, which sold a limited selection of groceries with high prices for the convenience. The chain grew rapidly, opening its first store outside Tulsa in 1964, expanding to Missouri in 1971 and Iowa in 1974. QuikTrip began to sell gasoline in 1971 as states legalized self-service stations. In the early 1970s, co-founder Cadieux eliminated slow-moving merchandise from the stores' inventory, such as canned vegetables, and stocked a larger quantity of items, priced low for high-volume sales, such as beer, soda, coffee, cigarettes, and candy. In 1976, it became one of the first convenience store chains to be open 24 hours a day. Also that year, it adopted its now-famous "QT" logo. QuikTrip had its own branded goods marketed from the 1970s to the 1980s, including QT Beer—QT for "Quittin' Time". The ad campaign, "It's QT Time Again", would often show a dog named Lamar. The dog's owner was portrayed in television commercials by actor Ben Jones, who often asked the dog, "Ain't that right, Lamar?" In 1987, Cadieux was the first inductee into the Convenience Store Hall of Fame and was noted for being the first to offer self serve fountain drinks, the first to design and offer a fast food module, the first to open a downtown convenience store, and the first to install personal computers in the stores and tie them to the company's mainframe. In 1988, upon rapid expansions into the St. Louis and Atlanta markets, QuikTrip began a renovation of all stores, primarily replacing the earthtone exterior and interior with a bright red color scheme. The interior decor featured red countertops and a red quarry tile floor; almond tile on the walls interspersed with painted red sections of the walls to create contrast. Some gold trim maintained continuity from the previous decor. The company also took more care with landscaping around the store. By the early 1990s, QuikTrip began to offer fast foods and fountain beverages at its stores, being the first convenience store to offer a self-serve soda fountain and a self-serve coffee bar. Expensive advertising led the company to phase out the private label beer by this time. In 1994, QuikTrip acquired the former Memorex/Telex Communications headquarters in Tulsa and remodeled part of the building for its Oklahoma division. In 2003, QuikTrip decided to consolidate all employees into one corporate campus in south Tulsa and sold the building to Community Care College. In 2017, QuikTrip announced plans to expand into two additional markets in Texas, San Antonio and Austin. The first San Antonio store opened in October 2018, with three more locations opening in the following months. In an attempt to increase speed and improve customer service at checkout, QuikTrip asks customers to stand at the counter versus standing in a long line. Employees are taught at orientation to go provide assistance on an additional register when the customer to cashier ratio exceeds 3:1, and to direct customers to the closest available checkout. Since the early 1990s, QuikTrip has sold a private label brand of fast food, "Quick 'n Tasty" and "HOTZI sandwiches". "Quick 'n Tasty" heat-and-serve sandwiches include Texas Ham and Cheese, BarBQ Pork Rib, and the Super Po Boy. "HOTZI" breakfast sandwiches included the sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit and the breakfast burrito. In 2012, QuikTrip began an initiative of offering fresh food made daily at its own bakery and commissary referred to as QT Kitchens. The products includes fresh sandwiches, wraps, salads, fruit, and various pastries made and delivered daily. Since then, QuikTrip has expanded the "QT Kitchens" brand to include actual kitchens in their stores with made-to-order hot food as well as specialty drinks. The company also retrofitted their older style stores to include the new kitchen operations, in addition to building entirely new "Gen 3" stores. During rapid expansion in the late 1980s, some QuikTrip stores included large 'travel centers.' A smaller version of a truck stop, the travel centers included a 5,000-square-foot store, 12 gasoline pumps, five diesel pumps with an elevated canopy to accommodate large trucks, a truck scale, and a store to serve the needs of truck drivers. In 1994, QuikTrip began test-marketing a dual-brand concept in St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Atlanta, where a 3,000-square-foot Wendy's store was attached to each QuikTrip convenience store. In Des Moines, QuikTrip opened a new store with a Burger King with a separate entry and a drive- through window, but a passageway allowing movement between the convenience store and the restaurant. In October 2007, QuikTrip opened a store within the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Missouri. The location only offered concessions and not gasoline. The store was closed in mid-2013. The company's second store without gasoline—store No.1700— opened in midtown Atlanta at the Viewpoint Midtown condominium building on Peachtree Street. In 2008, QuikTrip signed an agreement with the city of Grand Prairie, Texas for naming rights to the Grand Prairie AirHogs' new stadium, to be named QuikTrip Park. The deal included a QuikTrip booth at the stadium selling QT Kitchens products at the park for store price. QuikTrip operates over 800 stores, which are located in the following areas of the United States: Arizona: Phoenix metro (141 stores), Arizona: Tucson metro (20 stores), Colorado: Denver metro (coming 2021), Georgia: Atlanta metro (134 stores), Iowa: Des Moines metro (23 stores), Kansas: Wichita metro (38 stores), Kansas / Missouri: Kansas City metro (83 stores), Missouri / Illinois: St. Louis metro (73 stores), Missouri: Joplin metro (coming 2020), Nebraska / Iowa: Omaha metro (10 stores), North and South Carolina: Charlotte metro (39 stores), Oklahoma: Tulsa metro (77 stores), South Carolina: Greenville / Spartanburg metro (36 stores), Texas: Dallas / Fort Worth metro (135 stores), Texas: San Antonio metro (8 stores) All stores are owned and operated by the company. In the Dallas/Fort Worth and Atlanta metro areas, QuikTrip competes head to head with RaceTrac, an Atlanta- based convenience store chain that is very similar to QuikTrip inside and out. Both chains tend to have new clean facilities with abundant on-site lighting and a large convenience area. In many cases, the two competitors are located directly across the street or on opposite street corners from one another. Because the company operates stores in Iowa and retains the trademarks to the name within that state, competing chain Kwik Trip uses a different name for their stores in the state, Kwik Star. In the Phoenix metropolitan area, there are no QuikTrip stores located within the city limits of the suburb of Scottsdale. This is due to a city ordinance that regulates the design and build of gas and service stations within city limits. Neither the city nor the company will give in to the other (in other words QuikTrip will not build a station to appease the ordinance and Scottsdale will not make an exception to QuikTrip), and therefore Scottsdale is the only city in the Phoenix area without a QuikTrip. The company has run into similar issues in Overland Park, Kansas, but it is more from a desire to make the city more "pedestrian- friendly". Reifman, Shlomo; Murphy, Andrea D. (November 6, 2008). "# 32 QuikTrip". "America's Largest Private Companies". Forbes., Voices of Oklahoma interview with Chester Cadieux. First person interview conducted on July 31, 2009, with Chester Cadieux, co-founder of QuikTrip., Voices of Oklahoma interview with Burt B. Holmes. First person interview conducted on May 28, 2014, with Burt B. Holmes, co-founder of QuikTrip. See Chapter 9 titled "QuikTrip." Stuckey's is a roadside convenience store chain found on highways throughout the United States. Stores are concentrated in the Southeast, Southwest, and Midwest, although operations have existed as far east as Connecticut and as far west as Oregon. Stuckey's Corporation, the company operating the chains, has its headquarters in Eastman, Georgia. Stuckey’s originated in the early 1930s in Eastman, Georgia. When founder W. S. Stuckey Sr., had a successful pecan harvest from his family's orchard he decided to offer a portion of the crop for sale in a lean-to roadside shed. Many Florida-bound tourists traveling U.S. Route 23 stopped to purchase the pecans. As the roadside business continued to expand, Stuckey's wife, Ethel, created a variety of homemade pecan candies to sell at the stand, including pecan log rolls and pecan divinity. In 1937, Stuckey constructed his first store building. Much like the former roadside lean-to, the new business focused on selling these Southern candies to highway travelers. This first Stuckey’s shop added a restaurant, then a novelty section, and then gas pumps. The final addition was a teal blue roof (which would later become the company's trademark). Until the onset of World War II, Stuckey’s continued to open stores in Georgia and Florida. The number of stores declined somewhat during World War II due to the effects of wartime sugar rationing. After World War II ended, the Stuckey’s business once again began to grow and it sold a number of new franchises. The company constructed a candy factory to supply an eventual 350-plus Stuckey's stores located throughout the continental United States. As the post-war baby boom flourished and families undertook more long- distance auto travel, Stuckey's continued to grow as they were usually constructed along major highways and frequently were paired with Texaco gas stations as well as restaurants and clean restrooms. In 1960, W. S. Stuckey attempted to create a hotel chain called Stuckey's Carriage Inn, but opened only four locations. In 1964, Stuckey's merged with Pet, Inc., maker of Pet Milk. The company at its peak had over 350 locations, which dwindled to fewer than 75 after a decline in the late 1970s under ownership by Pet. It was repurchased by former Congressman W. S. Stuckey Jr., in 1985. Stuckey's candy plant was sold to Nashville-based Standard Candy Co. , Stuckey's has over 115 franchise stores in 17 states. In November, 2019, Ethel "Stephanie" Stuckey, grand-daughter of the chain's founders, was named CEO. Nickerson Farms, Horne's (restaurant) Stuckey's official website

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The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) (French: Régime d'aide financière aux étudiantes et étudiants de l'Ontario (RAFEO)) is a provincial financial aid program that offers grants and loans to help Ontario students pay for their post-secondary education. OSAP determines the amount of money that a student is eligible to receive by considering factors such as tuition, course load, and the financial resources of the student. More than 380,000 students – more than half of all full-time students –received student financial aid in 2014-15. In 2016, the Ontario government announced changes to OSAP that aimed to make post-secondary education more affordable for lower income families. Starting in the 2017-18 school year, these changes increased the proportion of financial aid in the form of grants, and completely covered the cost of average tuition for families earning less than $50,000 per year. In 2019, the Ontario government announced cuts to OSAP in conjunction with a 10 percent reduction in post-secondary tuition fees. These changes would, starting in the 2019-20 school year, reduce the family income threshold for grants from $175,000 to $140,000, require that the loan-to-grant ratio for funding given to students be at least 50 percent loan, and remove the six- month interest-free grace period for the Ontario portion of loans following graduation. In 1966, the Province of Ontario Student Award Program (POSAP) was launched by Bill Davis, Ontario's Minister of University Affairs, in conjunction with the new Canada Student Loans Program to provide non-repayable provincial grants. The initial reaction was largely negative as the new application and administration was more cumbersome and restrictive than the prior system. University of Toronto and Ryerson students protested and demanded the government increase grant amounts, simplify the application and allow student aid offices to adjust individual awards. The protests were largely successful and, in 1967, the province removed questions about parental debt, insurance and mortgages, the need assessment was amended to exempt some income, and students were considered independent after three years of studies. Over time, the “P” was dropped and was re-branded as the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP). Now delivered through the authority of the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act, 1990, the Minister has the authority to “make grants, awards and loans to students of universities, colleges of applied arts and technology or other post-secondary institutions”. Since the Dominion-Provincial Student Assistance Program (DPSAP) in the 1930s, Ontario has administered an integrated federal-provincial student aid program. The federal government pays Ontario $16 million to compensate for this administration. In 1998, the federal government also integrated loan repayment with Ontario and other jurisdictions to allow for a single loan repayment and relief administration. The Ontario Liberal Party was elected with a platform commitment to a two-year tuition freeze, expanded loan eligibility and tuition waivers for “the neediest 10 percent of students.” At the time, Ontario student aid did not have any up-front grants, though it had a long-standing loan remission policy through the Ontario Student Opportunity Grant (OSOG) which capped total loans (federal and provincial) at $7,000 per year (maximum aid was $9,350). The government subsequently implemented a two-year tuition freeze beginning in September 2004. The government also launched a review of the post-secondary education system to be led by former Premier Bob Rae, which subsequently called for free tuition for low-income students and a new tuition framework that provides for “predictable, transparent and affordable” increases. In response, the government's Reaching Higher plan began in 2005 providing for a $6.2 billion investment in postsecondary education, including a target postsecondary attainment rate of 70% and doubling funding for OSAP. This included the introduction of up-front grants for low-income students and higher loan limits. In September 2005, Millennium-Ontario Access Grants of up to $6,000 were introduced for first-year dependent students, and $3,000 Ontario Access Grants for second-year students. In 2006, the tuition freeze was lifted and a four-year framework was implemented, which was subsequently extended three more years out to 2013: entering Arts/Science students could increase by up to 4.5%;, entering graduate/professional students could increase by up to 8%;, all continuing students by up to 4%;, combined an overall cap of 5%. Ontario tuition rates were regulated by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities through the Tuition Fee Framework Guidelines, which provides that any tuition increases beyond the guidelines result in dollar-for-dollar reduction of provincial funding to public universities and colleges. The Framework applies to all students that receive provincial funding, excluding international students and certain full-cost-recovery professional programs. Ontario Liberals were re-elected in 2007 with platform commitments for two new up-front grants: the Distance Grant (to support those with need travelling long distances to attend PSE) and the Textbook and Technology Grant ($150 flat grant not tied to OSAP need). The Budget before the 2011 election introduced a six-month interest-free grace period, doubled the student earnings income exemption, and increased student loan limits while increasing the OSOG threshold from $7,000 to $7,300. In the October 2011 election, the Liberals were re-elected with a minority government on the signature platform commitment to “support all middle-class Ontario families with a 30% across-the-board post-secondary undergraduate tuition grant. That means – every year – the families of five out of six students will save $1,600 per student in university and $730 per student in college.” It also included a commitment to keep OSOG debt cap at $7,300 and added an additional six-month grace period for graduates who work in the not-for-profit sector. The 30% Off Ontario Tuition grant was launched in January 2012, only for dependent students in first-entry programs, offset in part by the elimination of the Textbook and Technology Grant and some smaller merit-based programs. A revised four-year tuition framework was announced in 2013 that dropped the overall tuition increase cap from 5% to 3% and the professional/graduate cap from 8% to 5%. The additional six-month grace period was also extended to entrepreneurs starting a new business in 2013. The Liberals were re-elected to a majority government in 2014 under Kathleen Wynne with its only postsecondary platform commitment being to continue the 30% Off Ontario Tuition grant. In their 2015 Budget, the government made a number of need assessment changes in concert with the federal changes: a fixed student contribution, eliminating the vehicle asset test and indexed maximum student aid levels to inflation while increasing the OSOG debt cap to $7,400. In the 2016 Budget, the Ontario government announced an overhaul of student financial assistance in Ontario. This included eliminating tuition and post- secondary education tax credits and multiple OSAP grants (Ontario Access Grant, Ontario Student Opportunity Grant, Ontario Distance Grant, 30% Off Ontario Tuition grant, Child Care Bursary) and pooling the associated funding into a single new Ontario Student Grant. The new grant was designed to cover average tuition costs for all those under $50,000 of family income (or $30,000 for independent students) regardless of assessed need, with a sliding scale above that up to $160,000 receiving 30% of tuition costs. The result was that the proportion of Ontario aid provided in the form of non-repayable grants increased from 60% grant/40% loan in 2016-17 to 98% grant/2% loan in 2017-18. A new PC government was elected in June 2018, which announced significant changes to OSAP in January 2019. It included a 10% tuition fee reduction for all programs in 2019-20, followed by a freeze in 2020-21. It also cut the OSAP budget from approximately $2 billion to $1.4 billion, making significant changes to the program including: changing eligibility requirements for the Ontario Student Grant to only be provided up to assessed need and reducing income cut-offs to about $140,000 of family income;, requiring that at least 10% of assessed need be provided as loan for those with family income under $50,000;, requiring that at least 50% of assessed need be provided as loan for those in second-entry or out-of-province programs;, increasing the fixed student contribution to $3,600 from $3,000;, increasing expected parental contributions;, making the annual $500 computer allowance one-time;, changing the definition of independent student from four to six years out of high school; and, having interest accrue on provincial loans during the six-month grace period after graduation. Student Fixed Contribution – an amount that students are expected to contribute toward their education costs from their savings or earnings. The fixed contribution is $3,600 for a two-term study period for the Ontario assessment, but is reduced on a sliding income scale down to the low-income threshold for a minimum of $1,500 for the federal assessment. Contribution is waived for students with children, on social assistance, Crown wards, those with a permanent disability or self-identify as Indigenous. Scholarships/Bursaries/Awards – amount above $1,800 per year Study Period Income – exempt in federal assessment; amount over $11,200 per year in Ontario assessment Parental Contribution (for single dependent students) – calculated based on Annual Discretionary Income which is net parental income (after taxes/deductions) minus a moderate living allowance – different formulas federally and provincially. To be eligible for OSAP, students must be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or a protected person under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act; and They also must be an Ontario resident, meaning: Ontario is the most recent province in which the student resided for 12 consecutive months, not including time as a full-time postsecondary student;, if the student is married/common-law, Ontario is the most recent province in which the student's spouse resided for 12 consecutive months, not including time as a full-time postsecondary student; or, if the student is a single dependent student, Ontario is the most recent province in which the student's parent(s) resided for at least 12 consecutive months. Each student is assigned a student category based on their personal circumstances: 1) Single Dependent – considered dependent on parental support unless they meet at least one of the categories below 2) Single Independent – considered to have established financial independence from their parents if they meet at least one of following: out of high school for six or more years;, working 30+ hours per week for at least two years in a row while not being a full-time student;, both parents are deceased, Crown ward or receiving allowance support through a Children's Aid Society; or, widowed, divorced or separated with no children. 3) Married or Common-Law (lived continuously for minimum of three years or as parents) 4) Sole-Support Parent (single with custody and responsibility of one or more children) Students can also optionally self-identify as the following: Permanent Disability (fixed student contribution is waived; assessed for Canada Student Grant for Students with a Permanent Disability; and eligible for full-time OSAP while taking 40-59% of course load), Crown Ward (fixed student contribution is waived; assessed for Living and Learning Grant), Indigenous (fixed student contribution is waived), Francophone (to take into consideration studying in French for the Ontario Student Grant-Distance) For new Canadian citizens, permanent residents and protected persons who have resided in Canada for less than 12 months, a residency review is available to determine the province from which they would be eligible to receive student aid. Students who finished high school four or more years ago can qualify for more grants to go back to school. In order to apply for funding consideration from OSAP, students must first register as a new user online at Ontario.ca/osap Applications for OSAP for the 2017-18 school year are available in spring 2017. Students can get ready now by registering with OSAP. They'll create their OSAP profile and get an OSAP Access Number (OAN). When the application opens in spring 2017, students will get a message from OSAP that it's time to apply. If OSAP doesn't cover all of the expenses that directly relate to a student's program (books, tuition, mandatory fees), and they still require additional financial assistance, public colleges and universities in Ontario are required to provide financial help. This money could include: bursaries, scholarships, work study programs, summer employment programs Students should visit the Financial Aid Office (FAO) at the college or university they plan to attend for more information about OSAP, the Ontario Student Access Guarantee and other financial aid questions. Students can find a list of FAOs at Ontario's public colleges and universities online. The OSAP assessment may not reflect exceptional circumstances some students may have. As a result, a number of reviews have been developed to allow students to provide additional information regarding their specific circumstances. To learn more about the review process or to initiate a review, students can contact their school's financial aid office. For the first 6 months after graduation, finishing studies, or no longer being a full-time college or university student: no loan payments are needed, interest is charged on the Ontario portion of the student loan, interest is charged on the Canada portion of the student loan This is a 6-month grace period. Recipients of OSAP can expect to start repaying their loan at the end of the 7th month after they leave school. If a student has recently completed their studies, they can apply to have their grace period extended for an additional six months through one of these two programs: One-Year OSAP Grace Period for Entrepreneurs: for the owner or joint owner of an eligible new business located in Ontario. One-Year OSAP Grace Period for Not-for Profit Employees: for borrowers working at an eligible not-for-profit organization in Ontario. Within 6 months of leaving school, OSAP recipients will get a package in the mail from the National Student Loans Service Centre (NSLSC) that tells them: how much they owe, their expected monthly payment, the total number of payments they will need to make, the date of their first payment, the interest rate Monthly loan payments are made to the National Student Loans Service Centre. List of colleges in Ontario, List of universities in Ontario, Student loans in Canada Ontario Student Assistance Program, OSAP Eligibility, OSAP Application Process, OSAP Repayment Doug Ford is the 26th and current Premier of Ontario (), Canada. He won a majority in the June 7, 2018 Ontario general election, as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, (CPC) caucus in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was sworn in as Premier on June 29, 2018. Ford won the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election on March 10, 2018. He represented Etobicoke North. In the 2018 Ontario general election held on June 7, 2018, Ford won a majority government with 76 of the 124 seats in the legislature with approximately 56.67% of potential voters voting. Premier Ford's advisers include Deputy Premier, Christine Elliott, and his principal secretary Amin Massoudi, who was appointed in July 2019., Steven Davidson was appointed as Secretary of the Cabinet, Head of the Ontario Public Service, and Clerk of the Executive Council on June 20, 2019. Deputy chief of staff Jamie Wallace replaced Dean French as chief of staff in June 2019. In a statement to the Globe in June 2018, the Premier's office confirmed that there was an incident the week before in which Premier Ford's chief of staff, Dean French, who was a "powerful player in Mr. Ford's orbit who ha[d] been accused of overstepping his role" had "scolded" an MPP for complaining about communications and later felt that she was "singled out for voicing her opinion". The statement said this was regrettable but that it had been resolved by June 14, when the Globe article was published. A week after the Globe article appeared, Robert Benzie, who is the Queen's Park reporter for the The Star, broke the political patronage scandal that would eventually link French to a number of people with whom he had personal ties and who had received plum positions in the Ford administration. By June 28, French was forced to resign. In a July 2019 article, the Star said that the "cronyism scandal" had damaged Premier Ford's image and contributed to a loss in his popularity. June 29, 2018, Caroline Mulroney was appointed by Premier Ford as Attorney General of Ontario. In September 2018, Premier Ford announced that he would use the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms' "notwithstanding" clause to override the ruling of a Superior Court judge which said that Ford's legislation, decreasing the size of Toronto City Council just before the municipal election, was unconstitutional. As Ontario's AG, Mulroney voted in support of the Ford government's use of Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. According to the Globe and Mail, "constitutional experts and politicians of all parties" criticized her decision as a violation of the sanctity of the judicial process as Attorney General. Lindsey Park was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Attorney General in June 2018. In August, Mulroney announced that the Ontario government would be "launching a constitutional challenge" against the federal carbon price, saying that the tax was "unethical and unfair." In June 2019, Premier Ford named Doug Downey, who was had been appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance in June 2018, to replace Caroline Mulroney as Attorney General. In the fiscal year 2019, the publicly-funded Legal Aid Ontario will receive $133 million less than previously, representing a funding cut of 30 per cent, as part of the Ford government's deficit cutting plan, presented in the April 2019 budget. On September 11, 2019, Chief Justice of Ontario George Strathy said that the "cuts to Legal Aid Ontario will force many people to self- represent...What we judges can say is that reducing legal representation for the most vulnerable members of society does not save money. It increases trial times, places greater demands on public services, and ultimately delays and increases the cost of legal proceedings for everyone." The Treasury Board President, who was appointed in June 2018, is Peter Bethlenfalvy, and his Parliamentary Assistant is MPP Stan Cho, who was also appointed at that time. When MPP Fedeli released the spring 2019 budget, Treasury Board President Peter Bethlenfalvy said that cuts to the "unsustainable level of spending" would be made in a "reasonable, pragmatic, sustainable path back to balance" but he declined "to say whether the books would balanced before the 2022 election." The Office of the Provincial Controller Division, provides advice to the Treasury Board Secretariat on financial management and accounting. Ontario's financial watchdog, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) is an independent agency that provides fiscal, financial and economic analysis costs and benefits of potential legislation to the Province. According to CBC News, Ford had been promising in the months just before the June election, to provide a "fully costed campaign platform". On May 30, 2018, just before the election, Ford posted their "final plan" "overnight" on the PC website, "For The People: A Plan for Ontario." CBC said that the platform did not "include a fiscal outlook", nor did it provide details on how Ford would pay for the campaign promises if elected, which included cutting "$6 billion" inefficiencies in the government, cutting taxes for the "middle income bracket and businesses", "reduc[ing] the price of gasoline by 10 cents per litre" while providing "hundreds of millions of dollars for various infrastructure projects. The Commission of Inquiry report "set a long-term goal of restoring" Ontario's AAA credit rating. The Financial Post reported that Moodys bond credit rating had downgraded Ontario's credit rating on December 11, 2018 from Aa3 to Aa2 because of Ontario's $14.5-billion deficit in the 2018-2019 fiscal year and "projections that it will continue to post deficits in the coming years." Moody's said that interest rates are projected to increase over the "next three to five years". A lower credit rating results in higher costs for servicing the debt. While Finance Minister Fedeli blamed the previous Wynne Liberal government for the downgrade, "Moody's also said that actions taken by the [Ford] government to reduce revenue levels will add to the budgetary pressures facing the province." The NDP blamed the Ford administration for the downgrade as Premier Ford gave "tax breaks to the richest corporations and cash handouts to polluters." A report released on April 2, 2019 by Peter Weltman, Ontario's Financial Accountability Officer compared the NDP's proposed minimum wage $1 increase to the PC's Low-income Individuals and Families Tax (LIFT) credit, which came into effect in 2019. The FAO report "concluding that the credit will only benefit 38 per cent of minimum wage workers since many already pay no provincial income tax." The report said that "The LIFT credit will provide fewer benefits to minimum wage workers than increasing the minimum wage from $14 per hour to $15 per hour." Weltman's report said that under LIFT, 1 million Ontarians will receive about $409 in 2019 compared to 1.3 million Ontarians who would have earned an average of $810 more, if the minimum wage had been raised to $15. Weltman said that the tax credit could cost the Ontario government an estimated "$1.9 billion over five years, from 2018-19 to 2022-23." Minister Fedeli said that the minimum wage freeze helped businesses which results in more jobs. He said that the 132,000 new jobs since June 2018 prove that the strategy of freezing the minimum wage worked. During the previous Liberal government, the FAO September 12, 2017 report said that fast phase-in of the proposed increase in the minimum wage, which represented a 32 per cent increase over an 18-month period—from $11.60 in 2017 to $15 by 2019—could "result in a loss of approximately 50,000 jobs". According to a Global New report, the number of minimum wage workers in Ontario would increase from over 500,000 in 2017—representing 7 percent of the workforce—to 22 percent or 1.6 million in 2019, with the increase in the minimum wage. The FOA analysis does not consider non-economic outcomes, such as the health and well-being of workers. In his December 10, 2018 report, FAO Weltman, Ontario's financial watchdog, said unless there were "significant spending cuts or tax increases", Ontario's annual operating deficit would exceed $16 billion in 2022-23. On October 17, 2019 Weltman told Global News in an interview that, it was "important for people to understand the official deficit was never $15 billion." Ontario's financial watchdog was correcting statements made by Premier Ford after he was elected that said that the Liberal government had left a "staggering $15-billion deficit" through "reckless spending." Weltman said that in 2018-2019 the deficit was $7.4 billion, which is double that of the previous fiscal year. Weltman's report said that the "relatively sharp increase in the deficit was the result of modest revenue growth, combined with a relatively large increase in program spending...Policy decisions by both the current and previous governments contributed to the slow increase in revenues as well as the rise in spending last year...Cap and trade the auctions were supposed to bring in $1.7 billion last year. When the government cancelled the program, they cancelled the auctions — so effectively that revenue was gone. But the spending programs associated with the cap-and-trade program were not all cut so there was some residual spending but there was no offsetting revenue". The Auditor General of Ontario (AGO) is an independent office of the Legislative Assembly responsible for conducting audits of the "provincial government, its ministries and agencies" and "organizations in the broader public sector that receive provincial funding, such as hospitals and long- term-care homes, universities and colleges, and school boards." The current AGO is Bonnie Lysyk (MBA, FCPA, FCA, LPA). Schedule 15 of the Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act, 2018 transferred the responsibilities of the former environmental watchdog agency—the Office of the Environmental Commissioner (ECO)—that reported on the operation of the Environmental Bill of Rights, 1993, to the AGO's office, which came into effect on April 1, 2019. On the advice of a recruitment firm that conducted a Canada-wide search for the right candidate, Lysyk selected Jerry DeMarco Ontario's new commissioner of environment. AGO Lysyk submitted a "scathing" pre-election April 2018 report to the Ontario Legislature criticising the former Liberal government of their accounting methods which she said were "lawful" but not "right". She "calculated that the deficit forecast for [2019] was $12.2 billion—not the $6.6 billion Finance Minister Sousa had predicted." In June 2019, Rod Phillips, who served as Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, replaced Vic Fedeli as Ontario's Finance Minister. Andrea Khanjin was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in June 2018. Phillips, who was CEO of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation, before entering politics—according to CTV News—will attempt to "soften" the "blow of future budget cuts working towards balancing Ontario's budget in 2023-24. In April 2018, while Premier Ford and Minister Fedeli were promoting Ontario to investors in New York, there was a particularly "raucous caucus meeting" with some "bloodletting" with "bluntly" with some MPPs complaining "about the lack of information they received following the release of Mr. Fedeli's budget" which had included unpopular "cuts to library services and tree-planting initiatives". The MPPs were concerned that they had not been involved in the discussion on these changes which they would have "advised against" knowing there would be "backlash in their communities", according to the Globe and Mail. In response to the release of the report by the Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry by commissioners Gordon M. Campbell, Michael Horgan, and L.S. (Al) Rosen on the finances of the previous Liberal government, then Minister Fedeli said that, "The hole is deep and it will require everyone to make sacrifices without exception." Fedeli and Premier Ford presented the government's "first fall economic outlook" on November 15, 2018. Starting in January 2019, those who are working full-time and earning less than #30,000 a year would pay no provincial income tax, in the new LIFT program but minimum wage would be frozen at $14 per hour. They eliminated 3 legislative offices including the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), child and youth advocate and French language services commissioner positions. The surtax on the highest earning Ontarians that would have generated about $275 million in revenue, was cancelled. The proposed French language university was cancelled as were three university satellite campuses. Fedeli served as Minister until he was moved to economic development in June 2019 in a major cabinet shuffle. According to CTV News Queen's Park Bureau Chief, Colin D'Mello, Premier Ford removed Fedeli as Finance Minister on June 20, 2019 in the "wake of a disastrous budget rollout that's left the Progressive Conservative government drowning in negative publicity." Minister Fedeli tabled the Ford government's first budget on April 11, 2019. According to the Sault Star, Fedeli was demoted from "highly-touted finance post" and "blamed" for the "failure to sell voters on the $163.4-billion budget and the cost of breaking a 10-year deal that ultimately expands beer and wine sales in grocery stores, costing taxpayers $1 billion." NDP Timiskaming-Cochrane MPP, John Vanthof, said that the 2019 budget failed northern Ontario by not providing funds for Highway 69, the Ring of Fire, expanded broadband access, and cuts to Indigenous Affairs, Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs, and more. Vanthof said that there "will be beer in corner stores, drinks at 9 in the morning, tailgate parties, and blue licence plates, but when the fog is cleared, there is also an over $500 million cut to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines." Doug Downey was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Finance in June 2018. From about 1989 to 2018, Ontario has reported a deficit almost every year; the province's net debt increased to approximately $311.6 billion (by October 2018); and Ontario's net debt‐to‐GDP ratio grew from 13.4% to about 40.5% in 2018–19. According to The Star, a 27-page "scathing" pre-election report by Bonnie Lysyk, the Auditor General of Ontario, which was submitted to the Ontario Legislature said that the accounting methods used by Wynne's liberal government were "lawful" but not "right". She was referring to about "$11 billion in the government jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs)—Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Plan and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan—that Wynne's government "counted toward the bottom line". Based on Lysyk's revised accounting methods, these funds are not revenue which dramatically increases the annual debt. Using these revised accounting methods, Lysyk "calculated that the deficit forecast for [2019] is $12.2 billion—not the $6.6 billion Finance Minister Sousa had predicted." For 2020-21 it would be "$12.5 billion, not $6.5 billion. She said that, "More money will need to be borrowed to pay for the unrecorded expenses even when the government reports an annual surplus or a balanced budget. In May 2018, The Ottawa Citizen reported that the NDP had made an accounting error in their "spending plan." NDP leader Andrea Horwath said that the $700 million reserve fund had been erroneously categorized as revenue instead of deficit—a reserve fund is not "new money" so it is not revenue. The CBC described how, the fund should be counted as a deficit even if the money was not spent. When the error was pointed out to the former parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, his office "confirmed there had indeed been an accounting mistake." As a result, the That means $700 million had to be "subtracted twice" adding 1.4 billion to the total deficit. The Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry August 30, 2018 report was tabled to "establish a budgetary baseline" and to clarify Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards requirements that the Ontario government must follow for the Auditor General of Ontario reports. The Commission recommended revising the Public Accounts of Ontario 2017–2018 to comply with Auditor General's "accounting treatment for any net pension assets of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Plan on a provisional basis", which would include "restatement of the prior year's figures for comparative purposes." The 2018 Budget had forecast a deficit that was 2.9 percentage points lower than the October report. The Commission recommended that the government revise the "accounting treatment for global adjustment refinancing and jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs)...[retroactively] from 2001–02 onwards" which added a "cumulative $14.6 billion to net debt." This represents a revised net debt-to- GDP ratio up from 40.5% to 40.8%. The Star reported on December 5, 2018, that Cindy Veinot, who was then Ontario's provincial controller, disagreed with Minister Fedeli's $15 billion deficit figure and the "accounting decisions made by the Ford government". Veinot said that, "I believe that the consolidated financial statements of the province of Ontario as issued ... materially overstate the deficit of the province for the year. Veinot resigned in September 2018, "because she refused to sign off on Finance Minister Vic Fedeli's inflated $15 billion deficit", according to The Star. The Star described Veinot, as a "leading expert on pension accounting who finished first among 63,000 candidates in the 1998 certified public accountants exam in the U.S. Veinot contended that the government jointly sponsored pension plans (JSPPs) "holdings are an asset." Until 2015, Auditor General Lysyk and her predecessors considered the JSPPs holdings to be an asset but in 2015, she changed her mind. The previous Liberal government also held that the JSPPs were an asset but Ford's new government administration disagreed. According to an April 11, 2018 Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) report, which was based on figures provided by the Ford government, the revised estimate of Ontario's deficit was $11.7 billion in 2018-2019 and it was projected to decrease by $1.4 billion in 2019-2020 mainly because of "the removal of the $1 billion contingency reserve." At that time it was projected that the deficit would be "completely eliminated in 2023-2024 with a small surplus of $0.3 billion." By October 2019, the Financial Accountability Officer, Weltman, said that the FAO had been in error when they—and the Ford government—had projected a $11.7-billion deficit that was reported in the spring 2019 budget. By June 2018, Ontario had "Canada's second-highest public debt per person and a growing budget deficit", according to The Economist. The Ontario Finance Department reported in October 2018, that Ontario's public debt per person at $23,014, had surpassed that of Quebec at $21,606 in the fiscal year 2017-2018. Newfoundland and Labrador public debt per capita at $27,761, was the highest in Canada. The RBC said in April 2019, that the Ford government's debt target is soft, aiming to reduce the net debt-to-GDP ratio to "less than the inherited 40.8%" in the early years to "38.6% by 2023-2024." By 2019, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce reported that Ontario's debt was over $348 billion—representing about 41% of provincial GDP of almost $850 billion. Ontario's GDP is much larger than any of the other provinces and is almost half of Canada's GDP. "When combined with the federal debt (approximately $680 billion), the debt-to-GDP ratio for Ontarians nears 80 percent." In October 2019, Financial Accountability Office said that the deficit had increased from $3.7-billion deficit in 2017—at the end of the Liberal administration—to $7.4 billion in 2018 under Premier Ford. The deficit had almost doubled partly because of "cancelled climate-change initiatives and subsidizing hydro bills" according to the Hamilton Spectator. John Yakabuski served as Minister of Transportation from June 29, 2018 to November 5, 2018 when he was moved to the natural resources and forestry file. Yakabuski was succeeded by Jeff Yurek. According to iPolitics, the Ontario Road Builders' Association (ORBA) president is Marlene Yakabuski, the sister of the then-Transportation Minister. The ORBA, which is "registered to lobby the Ministry of Transportation", represents the "majority of road-building contractors who build and maintain both provincial and municipal roads, bridges, public transit systems, and core civil infrastructure." In a November 2018 article, iPolitics described Yakabuski's move to the natural resources ministry was considered to be a "demotion'. Kinga Surma, who served as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Transportation in June 2018, was appointed as Associate Minister of Transportation (GTA) in June 2019. On April 10, 2019, Premier Ford and Minister Yurek announced Ontario's transit plan for the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)—one of the largest metropolitan areas in Canada. The $30 billion dollar project would include the $10.9 billion Ontario Line, the $5.5 billion Scarborough subway, the $5.6 billion Yonge Subway extension to Richmond Hill, and the $4.7 billion Eglinton West extension. The province would provide $11.2 billion in funding and "wants to own the lines but leave the city and TTC to operate the subway system." Premier Ford said, "We are making the biggest and largest investment in new subways in Canadian history." The City of Toronto had already spent $224 million of public money on its own "planning and design of transit infrastructure in Toronto." The City raised concerns about delays considering the city manager—Chris Murray's "sweeping" April 16 transit expansion report, "which also suggests several projects may now be in limbo, including two Scarborough transit lines and Mayor John Tory's signature SmartTrack plan." In a December 13, 2018, City Council meeting, Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) CEO Rick Leary, said that he had not had any "direct negotiations or discussion" with the province on what "it would look like if the province uploaded the subway system"—bringing the "TTC's subway system under provincial ownership". While there were clear financial benefits to the city, the council voted to "reaffirm their desire to keep the entire TTC — subways and all" and requested more clarity from the province. CBC News described it as a "political fight" with upcoming transit negotiations becoming "one of the most contentious and complex" issues in 2019 in Toronto's city hall. The studies and plans for the TTC's proposed "desperately needed extension known as the Relief Line", had begun in the late 2010s. By early 2019, the planning for the Relief Line was "well underway and construction was scheduled to begin in 2020, with projected completion in 2029." Ford and his "markedly different vision for transit in the GTA", presented in April, put the Relief Line project on hold. In June, Minister of Transportation Jeff Yurek and Minister of Infrastructure McNaughton held a news conference in which they called on the federal government to support the $10.9 billion Ontario Line. The government responded saying that Ontario had not submitted a "business case with the necessary information to win federal approval." On October 8, 2019, during a GTA campaign stop, Andrew Scheer, leader of the federal PPC, who is running in the October 21 2019 Canadian federal election, made a campaign promise to "help pay for the Ontario Line and another proposed project called the Yonge Subway Extension" if he is elected as Canada's next Prime Minister. Todd Smith, who was Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade from November 2, 2018 to June 20, 2019, tabled the original version of Bill 66: Restoring Ontario's Competitiveness Act. Bill 66 would have allowed municipalities to "bypass existing development restrictions to shorten the time it takes to approve and build housing and business projects creating at least 50 jobs." Critics of the Bill said that it "would have put Ontario's Greenbelt and prime farmland around Toronto at greater risk of development." Ontario Federation of Agriculture said that Bill 66 was a "direct attack" on family farms. By January 2019, Ford's government "slammed the brakes" on Bill 66. Minister Clark subsequently announced the reversal of the Bill on Twitter. He said the provincial government had "listened to the concerns raised by MPPs, municipalities, and stakeholders." Minister Smith tabled Bill 47: Making Ontario Open for Business Act, 2018, which was passed on November 21, 2018. According to the Toronto Sun, Bill 47 strips "part-time workers of two paid sick days a year and prevent[s] a rise in the minimum wage to $15 an hour on January 1, 2019." NDP critic said that this "will incent employers to turn full-time positions into cheaper part-time work". The Ontario government abruptly cut all its provincial annual funding—representing $5 million—to the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine (OIRM) in May 2019. Minister Smith, said that the "private sector will step up and fund stem-cell research." Scientists told CBC that the private will only invest in the stem- cell field when "their studies reach a late phase", until then "government funding is crucial." OIRM scientists who are "working on treatment of premature babies" said the cuts were "extremely short-sighted and uninformed". The OIRM was formed in 2014 by the Ontario Stem Cell Initiative (OSCI) and the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM). The original Ontario Initiative in Personalized Stem Cell Medicine, was established in 2009 by four institutions—including the University of Toronto, SickKids Hospital, and McMaster University—to build on the pioneering work of Shinya Yamanaka in Japan on Induced pluripotent stem cell ( iPS cells)—whose discovery earned him the 2012 Nobel Prize. Yamanaka discovery "opened new frontiers" in regenerative medicine. According to The Star, in 2009 Ontario scientists were already "considered at the top of their game" and the creation of the Ontario Initiative in Personalized Stem Cell Medicine was " another step to cement their role as one of the best stem-cell hubs in the world." By 2019, OIRM was affiliated with at least 11 McMaster University scientists. In June 2019, Vic Fedeli was appointed as Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Prabmeet Sarkaria is Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction in the economic development ministry. Michael Parsa and Donna Skelly were appointed as Parliamentary Assistants to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade (Trade) in June 2018. In the fall of 2018, then-Finance Minister said that they were considering including a gambling house as part of the Ontario Place redevelopment—We are "going to look at every single possibility to make that a world-class centre, and I would say nothing is off the table." Under pressure from the mayor of Toronto and others— as "options for redevelopment of the former waterfront amusement park continue to be explored—by May 2019, Premier Ford backtracked. According to The Hamilton Spectator, the "firm rejection of a casino" became clear when Ontario government "issued a formal "call for development" submissions from potential developers of the 155-acre site across from the Canadian National Exhibition grounds by September 3." Todd Smith is Minister of Children, Community and Social Services (2019-). MPP Belinda Karahalios was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services (Community and Social Services) in June 2018. On November 15, 2018 the government announced that they were eliminating three watchdog legislative offices including the child and youth advocate. Irwin Elman, whose position was established as the first child and youth advocate under the 2007 Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth Act, has "published a number of landmark reports that have had considerable impact on child welfare policies in the province", learned about the cuts through the media. In 2017, according to official numbers reported by The National Observer, the "office of the child advocate spent $10.6 million in 2017." Minister Fedeli was not able to confirm that eliminating the advocacy office will save money as the responsibilities will be transferred to the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services and the Office of the Ombudsman. According to the Observer, on the day the advocate's office was eliminated, then-Minister MacLeod "stood in the legislature and promised to be 'the fiercest child advocate in this province.'" One of the biggest cuts, announced in the 2019 budget, was the $1 billion cut—over a four-year period—to the Ministry of Community and Social Services. MacLeod and Amy Fee, who had been appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Children, Community, and Social Services (Children and Autism) in June 2018, faced province-wide demonstrations in an "immediate backlash" from service providers, parents and their supporters, when MacLeod introduced sweeping changes" to the Ontario Autism Program that redistributed funds for the program without adding any new funds to the program budget. By June 2019, a treatment centre for children with disabilities had to eliminate 291 full-time positions because of changes to autism funding introduced by the provincial government. In July 2019, Todd Smith, who replaced MacLeod as Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, apologized to the "families of autistic children for a plan that cut thousands of dollars from the money they receive for therapy after outrage from parents. Smith "said the new funding arrangement will not be implemented until the spring of 2020. Smith "acknowledged for the first time" that "changes to the autism program" announced by MacLeod in February 2019 were "poorly conceived." In February, 2019 the government had announced changes to the Ontario Autism Program, which had over 20,000 children on a waiting list. Under Minister MacLeod and Fee, changes were made in "how children qualified, based on age and family income". During the revamping of the Program, support for children already receiving service, was clawed back which meant that families had to pay most of the bills for "very expensive behavioural therapies." This "outraged those in the autism community". The protests included a "huge rally at Queen's Park that could be heard inside the legislature and inundated Tory MPPs and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod with complaints." In response, the Ford government "scrambled to pour more money into the program and in early May [2019] announced consultations that would help shape further reforms to the system, moving toward one based on need." The Hamilton Spectator said that of all the "policy snafus", the funding of services for families of children with autism, was the one that bothered Ford the most. On August 8, 2019 the Ford administration severed the funding for court-ordered autism services for eight families with adult children with "severe" conditions who are at "serious risk of harm", who had been receiving the funding since 2004. Lawyers Scott Hutchison and Mary Eberts served notice of intent to sue in an 18-page letter to Social Services Minister Smith and Premier Ford "for breach of contract, negligence, and breach of Charter rights." It was formally filed in court on October 1. Those long-standing payments of about $1.7 million annually were the result of litigation against the previous provincial administrations, who had committed to continue the funding "until a co-ordinated transition to other services had been made, in a way that provided alternative services with which the families were satisfied", according to The Star. Faced with a backlash against "a botched revamp of autism services" in February 2019, the government had doubled the annual funding to $600 million for autism services but this did not restore the funding for these eight families. Christine Elliot was named as Health Minister in 2018 and kept her post in the June 2019 cabinet shuffle. MPP Merrilee Fullerton, was appointed as Minister of Long-Term Care in June 2019. Robin Martin and Effie Triantafilopoulos were appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care (Long-Term Care) on June 29, 2018. Fullerton had previously served as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities from June 2018 to June 2019. In July 2018, Premier Ford named Rueben Devlin, an orthopedic surgeon who was CEO of Toronto's Humber River Hospital and a "key Tory adviser"and former Ontario PCs president—to a $348,000 a year three-year appointment on the Council on Improving Healthcare and Ending Hallway Medicine, to curb hospital overcrowding. Devlin is the Ford family's "closest health-care adviser." Health costs in Ontario were over $60 billion annually, according to TVO's Steve Paikin. Devlin is tasked with the selection of the other Council members, and with "ending hallway medicine, dental care for seniors, improved mental-health services), all while ensuring stable, long-term funding for the system—Premier Ford's election promises. Since coming into power in June 2018, Premier Ford's government put an approved injection site in Toronto—and several other places—on pause while the new Ontario Health Minister, Christine Elliot, studied the issue. In response, the Canadian AIDS Society, the Canadian Medical Association and 118 other health organizations prepared an open letter to Minister Elliot and Premier Ford urging them "to heed the recommendations of experts in public health, front-line clinicians, harm reduction staff, and people with lived experience of drug use" and to reconsider the "Progressive Conservative government's position on overdose prevention sites". According to a CBC News report, during Ford's campaign in April 2018, he said, "I don't believe in safe-injection areas, as I call them. I believe in supporting people, getting them help...I ask anyone out there, if your son, daughter or loved one ever had an addiction, would you want them to go in a little area and do more drugs? I'm dead against that." The report also said that Ford's late brother Rob Ford struggled with addictions and that Ford said that his government "would create 30,000 long-term care beds over the next 10 years to ease the burden on hospitals and cut wait times." In February 2019, the NDP said that two sets of leaked documents show that the Ford government was creating a health "super agency" that "would be in charge of managing health services, quality improvement, patient relations, digital health and tissue donation and transplants, among other responsibilities." The documents said that "long-term care inspections" and the Ontario's "air ambulance service" Ornge would be "outsourced". According to a CTV News report, Minister Elliot was "forced to make assurances" that these services would not be "privatized". The first document, which was leaked at the end of January, was a "draft version of the Progressive Conservative government's upcoming health-care transformation legislation." CTV News said "local health integration networks, Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario, the Trillium Gift of Life Network and other government health agencies" would be "rolled into" the super agency. Minister Elliot said that the December 13 assistant deputy ministers workshop document, which made references to outsourcing laboratories, "inspections, licensing, devices" and Ornge, were options and that these services would not be privatized. The NDP said that the super agency was described in the leaked documents as having the "competency and capacity to effectively partner with public and private sector entities." The documents show that MyCare groups is being created as a "new model" of "integrated care delivery" with the goal of providing "patients with seamless, co-ordinated care and a single team of providers for all their care needs." Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot tabled the controversial Bill 74: The People's Health Care Act. Its first reading was in February 26, 2019 and it received Royal Assent on April 18, 2019. In spite of 2018 election promises that "not a single person will lose their job" under his PC government, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliot office announced in June 2019 that 416 workers would be laid off, as 20 health agencies, including 14 local health integration networks (LHINs), Cancer Care Ontario, eHealth Ontario were merged into one new super-agency called Ontario Health. With the merger "another 409 vacant positions will be eliminated." These changes are estimated to save "$350 million a year by 2021-22". A CBC News report said that the average wait times in Ontario hospitals set a new June record of an average of 16.3 hours waiting in emergency rooms in 2019, compared to 14.4 hours in June 2018, based on Health Quality Ontario data. More restructuring was announced by the Health ministry in September and no more job losses are anticipated. Lisa Thompson was the Ford administration's first Minister of Education. Sam Oosterhoff was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Education in June 2018. Thompson lost her post as minister of education portfolio during the June 2019 cabinet shuffle, one of "two high profile demotions in files that have been stricken with controversy since Ford took office." She was replaced by Stephen Lecce in the "thorny education portfolio". Lecce previously worked as "former staffer in the administration of then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Under Ford, he serves as Deputy Government House Leader and Parliamentary Assistant to the minister of Infrastructure and the Premier. According to CTV News, controverLecce is faced with upcoming contract negotiation with teacher's unions, ongoing layoffs announcements from school boards and continuing to sell the government's controversial changes to classroom sizes and the introduction of mandatory online courses in Ontario high schools. In early July 2018, then Education Minister, Lisa Thompson, told Queen's Park reporters that starting in September 2018, Ontario schools would no longer be using the sex education curriculum in use since 2015, but would be reverting to the previous curriculum. One of the election campaign promises by the Ford government was to "scrap" the 2015 sex education curriculum. Premier Ford's government said that "it did not order the cancellation." By August 2019, the Ministry of Education, following "widespread consultations" made "only minor tweaks". The "health lesson plan being brought to schools in the fall" of 2019 "is similar to the one Ford crusaded against." A July 2018 statement from Minister Thompson said that the Department's "bureaucracy" had acted "unilaterally" to cut costs by eliminating "three curriculum writing sessions", including one for American Sign Language and another for Indigenous languages, in kindergarten that were planned for July 2018. A third session that was cancelled was the revision of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) curriculum with elders who were already booked to help in the revisions. On October 11, 2019 Minister Lecce reached a deal with CUPE school support workers, which has to be ratified by CUPE members and averted a pending strike. Premier Ford had said that he would cap "all public sector wage settlements at one per cent per year". The three-year agreement with CUPE was for a "one per cent wage increase annually for the duration of deal." A clause in the agreement clause in the agreement says that if "higher increases are negotiated by other education unions", their union will be able to increase to more than one percent. CUPE also had $58.3 million restored for the "hiring of educational assistants" with an additional $20 million for hiring "more custodians and clerical workers." As well, CUPE's sick leave provisions remained untouched. Lisa Thompson was named as Minister of Government and Consumer Services in June 2019, replacing MPP Bill Walker who served from June 29, 2018. MPP Robert Bailey was named as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services on in June 2018. June 29, 2018, Caroline Mulroney was appointed by Premier Ford as Attorney General of Ontarioand Minister of Francophone Affairs. Amanda Simard was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs in June 2018. Mulroney voted in support of the Ford government's September 2018 proposal to use Section 33 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, commonly called the "notwithstanding clause", to overrule a judge's decision that legislation intended to shrink the size of Toronto City Council was in fact in violation of Charter rights. For this position, she faced widespread condemnation from constitutional experts and politicians of all parties, particularly with respect to her duty to ensure the sanctity of the judicial process as Attorney General. In November 2018 Ford announced cuts which included cancelling a "French language university and cut the post of provincial commissioner for French language affairs." Ontario's francophone population represents from 550,000 to 744,000 people in a province of 14 million, according to The New York Times with many concentrated in Sudbury, Ontario, in northern Ontario and near the Ontario- Quebec border in eastern Ontario. Lisa MacLeod serves as the Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Sport. Vincent Ke was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport in June 2018. Greg Rickford was named as Minister of Indigenous Affairs in 2018. In the April 2019 budget, funding for the Ministry of Indigenous Affairs was cut in half. Minister Rickford released a May 9, 2019 statement saying that the Ontario Government was "committed to do everything in its authority to support the relocation" of the Kashechewan First Nation. which is located north of Fort Albany, Ontario on the James Bay coast. The community has a flooding and infrastructure problems for many years and in April 2019, had to evacuate 2,500 members by plane when a state of emergency was called again. APTN reported, in the presence of 300 community members, both the federal and provincial governments signed the Framework Agreement with Kashechewan First Nation to commit to moving the reserve. The federal Minister of Indigenous Services Seamus O'Regan said the relocation process would probably take about eight years to complete. Jeff Yurek, who served as Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry from June to November 2018, was succeeded by John Yakabuski. Yakabuski was elected in the eastern Ontario riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke is a Progressive Conservative member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. The April 2019 budget cut "Natural Resources and Forestry by $162 million, and "sliced" $142 million from Emergency Forest Firefighting, which represents almost 70 per cent of its funding. Greg Rickford is Minister of Northern Development and Mines (2018-), Minister of Energy, and Minister of Indigenous Affairs. MPP Paul Calandra was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (Energy) Ross Romano was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (Northern Development and Mines) and Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Indigenous Affairs in June 2018. The newly-elected leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party, Ford, was a keynote speaker at an April 5, 2018 fundraising event hosted by KWG Resources and the Ring of Fire Limited Partnership in Toronto for a new Transportation Authority to transport chromite ore from the massive Ring of Fire mining and smelting project "to a proposed KWG Resources processing plant in Sault Ste. Marie." During his electoral campaign Ford said that "he would hop on a bulldozer himself and start building the road to the Ring of Fire." A July 7, 2018 article in Policy Options said that newly elected Premier Ford, had said that "resource development within northern Ontario's Ring of Fire mining area [would] be a priority for his government." In Verner, Ontario on September 17, 2019, Premier Ford told the press that the development of the Ring of Fire development "remains a top priority for the Progressive Conservative government." The development project is located in the remote, mineral-rich James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario, in the Kenora District, approximately northeast of Thunder Bay. In August, Greg Rickford, who is Ontario's Minister of Energy, Northern Development and Mines (MENDM), said that the Ford government was dissolving the 2014 regional framework agreement between the nine Matawa First Nations and the province. By September, Rickford said that they were working with individual communities on a transportation corridor that Rickford called a "corridor to prosperity" from the Ring of Fire—Ring of Fire as a "major economic opportunity"—to transportation hubs in the south. However, the 2019 budget cut more than $500 million to the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines. The NDP critic representing the North said that "Doug Ford squandered the opportunity to create thousands of family-supporting jobs right across the North by failing to take concrete action on the Ring of Fire with no funding, and no commitment to meaningful consultations with impacted First Nations." Greg Rickford was appointed as Minister of Energy in June 2018. MPP Paul Calandra and Ross Romano were named as the department's Parliamentary Assistants at the same time. Bill Walker was named as Associate Minister of Energy in June 2019. In July 2018 Minister Rickford tabled Bill 2: Urgent Priorities Act, which received Royal Assent in the same month. The first session of the 42nd Legislature was on July 11 and Bill 2, which passed into law on July 25, was the Ford Government's first piece of legislation. Bill 2—an omnibus bill—was "criticized by both "business groups and unions". It legislated an end to the strike between York University and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), cancelled the White Pines Wind Project wind farm contract, and gave Ontario government "veto power over compensation at Hydro One." On July 25, 2018, the Ford government passed Bill 2 which "put a severe dent into the operations of Hydro One", a former Crown corporation which went public in November 2015. The Toronto-based Hydro One is the province's "largest electricity transmission and distribution service provider" with "nearly 1.4 million customers". Hydro One was established under the Business Corporations Act Crown corporation under the Government of Ontario. Bill 2 places a cap on the compensation allowed for executive members of the board of directors, and gave Ford's provincial government a "direct say in the naming of directors" representing a major shift from what was agreed upon between shareholders and the government when Hydro One went public three years earlier. Under Premier Ford, the CEO and the entire board of directors were replaced. The former CEO, Mayo Schmidt was replaced by Tim Hodgson, a Ford appointee, who took on his new position in August 2019 with an annual salary of $120,000. Hydro One was in the process of acquiring American energy firm Avista Inc., when "U.S. regulators scuttled" the purchase "costing the Toronto-based company a $140 million termination penalty." The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission said that they blocked the purchase of Avista because of concerns about the independence of Hydro One from the Ontario provincial government. Reducing Ontario consumer electricity costs by 12% was one of the campaign promises made by the Conservative party. government had promised to cut consumers' electricity prices 12%. By July 2019, this has not happened, according to The Record. Critics raised concerns that Hydro One will not experience stability as Premier Ford's government has a "record of reaching in to exert control." According to a July 3, 2018 Financial Post article, the actions of the Ford government "confused" "bankers, lawyers, investors and analysts", all of whom were "aghast at the intrusion by a government (that in late 2015 agreed to act as an investor and not a manager) into the internal affairs of a company." Former chief economist of TD Bank, Don Drummond, said that the price of electricity will remain high for a long time to come but it cannot be blamed on Ford, who inherited a "multi-decade mess in the making that won't be solved quickly." Drummond said that, the Ford government "managed to confuse everybody" by holding Hydro One "accountable" for the high electricity prices. According to The Post, "Hydro One is essentially a pass through — buying power at one end and selling it at the other — with limited ability, if any, to influence prices." On March 21, 2019 Minister Rickford, tabled Bill 87, the Fixing the Hydro Mess Act which was given Royal Assent on May 9. Bill 87 overhauled the Ontario Energy Board and eliminated the Liberal's 2017 Fair Hydro Plan which the PC's said would save $442 million. The Liberal Plan "subsidized electricity with borrowed money" in response to a "public outcry over soaring hydro rates, particularly in rural areas." The Liberals created the Ontario Power Generation Inc (OPG Trust) as the Financial Services Manager to manage the debt. Bonnie Lysyk, the Auditor General released a special report on October 17, 2017, which said the "structure of the plan" was in violation of the provincial government's accounting rules. She said that the Plan, which committed the government to discount consumer electricity rates for ten years, would cost the province "$21 billion in interest over the next 30 years." The 2017 AG report said that it would cost $4 billion more on the $18.4 billion loan to use the Ontario Power Generation (OPG Trust) than if the province took out the loan because the province would have a lower interest rate than the OPG Trust. The Ford government said that they would maintain [the] 25 per cent time-of-use rates, that was part of the Liberal's Fair Hydro Plan. Under the newly structured Conservative plan, the debt financing "would move onto the government's books" from the OPG trust. Steve Clark is Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (2018-). Christine Hogarth and Jim McDonell were appointed as Parliamentary Assistants to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing (Housing) in June 2018. Minister Clark introduced Bill 5, the Better Local Government Act on July 28, 2018. Its first reading was July 30 and it was passed into law on August 14, 2018. Premier Ford announced the controversial bill on September 27, on the last day for candidate registration for the October 22, 2018 Toronto municipal election, newly-elected Premier of Ontario Doug Ford introduced the Better Local Government Act (Bill 5) which requires that Toronto use the same ridings for all its elections—municipal, provincial, and federal—effectively reducing the Toronto City Council from 47 seats to 25. Bill 5 passed on August 14, 2018. Toronto is Ontario's capital city and the largest city in Canada with a population of 2.7 million. The number of Council seats had just been expanded following approximately four years of consultations and debates. Ford said that these reductions would lower the cost to taxpayers by $CDN 25 ($USD19.1) million dollars in Toronto's $CDN11.1 ($USD8.5) billion dollar budget. Bill 5 reset the positions of regional municipality chairs as by appointment not be election in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka. Rod Phillips, served as Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in the first year of the Ford administration. During that time, the Ford government "legislated an end to cap and trade and redesigned the Endangered Species act". Jeff Yurek was appointed as Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks in June, 2019. On June 7 after winning the election, Ford said that "very first item" on his agenda would be to cancel the federal carbon tax and provincial cap-and-trade programs in order to prevent motorists from being "gouged at the pumps". According to a June 28, 2018 article in The Economist, Ontario, with "Canada's second-highest public debt per person and a growing budget deficit", Fords' "poleaxing of cap and trade" would result in C$2.8bn worth of pollution permits owned by companies that could result in lawsuits. The article said that Ontario would lose C$2bn a year from the sale of pollution permits under its cap and trade program, which represents 1.3% of Ontario's revenue. On October 11, 2019, the Ontario divisional court dismissed a lawsuit by Greenpeace that was filed against the Ontario government for repealing cap-and-trade without public consultation. Justice David Corbett Justice Graeme Mew, two of the three judges on the panel, ruled that public consultations were a requirement under the Ontario's Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR), and that the Ford government "did not follow the law by ending the program on the basis of election results." However, once in office the Ford government had introduced new legislation that replaced that of the EBR. Justice Frederick L. Myers said that the new 2018 legislation allowed the Ford government to "lawfully cancel the program" without public consultations. Justice Myers added that, "The regulation whose legality we are asked to consider has been repealed and is no longer in existence." In November 2018, the Ford government announced that it was eliminating three provincial watchdog groups including the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO) to cut costs. Then Environmental Commissioner of Ontario (ECO), Dianne Saxe, had just submitted her 4-volume 339 page 2018 Environmental Protection Report, entitled "Back to Basics, to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Saxe was a "vocal critic" of the Ford government's "actions on climate change"—"their vow to fight a federal carbon tax, pulling out of more than 700 renewable energy contracts and moving to end the Ontario Green Energy Act." Bill 57, also known as the Restoring Trust, Transparency and Accountability Act transferred the Environmental Commissioner Officer's duties to the Auditor General of Ontario. Ford's government withdrew the province from the Western Climate Initiative emissions trading system, which had been implemented by the previous Liberal government. In June 2019 MPP Ross Romano was named as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities, replacing MPP Merrilee Fullerton, who had served since June 2018. and was appointed Minister of Long-Term Care. David Piccini was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities in June 2018. In August 2018, in response to "incidents on campuses across North America where speakers faced protests", then Minister Fullerton announced that all "publicly-assisted" colleges and universities were required to "develop and publicly post its own free speech policy by January 1, 2019". The policy must meet a "minimum standard specified by the government." These standards must include the Chicago principles. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO) has the authority to gather the mandatory self-reporting by colleges and universities and to monitor colleges and institutions on compliance. An article in The Hamilton Spectator cited examples of protests against controversial speakers in Ontario, such as Jordan Peterson, a University of Toronto professor and Lindsay Shepherd, who was disciplined after showing a Peterson video to her students at Wilfrid Laurier University. Fullerton said that free speech had become a campaign issue. She said the government was "constantly" hearing from students and faculty "that free speech was being stifled on Ontario campuses." Minister Fullerton had initially announced that students "could opt-out of ancillary fees that can add as much as $2,000 a year in costs". She later clarified that some fees—athletics, transit, those related to safety, health, and wellness—would remain mandatory. Funding for student governments—described as "havens" for "crazy Marxist nonsense"—were optional. Laurie Scott was appointed as Minister of Infrastructure in 2019 to replace Monte McNaughton who served as minister from June 2018. Stephen Lecce was appointed as Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Infrastructure in June 2018. As Minister, McNaughton introduced Bill 32, the Access to Natural Gas Act in the fall of 2018. It was passed into law that December. Bill 32 was intended to make it possible to expand access to natural gas expand access to natural gas throughout rural and Northern Ontario including to First Nations communities. Premier Ford said in a statement released on September 17, 2018 that "cancelling the cap-and-trade carbon tax" had caused the price of natural gas to decrease in Ontario. Premier Ford announced the new legislation and explained how it differed from the previous government's 2017 taxpayer-funded $100 million Natural Gas Grant Program—through which—according to Premier Ford, "private sector companies were limited from participating in natural gas expansion, portions of which were instead managed by the [Natural Gas Grant Program]." Bill 32, The Access to Natural Gas Act passed into law in 2018, to "encourage more private gas distributors to partner with communities to develop projects that expand access to affordable and efficient natural gas." On September 18, 2018, the city of North Bay learned that the Natural Gas Grant Program funding of over $8.6 million had been cancelled for a natural gas project project that would have extended "services to as many as 350 homes in the north shore area of Trout Lake." In January 2019, Minister McNaughton announced that the Ford government would provide $27 million to Northeast Midstream towards the construction of their Nipigon LNG gas plant. The plant would be capable of converting natural gas into a liquid form, that can be trucked to consumers. The project will create between 700 and 2,800 jobs in the region. In May 2019, Minister McNaughton announced that the Ontario's Government "committed up to $63.7 million" to Southwestern Integrated Fibre Technology (SWIFT) with support from other levels of government. The not-for- profit, publicly-funded SWIFT project to develop a regional fibre optic network, has been one of the key initiatives of the Western Ontario Wardens' Caucus (WOWC) representing upper-tier municipalities in southern Ontario from Dufferin to Windsor. The 2013 WOWC Broadband Feasibility Study "identified lack of choice, high prices, poor service and little competition as problems across the region, and recommended construction of the SWIFT network as a solution." Through SWIFT, federal, provincial and local municipalities "subsidize the construction of an open-access, high-speed broadband network in Southwestern Ontario, Caledon and the Niagara Region." In 2014, the subsidies to cover the total cost then "estimated at $243.5 million" would be $20 million from the municipalities, $61 million from private partners, $81 million from both the province and the federal government. The Economist said that the province of Ontario, with a population of 14 million compared to Canada's 37 million, has tended to align its interests with those of the federal government. Ontario's capital city, Toronto, which is "Canada's main financial centre", normally "gets along" with Canada's national capital, Ottawa. Disputes between the Ford government and the Trudeau government include the carbon tax, "corporate taxes, business regulation and social spending", with Premier Ford's supporting "small-government and low- taxes." These differences may dominate political discussions in Canada until the 2019 Canadian federal election on October 21, according to The Economist. One of Ford's campaign promises was to "reduce the size and cost of government." By early June, the polls showed that the Ford government was not "as popular as they were when they first got elected" following budget cut backs and unpopular policies. Laurentian University's political science professor, Nadia Verrelli, said the Ford government's "about-faces" in May 2019, were "directly a result of its plunging popularity in the polls." Verrelli said that it was likely that "Ford didn't expect these issues to impact the PC poll numbers." In response, Premier Ford, cancelled the "retroactive funding cuts to municipalities that adversely affected public health, child care and paramedic services, which Toronto Mayor John Tory claimed would cost the city $177 million annually." According to Abacus Data, by June 5, 2019, "about 15 per cent of those who voted Progressive Conservative last year now say they would vote for another party". CBC called it "voters 'buyer remorse'" after seeing the effects of the Premier's 'lightening speed', 'whirlwind' first year in office. According to the Toronto Star's July 9 and 10 Corbett Communications survey, 67 percent of Ontarians said they do not "believe he cares about people like them." The Star said that the "cronyism scandal" that "engulfed Ford's office" seems to have damaged Premier Ford's "carefully constructed image as a champion for the little guy." In a survey conducted in partnership between the Angus Reid Institute and Postmedia and reported in The National Post on September 25, 2019, a "whopping 85 per cent" of Ontarians said that the Ford government's "policies and actions" would "make them less likely to support Andrew Scheer's federal Conservative party in the upcoming federal election. Premier of Ontario Official Site A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their workers—the price floor below which workers may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Supply and demand models suggest that there may be welfare and employment losses from minimum wages. However, if the labor market is in a state of monopsony (with only one employer available who is hiring), minimum wages can increase the efficiency of the market. There is debate about the full effects of minimum wages. The movement for minimum wages was first motivated as a way to stop the exploitation of workers in sweatshops, by employers who were thought to have unfair bargaining power over them. Over time, minimum wages came to be seen as a way to help lower-income families. Modern national laws enforcing compulsory union membership which prescribed minimum wages for their members were first passed in New Zealand and Australia in the 1890s. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in many jurisdictions, differences of opinion exist about the benefits and drawbacks of a minimum wage. Supporters of the minimum wage say it increases the standard of living of workers, reduces poverty, reduces inequality, and boosts morale. In contrast, opponents of the minimum wage say it increases poverty, increases unemployment because some low-wage workers "will be unable to find work...[and] will be pushed into the ranks of the unemployed" and is damaging to businesses, because excessively high minimum wages require businesses to raise the prices of their product or service to accommodate the extra expense of paying a higher wage. Modern minimum wage laws trace their origin to the Ordinance of Labourers (1349), which was a decree by King Edward III that set a maximum wage for laborers in medieval England. King Edward III, who was a wealthy landowner, was dependent, like his lords, on serfs to work the land. In the autumn of 1348, the Black Plague reached England and decimated the population. The severe shortage of labor caused wages to soar and encouraged King Edward III to set a wage ceiling. Subsequent amendments to the ordinance, such as the Statute of Labourers (1351), increased the penalties for paying a wage above the set rates. While the laws governing wages initially set a ceiling on compensation, they were eventually used to set a living wage. An amendment to the Statute of Labourers in 1389 effectively fixed wages to the price of food. As time passed, the Justice of the Peace, who was charged with setting the maximum wage, also began to set formal minimum wages. The practice was eventually formalized with the passage of the Act Fixing a Minimum Wage in 1604 by King James I for workers in the textile industry. By the early 19th century, the Statutes of Labourers was repealed as increasingly capitalistic England embraced laissez-faire policies which disfavored regulations of wages (whether upper or lower limits). The subsequent 19th century saw significant labor unrest affect many industrial nations. As trade unions were decriminalized during the century, attempts to control wages through collective agreement were made. However, this meant that a uniform minimum wage was not possible. In Principles of Political Economy in 1848, John Stuart Mill argued that because of the collective action problems that workers faced in organisation, it was a justified departure from laissez-faire policies (or freedom of contract) to regulate people's wages and hours by the law. It was not until the 1890s that the first modern legislative attempts to regulate minimum wages were seen in New Zealand and Australia. The movement for a minimum wage was initially focused on stopping sweatshop labor and controlling the proliferation of sweatshops in manufacturing industries. The sweatshops employed large numbers of women and young workers, paying them what were considered to be substandard wages. The sweatshop owners were thought to have unfair bargaining power over their employees, and a minimum wage was proposed as a means to make them pay fairly. Over time, the focus changed to helping people, especially families, become more self-sufficient. The first modern national minimum wages were enacted by the government recognition of unions which in turn established minimum wage policy among their members, as in New Zealand in 1894, followed by Australia in 1896 and the United Kingdom in 1909. In the United States, statutory minimum wages were first introduced nationally in 1938, and they were reintroduced and expanded in the United Kingdom in 1998. There is now legislation or binding collective bargaining regarding minimum wage in more than 90 percent of all countries. In the European Union, 22 member states out of 28 currently have national minimum wages. Other countries, such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy, have no minimum wage laws, but rely on employer groups and trade unions to set minimum earnings through collective bargaining. Minimum wage rates vary greatly across many different jurisdictions, not only in setting a particular amount of money—for example $7.25 per hour ($14,500 per year) under certain US state laws (or $2.13 for employees who receive tips, which is known as the tipped minimum wage), $11.00 in the US state of Washington, or £7.83 (for those aged 25+) in the United Kingdom—but also in terms of which pay period (for example Russia and China set monthly minimum wages) or the scope of coverage. Currently the United States federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, some states do not recognize the minimum wage law, such as Louisiana and Tennessee. Other states operate below the federal minimum wage such as Georgia and Wyoming. Some jurisdictions allow employers to count tips given to their workers as credit towards the minimum wage levels. India was one of the first developing countries to introduce minimum wage policy in its law in 1948. However, it is rarely implemented, even by contractors of government agencies. In Mumbai, as of 2017, the minimum wage was Rs. 348/day. India also has one of the most complicated systems with more than 1,200 minimum wage rates depending on the geographical region. Customs and extra-legal pressures from governments or labor unions can produce a de facto minimum wage. So can international public opinion, by pressuring multinational companies to pay Third World workers wages usually found in more industrialized countries. The latter situation in Southeast Asia and Latin America was publicized in the 2000s, but it existed with companies in West Africa in the middle of the 20th century. Among the indicators that might be used to establish an initial minimum wage rate are ones that minimize the loss of jobs while preserving international competitiveness. Among these are general economic conditions as measured by real and nominal gross domestic product; inflation; labor supply and demand; wage levels, distribution and differentials; employment terms; productivity growth; labor costs; business operating costs; the number and trend of bankruptcies; economic freedom rankings; standards of living and the prevailing average wage rate. In the business sector, concerns include the expected increased cost of doing business, threats to profitability, rising levels of unemployment (and subsequent higher government expenditure on welfare benefits raising tax rates), and the possible knock-on effects to the wages of more experienced workers who might already be earning the new statutory minimum wage, or slightly more. Among workers and their representatives, political considerations weigh in as labor leaders seek to win support by demanding the highest possible rate. Other concerns include purchasing power, inflation indexing and standardized working hours. In the United States, the minimum wage have been set under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the minimum wage in the United States would have been $18.28 in 2013 if the minimum wage had kept pace with labor productivity. To adjust for increased rates of worker productivity in the United States, raising the minimum wage to $22 (or more) an hour has been presented. According to the supply and demand model of the labor market shown in many economics textbooks, increasing the minimum wage decreases the employment of minimum-wage workers. One such textbook states: A firm's cost is an increasing function of the wage rate. The higher the wage rate, the fewer hours an employer will demand of employees. This is because, as the wage rate rises, it becomes more expensive for firms to hire workers and so firms hire fewer workers (or hire them for fewer hours). The demand of labor curve is therefore shown as a line moving down and to the right. Since higher wages increase the quantity supplied, the supply of labor curve is upward sloping, and is shown as a line moving up and to the right. If no minimum wage is in place, wages will adjust until quantity of labor demanded is equal to quantity supplied, reaching equilibrium, where the supply and demand curves intersect. Minimum wage behaves as a classical price floor on labor. Standard theory says that, if set above the equilibrium price, more labor will be willing to be provided by workers than will be demanded by employers, creating a surplus of labor, i.e. unemployment. The economic model of markets predicts the same of other commodities (like milk and wheat, for example): Artificially raising the price of the commodity tends to cause an increase in quantity supplied and a decrease in quantity demanded. The result is a surplus of the commodity. When there is a wheat surplus, the government buys it. Since the government does not hire surplus labor, the labor surplus takes the form of unemployment, which tends to be higher with minimum wage laws than without them. The supply and demand model implies that by mandating a price floor above the equilibrium wage, minimum wage laws will cause unemployment. This is because a greater number of people are willing to work at the higher wage while a smaller number of jobs will be available at the higher wage. Companies can be more selective in those whom they employ thus the least skilled and least experienced will typically be excluded. An imposition or increase of a minimum wage will generally only affect employment in the low-skill labor market, as the equilibrium wage is already at or below the minimum wage, whereas in higher skill labor markets the equilibrium wage is too high for a change in minimum wage to affect employment. The supply and demand model predicts that raising the minimum wage helps workers whose wages are raised, and hurts people who are not hired (or lose their jobs) when companies cut back on employment. But proponents of the minimum wage hold that the situation is much more complicated than the model can account for. One complicating factor is possible monopsony in the labor market, whereby the individual employer has some market power in determining wages paid. Thus it is at least theoretically possible that the minimum wage may boost employment. Though single employer market power is unlikely to exist in most labor markets in the sense of the traditional 'company town,' asymmetric information, imperfect mobility, and the personal element of the labor transaction give some degree of wage-setting power to most firms. Modern economic theory predicts that although an excessive minimum wage may raise unemployment as it fixes a price above most demand for labor, a minimum wage at a more reasonable level can increase employment, and enhance growth and efficiency. This is because labor markets are monopsonistic and workers persistently lack bargaining power. When poorer workers have more to spend it stimulates effective aggregate demand for goods and services. The argument that a minimum wage decreases employment is based on a simple supply and demand model of the labor market. A number of economists (for example Pierangelo Garegnani, Robert L. Vienneau, and Arrigo Opocher & Ian Steedman), building on the work of Piero Sraffa, argue that that model, even given all its assumptions, is logically incoherent. Michael Anyadike-Danes and Wynne Godley argue, based on simulation results, that little of the empirical work done with the textbook model constitutes a potentially falsifiable theory, and consequently empirical evidence hardly exists for that model. Graham White argues, partially on the basis of Sraffianism, that the policy of increased labor market flexibility, including the reduction of minimum wages, does not have an "intellectually coherent" argument in economic theory. Gary Fields, Professor of Labor Economics and Economics at Cornell University, argues that the standard textbook model for the minimum wage is ambiguous, and that the standard theoretical arguments incorrectly measure only a one-sector market. Fields says a two-sector market, where "the self-employed, service workers, and farm workers are typically excluded from minimum-wage coverage... [and with] one sector with minimum-wage coverage and the other without it [and possible mobility between the two]," is the basis for better analysis. Through this model, Fields shows the typical theoretical argument to be ambiguous and says "the predictions derived from the textbook model definitely do not carry over to the two-sector case. Therefore, since a non-covered sector exists nearly everywhere, the predictions of the textbook model simply cannot be relied on." An alternate view of the labor market has low-wage labor markets characterized as monopsonistic competition wherein buyers (employers) have significantly more market power than do sellers (workers). This monopsony could be a result of intentional collusion between employers, or naturalistic factors such as segmented markets, search costs, information costs, imperfect mobility and the personal element of labor markets. In such a case a simple supply and demand graph would not yield the quantity of labor clearing and the wage rate. This is because while the upward sloping aggregate labor supply would remain unchanged, instead of using the upward labor supply curve shown in a supply and demand diagram, monopsonistic employers would use a steeper upward sloping curve corresponding to marginal expenditures to yield the intersection with the supply curve resulting in a wage rate lower than would be the case under competition. Also, the amount of labor sold would also be lower than the competitive optimal allocation. Such a case is a type of market failure and results in workers being paid less than their marginal value. Under the monopsonistic assumption, an appropriately set minimum wage could increase both wages and employment, with the optimal level being equal to the marginal product of labor. This view emphasizes the role of minimum wages as a market regulation policy akin to antitrust policies, as opposed to an illusory "free lunch" for low-wage workers. Another reason minimum wage may not affect employment in certain industries is that the demand for the product the employees produce is highly inelastic. For example, if management is forced to increase wages, management can pass on the increase in wage to consumers in the form of higher prices. Since demand for the product is highly inelastic, consumers continue to buy the product at the higher price and so the manager is not forced to lay off workers. Economist Paul Krugman argues this explanation neglects to explain why the firm was not charging this higher price absent the minimum wage. Three other possible reasons minimum wages do not affect employment were suggested by Alan Blinder: higher wages may reduce turnover, and hence training costs; raising the minimum wage may "render moot" the potential problem of recruiting workers at a higher wage than current workers; and minimum wage workers might represent such a small proportion of a business's cost that the increase is too small to matter. He admits that he does not know if these are correct, but argues that "the list demonstrates that one can accept the new empirical findings and still be a card-carrying economist." The following mathematical models are more quantitative in orientation, and highlight some of the difficulties in determining the impact of the minimum wage on labor market outcomes. Specifically, these models focus on labor markets with frictions. Assume that the decision to participate in the labor market results from a trade-off between being an unemployed job seeker and not participating at all. All individuals whose expected utility outside the labor market is less than the expected utility of an unemployed person formula_1 decide to participate in the labor market. In the basic search and matching model, the expected utility of unemployed persons formula_1 and that of employed persons formula_3 are defined by: formula_4Let formula_5 be the wage, formula_6 the interest rate, formula_7 the instantaneous income of unemployed persons, formula_8 the exogenous job destruction rate, formula_9 the labor market tightness, and formula_10 the job finding rate. The profits formula_11 and formula_12 expected from a filled job and a vacant one are:formula_13where formula_14 is the cost of a vacant job and formula_15 is the productivity. When the free entry condition formula_16 is satisfied, these two equalities yield the following relationship between the wage formula_5 and labor market tightness formula_9: formula_19If formula_5 represents a minimum wage that applies to all workers, this equation completely determines the equilibrium value of the labor market tightness formula_9. There are two conditions associated with the matching function:formula_22This implies that formula_9 is a decreasing function of the minimum wage formula_5, and so is the job finding rate formula_25. A hike in the minimum wage degrades the profitability of a job, so firms post fewer vacancies and the job finding rate falls off. Now let's rewrite formula_26 to be:formula_27Using the relationship between the wage and labor market tightness to eliminate the wage from the last equation gives us: formula_28 If we maximize formula_26 in this equation, with respect to the labor market tightness, we find that:formula_30where formula_31 is the elasticity of the matching function:formula_32This result shows that the expected utility of unemployed workers is maximized when the minimum wage is set at a level that corresponds to the wage level of the decentralized economy in which the bargaining power parameter is equal to the elasticity formula_31. The level of the negotiated wage is formula_34. If formula_35, then an increase in the minimum wage increases participation and the unemployment rate, with an ambiguous impact on employment. When the bargaining power of workers is less than formula_31, an increases in the minimum wage improves the welfare of the unemployed - this suggests that minimum wage hikes can improve labor market efficiency, at least up to the point when bargaining power equals formula_31. On the other hand, if formula_38, any increases in the minimum wage entails a decline in labor market participation and an increase in unemployment. In the model just presented, we found that the minimum wage always increases unemployment. This result does not necessarily hold when the search effort of workers in endogenous. Consider a model where the intensity of the job search is designated by the scalar formula_39, which can be interpreted as the amount of time and/or intensity of the effort devoted to search. Assume that the arrival rate of job offers is formula_40 and that the wage distribution is degenerated to a single wage formula_5. Denote formula_42 to be the cost arising from the search effort, with formula_43. Then the discounted utilities are given by:formula_44Therefore, the optimal search effort is such that the marginal cost of performing the search is equation to the marginal return:formula_45This implies that the optimal search effort increases as the difference between the expected utility of the job holder and the expected utility of the job seeker grows. In fact, this difference actually grows with the wage. To see this, take the difference of the two discounted utilities to find:formula_46Then differentiating with respect to formula_5 and rearranging gives us:formula_48where formula_49 is the optimal search effort. This implies that a wage increase drives up job search effort and, therefore, the job finding rate. Additionally, the unemployment rate formula_50 at equilibrium is given by:formula_51A hike in the wage, which increases the search effort and the job finding rate, decreases the unemployment rate. So it is possible that a hike in the minimum wage may, by boosting the search effort of job seekers, boost employment. Taken in sum with the previous section, the minimum wage in labor markets with frictions can improve employment and decrease the unemployment rate when it is sufficiently low. However, a high minimum wage is detrimental to employment and increases the unemployment rate. Economists disagree as to the measurable impact of minimum wages in practice. This disagreement usually takes the form of competing empirical tests of the elasticities of supply and demand in labor markets and the degree to which markets differ from the efficiency that models of perfect competition predict. Economists have done empirical studies on different aspects of the minimum wage, including: Employment effects, the most frequently studied aspect, Effects on the distribution of wages and earnings among low-paid and higher-paid workers, Effects on the distribution of incomes among low-income and higher-income families, Effects on the skills of workers through job training and the deferring of work to acquire education, Effects on prices and profits, Effects on on-the-job training Until the mid-1990s, a general consensus existed among economists, both conservative and liberal, that the minimum wage reduced employment, especially among younger and low-skill workers. In addition to the basic supply-demand intuition, there were a number of empirical studies that supported this view. For example, Gramlich (1976) found that many of the benefits went to higher income families, and that teenagers were made worse off by the unemployment associated with the minimum wage. Brown et al. (1983) noted that time series studies to that point had found that for a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage, there was a decrease in teenage employment of 1–3 percent. However, the studies found wider variation, from 0 to over 3 percent, in their estimates for the effect on teenage unemployment (teenagers without a job and looking for one). In contrast to the simple supply and demand diagram, it was commonly found that teenagers withdrew from the labor force in response to the minimum wage, which produced the possibility of equal reductions in the supply as well as the demand for labor at a higher minimum wage and hence no impact on the unemployment rate. Using a variety of specifications of the employment and unemployment equations (using ordinary least squares vs. generalized least squares regression procedures, and linear vs. logarithmic specifications), they found that a 10 percent increase in the minimum wage caused a 1 percent decrease in teenage employment, and no change in the teenage unemployment rate. The study also found a small, but statistically significant, increase in unemployment for adults aged 20–24. Wellington (1991) updated Brown et al.'s research with data through 1986 to provide new estimates encompassing a period when the real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) value of the minimum wage was declining, because it had not increased since 1981. She found that a 10% increase in the minimum wage decreased the absolute teenage employment by 0.6%, with no effect on the teen or young adult unemployment rates. Some research suggests that the unemployment effects of small minimum wage increases are dominated by other factors. In Florida, where voters approved an increase in 2004, a follow-up comprehensive study after the increase confirmed a strong economy with increased employment above previous years in Florida and better than in the US as a whole. When it comes to on-the-job training, some believe the increase in wages is taken out of training expenses. A 2001 empirical study found that there is "no evidence that minimum wages reduce training, and little evidence that they tend to increase training." Some empirical studies have tried to ascertain the benefits of a minimum wage beyond employment effects. In an analysis of census data, Joseph Sabia and Robert Nielson found no statistically significant evidence that minimum wage increases helped reduce financial, housing, health, or food insecurity. This study was undertaken by the Employment Policies Institute, a think tank funded by the food, beverage and hospitality industries. In 2012, Michael Reich published an economic analysis that suggested that a proposed minimum wage hike in San Diego might stimulate the city's economy by about $190 million. The Economist wrote in December 2013: "A minimum wage, providing it is not set too high, could thus boost pay with no ill effects on jobs...America's federal minimum wage, at 38% of median income, is one of the rich world's lowest. Some studies find no harm to employment from federal or state minimum wages, others see a small one, but none finds any serious damage. ... High minimum wages, however, particularly in rigid labour markets, do appear to hit employment. France has the rich world’s highest wage floor, at more than 60% of the median for adults and a far bigger fraction of the typical wage for the young. This helps explain why France also has shockingly high rates of youth unemployment: 26% for 15- to 24-year-olds." The restaurant industry is commonly studied because of its high number of minimum wage workers. A 2018 study from the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at the University of California, Berkeley focusing on food services showed that minimum wage increases in Washington, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose gave workers higher pay without hampering job growth. A 2017 study of restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area examined the period 2008-2016 and the effect that a minimum wage increase had on the probability of restaurants going out of business, and broke out results based on the restaurant's rating on the review site Yelp. The study found no effect for 5-star (highest rated) restaurants (regardless of the expensiveness of the cuisine) but those with increasingly lower ratings were increasingly likely to go out of business (for example a 14% increase at 3.5 stars for a $1 per hour minimum wage increase). It also noted that the Yelp star rating was correlated with likelihood of minority ownership and minority customer base. Importantly, it noted that restaurants below 4 star in rating were proportionally more likely to hire low-skilled workers. The minimum wage increases during this period did not prevent growth in the industry overall – the number of restaurants in San Francisco went from 3,600 in 2012 to 7,600 in 2016. An August 2019 study from The New School's Center for New York City Affairs and the think tank National Employment Law Project, which advocates for raising the minimum wage, found that the restaurant industry in New York City has been "thriving" following an increase in the minimum wage to $15 an hour. A 2019 study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics found that minimum wage increases did not have an impact on the overall number of low-wage jobs in the five years subsequent to the wage increase. However, it did find disemployment in 'tradeable' sectors, defined as those sectors most reliant on entry level or low skilled labor. In another study, which shared authors with the above, published in the American Economic Review found that a large and persistent increase in the minimum wage in Hungary produced some disemployment with the large majority of additional cost being passed on to consumers. The authors also found that firms began substituting capital for labor over time. In 1992, the minimum wage in New Jersey increased from $4.25 to $5.05 per hour (an 18.8% increase), while in the adjacent state of Pennsylvania it remained at $4.25. David Card and Alan Krueger gathered information on fast food restaurants in New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania in an attempt to see what effect this increase had on employment within New Jersey. A basic supply and demand model predicts that relative employment should have decreased in New Jersey. Card and Krueger surveyed employers before the April 1992 New Jersey increase, and again in November–December 1992, asking managers for data on the full-time equivalent staff level of their restaurants both times. Based on data from the employers' responses, the authors concluded that the increase in the minimum wage slightly increased employment in the New Jersey restaurants. Card and Krueger expanded on this initial article in their 1995 book Myth and Measurement: The New Economics of the Minimum Wage. They argued that the negative employment effects of minimum wage laws are minimal if not non- existent. For example, they look at the 1992 increase in New Jersey's minimum wage, the 1988 rise in California's minimum wage, and the 1990–91 increases in the federal minimum wage. In addition to their own findings, they reanalyzed earlier studies with updated data, generally finding that the older results of a negative employment effect did not hold up in the larger datasets. In 1996, David Neumark and William Wascher reexamined Card and Krueger's result using administrative payroll records from a sample of large fast food restaurant chains, and reported that minimum wage increases were followed by decreases in employment. An assessment of data collected and analyzed by Neumark and Wascher did not initially contradict the Card and Krueger results, but in a later edited version they found a four percent decrease in employment, and reported that "the estimated disemployment effects in the payroll data are often statistically significant at the 5- or 10-percent level although there are some estimators and subsamples that yield insignificant—although almost always negative" employment effects. Neumark and Wascher's conclusions were subsequently rebutted in a 2000 paper by Card and Krueger. A 2011 paper has reconciled the difference between Card and Krueger's survey data and Neumark and Wascher's payroll-based data. The paper shows that both datasets evidence conditional employment effects that are positive for small restaurants, but are negative for large fast-food restaurants. A 2014 analysis based on panel data found that the minimum wage reduces employment among teenagers. In 1996 and 1997, the federal minimum wage was increased from $4.25 to $5.15, thereby increasing the minimum wage by $0.90 in Pennsylvania but by just $0.10 in New Jersey; this allowed for an examination of the effects of minimum wage increases in the same area, subsequent to the 1992 change studied by Card and Krueger. A study by Hoffman and Trace found the result anticipated by traditional theory: a detrimental effect on employment. Further application of the methodology used by Card and Krueger by other researchers yielded results similar to their original findings, across additional data sets. A 2010 study by three economists (Arindrajit Dube of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, William Lester of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Michael Reich of the University of California, Berkeley), compared adjacent counties in different states where the minimum wage had been raised in one of the states. They analyzed employment trends for several categories of low-wage workers from 1990 to 2006 and found that increases in minimum wages had no negative effects on low-wage employment and successfully increased the income of workers in food services and retail employment, as well as the narrower category of workers in restaurants. However, a 2011 study by Baskaya and Rubinstein of Brown University found that at the federal level, "a rise in minimum wage have [sic] an instantaneous impact on wage rates and a corresponding negative impact on employment", stating, "Minimum wage increases boost teenage wage rates and reduce teenage employment." Another 2011 study by Sen, Rybczynski, and Van De Waal found that "a 10% increase in the minimum wage is significantly correlated with a 3−5% drop in teen employment." A 2012 study by Sabia, Hansen, and Burkhauser found that "minimum wage increases can have substantial adverse labor demand effects for low-skilled individuals", with the largest effects on those aged 16 to 24. A 2013 study by Meer and West concluded that "the minimum wage reduces net job growth, primarily through its effect on job creation by expanding establishments ... most pronounced for younger workers and in industries with a higher proportion of low-wage workers." This study by Meer and West was later critiqued for its trends of assumption in the context of narrowly defined low-wage groups. The authors replied to the critiques and released additional data which addressed the criticism of their methodology, but did not resolve the issue of whether their data showed a causal relationship. A 2019 paper published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by Cengiz, Dube, Lindner and Zipperer argues that the job losses found using a Meer and West type methodology "tend to be driven by an unrealistically large drop in the number of jobs at the upper tail of the wage distribution, which is unlikely to be a causal effect of the minimum wage." Another 2013 study by Suzana Laporšek of the University of Primorska, on youth unemployment in Europe claimed there was "a negative, statistically significant impact of minimum wage on youth employment." A 2013 study by labor economists Tony Fang and Carl Lin which studied minimum wages and employment in China, found that "minimum wage changes have significant adverse effects on employment in the Eastern and Central regions of China, and result in disemployment for females, young adults, and low-skilled workers". A 2017 study found that in Seattle, increasing the minimum wage to $13 per hour lowered income of low-wage workers by $125 per month, due to the resulting reduction in hours worked, as industries made changes to make their businesses less labor intensive. The authors argue that previous research that found no negative effects on hours worked are flawed because they only look at select industries, or only look at teenagers, instead of entire economies. Finally, a study by Overstreet in 2019 examined increases to the minimum wage in Arizona. Utilizing data spanning from 1976 to 2017, Overstreet found that a 1% increase in the minimum wage was significantly correlated with a 1.13% increase in per capita income in Arizona. This study could show that smaller increases in minimum wage may not distort labor market as significantly as larger increases experienced in other cities and states. Thus, the small increases experienced in Arizona may have actually led to a slight increase in economic growth. In 2019, economists from Georgia Tech published a study that found a strong correlation between incresases to the minimum wage and detectable harm to the financial conditions of small businesses, including a higher rate of bankruptcy, lower hiring rates, lower credit scores, and higher interest payments. The researchers noted that these small businesses were also correlated with minority ownership and minority customer bases. In July 2019, the Congressional Budget Office published the impact on proposed national $15/hour legislation. It noted that workers who retained full employment would see a modest improvement in take home pay offset by a small decrease in working conditions and non-pecuniary benefits. However, this benefit is offset by three primary factors; the reduction in hours worked, the reduction in total employment, and the increased cost of goods and services. Those factors result in a decrease of about $33 Billion in total income and nearly 1.7-3.7 million lost jobs in the first three years (the CBO also noted this figure increases over time). In response to an April 2016 Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) report advocating the raising of the minimum wage to deter crime, economists used data from the 1998-2016 Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and National Longitudinal Study of Youth (NLSY) to assess the impact of the minimum wage on crime. They found that increasing the minimum wage resulted in increased property crime arrests among those ages 16-to-24. They estimated that an increase of the Federal minimum wage to $15/hour would "generate criminal externality costs of nearly $2.4 billion." Economists in Denmark, relying on a discontinuity in wage rates when a worker turns 18, found that employment fell by 33% and total hours fell by 45% when the minimum wage law was in effect. Several researchers have conducted statistical meta-analyses of the employment effects of the minimum wage. In 1995, Card and Krueger analyzed 14 earlier time-series studies on minimum wages and concluded that there was clear evidence of publication bias (in favor of studies that found a statistically significant negative employment effect). They point out that later studies, which had more data and lower standard errors, did not show the expected increase in t-statistic (almost all the studies had a t-statistic of about two, just above the level of statistical significance at the .05 level). Though a serious methodological indictment, opponents of the minimum wage largely ignored this issue; as Thomas Leonard noted, "The silence is fairly deafening." In 2005, T.D. Stanley showed that Card and Krueger's results could signify either publication bias or the absence of a minimum wage effect. However, using a different methodology, Stanley concluded that there is evidence of publication bias and that correction of this bias shows no relationship between the minimum wage and unemployment. In 2008, Hristos Doucouliagos and T.D. Stanley conducted a similar meta-analysis of 64 U.S. studies on disemployment effects and concluded that Card and Krueger's initial claim of publication bias is still correct. Moreover, they concluded, "Once this publication selection is corrected, little or no evidence of a negative association between minimum wages and employment remains." In 2013, a meta- analysis of 16 UK studies found no significant effects on employment attributable to the minimum wage. a 2007 meta-analyses by David Neumark of 96 studies found a consistent, but not always statistically significant, negative effect on employment from increases in the minimum wage. Minimum wage laws affect workers in most low-paid fields of employment and have usually been judged against the criterion of reducing poverty. Minimum wage laws receive less support from economists than from the general public. Despite decades of experience and economic research, debates about the costs and benefits of minimum wages continue today. Various groups have great ideological, political, financial, and emotional investments in issues surrounding minimum wage laws. For example, agencies that administer the laws have a vested interest in showing that "their" laws do not create unemployment, as do labor unions whose members' finances are protected by minimum wage laws. On the other side of the issue, low-wage employers such as restaurants finance the Employment Policies Institute, which has released numerous studies opposing the minimum wage. The presence of these powerful groups and factors means that the debate on the issue is not always based on dispassionate analysis. Additionally, it is extraordinarily difficult to separate the effects of minimum wage from all the other variables that affect employment. The following table summarizes the arguments made by those for and against minimum wage laws: A widely circulated argument that the minimum wage was ineffective at reducing poverty was provided by George Stigler in 1949: Employment may fall more than in proportion to the wage increase, thereby reducing overall earnings;, As uncovered sectors of the economy absorb workers released from the covered sectors, the decrease in wages in the uncovered sectors may exceed the increase in wages in the covered ones;, The impact of the minimum wage on family income distribution may be negative unless the fewer but better jobs are allocated to members of needy families rather than to, for example, teenagers from families not in poverty;, Forbidding employers to pay less than a legal minimum is equivalent to forbidding workers to sell their labor for less than the minimum wage. The legal restriction that employers cannot pay less than a legislated wage is equivalent to the legal restriction that workers cannot work at all in the protected sector unless they can find employers willing to hire them at that wage. In 2006, the International Labour Organization (ILO) argued that the minimum wage could not be directly linked to unemployment in countries that have suffered job losses. In April 2010, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report arguing that countries could alleviate teen unemployment by "lowering the cost of employing low-skilled youth" through a sub-minimum training wage. A study of U.S. states showed that businesses' annual and average payrolls grow faster and employment grew at a faster rate in states with a minimum wage. The study showed a correlation, but did not claim to prove causation. Although strongly opposed by both the business community and the Conservative Party when introduced in the UK in 1999, the Conservatives reversed their opposition in 2000. Accounts differ as to the effects of the minimum wage. The Centre for Economic Performance found no discernible impact on employment levels from the wage increases, while the Low Pay Commission found that employers had reduced their rate of hiring and employee hours employed, and found ways to cause current workers to be more productive (especially service companies). The Institute for the Study of Labor found prices in the minimum wage sector rose significantly faster than prices in non-minimum wage sectors, in the four years following the implementation of the minimum wage. Neither trade unions nor employer organizations contest the minimum wage, although the latter had especially done so heavily until 1999. In 2014, supporters of minimum wage cited a study that found that job creation within the United States is faster in states that raised their minimum wages. In 2014, supporters of minimum wage cited news organizations who reported the state with the highest minimum-wage garnered more job creation than the rest of the United States. In 2014, in Seattle, Washington, liberal and progressive business owners who had supported the city's new $15 minimum wage said they might hold off on expanding their businesses and thus creating new jobs, due to the uncertain timescale of the wage increase implementation. However, subsequently at least two of the business owners quoted did expand. The dollar value of the minimum wage loses purchasing power over time due to inflation. Minimum wage laws, for instance proposals to index the minimum wage to average wages, have the potential to keep the dollar value of the minimum wage relevant and predictable. With regard to the economic effects of introducing minimum wage legislation in Germany in January 2015, recent developments have shown that the feared increase in unemployment has not materialized, however, in some economic sectors and regions of the country, it came to a decline in job opportunities particularly for temporary and part-time workers, and some low-wage jobs have disappeared entirely. Because of this overall positive development, the Deutsche Bundesbank revised its opinion, and ascertained that “the impact of the introduction of the minimum wage on the total volume of work appears to be very limited in the present business cycle”. A 2019 study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that in the United States, those states which have implemented a higher minimum wage saw a decline in the growth of suicide rates. The researchers say that for every one dollar increase, the annual suicide growth rate fell by 1.9%. The study covers all 50 states for the years 2006 to 2016. According to a 1978 article in the American Economic Review, 90% of the economists surveyed agreed that the minimum wage increases unemployment among low-skilled workers. By 1992 the survey found 79% of economists in agreement with that statement, and by 2000, 46% were in full agreement with the statement and 28% agreed with provisos (74% total). The authors of the 2000 study also reweighted data from a 1990 sample to show that at that time 62% of academic economists agreed with the statement above, while 20% agreed with provisos and 18% disagreed. They state that the reduction on consensus on this question is "likely" due to the Card and Krueger research and subsequent debate. A similar survey in 2006 by Robert Whaples polled PhD members of the American Economic Association (AEA). Whaples found that 47% respondents wanted the minimum wage eliminated, 38% supported an increase, 14% wanted it kept at the current level, and 1% wanted it decreased. Another survey in 2007 conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center found that 73% of labor economists surveyed in the United States believed 150% of the then- current minimum wage would result in employment losses and 68% believed a mandated minimum wage would cause an increase in hiring of workers with greater skills. 31% felt that no hiring changes would result. Surveys of labor economists have found a sharp split on the minimum wage. Fuchs et al. (1998) polled labor economists at the top 40 research universities in the United States on a variety of questions in the summer of 1996. Their 65 respondents were nearly evenly divided when asked if the minimum wage should be increased. They argued that the different policy views were not related to views on whether raising the minimum wage would reduce teen employment (the median economist said there would be a reduction of 1%), but on value differences such as income redistribution. Daniel B. Klein and Stewart Dompe conclude, on the basis of previous surveys, "the average level of support for the minimum wage is somewhat higher among labor economists than among AEA members." In 2007, Klein and Dompe conducted a non-anonymous survey of supporters of the minimum wage who had signed the "Raise the Minimum Wage" statement published by the Economic Policy Institute. 95 of the 605 signatories responded. They found that a majority signed on the grounds that it transferred income from employers to workers, or equalized bargaining power between them in the labor market. In addition, a majority considered disemployment to be a moderate potential drawback to the increase they supported. In 2013, a diverse group of 37 economics professors was surveyed on their view of the minimum wage's impact on employment. 34% of respondents agreed with the statement, "Raising the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour would make it noticeably harder for low-skilled workers to find employment." 32% disagreed and the remaining respondents were uncertain or had no opinion on the question. 47% agreed with the statement, "The distortionary costs of raising the federal minimum wage to $9 per hour and indexing it to inflation are sufficiently small compared with the benefits to low-skilled workers who can find employment that this would be a desirable policy", while 11% disagreed. Economists and other political commentators have proposed alternatives to the minimum wage. They argue that these alternatives may address the issue of poverty better than a minimum wage, as it would benefit a broader population of low wage earners, not cause any unemployment, and distribute the costs widely rather than concentrating it on employers of low wage workers. A basic income (or negative income tax - NIT) is a system of social security that periodically provides each citizen with a sum of money that is sufficient to live on frugally. Supporters of the basic-income idea argue that recipients of the basic income would have considerably more bargaining power when negotiating a wage with an employer, as there would be no risk of destitution for not taking the employment. As a result, jobseekers could spend more time looking for a more appropriate or satisfying job, or they could wait until a higher-paying job appeared. Alternatively, they could spend more time increasing their skills (via education and training), which would make them more suitable for higher-paying jobs, as well as provide numerous other benefits. Experiments on Basic Income and NIT in Canada and the USA show that people spent more time studying while the program was running. Proponents argue that a basic income that is based on a broad tax base would be more economically efficient than a minimum wage, as the minimum wage effectively imposes a high marginal tax on employers, causing losses in efficiency. A guaranteed minimum income is another proposed system of social welfare provision. It is similar to a basic income or negative income tax system, except that it is normally conditional and subject to a means test. Some proposals also stipulate a willingness to participate in the labor market, or a willingness to perform community services. A refundable tax credit is a mechanism whereby the tax system can reduce the tax owed by a household to below zero, and result in a net payment to the taxpayer beyond their own payments into the tax system. Examples of refundable tax credits include the earned income tax credit and the additional child tax credit in the US, and working tax credits and child tax credits in the UK. Such a system is slightly different from a negative income tax, in that the refundable tax credit is usually only paid to households that have earned at least some income. This policy is more targeted against poverty than the minimum wage, because it avoids subsidizing low-income workers who are supported by high-income households (for example, teenagers still living with their parents). In the United States, earned income tax credit rates, also known as EITC or EIC, vary by state—some are refundable while other states do not allow a refundable tax credit. The federal EITC program has been expanded by a number of presidents including Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and Bill Clinton. In 1986, President Reagan described the EITC as "the best anti poverty, the best pro-family, the best job creation measure to come out of Congress." The ability of the earned income tax credit to deliver larger monetary benefits to the poor workers than an increase in the minimum wage and at a lower cost to society was documented in a 2007 report by the Congressional Budget Office. The Adam Smith Institute prefers cutting taxes on the poor and middle class instead of raising wages as an alternative to the minimum wage. Italy, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Denmark are examples of developed nations where there is no minimum wage that is required by legislation. Such nations, particularly the Nordics, have very high union participation rates. Instead, minimum wage standards in different sectors are set by collective bargaining. Some economists such as Scott Sumner and Edmund Phelps advocate a wage subsidy program. A wage subsidy is a payment made by a government for work people do. It is based either on an hourly basis or by income earned. Advocates argue that the primary deficiencies of the EITC and the minimum wage are best avoided by a wage subsidy. However, the wage subsidy in the United States suffers from a lack of political support from either major political party. Providing education or funding apprenticeships or technical training can provide a bridge for low skilled workers to move into wages above a minimum wage. For example, Germany has adopted a state funded apprenticeship program that combines on-the-job and classroom training. Having more skills makes workers more valuable and more productive, but having a high minimum wage for low-skill jobs reduces the incentive to seek education and training. Moving some workers to higher-paying jobs will decrease the supply of workers willing to accept low-skill jobs, increasing the market wage for those low skilled jobs (assuming a stable labor market). However, in that solution the wage will still not increase above the marginal return for the role and will likely promote automation or business closure. In January 2014, seven Nobel economists—Kenneth Arrow, Peter Diamond, Eric Maskin, Thomas Schelling, Robert Solow, Michael Spence, and Joseph Stiglitz—and 600 other economists wrote a letter to the US Congress and the US President urging that, by 2016, the US government should raise the minimum wage to $10.10. They endorsed the Minimum Wage Fairness Act which was introduced by US Senator Tom Harkin in 2013. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a bill in 2015 that would raise the minimum wage to $15, and in his 2016 campaign for president ran on a platform of increasing it. Although Sanders did not become the nominee, the Democratic National Committee adopted his $15 minimum wage push in their 2016 party platform. Reactions from former McDonald's USA Ed Rensi about raising minimum wage to $15 is to completely push humans out of the picture when it comes to labor if they are to pay minimum wage at $15 they would look into replacing humans with machines as that would be the more cost-effective than having employees that are ineffective. During an interview on FOX Business Network’s Mornings with Maria, he stated that he believes an increase to $15 an hour would cause job loss at an extraordinary level. Rensi also believes it does not only affect the fast food industry, franchising he sees as the best business model in the United States, it is dependent on people that have low job skills that have to grow and if you cannot pay them a reasonable wage then they are going to be replaced with machines. In late March 2016, Governor of California Jerry Brown reached a deal to raise the minimum wage to $15 by 2022 for big businesses and 2023 for smaller businesses. In contrast, the relatively high minimum wage in Puerto Rico has been blamed by various politicians and commentators as a highly significant factor in the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis. One study concluded that "Employers are disinclined to hire workers because the US federal minimum wage is very high relative to the local average". , unions were exempt from recent minimum wage increases in Chicago, Illinois, SeaTac, Washington, and Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, as well as the California cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, Long Beach, San Jose, Richmond, and Oakland. Scholars found in 2019 that, in America, "Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to a report published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. An increase of $2 in each state's minimum wage could have prevented more than 57,000 suicides." The researchers stated, "The effect of a US$1 increase in the minimum wage ranged from a 3.4% decrease (95% CI 0.4 to 6.4) to a 5.9% decrease (95% CI 1.4 to 10.2) in the suicide rate among adults aged 18–64 years with a high school education or less. We detected significant effect modification by unemployment rate, with the largest effects of minimum wage on reducing suicides observed at higher unemployment levels." They concluded, "Minimum wage increases appear to reduce the suicide rate among those with a high school education or less, and may reduce disparities between socioeconomic groups. Effects appear greatest during periods of high unemployment." Average worker's wage, Economic inequality, Employee benefits, Family wage, Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit Authority, Labor law, List of minimum wages by country, Minimum Wage Fixing Convention 1970, Moonlight clan, Negative and positive rights, Nickel and Dimed, Price controls, Salary cap, Scratch Beginnings, Wage slavery, Working poor Burkhauser, R. V. (2014). Why minimum wage increases are a poor way to help the working poor (No. 86). IZA Policy Paper, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). Resource Guide on Minimum Wages from the International Labour Organization (a UN agency), The National Minimum Wage (U.K.) from official UK government website, Find It! By Topic: Wages: Minimum Wage U.S. Department of Labor, Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2009 U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, History of Changes to the Minimum Wage Law U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, The Effects of a Minimum-wage Increase on Employment and Family Income Congressional Budget Office, Inflation and the Real Minimum Wage: A Fact Sheet Congressional Research Service, Minimum Wages in Central and Eastern Europe Database Central Europe, Prices and Wages – research guide at the University of Missouri libraries Support Issues about Minimum Wage from the AFL-CIO, Issue Guide on the Minimum Wage from the Economic Policy Institute, A $15 U.S. Minimum Wage: How the Fast-Food Industry Could Adjust Without Shedding Jobs from the Political Economy Research Institute, January 2015. Opposed Reporting the Minimum Wage from The Cato Institute, The Economic Effects of Minimum Wages from Show-Me Institute, Economics in One Lesson: The Lesson Applied, Chapter 19: Minimum Wage Laws by Henry Hazlitt

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The Australian Capital Territory Proof of Identity Card is a voluntary identity photo card available to all residents of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australia The purpose is mainly to access restricted services for people over the age of 18 or to prove identity for those without a driver's licence. In cryptography, a zero-knowledge proof or zero-knowledge protocol is a method by which one party (the prover) can prove to another party (the verifier) that they know a value , without conveying any information apart from the fact that they know the value . The essence of zero-knowledge proofs is that it is trivial to prove that one possesses knowledge of certain information by simply revealing it; the challenge is to prove such possession without revealing the information itself or any additional information. If proving a statement requires that the prover possesses some secret information, then the verifier will not be able to prove the statement to anyone else without possessing the secret information. The statement being proved must include the assertion that the prover has such knowledge, but not the knowledge itself. Otherwise, the statement would not be proved in zero-knowledge because it provides the verifier with additional information about the statement by the end of the protocol. A zero-knowledge proof of knowledge is a special case when the statement consists only of the fact that the prover possesses the secret information. Interactive zero-knowledge proofs require interaction between the individual (or computer system) proving their knowledge and the individual validating the proof. A protocol implementing zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge must necessarily require interactive input from the verifier. This interactive input is usually in the form of one or more challenges such that the responses from the prover will convince the verifier if and only if the statement is true, i.e., if the prover does possess the claimed knowledge. If this were not the case, the verifier could record the execution of the protocol and replay it to convince someone else that they possess the secret information. The new party's acceptance is either justified since the replayer does possess the information (which implies that the protocol leaked information, and thus, is not proved in zero-knowledge), or the acceptance is spurious, i.e., was accepted from someone who does not actually possess the information. Some forms of non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs exist, but the validity of the proof relies on computational assumptions (typically the assumptions of an ideal cryptographic hash function). There is a well-known story presenting the fundamental ideas of zero-knowledge proofs, first published by Jean-Jacques Quisquater and others in their paper "How to Explain Zero-Knowledge Protocols to Your Children". It is common practice to label the two parties in a zero-knowledge proof as Peggy (the prover of the statement) and Victor (the verifier of the statement). In this story, Peggy has uncovered the secret word used to open a magic door in a cave. The cave is shaped like a ring, with the entrance on one side and the magic door blocking the opposite side. Victor wants to know whether Peggy knows the secret word; but Peggy, being a very private person, does not want to reveal her knowledge (the secret word) to Victor or to reveal the fact of her knowledge to the world in general. They label the left and right paths from the entrance A and B. First, Victor waits outside the cave as Peggy goes in. Peggy takes either path A or B; Victor is not allowed to see which path she takes. Then, Victor enters the cave and shouts the name of the path he wants her to use to return, either A or B, chosen at random. Providing she really does know the magic word, this is easy: she opens the door, if necessary, and returns along the desired path. However, suppose she did not know the word. Then, she would only be able to return by the named path if Victor were to give the name of the same path by which she had entered. Since Victor would choose A or B at random, she would have a 50% chance of guessing correctly. If they were to repeat this trick many times, say 20 times in a row, her chance of successfully anticipating all of Victor's requests would become vanishingly small (about one in a million). Thus, if Peggy repeatedly appears at the exit Victor names, he can conclude that it is extremely probable that Peggy does, in fact, know the secret word. One side note with respect to third-party observers: even if Victor is wearing a hidden camera that records the whole transaction, the only thing the camera will record is in one case Victor shouting "A!" and Peggy appearing at A or in the other case Victor shouting "B!" and Peggy appearing at B. A recording of this type would be trivial for any two people to fake (requiring only that Peggy and Victor agree beforehand on the sequence of A's and B's that Victor will shout). Such a recording will certainly never be convincing to anyone but the original participants. In fact, even a person who was present as an observer at the original experiment would be unconvinced, since Victor and Peggy might have orchestrated the whole "experiment" from start to finish. Further notice that if Victor chooses his A's and B's by flipping a coin on-camera, this protocol loses its zero-knowledge property; the on-camera coin flip would probably be convincing to any person watching the recording later. Thus, although this does not reveal the secret word to Victor, it does make it possible for Victor to convince the world in general that Peggy has that knowledge—counter to Peggy's stated wishes. However, digital cryptography generally "flips coins" by relying on a pseudo-random number generator, which is akin to a coin with a fixed pattern of heads and tails known only to the coin's owner. If Victor's coin behaved this way, then again it would be possible for Victor and Peggy to have faked the "experiment", so using a pseudo-random number generator would not reveal Peggy's knowledge to the world in the same way that using a flipped coin would. Notice that Peggy could prove to Victor that she knows the magic word, without revealing it to him, in a single trial. If both Victor and Peggy go together to the mouth of the cave, Victor can watch Peggy go in through A and come out through B. This would prove with certainty that Peggy knows the magic word, without revealing the magic word to Victor. However, such a proof could be observed by a third party, or recorded by Victor and such a proof would be convincing to anybody. In other words, Peggy could not refute such proof by claiming she colluded with Victor, and she is therefore no longer in control of who is aware of her knowledge. Imagine your friend is red-green colour-blind (while you are not) and you have two balls: one red and one green, but otherwise identical. To your friend they seem completely identical and he is skeptical that they are actually distinguishable. You want to prove to him they are in fact differently- coloured, but nothing else; in particular, you do not want to reveal which one is the red and which is the green ball. Here is the proof system. You give the two balls to your friend and he puts them behind his back. Next, he takes one of the balls and brings it out from behind his back and displays it. He then places it behind his back again and then chooses to reveal just one of the two balls, picking one of the two at random with equal probability. He will ask you, "Did I switch the ball?" This whole procedure is then repeated as often as necessary. By looking at their colours, you can, of course, say with certainty whether or not he switched them. On the other hand, if they were the same colour and hence indistinguishable, there is no way you could guess correctly with probability higher than 50%. Since the probability that you would have randomly succeeded at identifying each switch/non-switch is 50%, the probability of having randomly succeeded at all switch/non-switches approaches zero ("soundness"). If you and your friend repeat this "proof" multiple times (e.g. 100 times), your friend should become convinced ("completeness") that the balls are indeed differently coloured. The above proof is zero-knowledge because your friend never learns which ball is green and which is red; indeed, he gains no knowledge about how to distinguish the balls. A zero-knowledge proof must satisfy three properties: 1. Completeness: if the statement is true, the honest verifier (that is, one following the protocol properly) will be convinced of this fact by an honest prover. 2. Soundness: if the statement is false, no cheating prover can convince the honest verifier that it is true, except with some small probability. 3. Zero-knowledge: if the statement is true, no verifier learns anything other than the fact that the statement is true. In other words, just knowing the statement (not the secret) is sufficient to imagine a scenario showing that the prover knows the secret. This is formalized by showing that every verifier has some simulator that, given only the statement to be proved (and no access to the prover), can produce a transcript that "looks like" an interaction between the honest prover and the verifier in question. The first two of these are properties of more general interactive proof systems. The third is what makes the proof zero-knowledge. Zero-knowledge proofs are not proofs in the mathematical sense of the term because there is some small probability, the soundness error, that a cheating prover will be able to convince the verifier of a false statement. In other words, zero- knowledge proofs are probabilistic "proofs" rather than deterministic proofs. However, there are techniques to decrease the soundness error to negligibly small values. A formal definition of zero-knowledge has to use some computational model, the most common one being that of a Turing machine. Let formula_1, formula_2, and formula_3 be Turing machines. An interactive proof system with formula_4 for a language formula_5 is zero-knowledge if for any probabilistic polynomial time (PPT) verifier formula_6 there exists a PPT simulator formula_3 such that where formula_9 is a record of the interactions between formula_10 and formula_11. The prover formula_1 is modeled as having unlimited computation power (in practice, formula_1 usually is a probabilistic Turing machine). Intuitively, the definition states that an interactive proof system formula_4 is zero-knowledge if for any verifier formula_6 there exists an efficient simulator formula_3 (depending on formula_17) that can reproduce the conversation between formula_1 and formula_6 on any given input. The auxiliary string formula_20 in the definition plays the role of "prior knowledge" (including the random coins of formula_17). The definition implies that formula_6 cannot use any prior knowledge string formula_20 to mine information out of its conversation with formula_1, because if formula_3 is also given this prior knowledge then it can reproduce the conversation between formula_6 and formula_1 just as before. The definition given is that of perfect zero-knowledge. Computational zero-knowledge is obtained by requiring that the views of the verifier formula_6 and the simulator are only computationally indistinguishable, given the auxiliary string. We can apply these ideas to a more realistic cryptography application. Peggy wants to prove to Victor that she knows the discrete log of a given value in a given group. For example, given a value formula_29, a large prime formula_30 and a generator formula_31, she wants to prove that she knows a value formula_32 such that formula_33, without revealing formula_32. Indeed, knowledge of formula_32 could be used as a proof of identity, in that Peggy could have such knowledge because she chose a random value formula_32 that she didn't reveal to anyone, computed formula_37 and distributed the value of formula_29 to all potential verifiers, such that at a later time, proving knowledge of formula_32 is equivalent to proving identity as Peggy. The protocol proceeds as follows: in each round, Peggy generates a random number formula_40, computes formula_41 and discloses this to Victor. After receiving formula_42, Victor randomly issues one of the following two requests: he either requests that Peggy discloses the value of formula_40, or the value of formula_44. With either answer, Peggy is only disclosing a random value, so no information is disclosed by a correct execution of one round of the protocol. Victor can verify either answer; if he requested formula_40, he can then compute formula_46 and verify that it matches formula_42. If he requested formula_44, he can verify that formula_42 is consistent with this, by computing formula_50 and verifying that it matches formula_51. If Peggy indeed knows the value of formula_32, she can respond to either one of Victor's possible challenges. If Peggy knew or could guess which challenge Victor is going to issue, then she could easily cheat and convince Victor that she knows formula_32 when she does not: if she knows that Victor is going to request formula_40, then she proceeds normally: she picks formula_40, computes formula_41 and discloses formula_42 to Victor; she will be able to respond to Victor's challenge. On the other hand, if she knows that Victor will request formula_44, then she picks a random value formula_59, computes formula_60, and discloses formula_61 to Victor as the value of formula_42 that he is expecting. When Victor challenges her to reveal formula_44, she reveals formula_59, for which Victor will verify consistency, since he will in turn compute formula_65, which matches formula_66, since Peggy multiplied by the inverse of formula_29. However, if in either one of the above scenarios Victor issues a challenge other than the one she was expecting and for which she manufactured the result, then she will be unable to respond to the challenge under the assumption of infeasibility of solving the discrete log for this group. If she picked formula_40 and disclosed formula_41, then she will be unable to produce a valid formula_44 that would pass Victor's verification, given that she does not know formula_32. And if she picked a value formula_59 that poses as formula_44, then she would have to respond with the discrete log of the value that she disclosed but Peggy does not know this discrete log, since the value C she disclosed was obtained through arithmetic with known values, and not by computing a power with a known exponent. Thus, a cheating prover has a 0.5 probability of successfully cheating in one round. By executing a large enough number of rounds, the probability of a cheating prover succeeding can be made arbitrarily low. Peggy proves to know the value of x (for example her password). 1. Peggy calculates first for one time the value formula_37 and transfer the value to Victor. 2. Peggy repeatedly calculates a random value formula_40 and formula_41. She transfers the value formula_77 to Victor. 3. Victor asks Peggy to calculate and transfer the value formula_78 or simply to transfer the value formula_79. in the first case Victor verifies formula_80. In the second case he verifies formula_81. The value formula_82 can be seen as the encrypted value of formula_83. If formula_40 is truly random, equally distributed between zero and formula_85, this does not leak any information about formula_32 (see one-time pad). The following scheme is due to Manuel Blum. In this scenario, Peggy knows a Hamiltonian cycle for a large graph . Victor knows but not the cycle (e.g., Peggy has generated and revealed it to him.) Finding a Hamiltonian cycle given a large graph is believed to be computationally infeasible, since its corresponding decision version is known to be NP-complete. Peggy will prove that she knows the cycle without simply revealing it (perhaps Victor is interested in buying it but wants verification first, or maybe Peggy is the only one who knows this information and is proving her identity to Victor). To show that Peggy knows this Hamiltonian cycle, she and Victor play several rounds of a game. At the beginning of each round, Peggy creates , a graph which is isomorphic to (i.e. is just like except that all the vertices have different names). Since it is trivial to translate a Hamiltonian cycle between isomorphic graphs with known isomorphism, if Peggy knows a Hamiltonian cycle for she also must know one for ., Peggy commits to . She could do so by using a cryptographic commitment scheme. Alternatively, she could number the vertices of , then for each edge of write on a small piece of paper containing the two vertices of the edge and then put these pieces of paper face down on a table. The purpose of this commitment is that Peggy is not able to change while at the same time Victor has no information about ., Victor then randomly chooses one of two questions to ask Peggy. He can either ask her to show the isomorphism between H and (see graph isomorphism problem), or he can ask her to show a Hamiltonian cycle in ., If Peggy is asked to show that the two graphs are isomorphic, she first uncovers all of (e.g. by turning over all pieces of papers that she put on the table) and then provides the vertex translations that map to . Victor can verify that they are indeed isomorphic., If Peggy is asked to prove that she knows a Hamiltonian cycle in , she translates her Hamiltonian cycle in onto and only uncovers the edges on the Hamiltonian cycle. This is enough for Victor to check that does indeed contain a Hamiltonian cycle. It is important that the commitment to the graph be such that Victor can verify, in the second case, that the cycle is really made of edges from . This can be done by, for example, committing to every edge (or lack thereof) separately. If Peggy does know a Hamiltonian cycle in , she can easily satisfy Victor's demand for either the graph isomorphism producing from (which she had committed to in the first step) or a Hamiltonian cycle in (which she can construct by applying the isomorphism to the cycle in ). Peggy's answers do not reveal the original Hamiltonian cycle in . Each round, Victor will learn only 's isomorphism to or a Hamiltonian cycle in . He would need both answers for a single to discover the cycle in , so the information remains unknown as long as Peggy can generate a distinct every round. If Peggy does not know of a Hamiltonian cycle in , but somehow knew in advance what Victor would ask to see each round then she could cheat. For example, if Peggy knew ahead of time that Victor would ask to see the Hamiltonian cycle in then she could generate a Hamiltonian cycle for an unrelated graph. Similarly, if Peggy knew in advance that Victor would ask to see the isomorphism then she could simply generate an isomorphic graph (in which she also does not know a Hamiltonian cycle). Victor could simulate the protocol by himself (without Peggy) because he knows what he will ask to see. Therefore, Victor gains no information about the Hamiltonian cycle in from the information revealed in each round. If Peggy does not know the information, she can guess which question Victor will ask and generate either a graph isomorphic to or a Hamiltonian cycle for an unrelated graph, but since she does not know a Hamiltonian cycle for she cannot do both. With this guesswork, her chance of fooling Victor is , where is the number of rounds. For all realistic purposes, it is infeasibly difficult to defeat a zero-knowledge proof with a reasonable number of rounds in this way. Different variants of zero-knowledge can be defined by formalizing the intuitive concept of what is meant by the output of the simulator "looking like" the execution of the real proof protocol in the following ways: We speak of perfect zero-knowledge if the distributions produced by the simulator and the proof protocol are distributed exactly the same. This is for instance the case in the first example above., Statistical zero-knowledge means that the distributions are not necessarily exactly the same, but they are statistically close, meaning that their statistical difference is a negligible function., We speak of computational zero-knowledge if no efficient algorithm can distinguish the two distributions. Proof of knowledge: the knowledge is hidden in the exponent like in the example shown above., Pairing based cryptography: given and , without knowing and , it is possible to compute ., Witness indistinguishable proof: verifiers cannot know which witness is used for producing the proof., Multi-party computation: while each party can keep their respective secret, they together produce a result., Ring signature: outsiders have no idea which key is used for signing. Research in zero-knowledge proofs has been motivated by authentication systems where one party wants to prove its identity to a second party via some secret information (such as a password) but doesn't want the second party to learn anything about this secret. This is called a "zero-knowledge proof of knowledge". However, a password is typically too small or insufficiently random to be used in many schemes for zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge. A zero-knowledge password proof is a special kind of zero-knowledge proof of knowledge that addresses the limited size of passwords. One of the uses of zero-knowledge proofs within cryptographic protocols is to enforce honest behavior while maintaining privacy. Roughly, the idea is to force a user to prove, using a zero-knowledge proof, that its behavior is correct according to the protocol. Because of soundness, we know that the user must really act honestly in order to be able to provide a valid proof. Because of zero knowledge, we know that the user does not compromise the privacy of its secrets in the process of providing the proof. In 2016, the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and Princeton University demonstrated a novel technique that may have applicability to future nuclear disarmament talks. It would allow inspectors to confirm whether or not an object is indeed a nuclear weapon without recording, sharing or revealing the internal workings which might be secret. It is proposed that ZKPs could be used to guarantee that transactions are valid despite the fact that information about the sender, the recipient and other transaction details remain hidden. Zero-knowledge proofs were first conceived in 1989 by Shafi Goldwasser, Silvio Micali, and Charles Rackoff in their paper "The Knowledge Complexity of Interactive Proof-Systems". This paper introduced the IP hierarchy of interactive proof systems (see interactive proof system) and conceived the concept of knowledge complexity, a measurement of the amount of knowledge about the proof transferred from the prover to the verifier. They also gave the first zero-knowledge proof for a concrete problem, that of deciding quadratic nonresidues mod . Together with a paper by László Babai and Shlomo Moran, this landmark paper invented interactive proof systems, for which all five authors won the first Gödel Prize in 1993. In their own words, Goldwasser, Micali, and Rackoff say: Of particular interest is the case where this additional knowledge is essentially 0 and we show that [it] is possible to interactively prove that a number is quadratic non residue mod m releasing 0 additional knowledge. This is surprising as no efficient algorithm for deciding quadratic residuosity mod m is known when m’s factorization is not given. Moreover, all known NP proofs for this problem exhibit the prime factorization of m. This indicates that adding interaction to the proving process, may decrease the amount of knowledge that must be communicated in order to prove a theorem. The quadratic nonresidue problem has both an NP and a co-NP algorithm, and so lies in the intersection of NP and co-NP. This was also true of several other problems for which zero-knowledge proofs were subsequently discovered, such as an unpublished proof system by Oded Goldreich verifying that a two-prime modulus is not a Blum integer. Oded Goldreich, Silvio Micali, and Avi Wigderson took this one step further, showing that, assuming the existence of unbreakable encryption, one can create a zero- knowledge proof system for the NP-complete graph coloring problem with three colors. Since every problem in NP can be efficiently reduced to this problem, this means that, under this assumption, all problems in NP have zero-knowledge proofs. The reason for the assumption is that, as in the above example, their protocols require encryption. A commonly cited sufficient condition for the existence of unbreakable encryption is the existence of one-way functions, but it is conceivable that some physical means might also achieve it. On top of this, they also showed that the graph nonisomorphism problem, the complement of the graph isomorphism problem, has a zero-knowledge proof. This problem is in co-NP, but is not currently known to be in either NP or any practical class. More generally, Russell Impagliazzo and Moti Yung as well as Ben-Or et al. would go on to show that, also assuming one-way functions or unbreakable encryption, that there are zero-knowledge proofs for all problems in IP = PSPACE, or in other words, anything that can be proved by an interactive proof system can be proved with zero knowledge. Not liking to make unnecessary assumptions, many theorists sought a way to eliminate the necessity of one way functions. One way this was done was with multi-prover interactive proof systems (see interactive proof system), which have multiple independent provers instead of only one, allowing the verifier to "cross-examine" the provers in isolation to avoid being misled. It can be shown that, without any intractability assumptions, all languages in NP have zero-knowledge proofs in such a system. It turns out that in an Internet-like setting, where multiple protocols may be executed concurrently, building zero-knowledge proofs is more challenging. The line of research investigating concurrent zero-knowledge proofs was initiated by the work of Dwork, Naor, and Sahai. One particular development along these lines has been the development of witness- indistinguishable proof protocols. The property of witness- indistinguishability is related to that of zero-knowledge, yet witness- indistinguishable protocols do not suffer from the same problems of concurrent execution. Another variant of zero-knowledge proofs are non-interactive zero- knowledge proofs. Blum, Feldman, and Micali showed that a common random string shared between the prover and the verifier is enough to achieve computational zero-knowledge without requiring interaction. Arrow information paradox, Cryptographic protocol, Feige–Fiat–Shamir identification scheme, Proof of knowledge, Topics in cryptography, Witness-indistinguishable proof, Zero-knowledge password proof, Non-interactive zero-knowledge proof Identity documents in the United States are typically the regional state- issued driver's license or identity card, while also the Social Security card (or just the Social Security number) and the United States Passport Card may serve as national identification. The United States passport itself also may serve as identification. However there is no official "national identity card" in the United States, in the sense that there is no federal agency with nationwide jurisdiction that directly issues an identity document to all US citizens for mandatory regular use. There have been proposals to nationalize ID cards, as currently citizens are identified by a patchwork of documents issued by both the federal government as well as individual state and local governments. It is both a political issue and a practical one, and the idea of federalism is cited as supporting federated (regional) identification. All legislative attempts to create a national identity card have failed due to tenacious opposition from liberal and conservative politicians alike, who regard the national identity card as the mark of a totalitarian society. At present, the only national photo identity documents are the passport and passport card, which are issued by the U.S. Department of State to U.S. nationals only upon voluntary application. Issuance of these documents is discretionary - that is, for various reasons, the State Department can refuse an application for a passport or passport card. The driver's license, which is issued by each individual state, operates as the de facto national identity card due to the ubiquity of driving in the United States. Each state also issues a non-driver state identity card which fulfills the same identification functions as the driver's license, but does not permit the operation of a motor vehicle. Social Security cards have federal jurisdiction but cannot verify identity. They verify only the match between a given name and a Social Security Number (SSN) and were intended only for use in complying with Social Security payroll tax laws. They now are used in a wider scope of activities, such as for obtaining credit and other regulated financial services in banking and investments. The birth certificate is the initial identification document issued to parents shortly after the birth of their child. The birth certificate is typically issued by local governments, usually the city or county where a child is born. It is an important record, often called a "feeder document," because it establishes U.S. citizenship through birthright citizenship, which is then used to obtain, or is the basis for, all other identity documents. By itself, the birth certificate is usually only considered proof of citizenship but not proof of identity, since it is issued without a photograph at birth, containing no identifying features. A birth certificate is normally produced along with proof of identity, such as a driver's license or the testimony of a third party (such as a parent), to establish identity or entitlement to a service. A child born abroad to two U.S. citizen parents, or one citizen parent and one non-citizen, also typically has citizenship from birth. Such births are registered with the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. If the embassy or consulate determines the child acquired citizenship at birth, it issues a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, also known as Form FS-240. A birth certificate will also be issued locally in the country where the child was born. The consular report is proof of U.S. citizenship and may be used to obtain a passport for the child and register the child for school, among other purposes. The Social Security number (SSN) and card are issued by the Social Security Administration. Almost all parents voluntarily apply for a Social Security number shortly after the birth of a child. In the absence of a national identity card (and concordant national identity number), the Social Security number has become the de facto national identifier for a large variety of purposes, both governmental and non-governmental. The SSN was created to ensure accurate reporting of a worker's wages to the Social Security Administration. Prior to 1986, it was common to apply for a SSN shortly before it might be needed, most often when a teenager. Tax reform acts of 1986, 1988, and 1990 required parents to supply the SSN of children over age 5, 2, or 1 respectively, to receive an income tax deduction for the child. This led to parents applying for their children's SSN at birth. Because their original purpose was so limited, Social Security cards were not designed with the rigorous security measures typically expected of identity documents. They do not have a photograph or physical description of the bearer, nor are they required to be renewed. Therefore, the Social Security card is not usually considered proof of identity, only proof that the person named on the card holds the number indicated on the card. It is normally used in conjunction with other documents, such as a photo ID, to prove that the person holding the card is legally present in the U.S. and has the right to work in the U.S. (unless the card is marked with a restriction). Many organizations, universities, and corporations historically used SSNs to uniquely identify their customer or student populations. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, also known as the Buckley Amendment, required changes that eliminated the use of the SSN as an identifier for a student. Educational institutions now request the SSN at first contact as required by other federal laws and assign their own unique number to each person to maintain the individual’s privacy as required. Other laws require the SSN be associated with interest-bearing accounts, interest-paying loans, most public assistance programs, and state-issued identification, e.g. driver’s licenses. To reduce the incidence of identity theft, several states have passed laws that require institutions using the SSN to assign their own identifier numbers to individuals, and prohibit them from using the SSN as a primary key. A driver's license is issued by each state's DMV, which is required to drive. Each state's DMV can also issue a state identification card. It does not contain any endorsements to operate vehicles and can be used as official identification where asked for or needed. In addition to verifying driving privileges, drivers' licenses are used to purchase automobile insurance or during a police traffic stop and serve as the primary form of identity for American adults. They are widely used by both government entities and private businesses to verify identity or age, such as in entering secure government facilities, boarding a commercial airliner, business transactions, or in the purchase of age-restricted items such as alcoholic beverages or cigarettes. Drivers' licenses issued in any state are recognized as valid identity documents in all other states under a variety of legal principles like comity and the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution. However, if a person permanently moves to another state as a resident, state laws usually give a period of time, such as 60 days, in which a person must surrender his out-of-state license for the license of his new home state. Driver's licenses include a gender marker, typically either "M" or "F". This has been changing in the early 21st century. As of September 2019, at least 14 states and the District of Columbia offer a third, gender-neutral option beyond "male" and "female" to serve people with nonbinary gender identities. Although most American adults carry their drivers' licenses at all times when they are outside their homes, there is no legal requirement that they must carry their licenses when not operating a vehicle. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that states are permitted to require people to truthfully state their name when a police officer asks them; about half of the states have enacted some variant of stop and identify statutes requiring compliance with such police inquiries. In some states, such as California, failure to produce an identification document upon citation for any traffic infraction (such as riding a bicycle on the wrong side of a street) is sufficient justification for full custodial arrest. Prior to 2005, each state designed its own driver's license according to its own standards. In 2005, the U.S. Congress passed a controversial bill known as the REAL ID Act, which established uniform standards for the design and content of state drivers' licenses and delegated authority to the Department of Homeland Security to implement and regulate compliance with the Act. One of the more-controversial aspects of the Act was that it requires all the underlying state databases be linked into a single national database. United States passports are issued by the U.S. Department of State. Applications for passports are most often filed at United States Postal Service offices or local county or municipal clerk's offices. For many years, passports were not required for U.S. citizens to re-enter from countries near the United States (including Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and most Caribbean and Central American nations.) In light of this, and given the country's immense size and the great distances which the average citizen lives from an international border, passport possession in the United States had remained relatively low. Indeed, most Americans normally did not obtain passports or carry them regularly unless traveling abroad, and as of 2006, only 60 million (20% of Americans) had passports. As of 2011, approximately 37% of Americans have passports or passport cards. However, in response to recommendations in the 9/11 Commission Report, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security now requires proof of citizenship for people entering the United States from neighboring countries. This requirement is known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, and was implemented in stages: On January 23, 2007, a passport, U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner's Document, or NEXUS card became mandatory when re-entering from those locations when traveling by air, with a few exceptions., On January 31, 2008, officers at land and sea ports of entry stopped taking oral declarations of citizenship from travelers; all individuals entering the U.S. are now required to present documentary proof of identity and citizenship., Beginning July 1, 2009, people entering the United States by land or sea must present a passport, passport card, or other document proving citizenship or permanent resident status. By law, an unexpired U.S. passport (or passport card) is conclusive proof of U.S. nationality (though not necessarily citizenship) and has the same force and effect as proof of United States nationality as certificates of naturalization or of citizenship, if issued to a U.S. citizen for the full period allowed by law. The main purpose of the U.S. passport card is to provide a more convenient wallet-sized identity and travel document for citizens who want to carry an official federal ID and for those who live near a land border. It can be used for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda but cannot be used for other countries or for international air travel. Other than these travel limitations, the passport card carries the same rights and privileges as the passport book. The passport card is also accepted as valid identification for domestic air travel inside the United States. When outside the United States and the above-mentioned countries, the passport card can be used as identification and proof of citizenship within a particular country, even though it is not valid for travel internationally (i.e., traveling from Germany to Switzerland/Austria/France/etc.). U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has indicated that the U.S. Passport Card may be used in the Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 (form) process. The passport card is considered a "List A" document that may be presented by newly hired employees during the employment eligibility verification process to show work authorized status. "List A" documents are those used by employees to prove both identity and work authorization when completing the Form I-9. Members of the Military and employees of the Department of Defense receive identity documents based on their status. A Geneva Conventions Identification Card (called a Common Access Card or CAC) is issued to Active Duty and Selected Reserve service members, DOD employees, and some contractors. Adult dependents of service members, retired service members, and members of the Inactive ready reserve receive a different kind of military ID that does not contain the smart card cryptographic chip that the Common Access Card has. A DOD identification card number usually matches the holder's Social Security Number. But, on June 1, 2011, the DOD began phasing out use of the SSN to protect service members' identities. It was replaced with a 10-digit DOD ID Number and a 12-digit Benefits ID Number. In the absence of a national identity card, the typical adult in the United States often possesses a large number of documents issued by many different public and private entities to prove their identity. For citizens who acquire United States citizenship not by virtue of being born in the United States, the federal government issues a Certificate of U.S. Citizenship or Certificate of Naturalization, which are documents that function similarly to a birth certificate. These two documents, along with a U.S. passport, are by law one of the few primary documents for proving U.S. citizenship. These certificates are normally not carried on a day-to-day basis; instead, they are used to procure other documents, such as a passport or driver's license, which are then carried and used as a primary means of identification. The federal government also issues a variety of other documents and cards which can be used to establish identity. Immigration and travel documents such as the Green Card or a visa can be used to prove identity and the right to work in the United States (if applicable). Trusted traveler cards are issued by US Customs and Border Protection to indicate participation in the NEXUS, SENTRI, or Global Entry programs used to facilitate expedited entry through customs. Within the marine trades (and supporting trades thereof), the Transportation Worker Identification Credential provides unescorted access to secured port facilitates. Federal, state, and local governments and agencies typically issue identification cards for their employees. These cards can be used to prove identity outside of the workplace. Although there are varying degrees of acceptance, government workplace identification is generally seen as more trustworthy than workplace identification from a private company. A notable example is the Department of Defense's Common Access Card, which functions as the military's primary ID card. There are a variety of secondary documents used to establish identity. However, these documents are typically not accepted as a primary form of identification. They are typically only used to obtain a primary form of identification (usually a driver's license or passport), when other forms of identification have been lost or stolen, or as auxiliary documents in conjunction with a primary form of identification. These other documents include: Massachusetts Liquor Identification Card (do not have to be a Massachusetts resident), Internal identification card issued by one's employer, university, or school, Voter's registration card, Credit cards and debit cards, Proof of professional certification (for members of regulated professions), Proof of automobile insurance card (when driving), renter's insurance, or homeowner's insurance, Health insurance card issued by a private health insurance company, by Medicare, or by a government agency, Library card, Access documents issued by private or governmental organizations, such as a press pass or a backstage pass, License documents issued by government organizations authorizing privileges other than driving, such as an amateur radio license, pilot's license, or concealed firearm permit, Utility bills, which are often used as proof of residence or address., W-2 wage and tax statement, Medical cannabis card, Hunting license, Marriage certificate, Divorce Decree, Baptismal certificate, School record or report card, Clinic, doctor or hospital record, Day care or nursery school record Private clubs (social, athletic, educational, alumni, etc.), Loyalty cards issued by private companies (supermarkets, warehouse club stores, etc.), Professional organization identification, Private associations identification Tribal Membership Card, Certificate of Indian Status (INAC) card, Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood, I-872 American Indian Card, Indian Health Services eligibility/document, Tribal enrollment documentation, Documentation of Indian Census Roll

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Gods of Egypt is a 2016 fantasy action film directed by Alex Proyas based on the ancient Egyptian deities. It stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites, Chadwick Boseman, Élodie Yung, Courtney Eaton, Rufus Sewell and Geoffrey Rush. The film portrays a mortal Egyptian hero who partners with the Egyptian god Horus to save the world from Set and rescue his love. Filming took place in Australia under the American film production and distribution company Summit Entertainment. While the film's production budget was the parent company Lionsgate's financial exposure was less than $10 million due to tax incentives and pre-sales. The Australian government provided a tax credit for 46% of the film's budget. When Lionsgate began promoting the film in November 2015, it received backlash for its predominantly white cast playing Egyptian deities. In response, Lionsgate and director Proyas apologized for ethnically-inaccurate casting. Lionsgate released Gods of Egypt in theaters globally, starting on , 2016, in 2D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D, and in the United States, Canada, and 68 other markets on . The film was poorly reviewed by critics, who criticized its choice of cast, script, acting and special effects. It grossed a total of $150 million against a $140 million budget, becoming a box office bomb and losing the studio up to $90 million. It received five nominations at the 37th Golden Raspberry Awards. In ancient Egypt, the ruling god Osiris is killed by his jealous brother Set during the coronation of Osiris's son Horus. Set seizes the throne and declares that mankind must pay riches to pass into the afterlife. Stripped of his eyes, Horus is exiled as Egypt is driven to its knees. One year later, a thief named Bek is given the plans for Set's pyramid by his lover Zaya, a slave to chief architect Urshu. Bek steals one of Horus' eyes from Set’s treasure vault, but is caught by Urshu. Zaya is killed, and Bek takes her body to Horus and gives him the eye, promising to find the other if he brings back Zaya back from the dead. They visit the divine vessel of Horus' grandfather Ra. Neutral about the conflict with Set, and at war with the shadow beast Apophis that threatens to devour the world, Ra does not restore Horus’ power, but gives him a vial of divine waters to weaken Set. Ra explains that Horus’ loss of his powers is the result of not fulfilling his destiny, which Horus believes means avenging his parents' deaths. Set asks Hathor to take him to the underworld, but she refuses and escapes. After an attack by Minotaurs led by Mnevis, followed by other minions and giant cobras, Hathor rescues Horus and Bek. Horus is mistrustful of Hathor, who claims Set is also her enemy. Bek and Horus explain their plan to infiltrate Set's pyramid, and Set warns of a guardian sphinx. They visit the library of Thoth to recruit the god to solve the sphinx’s riddle. Overcoming the pyramid's traps, they reach the source of Set's power. Before they can use the divine water, Set traps them, destroying the divine water and taking Thoth's brain, but Horus saves Hathor and Bek. Sacrificing her own safety, Hathor gives Bek her bracelet as Zara’s payment for the afterlife and calls Anubis to take him to Zaya, letting herself be dragged to the underworld. Absorbing Thoth's brain, Osiris's heart, Horus's other eye, and wings from Nephthys, Set confronts Ra about his mistreatments, which Ra explains were tests to prepare Set for his true role: taking Ra's place aboard his solar barge as defender of the world against Apophis. Dismayed, Set decides to destroy the afterlife to become immortal. Ra blasts him with his spear, but Set survives through his absorbed powers. He stabs Ra, taking his spear and casting him off the barge, freeing Apophis to consume the mortal and underworld realms. Zaya refuses Hathor's gift, not wanting an afterlife without Bek. Apophis attacks, and the gate to the afterlife is closed. Bek returns to the mortal world, determined to stop Set and encouraging Horus that Zaya still had faith in him. Horus battles Set atop an obelisk, but is heavily outmatched. Bek throws Urshu to his death and joins the battle on the obelisk, removing Horus' stolen eye from Set's armor, but is mortally wounded. Sliding toward the edge of the obelisk, Bek throws the eye to Horus, who must choose either to catch it or to save Bek. Horus reaches for Bek, apologizing for all he has put him through. As they plummet toward the ground, Horus regains his power to transform, flying Bek to safety. Horus realizes that his true destiny was to protect his people. With renewed strength, Horus outmaneuvers and kills Set. Finding Ra wounded in space, Horus returns his spear, allowing Ra to repel Apophis, and Anubis to reopen the gates. A child in the crowd returns Horus’ other eye, and the god lays a dying Bek in Osiris's tomb beside Zaya. Ra offers to bestow Horus with any power, and all Horus wants is to bring Bek and Zaya back to life. The other gods are also revived, except Horus' parents who had already passed into the afterlife. Horus is crowned king, and declares access to the afterlife will be paid with good deeds in life. Bek is made chief advisor and gives Horus Hathor's bracelet; Horus leaves to rescue her from the underworld. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Horus, the Egyptian God of Air and Hathor's lover., Gerard Butler as Set, the Egyptian God of the Desert, Brenton Thwaites as Bek, a young thief who allies with Horus., Lindsay Farris voices an older Bek that narrates the film., Chadwick Boseman as Thoth, the Egyptian God of Wisdom., Élodie Yung as Hathor, the Egyptian Goddess of Love and Horus's lover., Courtney Eaton as Zaya, Bek's lover., Geoffrey Rush as Ra, the Egyptian God of the Sun, Rufus Sewell as Urshu, Set's architect., Bryan Brown as Osiris, the Egyptian God of the Afterlife, King of Egypt and Horus's father, Goran D. Kleut as the voice and motion capture of Anubis, the Egyptian God of Death, Rachael Blake as Isis, the Egyptian Goddess of Health, Marriage, and Wisdom who is the wife of Osiris and mother of Horus., Emma Booth as Nephthys, the Goddess of Protection., Alexander England as the voice and motion capture of Mnevis, the leader of the Egyptian Minotaurs that work for Set., Yaya Deng as Astarte, Abbey Lee as Anat, Kenneth Ransom as the voice and motion capture of Sphinx, Robyn Nevin as Sharifa, Bruce Spence as Head Judge Gods of Egypt is directed by Alex Proyas based on a screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The film was produced under Summit Entertainment. Proyas was contracted by Summit in May 2012, to write the screenplay with Sazama and Sharpless, and to direct the film. Proyas said he sought to make a big-budget film with an original premise, to contrast franchise films. The director cited the following films as influences on Gods of Egypt: The Guns of Navarone (1961), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Man Who Would Be King (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and Sergio Leone's Western films. Lionsgate anticipated that Gods of Egypt would be the first film in a new franchise after it finished releasing The Hunger Games films. Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was cast in June 2013. Gerard Butler, Geoffrey Rush, and Brenton Thwaites joined the cast toward the end of 2013. Chadwick Boseman and Élodie Yung joined the cast at the start of 2014. The film was shot in Australia. A crew of 200 began pre-production in Sydney in New South Wales, and producers considered filming in Melbourne in Victoria, to take advantage of the state's tax incentive. Docklands Studios Melbourne was too booked to accommodate Gods of Egypt, and producers were instead offered an airport facility for production. The Australian states New South Wales and Victoria competed to be the location of the film's production, and Summit selected NSW in February 2014. The state's deputy premier, Andrew Stoner, estimated that the production would add 400 jobs to the state and contribute million to its economy. Principal photography began on , 2014 at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. The setting of Anubis' temple was filmed at Centennial Park in Sydney, and visual effects were laid over the scene. The production budget was . Jon Feltheimer, the CEO of Summit's parent company Lionsgate, said Lionsgate's financial exposure was under due to tax incentives of filming in Australia, as well as foreign pre-sales. The Australian government's tax credit to have the film produced in the country covered 46% of the production budget, and most of the remaining budget was covered by the foreign pre-sales. In the film, the gods in humanoid form are tall and in "battle beast" form are over tall. Proyas used forced perspective and motion control photography to portray the difference in height between the actors portraying the gods and the humans. Proyas called the logistical challenge a "reverse Hobbit", referring to The Lord of the Rings films, in which Hobbits are depicted as shorter than humans. For the Sphinx, actor Kenneth Ransom portrayed the giant creature via motion capture. For the god Thoth, who can appear as many copies, actor Chadwick Boseman was filmed hundreds of times from different angles. For a scene with many copies of Thoth, other actors took a day to film the scene, where Boseman filmed the scene for three days. Composer Marco Beltrami, who scored Proyas's previous films Knowing (2009) and I, Robot (2004), returned to score Gods of Egypt. White actors make up most of the principal cast of Gods of Egypt. When Lionsgate began marketing the film, the Associated Press said the distributor received backlash for ethnically inaccurate casting. Lionsgate and director Alex Proyas both issued apologies. The AP said, "While some praised the preemptive mea culpa ... others were more skeptical, concluding that it's simply meant to shut down any further backlash." The casting practice of white actors as Egyptian characters was first reported after filming started in March 2014, when Daily Lifes Ruby Hamad highlighted the practice as "Hollywood whitewashing". Lionsgate released a set of character posters in November 2015, and The Guardian reported that the casting received a backlash on Twitter over the predominantly white cast. Some suggested that the casting of black actor Chadwick Boseman, who plays the god Thoth, played into the Magical Negro stereotype. The previous year, the biblical epic by director Ridley Scott received similar backlash for having a white cast. The Washington Post's Soraya Nadia McDonald also disparaged the casting practice for Gods of Egypt and said Lionsgate released the posters at an unfortunate time. She said with the release of Aziz Ansari's TV series Master of None in the previous week, "Whitewashed casting and the offensiveness of brownface has pretty much dominated the pop culture conversation this week. Promotion for the movie is beginning just as we're wrapping a banner year for discussions of diversity and gender pay equity in the film industry." When Lionsgate followed its release of posters with a release of a theatrical trailer, Scott Mendelson at Forbes said, "The implication remains that white actors, even generic white actors with zero box office draw, are preferable in terms of domestic and overseas box office than culturally-specific (minority) actors who actually look like the people they are supposed to be playing." He said almost none of the actors, aside from potentially Butler, qualified as box office draws. BET's Evelyn Diaz said while Ridley Scott had defended his casting practice for Exodus by claiming the need to cast box office draws, "Gods of Egypt is headlined by character actors and Gerard Butler, none of whom will have people running to the theater on opening day." Deadlines Ross A. Lincoln said of the released trailer, "Casting here stands out like a sore thumb leftover from 1950s Hollywood. I suspect this film generates a lot of conversation before it hits theaters February 26, 2016." In response to criticisms of its casting practice, director Alex Proyas and Lionsgate issued apologies in late November 2015 for not considering diversity; Lionsgate said it would strive to do better. Mendelson of Forbes said the apologies were "a somewhat different response" than defenses made by Ridley Scott for Exodus and Joe Wright for Pan (2015). Ava DuVernay, who directed Selma (2014), said, "This kind of apology never happens – for something that happens all the time. An unusual occurrence worth noting." The Guardians Ben Child said, "The apologies are remarkable, especially given that Gods of Egypt does not debut in cinemas until 26 February and could now suffer at the box office." Michael Ordoña of San Francisco Chronicle said of the apologies, "That's little comfort to the nonwhite actors denied opportunities or the Egyptians who will see a pale shadow of their ancestral traditions." The Casting Society of America applauded the statements from Lionsgate and Proyas. Professor Todd Boyd, chair for the Study of Race and Popular Culture at the University of Southern California, said, "The apology is an attempt to have it both ways. They want the cast that they selected and they don't want people to hold it against them that it's a white cast." Boseman, who plays the god Thoth, commenting on the whitewashing, said he expected the backlash to happen when he saw the script. He said, "I'm thankful that it did, because actually, I agree with it. That's why I wanted to do it, so you would see someone of African descent playing Thoth, the father of mathematics, astronomy, the god of wisdom." Actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said, "A lot of people are getting really worked up online about the fact that I'm a white actor. I'm not even playing an Egyptian; I'm an 8-foot-tall god who turns into a falcon. A part of me just wants to freak out, but then I think, 'There's nothing you can do about it.' You can't win in that sort of discussion." In the month leading up to release, director Proyas said his film was fantasy and not intended to be history. He cited "creative license and artistic freedom of expression" to cast the actors he found to fit the roles. He said "white-washing" was a justified concern but for his fantasy film, "To exclude any one race in service of a hypothetical theory of historical accuracy ... would have been biased." Proyas said that films "need more people of color and a greater cultural diversity" but that Gods of Egypt "is not the best one to soap-box issues of diversity with". He argued that the lack of English-speaking Egyptian actors, production practicalities, the studio's requirement for box office draws, and Australia having guidelines limiting "imported" actors were all factors in casting for the film. He concluded, "I attempted to show racial diversity, black, white, Asian, as far as I was allowed, as far as I could, given the limitations I was given. It is obviously clear that for things to change, for casting in movies to become more diverse many forces must align. Not just the creative. To those who are offended by the decisions which were made I have already apologised. I respect their opinion, but I hope the context of the decisions is a little clearer based on my statements here." After the film was critically panned, Proyas said, "I guess I have the knack of rubbing reviewers the wrong way. This time of course they have bigger axes to grind – they can rip into my movie while trying to make their mainly pale asses look so politically correct by screaming 'white-wash!!!'" Lionsgate spent an estimated on marketing the film. It released a set of character posters in November 2015, for which it received backlash due to white actors playing Egyptian characters, as noted above. Later in the month, it released a theatrical trailer. Lionsgate aired a 60-second spot for Gods of Egypt during the pre-game show of the Super Bowl 50 on February 7, 2016, though they released the trailer online a day earlier. In the week before the film's release, Lions released the tie-in mobile game Gods of Egypt: Secrets of the Lost Kingdom on iOS and Android. BoxOffice forecast two months in advance that Gods of Egypt would gross on its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, and that it would gross total on its theatrical run. The magazine said the film had "a strong ensemble cast" and that its director has "had a noteworthy following". BoxOffice also said the premise could attract movie-goers who saw Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans, and the Percy Jackson films. Admissions to 3D screenings would help boost Gods of Egypts gross. The magazine said factors negatively affecting the film's gross were a "lackluster reaction" to its marketing and the backlash to its predominantly white cast causing negative buzz. It anticipated that the film's release would be front-loaded (focused on profiting mainly from opening weekend) due to the poor buzz, its categorization as a fantasy film, and with London Has Fallen opening the following weekend. A week before the film's release, TheWrap Todd Cunningham reported an updated forecast of for its opening weekend in the United States and Canada. The Hollywood Reporters Pamela McClintock said it was tracking to gross between and . Cunningham said the expected gross was low for the film's triple-digit budget as well as additional marketing costs. He said the film could attract Alex Proyas's fan base but that it had suffered "some negativity out there" due to the predominantly white casting as well as the film being perceived to have an "old-fashioned" feel. Exhibitor Relations senior media analyst Jeff Bock said the film "feels late" years after the release of 300 (2007) and Immortals (2011), and an earlier production and release would have been more advantageous. Cunningham said with Lionsgate's financial exposure only being and the expected opening gross, the film could gross between and for its theatrical run in the United States and Canada and ultimately avoid a loss. The Hollywood Reporters McClintock said "ancient epics" in recent years had not performed well at the box office, citing the 2014 films Hercules, The Legend of Hercules, and Pompeii. Ryan Faughnder of the Los Angeles Times said in the week before the film's release that the expected opening weekend gross meant that Lionsgate's plans to make Gods of Egypt the first film in a new franchise were unlikely. Faughnder said the film would need to perform strongly in territories outside the United States and Canada for a sequel to be developed. Varietys Brent Lang reported that analysts said the film would need to open to or more in the United States to justify a sequel. Gods of Egypt grossed $31.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $119.6 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $150.7 million against a production budget of $140 million. The Hollywood Reporter estimated the film lost the studio up to $90 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues. Lionsgate released Gods of Egypt in theaters globally starting on , 2016. It was released in 2D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D. Lionsgate released the film in the United States and Canada on the weekend of February 26–28, as well as in 68 other markets, including Russia, South Korea, and Brazil. Jaguar Films released the film in the United Arab Emirates (February 25) and other countries in the Middle East under the title Kings of Egypt. Viacom 18 released the film in India on , 2016 in four languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. In the United States and Canada, the film was released in . It grossed an estimated $800,000 in Thursday-night previews and $4.8 million on Friday, lowering the projected weekend gross to $11–13 million. It went on to gross $14.1 million in its opening weekend, finishing second at the box office behind Deadpool ($31.5 million). It competed with fellow newcomers Eddie the Eagle and Triple 9, as well as with Deadpool, which opened two weekends earlier. Opening-day audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale. The Christian Science Monitors Molly Driscoll said the Gods of Egypts US release was during "a traditionally quiet time at the box office". Scott Mendelson of Forbes commented on supporting versus opposing a successful debut of the film, as "It's an example of a great wrong in modern Hollywood (whitewashing) while existing as a great right (an original fantasy from a gifted and visionary director) at the same time." Outside North America, the film got a staggered release. In its opening weekend, it was number one across Central America, Eastern Europe and South East Asia. Top openings were in Russia ($4.3 million), Brazil ($1.9 million) and Philippines ($1.7 million). Le Vision Pictures acquired rights from Lionsgate in November 2015 to distribute Gods of Egypt in China, and released the film there on , 2016. China was the film's largest territory, with . Lionsgate also released the film in the United Kingdom on , 2016. Gods of Egypt was panned by critics. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 15% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 185 reviews, with an average rating of 3.39/10. Metacritic gives the film a score of 25 out of 100 based on 25 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Alonso Duralde of TheWrap wrote, "A mishmash of unconvincing visual effects and clumsy writing—not to mention another depiction of ancient Egypt in which the lead roles are almost all played by white folks—Gods of Egypt might have merited a so-bad-it's-good schadenfreude fanbase had it maintained the unintentional laughs of its first 10 minutes. Instead, it skids into dullness, thus negating the camp classic that it so often verges on becoming." Joycelyn Noveck of the Chicago Sun Times gave the film a half star out of four, writing, "It's obvious the filmmakers were gunning for a sequel here. But this bloated enterprise is so tiresome by the end, it seems more likely headed for a long rest somewhere in the cinematic afterlife." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club called Gods of Egypt "overlong and very silly," and said: "A treasure trove of gilded fantasy bric- a-brac and clashing accents, Proyas' sword-and-sandals space opera is a head above the likes of Wrath of the Titans, but it rapidly devolves into a tedious and repetitive succession of monster chases, booby traps, and temples that start to crumble at the last minute." Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian said, "This is ridiculous. This is offensive. This shouldn't be, and I'm not going to say otherwise if you can't bring yourself to buy a ticket for this movie. But if you are on the fence you can always offset your karmic footprint with a donation to a charity, because this movie is a tremendous amount of fun." On the other hand, Olly Richards of Empire was heavily critical, calling the film a "catastrophe" and "the Dolly Parton of movies, without any of the knowing wit". In response to the reviews, director Proyas posted to Facebook calling critics "diseased vultures pecking at the bones of a dying carcass", who were "trying to peck to the rhythm of the consensus. I applaud any film-goer who values their own opinion enough to not base it on what the pack-mentality says is good or bad." The film was released on May 31, 2016, on DVD and Blu-ray. Ancient Egyptian deities in popular culture, List of fantasy films of the 2010s, List of biggest box-office bombs Ancient Egyptian deities that have appeared in popular culture include Set, Thoth, Khonsu, Ra and Horus. Anat is played by Abbey Lee in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt., Anat appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. She first appeared as the most powerful member of the Megami race of demons., In Persona 5, Anat is Makoto Niijima's second Persona. In the TV series Penny Dreadful, the character of Vanessa Ives (Eva Green) is implied to be an incarnation of Amunet., In the TV series Stargate SG-1, Amaunet (Vaitiare Bandera) is a recurring Goa'uld (a parasitic alien who rules part of the galaxy using a human host and claiming to be a god) character and consort of Apophis., Amunet (portrayed by Sofia Boutella) appears as a fictionalized characterization in the titular role for the 2017 version of The Mummy. The film serves as the first installment in the Dark Universe., In the videogame Assassin's Creed Origins the character Aya later changes her name to Amunet, "the hidden one." A statue of Amunet, identifying her as the assassin of Cleopatra, appeared in the earlier video game Assassin's Creed II. In Luna Sea's third album Eden, the song Anubis is about a man who in love with the god Anubis., In the 2004 English-language French film Immortal, Bastet and Anubis appear as the controllers of a pyramid that appears over New York City in the year 2095. They strip Horus of his immortality and give him a limited amount of time to procreate with a human. The film is based upon director Enki Bilal's own 1980s The Nikopol Trilogy graphic novel series., In Stargate SG-1, Anubis is a Goa'uld and the most ruthless of his species. Unlike most of his race, Anubis has some limited claim to being an actual god, as he once "ascended" to a higher plane of existence and gained great power and knowledge as a result., In Stephen King's Kingdom Hospital, a television series that ran on ABC from 3 March to 15 July 2004, Antubis is the companion of the ghost of Mary Jensen. Near the end of the season, he reveals his true name is Anubis, but accepts Mary's mispronunciation of the name without issue., Anubis is the villain of the 2014 film The Pyramid, which depicts him as being trapped in an underground pyramid due to the horrors he committed in an attempt to reunite with his father., In Overwatch, a map takes place in Giza Necropolis named Temple of Anubis, the map features a temple situated below the Giza plateau which houses a rogue AI system that took over its defenses in the past. It also features a bazaar, statues that represent Anubis and multiple weapon caches scattered around the map that links it to insurgent or terrorist activity in the area., Anubis is a featured character and a romance option in the otome game Kamigami no Asobi, where he is portrayed as a crafty but shy, young, dark skinned man with the ears of a jackal and black "stains" (from the sins of those he's helped pass on) on his arms and legs., Anubis, voiced and motion-captured by Goran D. Kleut, was featured in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt as a guide for recently deceased souls entering the afterlife., Anubis is a playable character in the MOBA Smite, which features mythological entities from different cultures fighting alongside or against one another. Anubis is classified as a mage, and is labeled as "The God of the Dead". He was one of the first gods designed for the game, and has a very simple ability kit. As a mage, he has high damage, but he takes this further by trading his mobility for damage, giving him higher damage capabilities than almost any other god in the game. As a result, he is a polarizing character, with his strengths in high burst damage, but his flaws highly evident if he is ever rushed down., The MOBA League of Legends champion named Nasus resembles Anubis., Anubis also appeared as a playable character in two fighting games - War Gods by Midway Studios and Pray For Death by Lightshock Software., Anubis has been featured in the Titan Books series , where he initially appears as an enemy of the Tenth Doctor, but later becomes his companion., Anubis makes appearances in The Kane Chronicles trilogy. His human appearance resembles a teenage boy around 16 years old. He acts as a love interest of the trilogy's female protagonist Sadie Kane. In the final book "The Serpent's Shadow", Anubis merges with Sadie's other love interest Walt Stone so he could remain on Earth whilst the other gods ascended into the heavens, to keep Walt alive and so Sadie wouldn't have to choose between them., Anubis makes appearance in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Pyramid of Light he is the Main Antagonist and he tries to destroy the world by controlling Seto Kaiba's Mind and using the trap Card "Pyramid of light" And the monster Cards "Andros sphinx" and "Sphinx Teleia" but he was stopped by Yami Yugi in a duel., In Beyblade Metal Fury Anubis is an Beyblade called "Mercury Anubis"., The Digimon Anubismon is based on Anubis. He plays the role of judging the dead one as either to be reborn as a digiegg or sent to the dark area., The Pokémon Lucario is based on Anubis, being a bipedal jackal-like being., Anubis appears in several episodes of Gargoyles., Anubis appears in an episode of The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs, where he is summoned as a counter to the cat-summoned Bastet only to become enamored with her., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Anubis is represented as a Stand (a superpowered manifestation of a person or animal's fighting spirit) bound to a sword that possesses whoever wields it, and can selectively phase through solid objects., In the Megami Tensei series, Anubis frequently appears as a member of the Avatar race of demons. He first appeared in ., In Persona 5, Anubis is an enemy that can be fought in the fourth palace., Anubis is the first boss of the "Trial of the Gods" limited time events in Assassin's Creed Origins., Anubis is a skin for the playable character Roger in ., Anubis appears as Mr. Jacquel in Neil Gaiman's American Gods., In American Gods, the TV adaptation of the aforementioned novel, Anubis again appears as Mr. Jacquel., In The Mummy Returns, the movie's plot centers on a deal made between Anubis and the Scorpion King., In the 2015 Animated Television series Egyxos, Anubis (Shortened to Anubi) is a shape shifting servant of Exaton., Anubis is one of the deities used by the Pharaoh in the episode of the same name in Miraculous Ladybug, giving him the ability to fire eye beams that turn people into mummies, a necessity for his plan to resurrect Nefertiti., A boss based on Anubis named Anubis Necromancess appears in Mega Man Zero and Mega Man Zero 3. Much in how Anubis is the God of the Dead, Anubis Necromancess summons deactivated Reploids (androids with free will and a thought process similar to that of humans) to act as servants to attack, but can also throw his staff like a boomerang and control sand, creating walls or coffins made of them to squish enemies, or trap them in quicksand. Apophis is a gigantic, snake-like dæmon and bringer of chaos depicted in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt. Every night, he is slain by Ra. Set releases him, intending to let chaos remake the world and claim dominion over the afterlife, but after Ra is rescued by Horus, Ra again slays Apophis., Apophis appears as an unplayable monster in SMITE. He spawns in the middle circle of the Clash gamemode map dealing heavy initial damage to anyone standing in the circle. He then is passive until attacked, and after death, grants the team that slayed him a powerful buff. He made his release with the new Clash map, which was remodeled from a Greek theme to an Egyptian theme., Apophis was a Goa'uld System Lord in the television series Stargate SG-1, serving as the original and longest-running antagonist of the show. He was described as a rival of Ra while the Supreme System Lord still lived. Apep is described as a separate System Lord and the founder of the Goa'uld civilization in the SG-1 RPG. Apep was killed by Anubis, his symbiote consumed so that Anubis could gain any secret knowledge he possessed., Apep appears in the third season of The Librarians. He is mentioned multiple times within the season, but only appears in a physical form at the end of the season., Apophis appears as the main antagonist of the fantasy series The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan., In Yu-Gi-Oh! Apophis is a Continuous Trap Card called Embodiment of Apophis., Apep appears as a boss fight during a hallucination while investigating the cause of miscarriages of the wife of the head priest of Memphis in the game Assassin's Creed Origins - during which the character, Bayek, must fight him while staying aboard Ra's solar barque., Apep is the Guardian of the Gates to the Land of the Living in the Netherworld and a boss in , voiced by Mark Hamill., Apep appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series., Apophis appears in John Langan's novel, The Fisherman., Apophis appears as a demon with the appearance of a worm in the television series, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina., Apep appears in the sixth episode in Tutenstein, "The Boat of Millions of Years". Like other depictions, he is a snake-like entity constantly in conflict with Ra, but when the title character of the series orders Ra to stop time, Apep begins overthrowing Ra, urged to do so by Set., Apep, known as Apep the Snaky One, appears as a Balance-elemental boss in Wizard101 and a servant of Ammit in Krokotopia (a world based heavily on Ancient Egypt and Egyptomania). Astarte is said to have been hallucinated by Jack Donaghy in the season 4 episode 9 episode of 30 Rock after he ingested tainted thousand year old wine., Astarte is played by Natalie Becker in the film ., Astarte is played by Yaya Deng in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt., Astarte appears as a goddess in the 2014 video game, Astarte is the boss of one level in, Astarte appears in the Megami Tensei series. Astarte first appeared in Giten Megami Tensei: Tokyo Mokushiroku. However, she is most well known for her appearances in the Persona series., In Persona 5, Astarte is Haru Okumura's Ultimate Persona., Astarte/Ishtar appears in Neil Gaiman's . In this story, she is former lover of Destruction., Ashtoreth appears in Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's Good Omens book as the name of the nanny of the American Cultural Attaché' s child, believed to be the Antichrist., Astarte is the title of a 1931 novel by Karin Boye., Astoreth appears as one of the named fallen angels in book 1 of John Milton's Paradise Lost. In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Atum is represented by the Stand of antagonist Telence D'Arby. However, despite the actual Atum being the creator god, the Stand Atum is more similar to the Stand of its user's brother Daniel (see the Osiris section), in that it steals the souls of its victims if they admit defeat, and also forces to respond truthfully to yes or no questions. Thomasina, the Cat Who Thought She Was God is a 1957 novel centered on a cat that awakens from anesthesia believing she is Bastet. The novel was adapted as the 1965 Disney film, The Three Lives of Thomasina., In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, Bastet also lives in the "Little Egypt" area of Southern Illinois with Thoth and Anubis, usually taking the form of an otherwise ordinary brown housecat. She takes a liking to Shadow Moon and transforms into human shape to seduce him., In Neil Gaiman's comic series The Sandman (Vertigo), Bast is a character that occurs throughout the series, offering the main protagonist Dream advice, companionship and alludes to mysteries she alone knows. She was once a major goddess, but the loss of her believers over time has significantly reduced her powers. She is often coquettish toward Dream, who sometimes goes to her for advice or companionship; but she has often claimed never to have been his lover. Bast has also appeared in issues of Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl, wherein she is one of the chief goddesses worshiped by the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall. She appears in Sandman Presents: Bast: Eternity Game (2003), where she attempts to regain her lost power., In Stargate SG-1, Bastet is a Goa'uld. She is one of the "System Lords" who rule the galaxy, mentioned to have vanquished Sobek with the assistance of Kali, and to be a rival of Ba'al., features a brief appearance by Bastet as one of a quartet of Egyptian gods who imbue the eponymous Cluefinders with magic powers so that they can challenge the recently revived Set. Bastet grants Leslie enchanted superhuman intelligence and turns her into a catgirl, showcasing her association., Bastet is a major character in The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. She is the god whom the eponymous Kane siblings have the most contact with, acting as their friend, protector, and chaperone., In the 2004 film Immortal, Bastet and Anubis appear as the controllers of a pyramid that appears over New York City in the year 2095. They strip Horus of his immortality and give him a limited amount of time to procreate with a human., Bastet is a playable god in Smite. She is classified as an assassin, and is labeled "The Goddess of Cats"., The directory authority for the Tor anonymity network is named after the goddess., In Mummies Alive! Bastet provides the powers of the character Nefertiri and appears in one episode as an antagonist., In an episode of The Secret Files of the Spy Dogs Bastet is summoned by a villainous group of cats in their bid for world domination, but is neutralized as a threat when the titular dogs summon Anubis; the two become enamored with each other and depart together., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Bastet (named Bast) is represented by the Stand of the antagonist Mariah, manifesting as her ability to make targets (including people) magnetic, attracting metal objects to them., In the film version of Marvel's Black Panther, while not seen directly as a character, aside from a brief silent cameo in the exposition, Bast is called on during the ceremonies of connecting a person with the main healing/empowering 'heart-shaped herb'. In the comics of the same name, she has a stronger presence, acting as a psychopomp., Bastet appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. She first appeared in ., In Episode 46, "Hercules and the Romans," of Hercules, Hercules's friend Icarus pretends to be a deity for the newly settled city of Rome. Ra, Bastet, and Khnum appear to become true gods of Rome, having been requested by the Romans themselves, and try to destroy Hercules and Icarus. Only Ra actually speaks in the episode., Bastest appears in the 9th episode of the second season of Tutenstein, "Cleo's Catastrophe". Seeing how the title character's cat advisor Luxor does so much for him and gets to so little in return, she takes him to a place for felines to live luxuriously, unaware that he and her owner Cleo Carter had switched bodies., In Age of Mythology and , Bastet is a minor goddess who can be worshiped by followers of Ra and Isis. Her improvements benefit the player's villagers, increasing their collection rate., In the manga, Hyper Police, Bast is the mother of the series protagonist, Natsuki Sasahara. In Overwatch, Ana, one of the healers, has a Bastet cosmetic skin. In The Kingkiller Chronicle Bast is Kvothe's assistant, student, and friend and lives with him at the Waystone Inn. Bast is described to have a sharp and delicate face, almost beautiful, with striking blue eyes. A mummy resembling Bastet is the main antagonist in the fifth episode of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, "Ollie Ollie In-Come Free!", in which she is referred to as "Bast." Bes appears, as part of the delegation of Egyptian gods, in , by Neil Gaiman., Bes is a friend and helper to the heroes in Pyramid Scheme by Eric Flint and Dave Freer., Bes is an important character in the books of the saga The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan., Bes appears in the video game Realm of the Mad God as a boss of an Egyptian themed dungeon known as the "Tomb of the Ancients", alongside Nut and Geb., Bes makes an appearance in the eight episode of the first season of Tutenstein, "There's Something About Natasha". He helps the title character in his crush on a girl named Natasha, giving him a love spell to make her fall in love with him. In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Geb is represented by the Stand of the antagonist N'Doul. Oddly, despite Geb being an earth deity, the Stand Geb is a sentient mass of water., Geb is a playable God in Smite. He is portrayed as an earthly, rocky yet a bulky humanoid figure, thus the title "God of Earth". He's classified as a guardian, who can use his shield to save frantic teammates. Geb also has other support-like abilities, like stunning enemies in a circle around him and knocking them back in a shape of a cone. Geb is voiced by Christopher Sabat, with a rather slow and extremely deep voice., Geb makes an appearance in the children's show Tutenstein, in the episode "The Unsafety Zone", both mentioned as named in an artifact called the Crown of Geb, and as the deity himself who, like in the myth, laughs to generate a landslide to stop some robbers. Hathor, played by Élodie Yung, is the goddess of love in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt. She is depicted as being in particular love with Horus, who rescued her before the start of the film, and it is thanks to her that Horus is not murdered by Set when Set takes control of Egypt. She sacrifices her own life to aid Bek, a mortal, in securing a place for his recently deceased love, Zaya, in the afterlife., In the TV series Stargate SG-1, Hathor is played by Suanne Braun, the mate of Ra and the mother of Heru'ur (Horus). She tried to take over the SGC, but ultimately her arrogance leads to her downfall and eventual death., In Capcom's Street Fighter video game series, Hathor uses another form name, Menat. With a slightly different hieroglyphic spelling, it referred to an ancient Egyptian artifact which was closely connected with the goddess Hathor. It was used as a protective amulet, meant to ensure good luck and fortune and to protect against evil spirits. She uses soul power and magic ball in her fighting style. Her occupation is fortune teller., Hathor appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. She first appeared in Shin Megami Tensei If... as a recruitable ally that joins the party if the current moon phase is a New Moon., Hathor appears in the fifth episode of the children's animated series Tutenstein, where when she hears the complaints of the title character (a mummified, immature young pharaoh), she sees the actions of some construction workers (not building a pyramid and leaving Tutenstein trapped in concrete) as a direct act of blasphemy against the gods, and turns into Sekhmet, going on a rampage., Hathor serves as the name of the home planet of the Splixson in the Ben 10 series., In Age of Mythology and , Hathor is a minor goddess who can be worshiped by followers of Ra and Isis. Her improvements benefit the player's buildings by decreasing their cost and increasing the amount of damage they can take. One of the bosses in Mega Man Zero 2, Burble Hekelot, is named after the fertility goddess, even bearing a design based on the animal closely associated with her, the frog. In Stargate SG-1, Horus appears as Heru-ur. As in some obscure real-world myths, Heru-ur in the series is the son of Ra and Hathor. Like most of the "gods" who appeared in the series, Heru-ur is a Goa'uld., features a brief appearance by Horus as the leader of a quartet of Egyptian gods who imbue the eponymous Cluefinders with magic powers so that they can challenge the recently revived Set. Horus grants Owen the power of flight and a pair of wings. Like the other deities who grant the Cluefinders their abilities, he speaks in a New Jersey accent., In , the character Nile of Team Wild Fang has a bey called Vulcan Horuseus, modified after Horus, In the 2004 film Immortal, Horus has been stripped of his immortality for reasons not explained in the film. Appearing in a floating pyramid above New York City in 2095, Horus is allowed by his jailers, Anubis and Bastet, to visit the city below and procreate with a human. The 2016 film Gods of Egypt follows the story of Horus's battle to reclaim his throne from his power-hungry uncle, Set. Inspired by a mortal named Bek who steals one of his eyes which were stolen from him by Set, the two set out on the journey to overthrow Set. Horus, the sky god, is initially bent on vengeance, but learns, toward the end of the film, that his real focus should be on protecting his people and to believe in himself. After he overthrows Set, he institutes a new policy: No longer were riches required in order to enter the afterlife; now, people were to be judged by whether their deeds in life were good. Horus was played by Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. While Horus usually assumes a fully humanoid, albeit one with uncanny accuracy, he can turn into a human-falcon hybrid for combat purposes., In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, Horus is a supporting character. He is the source of protagonist Carter Kane's powers, but Carter finds himself working against Horus's agenda more often than not., In the Games Workshop tabletop franchise Warhammer 40,000, Horus Lupercal is the main antagonist of the Horus Heresy. The story is contains many elements of Egyptian mythology, including the Eye of Horus and the pivotal confrontation between Horus and the protagonist, The Emperor: similar to Horus's confrontation with Set., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Horus is represented by the stand of the antagonist Pet Shop, an intelligent falcon, referencing Horus' falcon head. Horus manifests in Pet Shop as his ability to control ice, and can also form into a pterodactyl-like creature., Horus is one of the deities used by the Pharaoh in the episode of the same name in Miraculous Ladybug, giving him the power of flight., Horus appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. He first appeared in Shin Megami Tensei II., In Age of Mythology and , Horus is a minor god who can be worshiped by followers of Ra and (somewhat incongruously) Set. His improvements benefit the player's infantry, increasing their resistance and their damage output., Gigabyte's gaming sub-brand, Aorus, has taken some inspiration from Horus, namely the Falcon head and a play on the name., In , the army of Horus warriors has been summoned by Kahmunrah and later retreat to Duat by the statue of Abraham Lincoln., In the video game Smite, Horus and Set were made into playable characters in April 2019, with the former having the title of "The Rightful Heir". While classed as a warrior, and therefore having the potential to both deal and absorb damage, he is most often played as a guardian (i.e. tank). This is because of his ability to both support and set up for his team. He can target his teammates and dash to their aid, healing them and providing extra protections, as well as the ability to lock down enemies by knocking them up with a gust of wind from his wings and then stunning them. He can also teleport his team by flying to any ground location. Combined with his ability to shred enemy protections, he can facilitate his team for extra damage. His kit all tie into his lore as a protector and the god of the sky. Interestingly, his passive stacks once each time he is hit by another character in the game, but if this character is Set, he will gain two stacks per hit, tying into the fierce rivalry between the two. Portrayed as a blonde woman, Isis is one of ten pagan gods that met at the Elysian Fields Hotel to try to figure out a way to prevent the Christian Apocalypse in "Hammer of the Gods," the season 5, episode 19 episode of the U. S. television series Supernatural (22 April 2010). She is slaughtered by Lucifer., Played by Rachael Blake, Isis is the wife of Osiris in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt., Isis is a playable goddess in Smite She is classified as a mage and is labeled as "The Goddess of Magic". She is more team-oriented than her more damage-oriented mage brethren, and comes equipped with a versatile ability kit to deal with most situations. She is strongest in the thick of battle allowing her ultimate move, Circle of Protection, to mitigate damage dealt to herself and her teammates, and charge up a heal and heavy damage when the circle is detonated, and she is weakest when alone or if she uses her spells unwisely. As previously mentioned, she also lacks some of the extra punch that other mages have., Isis makes appearances in The Kane Chronicles, where in the first book The Red Pyramid, she merges with the books' female protagonist Sadie Kane. In the later books, Sadie (after Isis has left her body) decides to follow the Path of Isis as a magician., Isis appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. She first appeared in Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis., Isis has a small role in romance author Nina Bangs's book series "Castle of Dark Dreams" as the ex-lover of Holgarth and the mother of his son. In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Khnum is represented by the stand of the antagonist Oingo. Much in how Khnum is known as the Divine Potter, the Stand Khnum gives Oingo the ability to mold his flesh like clay., In Episode 46, "Hercules and the Romans," of Hercules, Hercules's friend Icarus pretends to be a deity for the newly settled city of Rome. Ra, Bastet, and Khnum appear to become true gods of Rome, having been requested by the Romans themselves, and try to destroy Hercules and Icarus. Only Ra actually speaks in the episode. The Marvel Comics character Moon Knight gained his powers after being resurrected by Khonsu (in the comics known as Khonshu)., In the second book of The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, the protagonists gamble with Khonsu to win three extra hours., In an episode of the TV series Stargate SG-1, Khonsu poses as one of the Goa'uld, a race of parasitic aliens who set themselves up as the gods of human mythology and have ruled the galaxy for thousands of years. At the time he appears, Khonsu is a minor lord sworn to Anubis. Khonsu is secretly part of the Tok'ra resistance that opposes the Goa'uld regime and their false theocracy., In Worm by Wildbow, Khonsu is the name of an Endbringer who has special powers related to time., Khonsu appears as a Genma demon in the Megami Tensei series. His main appearance was as a random encounter in ., In the novel The Claws of Time by Jason Charles, Khonsu sends the female protagonist Dimiza/River five hundred and twenty years into the future (from 1483 to 2003) to escape being executed by her lover, King Richard III, whom she helped become king. Despite being the wife of Set in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt, Nephthys, played by Emma Booth, does not support his power-hungry ways. As such, Set assaults her and takes her wings., In Age of Mythology and , Nephthys is a minor goddess who can be worshiped by followers of Set and Isis. Her improvements benefit the player's priests, making them do increased damage to myth units (units based on various mythical beings) and improve their healing ability. Played by Faran Tahir, Osiris is the principle villain in "Defending Your Life," the season 7, episode 4 episode of the U. S. television series Supernatural (14 October 2011). He is the Egyptian god of the dead, and he puts people who feel guilty on trial. Able to see into a person's heart, he sentences to death any who carries more than a feather's weight of guilt, commanding ghosts or spectres to carry out the sentence in a manner reflecting the defendant's guilt. In the episode, Osiris tries Dean and sentences him to death, but is stopped by Sam, who casts him into a centuries-long sleep by stabbing him with a shofar before Dean is killed., Osiris is played by Bryan Brown in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt. He is the King of Egypt and a just god. As he is about to crown his son, Horus, as his successor, his brother, Set murders him and takes the crown for himself., Osiris is a playable god in Smite. Osiris is classified as a warrior and is labeled "The Broken God of the Afterlife" in reference to how Set chopped him into pieces. Osiris is seen as one of the most difficult characters to play effectively as his strategy is to slowly whittle away at the enemy with superior boxing, lane clear and strategic ability and basic attack usage while not having a designated "finisher"-style move. He is strongest in the thick of battle mitigating damage and annoying more damage-based characters, and as a warrior, does not have a true weakness. Warriors are a jack-of-all-trades class, and thus mostly do not excel at anything aside from being a meat-shield. If their team is weak, they are weak as well., An alien guest character in The Sims Freeplay for mobile devices is named Osiris., In Stargate SG-1, Osiris is a Goa'uld. Like many other Goa'uld, Osiris is several thousand years old, though this is due in Osiris' case to being forcibly removed from its former host in Ancient Egypt and put in a stasis chamber. Though Osiris is normally portrayed as male in mythology, Goa'uld themselves are genderless, and only reproduce by having queens spawn, and the human host, Sarah Gardner, played by Anna-Louise Plowman, is female. She is an antagonist in the series, and is subservient to another Goa'uld, Anubis., The exoplanet HD 209458 b is sometimes given the nickname Osiris., The reserve boat for Oxford University Women's Boat Club (OUWBC) is called Osiris., In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Osiris is an Egyptian God Card known as"Saint Dragon Osiris." In the English dub he is known as "Slifer The Sky Dragon"., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Osiris is represented by the Stand of the antagonist Daniel J. D'Arby. Much in how the real Osiris is the god of the underworld, the Stand Osiris allows D'Arby to steal the souls of others if they admit defeat., Osiris is a member of the Deity race of demons in the Megami Tensei series. He first appeared in Ronde for the Sega Saturn., In La-Mulana 2, Osiris is one of the 5th Children. Lumisa receives an important item when she speaks with him in the Underworld., In Age of Mythology and , Osiris is a minor god who can be worshiped by followers of Ra and Isis. His improvements benefit the player's camels and give them an extra pharaoh (which serves as the hero unit of Egypt). Osiris is notably the only Egyptian god who appears in-game, as the player is tasked with reuniting his body parts so he can oppose Set's mortal followers (who are working with Poseidon's agents to free the Titans). In Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones must use the headpiece of the Staff of Ra to find the location of the Ark of the Covenant, which is hidden in Tanis., Harvey Birdman, the titular character in the Hanna-Barbera animated series Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and, later, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, is a winged superhero who was said to have gained abilities of flight and solar projection from the Sun-God Ra., In 2015, SolarCity began a new marketing campaign featuring Ra "at home" as a servant of the homeowner, inviting customers to "harness the power of the Sun and save.", Ra is the main villain of the 1994 film Stargate. In it, he is an alien that enslaves ancient Egyptians and brings them to a planet on the other side of the known universe using a device known as a Stargate. In the TV series that followed, Ra was retroactively established as the most powerful of the Goa'uld, a race of parasitic aliens that set themselves up as the gods of human mythology and used humanity as a host and slave race across the galaxy., In channeled messages of the New Age community, Ra is presented as an extraterrestrial entity presenting a central message of "...only one important statement...All things, all of life, all of the creation is part of one original thought.", In Episode 46, "Hercules and the Romans," of Hercules, Hercules's friend Icarus pretends to be a deity for the newly settled city of Rome. Ra, Bastet, and Khnum appear to become true gods of Rome, having been requested by the Romans themselves, and try to destroy Hercules and Icarus. Only Ra actually speaks in the episode., In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, Ra first appears in The Throne of Fire as a senile old man. In The Serpent's Shadow, he is reborn as a muscular old man with his mind intact and willingly abdicates his throne so that Horus can take over., Ra is a playable god in Smite. He is classified as a mage labeled as "Sun God". He was one of the first gods designed for the game, and has a matching simple ability kit. He is strongest when not fighting, as he has a strong healing circle that can be placed after fights to prepare for the next one, and is weakest when his primary damage abilities, which are long, narrow lines, miss. He is one of the only gods in the game to have a team heal, and very few are as potent as his, although the wounded must actually stay inside the circle, making Ra's team somewhat immobile if healing is required., In season four of the Syfy reality television series Face Off, the contestant Eric F. created a Ra mummy based on the Evil Dead franchise., In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ra is an Egyptian God Card called "The Winged Dragon Of Ra" or "Sun Dragon Ra.", The Dagger of Amon Ra, the second game in the Laura Bow series of graphic adventures, features a Ra cult as a plot element., The House of Anubis special is titled Touchstone of Ra., The MOBA League of Legends champion named Azir resembles Ra, In the video game Age of Mythology and its remake, Age of Empires: Mythologies, Ra is one of three major gods that can be worshiped by Egyptian players. This serves mostly as a gameplay element and Ra himself does not appear in-game. When worshipped, Ra boosts a player's camels, chariots, and economy., In , the Egyptian can summon a falcon-headed Titan heavily based on Ra., "Ra: The God of The Sun", is a marching band show composed by Rob Stein with Ra as the central theme., In Savage Dragon, the character PowerHouse is a descendant of Ra., In Overwatch, there is a Ra hero-skin for the character Zenyatta., Ra, played by Geoffrey Rush, is depicted in the 2016 film Gods of Egypt as a creator god who drags the sun across the sky daily and slays the dæmon Apophis nightly. He is the father of Osiris and Set., Ra is a recurring joke in the podcast "This Paranormal Life". He is first mentioned in #021 Real Life Vampires in 2017 where they joke about leaving everything to Ra in their will. They later did an entire Patreon Only Podcast on Ra and Ra is featured on their T-shirts alongside the catchphrase "Praise Ra!", Ra (mostly referred to as Amon-Ra) appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei. He first appeared in Shin Megami Tensei If...., In La-Mulana 2, Ra is one of the Amarna tribe of 5th Children and also known as the Dark Star Lord. He chimerafies himself with Horus, becoming Ra-Horakty, and later the solar-powered weapon Aten, becoming the Guardian Aten-Ra., In Elite, badges of rank worn by pilots, up to and including the eponymous Elite ranking, are based on images of Ra., Ra appears both as a spell for members of the Balance school and a boss in Wizard101. As a spell, Ra deals a large amount of damage to all enemies., Ra appears in the sixth episode of the 1st season of Tutenstein, "The Boat of A Million Years". Much like in the myth, he controls the boat that makes the sun rise and fall, but it also controls the flow of time, and in the episode, Tutenstein orders Ra to extend the night to continue watching monster movies, but in doing so, Tutenstein allow Apophis to run rampant and time stops entirely., In , Ra is featured as a "Perk Altar" in the Zombies gamemode. Death metal band Nile referenced Sekhmet in the title track of their album "Ithyphallic", and in "The Eye Of Ra" on their album Those Whom the Gods Detest., Death metal band Behemoth referenced Sekhmet in the song "Christgrinding Avenue" on their album The Apostasy., Sekhmet is one of the evil female trinity of demigod vampires in author Kevin Given's "Last Rites: The Return of Sebastian Vasilis" which is the first novel in the "Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter" series the other two being the Hebrew Lilith and the Hindu Kali. She is also seen in the same author's comic book "Karl Vincent: Vampire Hunter" issues 1-6 which adapts the novel. She will be played by actress Jasmine Yampierre in the film version from Crisp Film Works., Sekhmet is used in The 39 Clues book Beyond the Grave and is the reason why the characters travel to Cairo., Sekhmet is also featured in The Red Pyramid written by Rick Riordan as a minor antagonist., Sekhmet is the subject of "Lionheart" a song about the goddess by the symphonic power metal band, Amberian Dawn from their The Clouds of Northland Thunder album., Sekhmet is the focus of "Resurrection", an episode of Stargate SG-1. The plot centers around a young girl named Anna who was created by a German doctor, who is the son of a Nazi. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c find artifacts belonging to the Goa'uld Sekhmet in the doctor's compound and realize that Anna was cloned using genetic material from the original Sekhmet, who was the executioner of Ra, the villain from the original film. A (possibly different) Sekhmet is also featured in the Stargate SG-1 game Stargate SG-1 Unleashed., In Tutenstein, an animated TV series about ancient Egypt and its mythology, Sekhmet, and by technicality Hathor, is featured in the fifth episode, "The Powerful One". She goes on a rampage in the museum and a nearby building site to make people build a pyramid for Tut upon misinterpreting the immature pharaoh's tantrum of some modern-day construction workers not building him a pyramid as a direct act of blasphemy against the gods., The space vessel "Sekhmet" is a level in the video game Jet Force Gemini, a third person shooter developed by Rare in 1999., Sekhmet is also the name of an alien Aragami in the PlayStation Portable game, God Eater., In the video game Skullgirls, Sekhmet is the name of the bloodthirsty cat-like skeleton parasite bonded to the Egypt-themed character Eliza., In the BBC TV series Sherlock episode "The Great Game", John Watson believes a cat named Sekhmet is responsible for the death of her owner., Sekhmet is the main character in Author S.K. Whiteside's World of the Guardians book series. Set in modern-day New Orleans, Sekhmet goes by the name of Syn., Sekhmet appears in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio drama, The Bride of Peladon. She is an Osiran., The Temple of Goddess Spirituality in Southern Nevada is dedicated to the Goddess Sekhmet., Sekhmet is the subject of Margaret Atwood's poem titled "Sekhmet, the Lion-headed Goddess of War"., In the comic The Wicked + The Divine, Sekhmet (spelled Sakhmet) is one of twelve gods who reincarnate every 90 years only to die within two years. In the current incarnation, she is a popstar modelled on Rihanna., In Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series of books, Sekhmet is the name of one of the Emersons' cats., Sekhmet appears in the comic Beasts of Burden: The Unfamiliar after being summoned by a gathering of witches and familiars., Sekhmet appears in the 1997 cartoon series Mummies Alive! in "The Curse of Sekhmet" (Episode 11). After Scarab fell sick, he summoned Sekhmet to cure him. Instead, she unleashes havoc with the Plagues of Egypt and places a curse on the city, causing Presley to turn into a frog. Unlike in her classic depiction as a lion-headed female, she appears a regular human and can turn into an anthropomorphic vulture instead., Sekhmet is one of the creatures in the mobile game "Deck Heroes", where she is portrayed as a man with long hair., Sekhmet is one of three old-world goddesses providing guidance to the titular heroine in the young-adult novella Fearless Inanna, by author and illustrator Jonathan Schork., Sekhmet is an ancient, evil vampire featured in the M/M paranormal romance book A Light in the Darkness: Things That Go Bump. She is the goddess of death and destruction infamous for her ability to create plague and cruelty., In Age of Mythology and , Sekhmet is a minor goddess who can be worshiped by followers of Ra and Set. Her improvements benefit the player's archers and siege units., Miss Sekhmet is a werelioness in the Custard Protocol books by Gail Carriger., In the videogame Assassin's Creed Origins, Bayek, the main character, can fight Sekhmet as a boss in one of the "Trial of the Gods" limited time events. He also wears a Sekhmet costume during a festivel in Yamu., In , Sekhmet is the patron goddess of Tarna. This is mainly due to the fact that Tarna and its location in East Fricana is heavily inspired by ancient Egypt, as well as African tribal lore., Sekhmet appears as a demon in the Megami Tensei series. Her most notable appearance in the series was as a random encounter in ., Sekhmet is one of the deities used by the Pharaoh in the episode of the same name in Miraculous Ladybug, giving him the power of enhanced strength., In the novel The Claws of Time by Jason Charles, Sekhmet plans to avenge the murder of boy-king King Edward V by incarnating two cats and sending them to London and then Scotland on a mission to kill his murderer at the exact spot that he met his untimely death. In American Gods, Set is mentioned to have retired in San Francisco in 1906, the time of the San Francisco earthquake, hinting he was responsible for it., In the Conan mythos, Set is worshiped as a snake god by the people of Stygia in the Hyborean Age. Set never makes an appearance in the original Conan stories and is referred to as "Father Set" or "the Old Serpent". The Conan version of Set also inspired the Set of the Marvel Universe due to Marvel acquiring the rights to Conan in the early 1970s and incorporated Conan's Hyborian Age into the prehistoric days of Earth. However the Hydra-headed snake deity depiction of this god owes little to the Egyptian Set as this version is one of the Elder Gods of Earth within the Marvel Universe and is billions of years old., The Egyptian Gods have made occasional appearances within comic books published by Marvel, including Set, though his name is spelled "Seth" to differentiate him from the Elder God of the same name. He's much closer to the Egyptian deity in that he's associated with darkness, chaos and death., In Soldier of Sidon, a novel by Gene Wolfe, Set plays a major role in the journey of a Roman soldier in ancient Egypt., In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan Set is the first and main antagonist of the first book while Horus and Isis aid the protagonists and other gods appear as both enemies and friends. In the next two books, Set helps the Kane siblings in reviving the old god Ra, and fighting the true enemy. It ends up turning out that Apophis is the true enemy of the series and the Kanes and their godly allies must battle him, culminating in a battle in which Apophis is forever destroyed., In Creatures of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny, Set is captured by Anubis who erases his memory and sends him to kill Thoth., In The World of the Guardians book series by S.K. Whiteside Set is portrayed as the primary villain of the series., In the Dark Hunter book series by Sherrilyn Kenyon, Set is the father of Bathymaas., In The Line Madder by Jenna Blackmore, the protagonist Seth is based on Set, with the ability to transform into the sha, or Set animal., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the antagonist Alessi had a Stand named Sethan, which is named after Set. In the vein of Set being the reason why the moon darkens during the phases and eclipses, Sethan is an animated shadow, with the ability to regress those it touches to young ages., In Dennis Wheatley's novel The Devil Rides Out the Satanist Mocata seeks the Talisman Of Set to open a gateway to the underworld., Seth appears as the main antagonist of Digital Devil Story 2: Warrior of the Demon City. In the animated series Conan the Adventurer, Set is portrayed as an evil snake god who is the source of the wizard Wrath-Amon's powers., In The Curse of King Tut's Tomb, Set is portrayed as the supernatural antagonist in the mini-series., The 1975 Doctor Who serial Pyramids of Mars reinterpreted the ancient Egyptian divine canon as a race of aliens called Osirians, creators of a civilization of near-omnipotent technological and psychic power. The god Set was reinterpreted as Sutekh (also known as "The Destroyer"), the most vicious, destructive and pan-genocidal of the Osirians, who was imprisoned circa 5000 BC in Egypt. Sutekh was also the main antagonist in The True History of Faction Paradox, part of the Doctor Who spin-off series Faction Paradox. He featured in a series of six Faction Paradox audio plays (the first of which, Coming to Dust, was released in 2004) which further explored Osirian society and also featured other Osirian characters including Horus., In the 2016 film Gods of Egypt, Set (Gerard Butler) is the main antagonist. He murders his brother Osiris as he was about to crown Horus the new King of Egypt, taking the crown for himself, enslaving the mortals, and killing any gods who challenge his claim to authority. Unsatisfied with the station his father Ra has in mind for him, he attempts to murder his own father, and releases the demon Apophis in order to let chaos remake the world and claim dominion over the afterlife. He is ultimately defeated by Horus and a mortal named Bek. Much like his nephew, he has the ability to morph into an animal human hybrid, in his case a jackal, but can also incorporate the parts of other Gods, using a combination of Nephthys's wings, Osiris's heart, Thoth's brain, and one of Horus's eyes., Seth appears in the Isis and Osiris two-parter in the Canadian series MythQuest, fulfilling his usual role as Osiris's killer., In Mummies Alive!, Set and Anubis are secondary villains throughout the series, often summoned with other deities to cause trouble in the show. Instead of a set animal, however, Set is made to look like an anthropomorphic bull dog., In seaQuest DSV, Set is used as a villain in "Something in the Air", a season 2 episode of the science fiction series., In Stargate SG-1, Seth, or Setesh, is a Goa'uld. In the series, Seth has been hiding from Ra on Earth for thousands of years, using advanced technology and drugs to set himself up as the object of worship for various cults throughout history., In the Puppet Master series of horror films, Sutekh is the primary villain, revealed in Puppet Master 4, to be the elder god who created the magic that gives the Puppet Master's puppets life., In Tutenstein, Set is the villain of the series, repeatedly trying to steal Tut's Scepter of Was to rule the Underworld and Overworld., Set, portrayed by Javier Botet, is a major antagonist in the 2017 film The Mummy, in which he gives Ahmanet The Dagger of Set to bring him into the real world through the body of a mortal. However, while her initial attempt to summon him through her lover fails, Set ultimately ends up fused with Nick Morton, the main protagonist., In the series finale of the 2001 anime series Hellsing, a demon named Set was summoned from the underworld by Incognito. Incognito calls upon the power of the Serpent God Seth in his attempt to defeat Alucard and conquer Britain. Set appears as a giant glowing snake made of energy, ravaging London in all of a few minutes., In the anime/manga Yu-Gi-Oh!, Seto Kaiba is regarded as the reincarnation of the ancient Egyptian priest Seth, who is representative of the deity Set. The same applies to Pharaoh Atem (Yami Yugi), representing the deity Horus, thus also highlighting the rivalry the two characters share, just as the gods Horus and Set did in Egyptian mythology., In Samurai Jack, Aku releases the minions of Set and orders them to kill Samurai Jack in the episode "Jack in Egypt". They all appear to be stylized versions of the seth animal., In the last episode of , the team works to thwart a museum curator who wishes to use Set as a part of his plan to revive the pharaonic system, with himself as pharaoh. Seth frequently appears as a demon throughout the Megami Tensei series., Seth is an optional boss in Digital Devil Saga 2 after Shiva and Vishnu and before Satan., In Nightshade, Sutekh is the villain who takes control of every gang in Metro City, combining them into one., In Persona 2 and Persona 5 Set is a persona of the Tower Arcana., In Persona 3 and Persona 4, Seth is a persona of the Moon Arcana., In Phantasy Star IV, Seth was the name used by Dark Force when he assumed human form. He joins the party when they arrive on the island east of Krup on Motavia, claiming to be an archaeologist. When the party reaches the temple, he turns back into demonic form and attacks the party., In PowerSlave, Set is a boss character depicted as a horrible demonic being., In Secret of Evermore, the Son of Set is an enemy, In Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy, Lord Set is the enemy and the main villain. His physical appearance is a tall, dark, elegant, somewhat evil wizard; his eyes and teeth resemble a snake. Patient, ruthless, sinister, sophisticated and very intelligent, he could mimic the forms of others. Later he reveals his real god form: a powerful humanoid giant snake., In , Set possessed Werner Von Croy and he was also the final boss., In , One of the 13 clans is known as the Followers of Set and claim to be descended from the god Set., In Pharaoh, Seth is one of the five gods that can be worshipped in-game., In Age of Mythology and , Set is one of three major gods that can be worshiped by Egyptian players. When this is the case, players can turn huntable animals into units for combat and scouting, and ranged units are trained faster and are stronger. In the game's campaign, Set, through his mortal puppet Kemsyt, works with Poseidon and Loki to free the Titans. The player, in the role of the Atlantean hero Arkantos, must stop Set's followers and re-unify the pieces of Osiris., In , Set, Isis, Osiris, and Nephthys are featured in the Cavern of the Gods., In The Cluefinders 4th Grade Adventures: Puzzle of the Pyramid, Set is the true villain of the game, released by Sir Alistar Loveless III. Loveless intended to be Set's master and use him to rule the world, but Set turned on Loveless and his goons. With enhanced powers granted to the Cluefinders by other Egyptian gods, the title group reseals Set back in his prison., In Smite, Set and Horus were made playable characters, in April 2019. Set gains the title of "The Usurper" in reference to his murder of Osiris. He is classed as an assassin, and focuses on single-target burst damage. Able to command sand clones to attack enemies, Set also has high mobility as he can teleport to these clones at any time. He can also summon a sandstorm around his character, damaging enemies and causing their screens to fill up with sand. These abilities fit into his mythological role as a god of the desert. Set's murder is also referenced in his ultimate, Kingslayer, which allows Set to focus down and kill a single target with multiple buffs, including a movement speed buff, an uncapped, stacking attack speed buff, a buff that allows his attacks to affect nearby gods, self-healing and the ability to summon many more of his sand clones. His kit makes him a potent asset to any team when it comes to diving back-line gods and finishing them off quickly. Interestingly, he gets one stack on his passive if he attacks an enemy god, but if his target is Horus, he gains two stacks per hit, reflecting the pair's fierce rivalry. Set is referenced by the American heavy metal band Iced Earth on some of their concept albums. He is often referred to as Set Abominae in their Egyptian mythology-based concept albums and comic book., Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth has a song entitled "Sculpting the Throne of Seth"., Greek metal band Septic Flesh have a song on their second album entitled The Eyes of Set. Additionally, vocalist/bassist Spiros Antoniou is often referred to as "Seth"., The Swedish sympho metal band Therion has a song "In the Desert of Set" on their 1996 album Theli., The gothic/doom metal band The Vision Bleak have a song entitled By Our Brotherhood With Seth., Norwegian black metal band 1349 has an album entitled Demonoir which features an ambient song entitled The Tunnel of Set, which is broken down into 7 small tracks. Additionally, other songs on the album such The Devil of the Deserts contain vague references to Set., The American Ancient Egyptian themed death metal band Nile reference Set in their song "Black Hand of Set" on the album In the Beginning. In the videogame , Sobek features as one of three gods that the player can fight in the "Trial of the Gods" limited time events., In the 2017 videogame Horizon Zero Dawn by Guerrilla Games, a prominent scientist involved in the life-saving Zero Dawn project is named Elizabet Sobeck., In the 1995-1997 comic series based on the original Battlestar Galactica the name of the last living, biological Cylon imperious leader was revealed to be "Sobekkta", a reference to Sobek., In Smite, Sobek is guardian given the title of "God of the Nile"., The MOBA League of Legends champion named Renekton resembles Sobek., In the Megami Tensei series, Sobek sometimes appears as a demon. While his first appearance was in , his most notable appearance was as an optional boss in Shin Megami Tensei If...., features a brief appearance by Sobek as one of a quartet of Egyptian gods who imbue the eponymous Cluefinders with magic powers so that they can challenge the recently revived Set. Sobek grants Santiago enhanced strength and turns his skin a greyish-green, highlighting his crocodile basis., Sobek has been heavily satirized by YouTuber hbomberguy in his video Flat Earth: A Measured Response, and went on to become a meme within his community. Aleister Crowley's book on the Tarot is entitled The Book of Thoth: A Short Essay on the Tarot of the Egyptians, Being The Equinox Volume III No. V (see The Book of Thoth (Crowley))., Thoth-Amon (also spelled Thoth-amon) is a fictional character created by Robert E. Howard. He is an evil wizard in "The Phoenix on the Sword", the first of the Conan the Cimmerian stories. He is often used as Conan's arch enemy in derivative works but the two characters never met in any of Howard's original stories. He was obviously named after the Egyptian deity Thoth and possibly has a connection. The god Thoth along with his Egyptian look is called Ibis and he is a lesser Stygian god who opposes to Set., Thoth is also heavily mentioned in the Matthew Reilly novels Seven Ancient Wonders and The Six Sacred Stones. An entire language was created based on Thoth's religious omnipotence. There are also many allusions to his importance in Egyptian history throughout the books., Thoth and the cosmology presented in the Book of Thoth are major elements of the plots in the King's Man trilogy by the Canadian novelist Pauline Gedge., The computer game NetHack, which features deities whose favor the player must win in order to succeed features Thoth as the god of neutral (balanced alignment) Wizards, in keeping with his role as God of Balance and Wisdom., Philosopher Jacques Derrida uses Socrates' "Myth of Theuth" to argue for deconstruction and the instability of Truth since writing is pharmakon, both poison and cure—that which puts play into play., The Coptic liturgical New Year begins with the month of Thout which is a carry over from the ancient Egyptian month dedicated to Thoth. The first day of Thoth corresponds, currently, to the eleventh of September in the Gregorian calendar or the twelfth if a leap year Coptic calendar., In Neil Gaiman's novel American Gods, Thoth lives as a human called Mr. Ibis on the mortal plane in the "Little Egypt" area of Southern Illinois. In accordance with his role as judge of the dead, he works as an undertaker alongside Anubis' human embodiment, Mr. Jacquel (Jackal)., The current logo of Cairo University, which is the oldest university in Egypt, embodies the image of Thoth sitting on his throne., The Temple of Thoth is the name of a pagan cult in The Magician's Nephew, an episode of Midsomer Murders. Apart from the name, no references to the Egyptian god are made in the episode., Thoth is one of the main characters in Roger Zelazny's novel Creatures of Light and Darkness., Thoth is also a character in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan. He helps the Kanes in the first book of the trilogy, The Red Pyramid. Thoth's modern-day guise is that of a manic research professor at the University of Memphis, assisted in his physical and metaphysical experiments by a number of baboon assistants., In the game Zone of the Enders and , the game's titular mecha Jehuty is based on Thoth himself., , a 1990s video game for young learners, features Thoth as a non-player character. Thoth guides the eponymous Cluefinders across the "Chasm of Words", with the assistance of a pair of baboon statues., In the Stargate SG-1 franchise, Thoth is a member of the Goa'uld. Various interpretations of the character appeared in spin-off media before the character appeared in the series itself as a minor Goa'uld, the chief scientist of Anubis, In the "otome" game series Kamigami no Asobi, which features various deities brought to an academy by Zeus to restore the divine's connection to humans, Thoth is recruited as a teacher in the academy and is also a romance option., Thoth is one of the gods used by the Pharaoh in Miraculous Ladybug in the episode of the same name, though unlike other depictions, the animal used to represent him is a baboon, and while using his power, the Pharaoh gains time manipulation powers, using gold colored bubbles to slow down those trapped inside them., In the 2016 film Gods of Egypt, Thoth is played by Chadwick Boseman. Boseman's casting attracted media attention, as he was one of the few non-white actors to appear in the film, with some suggesting that Boseman as Thoth was essentially an example of the Magical Negro stock character., Thoth is a playable god in Smite. He is classified as a mage, and is labeled "The Arbiter of the Damned". He is strongest when located far away from his enemies, as one of his abilities, Glyph of Pain, adds extra range to his other damaging moves, giving him more space control and safety than almost any other mage. He is weakest when behind his opponents in gold and experience, as he will do fairly little damage compared to other mages in the same situation. He has been a polarizing character, with some finding him annoying with his constant threat of damage, and others finding him weak as he has very little crowd control., In Stardust Crusaders, the third story arc of the manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Thoth is represented by the Stand of the antagonist Boingo, spelled Tohth. In the same vein of Thoth being the god of knowledge and writing, Tohth takes the form of a comic book that predicts the future., Thoth frequently appears in the Megami Tensei series. His first appearance was in Shin Megami Tensei If... as an optional boss that would instead join the party if Sobek and Hathor were in the player's party. In , Thoth has a chain of side missions that rewards the player with passages that can be used to summon a powerful version of Seth when arranged and the powerful Divine Sword. Egyptian influence in popular culture Hathor ( "House of Horus", Hathōr) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra, both of whom were connected with kingship, and thus she was the symbolic mother of their earthly representatives, the pharaohs. She was one of several goddesses who acted as the Eye of Ra, Ra's feminine counterpart, and in this form she had a vengeful aspect that protected him from his enemies. Her beneficent side represented music, dance, joy, love, sexuality and maternal care, and she acted as the consort of several male deities and the mother of their sons. These two aspects of the goddess exemplified the Egyptian conception of femininity. Hathor crossed boundaries between worlds, helping deceased souls in the transition to the afterlife. Hathor was often depicted as a cow, symbolizing her maternal and celestial aspect, although her most common form was a woman wearing a headdress of cow horns and a sun disk. She could also be represented as a lioness, cobra, or sycamore tree. Cattle goddesses similar to Hathor were portrayed in Egyptian art in the fourth millennium BC, but she may not have appeared until the Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BC). With the patronage of Old Kingdom rulers she became one of Egypt's most important deities. More temples were dedicated to her than to any other goddess; her most prominent temple was Dendera in Upper Egypt. She was also worshipped in the temples of her male consorts. The Egyptians connected her with foreign lands such as Nubia and Canaan and their valuable goods, such as incense and semiprecious stones, and some of the peoples in those lands adopted her worship. In Egypt, she was one of the deities commonly invoked in private prayers and votive offerings, particularly by women desiring children. During the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC), goddesses such as Mut and Isis encroached on Hathor's position in royal ideology, but she remained one of the most widely worshipped deities. After the end of the New Kingdom, Hathor was increasingly overshadowed by Isis, but she continued to be venerated until the extinction of ancient Egyptian religion in the early centuries AD. Images of cattle appear frequently in the artwork of Predynastic Egypt (before c. 3100 BC), as do images of women with upraised, curved arms reminiscent of the shape of bovine horns. Both types of imagery may represent goddesses connected with cattle. Cows are venerated in many cultures, including ancient Egypt, as symbols of motherhood and nourishment, because they care for their calves and supply humans with milk. The Gerzeh Palette, a stone palette from the Naqada II period of prehistory (c. 3500–3200 BC), shows the silhouette of a cow's head with inward-curving horns surrounded by stars. The palette suggests that this cow was also linked with the sky, as were several goddesses from later times who were represented in this form: Hathor, Mehet-Weret, and Nut. Despite these early precedents, Hathor is not unambiguously mentioned or depicted until the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2613–2494 BC) of the Old Kingdom, although several artifacts that refer to her may date to the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3100–2686 BC). When Hathor does clearly appear, her horns curve outward, rather than inward like those in Predynastic art. A bovine deity with inward-curving horns appears on the Narmer Palette from near the start of Egyptian history, both atop the palette and on the belt or apron of the king, Narmer. The Egyptologist Henry George Fischer suggested this deity may be Bat, a goddess who was later depicted with a woman's face and inward-curling horns, seemingly reflecting the curve of the cow horns. The Egyptologist Lana Troy, however, identifies a passage in the Pyramid Texts from the late Old Kingdom that connects Hathor with the "apron" of the king, reminiscent of the goddess on Narmer's garments, and suggests the goddess on the Narmer Palette is Hathor rather than Bat, and the motif resembles the head of Hathor atop the columns of temples built throughout many dynasties. In the Fourth Dynasty, Hathor rose rapidly to prominence. She supplanted an early crocodile god who was worshipped at Dendera in Upper Egypt to become Dendera's patron deity, and she increasingly absorbed the cult of Bat in the neighboring region of Hu, so that in the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1650 BC) the two deities fused into one. The theology surrounding the pharaoh in the Old Kingdom, unlike that of earlier times, focused heavily on the sun god Ra as king of the gods and father and patron of the earthly king. Hathor ascended with Ra and became his mythological wife, and thus divine mother of the pharaoh. Hathor took many forms and appeared in a wide variety of roles. The Egyptologist Robyn Gillam suggests that these diverse forms emerged when the royal goddess promoted by the Old Kingdom court subsumed many local goddesses worshipped by the general populace, who were then treated as manifestations of her. Egyptian texts often speak of the manifestations of the goddess as "Seven Hathors" or, less commonly, of many more Hathors—as many as 362. For these reasons, Gillam calls her "a type of deity rather than a single entity". Hathor's diversity reflects the diversity of traits that the Egyptians associated with goddesses. More than any other deity, she exemplifies the Egyptian perception of femininity. Hathor was given the epithets "mistress of the sky" and "mistress of the stars", and was said to dwell in the sky with Ra and other sun deities. Egyptians thought of the sky as a body of water through which the sun god sailed, and they connected it with the waters from which, according to their creation myths, the sun emerged at the beginning of time. This cosmic mother goddess was often represented as a cow. Hathor and Mehet-Weret were both thought of as the cow who birthed the sun god and placed him between her horns. Like Nut, Hathor was said to give birth to the sun god each dawn. Hathor's Egyptian name was ḥwt-ḥrw or ḥwt-ḥr. It is typically translated "house of Horus" but can also be rendered as "my house is the sky". The falcon god Horus represented, among other things, the sun and sky. The "house" referred to may be the sky in which Horus lives, or the goddess's womb from which he, as a sun god, is born each day. Hathor was a solar deity, a feminine counterpart to sun gods such as Horus and Ra, and was a member of the divine entourage that accompanied Ra as he sailed through the sky in his barque. She was commonly called the "Golden One", referring to the radiance of the sun, and texts from her temple at Dendera say "her rays illuminate the whole earth." She was sometimes fused with another goddess, Nebethetepet, whose name can mean "Lady of the Offering", "Lady of Contentment", or "Lady of the Vulva". At Ra's cult center of Heliopolis, Hathor-Nebethetepet was worshipped as his consort, and the Egyptologist Rudolf Anthes argued that Hathor's name referred to a mythical "house of Horus" at Heliopolis that was connected with the ideology of kingship. She was one of many goddesses to take the role of the Eye of Ra, a feminine personification of the disk of the sun and an extension of Ra's own power. Ra was sometimes portrayed inside the disk, which Troy interprets as meaning that the Eye goddess was thought of as a womb from which the sun god was born. Hathor's seemingly contradictory roles as mother, wife, and daughter of Ra reflected the daily cycle of the sun. At sunset the god entered the body of the goddess, impregnating her and fathering the deities born from her womb at sunrise: himself and the Eye goddess, who would later give birth to him. Ra gave rise to his daughter, the Eye goddess, who in turn gave rise to him, her son, in a cycle of constant regeneration. The Eye of Ra protected the sun god from his enemies and was often represented as a uraeus, or rearing cobra, or as a lioness. A form of the Eye of Ra known as "Hathor of the Four Faces", represented by a set of four cobras, was said to face in each of the cardinal directions to watch for threats to the sun god. A group of myths, known from the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BC) onward, describe what happens when the Eye goddess rampages uncontrolled. In the funerary text known as the Book of the Heavenly Cow, Ra sends Hathor as the Eye of Ra to punish humans for plotting rebellion against his rule. She becomes the lioness goddess Sekhmet and massacres the rebellious humans, but Ra decides to prevent her from killing all humanity. He orders that beer be dyed red and poured out over the land. The Eye goddess drinks the beer, mistaking it for blood, and in her inebriated state reverts to being the benign and beautiful Hathor. Related to this story is the myth of the Distant Goddess, from the Late and Ptolemaic periods. The Eye goddess, sometimes in the form of Hathor, rebels against Ra's control and rampages freely in a foreign land: Libya west of Egypt or Nubia to the south. Weakened by the loss of his Eye, Ra sends another god, such as Thoth, to bring her back to him. Once pacified, the goddess returns to become the consort of the sun god or of the god who brings her back. The two aspects of the Eye goddess—violent and dangerous versus beautiful and joyful—reflected the Egyptian belief that women, as the Egyptologist Carolyn Graves-Brown puts it, "encompassed both extreme passions of fury and love." Egyptian religion celebrated the sensory pleasures of life, believed to be among the gods' gifts to humanity. Egyptians ate, drank, danced, and played music at their religious festivals. They perfumed the air with flowers and incense. Many of Hathor's epithets link her to celebration; she is called the mistress of music, dance, garlands, myrrh, and drunkenness. In hymns and temple reliefs, musicians play tambourines, harps, lyres, and sistra in Hathor's honor. The sistrum, a rattle-like instrument, was particularly important in Hathor's worship. Sistra had erotic connotations and, by extension, alluded to the creation of new life. These aspects of Hathor were linked with the myth of the Eye of Ra. The Eye was pacified by beer in the story of the Destruction of Mankind. In some versions of the Distant Goddess myth, the wandering Eye's wildness abated when she was appeased with products of civilization like music, dance, and wine. The water of the annual inundation of the Nile, colored red by sediment, was likened to wine, and to the red-dyed beer in the Destruction of Mankind. Festivals during the inundation therefore incorporated drink, music, and dance as a way to appease the returning goddess. A text from the Temple of Edfu says of Hathor, "the gods play the sistrum for her, the goddesses dance for her to dispel her bad temper." A hymn to the goddess Raet-Tawy as a form of Hathor at the temple of Medamud describes the Festival of Drunkenness as part of her mythic return to Egypt. Women carry bouquets of flowers, drunken revelers play drums, and people and animals from foreign lands dance for her as she enters the temple's festival booth. The noise of the celebration drives away hostile powers and ensures the goddess will remain in her joyful form as she awaits the male god of the temple, her mythological consort Montu, whose son she will bear. Hathor's joyful, ecstatic side indicates her feminine, procreative power. In some creation myths she helped produce the world itself. Atum, a creator god who contained all things within himself, was said to have produced his children Shu and Tefnut, and thus begun the process of creation, by masturbating. The hand he used for this act, the Hand of Atum, represented the female aspect of himself and could be personified by Hathor, Nebethetepet, or another goddess, Iusaaset. In a late creation myth from the Ptolemaic Period (332–30 BC), the god Khonsu is put in a central role, and Hathor is the goddess with whom Khonsu mates to enable creation. Hathor could be the consort of many male gods, of whom Ra was only the most prominent. Mut was the usual consort of Amun, the preeminent deity during the New Kingdom who was often linked with Ra. But Mut was rarely portrayed alongside Amun in contexts related to sex or fertility, and in those circumstances, Hathor or Isis stood at his side instead. In the late periods of Egyptian history, the form of Hathor from Dendera and the form of Horus from Edfu were considered husband and wife and in different versions of the myth of the Distant Goddess, Hathor- Raettawy was the consort of Montu and Hathor-Tefnut the consort of Shu. Hathor's sexual side was seen in some short stories. In a cryptic fragment of a Middle Kingdom story, known as "The Tale of the Herdsman", a herdsman encounters a hairy, animal-like goddess in a marsh and reacts with terror. On another day he encounters her as a nude, alluring woman. Most Egyptologists who study this story think this woman is Hathor or a goddess like her, one who can be wild and dangerous or benign and erotic. Thomas Schneider interprets the text as implying that between his two encounters with the goddess the herdsman has done something to pacify her. In "The Contendings of Horus and Set", a New Kingdom short story about the dispute between those two gods, Ra is upset after being insulted by another god, Babi, and lies on his back alone. After some time, Hathor exposes her genitals to Ra, making him laugh and get up again to perform his duties as ruler of the gods. Life and order were thought to be dependent on Ra's activity, and the story implies that Hathor averted the disastrous consequences of his idleness. Her act may have lifted Ra's spirits partly because it sexually aroused him, although why he laughed is not fully understood. Hathor was praised for her beautiful hair. Egyptian literature contains allusions to a myth not clearly described in any surviving texts, in which Hathor lost a lock of hair that represented her sexual allure. One text compares this loss with Horus's loss of his divine Eye and Set's loss of his testicles during the struggle between the two gods, implying that the loss of Hathor's lock was as catastrophic for her as the maiming of Horus and Set was for them. Hathor was called "mistress of love", as an extension of her sexual aspect. In the series of love poems from Papyrus Chester Beatty I, from the Twentieth Dynasty (c. 1189–1077 BC), men and women ask Hathor to bring their lovers to them: "I prayed to her [Hathor] and she heard my prayer. She destined my mistress [loved one] for me. And she came of her own free will to see me." Hathor was considered the mother of various child deities. As suggested by her name, she was often thought of as both Horus's mother and consort. As both the king's wife and his heir's mother, Hathor was the mythic counterpart of human queens. Isis and Osiris were considered Horus's parents in the Osiris myth as far back as the late Old Kingdom, but the relationship between Horus and Hathor may be older still. If so, Horus only came to be linked with Isis and Osiris as the Osiris myth emerged during the Old Kingdom. Even after Isis was firmly established as Horus's mother, Hathor continued to appear in this role, especially when nursing the pharaoh. Images of the Hathor-cow with a child in a papyrus thicket represented her mythological upbringing in a secluded marsh. Goddesses' milk was a sign of divinity and royal status. Thus, images in which Hathor nurses the pharaoh represent his right to rule. Hathor's relationship with Horus gave a healing aspect to her character, as she was said to have restored Horus's missing eye or eyes after Set attacked him. In the version of this episode in "The Contendings of Horus and Set", Hathor finds Horus with his eyes torn out and heals the wounds with gazelle's milk. Beginning in the Late Period (664–323 BC), temples focused on the worship of a divine family: an adult male deity, his wife, and their immature son. Satellite buildings, known as mammisis, were built in celebration of the birth of the local child deity. The child god represented the cyclical renewal of the cosmos and an archetypal heir to the kingship. Hathor was the mother in many of these local triads of gods. At Dendera, the mature Horus of Edfu was the father and Hathor the mother, while their child was Ihy, a god whose name meant "sistrum-player" and who personified the jubilation associated with the instrument. At Kom Ombo, Hathor's local form, Tasenetnofret, was mother to Horus's son Panebtawy. Other children of Hathor included a minor deity from the town of Hu, named Neferhotep, and several child forms of Horus. The milky sap of the sycamore tree, which the Egyptians regarded as a symbol of life, became one of her symbols. The milk was equated with water of the Nile inundation and thus fertility. In the late Ptolemaic and Roman Periods, many temples contained a creation myth that adapted long-standing ideas about creation. The version from Hathor's temple at Dendera emphasizes that she, as a female solar deity, was the first being to emerge from the primordial waters that preceded creation, and her life-giving light and milk nourished all living things. Like Meskhenet, another goddess who presided over birth, Hathor was connected with shai, the Egyptian concept of fate, particularly when she took the form of the Seven Hathors. In two New Kingdom works of fiction, "The Tale of Two Brothers" and "The Tale of the Doomed Prince", the Hathors appear at the births of major characters and foretell the manner of their deaths. Hathor's maternal aspects can be compared with those of Isis and Mut, yet there are many contrasts between them. Isis's devotion to her husband and care for their child represented a more socially acceptable form of love than Hathor's uninhibited sexuality, and Mut's character was more authoritative than sexual. The text of the first century AD Papyrus Insinger likens a faithful wife, the mistress of a household, to Mut, while comparing Hathor to a strange woman who tempts a married man. Egypt maintained trade relations with the coastal cities of Syria and Canaan, particularly Byblos, placing Egyptian religion in contact with the religions of that region. At some point, perhaps as early as the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians began to refer to the patron goddess of Byblos, Baalat Gebal, as a local form of Hathor. So strong was Hathor's link to Byblos that texts from Dendera say she resided there. The Egyptians sometimes equated Anat, an aggressive Canaanite goddess who came to be worshipped in Egypt during the New Kingdom, with Hathor. Some Canaanite artworks depict a nude goddess with a curling wig taken from Hathor's iconography. Which goddess these images represent is not known, but the Egyptians adopted her iconography and came to regard her as an independent deity, Qetesh, whom they associated with Hathor. Hathor's solar character may have played a role in linking her with trade: she was believed to protect ships on the Nile and in the seas beyond Egypt, as she protected the barque of Ra in the sky. The mythological wandering of the Eye goddess in Nubia or Libya gave her a connection with those lands as well. Hathor was closely connected with the Sinai Peninsula, which was not considered part of Egypt proper but was the site of Egyptian mines for copper, turquoise, and malachite during the Middle and New Kingdoms. One of Hathor's epithets, "Lady of Mefkat", may have referred specifically to turquoise or to all blue-green minerals. She was also called "Lady of Faience", a blue-green ceramic that Egyptians likened to turquoise. Hathor was also worshipped at various quarries and mining sites in Egypt's Eastern Desert, such as the amethyst mines of Wadi el-Hudi, where she was sometimes called "Lady of Amethyst". South of Egypt, Hathor's influence was thought to have extended over the land of Punt, which lay along the Red Sea coast and was a major source for the incense with which Hathor was linked, as well as with Nubia, northwest of Punt. The autobiography of Harkhuf, an official in the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC), describes his expedition to a land in or near Nubia, from which he brought back great quantities of ebony, panther skins, and incense for the king. The text describes these exotic goods as Hathor's gift to the pharaoh. Egyptian expeditions to mine gold in Nubia introduced her cult to the region during the Middle and New Kingdoms, and New Kingdom pharaohs built several temples to her in the portions of Nubia that they ruled. Hathor was one of several goddesses believed to assist deceased souls in the afterlife. One of these was Imentet, the goddess of the west, who personified the necropolises, or clusters of tombs, on the west bank of the Nile, and the realm of the afterlife itself. She was often regarded as a specialized manifestation of Hathor. Just as she crossed the boundary between Egypt and foreign lands, Hathor passed through the boundary between the living and the Duat, the realm of the dead. She helped the spirits of deceased humans enter the Duat and was closely linked with tomb sites, where that transition began. The Theban necropolis, for example, was often portrayed as a stylized mountain with the cow of Hathor emerging from it. Her role as a sky goddess was also linked to the afterlife. Because the sky goddess—either Nut or Hathor—assisted Ra in his daily rebirth, she had an important part in Egyptian afterlife beliefs, according to which deceased humans were reborn like the sun god. Coffins, tombs, and the underworld itself were interpreted as the womb of this goddess, from which the deceased soul would be reborn. Nut, Hathor, and Imentet could each, in different texts, lead the deceased into a place where they would receive food and drink for eternal sustenance. Thus, Hathor, as Imentet, often appears on tombs, welcoming the deceased person as her child into a blissful afterlife. In New Kingdom funerary texts and artwork, the afterlife was often illustrated as a pleasant, fertile garden, over which Hathor sometimes presided. The welcoming afterlife goddess was often portrayed as a goddess in the form of a tree, giving water to the deceased. Nut most commonly filled this role, but the tree goddess was sometimes called Hathor instead. The afterlife also had a sexual aspect. In the Osiris myth, the murdered god Osiris was resurrected when he copulated with Isis and conceived Horus. In solar ideology, Ra's union with the sky goddess allowed his own rebirth. Sex therefore enabled the rebirth of the deceased, and goddesses like Isis and Hathor served to rouse the deceased to new life. But they merely stimulated the male deities' regenerative powers, rather than playing the central role. Ancient Egyptians prefixed the names of the deceased with Osiris's name to connect them with his resurrection. For example, a woman named Henutmehyt would be dubbed "Osiris-Henutmehyt". Over time they increasingly associated the deceased with both male and female divine powers. As early as the late Old Kingdom, women were sometimes said to join the worshippers of Hathor in the afterlife, just as men joined the following of Osiris. In the Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–664 BC), Egyptians began to add Hathor's name to that of deceased women in place of that of Osiris. In some cases, women were called "Osiris-Hathor", indicating that they benefited from the revivifying power of both deities. In these late periods, Hathor was sometimes said to rule the afterlife as Osiris did. Hathor was often depicted as a cow bearing the sun disk between her horns, especially when shown nursing the king. She could also appear as a woman with the head of a cow. Her most common form, however, was a woman wearing a headdress of the horns and sun disk, often with a red or turquoise sheath dress, or a dress combining both colors. Sometimes the horns stood atop a low modius or the vulture headdress that Egyptian queens often wore in the New Kingdom. Because Isis adopted the same headdress during the New Kingdom, the two goddesses can be distinguished only if labeled in writing. When in the role of Imentet, Hathor wore the emblem of the west upon her head instead of the horned headdress. The Seven Hathors were sometimes portrayed as a set of seven cows, accompanied by a minor sky and afterlife deity called the Bull of the West. Some animals other than cattle could represent Hathor. The uraeus was a common motif in Egyptian art and could represent a variety of goddesses who were identified with the Eye of Ra. When Hathor was depicted as a uraeus, it represented the ferocious and protective aspects of her character. She also appeared as a lioness, and this form had a similar meaning. In contrast, the domestic cat, which was sometimes connected with Hathor, often represented the Eye goddess's pacified form. When portrayed as a sycamore tree, Hathor was usually shown with the upper body of her human form emerging from the trunk. Like other goddesses, Hathor might carry a stalk of papyrus as a staff, though she could instead hold a was staff, a symbol of power that was usually restricted to male deities. The only goddesses who used the was were those, like Hathor, who were linked with the Eye of Ra. She also commonly carried a sistrum or a menat necklace. The sistrum came in two varieties: a simple loop shape or the more complex naos sistrum, which was shaped to resemble a naos shrine and flanked by volutes resembling the antennae of the Bat emblem. The menat necklace, made up of many strands of beads, was shaken in ceremonies in Hathor's honor, similarly to the sistrum. Images of it were sometimes seen as personifications of Hathor herself. Mirrors were another of her symbols, because in Egypt they were often made of gold or bronze and therefore symbolized the sun disk, and because they were connected with beauty and femininity. Some mirror handles were made in the shape of Hathor's face. Hathor was sometimes represented as a human face with bovine ears, seen from the front rather than in the profile-based perspective that was typical of Egyptian art. When she appears in this form, the tresses on either side of her face often curl into loops. This mask-like face was placed on the capitals of columns beginning in the late Old Kingdom. Columns of this style were used in many temples to Hathor and other goddesses. These columns have two or four faces, which may represent the duality between different aspects of the goddess or the watchfulness of Hathor of the Four Faces. The designs of Hathoric columns have a complex relationship with those of sistra. Both styles of sistrum can bear the Hathor mask on the handle, and Hathoric columns often incorporate the naos sistrum shape above the goddess's head. During the Early Dynastic Period, Neith was the preeminent goddess at the royal court, while in the Fourth Dynasty, Hathor became the goddess most closely linked with the king. The later dynasty's founder, Sneferu, may have built a temple to her, and a daughter of Djedefra was her first recorded priestess. Old Kingdom rulers donated resources only to temples dedicated to particular kings or to deities closely connected with kingship. Hathor was one of the few deities to receive such donations. Late Old Kingdom rulers especially promoted the cult of Hathor in the provinces, as a way of binding those regions to the royal court. She may have absorbed the traits of contemporary provincial goddesses. Many female royals, though not reigning queens, held positions in the cult during the Old Kingdom. Mentuhotep II, who became the first pharaoh of the Middle Kingdom despite having no relation to the Old Kingdom rulers, sought to legitimize his rule by portraying himself as Hathor's son. The first images of the Hathor-cow suckling the king date to his reign, and several priestesses of Hathor were depicted as though they were his wives, although he may not have actually married them. In the course of the Middle Kingdom, queens were increasingly seen as directly embodying the goddess, just as the king embodied Ra. The emphasis on the queen as Hathor continued through the New Kingdom. Queens were portrayed with the headdress of Hathor beginning in the late Eighteenth Dynasty. An image of the sed festival of Amenhotep III, meant to celebrate and renew his rule, shows the king together with Hathor and his queen Tiye, which could mean that the king symbolically married the goddess in the course of the festival. Hatshepsut, a woman who ruled as a pharaoh in the early New Kingdom, emphasized her relationship to Hathor in a different way. She used names and titles that linked her to a variety of goddesses, including Hathor, so as to legitimize her rule in what was normally a male position. She built several temples to Hathor and placed her own mortuary temple, which incorporated a chapel dedicated to the goddess, at Deir el-Bahari, which had been a cult site of Hathor since the Middle Kingdom. The preeminence of Amun during the New Kingdom gave greater visibility to his consort Mut, and in the course of the period, Isis began appearing in roles that traditionally belonged to Hathor alone, such as that of the goddess in the solar barque. Despite the growing prominence of these deities, Hathor remained important, particularly in relation to fertility, sexuality, and queenship, throughout the New Kingdom. After the New Kingdom, Isis increasingly overshadowed Hathor and other goddesses as she took on their characteristics. In the Ptolemaic period (305–30 BC), when Greeks governed Egypt and their religion developed a complex relationship with that of Egypt, the Ptolemaic dynasty adopted and modified the Egyptian ideology of kingship. Beginning with Arsinoe II, wife of Ptolemy II, the Ptolemies closely linked their queens with Isis and with several Greek goddesses, particularly their own goddess of love and sexuality, Aphrodite. Nevertheless, when the Greeks referred to Egyptian gods by the names of their own gods (a practice called interpretatio Graeca), they sometimes called Hathor Aphrodite. Traits of Isis, Hathor, and Aphrodite were all combined to justify the treatment of Ptolemaic queens as goddesses. Thus, the poet Callimachus alluded to the myth of Hathor's lost lock of hair when praising Berenice II for sacrificing her own hair to Aphrodite, and iconographic traits that Isis and Hathor shared, such as the bovine horns and vulture headdress, appeared on images portraying Ptolemaic queens as Aphrodite. More temples were dedicated to Hathor than to any other Egyptian goddess. During the Old Kingdom her most important center of worship was in the region of Memphis, where "Hathor of the Sycomore" was worshipped at many sites throughout the Memphite Necropolis. During the New Kingdom era, the temple of Hathor of the Southern Sycomore was her main temple in Memphis. At that site she was described as the daughter of the city's main deity, Ptah. The cult of Ra and Atum at Heliopolis, northeast of Memphis, included a temple to Hathor- Nebethetepet that was probably built in the Middle Kingdom. A willow and a sycomore tree stood near the sanctuary and may have been worshipped as manifestations of the goddess. A few cities farther north in the Nile Delta, such as Yamu and Terenuthis, also had temples to her. As the rulers of the Old Kingdom made an effort to develop towns in Upper and Middle Egypt, several cult centers of Hathor were founded across the region, at sites such as Cusae, Akhmim, and Naga ed-Der. In the First Intermediate Period (c. 2181–2055) her cult statue from Dendera was periodically carried to the Theban necropolis. During the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, Mentuhotep II established a permanent cult center for her in the necropolis at Deir el-Bahari. The nearby village of Deir el-Medina, home to the tomb workers of the necropolis during the New Kingdom, also contained temples of Hathor. One continued to function and was periodically rebuilt as late as the Ptolemaic Period, centuries after the village was abandoned. Dendera, Hathor's oldest temple in Upper Egypt, dates to at least to the Fourth Dynasty. After the end of the Old Kingdom it surpassed her Memphite temples in importance. Many kings made additions to the temple complex through Egyptian history. The last version of the temple was built in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods and is today one of the best- preserved Egyptian temples from that time. In the Old Kingdom, most priests of Hathor, including the highest ranks, were women. Many of these women were members of the royal family. In the course of the Middle Kingdom, women were increasingly excluded from the highest priestly positions, at the same time that queens were becoming more closely tied to Hathor's cult. Thus, non-royal women disappeared from the high ranks of Hathor's priesthood, although women continued to serve as musicians and singers in temple cults across Egypt. The most frequent temple rite for any deity was the daily offering ritual, in which the cult image, or statue, of a deity would be clothed and given food. The daily ritual was largely the same in every Egyptian temple, although the goods given as offerings could vary according to which deity received them. Wine and beer were common offerings in all temples, but especially in rituals in Hathor's honor, and she and the goddesses related to her often received sistra and menat necklaces. In Late and Ptolemaic times, they were also offered a pair of mirrors, representing the sun and the moon. Many of Hathor's annual festivals were celebrated with drinking and dancing that served a ritual purpose. Revelers at these festivals may have aimed to reach a state of religious ecstasy, which was otherwise rare or nonexistent in ancient Egyptian religion. Graves-Brown suggests that celebrants in Hathor's festivals aimed to reach an altered state of consciousness to allow them interact with the divine realm. An example is the Festival of Drunkenness, commemorating the return of the Eye of Ra, which was celebrated on the twentieth day of the month of Thout at temples to Hathor and to other Eye goddesses. It was celebrated as early as the Middle Kingdom, but it is best known from Ptolemaic and Roman times. The dancing, eating and drinking that took place during the Festival of Drunkenness represented the opposite of the sorrow, hunger, and thirst that the Egyptians associated with death. Whereas the rampages of the Eye of Ra brought death to humans, the Festival of Drunkenness celebrated life, abundance, and joy. In a local Theban festival known as the Beautiful Festival of the Valley, which began to be celebrated in the Middle Kingdom, the cult image of Amun from the Temple of Karnak visited the temples in the Theban Necropolis while members of the community went to the tombs of their deceased relatives to drink, eat, and celebrate. Hathor was not involved in this festival until the early New Kingdom, after which Amun's overnight stay in the temples at Deir el-Bahari came to be seen as his sexual union with her. Several temples in Ptolemaic times, including that of Dendera, observed the Egyptian new year with a series of ceremonies in which images of the temple deity were supposed to be revitalized by contact with the sun god. On the days leading up to the new year, Dendera's statue of Hathor was taken to the wabet, a specialized room in the temple, and placed under a ceiling decorated with images of the sky and sun. On the first day of the new year, the first day of the month of Thoth, the Hathor image was carried up to the roof to be bathed in genuine sunlight. The best-documented festival focused on Hathor is another Ptolemaic celebration, the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion. It took place over fourteen days in the month of Epiphi. Hathor's cult image from Dendera was carried by boat to several temple sites to visit the gods of those temples. The endpoint of the journey was the Temple of Horus at Edfu, where the Hathor statue from Dendera met that of Horus of Edfu and the two were placed together. On one day of the festival, these images were carried out to a shrine where primordial deities such as the sun god and the Ennead were said to be buried. The texts say the divine couple performed offering rites for these entombed gods. Many Egyptologists regard this festival as a ritual marriage between Horus and Hathor, although Martin Stadler challenges this view, arguing that it instead represented the rejuvenation of the buried creator gods. C. J. Bleeker thought the Beautiful Reunion was another celebration of the return of the Distant Goddess, citing allusions in the temple's festival texts to the myth of the solar eye. Barbara Richter argues that the festival represented all three things at once. She points out that the birth of Horus and Hathor's son Ihy was celebrated at Dendera nine months after the Festival of the Beautiful Reunion, implying that Hathor's visit to Horus represented Ihy's conception. The third month of the Egyptian calendar, Hathor or Athyr, was named for the goddess. Festivities in her honor took place throughout the month, although they are not recorded in the texts from Dendera. Egyptian kings as early as the Old Kingdom donated goods to the temple of Baalat Gebal in Byblos, using the syncretism of Baalat with Hathor to cement their close trading relationship with Byblos. A temple to Hathor as Lady of Byblos was built during the reign of Thutmose III, although it may simply have been a shrine within the temple of Baalat. After the breakdown of the New Kingdom, Hathor's prominence in Byblos diminished along with Egypt's trade links to the city. A few artifacts from the early first millennium BC suggest that the Egyptians began equating Baalat with Isis at that time. A myth about Isis's presence in Byblos, related by the Greek author Plutarch in his work On Isis and Osiris in the 2nd century AD, suggests that by his time Isis had entirely supplanted Hathor in the city. Egyptians in the Sinai built a few temples in the region. The largest was a complex dedicated primarily to Hathor as patroness of mining at Serabit el-Khadim, on the west side of the peninsula. It was occupied from the middle of the Middle Kingdom to near the end of the New. The Timna Valley, on the fringes of the Egyptian empire on the east side of the peninsula, was the site of seasonal mining expeditions during the New Kingdom. It included a shrine to Hathor that was probably deserted during the off-season. The local Midianites, whom the Egyptians used as part of the mining workforce, may have given offerings to Hathor as their overseers did. After the Egyptians abandoned the site in the Twentieth Dynasty, however, the Midianites converted the shrine to a tent shrine devoted to their own deities. In contrast, the Nubians in the south fully incorporated Hathor into their religion. During the New Kingdom, when most of Nubia was under Egyptian control, pharaohs dedicated several temples in Nubia to Hathor, such as those at Faras and Mirgissa. Amenhotep III and Ramesses II both built temples in Nubia that celebrated their respective queens as manifestations of female deities, including Hathor: Amenhotep's wife Tiye at Sedeinga and Ramesses's wife Nefertari at the Small Temple of Abu Simbel. The independent Kingdom of Kush, which emerged in Nubia after the collapse of the New Kingdom, based its beliefs about Kushite kings on the royal ideology of Egypt. Therefore, Hathor, Isis, Mut, and Nut were all seen as the mythological mother of each Kushite king and equated with his female relatives, such as the kandake, the Kushite queen or queen mother, who had prominent roles in Kushite religion. At Jebel Barkal, a site sacred to Amun, the Kushite king Taharqa built a pair of temples, one dedicated to Hathor and one to Mut as consorts of Amun, replacing New Kingdom Egyptian temples that may have been dedicated to these same goddesses. But Isis was the most prominent of the Egyptian goddesses worshipped in Nubia, and her status there increased over time. Thus, in the Meroitic period of Nubian history (c. 300 BC – AD 400), Hathor appeared in temples mainly as a companion to Isis. In addition to formal and public rituals at temples, Egyptians privately worshipped deities for personal reasons, including at their homes. Birth was hazardous for both mother and child in ancient Egypt, yet children were much desired. Thus fertility and safe childbirth are among the most prominent concerns in their popular religion, and fertility deities such as Hathor and Taweret were commonly worshipped in household shrines. Egyptian women squatted on bricks while giving birth, and the only known surviving birth brick from ancient Egypt is decorated with an image of a woman holding her child flanked by images of Hathor. In Roman times, terracotta figurines, sometimes found in a domestic context, depicted a woman with an elaborate headdress exposing her genitals, as Hathor did to cheer up Ra. The meaning of these figurines is not known, but they are often thought to represent Hathor or Isis combined with Aphrodite making a gesture that represented fertility or protection against evil. Hathor was one of a handful of deities, including Amun, Ptah, and Thoth, who were commonly prayed to for help with personal problems. Many Egyptians left offerings at temples or small shrines dedicated to the gods they prayed to. Most offerings to Hathor were used for their symbolism, not for their intrinsic value. Cloths painted with images of Hathor were common, as were plaques and figurines depicting her animal forms. Different types of offerings may have symbolized different goals on the part of the donor, but their meaning is usually unknown. Images of Hathor alluded to her mythical roles, like depictions of the maternal cow in the marsh. Offerings of sistra may have been meant to appease the goddess's dangerous aspects and bring out her positive ones, while phalli represented a prayer for fertility, as shown by an inscription found on one example. Some Egyptians also left written prayers to Hathor, inscribed on stelae or written as graffiti. Prayers to some deities, such as Amun, show that they were thought to punish wrongdoers and heal people who repented for their misbehavior. In contrast, prayers to Hathor mention only the benefits she could grant, such as abundant food during life and a well-provisioned burial after death. As an afterlife deity, Hathor appeared frequently in funerary texts and art. In the early New Kingdom, for instance, Osiris, Anubis, and Hathor were the three deities most commonly found in royal tomb decoration. In that period she often appeared as the goddess welcoming the dead into the afterlife. Other images referred to her more obliquely. Reliefs in Old Kingdom tombs show men and women performing a ritual called "shaking the papyrus". The significance of this rite is not known, but inscriptions sometimes say it was performed "for Hathor", and shaking papyrus stalks produces a rustling sound that may have been likened to the rattling of a sistrum. Other Hathoric imagery in tombs included the cow emerging from the mountain of the necropolis and the seated figure of the goddess presiding over a garden in the afterlife. Images of Nut were often painted or incised inside coffins, indicating that the coffin was her womb, from which the occupant would be reborn in the afterlife. In the Third Intermediate Period, Hathor began to be placed on the floor of the coffin, with Nut on the interior of the lid. Tomb art from the Eighteenth Dynasty often shows people drinking, dancing, and playing music, as well as holding menat necklaces and sistra—all imagery that alluded to Hathor. These images may represent private feasts that were celebrated in front of tombs to commemorate the people buried there, or they may show gatherings at temple festivals such as the Beautiful Festival of the Valley. Festivals were thought to allow contact between the human and divine realms, and by extension, between the living and the dead. Thus, texts from tombs often expressed a wish that the deceased would be able to participate in festivals, primarily those dedicated to Osiris. Tombs' festival imagery, however, may refer to festivals involving Hathor, such as the Festival of Drunkenness, or to the private feasts, which were also closely connected with her. Drinking and dancing at these feasts may have been meant to intoxicate the celebrants, as at the Festival of Drunkenness, allowing them to commune with the spirits of the deceased. Hathor was said to supply offerings to deceased people as early as the Old Kingdom, and spells to enable both men and women to join her retinue in the afterlife appeared as early as the Coffin Texts in the Middle Kingdom. Some burial goods that portray deceased women as goddesses may depict these women as followers of Hathor, although whether the imagery refers to Hathor or Isis is not known. The link between Hathor and deceased women was maintained into the Roman Period, the last stage of ancient Egyptian religion before its extinction. Auðumbla, a primeval cow in Norse mythology

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Reginald John Marsden Parker (February 7, 1881 – March 23, 1948) was the eighth Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan from 1945 until his death in 1948. Parker was born in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, the son of Josiah William Parker, and emigrated to Canada in 1898. He worked as a farmhand before establishing a homestead in Togo in what is now Saskatchewan. He got involved with local politics and was elected councilor in the rural municipality of Cote in 1904. He served as reeve from 1906 to 1932. In 1904, Parker married Cecilie Margaret Mapleton. In the 1929 Saskatchewan provincial election, Parker was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan as the Liberal MLA for Pelly and sat on the opposition bench. He was re-elected in the 1934 provincial election in which the Liberals took power. Parker was appointed to the provincial cabinet of James Garfield Gardiner as Minister of Municipal Affairs. He served in the portfolio for ten years until the Saskatchewan CCF took power in the 1944 provincial election. Parker was appointed lieutenant governor of the province by federal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and was sworn in on June 25, 1945. He served until his death almost three years later. Parker, Reginald John Marsden, Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan The following is a list of the Lieutenant Governors of Saskatchewan. Though the present day office of the Lieutenant Governor in Saskatchewan came into being only upon the province's entry into Canadian Confederation in 1905, the post is a continuation from the first Governorship of the Northwest Territories in 1869. Office-holders of Canada, Canadian incumbents by year Thomas Miller (July 21, 1876 - June 20, 1945) was the shortest serving and seventh Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan and was in office in 1945 for less than four months. Miller was born in Grand Valley, Ontario. While he was a boy, his family moved to Regina, Saskatchewan. From 1892 to 1894, Miller apprenticed with the Regina Standard newspaper. When the proprietors purchased the Moose Jaw Times they put Miller in charge of the printing press. In 1896, he became president and managing editor of the newspaper and remained involved with what became the Times-Herald newspaper for fifty years. He was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1945 on the advice of federal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and made his official residence at the Hotel Saskatchewan as the provincial government had closed Government House the previous year. Miller presided over victory celebrations in the province following the end of World War II. He died of a heart attack on June 20, 1945. Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan biography

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The DST column shows the months in which Daylight Saving Time, a.k.a. Summer Time, begins and ends. A blank DST box usually indicates that the location stays on Standard Time all year, although in some cases the location stays on Summer Time all year. If a location is currently on DST, add one hour to the time in the Time column. \- includes IATA codes, Aviation Safety Network - IATA and ICAO airport codes, Great Circle Mapper - IATA, ICAO and FAA airport codes Abu Dhabi International Airport () is an international airport in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The airport, located east of Abu Dhabi city, is the second largest in the UAE after Dubai International Airport, serving around 20 million passengers in 2014. It has three operational passenger terminals: Terminal 1 (divided into Terminals 1A and 1B), Terminal 2, Terminal 3. Abu Dhabi International Airport is spread over an area of . Its terminal spaces are dominated by Etihad Airways, which is the United Arab Emirates' national carrier and second largest in the UAE after Emirates. More than 30 airlines offered service to over 120 destinations in more than 60 countries. The airport was first conceived in 1974, in response to the government's plans to modernize the then brand new nation. At the time, Al Bateen Airport (then called Abu Dhabi International Airport) was the main international airport serving the city (Abu Dhabi Airfield was the other old airport). Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan had realized that it was hard to access the airport, as it was located on Abu Dhabi Island and that the island at the time was connected to the mainland by only one bridge. Also, the city was expanding at the time, making it harder for the airport to expand. During the late 1970s, a location for the building site was strategically located, so it could be easily accessible. Construction started by 1979 and the airport was inaugurated on January 2, 1982. The old airport's name was changed to Al Bateen airport and the new airport was given its previous name. The new airport included a circular satellite terminal (with aerobridges) with a single connection to a semi-circular terminal. This design allowed more aircraft to park simultaneously. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, substantial work was carried out on the satellite terminal, to cater for the increase in passenger numbers, including widening the passenger waiting areas and creating extra parking spots. The main terminal also underwent some external changes, especially on the outer facade. With the withdrawal of support for regional airline Gulf Air after nearly five decades, Etihad became the new airline to be based at the airport. It received full support from the UAE government and has come a long way since its inaugural flight in 2003. Previous Gulf Air CEO James Hogan also transferred to Etihad, bringing aviation industry knowledge and experience. Terminal 2 was built and opened in September 2005 to relieve the pressure on the main terminal. Terminal 2, however, does not have aerobridges and uses buses to move passengers between aircraft and the terminal building. A second runway (Runway 13L/31R) was opened in October 2008 to cater to increased traffic. Terminal 3 was opened in January 2009. It is primarily used by Etihad Airways. The new Terminal 3, a AED 1 billion (US$270 million) interim facility, was designed to allow for the airport's passenger growth before the planned opening of the new Midfield Terminal in December 2017 (which was eventually deferred by 2 years). Used predominantly by Etihad Airways, the terminal boosted the airport's seven million passenger per year capacity to 12 million. It also added 10 new gates, two of which are Airbus A380 compatible. During the early years of operation, there were no means of getting to the airport from the cities except for private vehicle or taxis. With the creation of Abu Dhabi's bus network in the late 2000s and 2010s, city-to-airport bus services were introduced. In December 2011, the government of Abu Dhabi signed a letter of intent to build a United States border preclearance facility similar to pre-clearance customs facilities in Canada, Aruba, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Ireland. Etihad operated its first flight to the U.S. from the facility January 25, 2014. In 2011, the airport was awarded 2nd Best Airport in Middle East of the Airport Service Quality Awards by Airports Council International The airport celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2012. Rotana Jet was another airline based at the airport, however it suspended all flights indefinitely in 2017. On 26 July 2018, Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed to have launched a drone attack at the airport. The UAE denied there was any drone attack but stated earlier that there was an "incident" involving a truck which did not disrupt flights or cause any delays. Two other alleged claims on a drone attack on the airport were reported by the Houthis, as well as two attacks on Dubai International Airport, all which were denied and unverified. An investigation by Bellingcat concluded "it is highly likely that a Houthi-led drone attack did not take place in Abu Dhabi and Dubai...Propaganda usage in the form of infographics, pictures and statements by Houthi leaders were pronounced following each claim, following a propaganda pattern." According to Reuters, the UAE has an advanced air defense system which utilizes Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), designed to destroy short and intermediary range missiles both inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere. In 2019, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Houthi drone "exploded at Abu Dhabi International airport". Almost a year later in May 2019, the Houthi-run Almasirah TV channel broadcast alleged footage of the July 2018 attack. Abu Dhabi International Airport consists of three passenger Terminals named Terminals 1, 2 and 3: Terminal 1 is the oldest facility, featuring a bi-level arrivals and departures area. The nine main gates (3–11) are equipped with jetbridges and located in a circular gate area while the check-in and arrivals facilities are located in a separate main building connected to this satellite. There are also several bus boarding gates., Terminal 2 is a newer facility to the east of Terminal 1 and not connected to it. It features 19 check-in counters, 3 bus-boarding gates and two baggage claim belts and is mostly used by low-cost carriers., Terminal 3 is the newest addition and a direct expansion to the western side of Terminal 1. It is a brick-shaped, bi-level facility featuring a large duty-free and food court area as well as departure gates 28–35 and 58–61, several of which are bus-boarding gates. Terminal 3 is capable of handling the Airbus A380s, mainly for Etihad Airways. A check-in facility operated in downtown Abu Dhabi, for travelers who wanted to check in at the downtown city centre before they travelled to the airport. This facility, known as the City Terminal, resembled an airport terminal building with lounge and transport facilities. After having checked-in at the City Terminal, travellers could arrive at the airport just one hour before the departure of their flight. This facility closed in October 2019 A further check in facility was operated by Etihad Airways at the Etihad Travel Mall on the outskirts of Dubai near Noor Bank metro station. This has since closed. Abu Dhabi International Airport has two parallel runways, 13R/31L and 13L/31R. Both are . Development work has started on a new passenger terminal, the main building and centerpiece of the new airport, to be between the two runways and known as the Midfield Terminal. It was due to open on 7 July 2017, then pushed back to early 2019 in time for the 2019 Special Olympics, and was then again delayed until the last quarter of 2019, however as of December 2019 no opening schedule has been announced. The Midfield Terminal will increase the airport's passenger capacity to more than 30 million per year, with options for this to double in capacity to 60 million. An additional facility is under consideration that would take the capacity to 80 million. The general exterior of the terminal was designed by international architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates. The expansion master plan projects include a third parallel runway, from the existing runways, a new tower between the two runways with the new Air Traffic Control centre, enhanced cargo and maintenance facilities, and other commercial developments on the land immediately adjacent to and north of the airport. Having a total of of vast land area, the ambitious project will provide a home base for the UAE's national carrier, Etihad Airways, which will be a major user of new cargo facilities with an ultimate handling capacity of around two million tonnes of freight a year. Close to the new cargo facilities, land has been allocated for commercial activities, business parks, and property developments. Aircraft maintenance facilities will continue to be concentrated on the south side of the existing airport. The plan sets aside land for the growth of other operators such as Royal Jet and Abu Dhabi Aviation. Among other aspects of the project, when completed, are the design of remote aircraft stands complete with airfield ground lighting and hydrant fuel. Abu Dhabi International Airport has United States border preclearance facilities since 26 January 2014, the only airport in the Middle East to have such facility. Passengers on direct flights to the United States are processed for entry before they board their planes. This facility is similar to those in selected Canadian, Caribbean and Irish airports. This provision of this facility attracted some controversy as it was said to only benefit Etihad, as one of the sole two carriers which flew directly between the United Arab Emirates and the United States. The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi International Airport is connected to the Emirate and its surroundings, including Dubai and Al Ain, by a highway network. Route E20 directly passes the airport. Car rental, taxis and dedicated chauffeur services are available. The Department of Transport provides five bus routes from the airport throughout Abu Dhabi which run 24 hours a day, including line A1 which leads to the city center. Etihad Airways additionally provides a coach service from Abu Dhabi International Airport to Al Ain and Downtown Dubai. The airport's new midfield terminal will be connected to the Abu Dhabi Metro, however no construction has commenced for the metro, light rail or BRT. On September 23, 1983, Gulf Air Flight 771 crashed while on approach to Abu Dhabi International Airport. All 112 passengers and crew on board were killed. A bomb going off in the baggage hold of the aircraft was the cause of the accident. Al Ain International Airport, Abu Dhabi Central Capital District Official website Al Bateen Executive Airport is a dedicated business jet airport located south east of Abu Dhabi city centre in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The airport is on the Abu Dhabi island. Other tenants include aviation assets of the UAE government. It opened in 1969 as Abu Dhabi International Airport to replace the older airport. By the late 1960s, Abu Dhabi Airfield had grown too small for the city. The idea for a massive new airport was conceived. In 1969, the new Abu Dhabi International Airport was inaugurated. It was later renamed Al Bateen Executive Airport. In the 1980s a new airport was built; this was located on the mainland and this enabled the new airport to expand. Al Bateen's tenants include a UAE Naval Aviation helicopter squadron and the Abu Dhabi Police Department air wing. Rotana Jet operates private jet services from the airport, having moved all scheduled commercial operations to Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal 2 in October 2014. Solar Impulse 2, a Swiss experimental solar powered aircraft, was given its final touches here in 2015. It used the airport as the starting point for its Around the World circumnavigation attempt. The aircraft took off on 9 March 2015 and flew to nearby Oman and then onwards to India. It was also used as the landing site for the final leg from Cairo to Abu Dhabi, landing July 25, 2016. 1. United Arab Emirates AIP Archived December 30, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. (login required) 2. Al Bateen Executive Airport records a 26% increase in visiting aircraft movements for the first 4 months of 2012 Archived August 11, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. 3. Rotana jet moves to Abu Dhabi airport 4. http://www.departedflights.com/AUH83intro.html Specific

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Cress Williams (born July 26, 1970) is an American actor, known for his roles in Prison Break and Close to Home. His most recent roles include Mayor Lavon Hayes on The CW series Hart of Dixie and the title character on The CW's Black Lightning. Williams is also best known for his recurring role as Terrence "Scooter" Williams on Fox's Living Single. Williams was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany, to American parents. He attended Fullerton College and UCLA. On October 14, 2000, Williams married actress Simbi Khali in Malibu, California. The couple have two children together and divorced in 2011. Williams married girlfriend Kristen Torrianni in June 2013. Williams acted in a 1990 Fullerton College production of William Shakespeare's tragedy, Othello, which was directed by Tom Blank. He also acted in another production in the same year at Fullerton College called Red Noses, a black comedy produced by Peter Barnes and directed by Michael Fields. Williams has appeared on many TV series since 1994, including , Beverly Hills, 90210, NYPD Blue, , 3rd Rock from the Sun, JAG, Living Single, Nash Bridges, Providence, , Veronica Mars, The West Wing, Close to Home, ER, and Grey's Anatomy. He portrayed , a Jem'Hadar leader in the Star Trek series, in a episode "The Jem'Hadar". Williams joined the Prison Break cast by playing The Company's assassin, Wyatt Mathewson. He appeared in the final season of Friday Night Lights as Ornette Howard, father of East Dillon's star quarterback Vince Howard. He also starred alongside Rachel Bilson on The CW series Hart of Dixie as former football star turned mayor Lavon Hayes. Since 2018, he has ventured into adaptations of DC Comics: As main character Jefferson Pierce / Black Lightning on The CW's superhero TV series Black Lightning, and as John Henry Irons in the animated film The Death of Superman and its 2019 sequel, Reign of the Supermen. Williams will reprise his role as Pierce in the Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, in at least two of the five parts. Cress Williams 2018 Interview Carlos Alan Autry Jr. (also known for a period of time as Carlos Brown; born July 31, 1952), is an American actor, politician, and former National Football League player. During his brief football career, he was known as Carlos Brown. He played the role of Captain Bubba Skinner on the NBC television series, In the Heat of the Night, starring Carroll O'Connor. He has also appeared in films and other television shows. In November 2000, he was elected mayor of Fresno, California, and served for two four-year terms through January 2009. In 2008, Autry was hosting a radio news talk show on KYNO AM 940 in Fresno, but left the station in 2011. Autry was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the son of Carl and Verna (née Brown) Autry. His name was changed to Carlos Brown when he was a year old, after his parents divorced. Autry is a distant cousin of Gene Autry. He worked alongside his mother and stepfather, Joe Duty, in California's San Joaquin Valley, where they planted and harvested cotton, grapes, and other crops. They traveled around the valley living in migrant worker camps. When he was twelve, they settled in Riverdale, California. In high school, he was a star quarterback for the Riverdale Cowboys. He received an athletic scholarship to the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California, where he was a second-string tight end in his senior year for the Tigers. In 1975, he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers, where he ended up in 1976, as the starting quarterback for three games. His football career ended quickly when he was cut from the team by then Coach Bart Starr. He then went to Hollywood to become an actor. He made a football comeback attempt, playing for the B.C. Lions of the CFL in 1979 (as Carlos Brown). He was the third- string quarterback behind Joe Paopao and another ex-Green Bay Packer, Jerry Tagge. He made his film debut in the 1978 motion picture Remember My Name. He met his father, Carl Autry Sr., for the first time in 1982, while on location in Shreveport for the motion picture Southern Comfort after he found Carl's name in the telephone book. Afterwards, he made the decision to return to his birth surname of Autry. During his acting years, he struggled with his drug and alcohol use, according to an interview he did with Pat Robertson's The 700 Club in 2007. After nine years in Hollywood, he returned home and left his career. "I realized that God had moved in my life like never before. I really realized what God and the power of Jesus Christ was," he said on The 700 Club. By 1986, he was divorced and became a born-again Christian and began to devote much of his time to working with charitable causes. He is married to his second wife, Kimberlee Autry; the couple has three children. In the Heat of the Night (1988–95) as Officer/Sergeant/Lieutenant/Captain Bubba Skinner, Grace Under Fire (1995–96) as Rick Bradshaw, Style & Substance (1998) as Earl, Sons of Thunder (1999) as Butch McMann Cheers- "The Boys in the Bar" (1983) as Tom Kenderson, The Mississippi – "Murder at Mt. Parnassus" (1983), The A-Team, "Labor Pains" (1983) as Gary Crenshaw, "Quarterback Sneak" (1986) as Mike "The Hammer" Horn, The Dukes of Hazzard, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Duke" (1984) as Hurley, "10 Million Dollar Sheriff" (Parts 1&2) (1981) as Dawson [Credited as Carlos Brown], Hunter – "High Bleacher Man" (1984) as Whitey McVee, Newhart – "Will the Real Dick Loudon Please Shut Up?" (1986) as Ed McKendrick, St. Elsewhere – "Out on a Limb" (1986) as John Corzinsky, The Facts of Life – "Peekskill Law" (1988) as Clark Darrin, Hello, Larry – "The Final Papers" (1979) as Max [Credited as Carlos Brown], Seven Brides for Seven Brothers – "Gold Fever" (1982) as J.T. [Credited as Carlos Brown], Best of the West – "The Funeral" (1982) [Credited as Carlos Brown], Hart of Dixie (2015) – as Mayor Todd Gainey Sr. of rival town Fillmore, AL 26th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (1991) as Himself/Presenting, George & Alana – (1995) as Himself (interview), 30th Annual Victor Awards (1996) as Himself/Presenting, 34th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards (1999) as Himself/Presenting, Get Away Right Away Child Safety Video -(1999) as Himself/Host, Billy Graham Central Valley Crusade – (2001) as Himself, California 911 Memorial Video – (2001) as Himself (Master of Ceremonies), CNN'S Lou Dobbs Tonight – (6/2/05) as Himself (interview), Hannity & Colmes – (6/10/05) as Himself (interview), Praise the Lord, (April 6, 2006) as Himself (interview), (January 2003) as Himself (interview), (March 2003) as Himself (interview), (March 2004) as Himself (Guest Host), Newshour with Jim Lehrer – (July 28, 2006) as Himself (interview), The 700 Club – (January 9, 2006) as Himself (interview) Credited as Alan Autry Roadhouse 66 (1984) as Hoot, O.C. and Stiggs (1985), Eagle and the Bear (1985), Brewster's Millions (1985) as Biff Brown, Nomads (1986) as Olds, House (1986) as Cop # 3, Blue de Ville (1986) apms Sgt. Auggie Johnson, At Close Range (1986) as Ernie, Proud Men (1987) as Brian Winoon, Destination America (1987) as Larry Leathergood, Amazing Grace and Chuck (1987) as George, World Gone Wild (1988) as Hank, Street of Dreams (1988) as Maury Fields, (1990) as Matt, Intruders (1992) as Joe Wilkes, The Legend of Jake Kincaid (2002) as Jake Kincaid, Forgiven (2011) as Jake Kincaid, Victory by Submission (2016) as Hank Hendricks Credited as Carlos Brown Remember My Name (1978) as Rusty, North Dallas Forty (1979) as Balford, Rage! (1980) as Man #B, Southern Comfort (1981) as Cpl. Nolan (Coach) Bowden, Dangerous Company (1982) as Donald Robinette, "Popeye (1980) as Slug (a bully) Autry was elected in 2000 to succeed Jim Patterson as the mayor of Fresno. He defeated former Mayor Dan Whitehurst. He was re-elected to a second term (2005-2009) on March 2, 2004 with more than 72 percent of the vote. He is Independent. Because of term limits, he was ineligible to run for re-election. In November 2008, he endorsed Ashley Swearengin, who was elected to succeed him as mayor. In 1997, Autry launched his own production company Dirt Road Productions. In 2002, he released The Legend of Jake Kincaid, a western based on a story he wrote. He was also the director of this film. Autry and his In the Heat of the Night co-star Randall Franks joined forces under the banner of Autry-Franks Productions to produce the charity "In the Heat of the Night" CD "Christmas Time's A Comin'" featuring the cast of the show. The project raised funds for drug abuse prevention charities. With Franks producing, Autry performed his rendition of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" in homage to Gene Autry. The duo both performed on "Jingle Bells" and "Christmas Time's A Comin'". Franks and Autry were able to include many music legends, including Kitty Wells, Jimmy Dickens, and Pee Wee King, as well as many legends from the Bluegrass genre, from Jim & Jesse to The Lewis Family. The “Christmas Time’s A Comin’” CD released on Sonlite and MGM/UA was one of the most popular Christmas releases of 1991 and 1992 with Southern retailers. Autry and Randall Franks formed Autry-Franks Productions. Crimson Records released "Alan Autry and Randall Franks Mississippi Moon: Country Traditions" in 2013, an Americana CD featuring both actors vocally on various classic and original songs. The project which incorporates country, bluegrass and Southern gospel includes special appearances by Bluegrass Hall of Fame members Jim and Jesse McReynolds and three-time Dove Award nominee Mark Wheeler. Just Sports Stats The first season of Hart of Dixie an American television series, originally aired in the United States on The CW from September 26, 2011 through May 14, 2012. The season was produced by CBS Television Studios. The pilot, which was announced in February 2011, it was ordered to series on May 2011. On October 12, 2011, The CW picked up Hart of Dixie for a full season which will consist of 22 episodes. On May 11, 2012, The CW renewed the show for a second season. The first season mostly revolves around Zoe adjusting to life in Bluebell and struggling to bring in 30% of the patients to her practice; a clause she needs to adhere to if she wishes to keep half from Brick. She finds this difficult as she is at odds with most of the local residents due to her city persona. Zoe also struggles with her growing feelings towards George Tucker, feelings of which his fiancée Lemon is fully aware, leading her to make it her mission to ensure Zoe leaves Bluebell. Other storylines include Wade's feelings for Zoe which may or may not be returned, Zoe's friendship with the mayor, Lavon, and his past with Lemon, and Zoe's unresolved issues regarding her family. Rachel Bilson as Dr. Zoe Hart, Scott Porter as George Tucker, Jaime King as Lemon Breeland, Cress Williams as Lavon Hayes, Wilson Bethel as Wade Kinsella, Tim Matheson as Dr. Brick Breeland (Recurring episodes 1-14) Nadine Velazquez as Didi Ruano, Reginald VelJohnson as Dash DeWitt, McKaley Miller as Rose Hattenbarger, Claudia Lee as Magnolia Breeland, Mircea Monroe as Tansy Truitt, Brandi Burkhardt as Crickett Watts, Kaitlyn Black as Annabeth Nass, Eisa Davis as Addie Pickett, Wes Brown as Dr. Judson Lyons, Armelia McQueen as Shula Whitaker, JoBeth Williams as Candice Hart, John Marshall Jones as Wally Maynard, Ross Philips as Tom Long, Mallory Moye as Wanda Lewis, Deborah S. Craig as Shelley Ng, Steven M. Porter as Frank Moth, Peter Mackenzie as Reverend Peter Mayfair, Christopher Curry as Earl Kinsella, John Eric Bentley as Sheriff Bill, Kim Robillard as Sal, Esther Scott as Delma Warner, Ann Cusack as Annie Hattenbarger, Mary Page Keller as Emily Chase, Carla Renata as Susie Justin Hartley as Jesse Kinsella, Meredith Monroe as Alice Kincaid On February 2011, it was announced Hart of Dixie was in development on The CW, was written by Leila Gerstein. On May 2011, Hart of Dixie officially picked up to series. On October 12, 2011, the series received a back nine order for a full season consist of 22 episodes. The show's executive producer Josh Schwartz, compared the show to The WB classics such as Felicity, Everwood and Gilmore Girls. Rachel Bilson was cast as Zoe Hart, followed Wilson Bethel as Wade Kinsella, Zoe's "gorgeous bad-boy" neighbor in February. In March Jaime King as Lemon Breeland, Cress Williams as Lavon Hayes, and Scott Porter was later cast as good-looking lawyer George Tucker, a potential love-interest for Bilson's character. Season one of Hart of Dixie premiered on The CW in the United States on Monday September 26, 2011 at 9:00 pm, with the season five premiere of Gossip Girl as its lead-in. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the first season has an approval rating of 35% based on 17 reviews, with an average rating of 3.9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's got a solid cast, but Hart of Dixie is unfortunately rife with paper-thin characters and illogical plotting." Hart of Dixie: The Complete First Season was released on DVD in the U.S. on October 2, 2012. The 5 disc set includes all 22 episodes from the first season, special features and various language and subtitle options.

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The Golden Temple, also known as Harmandir Sahib, meaning "abode of God" () or Darbār Sahib, meaning "exalted court" (), is a Gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the holiest Gurdwara and the most important pilgrimage site of Sikhism. The temple is built around a man-made pool (sarovar) that was completed by Guru Ram Das in 1577. Guru Arjan – the fifth Guru of Sikhism, requested Sai Mir Mian Mohammed – a Muslim Pir of Lahore to lay its foundation stone in 1589. In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib, calling the site Ath Sath Tirath (lit. "shrine of 68 pilgrimages"). The temple was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Muslim armies from Afghanistan and the Mughal Empire. The army led by Ahmad Shah Abdali, for example, demolished it in 1757 and again in 1762, then filled the pool with garbage and blood of cows. Maharaja Ranjit Singh after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809, overlaid the sanctum with gold foil in 1830. This has led to the name the Golden Temple. The temple is spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. It became a center of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 and 1920s. In the early 1980s, the temple became a center of conflict between the Indian government led by Indira Gandhi, some Sikh groups and a militant movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale seeking to create a new nation named Khalistan. In 1984, Indira Gandhi sent in the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star, leading to deaths of over 1,000 militants, soldiers and civilians, as well as causing much damage to the temple and the destruction of Akal Takht. The temple complex was rebuilt again after the 1984 damage. The Harmandir Sahib is an open house of worship for all men and women, from all walks of life and faith. It has a square plan with four entrances, has a circumambulation path around the pool. The temple is a collection of buildings around the sanctum and the pool. One of these is Akal Takht, the chief center of religious authority of Sikhism. Additional buildings include a clock tower, the offices of Gurdwara Committee, a Museum and a langar – a free Sikh community run kitchen that serves a simple vegetarian meal to all visitors without discrimination. Over 100,000 people visit the holy shrine daily for worship. The temple complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO. The Harmandar Sahib is also spelled as Harimandar, Harimandir, or Harmandir Sahib. It is also called the Darbār Sahib which means "sacred audience", as well as the Golden Temple for its gold foil covered sanctum center. The word "Harmandir" is composed of two words, "Hari" which scholars variously translate either as "God" or "Vishnu", and "mandir" which means temple or house. The Sikh tradition has several Gurdwaras named "Harmandir Sahib" such as those in Kiratpur and Patna. Of these, the one in Amritsar is most revered. According to the Sikh historical records, the land that became Amritsar and houses the Harimandar Sahib was chosen by Guru Amar Das – the third Guru of the Sikh tradition. It was then called Guru Da Chakk, after he had asked his disciple Ram Das to find land to start a new town with a man-made pool as its central point. After Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574, and given the hostile opposition he faced from the sons of Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das founded the town that came to be known as "Ramdaspur". He started by completing the pool with the help of Baba Buddha (not to be confused with the Buddha of Buddhism). Guru Ram Das built his new official centre and home next to it. He invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle into the new town with him. Ramdaspur town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar, and the area grew into the temple complex). The construction activity between 1574 and 1604 is described in Mahima Prakash Vartak, a semi-historical Sikh hagiography text likely composed in 1741, and the earliest known document dealing with the lives of all the ten Gurus. Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new temple in 1604. Continuing the efforts of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular Sukhmani Sahib. Guru Ram Das acquired the land for the site. Two versions of stories exist on how he acquired this land. In one, based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations of 700 rupees from the owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Guru Ram Das. In 1581, Guru Arjan initiated the construction of the Gurdwara. During the construction the pool was kept empty and dry. It took 8 years to complete the first version of the Harmandir Sahib. Guru Arjan planned a temple at a level lower than the city to emphasise humility and the need to efface one's ego before entering the premises to meet the Guru. He also demanded that the temple compound be open on all sides to emphasise that it was open to all. The sanctum inside the pool where his Guru seat was had only one bridge to emphasise that the end goal was one, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair. In 1589, the temple made with bricks was complete. Guru Arjan is believed by some later sources to have invited the Sufi saint Mian Mir of Lahore to lay its foundation stone, signalling pluralism and that the Sikh tradition welcomed all. This belief is however unsubstantiated. According to Sikh traditional sources such as Sri Gur Suraj Parkash Granth it was laid by Guru Arjan himself. After the inauguration, the pool was filled with water. On 16 August 1604, Guru Arjan completed expanding and compiling the first version of the Sikh scripture and placed a copy of the Adi Granth in the temple. He appointed Baba Buddha as the first Granthi. Guru Arjan called the site Ath Sath Tirath which means "shrine of 68 pilgrimages". The temple complex marks the place of this announcement with a raised canopy on the parkarma (circumambulation marble path around the pool). The name, state W. Owen Cole and other scholars, reflects the belief that visiting this temple is equivalent to 68 Hindu pilgrimage sites in the Indian subcontinent, or that a Tirath to the Golden Temple has the efficacy of all 68 Tiraths combined. The completion of the first version of the Golden Temple was a major milestone for Sikhism, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, because it provided a central pilgrimage place and a rallying point for the Sikh community, set within a hub of trade and activity. The growing influence and success of Guru Arjan drew the attention of the Mughal Empire. Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE. Guru Arjan's son and successor Guru Hargobind left Amritsar and moved into the Shivalik Hills to avoid persecution and to save the Sikh panth. For about a century after Guru Arjan's martyrdom, state Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, the Golden Temple was not occupied by the actual Sikh Gurus and it remained in hostile sectarian hands. In the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh and his newly founded Khalsa Sikhs came back and fought to liberate it. The Golden Temple was viewed by the Mughal rulers and Afghan Sultans as the center of Sikh faith and it remained the main target of persecution. The Golden Temple was the center of historic events in Sikh history: In 1709, the governor of Lahore sent in his army to suppress and prevent the Sikhs from gathering for their festivals of Vaisakhi and Divali. But the Sikhs defied by gathering in the Golden Temple. In 1716, Banda Singh and numerous Sikhs were arrested and executed., In 1737, the Mughal governor ordered the capture of the custodian of the Golden Temple named Mani Singh and executed him. He appointed Masse Khan as the police commissioner who then occupied the Temple and converted it into his entertainment center with dancing girls. He befouled the pool. Sikhs avenged the sacrilege of the Golden Temple by assassinating Masse Khan inside the Temple in August 1740., In 1746, another Lahore official Diwan Lakhpat Rai working for Yahiya Khan, and seeking revenge for the death of his brother, filled the pool with sand. In 1749, Sikhs restored the pool when Muin ul-Mulk slackened Mughal operations against Sikhs and sought their help during his operations in Multan., In 1757, the Afghani ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani, also known as Ahmad Shah Abdali, attacked Amritsar and desecrated the Golden Temple. He had waste poured into the pool along with entrails of slaughtered cows, before departing for Afghanistan. The Sikhs restored it again., In 1762, Ahmad Shah Durrani returned and had the Golden Temple blown up with gunpowder. Sikhs returned and celebrated Divali in its premises. In 1764, Baba Jassa Singh Ahluwalia collected donations to rebuild the Golden Temple. A new main gateway (Darshani Deorhi), causeway and sanctum were completed in 1776, while the floor around the pool was completed in 1784. The Sikhs also completed a canal to bring in fresh water from Ravi River for the pool. Ranjit Singh founded the nucleus of the Sikh Empire at the age of 21 with help of Sukerchakia Misl forces he inherited and those of his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur. In 1802, at age 22, he took Amritsar from the Bhangi Sikh misl, paid homage at the Golden Temple and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold. The Temple was renovated in marble and copper in 1809, and in 1830 Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold foil. After learning of the Temple through Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad Mir Osman Ali Khan started giving yearly grants towards it. The management and operation of Darbar Sahib – a term that refers to the entire Golden Temple complex of buildings, was taken over by Ranjit Singh. He appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832) to manage it and made land grants whose collected revenue was assigned to pay for the Temple's maintenance and operation. Ranjit Singh also made the position of Temple officials hereditary. The Golden Temple's architecture reflects different architectural practices prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, as various iterations of temple were rebuilt and restored. The Temple is described by Ian Kerr, and other scholars, as a mixture of the Indo-Islamic Mughal and the Hindu Rajput architecture. The sanctum is a 12.25 x 12.25 metre square with two-storeys and a gold foil dome. This sanctum has a marble platform that is a 19.7 x 19.7 metre square. It sits inside an almost square (154.5 x 148.5 m2) pool called amritsar or amritsarovar (amrit means nectar, sar is short form of sarovar and means pool). The pool is 5.1 metre deep and is surrounded by a 3.7 metre wide circumambulatory marble passage that is circled clockwise. The sanctum is connected to the platform by a causeway and the gateway into the causeway is called the Darshani Ḍeorhi (from Darshana Dvara). For those who wish to take a dip in the pool, the Temple provides a half hexagonal shelter and holy steps to Har ki Pauri. Bathing in the pool is believed by many Sikhs to have restorative powers, purifying one's karma. Some carry bottles of the pool water home particularly for sick friends and relatives. The pool is maintained by volunteers who perform kar seva (community service) by draining and desilting it periodically. The sanctum has two floors. The Sikh Scripture Guru Granth Sahib is seated on the lower square floor for about 20 hours everyday, and for 4 hours it is taken to its bedroom inside Akal Takht with elaborate ceremonies in a palki, for sukhasana and prakash. The floor with the seated scripture is raised a few steps above the entrance causeway level. The upper floor in the sanctum is a gallery and connected by stairs. The ground floor is lined with white marble, as is the path surrounding the sanctum. The sanctum's exterior has gilded copper plates. The doors are gold foil covered copper sheets with nature motifs such as birds and flowers. The ceiling of the upper floor is gilded, embossed and decorated with jewels. The sanctum dome is semi- spherical with a pinnacle ornament. The sides are embellished with arched copings and small solid domes, the corners adorning cupolas, all of which are covered with gold foil covered gilded copper. The floral designs on the marble panels of the walls around the sanctum are Arabesque. The arches include verses from the Sikh scripture in gold letters. The frescoes follow the Indian tradition and include animal, bird and nature motifs rather than being purely geometrical. The stair walls have murals of Sikh Gurus such as the falcon carrying Guru Gobind Singh riding a horse. The Darshani Deorhi is a two-storey structure that houses the temple management offices and treasury. At the exit of path leading away from the sanctum is the prasada facility, where volunteers serve a flour-based sweet offering called karah prasad. Typically, the pilgrims to the Golden Temple enter and make a clockwise circumambulation around the pool before entering the sanctum. There are four entrances to the gurdwara complex signifying the openness to all sides, but a single entrance to the sanctum of the temple through a causeway. In front of the sanctum and the causeway is the Akal Takht building. It is the chief Takht, a center of authority in Sikhism. It is also the headquarters of the main political party of the Indian state of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party). The Akal Takht issues edicts or writs (hukam) on matters related to Sikhism and the solidarity of the Sikh community. Its name Akal Takht means "throne of the Timeless (God)". The institution was established by Guru Hargobind after the martyrdom of his father Guru Arjan, as a place to conduct ceremonial, spiritual and secular affairs, issuing binding writs on Sikh Gurdwaras far from his own location. A building was later constructed over the Takht founded by Guru Hargobind, and this came to be known as Akal Bunga. The Akal Takht is also known as Takht Sri Akal Bunga. The Sikh tradition has five Takhts, all of which are major pilgrimage sites in Sikhism. These are in Anandpur, Patna, Nanded, Talwandi Sabo and Amritsar. The Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex is the primary seat and chief. The Teja Singh Samundri Hall is the office of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Supreme Committee of Temple Management). It is located in a building near the Langar-kitchen and Assembly Hall. This office coordinates and oversees the operations of major Sikh temples. The Ramgarhia Bunga – the two high towers visible from the parikrama (circumambulation) walkway around the tank, is named after a Sikh subgroup. The red sandstone minaret-style Bunga (buêgā) towers were built in the 18th- century, a period of Afghan attacks and temple demolitions. It is named after the Sikh warrior and Ramgarhia misl chief Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. It was constructed as the temple watchtowers for sentinels to watch for any military raid approaching the temple and the surrounding area, help rapidly gather a defense to protect the Golden Temple complex. According to Fenech and McLeod, during the 18th-century, Sikh misl chiefs and rich communities built over 70 such Bungas of different shapes and forms around the temple to watch the area, house soldiers and defend the temple. These served defensive purposes, provided accommodation for Sikh pilgrims and served as centers of learning in the 19th-century. Most of the Bungas were demolished during the British colonial era. The Ramgarhia Bunga remains a symbol of the Ramgarhia Sikh community's identity, their historic sacrifices and contribution to defending the Golden Temple over the centuries. The Clock Tower did not exist in the original version of the temple. In its location was a building, now called the "lost palace". The officials of the British India wanted to demolish the building after the Second Anglo-Sikh war and once they had annexed the Sikh Empire. The Sikhs opposed the demolition, but this opposition was ignored. In its place, the clock tower was added. The clock tower was designed by John Gordon in a Gothic cathedral style with red bricks. The clock tower construction started in 1862 and was completed in 1874. The tower was demolished by the Sikh community about 70 years later. In its place, a new entrance was constructed with a design more harmonious with the Temple. This entrance on the north side has a clock, houses a museum on its upper floor, and it continues to be called ghanta ghar deori. The Golden Temple complex originally was open and had numerous trees around the pool. It is now a walled, two storey courtyard with four entrances, that preserve three Ber trees (jujube). One of them is to the right of the main ghanta ghar deori entrance with the clock, and it is called the Ber Baba Buddha. It is believed in the Sikh tradition to be the tree where Baba Buddha sat to supervise the construction of the pool and first temple. A second tree is called Laachi Ber, believed to the one under which Guru Arjan rested while the temple was being built. The third one is called Dukh Bhanjani Ber, located on the other side of the sanctum, across the pool. It is believed in the Sikh tradition that this tree was the location where a Sikh was cured of his leprosy after taking a dip in the pool, giving the tree the epithet of "suffering remover". There is a small Gurdwara underneath the tree. The Ath Sath Tirath, or the spot equivalent to 68 pilgrimages, is in the shade underneath the Dukh Bhanjani Ber tree. Sikh devotees, states Charles Townsend, believe that bathing in the pool near this spot delivers the same fruits as a visit to 68 pilgrimage places in India. The main ghanta ghar deori north entrance has a Sikh history museum on the first floor, according to the Sikh tradition. The display shows various paintings, of gurus and martyrs, many narrating the persecution of Sikhs over their history, as well as historical items such as swords, kartar, comb, chakkars. A new underground museum near the clock tower, but outside the temple courtyard also shows Sikh history. According to Louis E. Fenech, the display does not present the parallel traditions of Sikhism and is partly ahistorical such as a headless body continuing to fight, but a significant artwork and reflects the general trend in Sikhism of presenting their history to be one of persecution, martyrdoms and bravery in wars. The main entrance to the Gurdwara has many memorial plaques that commemorate past Sikh historical events, saints and martyrs, contributions of Ranjit Singh, as well as commemorative inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who died fighting in the two World Wars and the various Indo-Pakistan wars. Harmandir Sahib complex has a Langar, a community-run free kitchen and dining hall. It is attached to the east side of the courtyard near the Dukh Bhanjani Ber, outside of the entrance. Food is served here to all visitors who want it, regardless of faith, gender or economic background. Vegetarian food is served and all people eat together as equals. Everyone sits on the floor in rows, which is called pangat. The meal is served by volunteers as part of their kar seva ethos. A simple meal is served round the clock. Tea is also served separately near the entrance of the Langar hall, 24 hours a day. Since around 2015, langar of sugar-free tea has been started for people suffering from Diabetes. There are several rites performed everyday in the Golden Temple as per the historic Sikh tradition. These rites treat the scripture as a living person, a Guru out of respect. They include: Closing rite called sukhasan (sukh means "comfort or rest", asan means "position"). At night, after a series of devotional kirtans and three part ardās, the Guru Granth Sahib is closed, carried on the head, placed into and then carried in a flower decorated, pillow-bed palki (palanquin), with chanting. Its bedroom is in the Akal Takht, on the first floor. Once it arrives there, the scripture is tucked into a bed., Opening rite called prakash which means "light". About dawn everyday, the Guru Granth Sahib is taken out its bedroom, carried on the head, placed and carried in a flower-decorated palki with chanting and bugle sounding across the causeway. It is brought to the sanctum. Then after ritual singing of a series of Var Asa kirtans and ardas, a random page is opened. This is the mukhwak of the day, it is read out loud, and then written out for the pilgrims to read over that day. The Singh Sabha movement was a late-19th century movement within the Sikh community to rejuvenate and reform Sikhism at a time when Christian, Hindu and Muslim proselytizers were actively campaigning to convert Sikhs to their religion. The movement was triggered by the conversion of Ranjit Singh's son Duleep Singh and other well-known people to Christianity. Started in 1870s, the Singh Sabha movement's aims were to propagate the true Sikh religion, restore and reform Sikhism to bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had left Sikhism. There were three main groups with different viewpoints and approaches, of which the Tat Khalsa group had become dominant by the early 1880s. Before 1905, the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and images for at least a century, attracting pious Sikhs and Hindus. In 1890s, these idols and practices came under attack from reformist Sikhs. In 1905, with the campaign of the Tat Khalsa, these idols and images were removed from the Golden Temple. The Singh Sabha movement brought the Khalsa back to the fore of Gurdwara administration over the mahants (priests) class, who had taken over control of the main gurdwaras and other institutions vacated by the Khalsa in their fight for survival against the Mughals during the 18th century and had been most prominent during the 19th century. As per tradition, the Sikhs gathered in the Golden Temple to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi in 1919. After their visit, many walked over to the Jallianwala Bagh next to it to listen to speakers protesting Rowlatt Act and other policies of the colonial British government. A large crowd had gathered, when the British general Reginald Dyer ordered his soldiers to surround the Jallianwala Bagh, then open fire into the civilian crowd. Hundreds died and thousands were wounded. The massacre strengthened the opposition to the colonial rule throughout India, particularly that from Sikhs. It triggered massive non-violent protests. The protests pressured the British government to transfer the control over the management and treasury of the Golden Temple to an elected organisation called Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). The SGPC continues to manage the Golden Temple. The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were occupied by various militant groups in the early 1980s. These included the Dharam Yudh Morcha led by Sikh fundamentalist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Babbar Khalsa, the AISSF and the National Council of Khalistan. In December 1983, the Sikh political party Akali Dal's President Harchand Singh Longowal had invited Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to take up residence in Golden Temple Complex. The Bhindranwale led group under military leadership of General Shabeg Singh had begun to build bunkers and observations posts in and around the Golden Temple. They organised the armed militants present at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar in June 1984. The Golden Temple became a place for weapons training for the militants. Shabeg Singh's military expertise is credited with the creation of effective defences of the Temple Complex that made the possibility of a commando operation on foot impossible. Supporters of this militant movement circulated maps showing parts of northwest India, north Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan as historic and future boundaries of the Khalsa Sikhs, with varying claims in different maps. In June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to begin Operation Blue Star against the militants. The operation caused severe damage and destroyed Akal Takht. Numerous soldiers, civilians, and militants died in the crossfire. Within days of the Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden Temple. Within six months, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards assassinated her. In 1986, Indira Gandhi's son and the next Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi ordered repairs to the Akal Takht Sahib. These repairs were removed and Sikhs rebuilt the Akal Takht Sahib in 1999. List of Gurudwaras, List of tallest buildings in Amritsar, Amritsar Jamnagar Expressway, Golden Temple, Sripuram, Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib, Hazur Sahib Nanded, Takht Sri Patna Sahib Website of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee Official Website The Golden Temple Park, or Jindian Park (), is a Taoist bronze-tiled temple in Yunnan, China, and is the largest bronze temple in the country. It is located on the Mingfeng Mountains, seven kilometers to the east of Kunming. The Golden Temple was first built in 1602 during the Ming dynasty. The temple's bronze was initially ordered to be sent from Dongchuan to central China to be used as coinage, but the delivery was cancelled due to an armed conflict. The governor of Yunnan, Chen Yongbing, and Mu Changzuo, the Duke of Guizhou, ordered that the bronze be used to build a temple in imitation of the Taihe Palace and the Golden Temple in the Wudang Mountains of Hubei. The temple was later moved to the Jizu Mountains in western Yunnan. During the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (1662-1722), Wu Sangui, a military general who defected from the Ming dynasty and opened Shanhai Pass for the Manchu invaders, rebuilt the temple and kept the original Hubei design. Over 200 tons of bronze was used in the construction of the temple. The walls were made with cast panels covered with exquisite and diverse designs. Today, the walls have become well-preserved examples of the smelting and casting techniques common in Yunnan during the Qing Dynasty. In front of the staircase outside the Golden Temple, the wide branched camellias are called "Diechi" (Butterfly Wings). They are covered with thousands of flowers in the depth of winter. The two myrtles close by were planted during the Ming dynasty. A three-story bell tower lies behind the temple. 2.1 meters tall and 6.7 meters in circumference, the bell itself was cast in 1424 during the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the Ming dynasty. It was previously hung in the Xuanhua Mansion for timekeeping, but was moved Golden Temple during the expansion of Kunming. In recent years, the Temple has been expanded several times when the "Parrot Garden", the "Camellia Garden", and the "Orchid Garden" were added. Golden Temple Vellore complex inside the Sripuram spiritual park is situated at the foot of a small range of green hills at Thirumalaikodi (or simply Malaikodi) Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India. It is 120 km from Tirupati, 145 km from Chennai, 160 km from Puducherry and 200 km from Bengaluru. The Maha Kumbhabhishekam or consecration of the temple and its chief deity, Sri Lakshmi Narayani or Maha Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, was held on 24 August 2007, and devotees from all religions and backgrounds are welcome to visit. This temple is gilded with 1,500 kg of pure gold, double the 750 kg gilding of the dome of the Golden Temple at Amritsar. The salient feature of 'Sripuram' is the Lakshmi Narayani temple whose Vimanam and Ardha Mandapam is covered with pure gold, housing the deity Sri Lakshmi Narayani (female consort of Vishnu Narayana). The temple is located on 100 acres of land and has been constructed by the Vellore-based charitable trust, Sri Narayani Peedam, headed by its spiritual leader Sri Sakthi Amma also known as 'Narayani Amma'. The temple with its gold (1,500 kg) covering, has intricate work done by artisans specialising in temple art using gold. Every single detail was manually created, including converting the gold bars into gold foils and then mounting the foils on copper. Gold foil from 9 layers to 10 layers has been mounted on the etched copper plates. Every single detail in the temple art has significance from the Vedas. Sripuram's design features a star-shaped path (Sri chakra), positioned in the middle of the lush green landscape, with a length of over 1.8 km. As one walks along this 'starpath' to reach the temple in the middle, one can also read various spiritual messages -- such as the gift of the human birth itself, and the value of spirituality -- along the way. The Sri Narayani Hospital & Research Centre is a general hospital located near the Sripuram temple complex and is also run by the 'Sri Narayani Peedam' Charitable Trust. Golden Temple - Sikh temple in Amritsar The official website of Sripuram

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Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording. Acoustic analog recording is achieved by a microphone diaphragm that senses changes in atmospheric pressure caused by acoustic sound waves and records them as a mechanical representation of the sound waves on a medium such as a phonograph record (in which a stylus cuts grooves on a record). In magnetic tape recording, the sound waves vibrate the microphone diaphragm and are converted into a varying electric current, which is then converted to a varying magnetic field by an electromagnet, which makes a representation of the sound as magnetized areas on a plastic tape with a magnetic coating on it. Analog sound reproduction is the reverse process, with a bigger loudspeaker diaphragm causing changes to atmospheric pressure to form acoustic sound waves. Digital recording and reproduction converts the analog sound signal picked up by the microphone to a digital form by the process of sampling. This lets the audio data be stored and transmitted by a wider variety of media. Digital recording stores audio as a series of binary numbers (zeros and ones) representing samples of the amplitude of the audio signal at equal time intervals, at a sample rate high enough to convey all sounds capable of being heard. A digital audio signal must be reconverted to analog form during playback before it is amplified and connected to a loudspeaker to produce sound. Prior to the development of sound recording, there were mechanical systems, such as wind-up music boxes and, later, player pianos, for encoding and reproducing instrumental music. Long before sound was first recorded, music was recorded—first by written music notation, then also by mechanical devices (e.g., wind-up music boxes, in which a mechanism turns a spindle, which plucks metal tines, thus reproducing a melody). Automatic music reproduction traces back as far as the 9th century, when the Banū Mūsā brothers invented the earliest known mechanical musical instrument, in this case, a hydropowered (water-powered) organ that played interchangeable cylinders. According to Charles B. Fowler, this "...cylinder with raised pins on the surface remained the basic device to produce and reproduce music mechanically until the second half of the nineteenth century." The Banū Mūsā brothers also invented an automatic flute player, which appears to have been the first programmable machine. Carvings in the Rosslyn Chapel from the 1560s may represent an early attempt to record the Chladni patterns produced by sound in stone representations, although this theory has not been conclusively proved. In the 14th century, a mechanical bell-ringer controlled by a rotating cylinder was introduced in Flanders. Similar designs appeared in barrel organs (15th century), musical clocks (1598), barrel pianos (1805), and music boxes (ca. 1800). A music box is an automatic musical instrument that produces sounds by the use of a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc so as to pluck the tuned teeth (or lamellae) of a steel comb. The fairground organ, developed in 1892, used a system of accordion-folded punched cardboard books. The player piano, first demonstrated in 1876, used a punched paper scroll that could store a long piece of music. The most sophisticated of the piano rolls were hand-played, meaning that the roll represented the actual performance of an individual, not just a transcription of the sheet music. This technology to record a live performance onto a piano roll was not developed until 1904. Piano rolls were in continuous mass production from 1896 to 2008. A 1908 U.S. Supreme Court copyright case noted that, in 1902 alone, there were between 70,000 and 75,000 player pianos manufactured, and between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 piano rolls produced. The first device that could record actual sounds as they passed through the air (but could not play them back—the purpose was only visual study) was the phonautograph, patented in 1857 by Parisian inventor Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville. The earliest known recordings of the human voice are phonautograph recordings, called phonautograms, made in 1857. They consist of sheets of paper with sound-wave-modulated white lines created by a vibrating stylus that cut through a coating of soot as the paper was passed under it. An 1860 phonautogram of Au Clair de la Lune, a French folk song, was played back as sound for the first time in 2008 by scanning it and using software to convert the undulating line, which graphically encoded the sound, into a corresponding digital audio file. On April 30, 1877, French poet, humorous writer and inventor Charles Cros submitted a sealed envelope containing a letter to the Academy of Sciences in Paris fully explaining his proposed method, called the paleophone. Though no trace of a working paleophone was ever found, Cros is remembered as the earliest inventor of a sound recording and reproduction machine. The first practical sound recording and reproduction device was the mechanical phonograph cylinder, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and patented in 1878. The invention soon spread across the globe and over the next two decades the commercial recording, distribution, and sale of sound recordings became a growing new international industry, with the most popular titles selling millions of units by the early 1900s. The development of mass-production techniques enabled cylinder recordings to become a major new consumer item in industrial countries and the cylinder was the main consumer format from the late 1880s until around 1910. The next major technical development was the invention of the gramophone record, generally credited to Emile Berliner and patented in 1887, though others had demonstrated similar disk apparatus earlier, most notably Alexander Graham Bell in 1881. Discs were easier to manufacture, transport and store, and they had the additional benefit of being marginally louder than cylinders. Sales of the gramophone record overtook the cylinder ca. 1910, and by the end of World War I the disc had become the dominant commercial recording format. Edison, who was the main producer of cylinders, created the Edison Disc Record in an attempt to regain his market. The double-sided 78 rpm shellac disc was the standard consumer music format from the early 1910s to the late 1950s. In various permutations, the audio disc format became the primary medium for consumer sound recordings until the end of the 20th century. Although there was no universally accepted speed, and various companies offered discs that played at several different speeds, the major recording companies eventually settled on a de facto industry standard of nominally 78 revolutions per minute. The specified speed was 78.26 rpm in America and 77.92 rpm throughout the rest of the world. The difference in speeds was due to the difference in the cycle frequencies of the AC electricity that powered the stroboscopes used to calibrate recording lathes and turntables. The nominal speed of the disc format gave rise to its common nickname, the "seventy-eight" (though not until other speeds had become available). Discs were made of shellac or similar brittle plastic-like materials, played with needles made from a variety of materials including mild steel, thorn, and even sapphire. Discs had a distinctly limited playing life that varied depending on how they were manufactured. Earlier, purely acoustic methods of recording had limited sensitivity and frequency range. Mid-frequency range notes could be recorded, but very low and very high frequencies could not. Instruments such as the violin were difficult to transfer to disc. One technique to deal with this involved using a Stroh violin to which uses a conical horn connected to a diaphragm that in turn is connected to the violin bridge. The horn was no longer needed once electrical recording was developed. The long-playing 33 rpm microgroove LP record, was developed at Columbia Records and introduced in 1948. The short-playing but convenient 45 rpm microgroove vinyl single was introduced by RCA Victor in 1949. In the US and most developed countries, the two new vinyl formats completely replaced 78 rpm shellac discs by the end of the 1950s, but in some corners of the world, the 78 lingered on far into the 1960s. Vinyl was much more expensive than shellac, one of the several factors that made its use for 78 rpm records very unusual, but with a long-playing disc the added cost was acceptable. The compact 45 format required very little material. Vinyl offered improved performance, both in stamping and in playback. Vinyl records were, over-optimistically, advertised as "unbreakable". They were not, but they were much less fragile than shellac, which had itself once been touted as "unbreakable" compared to wax cylinders. Sound recording began as a purely mechanical process. Except for a few crude telephone-based recording devices with no means of amplification, such as the telegraphone, it remained so until the 1920s. Between the invention of the phonograph in 1877 and the first commercial digital recordings in the early 1970s, arguably the most important milestone in the history of sound recording was the introduction of what was then called electrical recording, in which a microphone was used to convert the sound into an electrical signal that was amplified and used to actuate the recording stylus. This innovation eliminated the "horn sound" resonances characteristic of the acoustical process, produced clearer and more full-bodied recordings by greatly extending the useful range of audio frequencies, and allowed previously unrecordable distant and feeble sounds to be captured. During this time, several radio-related developments in electronics converged to revolutionize the recording process. These included improved microphones and auxiliary devices such as electronic filters, all dependent on electronic amplification to be of practical use in recording. In 1906, Lee De Forest invented the Audion triode vacuum tube, an electronic valve that could amplify weak electrical signals. By 1915, it was in use in long-distance telephone circuits that made conversations between New York and San Francisco practical. Refined versions of this tube were the basis of all electronic sound systems until the commercial introduction of the first transistor-based audio devices in the mid-1950s. During World War I, engineers in the United States and Great Britain worked on ways to record and reproduce, among other things, the sound of a German U-boat for training purposes. Acoustical recording methods of the time could not reproduce the sounds accurately. The earliest results were not promising. The first electrical recording issued to the public, with little fanfare, was of November 11, 1920 funeral services for The Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, London. The recording engineers used microphones of the type used in contemporary telephones. Four were discreetly set up in the abbey and wired to recording equipment in a vehicle outside. Although electronic amplification was used, the audio was weak and unclear. The procedure did, however, produce a recording that would otherwise not have been possible in those circumstances. For several years, this little-noted disc remained the only issued electrical recording. Several record companies and independent inventors, notably Orlando Marsh, experimented with equipment and techniques for electrical recording in the early 1920s. Marsh's electrically recorded Autograph Records were already being sold to the public in 1924, a year before the first such offerings from the major record companies, but their overall sound quality was too low to demonstrate any obvious advantage over traditional acoustical methods. Marsh's microphone technique was idiosyncratic and his work had little if any impact on the systems being developed by others. Telephone industry giant Western Electric had research laboratories (merged with the AT&T; engineering department in 1925 to form Bell Telephone Laboratories) with material and human resources that no record company or independent inventor could match. They had the best microphone, a condenser type developed there in 1916 and greatly improved in 1922, and the best amplifiers and test equipment. They had already patented an electromechanical recorder in 1918, and in the early 1920s, they decided to intensively apply their hardware and expertise to developing two state-of-the-art systems for electronically recording and reproducing sound: one that employed conventional discs and another that recorded optically on motion picture film. Their engineers pioneered the use of mechanical analogs of electrical circuits and developed a superior "rubber line" recorder for cutting the groove into the wax master in the disc recording system. By 1924, such dramatic progress had been made that Western Electric arranged a demonstration for the two leading record companies, the Victor Talking Machine Company and the Columbia Phonograph Company. Both soon licensed the system and both made their earliest published electrical recordings in February 1925, but neither actually released them until several months later. To avoid making their existing catalogs instantly obsolete, the two long-time archrivals agreed privately not to publicize the new process until November 1925, by which time enough electrically recorded repertory would be available to meet the anticipated demand. During the next few years, the lesser record companies licensed or developed other electrical recording systems. By 1929 only the budget label Harmony was still issuing new recordings made by the old acoustical process. Comparison of some surviving Western Electric test recordings with early commercial releases indicates that the record companies "dumbed down" the frequency range of the system so the recordings would not overwhelm non-electronic playback equipment, which reproduced very low frequencies as an unpleasant rattle and rapidly wore out discs with strongly recorded high frequencies. In the 1920s, Phonofilm and other early motion picture sound systems employed optical recording technology, in which the audio signal was graphically recorded on photographic film. The amplitude variations comprising the signal were used to modulate a light source which was imaged onto the moving film through a narrow slit, allowing the signal to be photographed as variations in the density or width of a "sound track". The projector used a steady light and a photoelectric cell to convert these variations back into an electrical signal, which was amplified and sent to loudspeakers behind the screen. Ironically, the introduction of "talkies" was spearheaded by The Jazz Singer (1927), which used the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system rather than an optical soundtrack. Optical sound became the standard motion picture audio system throughout the world and remains so for theatrical release prints despite attempts in the 1950s to substitute magnetic soundtracks. Currently, all release prints on 35 mm movie film include an analog optical soundtrack, usually stereo with Dolby SR noise reduction. In addition, an optically recorded digital soundtrack in Dolby Digital and/or Sony SDDS form is likely to be present. An optically recorded timecode is also commonly included to synchronise CDROMs that contain a DTS soundtrack. This period also saw several other historic developments including the introduction of the first practical magnetic sound recording system, the magnetic wire recorder, which was based on the work of Danish inventor Valdemar Poulsen. Magnetic wire recorders were effective, but the sound quality was poor, so between the wars, they were primarily used for voice recording and marketed as business dictating machines. In 1924, a German engineer, Kurt Stille, developed the Poulsen wire recorder as a dictating machine. The following year, Ludwig Blattner began work that eventually produced the Blattnerphone, enhancing it to use steel tape instead of wire. The BBC started using Blattnerphones in 1930 to record radio programmes. In 1933, radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi's company purchased the rights to the Blattnerphone, and newly developed Marconi-Stille recorders were installed in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in March 1935. The tape used in Blattnerphones and Marconi-Stille recorders was the same material used to make razor blades, and not surprisingly the fearsome Marconi-Stille recorders were considered so dangerous that technicians had to operate them from another room for safety. Because of the high recording speeds required, they used enormous reels about one metre in diameter, and the thin tape frequently broke, sending jagged lengths of razor steel flying around the studio. The K1 Magnetophon was the first practical tape recorder, developed by AEG in Germany in 1935. An important field of invention during this period was the tape recorder. Magnetic tape recording uses an amplified electrical audio signal to generate analogous variations of the magnetic field produced by a tape head, which impresses corresponding variations of magnetization on the moving tape. In playback mode, the signal path is reversed, the tape head acting as a miniature electric generator as the varyingly magnetized tape passes over it. The original solid steel ribbon was replaced by a much more practical coated paper tape, but acetate soon replaced paper as the standard tape base. Acetate has fairly low tensile strength and if very thin it will snap easily, so it was in turn eventually superseded by polyester. This technology, the basis for almost all commercial recording from the 1950s to the 1980s, was developed in the 1930s by German audio engineers who also rediscovered the principle of AC biasing (first used in the 1920s for wire recorders), which dramatically improved the frequency response of tape recordings. The technology was further improved just after World War II by American audio engineer John T. Mullin with backing from Bing Crosby Enterprises. Mullin's pioneering recorders were modifications of captured German recorders. In the late 1940s, the Ampex company produced the first tape recorders commercially available in the US. Magnetic tape brought about sweeping changes in both radio and the recording industry. Sound could be recorded, erased and re-recorded on the same tape many times, sounds could be duplicated from tape to tape with only minor loss of quality, and recordings could now be very precisely edited by physically cutting the tape and rejoining it. Within a few years of the introduction of the first commercial tape recorder—the Ampex 200 model, launched in 1948—American musician-inventor Les Paul had invented the first multitrack tape recorder, ushering in another technical revolution in the recording industry. Tape made possible the first sound recordings totally created by electronic means, opening the way for the bold sonic experiments of the Musique Concrète school and avant garde composers like Karlheinz Stockhausen, which in turn led to the innovative pop music recordings of artists such as Frank Zappa, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys. The ease and accuracy of tape editing, as compared to the cumbersome disc-to-disc editing procedures previously in some limited use, together with tape's consistently high audio quality finally convinced radio networks to routinely prerecord their entertainment programming, most of which had formerly been broadcast live. Also, for the first time, broadcasters, regulators and other interested parties were able to undertake comprehensive audio logging of each day's radio broadcasts. Innovations like multitracking and tape echo allowed radio programs and advertisements to be produced to a high level of complexity and sophistication. The combined impact with innovations such as the endless loop broadcast cartridge led to significant changes in the pacing and production style of radio program content and advertising. In 1881, it was noted during experiments in transmitting sound from the Paris Opera that it was possible to follow the movement of singers on the stage if earpieces connected to different microphones were held to the two ears. This discovery was commercialized in 1890 with the Théâtrophone system, which operated for over forty years until 1932. In 1931, Alan Blumlein, a British electronics engineer working for EMI, designed a way to make the sound of an actor in a film follow his movement across the screen. In December 1931, he submitted a patent including the idea, and in 1933 this became UK patent number 394,325. Over the next two years, Blumlein developed stereo microphones and a stereo disc-cutting head, and recorded a number of short films with stereo soundtracks. In the 1930s, experiments with magnetic tape enabled the development of the first practical commercial sound systems that could record and reproduce high-fidelity stereophonic sound. The experiments with stereo during the 1930s and 1940s were hampered by problems with synchronization. A major breakthrough in practical stereo sound was made by Bell Laboratories, who in 1937 demonstrated a practical system of two-channel stereo, using dual optical sound tracks on film. Major movie studios quickly developed three- track and four-track sound systems, and the first stereo sound recording for a commercial film was made by Judy Garland for the MGM movie Listen, Darling in 1938. The first commercially released movie with a stereo soundtrack was Walt Disney's Fantasia, released in 1940. The 1941 release of Fantasia used the "Fantasound" sound system. This system used a separate film for the sound, synchronized with the film carrying the picture. The sound film had four double-width optical soundtracks, three for left, center, and right audio—and a fourth as a "control" track with three recorded tones that controlled the playback volume of the three audio channels. Because of the complex equipment this system required, Disney exhibited the movie as a roadshow, and only in the United States. Regular releases of the movie used standard mono optical 35 mm stock until 1956, when Disney released the film with a stereo soundtrack that used the "Cinemascope" four-track magnetic sound system. German audio engineers working on magnetic tape developed stereo recording by 1941, even though a 2-track push-pull monaural technique existed in 1939. Of 250 stereophonic recordings made during WW2, only three survive: Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with Walter Gieseking and Arthur Rother, a Brahms Serenade, and the last movement of Bruckner's 8th Symphony with Von Karajan. The Audio Engineering Society has issued all these recordings on CD. (Varèse Sarabande had released the Beethoven Concerto on LP, and it has been reissued on CD several times since). Other early German stereophonic tapes are believed to have been destroyed in bombings. Not until Ampex introduced the first commercial two-track tape recorders in the late 1940s did stereo tape recording become commercially feasible. However, despite the availability of multitrack tape, stereo did not become the standard system for commercial music recording for some years, and remained a specialist market during the 1950s. EMI (UK) was the first company to release commercial stereophonic tapes. They issued their first Stereosonic tape in 1954. Others quickly followed, under the His Master's Voice and Columbia labels. 161 Stereosonic tapes were released, mostly classical music or lyric recordings. RCA imported these tapes into the USA. Two-track stereophonic tapes were more successful in America during the second half of the 1950s. They were duplicated at real time (1:1) or at twice the normal speed (2:1) when later 4-track tapes were often duplicated at up to 16 times the normal speed, providing a lower sound quality in many cases. Early American 2-track stereophonic tapes were very expensive. A typical example is the price list of the Sonotape/Westminster reels: $6.95, $11.95 and $17.95 for the 7000, 9000 and 8000 series respectively. Some HMV tapes released in the USA also cost up to $15. The history of stereo recording changed after the late 1957 introduction of the Westrex stereo phonograph disc, which used the groove format developed earlier by Blumlein. Decca Records in England came out with FFRR (Full Frequency Range Recording) in the 1940s, which became internationally accepted as a worldwide standard for higher quality recording on vinyl records. The Ernest Ansermet recording of Igor Stravinsky's Petrushka was key in the development of full frequency range records and alerting the listening public to high fidelity in 1946. Record companies mixed most popular music singles into monophonic sound until the mid-1960s—then commonly released major recordings in both mono and stereo until the early 1970s. Many 1960s pop albums available only in stereo in the 2000s were originally released only in mono, and record companies produced the "stereo" versions of these albums by simply separating the two tracks of the master tape, creating "pseudo stereo". In the mid Sixties, as stereo became more popular, many mono recordings (such as The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds) were remastered using the so-called "fake stereo" method, which spread the sound across the stereo field by directing higher-frequency sound into one channel and lower-frequency sounds into the other. Magnetic tape transformed the recording industry. By the early 1950s, most commercial recordings were mastered on tape instead of recorded directly to disc. Tape facilitated a degree of manipulation in the recording process that was impractical with mixes and multiple generations of directly recorded discs. An early example is Les Paul's 1951 recording of How High the Moon, on which Paul played eight overdubbed guitar tracks. In the 1960s Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys, Frank Zappa, and The Beatles (with producer George Martin) were among the first popular artists to explore the possibilities of multitrack recording techniques and effects on their landmark albums Pet Sounds, Freak Out!, and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The next important innovation was small cartridge-based tape systems, of which the compact cassette, commercialized by the Philips electronics company in 1964, is the best known. Initially a low-fidelity format for spoken-word voice recording and inadequate for music reproduction, after a series of improvements it entirely replaced the competing formats: the larger 8-track tape (used primarily in cars) and the fairly similar "Deutsche Cassette" developed by the German company Grundig. This latter system was not particularly common in Europe and practically unheard-of in America. The compact cassette became a major consumer audio format and advances in electronic and mechanical miniaturization led to the development of the Sony Walkman, a pocket-sized cassette player introduced in 1979. The Walkman was the first personal music player and it gave a major boost to sales of prerecorded cassettes, which became the first widely successful release format that used a re-recordable medium: the vinyl record was a playback-only medium and commercially prerecorded tapes for reel-to-reel tape decks, which many consumers found difficult to operate, were never more than an uncommon niche market item. A key advance in audio fidelity came with the Dolby A noise reduction system, invented by Ray Dolby and introduced into professional recording studios in 1966. It suppressed the light but sometimes quite noticeable steady background of hiss, which was the only easily audible downside of mastering on tape instead of recording directly to disc. A competing system, dbx, invented by David Blackmer, also found success in professional audio. A simpler variant of Dolby's noise reduction system, known as Dolby B, greatly improved the sound of cassette tape recordings by reducing the especially high level of hiss that resulted from the cassette's miniaturized tape format. It, and variants, also eventually found wide application in the recording and film industries. Dolby B was crucial to the popularization and commercial success of the cassette as a domestic recording and playback medium, and it became a standard feature in the booming home and car stereo market of the 1970s and beyond. The compact cassette format also benefited enormously from improvements to the tape itself as coatings with wider frequency responses and lower inherent noise were developed, often based on cobalt and chrome oxides as the magnetic material instead of the more usual iron oxide. The multitrack audio cartridge had been in wide use in the radio industry, from the late 1950s to the 1980s, but in the 1960s the pre-recorded 8-track cartridge was launched as a consumer audio format by Bill Lear of the Lear Jet aircraft company (and although its correct name was the 'Lear Jet Cartridge', it was seldom referred to as such). Aimed particularly at the automotive market, they were the first practical, affordable car hi-fi systems, and could produce sound quality superior to that of the compact cassette. However the smaller size and greater durability -- augmented by the ability to create home-recorded music "compilations" since 8-track recorders were rare -- saw the cassette become the dominant consumer format for portable audio devices in the 1970s and 1980s. There had been experiments with multi- channel sound for many years -- usually for special musical or cultural events -- but the first commercial application of the concept came in the early 1970s with the introduction of Quadraphonic sound. This spin-off development from multitrack recording used four tracks (instead of the two used in stereo) and four speakers to create a 360-degree audio field around the listener. Following the release of the first consumer 4-channel hi-fi systems, a number of popular albums were released in one of the competing four-channel formats; among the best known are Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. Quadraphonic sound was not a commercial success, partly because of competing and somewhat incompatible four-channel sound systems (e.g., CBS, JVC, Dynaco and others all had systems) and generally poor quality, even when played as intended on the correct equipment, of the released music. It eventually faded out in the late 1970s, although this early venture paved the way for the eventual introduction of domestic Surround Sound systems in home theatre use, which have gained enormous popularity since the introduction of the DVD. This widespread adoption has occurred despite the confusion introduced by the multitude of available surround sound standards. The replacement of the relatively fragile thermionic valve (vacuum tube) by the smaller, lighter-weight, cooler-running, less expensive, more robust, and less power-hungry transistor also accelerated the sale of consumer high- fidelity "hi-fi" sound systems from the 1960s onward. In the 1950s, most record players were monophonic and had relatively low sound quality. Few consumers could afford high-quality stereophonic sound systems. In the 1960s, American manufacturers introduced a new generation of "modular" hi-fi components -- separate turntables, pre-amplifiers, amplifiers, both combined as integrated amplifiers, tape recorders, and other ancillary equipment like the graphic equaliser, which could be connected together to create a complete home sound system. These developments were rapidly taken up by major Japanese electronics companies, which soon flooded the world market with relatively affordable, high-quality transistorized audio components. By the 1980s, corporations like Sony had become world leaders in the music recording and playback industry. The advent of digital sound recording and later the compact disc (CD) in 1982 brought significant improvements in the durability of consumer recordings. The CD initiated another massive wave of change in the consumer music industry, with vinyl records effectively relegated to a small niche market by the mid-1990s. However, the record industry fiercely resisted the introduction of digital systems, fearing wholesale piracy on a medium able to produce perfect copies of original released recordings. However, the industry succumbed to the inevitable, though using various protection system (principally Serial Copy Management System, or SCMS). The most recent and revolutionary developments have been in digital recording, with the development of various uncompressed and compressed digital audio file formats, processors capable and fast enough to convert the digital data to sound in real time, and inexpensive mass storage . This generated new types of portable digital audio players. The minidisc player, using ATRAC compression on small, cheap, re-writeable discs was introduced in the 1990s but became obsolescent as solid-state non-volatile flash memory dropped in price. As technologies that increase the amount of data that can be stored on a single medium, such as Super Audio CD, DVD-A, Blu-ray Disc, and HD DVD become available, longer programs of higher quality fit onto a single disc. Sound files are readily downloaded from the Internet and other sources, and copied onto computers and digital audio players. Digital audio technology is now used in all areas of audio, from casual use of music files of moderate quality to the most demanding professional applications. New applications such as internet radio and podcasting have appeared. Technological developments in recording, editing, and consuming have transformed the record, movie and television industries in recent decades. Audio editing became practicable with the invention of magnetic tape recording, but technologies like MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface), sound synthesis allowed greater control for composers and artists. These digital audio techniques and mass storage have reduced recording and marketing costs so high-quality digital recordings can be produced in small studios. Today, the process of making a recording is separated into tracking, mixing and mastering. Multitrack recording makes it possible to capture signals from several microphones, or from different takes to tape, disc or mass storage, with maximized headroom and quality, allowing previously unavailable flexibility in the mixing and mastering stages. There are many different digital audio recording and processing programs running under several computer operating systems for all purposes, ranging from casual users (e.g., a small business person recording their "to-do" list on an inexpensive digital recorder) to serious amateurs (an unsigned "indie" band recording their demo on a laptop) to professional sound engineers who are recording albums, film scores and doing sound design for video games. A comprehensive list of digital recording applications is available at the digital audio workstation article. Digital dictation software for recording and transcribing speech has different requirements; intelligibility and flexible playback facilities are priorities, while a wide frequency range and high audio quality are not. The development of analog sound recording in the nineteenth century and its widespread use throughout the twentieth century had a huge impact on the development of music. Before analog sound recording was invented, most music was listened to by hearing a live performance, or by singing or playing a song or piece. Throughout the medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and through much of the Romantic music era, the main way that songs and instrumental pieces were "recorded" was by notating the piece in music notation. While music notation indicates the pitches of the melody and their rhythm, the notation is not like a 2010-era sound recording. Indeed, in the Medieval era, Gregorian chant did not indicate the rhythm of the chant. In the Baroque era, instrumental pieces often lack a tempo indication and usually none of the ornaments were written down. As a result, each performance of a song or piece would be slightly different. With the development of analog sound recording, though, a performance could be permanently fixed, in all of its elements: pitch, rhythm, timbre, ornaments and expression. This meant that many more elements of a performance would be captured and disseminated to other listeners. The development of sound recording also enabled a much larger proportion of people to hear famous orchestras, operas, singers and bands, because even if a non-wealthy person could not afford to hear the live concert, she or he might be able to afford to buy the recording. The availability of sound recording thus helped to spread musical styles to new regions, countries and continents. The cultural influence went in a number of directions. Sound recordings enabled Western music lovers to hear actual recordings of Asian, Middle Eastern and African groups and performers, increasing awareness of non-Western musical styles. At the same time, sound recordings enabled non-Western music lovers to hear the most famous North American and European groups and singers. In copyright law, a "phonogram" or "sound recording" is a work that results from the fixation of sounds in a medium. The notice of copyright in a phonogram uses the sound recording copyright symbol, which the Geneva Phonograms Convention defines as ℗ (the letter P in a full circle). This usually accompanies the copyright notice for the underlying musical composition, which uses the ordinary © symbol. The recording is separate from the song so copyright for a recording usually belongs to the record company. It is less common for an artist or producer to hold these rights. Copyright for recordings has existed since 1972, while copyright for musical composition, or songs, has existed since 1831. Disputes over sampling and "beats" are ongoing. United States copyright law defines "sound recordings" as "works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds" other than an audiovisual work's soundtrack. Prior to the Sound Recording Amendment (SRA), which took effect in 1972, copyright in sound recordings was handled at the level of the several states. Federal copyright law preempts most state copyright laws but allows state copyright in sound recordings to continue for one full copyright term after the SRA's effective date, which means 2067. Since 1934, copyright law in Great Britain has treated sound recordings (or phonograms) differently from musical works. Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 defines a sound recording as (a) a recording of sounds, from which the sounds may be reproduced, or (b) a recording of the whole or any part of a literary, dramatic or musical work, from which sounds reproducing the work or part may be produced, regardless of the medium on which the recording is made or the method by which the sounds are reproduced or produced. It thus covers vinyl records, tapes, compact discs, digital audiotapes, and MP3s that embody recordings. Barlow, Sanna Morrison. Mountain Singing: the Story of Gospel Recordings in the Philippines. Hong Kong: Alliance Press, 1952. 352 p., Carson, B. H.; Burt, A. D.; Reiskind, and H. I., "A Record Changer And Record Of Complementary Design", RCA Review, June 1949, Coleman, Mark, Playback: from the Victrola to MP3, 100 years of music, machines, and money, Da Capo Press, 2003., Gaisberg, Frederick W., "The Music Goes Round", [Andrew Farkas, editor.], New Haven, Ayer, 1977., Gelatt, Roland. The Fabulous Phonograph, 1877-1977. Second rev. ed., [being also the] First Collier Books ed., in series, Sounds of the Century. New York: Collier, 1977. 349 p., ill., Gronow, Pekka, "The Record Industry: The Growth of a Mass Medium", Popular Music, Vol. 3, Producers and Markets (1983), pp. 53-75, Cambridge University Press., Gronow, Pekka, and Saunio, Ilpo, "An International History of the Recording Industry", [translated from the Finnish by Christopher Moseley], London ; New York : Cassell, 1998., Lipman, Samuel,"The House of Music: Art in an Era of Institutions", 1984. See the chapter on "Getting on Record", pp. 62-75, about the early record industry and Fred Gaisberg and Walter Legge and FFRR (Full Frequency Range Recording)., Millard, Andre J., "America on record : a history of recorded sound", Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1995., Millard, Andre J., " From Edison to the iPod", UAB Reporter, 2005, University of Alabama at Birmingham., Milner, Greg, "Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music", Faber & Faber; 1 edition (June 9, 2009) . Cf. p. 14 on H. Stith Bennett and "recording consciousness"., Moogk, Edward Balthasar. Roll Back the Years: History of Canadian Recorded Sound and Its Legacy, Genesis to 1930. Ottawa, Ont.: National Library of Canada, 1975. N.B.: In part, also, a bio-discography; the hardback ed. comes with a "phonodisc of historical Canadian recordings" (33 1/3 r.p.m., mono., 17 cm.) that the 1980 pbk. reprint lacks. (pbk.), Moogk, Edith Kathryn. Title Index to Canadian Works Listed in Edward B. Moogk's "Roll Back the Years, History of Canadian Recorded Sound, Genesis to 1930", in series, C.A.M.L. Occasional Papers, no. 1. Ottawa, Ont.: Canadian Association of Music Libraries, 1988. N.B.: Title and fore-matter also in French; supplements the index within E. B. Moogk's book., Read, Oliver, and Walter L. Welch, From Tin Foil to Stereo: Evolution of the Phonograph, Second ed., Indianapolis, Ind.: H.W. Same & Co., 1976. N.B.: This is an historical account of the development of sound recording technology. pbk., Read, Oliver, The Recording and Reproduction of Sound, Indianapolis, Ind.: H.W. Sams & Co., 1952. N.B.: This is a pioneering engineering account of sound recording technology., , San Diego University, St-Laurent, Gilles, "Notes on the Degradation of Sound Recordings", National Library [of Canada] News, vol. 13, no. 1 (Jan. 1991), p. 1, 3-4., Weir, Bob, et al. Century of Sound: 100 Years of Recorded Sound, 1877-1977. Executive writer, Bob Weir; project staff writers, Brian Gorman, Jim Simons, Marty Melhuish. [Toronto?]: Produced by Studio 123, cop. 1977. N.B.: Published on the occasion of an exhibition commemorating the centennial of recorded sound, held at the fairground of the annual Canadian National Exhibition, Toronto, Ont., as one of the C.N.E.'s 1977 events. Without ISBN, McWilliams, Jerry. The Preservation and Restoration of Sound Recordings. Nashville, Tenn.: American Association for State and Local History, 1979. Audio Engineering Society, Oral history of recorded sound Interviews with practitioners in all areas of the recording industry. British Library, History of Recorded Sound. New York Public Library, Noise in the Groove – A podcast about the history of the phonograph, gramophone, and sound recording/reproduction., Audio Engineering online course under Creative Commons Licence, Archival Sound Recordings – tens of thousands of recordings showcasing audio history from 19th century wax cylinders to the present day. British Library, International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA), Recorded Music at A History of Central Florida Podcast, Millard, Andre, "Edison's Tone Tests and the Ideal of Perfect Reproduction", Lost and Found Sound, interview on National Public Radio., Sound recording needs a microphone, keep the voice low to record good voice Elvis Presley recorded at least 24 songs at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, between 1953 and 1955. The recordings reflect the wide variety of music that could be heard in Memphis at the time: blues, rhythm & blues, gospel, country & western, hillbilly, rockabilly and bluegrass. Because of the recordings' historical significance in the foundation of rock and roll music, they were inducted into the U.S. Congress's National Recording Registry in 2002. Of the 24 known taped songs, 22 survive. Ten were released by Sun as Elvis's first five singles between 1954 and 1955. With the exception of the first four songs, which were demos recorded at Presley's expense, all of the songs were produced by Sam Phillips and featured Scotty Moore on guitar and Bill Black on bass. A year after Presley joined RCA Victor, he had a spontaneous informal session with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis when visiting the Sun studio. This meeting was recorded on December 4, 1956, and dubbed the Million Dollar Quartet by the local newspaper the next day. These sessions are not generally included when reference is made to "Elvis's Sun Sessions", however. On July 18, 1953, Presley first went to the Memphis Recording Service at the Sun Record Company, now commonly known as Sun Studio. He paid $3.98 to record the first of two double-sided demo acetates, "My Happiness" and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin". Presley reportedly gave the acetate to his mother as a much-belated extra birthday present, although many biographers suggest that Presley simply wanted to get noticed by Sun owner Sam Phillips. These suggestions are strengthened by the fact that the Presleys did not own a record player at the time. That one-off acetate has since been valued at $500,000 by Record Collector magazine. Returning to Sun Studios on January 4, 1954, he recorded a second acetate, "I'll Never Stand in Your Way" / "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You". Phillips had already cut the first records by blues artists such as Howlin' Wolf and Junior Parker. He thought a combination of black blues and boogie-woogie music would be very popular among white people, if presented in the right way. In the spring, Presley auditioned for an amateur gospel quartet called The Songfellows, as one of the group was leaving and they were seeking a replacement. However, following Presley's audition, the original group member decided to stay. In May, Presley auditioned at the Hi-Hat in Memphis as a vocalist for a band. Eddie Bond, the owner of the Hi-Hat, turned him down. When Phillips acquired a demo recording of "Without You" and was unable to identify the vocalist, his assistant, Marion Keisker, reminded him about the young truck driver. She called him on May 26, 1954. Presley was not able to do justice to the song (the original acetate of the song that Phillips presented to Elvis resides in the Memphis State University collection), but Phillips asked him to perform some of the many other songs he knew. After running through a few songs, Presley expressed an interest in finding a band to play with, and Phillips invited local Western swing musicians Winfield "Scotty" Moore (electric guitar) and Bill Black (slap bass) to audition Presley. They did so on Sunday, July 4, 1954, at Moore's house. Neither musician was overly impressed, but they agreed a studio session would be useful to explore his potential. On July 5, 1954, the trio met at Sun studios to rehearse and record a handful of songs. According to Moore, the first song they recorded was "I Love You Because", but, after a few other country-oriented songs that weren't all that impressive, they decided to take a break. During the break, Presley began "acting the fool" with Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right (Mama)", a blues song. When the other two musicians joined in, Phillips got them to restart and began taping. This was the bright, upbeat sound he had been looking for. Black remarked, "Damn. Get that on the radio and they'll run us out of town." The group recorded four songs during that session, including bluegrass musician Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky", which he had written and recorded as a slow waltz. Sources credit Bill Black with initiating the song, with Presley and Moore joining in. They ended up with a fast version of the song in 4/4 time. After an early take, Phillips can be heard on tape saying: "Fine, man. Hell, that's different—that's a pop song now, just about." To gauge professional and public reaction, Phillips took several acetates of the session to DJ Dewey Phillips (no relation) of Memphis radio station WHBQ's Red, Hot and Blue show. "That's All Right" subsequently received its first play on July 8, 1954. A week later, Sun had received some 6,000 advanced orders for "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky," which was released on July 19, 1954. From August 18 through December 8, "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was consistently higher on the charts, and then both sides began to chart across the South. After several performances with other bands, Presley arranged for Moore and Black to be his regular back- up group, giving them each 25% of the takings. Moore and Black were originally members of their own band, The Starlight Wranglers, but after the success of "That's All Right", jealousy within the group forced them to split. Over the next 15 months, the trio would release five singles, tour extensively across the South, and appear regularly on the Louisiana Hayride; it was the biggest rival to the Grand Ole Opry at the time. They had originally auditioned for the Opry in October 1954, but they failed to impress the people in charge, or the audience, and were not invited back. Several biographers cite Jim Denny, talent agent at the Opry, as the man who told Presley that he should "go back to driving a truck". The trio would record at Sun together until November 1955, when Phillips sold Presley's contract to RCA Victor for $40,000; it was, at the time, the highest sum ever paid for a recording contract. Sun had permission to keep pressing the singles until January 1, 1956, and RCA Victor released Presley's first five Sun singles nationally. In January 1956, Presley recorded "Heartbreak Hotel", his first RCA Victor single. He would return to Sun studios regularly over the next few months, visiting with Phillips and meeting many of the label's new artists. Although Presley never officially recorded for Sun again, he was caught on tape during an impromptu jamming session on December 4, 1956. Presley had arrived during a Carl Perkins recording session, which also featured a young Jerry Lee Lewis on piano, and a new artist named Johnny Cash watching on. During a break in recording, Presley sat at the piano and began to sing along with Perkins, Lewis and Cash. Phillips kept his tape recorder running, and, seeing an opportunity to promote another of his new acts, he arranged for a reporter to cover the event. The recordings would eventually be known as "The Million Dollar Quartet". During Presley's tenure at Sun Records, he recorded two demo recordings in Lubbock, Texas: "Fool, Fool, Fool" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll", which were released for the first time by RCA in the 1990s. These are not considered Sun recordings. Listed are the 24 titles from 1953–55, ordered by their recording date. A take is any later version; the best take would be used to create a master to be issued. My Happiness was recorded as a self-financed demo. The original is by Borney Bergantine (the melody existed in 1933), and Betty Peterson Blasco; published in 1948. That's When Your Heartaches Begin was recorded as a self-financed demo. The original is from 1937 by William Raskin, Fred Fisher and George Brown, and recorded by The Ink Spots in 1941. I'll Never Stand in Your Way, by Hy Heath, is another self-financed recording. It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You is the fourth and final self-financed demo Elvis recorded. The song is by Fred Rose. I Love You Because is a song by Leon Payne, original probably 1949, Capitol; Eddie Fisher (1950, RCA Victor) That's All Right (Mama) was written and recorded by Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup (1947, RCA Victor). Crudup's original title is "That's All Right (Mama)"; on the Sun label, and many later releases, '(Mama)' is omitted: "That's All Right". Elvis's recording of "That's All Right (Mama)" is mentioned as one of the beginning of rock and roll, though the first rock and roll records predate it. Hugh Williams - Jimmy Kennedy. Original: possibly Harry Owens and His Royal Hawaiians. The 4-CD boxed set "Today, Tomorrow and Forever" contains an alternate version (take three). Blue Moon of Kentucky is a bluegrass song by Bill Monroe, originally recorded by "Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys" (1947, Columbia). The 1992 album contains a fragment (1:03) of an alternate take in a slower, more country style. This take was originally released on bootleg in 1974, having been located at Sun Records many years after Presley left for RCA. R. Rodgers - L. Hart. Original: Ted Fio Rito & His Orchestra (Brunswick LA231=C 11/19/1934) Also: Connie Boswell (Brunswick 16642, 1/15/1935) Sam Coslow - Will Grosz. Original: Lonnie Johnson (1948, King) Jimmy Wakely. Original: Jimmy Wakely (1943, Decca) M. David. Original probably Patti Page (1950, Mercury) The Dean Martin version was probably Elvis' inspiration. Sydney Robin - Bob Shelton - Joe Shelton. Original: The Shelton Brothers (1942, Decca) Recorded 1933 Also; Lonestar Cowboys, 1933 on RCA (Victor), Nelstone's Hawaiians: Victor V40273 (1929). The song was also recorded by Frank Yankovic and was responsible for his band being rated the #13 band "on the Nation's Juke Boxes" in 1948. Roy Brown. Original Roy Brown (1947, DeLuxe); also Wynonie "Mr. Blues" Harris (1948, King) Kokomo Arnold. Original probably Kokomo Arnold (1935, Decca) Other releases: Johnny Lee Wills (1941, Decca); Moon Mullican (1946, King); Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys as "Brain Cloudy Blues", (1946, Columbia) Jack Sallee Arthur Gunter. Original: Arthur Gunter (1954, Excello) In 1951 Eddy Arnold recorded a song titled “I Want to Play House with You” Ray Charles Rose Marie McCoy - Charles Singleton. Original: The Eagles (1954, Mercury) In 2002, RCA included information in the liner notes of Sunrise as to Presley recording this song while simultaneously playing the piano, and not aided by his rhythm guitar, as previously believed. Because the piano was not directly miked, it can only be heard faintly in the background. Stan Kesler - William Taylor Stan Kesler - Charlie Feathers Junior Parker - Sam Phillips. Original: Little Junior's Blue Flames (1953, Sun) William R. Emerson. Original: Billy Emerson (1955, Sun) On December 4, 1956, a year after Elvis had left Sun for RCA, he revisited Sun Studio. The afternoon became a jam session with Carl Perkins (then already famous for his "Blue Suede Shoes"), Jerry Lee Lewis (relatively unknown at the time), and Johnny Cash (not heard on the tapes, although he does appear on the cover photo). The taping was largely unintended by the quartet; they were just singing the songs they had in mind. About 40 titles are recorded, most of them incomplete. Elvis is caught telling about a singer he saw in Las Vegas, doing his version of "Don't Be Cruel", and they're enjoying "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" from Chuck Berry. Over the decades, several additional recordings have been claimed as having been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records. The reference work Elvis: The Illustrated Record by Roy Carr and Mick Farren lists the following songs that were, as of 1982, believed to have been recorded by Elvis at Sun Records but as of 2009 remain unreleased and unaccounted for in the official record: "Tennessee Saturday Night" (2 takes recorded July 5–7, 1954). According to Carr and Farren, RCA planned to include this recording on the 1965 compilation album Elvis for Everyone!, but substituted the Sun side "Tomorrow Night" instead., "Uncle Penn" (1 take recorded September 9, 1954). Carr and Farren claim the existence of "Uncle Penn" is proven by it being listed on the session sheet for the recording session of December 8, 1954 that produced "Tomorrow Night" however this contradicts the authors' chart that gives the September 9 recording date., "Oakie Boogie" (1 take recorded December 8, 1954). Most of the tapes, including the private single, the Million Dollar Quartet and alternate takes have been released. Ten songs, making five singles, were originally released on the Sun label. These records (in both 45 RPM and 78 RPM formats) are among the most valuable of Elvis's output, fetching four figures in excellent condition: Sun 209—July 19, 1954: "That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky", Sun 210—September 25, 1954: "Good Rockin' Tonight" / "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine", Sun 215—December 28, 1954: "Milkcow Blues Boogie" / "You're a Heartbreaker", Sun 217—April 10, 1955: "Baby Let's Play House" / "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone", Sun 223—August 6, 1955: "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" / "Mystery Train" After signing with RCA, the same songs, in the same b/w combination, were re- released by RCA (December 1955). The songs were available on 78 RPM and 45 RPM, which explains the two ordering-numbers 20/47, respectively: RCA 20/47-6357: Sun 223, RCA 20/47-6380: Sun 209, RCA 20/47-6381: Sun 210, RCA 20/47-6382: Sun 215, RCA 20/47-6383: Sun 217 The same pairings were later reissued as part of RCA's Gold Standard series in five different label formats: Black label with dog at top (September 1958), black label with dog on left side (September 1965), orange label (November 1968), red label (September 1970), and black label with dog in upper right hand corner (September 1976) 447-0600: Sun 223, 447-0601: Sun 209, B-side of red label version misspells Elvis's last name as "PRESELY", 447-0602: Sun 210, The original "dog on top" copies of the above two were released with special picture sleeves, 447-0603: Sun 215, 447-0604: Sun 217 On January 27, 1956, the first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel" b/w "I Was the One" was released, giving Elvis a nationwide breakthrough. His reputation as a performer on stage was already growing in the same dimensions. On March 23, 1956, the first album, Elvis Presley, was released (RCA 1254). At that moment, "Heartbreak Hotel" was climbing the lists, but as Rock'n'Roll was largely bought by teenagers at the time, and teenagers usually bought singles, albums were seen as less important for the genre; as such, "Heartbreak Hotel" is not on this album. RCA, however, put five unreleased Sun recordings on this album: "I Love You Because", "Just Because", "Tryin' to Get to You", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", "Blue Moon" These two albums were released during Elvis's hitch in the Army, consisting of tracks previously released only as singles or on EPs, including all but one of the ten commercially released Sun tracks. Four were included on For LP Fans Only... "That's All Right", "Mystery Train", "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone", "You're a Heartbreaker" ...with five featured on A Date with Elvis: "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Milkcow Blues Boogie", "Baby, Let's Play House", "Good Rockin' Tonight", "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" The remaining commercial release, "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine", would not appear on LP until the 1976 compilation "The Sun Sessions". "Tomorrow Night" (Previously unreleased; original Sun master overdubbed with new instrumental and vocal backing by producer Chet Atkins for this release only), "When It Rains, It Really Pours" (1957 re-recording of an unreleased Sun track from 1955) On March 22, 1976, the album The Sun Sessions was released, with 16 out of the 24 known Sun titles: "That's All Right", "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine", "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Milkcow Blues Boogie", "You're a Heartbreaker", "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone", "Baby Let's Play House", "Mystery Train", "I Forgot to Remember to Forget", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", "I Love You Because", "Tryin' to Get to You", "Blue Moon", "Just Because", "I Love You Because" (second version) Missing: The private recordings, "Harbor Lights", "Tomorrow Night", "When It Rains, It Really Pours", "Satisfied", "I Got a Woman" Although the title suggests more, only 18 out of the 24 known Sun songs are here. The album does contain several takes from "I Love You Because", and "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone". Missing: The private recordings, "Satisfied", "I Got a Woman" The recordings have been released in 1989 as a CD, titled, Elvis Presley - The Million Dollar Quartet (RCA CD # 2023-2-R) Nearly every song Elvis recorded at Sun is present here (although "That's When Your Heartaches Begin" is hidden on CD number 5; the rest is on CD 1). Missing: "Satisfied" (apparently lost forever), all but one track from the Million Dollar Quartet session, as well as "It Wouldn't be the Same Without You" and "I'll Never Stand in Your Way". The latter two songs appear on yet another (and as complete as possible) Sun sessions CD titled Sunrise. Another delving in the Sun Records vaults is the most complete collection of Elvis's recordings from that time. All the masters, some demos and alternate recordings, and a few early live-recorded tracks. The current (as of mid-2006) version of the Sun recordings. Contains the five singles ("That's All Right" / "Blue Moon of Kentucky"; "Good Rockin' Tonight" / "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine"; "Milkcow Blues Boogie" / "You're a Heartbreaker"; "Baby Let's Play House" / "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone"; "I Forgot to Remember to Forget" / "Mystery Train") plus "Harbor Lights", "I Love You Because" (alternate take 2), "Tomorrow Night", "I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin')", "Just Because", "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone" (slow version), "Tryin' to Get to You", and "When It Rains, It Really Pours". Missing: Private recordings and demos:, "My Happiness",, "That's When Your Heartaches Begin", "I'll Never Stand in Your Way", "It Wouldn't Be the Same Without You", "I Love You Because" (first version) (available on Elvis Presley), The lost "Satisfied", "I Got a Woman" (Re-recording available on Elvis Presley) A limited-edition 3-CD box set released in June 2012 by RCA/Sony collectors' label Follow That Dream (FTD) Records, as a companion piece to a book by Ernst Mikael Jørgensen, also entitled A Boy from Tupelo. The book chronicles Presley's day-to-day life from July 4, 1954 (the day when he first rehearsed with guitarist Scotty Moore) to December 31, 1955, including many previously unpublished testimonies, accounts and details on every single show performed by Presley during the period (the book is, indeed, mainly intended as a complete concertography and tourography of Elvis Presley's early career). The first two of the three discs released in conjunction with the book feature, as the title specifies, all the material recorded by Presley from 1953 to 1955, including all of the alternate takes and all of the recordings which were missing from previous releases, with the exception of "Satisfied" and "I Got a Woman"; the latter two recordings are stated by Jørgensen himself, in the book, to be actually lost. However, a live rendition from March 19, 1955 of "I Got a Woman" is featured on the third disc of the package, along with 31 more live recordings from the era, 27 of which are previously unreleased. The A Boy from Tupelo book + CDs package, which was printed as a strictly limited run of 3,000 copies (each including a gift pack consisting in five 45-RPM reproductions of Presley's original Sun singles) is, as of September 2012, sold out and not scheduled to be reprinted. Million Dollar Quartet US Congress National Recording Registry listings for 2002. Sun Recordings are item 40. In digital recording, audio signals picked up by a microphone or other transducer or video signals picked up by a camera or similar device are converted into a stream of discrete numbers, representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, and chroma and luminance values for video, then recorded to a storage device. To play back a digital sound recording, the numbers are retrieved and converted back into their original analog waveforms so that they can be heard through a loudspeaker. To play back a digital video recording, the numbers are retrieved and converted back into their original analog waveforms so that they can be viewed on a video monitor, television or other display. October 3, 1938: British telephone engineer Alec Harley Reeves files at the French Patent Office the first patent describing the technique known today as pulse-code modulation (PCM). Later, Reeves files also in the USA on November 22, 1939. It was first proposed as a telephony technology., 1943: Bell Telephone Laboratories develops the first PCM-based digital scrambled speech transmission system, SIGSALY, in response to German interception of military telephone traffic during World War II. The twelve transmission points were retired after the war., June 1950: Differential pulse-code modulation (DPCM) developed by C. Chapin Cutler at Bell Labs., 1957: Max Mathews of Bell develops the process to digitally record sound on a computer., November 1959: Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET, or MOS transistor) invented by Mohamed M. Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs. MOS technology is the basis of digital technologies such as large-scale integration (LSI) chips, microprocessors, image sensors used in digital imaging, and digital signal processor (DSP) chips used in audio signal processing and digital image processing., 1966: Linear predictive coding (LPC), an audio signal processing and speech coding technology, first proposed by Fumitada Itakura of Nagoya University and Shuzo Saito of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT). LPC was the basis for voice-over-IP (VoIP) technology, as well as speech processing chips, such as the Texas Instruments LPC Speech Chips used in the Speak & Spell toys from 1978., 1967: The first monaural PCM encoder was developed by NHK's research facilities in Japan. The 30 kHz 12-bit device used a compander (similar to DBX Noise Reduction) to extend the dynamic range, and stored the signals on a video tape recorder., 1969: NHK expands the PCM encoder's capabilities to 2-channel stereo and 32 kHz 13-bit resolution., 1969: The charge-coupled device, the first image sensor used in digital imaging, invented by Willard S. Boyle and George E. Smith at Bell Labs, based on MOS capacitor technology., 1970: American inventor James Russell patents the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system, which would later lead to the Compact Disc., January 1971: Using NHK's experimental PCM recording system, Dr. Takeaki Anazawa, an engineer at Denon, records the world's first commercial digital recordings, The World Of Stomu Yamash'ta 1 & 2 by Stomu Yamash'ta (January 11, 1971) and Something by Steve Marcus & Jiro Inagaki (January 25, 1971). Both have to be recorded live, without edits. Marcus is released first (in February 1972), making it the first released digital recording. On January 27 Yamash'ta records Metempsychosis in the Nippon Columbia studio, Tokyo, with percussion and a brass section., 1972: Using lessons learned from the NHK encoder, Denon unveils the first 8-channel PCM encoder, the DN-023R, which uses 47.25 kHz 13-bit PCM resolution and 4-head open reel broadcast video tape recorder. The first recording with this new system is the Smetana Quartet performing Mozart's String Quartets K.458 and K.421, recorded in Tokyo April 24–26 and released that October. At least six other Denon-recorded digital LP records are released in October, including jazz, classical and traditional Japanese music., 1972: Discrete cosine transform (DCT), an important data compression technique, first proposed by Nasir Ahmed, while working at Kansas State University. DCT compression later became fundamental to digital media. It is the basis for modern multimedia compression standards, for digital images (such as JPEG), digital video (such as H.26x and MPEG), digital audio (such as Dolby Digital and MP3), and digital television (such as HDTV)., 1973: Adaptive differential pulse-code modulation (ADPCM) developed by P. Cummiskey, Nikil Jayant and James L. Flanagan at Bell Labs., December 2–3, 1974: The Paillard Chamber Orchestra records the first digital recording outside Japan, in Paris' Notre Dame Cathedral, using Denon's DN-023R. Bach's "The Musical Offering" (BWV 1079) is released on LP May 1975., December 12–19, 1974: Helmuth Rilling records three Bach organ works inside the Gedächtniskirche, Stuttgart Germany using the DN-023R., May 1975: University of Utah professor Thomas Stockham develops a PCM digital audio recorder of his own design, using computer tape drives as the storage system. He founds the company Soundstream to offer it commercially. Between 1977 and 1980 a total of eighteen 4-channel 50 kHz 16-bit units were manufactured, of which seven were sold (at about $150,000 each). Over 200 recordings were made on his equipment, almost half of all digital classical recordings made in the 1970s., 1976: the prototype Soundstream 37.5 kHz, 16-bit, 2-channel recorder is used to record the Santa Fe Opera performing Virgil Thomson's opera The Mother of Us All for New World Records, making it the first US digital recording. However, the digital recorder is just a backup to the main analog multi-track recorder, and the analog recording is deemed superior and thus used for the LP release. The backup digital tape was presented at the October 1976 AES Convention in New York, but never commercially released., 1977: Denon develops the smaller portable PCM recording system, the DN-034R. Like the DN-023R it records 8 channels at 47.25 kHz, but it uses 14-bits "with emphasis, making it equivalent to 15.5 bits." It also allowed for overdubbing for the first time, crucial for professional recording., August 28–31, 1977: Soundstream's second-generation PCM system runs in the background of a California direct to disc recording session by organist Virgil Fox for Crystal Clear Records. When initially released the resulting LPs were pressed from the direct-to-disc acetate, though the later CD reissue (1987) comes from the digital backup tapes when the acetates were no longer usable. The CD reissue was made by Bainbridge Records., September 1977: Sony introduces the PCM-1 Audio Unit ($4400 street price) (44.056 kHz, 14-bit), the first consumer (well-heeled) PCM encoder. It required the use of a home video tape recorder for storage., November 4–7, 1977: 3M demonstrates a prototype 2-channel 50.4 kHz 16-bit digital recorder running on 1-inch tape at 45 ips at the New York AES Convention. As no true 16-bit converters were available, it combined separate 12-bit and 8-bit converters to create 16-bit performance., November 28, 1977: Denon brings their DN-034R to New York City's Sound Ideas Studios and records Archie Shepp's On Green Dolphin Street, making it America's first digitally-recorded commercial album. The following two days, November 29–30, Frank Foster and the Loud Minority record Manhattan Fever which is released April 1978. Five other jazz albums are recorded with the DN-034R in New York before it returns to Japan in December., March 1978: Sony introduces the professional-grade PCM-1600 Audio Processor (44.056 kHz, 16-bit) (list price $40,000) used with an external U-matic tape drive, making digital recording commercially available to recording studios for the first time. PCM-1610 and PCM-1630 follow., April 4–5, 1978: Telarc uses Soundstream's PCM system to record Frederick Fennell and his Eastman Wind Ensemble playing Gustav Holst's Suites for Military Band and George Frideric Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks. When released on LP this became the first US-recorded digital classical release., June 2, 1978: Sound 80 studios in Minneapolis records the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra performing Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring. This session is set up as a direct to disc recording, with the prototype 3M 50.4 kHz digital recorder running in the background. There is some disagreement, but it appears the resulting LP record (Sound80 Records S80-DLR-101) was taken from the digital backup tapes rather than the direct-to-disc acetate. In 1984 the session is re-released on Compact Disc by ProArte. This recording was nominated for three Grammy Awards, winning "Best Chamber Music Performance" (1980), making it the first digital recording so honored., Early June 1978: Sound 80 records Flim and the BB's debut self-titled album as another direct to disc recording again with the experimental 3M recorder in the background. Again the acetate is deemed not as good as the digital backup, so the digital master is used for the LP record (Sound80 Records S80-DLR-102). This makes it the first U.S. non-classical digital release. Within 6 months the hand-built ("very bulky and finicky") 3M digital recorder is disassembled, rendering the non-standard master tape unplayable. Therefore, no Compact Disc reissue is possible. The compact disc issue of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is unexplained., March 8, 1979: the first Compact Disc prototype was demonstrated by Philips in Eindhoven with the respective player nicknamed "Pinkeltje"., July 11, 1979: the first U.S.-recorded digitally-recorded LP of popular music (with vocals), Bop 'Til You Drop by guitarist Ry Cooder, was released by Warner Bros. Records. The album was recorded in Los Angeles on a 32-track digital machine built by the 3M corporation., October 12, 1979: Fleetwood Mac's Tusk (album) is released. It, and Live (Fleetwood Mac album), December 8, 1980, were mastered on the Soundstream PCM from analog multi-tracks., October 30, 1979: Stevie Wonder releases his soundtrack album, Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants recorded and mixed on a Sony PCM-1600., December 1, 1979: The Grammy-award winning self-titled Christopher Cross album is released. Cross' album becomes the first digitally recorded album to chart (recorded on the 3M system) in the United States, eventually winning 5 Grammys. Digital recording is now mainstream., 1980: The Red Book standard (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) is established for Compact Disc Digital Audio., 1980: Mitsubishi Electric introduces the X-80 ProDigi open reel 1/4" tape 15 ips 50.4 kHz 16-bit digital recorder ($5000). Only 200 are sold worldwide., 1980: Soundstream merges with Digital Recording Corporation, becoming DRC/Soundstream, to develop and market 50 kHz PCM recording to an optical card. Eclipsed by the rise of the 44.1 kHz Compact Disc, the company is out of business after 1983., 1981: Sony releases the PCM-F1 Digital Audio Processor ($1900)(44.056 kHz, 16-bit) and matching SL-2000 Betamax VCR ($700) as a complete affordable portable (with optional batteries) home digital recording system, August 17, 1982: The first compact disc manufactured, ABBA's The Visitors (because it was "mostly digitally recorded") is produced in Hanover, Germany. However due to production problems with it the third version didn't actually hit stores until later 1982 or early 1983. Billy Joel's 52nd Street actually becomes the first CD to hit the market, on October 1, 1982., September 5, 1982: Peter Gabriel releases his fourth studio album (titled Security in North America and Peter Gabriel IV elsewhere). When released on CD in October 1984 it becomes the first full-digital DDD release. It was recorded on Sony's Mobile One digital studio and mixed with a Sony PCM-1610., October 1, 1982: The Nightfly by Donald Fagen is released, recorded and mixed on 3M's 32-track recorder. When the CD is issued in 1984 it becomes another early DDD release., October 1, 1982: The first digital compact disc players are marketed by Sony (CDP-101, $900) and Philips (CD-100, $700)., October 1982: New England Digital offers the hard disk recorder (Sample-to-Disk) option on the Synclavier, the first commercial hard disk (HDD) recording system., 1984: Sony releases the PCM-501ES digital audio processor (44.1 kHz, 16-bit) ($895 list price) which is used with an external VHS or Beta video recorder., September 1984: Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. becomes the first US-manufactured CD to be released., 1987: Sony develops Digital Audio Tape., 1989: Test broadcasts for NICAM stereo digital audio for broadcast TV began in the UK., 1990: digital radio begins in Canada, using the L-Band., 1991: Alesis Digital Audio Tape or ADAT is a tape format used for simultaneously recording eight tracks of digital audio at once, onto Super VHS magnetic tape – a format similar to that used by consumer VCRs. The product was announced in January 1991 at the NAMM convention in Anaheim, California. The first ADAT recorders shipped over a year later in February or March 1992., 1993: RADAR (audio recorder) Random Access Digital Audio Recorder or RADAR is the first single box device used for simultaneously recording 24 tracks of digital audio at once, onto hard disk drives. The product, manufactured by Creation Technologies (iZ Technology Corporation) was announced in October 1993 at the AES convention in New York, New York. The first RADAR recorders shipped in August 1994., 1996: optical discs and DVD players begin selling in Japan. Recording 1. The analog signal is transmitted from the input device to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). 2. The ADC converts this signal by repeatedly measuring the momentary level of the analog (audio) wave and then assigning a binary number with a given quantity of bits (word length) to each measuring point. 3. The frequency at which the ADC measures the level of the analog wave is called the sample rate or sampling rate. 4. A digital audio sample with a given word length represents the audio level at one moment. 5. The longer the word length the more precise the representation of the original audio wave level. 6. The higher the sampling rate the higher the upper audio frequency of the digitized audio signal. 7. The ADC outputs a sequence of digital audio samples that make up a continuous stream of 0s and 1s. 8. These binary numbers are stored on recording media such as a hard drive, optical drive or in solid state memory. Playback 1. The sequence of numbers is transmitted from storage into a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), which converts the numbers back to an analog signal by sticking together the level information stored in each digital sample, thus rebuilding the original analog wave form. 2. This signal is amplified and transmitted to the loudspeakers or video screen. Even after getting the signal converted to bits, it is still difficult to record; the hardest part is finding a scheme that can record the bits fast enough to keep up with the signal. For example, to record two channels of audio at 44.1 kHz sample rate with a 16 bit word size, the recording software has to handle 1,411,200 bits per second. For digital cassettes, the read/write head moves as well as the tape in order to maintain a high enough speed to keep the bits at a manageable size. For optical disc recording technologies such as CDs or DVDs, a laser is used to burn microscopic holes into the dye layer of the medium. A weaker laser is used to read these signals. This works because the metallic substrate of the disc is reflective, and the unburned dye prevents reflection while the holes in the dye permit it, allowing digital data to be represented. The number of bits used to represent a sampled audio wave (the word size) directly affects the resulting noise in a recording after intentionally added dither, or the distortion of an undithered signal. The number of possible voltage levels at the output is simply the number of levels that may be represented by the largest possible digital number (the number 2 raised to the power of the number of bits in each sample). There are no “in between” values allowed. If there are more bits in each sample the waveform is more accurately traced, because each additional bit doubles the number of possible values. The distortion is roughly the percentage that the least significant bit represents out of the average value. Distortion (as a percentage) in digital systems increases as signal levels decrease, which is the opposite of the behavior of analog systems. The sample rate is just as important a consideration as the word size. If the sample rate is too low, the sampled signal cannot be reconstructed to the original sound signal. To overcome aliasing, the sound signal (or other signal) must be sampled at a rate at least twice that of the highest frequency component in the signal. This is known as the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem. For recording music-quality audio the following PCM sampling rates are the most common: 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4, and 192 kHz. When making a recording, experienced audio recording and mastering engineers will normally do a master recording at a higher sampling rate (i.e. 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192 kHz) and then do any editing or mixing at that same higher frequency. High resolution PCM recordings have been released on DVD-Audio (also known as DVD-A), DAD (Digital Audio Disc—which utilizes the stereo PCM audio tracks of a regular DVD), DualDisc (utilizing the DVD-Audio layer), or Blu-ray (Profile 3.0 is the Blu-ray audio standard, although as of mid-2009 it is unclear whether this will ever really be used as an audio-only format). In addition it is nowadays also possible and common to release a high resolution recording directly as either an uncompressed WAV or lossless compressed FLAC file (usually at 24 bits) without down-converting it. However, if a CD (the CD Red Book standard is 44.1 kHz 16 bit) is to be made from a recording, then doing the initial recording using a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz is obviously one approach. Another approach that is usually preferred is to use a higher sample rate and then downsample to the final format's sample rate. This is usually done as part of the mastering process. One advantage to the latter approach is that way a high resolution recording can be released, as well as a CD and/or lossy compressed file such as mp3—all from the same master recording. Beginning in the 1980s, music that was recorded, mixed and mastered digitally was often labelled using the SPARS code to describe which processes were analog and which were digital. One of the advantages of digital recording over analog recording is its resistance to errors. Compact discs use Reed-Solomon error correction, Cyclic redundancy check (CRC), Digital audio workstation, Direct to disk recording, Magnetic storage, Multitrack recording, Parity Computation, Many bits are stored on RAID storage systems, 4D Audio Recording system

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The Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the sequel to The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale stars as Bruce Wayne / Batman, alongside Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Morgan Freeman. Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane forces Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction. Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a third film, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "". Filming took place from May to November 2011 in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign: developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot. The Dark Knight Rises premiered in New York City on July 16, 2012. The film was released in the United States and the United Kingdom on July 20, 2012. The film received positive reviews, with praise being directed toward the performances, (particularly Bale and Hardy), action sequences, screenplay, direction, musical score, and emotional depth, with many critics deeming it a solid conclusion to the trilogy. The consensus at Rotten Tomatoes calls it "ambitious, thoughtful, and potent". The film grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the second film in the Batman film series to earn $1 billion. In addition to being Nolan's highest-grossing film, it became the seventh-highest-grossing film of all time, as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2012. In Uzbekistan, Bane, a mysterious terrorist and former member of the League of Shadows, abducts nuclear physicist Dr. Leonid Pavel from a CIA aircraft. Eight years after the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman has disappeared. Organized crime has been eradicated in Gotham City thanks to the Dent Act giving expanded powers to the police. Commissioner James Gordon has kept Dent's murderous rampage as the vigilante Two-Face a secret and allowed blame for his crimes to fall on Batman. He has prepared a speech to read revealing the truth, but decides not to read it. Bruce Wayne has become a recluse, and Wayne Enterprises is losing money after Wayne discontinued his fusion reactor project when he learned that it could be weaponized. Bane sets up his base in the city sewers, and prompts Wayne's corporate rival John Daggett to buy Wayne's fingerprints. Cat burglar Selina Kyle obtains Wayne's prints from Wayne Manor for Daggett, but she is double-crossed at the exchange and alerts the police. Gordon and the police arrive and pursue Bane and Daggett's henchmen into the sewers while Kyle flees. The henchmen capture Gordon and take him to Bane. Gordon escapes and is found by rookie officer John Blake. Blake, a fellow orphan who deduced Wayne's secret identity, confronts him and convinces him to return as Batman. Bane attacks the Gotham Stock Exchange by using Wayne's fingerprints in a series of transactions that leaves Wayne bankrupt. Batman resurfaces for the first time in eight years while intercepting Bane and his subordinates. Wayne's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, is convinced that Wayne is not strong enough to fight Bane, and resigns in an attempt to save him. Wayne finds an ally in new Wayne Enterprises CEO Miranda Tate, who becomes his lover. Using the stolen transactions, Bane expands his operations and kills Daggett. Kyle agrees to take Batman to Bane but instead leads him into Bane's trap. Bane reveals that he intends to fulfill Ra's al Ghul's mission to destroy Gotham. Batman fights Bane, but Bane easily defeats Batman. Bane breaks Batman's back and takes him abroad to an underground prison. The inmates tell Wayne the story of Ra's al Ghul's child, who was born and raised in the prison before escaping — the only prisoner to have done so. Bane lures Gotham's police into the sewers and uses explosives, trapping them and destroying bridges surrounding the city. He kills Mayor Anthony Garcia during a football game and forces Pavel to convert the reactor core into a decaying neutron bomb. Bane reads Gordon's speech to the crowd, and releases the prisoners of Blackgate Penitentiary, causing anarchy in the city while exiling and killing Gotham's elite in kangaroo courts presided over by Jonathan Crane. Months later, Wayne escapes from the prison and returns to Gotham. Batman frees the police and they clash with Bane's army in the streets; during the battle, Batman overpowers Bane. Tate intervenes and stabs Batman, revealing herself as Talia al Ghul, Ra's al Ghul's daughter. She activates the bomb's detonator, but Gordon blocks her signal. Talia leaves to find the bomb while Bane prepares to kill Batman, but Kyle arrives and kills Bane. Batman and Kyle pursue Talia, hoping to bring the bomb back to the reactor chamber where it can be stabilized. Talia's truck crashes, but she remotely floods and destroys the reactor chamber before dying. With no way to stop the detonation, Batman uses his aerial craft, the Bat, to haul the bomb far over the bay, where it safely explodes. Before takeoff, Batman indirectly reveals his identity to Gordon. In the aftermath, Batman is presumed dead and honored as a hero. Wayne Manor becomes an orphanage and Wayne's estate is left to Alfred. Gordon finds the Bat Signal repaired, while Lucius Fox discovers that Wayne fixed the malfunctioning auto- pilot on the Bat. While vacationing in Florence, Alfred discovers that Bruce is alive and in a relationship with Kyle. Blake resigns from the GCPD and receives a parcel from Wayne leading him to the Batcave. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman: A billionaire socialite who dedicates himself to protecting Gotham City from its criminal underworld, as a feared vigilante. Nolan has stated that, due to the eight-year gap between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, "he's an older Bruce Wayne; he's not in a great state." Bale employed a martial arts discipline called the Keysi Fighting Method, now modified for Wayne's current state and Bane's style. Bale has stated that The Dark Knight Rises will be his final Batman film. Bale acknowledged that Batman is "not a healthy individual, this is somebody that is doing good, but he's right on the verge of doing bad". Bale clarifies that "He doesn't want to forget [his parents' deaths]. He wants to maintain that anger he felt at that injustice". Bale felt bittersweet about leaving the franchise, saying that it was like "saying goodbye to an old friend." Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth: Bruce's trusted butler and confidant, who acts as a father figure to Wayne but is unable to accept Wayne's desire to revive his Batman persona, even resigning from his position to impress the seriousness of his position upon him. Christopher Nolan emphasized the emotional bond between Pennyworth and Wayne, stressing its importance in the previous films and predicting that the relationship will be strained as it never has before. Gary Oldman as James Gordon: The Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, and one of the city's few honest police officers. Oldman described the character's work in cleaning up Gotham City as having left him world-weary and slightly bored, likening Gordon to a soldier who leaps at the chance to be on the front lines. His life has taken a turn for the worse since The Dark Knight; his wife has left him and taken their children, and the mayor is planning to dismiss him from his job. Gordon feels guilty over his role in covering up Harvey Dent's crimes and is prepared to resign from his position as Commissioner over it, but then senses that Gotham is about to come under threat. Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle / Catwoman: A professional cat burglar, grifter, and femme fatale who establishes a playful, teasing relationship with Wayne that "takes some of the somberness away from his character", and pursues a "clean slate" (a computer program rumored to be able to erase a person's criminal history) when she crosses paths with both Wayne and Batman. Hathaway auditioned not knowing what role she was being considered for. Hathaway described the role as being the most physically demanding she had ever played, and confessed that while she thought of herself as being fit, she had to redouble her efforts in the gym to keep up with the demands of the role. Hathaway trained extensively in martial arts for the role, and looked to Hedy Lamarr—who was the inspiration for Catwoman's character—in developing her performance. Tom Hardy as Bane: A mysterious and physically imposing terrorist who was excommunicated from the League of Shadows and portrays himself as a "liberator of pain". He is desperate to continue Ra's al Ghul's legacy by destroying Gotham. The character was chosen by Christopher Nolan because of his desire to see Batman tested on both a physical and mental level. According to costume designer Lindy Hemming, the character wears a mask that supplies him with an analgesic gas to relieve pain he suffers from an injury sustained "early in his story". Hardy intended to portray the character as "more menacing" than Robert Swenson's version of the character in Joel Schumacher's Batman & Robin and that in order to do so, his portrayal entailed creating a contradiction between his voice and body. Hardy gained for the role, increasing his weight to . Hardy based Bane's voice on several influences, which include Bartley Gorman, and the character's comic book heritage. Bane claims that his revolution's enemies are the rich and the corrupt, who he contends are oppressing "the people". Political theorist and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek sees Bane as fighting "structural injustice", while likening him to a modern- day Che Guevara who is counter-intuitively driven to violence out of a sense of love. Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate / Talia al Ghul: A recently promoted member of the Wayne Enterprises executive board who encourages a still-grieving Bruce to rejoin with society and continue his father's philanthropic works, but is later revealed to be the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and Bane's accomplice. Joey King as Young Talia al Ghul., Joseph Gordon-Levitt as John Blake: A young police officer whose instincts lead him to believe that there is trouble on the horizon and is promoted to detective by Gordon when the elder cop saw something of himself within the younger. Blake represents the idealism that Gordon and Bruce Wayne once held, but soon lost in their battle against crime in the city. The film reveals his legal name to be Robin John Blake, an homage to Batman's sidekick in the comics, Robin. Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox: The CEO and later Executive Vice President of Wayne Enterprises, who runs the company on Wayne's behalf and serves as his armorer for the Batsuit, providing him with high-tech equipment and discreetly developing cutting-edge technology and weaponry, even as Wayne Enterprises starts losing money. Matthew Modine appears as Peter Foley, Gordon's second-in-command who disdains Batman. Ben Mendelsohn portrays John Daggett, a rival billionaire socialite who employs Bane in his plan to take control of Wayne Enterprises, and Burn Gorman appears as Daggett's assistant and Senior Executive Vice President Philip Stryver. Alon Abutbul portrays Leonid Pavel, a Russian nuclear physicist who is kidnapped from Uzbekistan by Bane and forced to convert the new Wayne Enterprises reactor core into a bomb. Juno Temple plays Jen, Kyle's friend and accomplice, and Daniel Sunjata portrays Mark Jones, a U.S. Special Ops officer who leads a task force into Gotham to assist Gordon and the GCPD in freeing the city from Bane's rule. Chris Ellis appears as Father Reilly, a priest at the orphanage that Blake grew up in. Brett Cullen portrays Byron Gilley, a U.S. congressman who is kidnapped on Harvey Dent Day by Kyle. Cillian Murphy reprises his role as Dr. Jonathan Crane / Scarecrow from previous films, as does Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard / Ra's al Ghul, who appears to Bruce in a hallucination, and Christopher Nolan's uncle John Nolan as Douglas Fredericks, a board member of Wayne Enterprises. Josh Pence portrays a young Ra's al Ghul in scenes set thirty years before the events of Batman Begins. Nestor Carbonell also returns as Anthony Garcia, Gotham's mayor. Other cast members include Aidan Gillen as CIA agent Bill Wilson (referred to solely as "CIA" in the film's dialogue; the character's name is revealed in the film's novelization); Rob Brown and Desmond Harrington as police officers; Josh Stewart as Bane's right-hand man Barsad, Christopher Judge as one of Bane's henchmen, Noel Gugliemi as Bane's exile compeller, and Tom Conti as a prisoner. William Devane portrays the President of the United States. Aaron Eckhart expressed enthusiasm in returning for a sequel if asked, although he later stated Nolan verified that his character, Harvey Dent / Two- Face, is dead, and only archive footage of Eckhart from The Dark Knight appears in the film. Several members of the Pittsburgh Steelers have cameo appearances as members of the fictional Gotham Rogues football team in the film, including Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Troy Polamalu, Willie Colon, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Wallace, Heath Miller, Aaron Smith, Ryan Clark, James Farrior, LaMarr Woodley, and Casey Hampton, and former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher as the head coach of the Rogues. Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl, a kicker in college, appears as the kicker for the Rogues' opponents, the Rapid City Monuments. In 2008, the Rooney family sold a minority stake in the team to Thomas Tull, the CEO and president of Legendary Pictures, which produced The Dark Knight Rises. United States Senator Patrick Leahy, who had made a cameo appearance in The Dark Knight, returned in The Dark Knight Rises, as a Wayne Enterprises board member. Thomas Lennon, who had appeared as a doctor in Memento, once again plays a doctor. India Wadsworth plays the wife of Ra's al Ghul and the mother of Talia. Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov had hoped a third film would be released in 2011 or 2012. Nolan wanted the story for the third installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?" Nolan said that he never even thought a third film was possible in the foreword for his book The Art and Making of the Dark Knight Trilogy. Nolan only agreed to a third film on the basis of finding a worthwhile story, fearing that he would become bored halfway through production if he discovered the film to be unnecessary. By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception. Later in December, Alan F. Horn confirmed that while discussions with Nolan about a third film were ongoing, no casting had been done, and Horn denied all such rumors. Before Nolan confirmed his involvement, Gary Oldman had said he was confident Nolan would return. Following the success of the Joker in The Dark Knight, studio executives wished for the Riddler to be included as the primary villain as he was considered a similar character and encouraged the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio. However, Nolan wanted the antagonist to be vastly different from the previous incarnations and committed to using Bane instead, citing the need for a character with a physical presence within the film. He was initially unfamiliar with the character's back-story, but pointed out the appeal of an archetype, labelling it as "the extreme of some type of villainy". When comparing the choice of Bane with the Joker, Nolan highlighted the Joker as an example of "diabolical, chaotic anarchy and has a devilish sense of humor", juxtaposing him against Bane, whom he likened to "a classic movie monster [...] with a terrific brain." Nolan has said that his draft of the script was inspired by Charles Dickens' 1859 novel A Tale of Two Cities, which centers around the French Revolution. This homage to Dickens was briefly illustrated by having Bane inconspicuously finger knit paracord in the film, symbolizing his literary character Madame Defarge, and more overtly by Commissioner Gordon's eulogy for Bruce Wayne, which is taken directly from A Tale of Two Cities. On February 9, 2010, it was announced that Nolan had "cracked" the story and was committed to return to the project. Shortly afterward, it was announced David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan were working on a screenplay. Goyer would leave the project during pre-production to begin work on Man of Steel; Jonathan continued writing the script based on the story by his brother Chris and Goyer. Chris Nolan said that his brother's original draft was about 400 pages. The film's storyline has been compared with the Batman comic book series' story arc "" (1993), which showcased Bane; the mini-series The Dark Knight Returns (1986), in which Batman returns to Gotham City after a ten-year absence; and the story arc "" (1999), which depicts a Gotham cut off from the rest of the world and overrun by gangs. The nickname "the Dark Knight" was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger. Nolan confirmed the Joker would not return in the third film, and dismissed rumors that he considered using unused footage of Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight. Reportedly, before his death, Ledger had plans to reprise the role of the Joker in the third film after enjoying his time filming The Dark Knight, a notion supported by Two-Face actor Aaron Eckhart. The Dark Knight Rises reunited Nolan with many of his past collaborators, including cinematographer Wally Pfister, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Lee Smith, costume designer Lindy Hemming, special effects supervisors Paul Franklin and Chris Corbould, and composer Hans Zimmer. During location scouting in December 2010, Nolan began searching for locations such as India, Romania, and Michigan. According to the Romania Insider, Nolan was interested in Bucharest's historical centers, Edgar Quinet Street, the Palace of the Parliament, and the Turda salt mine. The film had an estimated budget of $250–300 million, coming down to about $230 million after tax credits. Nolan elected not to film in 3-D, but instead stated that he intended to focus on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format. The Dark Knight Rises featured over an hour of footage shot in IMAX (by comparison, The Dark Knight contained 28 minutes). Nolan had several meetings with IMAX Vice- President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues. Wally Pfister had expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX, but because of the considerable noise made by IMAX cameras, 35mm and 70mm cameras had to be used for shooting the film's dialogue scenes, as dialogue had to be dubbed when shot with IMAX cameras. Chairman and president of the IMAX Corporation Greg Foster stated that IMAX planned to run the film in its theatres for two months, despite only being contractually committed to run the film for two weeks. Nolan also bypassed the use of a digital intermediate for the film, resulting in less manipulation of the filmed image and higher film resolution. Filming was scheduled to start in May and conclude in November 2011. Principal photography commenced on May 6, 2011, in Jodhpur, India at the Mehrangarh Fort before moving to Pittsburgh, where it operated under the working title Magnus Rex to reduce the visibility of the production. Shooting locations within the city included Heinz Field, the site of an American football game, with members of the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Gotham Rogues football team. More than 11,000 extras were used to depict the shot sequence. Filming in Pittsburgh also took place at the Mellon Institute and Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. A letter sent out to residents and business owners detailing road closures revealed that the streets of the city would be featured "as the start of [the] film". 9-1-1 operators were told to expect an increase in calls related to gunshots and explosions in the film's production. The Pittsburgh leg of production wrapped after three weeks on August 21, 2011. The next portion of the filming began in Los Angeles in late August and finished up on October 23 after nine weeks of filming. New York and New Jersey were the next places of filming. The Trump Tower replaced the Richard J. Daley Center as the location for the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. In November 2011, shooting shifted to Newark, New Jersey. Newark City Hall and Military Park were among the locations used for filming. Other shooting locations include London and Glasgow, the latter of which was used for "additional exterior filming". Principal photography concluded on November 14, 2011. The external waterfall scene at the end of the film was shot at Sgwd Henrhyd falls, on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. Production photos from filming in Pittsburgh showed a second Tumbler chassis after the first was destroyed, indicating that a new Batmobile would be in the film, following the destruction of the first in The Dark Knight. Further set photos revealed a "new vehicle" being transported to Wabash Tunnel, prompting speculation as to its nature. In June 2011, Autoblog confirmed the presence of the new Lamborghini Aventador on the film set. Several accidents occurred during the production of the film. While filming at Wollaton Hall, Nottingham, a tractor- trailer crashed into the main entrance, though no one was injured. A stuntman parachutist later crashed through the roof of a home in Cairngorm Gliding Club, Feshiebridge in Scotland, and became wedged there after a failed landing during a skydiving stunt; he was not seriously injured. While filming scenes in Pittsburgh, Hathaway's stunt double crashed into an IMAX camera while filming a sequence that required her to ride a Batpod down a flight of stairs during a riot. There were no injuries, but the camera was destroyed. A second accident took place in Pittsburgh when the truck carrying the then- unidentified vehicle later termed "the Bat" went off-course and crashed into a lighting array, damaging the model of the aircraft. Production was delayed while the model was repaired. Shortly before Christmas of 2011, Christopher Nolan invited several prominent directors, including Edgar Wright, Michael Bay, Bryan Singer, Jon Favreau, Eli Roth, Duncan Jones and Stephen Daldry, to Universal CityWalk's IMAX theatre for a private screening of the first six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises, which had been shot on IMAX film and edited from the original camera negative. Nolan, feeling that the use of film stock in cinema is currently being phased out due to the introduction of digital cinematography and projection, used this screening to make a case for the continued use of film, which he asserts still offers superior image quality to any digital format, and warned the filmmakers that unless they continued to assert their choice to use film in their productions, they may eventually lose it as an option. Nolan explained; "I wanted to give them a chance to see the potential, because I think IMAX is the best film format that was ever invented. It's the gold standard and what any other technology has to match up to, but none have, in my opinion. The message I wanted to put out there was that no one is taking anyone's digital cameras away. But if we want film to continue as an option, and someone is working on a big studio movie with the resources and the power to insist [on] film, they should say so. I felt as if I didn't say anything, and then we started to lose that option, it would be a shame. When I look at a digitally acquired and projected image, it looks inferior against an original negative anamorphic print or an IMAX one." Costume designer Lindy Hemming explained that Bane uses a mask to inhale an analgesic gas, which, in director Christopher Nolan's words, "keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can function." In designing Bane's costume, Hemming needed it to look "like an amalgam of all sorts of bits and pieces he cobbled together, as he passed through some very remote places. We made parts of his vest, for example, from fragments of an old military tent. His clothes are militaristic, but are not in any way a uniform." Hemming also designed Bane's mask to look "animalistic". Costume effects supervisor Graham Churchyard created a three-dimensional model of actor Tom Hardy's face and skull to design the mask, allowing the mask to perfectly conform to the contours of Hardy's face. Hemming personally designed Bane's coat, which she admitted took two years to complete. Taking inspiration from a Swedish army jacket and a frock coat from the French Revolution, it was designed to make Bane look equal parts dictatorial and revolutionary. The design was difficult as Hemming struggled to find a tailor in Los Angeles who could work with shearling. The Batsuit consisted of 110 separate pieces, each of which had to be replicated dozens of times over the course of the production. The base layer was made of a polyester mesh that is utilized by the military and high- tech sports manufacturers because of its breathability and moisture-wicking properties. Molded pieces of flexible urethane were then attached to the mesh, to form the overall body armor plating. Carbon fiber panels were placed inside the sections on the legs, chest and abdomen. The cowl was sculpted from a cast of Bale's face and head to become a perfect fit for Christian Bale. The suit remained unchanged for the film since The Dark Knight. In creating Selina Kyle's catsuit, two layers of material were used, with the outer layer being polyurethane coated spandex, embossed with a hexagonal pattern. The catsuit also consisted of elbow-length gloves, a utility belt, and thigh-high boots with spike heels. Concept artist Tully Summers commented on Nolan's style of cinematography when asked about the difference between his designs for this film and fantasy-based designs for Men in Black 3: "The difference for me was Christopher Nolan's visual style. One of the things that makes his Batman movies so compelling is their tone of plausibility. He will often prefer a raw, grittier design over one that is very sleek and product design pretty. It's sort of a practical military aesthetic. This stuff is made to work, not impress shoppers. The Dark Knight Rises is a war film." Producer Emma Thomas stated this Batman film has a different visual aesthetic from the first two Nolan-directed features, explaining that "it's meant to be winter in Gotham, so that right there is going to lend a whole different look to the film." The film introduces a vehicle that has been compared with the Batplane and the Batcopter, dubbed "the Bat". In designing the Bat, Nathan Crowley approached it as if it were an actual military project, emphasising the need for it to "fit into the same family" as the Tumbler and the Batpod. The final version of the Bat takes its design cues from the Harrier Jump Jet, Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and the Boeing AH-64 Apache. Chris Corbould described the Bat's size and shape as presenting a major challenge for filming given Christopher Nolan's emphasis on practical effects over computer-generated imagery. In order to make the Bat "fly", it was variously supported by wires, suspended from cranes and helicopters, and mounted on a purpose-built vehicle with hydraulic controls to simulate movement. When designing the Batcave set, Crowley and fellow production designer Kevin Kavanaugh hit upon the idea of flooding the Batcave and having Batman's equipment, the Batsuit and a supercomputer rise from the water. Another set was designed at Cardington as an "underground prison", a rough- hewn labyrinth of stone cells in a vast abyss with a vertical shaft leading to the surface. Exteriors above the prison were filmed in Jodhpur, India, chosen because the "forbidding landscape added to the desolation". In an interview in October 2010, composer Hans Zimmer confirmed that he would be returning to score The Dark Knight Rises. James Newton Howard was offered to return and write the score with Zimmer as he did for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but he chose not to because he noted that the chemistry established between Zimmer and Nolan during the making of Inception would make him seem like a "third wheel". Zimmer included several cues from the earlier scores, but explains that he wanted to go in a "completely different direction" for Bane's theme. While the theme accompanying Selina Kyle is deliberately ambiguous, the musical thread spanning throughout the trilogy was composed exclusively for Bruce Wayne. The film features a prevalent Moroccan chant of the phrase deshi basara (proper transliteration: Tījī basara’ah) (Arabic: تيجي بسرعة), which translates to "rise up" (literally: "come quickly"). In November 2011, Zimmer crowdsourced online audio recordings of the chant to be used in the film's score. When asked about the chant for clarification, Zimmer said, "The chant became a very complicated thing because I wanted hundreds of thousands of voices, and it's not so easy to get hundreds of thousands of voices. So, we tweeted and we posted on the internet, for people who wanted to be part of it. It seemed like an interesting thing. We've created this world, over these last two movies, and somehow I think the audience and the fans have been part of this world. We do keep them in mind." The official website launched in May 2011, introducing a viral marketing campaign similar to the one used to promote The Dark Knight. The website streamed an encrypted audio file described by users as chanting. Users decrypted the audio to the Twitter hashtag, "#TheFireRises". Warner Bros. removed a pixel from the webpage for every tweet using the hashtag. The website revealed the first official image of Bane. In July 2011, a teaser trailer leaked online before its official release with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The studio released the teaser three days after the leak. The trailer received mixed responses; Stephen Spencer Davis of Slate wrote it successfully built hype, while Kofi Outlaw of ScreenRant showed disappointment, claiming it was more of an "announcement trailer" than an actual teaser trailer. Outlaw criticized the quality, writing that a scene depicting Commissioner Gordon in a hospital bed was overly dramatic, had "hammy" dialogue, and was difficult to understand due to Gordon's labored breathing. Outlaw wrote that the sweeping shot of Gotham City had poor CGI and was too reminiscent of the Inception trailer. The theatrical trailer leaked online, like the teaser trailer, before being released the following week attached to theatrical prints of . Critics noted political undertones with dialogue foreshadowing the theme of income inequality and an "Occupy Gotham" campaign within the world of the story. Receiving more than 12.5 million views in the first 24 hours after its release, the trailer set the record for most combined downloads from iTunes, beating the previous record held by The Avengers. However, the second trailer for The Avengers again set the record with 13.7 million downloads. Warner Bros. attached a second theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises to theatrical prints of The Avengers. An "unnamed" Warner Brothers executive clarified that "We see this placement as a good strategic decision. We always want our trailers to be seen with films that people want to see—and a lot of people will be going to The Avengers!" The executive also commented that the trailer will "provide the best potential exposure for TDKR." Warner Bros. released the trailer online on April 30, 2012, approximately four days before they attached it to theatrical prints of The Avengers. Continuing a method used with The Dark Knight whereby the opening sequence of the film was attached to IMAX prints of I Am Legend seven months before release, a six-minute prologue of The Dark Knight Rises was attached to 70mm IMAX prints of , again approximately seven months before release. Critical reaction to the prologue was positive, with one critic commenting that "no one gets to make a film on this kind of scale anymore. Except for Christopher Nolan," though a round-up of reviews highlighted the way many critics found Tom Hardy's dialogue very difficult to hear. Addressing the issue in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nolan said "I think when people see the film, things will come into focus. Bane is very complex and very interesting and when people see the finished film people will be very entertained by him." Viral marketing campaigns for the film continued as magazine companies Empire and Wired received "CIA documents" concerning a "Dr. Leonid Pavel", with its mugshot connected to actor Alon Abutbul. According to the first document, Pavel is a missing Russian nuclear physicist, while the second document appears to be an edited transcript of a conversation discussing the handover of Dr. Pavel to the CIA by Georgian separatists, but with most of the conversation redacted. These were later shown to be plot elements of the six-minute prologue. The official Twitter account later linked to another censored document, this time, referencing "Operation Early Bird". A website of the same name was discovered, revealing a countdown timer. When the countdown finished, the site presented a map showing all available theaters that would be screening the film's prologue earlier than its release. Various websites received a package that included a cylinder map of "strike zones", and a "fire rises" T-shirt. In April 2012, the film's official website was updated with a "dossier" on a suspect named "John Doe" also known as "the Batman" for an arrest, with a list of several accusations. The premise of the campaign starts when the mayor of Gotham City "redoubles" the effort to capture Batman and anyone supporting his return in preparation for the upcoming "Harvey Dent Day". The site also includes an extensive list of real- world locations where "graffiti related to movement in support of the vigilante's return" is located. For each tweet of a specific location marked on the list, a frame of the second theatrical trailer for the film was released on a separate website. In January 2012, six months prior to the film's release, tickets for midnight IMAX showings in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles went on sale and sold out immediately. Purchased tickets surfaced for sale online for over $100, compared with their original price of $17.50. At the American International Toy Fair, Mattel unveiled figures for Batman, Bane, and Catwoman, and Batman's flying vehicle, the Bat. The Mattel figures were also released in the "Movie Masters" line, featuring more highly detailed and articulated presentation, and Quiktek versions that feature interchangeable accessories. Lego released building sets and mini-figures based on the film and incorporating other DC Comic characters. Additionally, Funko released a series of plush toys, Mezco Toyz released vinyl figures, and Hornby released the Batman Tumbler car. Other partners include Jakks Pacific, who created novelty and large-scale figures and plush toys, and PPW Toys, who created a Batman themed Mr. Potato Head. Various clothing items including shoes, T-shirts, hats and wallets were also produced. A video game of the same name was released on the same day as the release of the film for the iOS and Android devices for promoting the movie. The game features an open world with primary focus on stealth and combat. The combat system of the game is inspired from and . It takes place in Gotham City, with a somewhat similar but still significantly different plot from that of the movie. IGN gave it a mediocre score of 5.5/10. The film novelization, written by author Greg Cox and published by Titan Books, was released alongside the film on July 24, 2012. Warner Bros. partnered with Mountain Dew to do a cross-promotion that included a special paint scheme on the number 88 Chevrolet Impala owned by Hendrick Motorsports and driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On June 17, 2012, the car won the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway. On July 4, 2012, the studio signed a deal with Formula One team Lotus F1 to have the film's logos appear on the Lotus E20s driven by Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean at the 2012 British Grand Prix. Räikkönen and Grosjean went on to finish the race in fifth and sixth place respectively. Warner Bros. had previously followed a similar promotion at the 2008 British Grand Prix, when the now-defunct Toyota F1 carried a livery to promote The Dark Knight. Two digital comic books entitled Batman Origins and The Dark Knight: Prologue were released exclusively for Nokia Lumia devices. A special movie application has also been released, featuring trailers, wallpapers, movie schedules and Batman trivias. Limited editions of the Lumia 710, Lumia 800 and Lumia 900 were also released featuring a laser-etched Batman logo. On July 20, 2012, during a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 cinema in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire inside the theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Police responding to the shooting apprehended a suspect later identified as 24-year- old James Eagan Holmes shortly after arriving on the scene. Initial reports stated that Holmes identified himself as "the Joker" at the time of his arrest though this has been debunked. Warner Bros. cancelled the Paris, Mexico, and Japan premieres of The Dark Knight Rises, and suspended the film's marketing campaign in Finland. Several broadcast networks also suspended television ads for the film in the United States. The trailer for Gangster Squad, another Warner Bros. movie included in the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, was removed as it contains a scene which shows gangsters shooting submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen, similar to the shooting in Aurora. Director Christopher Nolan released a public statement calling the shooting "unbearably savage". Other stars of the film released statements expressing their condolences, with star Christian Bale paying a personal visit to the survivors and the memorial in Aurora. On July 6, 2012, Warner Bros. held a special IMAX screening of The Dark Knight Rises for more than one hundred reporters and critics. However, technical issues with the computer device synchronizing the sound and picture forced the studio to postpone the screening by a day. The film later premiered on July 16 at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater in New York City, New York, followed by a European premiere on July 18 at Leicester Square in London, England. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19, and was later released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20. The Dark Knight Rises received highly favorable reviews from critics. Many have named it one of the best films of 2012, and one of the best superhero films of all-time. Film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave The Dark Knight Rises an approval rating of 87% based on 356 reviews, and a rating average of 8.01/10. The web site's critical consensus reads, "The Dark Knight Rises is an ambitious, thoughtful, and potent action film that concludes Christopher Nolan's franchise in spectacular fashion." Metacritic, another review aggregator, assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". CinemaScore reported that audiences gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. The Telegraph granted the film a maximum score of five stars, stating that it is "a superhero film without a superhero," comparing it with The Godfather Part II and praising Hardy's performance as well as the film's intricate plot and narrative. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times thought the film was "potent, persuasive and hypnotic" and that it was "more than an exceptional superhero movie, it is masterful filmmaking by any standard." The Playlists Todd Gilchrist wrote "A cinematic, cultural and personal triumph, The Dark Knight Rises is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically significant and critically important for America itself – as a mirror of both sober reflection and resilient hope." IGN gave it a 9 out of 10, noting similarities in tone and theme to Batman Begins over the trilogy's second installment The Dark Knight, but also describing Bane as "that bit less interesting to watch" than Ledger's Joker, despite praising his "menacing voice" and "body language- driven performance". The Guardian scored the film four out of five stars, calling it a film of "granite, monolithic intensity", yet also calling it a "hammy, portentous affair". Andrew O'Hehir of Salon writes "if The Dark Knight Rises is a fascist film, it's a great fascist film, and arguably the biggest, darkest, most thrilling and disturbing and utterly balls-out spectacle ever created for the screen". Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, stating "the film begins slowly with a murky plot and too many new characters, but builds to a sensational climax." Film critic Richard Roeper gave the film an "A", calling it "a majestic, gorgeous, brutal and richly satisfying epic", and citing the final scenes of the picture as "the best five minutes of any film this year." The London Film Review gave the film a B and said "Nolan's film is a reminder that superheroes aren't merely a frivolous distraction, but an embodiment of our best selves." The film was crowned by Forbes as the best modern comic book superhero adaptation on screen, outranking both its main summer blockbuster competitor, Marvel's The Avengers, and the trilogy's previous installment The Dark Knight. In 2014, Empire ranked The Dark Knight Rises the 72nd greatest film ever made on their list of "The 301 Greatest Movies Of All Time" as voted by the magazine's readers. Total Film named it the 48th best film of the 2010s. The Daily Mail Chris Tookey said that the film was bloated and overly long, and criticized the sombre tone and lack of humor, despite praising the film's visually impressive set pieces. CNN's Tom Charity said the film was a "disappointingly clunky and bombastic conclusion to a superior series" and called it Nolan's worst film. Anthony Lane of The New Yorker says that the "story is dense, overlong, and studded with references that will make sense only to those intimate with Nolan's previous excursions into Batmanhood". In reaction to fan backlash to some of the negative reviews, Rotten Tomatoes chose to disable user commentary for the film leading up to its release. Some fans had threatened violence against critics while others threatened to take down the websites of movie critics who had given the film a negative review. In 2014, Aidan Gillen's character in the film, CIA agent Bill Wilson, became the subject of an Internet meme popular among 4chan users known as "Baneposting", which references the dialogue between Wilson and Bane in the film's opening plane scene. Writing in Salon, David Sirota, a progressive political commentator compared The Dark Knight Rises and the game Call of Duty to 1980s popular culture reflecting the political period of the time, accusing them of perpetuating a conservative agenda: "Just as so many 1980s pop culture products reflected the spirit of the Reagan Revolution's conservative backlash, we are now seeing two blockbuster, genre-shaping products not-so-subtly reflect the Tea Party's rhetorical backlash to the powerful Occupy Wall Street zeitgeist." An article in Variety reported Chuck Dixon, the co-creator of the Bane character, as saying that Bane is "far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street type if you're looking to cast him politically." Catherine Shoard of the center-left British publication The Guardian claimed the film "is a quite audaciously capitalist vision, radically conservative, radically vigilante, that advances a serious, stirring proposal that the wish-fulfilment of the wealthy is to be championed if they say they want to do good." In contrast, liberal commentator Jonathan Chait opined in New York that "What passes for a right-wing movie these days is The Dark Knight Rises, which submits the rather modest premise that, irritating though the rich may be, actually killing them and taking all their stuff might be excessive." Writing in USA Today, Bryan Alexander called Bane "the ultimate occupier" and reported that Christian Bale was amazed that the script had "foreseen" the Occupy movement. Nolan has denied the film criticizes the Occupy movement and insists that none of his Batman films are intended to be political: "I've had as many conversations with people who have seen the film the other way round. We throw a lot of things against the wall to see if it sticks. We put a lot of interesting questions in the air, but that's simply a backdrop for the story. What we're really trying to do is show the cracks of society, show the conflicts that somebody would try to wedge open. We're going to get wildly different interpretations of what the film is supporting and not supporting, but it's not doing any of those things. It's just telling a story. If you're saying, 'Have you made a film that's supposed to be criticizing the Occupy Wall Street movement?' – well, obviously, that's not true." Alternatively, politically-conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh alleged that the film was biased against 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney due to Bane's name being a homophone for Bain Capital, the financial service company Romney used to head, despite the fact that the character has existed as a major Batman foe since 1993. In response, Nolan said that the comments were "bizarre", while Dixon and Freeman said that the comments were "ridiculous". Democratic adviser Christopher Lehane has noted the similarities between the narratives of the film and the presidential campaign. Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek argued that film was inspired by French Revolution as portrayed by novelist Charles Dickens. On January 20, 2017, multiple media outlets noted that a small but key part of U.S. president Donald Trump's "had an uncanny echo" of Bane's speech after he takes control of Gotham in The Dark Knight Rises. Trump had given the film a positive review in 2012. In 2019, Warner Bros. threatened legal action after Trump borrowed the film's score for a 2020 campaign video. According to Matthew Rozsa of Salon, "The Christopher Nolan-directed film — and, more specifically, its fascistic revolutionary villain, Bane — has been referenced in racist hate speech directed against Black Lives Matter protesters by the popular alt-right site Virginia Dare and throughout the far right corners of the Internet." Hours before the midnight release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a $198 million domestic opening weekend. However, in the wake of the mass shooting during a midnight screening of the film, Warner Bros. decided to not report further box office figures for the movie until Monday, July 23, 2012. As a result, other distributors also delayed the release of their official estimates as well. The shooting is also speculated to have hurt the ticket sales as E! Online reported that a North Carolina audience member had stated that "this theater was kinda empty". Some reports released on July 21, 2012 said that rival studios estimated that the film grossed $75 million to $77 million on its opening day. Warner Bros. shortly after released a statement to ABC News stating that they delayed the release of their estimates for the opening day total of the film "out of respect for the victims and their families," and added "Warner Bros. Pictures will not be reporting box office numbers for The Dark Knight Rises throughout the weekend. Box office numbers will be released on Monday." Worldwide The Dark Knight Rises earned $448 million in North America, and $636 million in other countries, summing up to a worldwide total of $1 billion ($1084 million). Worldwide, it is the 29th-highest-grossing film of all time and the third-highest-grossing film of 2012. It had a worldwide opening weekend of $248.9 million. The film set a worldwide IMAX opening-weekend record with $23.8 million (overtaken by ) and also broke the record for the fastest movie to make over $50 million in IMAX theatres. IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond explained this by claiming, "Audiences are clearly seeking out and embracing the film the way it was meant to be seen – in IMAX." On the 2012 Labor Day weekend, it became the third film distributed by Warner Bros. and the thirteenth film in cinematic history to cross the $1 billion mark. The film also became the second movie (after Avatar) to reach $100 million in worldwide IMAX grosses. North America The Dark Knight Rises opened on Friday, July 20, 2012. It earned an estimated $30.6 million in midnight showings, which was the second-highest midnight gross behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($43.5 million). It did, however, set an IMAX midnight-gross record with $2.3 million (overtaken by ). The film made $75.8 million during its opening day, achieving, at the time, the third-highest single and opening day tally of all time. On July 23, 2012, it was announced that the film grossed $160.9 million for its debut weekend, which was the third-highest opening weekend ever, at the time, behind Marvel's The Avengers ($207.4 million) and Deathly Hallows – Part 2 ($169.2 million). However, it did set an opening-weekend record for a 2D film (previously held by The Dark Knight) and an IMAX opening-weekend record with $19.0 million (previously held by Marvel's The Avengers). The film also held the top spot at the box office for its second and third weekends. In North America, it is the thirteenth-highest-grossing film, the second-highest- grossing 2012 film, as well as the sixth-highest-grossing superhero film and film based on comics. Box Office Mojo estimates that the film sold more than 55 million tickets in the US. Markets outside North America Outside North America, the film opened with $88.0 million from 7,173 theaters in just 17 markets. It was in first place at the box office outside North America for four consecutive weekends. Its three largest markets are the UK, Ireland and Malta ($90.3 million), where it is the highest-grossing superhero film, China ($52.8 million) and Australia ($44.2 million). The Dark Knight Rises was released on November 28, 2012 in Hong Kong and New Zealand. On December 3, it was released in the United Kingdom, and on December 4, it was released in the United States. It is available on Blu-ray, DVD, and as a digital download. Coinciding with the release of this film, a box set of The Dark Knight Trilogy was released. The Dark Knight Rises was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on December 19, 2017. (Warner Bros.), (DC Comics) Alfred, most commonly (but not originally) named in full as Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, also known by his other alias Christopher Miller, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Wayne's loyal and tireless butler, housekeeper, legal guardian, best friend, aide-de-camp, and surrogate father figure following the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne. As a classically trained British actor and an ex- Special Operations Executive operative of honor and ethics with connections within the intelligence community, he has been called "Batman's batman". He serves as Bruce's moral anchor while providing comic relief with his sarcastic and cynical attitude which often adds humor to dialogue with Batman. A vital part of the Batman mythos, Alfred was nominated for the Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Supporting Male Character in 1994. In non-comics media, the character has been portrayed by noted actors William Austin, Eric Wilton, Michael Gough, Michael Caine, Jeremy Irons, Douglas Hodge, and Andy Serkis on film and by Alan Napier, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Ian Abercrombie, David McCallum, and Sean Pertwee on television. Ralph Fiennes voiced Alfred in two animated films. A young version of Alfred, played by Jack Bannon, depicts him before he became the butler to the Wayne family in the television series Pennyworth. The character first appeared in Batman #16 (April 1943), by writer Don Cameron and artist Bob Kane. Evidence suggests that Alfred was created by the writers of the 1943 Batman serial—Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker, and Harry Fraser—and that DC Comics asked Don Cameron to write the first Alfred story, which was published prior to the serial's release. In Alfred's first appearance, he was overweight and clean-shaven; however, when the 1943 Batman serial was released, William Austin, the actor who played Alfred, was trim and sported a thin moustache. DC editors wanted the comic Alfred to resemble his cinematic counterpart, so in Detective Comics #83 (January 1944), Alfred vacationed at a health resort, where he slimmed down and grew a mustache. This look has remained with the character ever since, even surviving his apparent "death" and resurrection. Alfred was originally conceived as a comedic foil for Batman and Robin. In most early tales, he made bungling attempts to be a detective on a par with the young masters. He was given a four-page feature of his own, and the feature lasted thirteen issues, skipping Batman #35, with the last story in Batman #36. The stories followed a simple formula, with Alfred solving a crime and catching the culprits entirely by accident. In later years, the comedic aspects of the character were downplayed. The Pre-Crisis comics (the comics that were published by DC Comics between 1938 and 1984) established Alfred as a retired actor and intelligence agent who followed the deathbed wish of his dying father (who he identified only as "Jarvis") to carry on the tradition of serving the Wayne family. To that end, Alfred introduced himself to Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson at Wayne Manor and insisted on becoming their valet. Although the pair did not want one, especially since they did not want to jeopardize their secret identities with a servant in the house, they did not have the heart to reject Alfred. (The name "Pennyworth" was first used for Alfred in 1969 and thereafter it has been assumed that his father was named Jarvis Pennyworth; as it is customary for British domestic servants to be called by surname it might have been implied on Alfred's introduction that Jarvis was the surname he shared with his father; the surname "Beagle" was explicitly used for Alfred starting in 1945 and on the introduction of "Pennyworth" this is treated as having always been their name by retcon). Initially, Alfred discovered their identities by accident; while fighting a burglar in Batman #16 (Alfred's first appearance), he accidentally hit a switch and opened a sliding panel leading to the Batcave. He is helpful to the duo, following them to a theatre where they are captured, bound and gagged by a criminal gang, and rescues them after Batman attracts his attention by knocking a rope down before the crooks return. This was revised in Batman #110 (September 1957); during his first night at Wayne Manor, Alfred awoke to moaning and followed the sound to the secret passage to the staircase leading to the Batcave and met his would-be employers in their superhero identities. As it turned out, the wounds were actually insignificant, but Alfred's care convinced the residents that their butler could be trusted. Since then, Alfred included the support staff duties of the Dynamic Duo on top of his regular tasks. Ironically, Alfred's loyalty would lead him to become a member of Batman's rogue's gallery. While pushing Batman and Robin out of the way of a falling boulder, Alfred was seemingly killed in Detective #328 (June 1964). It was revealed in Detective #356 (October 1966) that he had been revived by a scientist named Brandon Crawford. His attempt at regeneration resulted in a dramatic change: Alfred awoke from his apparent death with pasty white skin with circular markings, superhuman powers, including telekinesis, and a desire to destroy Batman and Robin. Calling himself The Outsider, he indirectly battled the Dynamic Duo on a number of occasions, using others as his puppets—the Grasshopper Gang in Detective #334, Zatanna in Detective #336, and even the Batmobile itself in Detective #340—and generally only appeared as a mocking voice over the radio. He did not physically appear in the comics until Detective #356, when he is bathed again in the rays of the regeneration machine during a struggle with Batman, and returns to normal, with no memory of his time as a supervillain. His time as the Outsider is collected in Showcase Presents: Batman Volumes 1 and 2. Alfred was later reunited with his long-lost daughter, Julia Remarque, though this element was not included in Post-Crisis comics. Her mother was the DC war heroine Mademoiselle Marie, whom Alfred had met while working as an intelligence agent in occupied France during World War II. In the Post-Crisis comics continuity, Alfred has been the Wayne family valet all of Bruce's life and had helped his master establish his superhero career from the beginning. In addition, he was Bruce's legal guardian following the deaths of his parents. Alfred's history has been modified several times over the years, creating assorted versions. In one such version, Alfred was hired away from the British Royal Family by Bruce's parents, and he virtually raised Bruce after they were murdered. Meanwhile, another version of Alfred's Post- Crisis life was slightly more closely linked to his pre-Crisis counterpart. In this version, Alfred is an actor on the English stage who agrees to become the Waynes' butler to honor his father's dying wish. At the time he begins working for the Waynes, Bruce is a young child. After several months, Alfred voices the desire to quit and return home to continue his life as an actor. However, these plans are momentarily forgotten when young Bruce returns home after getting into a fight with a school bully. Alfred teaches Bruce to handle the bully strategically, rather than using brute force. Following Alfred's advice, Bruce takes care of his bully problem. Upon returning home, Bruce requests that Alfred stay, and Alfred agrees without a second thought. Alfred raises Bruce after the Waynes are murdered. Alfred later helps Bruce raise Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and Tim Drake, all of whom were adopted by Bruce Wayne and became his partner Robin. He also had close friendships with other members of the Bat-Clan including Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain. Alfred often acts as a father-figure to Bruce, and a grandfather to Dick, Jason, and Tim. He is also highly respected by those heroes who are aware of his existence, including Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the original Teen Titans. Alfred has also been romantically linked to Dr. Leslie Thompkins, though his relationship with her never came to anything, particularly after she apparently allowed Stephanie Brown to die from neglect. He also developed feelings for Tim Drake's stepmother, but again, nothing came of it. During the events of , Alfred accompanies Wayne to England and becomes enraged when Wayne insists on endangering his own health while paraplegic. This was the culmination of several weeks of Wayne's self-destructive behavior, and when Wayne returns to Gotham City, Alfred remains in England, tendering his resignation. He spends some time vacationing in Antarctica and The Bahamas before returning to England. Dick Grayson tracks him down several months later and convinces him to return to Wayne Manor. In that story, it was revealed he had walked out of his own wedding years earlier. His resourcefulness came to the fore in the No Man's Land storyline, especially in #118. Batman is missing for weeks, leaving Alfred alone to watch his city for him. He uses his skills as an actor, storyteller, medic, and spy to survive and collect information on the recently destroyed society. Alfred even uses hand-to-hand combat in a rare one-panel fight sequence between him and a pair of slavers that ends with his rescue by Batman. In Batman #677, agents of Batman's mysterious enemy the Black Glove attack and beat Alfred in front of Bruce and Jezebel Jet, severely injuring him. In the same issue, a reporter from The Gotham Gazette suggests to Commissioner Gordon that Alfred may be Bruce's biological father and that this may be a reason for the murder of Martha Wayne. Alfred later denies the entire story, agreeing with Bruce that it was a fabrication. In Batman and the Outsiders Special, Alfred is seen apologizing at the graves of Thomas and Martha Wayne at the loss of Bruce, commenting that he grieves as a parent, regarding Bruce as his son. Later, a secret panel in Alfred's room opens, the result of a fail-safe planted by Bruce in the event of his death. Bruce leaves him one final task and also gives him an emotional goodbye, telling Alfred he considered him as a father. Alfred is left emotionally shattered, commenting more than once that, even if his biological fatherhood is a fabrication, in a deeper sense he actually was Bruce Wayne's father, having watched over him for years and feeling he failed him in the last moments. After the event of Final Crisis, when Batman was apparently killed in action, Alfred finds himself with the task of raising Bruce's biological son Damian with Grayson. sees Alfred allowing Damian Wayne to take on his first mission as Robin, giving Damian a Robin tunic and calling on Squire to assist the new Boy Wonder in finding Tim Drake, who went missing hunting down Jason Todd. Alfred also assists Grayson in his role as Gotham's new Dark Knight. After discovering that the original Batman was actually lost in time after his battle with Darkseid, Alfred immediately seeks clues to his whereabouts. Eventually, Bruce finds his way to the present. After Batman successfully expands his mission globally with Batman Inc., Bruce assumes full responsibility as a father, and Alfred assists him in raising Damian. In The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC universe), it is revealed that Alfred's father Jarvis Pennyworth was the butler of the Wayne family before Alfred when Bruce was still a child. Jarvis was blackmailed by the Court of Owls to set a trap for the pregnant Martha Wayne. Despite declining, the Court managed to cause a car accident that caused the child to be born prematurely and eventually to have died. Jarvis attempted to resign from his services and write a letter to his son in which he describes the manor as a cursed place, and tells Alfred that he should not begin his service under the Wayne family. However, Jarvis was unable to send it as he was murdered that night. During , Alfred is reunited with his long-absent daughter, Julia Pennyworth, an agent of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment, when Batman finds her in Hong Kong and takes her back to Wayne Manor for medical treatment after she is stabbed with a samurai sword through the chest by a Chinese gang boss she was hunting. Julia is initially hostile to Alfred, feeling that he has wasted his life going from a soldier to tending to a fop like Bruce Wayne. However, after Alfred is attacked by Hush and infected with a fear toxin, she discovers the Batcave and takes on her father's role to coordinate the Bat-Family's efforts against their foes. Alfred is briefly transferred to Arkham before it is attacked as part of the conspiracy, but he manages to survive the explosion and trick Bane into helping him reach an emergency cave Batman had installed under Arkham, the cave's defenses knocking Bane out and allowing Alfred to call for help. When Hush was briefly kept prisoner in the Batcave, he managed to break out of his cell and lock Alfred in it before sabotaging the Batman Family's equipment via the Batcomputer as they fought various villains, including crashing the Batwing with Batman still in it. However, he was swiftly returned to captivity when Alfred escaped the cell and knocked Hush out, Alfred harshly informing Tommy that he was hardly going to be locked up in his own home. During the arc, the Joker broke into the Batcave, and during a confrontation with Alfred, cut off Alfred's right hand. Julia confirms to Bruce later in the issue that Alfred survived the encounter and is in a stable condition. Following the death of Bruce Wayne, Julia says that with current medical technology, they can have Alfred's hand reattached without any complications. However Alfred refuses, stating that with Bruce dead, he no longer has need of it as he has no one left to serve. Even with the loss of Bruce as Batman, Alfred still assists the Batman Family in the Batcave along with Julia. After Bruce is discovered to be alive but with no memory of who he is or of his life as Batman, Alfred tells Bruce everything that had happened in his life up to the point of the creation of Batman, but accepts Bruce's request not to learn any more. Alfred did this so that, after years of service to the people of Gotham and the world, Bruce could finally accept his reward of a life without pain and the burning desire to be Batman, allowing his life as Bruce Wayne to finally begin. However, when the new villain Mr. Bloom launches a mass attack that apparently kills Jim Gordon-the new Batman-the amnesic Bruce pieces together enough information to deduce that he was once Batman, and convinces Alfred to subject him to a machine that will theoretically download all of his memories as Batman into his mind. Bruce's original plan was for the machine to be used to create a series of clones of himself that could be programmed to continue his mission, but although the process failed because simulations confirmed that the human mind could not handle Batman's trauma, Bruce comes through the process by having Alfred take him to the point of brain-death and then download his memories onto his blank brain. With his master restored, Alfred's hand is subsequently reattached, Bruce joking that they used a random hand from the reserves rather than keeping Alfred's hand on ice all this time. Following the 2016 DC Rebirth continuity reboot, Alfred appears in Detective Comics and the third volume of Batman, as well as in All-Star Batman. In All- Star Batman, Alfred is among the many Gotham citizens blackmailed by Two-Face into stopping Batman from providing Harvey Dent a cure for his condition; Alfred in particular reluctantly shoots down the Batwing as Batman is flying it. When asked, Alfred reveals his secret; during a moment of weakness and anger years prior, he had briefly hired a hitman to kill the Joker, though he soon after cancelled the hit after realizing how it would betray Bruce's ideals. When the alternate Thomas Wayne defeats his son and takes control of Gotham, he uses Alfred as a hostage to keep the rest of the Bat-Family out. When Damian breaks into Gotham, Bane breaks Alfred's neck for this 'disobedience'. When Bruce comes back to Gotham himself, he is captured and shown Alfred's body, but a recorded message played by Alfred reveals that Alfred arranged for his own death so that Bruce could come back and stop Thomas, the message reaffirming Alfred's faith in Bruce as the true Batman. Alfred's name was later given officially as Alfred Beagle. This name was subsequently given to an alternative version of the character from the world of Earth-Two, and Pennyworth became Alfred's accepted surname in the mainstream continuity. Alfred has also used the alias "Thaddeus Crane", which is derived from his middle names. His full name of Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth was depicted on his tombstone in Superman/Batman: Generations. Grant Morrison's run has referred to the Beagle surname as a possible stage name. In the 2012 film The Dark Knight Rises, Bruce Wayne leaves the majority of his estate to Alfred, listing him in the will as Alfred J. Pennyworth. Jarvis: Alfred's father in both pre-Crisis and New 52 continuity., Mademoiselle Marie: A war heroine with whom Alfred (while working as an intelligence agent in France) has a daughter in pre-Crisis continuity., Julia Remarque: Alfred's daughter by Mademoiselle Marie., Wilfred Pennyworth: Alfred's brother, Wilfred is referenced in the late 1960s and early 1970s and is mentioned in the 1997 film Batman & Robin., Margaret Wilson née Pennyworth: Alfred and Wilfred Pennyworth's sister, in the 1997 film Batman & Robin., Daphne Pennyworth: Alfred Pennyworth's niece, daughter of Wilfred Pennyworth, Daphne briefly appeared in the late 1960s/early 1970s., Barbara Wilson: Alfred's niece, daughter of Margaret Wilson née Pennyworth in the 1997 film Batman & Robin. A highly intelligent and resourceful man, Alfred runs the day-to-day operations of Wayne Manor and maintains much of the equipment of the Batcave beneath it. A former actor, he can use his acting and disguise skills to help Batman in the field when necessary, and is even capable of impersonating Bruce Wayne on the telephone convincingly, as well as giving Bruce various lessons that help him maintain his covers. He has also provided first aid up to and including suturing wounds and removing bullets, as well as occasional tactical support. He is also able to perform arthroscopy and other advanced medical procedures, thus limiting, if not eliminating, the need for hospital medical treatment even in the face of grievous injuries, helping to maintain Batman's secret identity by ensuring that Bruce Wayne has no need to visit hospitals for wounds inflicted as Batman. Nevertheless, Batman still requires professional medical treatment when Bane breaks his back () and Hush's machinations result in his suffering a skull fracture (). On these occasions, Alfred admits that his own skills are inadequate for such medical procedures. While not as skilled at martial arts as Bruce Wayne, Alfred is still nearly as resourceful. In one story in which he is kidnapped, he readily escapes and overcomes his captors without disturbing the cut of his suit. It was later mentioned that he had been kidnapped unsuccessfully 27 times (it should be noted, however, that these events take place in the Gotham Adventures comics, based on the animated adventures of Batman, and not within the standard DCU continuity). During , Ubu, Ra's al Ghul's musclebound bodyguard, attempts to use Alfred as a hostage, only to be disabled by a well timed sucker punch from Alfred. Presumably due to his lack of superpowers, the advanced combat training Bruce's other associates have, and Alfred's age, Alfred is the only member of the "Batman Family" that Bruce does not mind using a firearm, in his case favoring a shotgun when dealing with direct attacks on his person. Current issues of the various Batman comics seem to indicate that Alfred is a pioneer in and has also mastered several fields of rose breeding (even creating his own, the "Pennyworth Blue"), computer programming, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, nanotechnology, and biotechnology as he singlehandedly builds, programs, and maintains much of Batman's next-generational technology such as the Batcomputer. In Frank Miller and Jim Lee's All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, Alfred is a tougher individual with a different backstory. Following Batman's assault on the corrupt Gotham City police, Alfred and Vicki Vale are caught in the devastating car wreckage Batman creates (not aware of their presence) and Vale is badly hurt. Alfred is seen, shirtless and muscled, applying a tourniquet and generally taking control of the situation. He is described as having been a medic in the Royal Air Force and as ex-British Secret Service. In , an elderly Alfred still acts as Bruce's butler, mourning Bruce's diminished social contacts while continuing to loyally serve his master even after Bruce becomes Batman once again after a ten-year retirement. At the story's conclusion, having set Wayne Manor to self-destruct to protect Bruce Wayne's full secrets after his faked death during his fight with Superman, Alfred dies of a stroke, his last thoughts being to consider how utterly proper it is that he should die as Wayne Manor ceases to exist. In the sequel, , the Batcave computer has been programmed with an artificial intelligence named and apparently patterned after Alfred, to the point that it refers to Bruce as "Sir". Alfred appears as a main character in Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's . In this incarnation, Alfred was a member of the Royal Marines. Alfred met Thomas Wayne during a tour of duty in the Middle East and the two became good friends. During a battle, Alfred saved Thomas' life but lost his right leg in the process. It is also implied that both he and Thomas are keeping a traumatic secret. Discharged back to his home in London, Alfred received a gift from Thomas in the form of a very expensive prosthetic leg. He later traveled to Gotham City to visit his friend and found himself arriving on the night of a campaign party for Thomas' bid at the mayoral office. Afraid for his friend after hearing of the death threats on his life, Alfred tried to talk Thomas out of going to the movies with his wife and son, but Thomas refused to allow threats to keep him from enjoying his weekly movie night with Martha and Bruce. Later that night, Alfred was called to the police station. Thomas and Martha had been killed by a mugger outside the theatre and Bruce had been orphaned. To Alfred's shock, he discovered that Thomas and Martha had named him Bruce's legal guardian some time ago. Unsure of himself, Alfred still made it his mission to look out for Bruce as he grew up. When Bruce took on his costumed persona of Batman and began his war on crime, Alfred reluctantly took on the role of confidante and advisor, often telling Bruce to simply carry a gun instead of a belt full of untested gadgets. Alfred later saved Bruce's life by shooting Mayor Oswald Cobblepot. Though Alfred introduced himself to the eight-year-old Bruce as his butler, it is obvious he never serves as a manservant in the story otherwise as Bruce's guardian and mentor. However, he is recruited by Thomas as his family's head of security prior to Thomas and his wife's deaths. He is also a skilled martial artist, and trains Bruce the combat skills he would eventually utilize as Batman. He has a daughter living in Seoul, South Korea with her mother, where Alfred had previously worked at a security firm, implying Julia Remarque's existence in this continuity. Alfred appears in the Elseworlds series . He serves the Wayne family before dying in 1967, but his spirit remains around to give Bruce advice. In Generations 2, he makes his final appearance in 1975, when he convinces the ghost of Dick Grayson not to kill the Joker. He manages to convince Dick to pass over, but in the process his own soul crosses over, meaning he cannot come back., In , Alfred is reimagined as the hunchbacked Alfredo, the 'Igor' to Doctor Bruce Wayne, whose experiments see him reviving his father's brain in the body of the giant 'Bat-Man'. In keeping with his role as 'Igor', Alfredo is often forced to bear the brunt of his master's frustrations with the situation as the revived Thomas Wayne escapes to stalk highwaymen as the monstrous 'Bat-Man', but Bruce always swiftly apologises for his actions., In Batman: Dark Allegiances, Alfred is still Bruce Wayne's butler as Bruce faces various fascist-themed versions of his foes in the 1930s, but after the government asks Bruce to become an official American agent during the Second World War, Alfred joins Bruce and Selina Kyle in the field as the 'new' Robin., In , in a timeline where the Waynes were never killed, Alfred assists Bruce in investigating his parents' deaths when they apparently fall out of their penthouse (Revealed to have been done due to the influence of Vandal Savage's henchwoman the Scarecrone when the Waynes threatened his plan to acquire the meteor that gave him his powers). While studying available information on the meteor after Bruce determines its connection to events, Alfred discovers a record of the unusual energy reading it emits, but triggers a booby-trap that destroys Wayne Manor and kills him. Five centuries later, Bruce's descendant Brenda Wayne discovers a fragmented recording of Alfred and the energy reading that assists her in her own investigations into Savage's activities., In League of Justice, where the Justice League exists in a world where magic is prominent, Alfred is reinvented as a zombie-like figure, reinforcing Bruce's idea that science is more reliable than magic despite its greater potential power., Alfred plays a prominent role in the "" trilogy where Batman is turned into a vampire to fight Dracula, forging Batman's weapons to use against the remaining members of Dracula's 'family' and subsequently working with Commissioner Gordon after Batman succumbs to his vampiric instincts and begins to kill his old enemies. At the conclusion of the trilogy, with Gordon being hunted by Two-Face and Killer Croc in the remains of the Batcave, Alfred sacrifices his life to allow the currently-weakened Batman to drink his blood, giving his old master the strength to save Gordon and Gotham itself one last time before he allows himself to die to end the threat that he has become. During the "Trinity War" event of The New 52, it is revealed that the leader of the Secret Society is Alfred from Earth-3 who serves Owlman of the Crime Syndicate of America. Flashbacks reveal that Alfred helped Thomas Wayne Jr. kill his parents and brother when he was a child, Owlman reflecting that Alfred was the only member of his family that he could control. In the comic tie in to the video game, Alfred remained loyal to Bruce even when Bruce began the Insurgency and opposed Superman and had his secret identity exposed. When Superman invades the Batcave and breaks Batman's back, Alfred ingests the 5-U-93-R pill (which gives a person superhuman strength and durability) and subdues Superman, breaking his nose and beating him down. Alfred takes Bruce to the Tower of Fate, where Zatanna and Doctor Fate are hiding and will heal Bruce. For over seven months, Alfred oversees Bruce's slow recovery. When the Insurgency began their attack on Superman's Regime, Alfred provided a Kryptonite tipped bullet to Black Canary for her to face Superman. In the following years, Alfred remained the caretaker of Wayne Manor despite Bruce's absence, and still maintained a close relationship with Damian Wayne despite Damian's decision to join Superman. He is visited by Superman in Year Five, the Kryptonian wanting to know the ever-elusive Batman's location. Alfred, unaware where Batman is and not willing to help nonetheless, ignores Superman. He is eventually killed by Victor Zsasz, whom Superman sent to get information on Batman's location. His death pushes Batman out of hiding to confront Zsasz and Damian killing Zsasz out of revenge. In the game's sequel, Injustice 2, Zsasz is killed in year one by Damian, leaving Alfred's death in the continuity unexplained, but his takedown of Superman is referenced by Harley Quinn. In the prequel comic to Injustice 2 Ra's enacts a plan to bring the world balance and has Damian kidnap Alfred's corpse and resurrects him through the Lazarus Pit to use as a hostage against Batman. Due to Alfred being dead for a long time, he is brought back in a zombie-like state and requires constant medical attention from Damian. Upon recovering, around the same time he witnessed Batman and Damian attempt to kill each other, a fully recovered Alfred stops them and lecture them that his death was neither Damian nor Bruce's faults, attempting to reconcile them. Unfortunately, when Jaime Reyes/the current Blue Beetle and Diablo unintentionally destroys all supposed extinct animals, Alfred is now under the Insurgency's safety. Upon returning to Wayne manor for his recovery, it is reveal that the side-effect of Alfred's resurrection somehow cause him completely forgotten about the previous casualties he remembered during Superman's downfall and five years regime, such as Damian's accidental murder of Dick Grayson, only for Batman manage to remind him about this. Alfred eventually leaves Bruce and Wayne Manor as he has felt incomplete since his resurrection. Alfred makes a very brief appearance in the 1997 Tangent Comics One Shot Green Lantern in a story revolving around the Tangent versions of King Faraday and Roy Raymond. In this version Alfred Pennyworth is the head of a publishing empire that owned "The House Of Mystery". Alfred appears in Tiny Titans, and often has to make Robin stand in the corner because he has misbehaved. In an alternate reality depicted in the Metals crossover, Alfred is killed by Bane, prompting Bruce to request Cyborg's help in completing 'the Alfred Protocol', an artificial intelligence version of Alfred, created to allow Batman to keep some aspect of his 'father' with him. Once the Alfred Protocol is completed, its fixation on protecting his 'son' results in the A.I. version of Alfred murdering all of Batman's rogue's gallery, permanently merging with his 'son' as part of this goal. During the "rematch" with the Batman who Laughs- a Batman who was contaminated by the same chemicals that drove the Joker insane- the Batman Who Laughs claims that Alfred is the only member of his old family he left alive back in his world, the Batman Who Laughs claiming that he kept taunting his Alfred with hints that his original self was still 'alive' within him until the villain had corrupted Alfred to remain loyal despite acknowledging that Batman was now a monster, although Alfred denies that he would ever do such a thing. In this alternate reality, Nightwing ends an ongoing feud between superpowered beings by activating a device that depowers ninety percent of the super powered population. This builds to a future where super powers are outlawed and any super powered being must take inhibitor medications or be contained and studied should the medications not work on them. As Bruce was killed during the feud, Alfred was left with his estate and moved to Arizona while allowing Dick Grayson and his son stay in Wayne Manor. Though Alfred did not approve of Grayson's crusade against superhumans after the death of Bruce, Alfred would sometimes pay visits to the former hero. When Grayson discovered that his son Jake was beginning to develop powers, his house was invaded by his own police force the Crusaders to take Jake away. Alfred, refusing to stay idly by like he did when everyone lost their powers, attempted to strike one of the police members and was killed in response. Alan Napier portrayed Alfred in the live-action TV series Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward. No surname was used and "Pennyworth" was not introduced in the comics until after the series had ended production., Ian Abercrombie portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in the live-action TV series Birds of Prey. Abercrombie had previously portrayed the character in a 1997 television commercial promoting the home media release of the film Batman & Robin., In the Elseworlds crossover, Kate Kane said that the password to Wayne Enterprises' wi-fi is Alfred., Sean Pertwee portrays a deadlier version of Alfred Pennyworth in the Batman prequel series Gotham., Jack Bannon portrays Alfred Pennyworth in the series Pennyworth, developed by Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon, the creator and executive producer of Gotham. The series acts as an origin story for Alfred during his younger days, and explores his past as a soldier in the SAS. Olan Soule voiced Alfred in The Batman/Superman Hour., Alfred Pennyworth appeared in the Challenge of the Super Friends, voiced by William Callaway. In the episode "Wanted: The Superfriends", he is among the male humans that get turned into a Bizarro., Alfred Pennyworth appeared in , voiced by Andre Stojka., Alfred Pennyworth appeared as recurring character in the DC animated universe, voiced by Clive Revill (in the first three produced episodes for before leaving due to a previous commitment) and by Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (throughout the rest of series as well as in The New Batman Adventures, , Static Shock and the Justice League). In Batman Beyond, during the conversation with Terry McGinnis, Bruce Wayne confirms Alfred passed away in the year 2019., Alfred Pennyworth appears in The Batman, voiced by Alastair Duncan., Alfred Pennyworth is featured in , voiced by James Garrett. He appears in a non-speaking cameo in Batman's flashbacks in "Invasion of the Secret Santas", and appears again in a non-speaking cameo in "Chill of the Night!". In "The Super-Batman of Planet X", a robot likeness named Alpha-Red (voiced by James Arnold Taylor) appears and serves as the robotic butler of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh., Alfred Pennyworth appears in the Young Justice episode "Downtime", voiced by Jeff Bennett., Alfred Pennyworth appears as a main character in Beware the Batman, voiced by JB Blanc., Alfred Pennyworth appears in Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered, voiced by Nolan North., Alfred Pennyworth made non-speaking appearances in Teen Titans Go!, Alfred appears in Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? in the episode "What a Night for a Dark Knight!", with Steven Weber reprising his role. He is portrayed as Daphne's uncle in this version and is taken hostage by Man-Bat. William Austin portrayed Alfred in the 1943 serial Batman. Austin's appearance influenced the change of Alfred's design from the original fat, clean shaven Alfred., Eric Wilton portrayed Alfred in the 1949 serial Batman and Robin., Alan Napier portrayed Alfred in the 1966 live-action film Batman, based on the 1960s TV series., Michael Gough portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in the Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman film series. In the films, he is shown to be Bruce's tireless and faithful butler, who has been serving the Wayne family, ever since he was a child, and even became his legal guardian/father-figure. Despite his displeasement with Bruce's lack of a social life, he nonetheless supports him in his activities as the vigilante Batman and serves as his assistant, while also passing off sarcastic remarks about his employer's work as a vigilante. In the fourth film Batman & Robin, he has a niece named Barbara Wilson who turns into Batgirl. Gough also portrayed Alfred in a 1989 Diet Coke commercial, in the BBC radio-drama presentation of the "" story arc from the Batman comics, and in a series of OnStar commercials featuring Batman. In flashback scenes of Batman & Robin, a young Alfred is portrayed by Jon Simmons., Michael Caine portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in The Dark Knight Trilogy. He is a former senior NCO in the elite SAS of the British Army. He is a veteran of tours of duty whilst in the British Army in Malaya, Yemen, West Germany, Northern Ireland (twice) vs the IRA and on Cyprus., In Batman Begins, he is Bruce Wayne's legal guardian after Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne are murdered by Joe Chill. When Bruce vanishes for seven years and is declared dead by Wayne Enterprises' CEO William Earle in order to claim his shares, this plan is thwarted because Bruce left everything to Alfred. After Bruce returns from training in the League of Shadows, Alfred is told of his goal to become a symbol to frighten the criminals of Gotham City. Alfred helps Bruce arrange the order of the tools necessary for Bruce to become Batman, and encourages Bruce to feign a social life to deflect attention from the idea that he could be Batman. When the League of Shadows attack Wayne Manor, Alfred saves Bruce when trapped under a beam and rallies his surrogate son to resume his fight to save Gotham. In the aftermath, Alfred offers some suggestions about updating the Batcave., In The Dark Knight, Alfred and Bruce Wayne have moved to a downtown penthouse and the Batcave has been relocated to Gotham Harbor while Wayne Manor is being rebuilt. When Bruce travels to Hong Kong to capture a Mafia accountant, Alfred invents an alibi for Bruce. While reflecting on the Joker's reign of terror in Gotham, Alfred recalls a tale from his past career as a British intelligence agent about a thrill-seeking bandit in order to explain to Bruce that some men "just want to watch the world burn". Rachel Dawes gives Alfred the task of giving Bruce a letter "when the time is right". After Rachel's death, Alfred reads the letter and discovers that she was going to marry Harvey Dent. He later burns the letter, reflecting that, just as the people of Gotham would need to believe in Dent, Bruce needed to believe that Rachel loved him., In The Dark Knight Rises, Alfred has grown concerned as Bruce has not moved on from Rachel or Batman eight years later. Alfred reveals that during Bruce's absence, he frequently visited a restaurant in Florence with the fantasy that he would one day see Bruce there, settled down and happy. Alfred reluctantly assists Bruce in finding out information about the mercenary Bane. Following Batman's first encounter with Bane, Alfred fears that Bruce will get himself killed, and threatens to leave in order to dissuade Bruce. Alfred then tells Bruce that Rachel wanted to marry Harvey Dent, and that he burned her letter to protect Bruce's feelings. Angry and hurt, Bruce orders Alfred to leave. Alfred returns after Batman apparently sacrifices himself to save Gotham, and attends Bruce's funeral with Commissioner James Gordon, Lucius Fox and Detective John Blake. Over Bruce's grave, Alfred tearfully apologizes to Thomas and Martha for having failed to protect their son. When Alfred returns to the Florentine restaurant, he looks across to see Bruce alive and dining with Selina Kyle. They exchange knowing smiles and Alfred leaves, happy that Bruce has begun moving on with his life., Jeremy Irons and Andy Serkis portray Alfred in the DC Extended Universe., In , while still loyal to Bruce, he subtly mourns his master's non-existent social life and attempts to act as a humanising influence, such as trying to discourage Bruce from using a kryptonite sample salvaged by Lex Luthor against Superman, fearing such an act would corrupt his soul. After Bruce accepts Superman as an ally after learning that he was raised as a human with a human family and that Luthor has played them both, Alfred pilots the Batplane by remote while Bruce saves Martha Kent., Irons reprises his role in the film Justice League., Andy Serkis will portray Alfred Pennyworth in the 2021 DCEU reboot Batman film The Batman., Douglas Hodge portrayed Alfred Pennyworth in the Joker film, separate from the DCEU., In Joker, Arthur, suspecting that Thomas Wayne may be his biological father, goes to Wayne Manor to learn the truth and encounters a young Bruce, to whom he performs a comedic act before forcing a smile onto his face. Following this, Alfred takes Bruce away from Arthur before informing him that his mother was delusional, leading to the latter strangling him before fleeing. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. voiced Alfred Pennyworth in the animated films , and which are set in DC Animated Universe., Alastair Duncan voiced Alfred Pennyworth in The Batman vs. Dracula and ., David McCallum voiced Alfred Pennyworth in , Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin., Alan Oppenheimer voiced Alfred Pennyworth in ., Jim Piddock voiced Alfred Pennyworth in the animated movie ., Jeff Bennett reprises his role as Alfred Pennyworth in ., Robin Atkin Downes voiced Alfred Pennyworth in ., Michael Jackson voiced Alfred Pennyworth in Parts 1 and 2., Alfred Pennyworth makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in , an adaptation of the video game of the ., Martin Jarvis reprises his role as Alfred Pennyworth in ., James Garrett reprises his role as Alfred Pennyworth in ., Brian George voiced Alfred Pennyworth in and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles., Steven Weber voiced Alfred Pennyworth in and Batman vs. Two-Face., Ralph Fiennes voiced Alfred in the animated movie The Lego Batman Movie., Frogman voiced Alfred Pennyworth in DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon., Anthony Head voiced Alfred Pennyworth in ., Hōchū Ōtsuka and Adam Croasdell voiced Alfred Pennyworth in the Japanese and English version respectively in Batman Ninja., Alfred Pennyworth appears in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies. He is shown to have a movie out called "Alfred"., Alfred Pennyworth makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in The Death of Superman., Ralph Fiennes reprises his role as Alfred Pennyworth in . An Easter egg in shows a character named , a homage to Alfred Pennyworth, located in the in the city of (a copper is the lowest form of currency in the game, equivalent almost to a penny, and was the metal used to make the original U.S. penny)., Alfred Pennyworth appears in the Batman Begins video game, voiced by Michael Caine., Alfred Pennyworth appears in as the narrator, voiced by Jim Piddock. Alfred Pennyworth appears in for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii as a playable character., Alfred Pennyworth appears in , voiced by Steven Blum., Alfred Pennyworth appears as a playable character in , voiced by Robin Atkin Downes. In one level, Batman ends up mind-controlled by Brainiac's ship causing Robin and Alfred to follow him through the Batcave. When playable, the tray that Alfred is carrying can enable him to cross through fiery areas., Robin Atkin Downes reprises his role of Alfred Pennyworth in Lego Dimensions., Alfred Pennyworth appears as an NPC in Lego DC Super-Villains, but he can be created through the character customiser., He also appears as a playable character as part of a DLC pack. Alfred Pennyworth is a supporting character in the franchise where he is voiced by Martin Jarvis in the main series and Hugh Fraser in the VR game. Alfred Pennyworth's biography can be unlocked in . The player must scan a plaque describing one of Bruce Wayne's donations to the Arkham Medical Center., He is referenced consistently in , while the character does not make an actual appearance, he remains in constant radio contact with the players as the game's storyline progresses, and his bio appears., In , the character makes his first in-game appearance in the series, as the prequel shows his different mentality towards Bruce Wayne's adventures as Batman. Throughout the game, there are several instances where he disapproves of the techniques which Batman uses. Batman seems to hold Alfred at a distance, often shown taking advantage of his butler and shunning any attempts of warmth. When hired assassins target Batman, Alfred pleads with him to abandon his vigilante persona, but his words fall on deaf ears. Bane knows that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one and the same. He breaks into the Batcave and beats Alfred close to death before Batman can get to him due to him having taken a detour to defeat Firefly. Arriving in time to see Alfred die, Batman is able to save him by electric shocks from Electrocutioner's gauntlets which helped to restart Alfred's heart. The event leaves Batman so shaken he considers giving up on saving the city. With his understanding of Batman renewed, Alfred convinces him to keep fighting. After this, he continues to help Batman as he travels to Blackgate Prison to stop the chaos. This time, Batman shows gratitude towards Alfred. In the "Cold, Cold Heart" DLC, Alfred is present with Bruce Wayne at a party at Wayne Manor commemorating Ferris Boyle until Mr. Freeze crashes the party with Penguin's gang to capture Boyle. Upon Bruce becoming Batman, he was able to rescue Alfred and the other hostages., In , he contacts Batman throughout the game again through a holographic projector giving Batman valuable information. At the end of the video game where Batman's secret identity is revealed, he and Alfred are supposedly killed in a large explosion at Wayne Manor when Alfred enters the password "Martha" as part of the Knightfall Protocol, though it is possible they faked their own deaths. Alfred Pennyworth appears in both and its sequel , voiced by Enn Reitel. In the first season, like most interpretations, Alfred is Bruce's close friend and guardian. However, after Thomas Wayne's ties to corruption is revealed, their friendship is fractured when Alfred is shown to have known about these. Despite this, Alfred continues to support Bruce in the field and helps him in his battle against the Children of Arkham. In the final episode, Alfred is kidnapped and tortured by the group and their leader, Lady Arkham, as part of retribution against the Wayne family. He leaves clues for Bruce to find him and is rescued during Batman's final confrontation with Lady Arkham. Alfred may also lose an eye, depending on whether the player chooses attack Lady Arkham rather than unmask for his safety., In the second season, titled The Enemy Within, Alfred continues to support Bruce, despite suffering from post traumatic stress following his kidnapping and torture. Following the death of Lucius Fox, he becomes Bruce's closest ally, but suggests bringing another person onto the team. After falling unconscious in the Batcave, he decides to step away from helping Bruce as a vigilante, leading to him realizing that Bruce is only going towards the self-destructive path that his father lead. Depending on whether Bruce decides to stop operating as Batman or continue his activities as the vigilante, Alfred will either stay or leaves him to return to the UK. Alfred Pennyworth is featured in the Smallville Season 11 digital comic based on the TV series. Alfred Pennyworth on IMDb The fictional superhero Batman, who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics, has appeared in various films since his inception. Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, the character first starred in two serial films in the 1940s: Batman and Batman and Robin. The character also appeared in the 1966 film Batman, which was a feature film adaptation of the 1960s Batman TV series starring Adam West and Burt Ward, who also starred in the film. Toward the end of the 1980s, the Warner Bros. studio began producing a series of feature films starring Batman, beginning with the 1989 film Batman, directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton. Burton and Keaton returned for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns, and in 1995, Joel Schumacher directed Batman Forever with Val Kilmer as Batman. Schumacher also directed the 1997 sequel Batman & Robin, which starred George Clooney. Batman & Robin was poorly received by both critics and fans, leading to the cancellation of Batman Unchained. Following the cancellation of two further film proposals, the franchise was rebooted in 2005 with Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan and starring Christian Bale. Nolan returned to direct two further installments through the release of The Dark Knight in 2008 and The Dark Knight Rises in 2012, with Bale reprising his role in both films. Both sequels earned over $1 billion worldwide, making Batman the second film franchise to have two of its films earn more than $1 billion worldwide. Referred to as The Dark Knight Trilogy, the critical acclaim and commercial success of Nolan's films have been credited with restoring widespread popularity to the superhero, with the second installment considered one of the best superhero movies of all time. After Warner Bros. launched their own shared cinematic universe known as the DC Extended Universe in 2013, Ben Affleck was cast to portray Batman in the new expansive franchise, first appearing in 2016 with the Zack Snyder-directed film . The film would help begin a sequence of further DC Comics adaptations, including Justice League, a crossover film featuring other DC Comics characters, in 2017, and the stand-alone film The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves, with Robert Pattinson in the role. The series has grossed over $4.99 billion at the global box office, making it the eleventh highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Batman has also appeared in multiple animated films, both as a starring character and as an ensemble character. While most animated films were released direct-to-video, the 1993 animated feature , based on the 1990s , was released theatrically. Having earned a total of U.S. $2,780,457,505 the Batman series is the fifth-highest- grossing film series in North America. Batman was a 15-chapter serial film released in 1943 by Columbia Pictures and was the first appearance of the comic book character on film. The serial starred Lewis Wilson as Batman and Douglas Croft as Robin. Being a World War II era production, the movie serial like many of this period was used as war- time propaganda and had an anti-Japanese bent with J. Carrol Naish playing the Japanese villain, an original character named Dr. Daka. Rounding out the cast were Shirley Patterson as Linda Page (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and William Austin as Alfred. The plot is based on Batman, a US government agent, attempting to defeat the Japanese agent Dr. Daka, at the height of World War II. The film is notable for being the first filmed appearance of Batman and for providing two core elements of the Batman mythos. The film introduced "The Bat's Cave" and the Grandfather clock entrance. The name was altered to the Batcave for the comic. William Austin, who played Alfred, had a trim physique and sported a thin mustache, while the contemporary comic book version of Alfred was overweight and clean-shaven prior to the serial's release. The comics version of Alfred was altered to match that of Austin's, and has stayed that way. Batman and Robin was another 15-chapter serial film released in 1949 by Columbia Pictures. Robert Lowery played Batman, while Johnny Duncan played Robin. Supporting players included Jane Adams as Vicki Vale and veteran character actor Lyle Talbot as Commissioner Gordon. The plot dealt with the Dynamic Duo facing off against the Wizard, a hooded villain whose identity remains a mystery throughout the serial until the end. Batman (also known as Batman: The Movie) is a 1966 film adaptation of the popular Batman television series, and was the first full-length theatrical adaptation of the DC Comics character. The 20th Century Fox release starred Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin, as well as Lee Meriwether as Catwoman, Cesar Romero as the Joker, Burgess Meredith as the Penguin and Frank Gorshin as the Riddler. The film was directed by Leslie H. Martinson, who also directed for the series a pair of season one episodes: "The Penguin Goes Straight" and "Not Yet, He Ain't". In the late 1970s, Batman's popularity was waning. CBS was interested in producing a Batman in Outer Space film. Producers Michael Uslan and Benjamin Melniker purchased the film rights of Batman from DC Comics on October 3, 1979. It was Uslan's wish "to make the definitive, dark, serious version of Batman, the way Bob Kane and Bill Finger had envisioned him in 1939. A creature of the night; stalking criminals in the shadows." Richard Maibaum was approached to write a script with Guy Hamilton to direct, but the two turned down the offer. Uslan was unsuccessful with pitching Batman to various movie studios because they wanted the film to be similar to the campy 1960s TV series. Columbia Pictures and United Artists were among those to turn down the film. A disappointed Uslan then wrote a script titled Return of the Batman to give the film industry a better idea of his vision for the film. Uslan later compared its dark tone to that of , which his script pre-dated by six years. In November 1979, producer Jon Peters and Casablanca FilmWorks, headed by Peter Guber, joined the project. The four producers felt it was best to pattern the film's development after that of Superman (1978). Uslan, Melniker and Guber pitched Batman to Universal Pictures, but the studio turned it down. The project was publicly announced with a budget of $15 million in July 1980 at the Comic Art Convention in New York. Casablanca FilmWorks was absorbed into PolyGram Pictures in 1980. Guber and Peters left PolyGram Pictures in 1982 and took the Batman film rights with them, although PolyGram would retain at least 7.5% of the profits of said rights due to a contractual agreement. Guber and Peters immediately set up shop at Warner Bros., which finally decided to accept Batman. Tom Mankiewicz completed a script titled The Batman in June 1983, focusing on Batman and Dick Grayson's origins, with the Joker and Rupert Thorne as villains, and Silver St. Cloud as the romantic interest. Mankiewicz took inspiration from Steve Englehart's and Marshall Rogers's 1970s run in Detective Comics (later reprinted in the trade paperback Batman: Strange Apparitions), (), with Rogers himself being hired to provide concept art. The Batman was then announced in late 1983 for a mid-1985 release date on a budget of $20 million. Originally, Mankiewicz had wanted an unknown actor for Batman, William Holden for James Gordon, David Niven as Alfred Pennyworth and Peter O'Toole as the Penguin, who Mankiewicz wanted to portray as a mobster with low body temperature. Holden died in 1981 and Niven in 1983, so this would never come to pass. A number of filmmakers were attached to Mankiewicz' script, including Ivan Reitman and Joe Dante. Reitman wanted to cast Bill Murray as Batman. Eddie Murphy and Michael J. Fox were candidates for the role of Robin. Nine rewrites were performed by nine separate writers. Most of them were based on Strange Apparitions. However, Mankiewicz's script was still being used to guide the project. Tim Burton took over as director of the first Batman film in 1986. Steve Englehart and Julie Hickson wrote film treatments before Sam Hamm wrote the first screenplay. Numerous A-list actors were considered for the role of Batman before Michael Keaton was cast. Keaton was a controversial choice for the role since, by 1988, he had become typecast as a comedic actor and many observers doubted he could portray a serious role. Jack Nicholson accepted the role of the Joker under strict conditions that dictated a high salary, a portion of the box office profits and his shooting schedule. Nicholson's final salary is reported to be as high as $50 million. Principal photography took place at Pinewood Studios from October 1988 to January 1989. The budget escalated from $30 million to $48 million, while the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike forced Hamm to drop out. Rewrites were performed by Warren Skaaren, Charles McKeown and Jonathan Gems. Batman received positive reviews, broke numerous box office records, and won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction. The film grossed over $400 million, and left a legacy over the modern perception of the superhero film genre. Burton originally did not want to direct a sequel because of his mixed emotions over the previous film. Sam Hamm's first script had the Penguin and Catwoman searching for hidden treasure. Daniel Waters delivered a script that satisfied Burton, which convinced him to direct the film. Wesley Strick went uncredited for writing the shooting draft, deleting the Robin character, reworking the Penguin's characterization and "normalizing" all dialogue. Strick remained as the on-set writer throughout the production process and received top-billing screenplay credit the early trailers, while Waters had sole story credit. Various A-list actresses lobbied hard for the role of Catwoman before Michelle Pfeiffer was cast, while Danny DeVito signed on to portray the Penguin. Filming started at Warner Bros. in Burbank, California in June 1991. Batman Returns was released with financial success, but Warner Bros. was disappointed with the film's box office run because it earned less than its predecessor. However, Batman Returns was released to generally positive reviews, although a "parental backlash" criticized the film for containing violence and sexual innuendos that were thought to be unsuitable for children. McDonald's shut down its Happy Meal tie-in for Batman Returns. Although Batman Returns was a financial success, Warner Bros. felt the film should have made more money. The studio decided to change the direction of the Batman film series to be more mainstream. Joel Schumacher replaced Tim Burton as director, while Burton decided to stay on as producer. However, Michael Keaton did not like the new direction the film series was heading in, and was replaced by Val Kilmer as Batman. Chris O'Donnell was introduced as Robin, Jim Carrey starred as The Riddler, while Tommy Lee Jones starred as Two-Face. Filming started in September 1994, and Schumacher found Kilmer and Jones difficult to work with. Batman Forever was released on June 16, 1995 with financial success, earning over $350 million worldwide and three Academy Award nominations, but the film was met with mixed reviews from critics. After the release of Batman Forever, Warner Bros. started development on Batman & Robin, commissioning it on fast track for an adamant June 1997 release. Val Kilmer did not return, because of scheduling conflicts with The Saint, and was replaced by George Clooney. Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as Mr. Freeze, while Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy, Alicia Silverstone played Batgirl, and Robert Swenson played Bane. Chris O'Donnell reprised his role as Robin. Michael Gough and Pat Hingle are the only cast members to appear in all four films as Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner Gordon respectively. Principal photography began in September 1996 and finished in January 1997, two weeks ahead of the shooting schedule. Batman & Robin was released on June 20, 1997, and received primarily negative reviews. Observers criticized the film for its toyetic and campy approach, and for homosexual innuendos added by Schumacher. The film was a financial success, but remains the least commercially successful live-action Batman film. Batman & Robin received numerous nominations at the Razzie Awards and ranks among the worst rated superhero films of all time. During the filming of Batman & Robin, Warner Bros. was impressed with the dailies, prompting them to immediately hire Joel Schumacher to reprise his directing duties for a third film. Writer Akiva Goldsman, who worked on Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, turned down the chance to write the script. In late 1996, Warner Bros. and Schumacher hired Mark Protosevich to write the script for a fifth Batman film. A projected mid-1999 release date was announced. Los Angeles Times described their film as "continuing in the same vein with multiple villains and more silliness". Titled Batman Unchained but often incorrectly referred to as Batman Triumphant, Protosevich's script had the Scarecrow as the main villain and the Joker would return as a hallucination in Batman's mind caused by the Scarecrow's fear toxin. Harley Quinn appeared as a supporting character, written as the Joker's daughter trying to kill Batman to avenge her father's death. Clooney, O'Donnell, and Silverstone were set to reprise the roles of Batman, Robin, and Batgirl. Schumacher had also approached Nicolas Cage for the role of Scarecrow in Batman & Robin as a cameo appearance to set up an appearance in Batman Unchained, before ultimately casting Coolio. A fifth film would likely have appeared 18 months to two years after the fourth. When Batman & Robin received negative reviews and failed to outgross any of its predecessors, and a $150 million Superman film was canceled three months before shooting began, Warner Bros. became unsure of its plans for the fifth film. The studio decided it was best to consider a live-action Batman Beyond film and an adaptation of Frank Miller's . Warner Bros. would then greenlight whichever idea suited them the most. Schumacher felt he "owe[d] the Batman culture a real Batman movie. I would go back to the basics and make a dark portrayal of the Dark Knight." He approached Warner Bros. to do Batman: Year One in mid-1998. Despite Warner Bros. and Schumacher's interest with Year One, Lee Shapiro, a comic book fan, and Stephen Wise pitched the studio with a script titled Batman: DarKnight in mid-1998. DarKnight, which was largely inspired by The Dark Knight Returns, had Bruce Wayne giving up his crime fighting career, and Dick Grayson attending Gotham University. Dr. Jonathan Crane uses his position as professor of psychology at Gotham University and as head psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum to conduct his fear experiments (this element would later appear in Batman Begins). During a vengeful confrontation with a colleague, Dr. Kirk Langstrom, Crane unknowingly initiates Kirk's transformation into the creature known as Man-Bat. Citizens of Gotham believe Man-Bat's nightly activities to be Batman's "bloodthirsty" return. Bruce once again becomes Batman "to clear his name," and solve the mystery of Man-Bat. Kirk struggles with his "man- vs.-monster" syndrome, as he longs to both reunite with his wife and get revenge on Crane, while Crane exacts revenge on those responsible for his dismissal from both Arkham and the university while encountering truths about his past. Warner Bros. decided not to move forward with the project, and passed on Batman: DarKnight in favor of Year One and Batman Beyond. Chris O'Donnell revealed in a 2012 interview with Access Hollywood that a Robin spin-off had been considered; the project was cancelled after Batman & Robin. By September 2000 Warner Bros. was developing a live action screen adaptation of Batman Beyond, written by Paul Dini, Neal Stephenson and Boaz Yakin, with the possibility of Yakin directing, as well as an adaptation of Frank Miller's 1987 comic book story arc . Despite interest from Schumacher, the studio amazed and pleased fans by hiring Darren Aronofsky to direct and co-write with Miller, whom he previously collaborated with on an unproduced script for Ronin. Yakin developed one draft of the Batman Beyond screenplay with the writers but soon lost interest, and Warner Bros. abandoned Batman Beyond almost instantly in favor of Batman: Year One. Aronofsky and Miller intended to reboot the Batman franchise, "it's somewhat based on the comic book," Aronofsky said. "Toss out everything you can imagine about Batman! Everything! We're starting completely anew." Regular Aronofsky collaborator, Matthew Libatique, was set as cinematographer, and Christian Bale had been approached for the role of Batman. Coincidentally, Bale would be cast in the role for Batman Begins. At the same time, Warner Bros. was moving forward on a Catwoman spin-off. The Aronofsky-Miller script had a brooding Batman and realistic violence, and would also have been R-rated. Around 2001, Warner commissioned the rewriting of the film's script to The Matrix directors The Wachowskis, but the duo's version didn't convince Warner. Joss Whedon was later hired to rewrite the script, but like with The Wachowskis' script, Warner didn't like his script. In June 2002, the studio decided to move forward on Batman vs. Superman and abandon Year One. In 1999 new Warner studio head Alan Horn promised five tent-poles a year. He wanted to revive the Batman and Superman franchises as tentpoles. Wolfgang Petersen was to direct , but Andrew Kevin Walker pitched Warner Bros. an idea titled Batman vs Superman with as director. Superman: Flyby was put on hold, and Akiva Goldsman was hired to rewrite Walker's Batman vs. Superman. Goldsman's draft, dated June 21, 2002, had Bruce Wayne going through a mental breakdown after his five-year retirement from crime fighting. Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, and Commissioner Gordon are all dead, but Bruce finds some solace in his fiancée, Elizabeth Miller. Meanwhile, Clark Kent is struggling because of a recent divorce from Lois Lane. Clark and Bruce are close friends, and Clark is Bruce's best man. After the Joker kills Elizabeth on their honeymoon, Bruce swears revenge, while Clark tries to hold him back. Bruce blames Clark for her death, and the two go against one another. Ultimately, Lex Luthor is revealed to have masterminded the entire plot to get Batman and Superman to destroy each other. The two decide to team up and stop Luthor. Bale was approached to portray Batman, while Josh Hartnett was offered the role of Superman. Filming was to start in early 2003, with plans for a five- to six-month shoot. The release date was set for the summer of 2004. However, Warner Bros. canceled development to focus on individual Superman and Batman projects after Abrams submitted another draft for Superman: Flyby. According to Petersen "[Warner Bros.' chief] Alan Horn was so torn, because it's such a fascinating concept to do a Batman versus Superman film". Horn reportedly preferred Abrams' optimistic Superman script to the darker Batman vs. Superman script; studio executives voted 11-1 for the former. Many comic book fans agreed; David S. Goyer said, "'Batman Vs. Superman' is where you go when you admit to yourself that you’ve exhausted all possibilities ... somewhat of an admission that this franchise is on its last gasp". Since the decision left the studio without a Batman film for 2004, Warner quickly made Catwoman, which performed poorly at the box office. The Batman OnStar commercials were a series of six television commercials featuring Batman, created by ad-agency Campbell-Ewald and aired from 2000 to the beginning of 2002. The ads were based on the Tim Burton and Joel Schumacher films of the 1980s and 1990s, and used aesthetics, props, and settings from the series, in addition to the Elfman theme from the Tim Burton films. Actor Bruce Thomas portrayed Batman in these ads, while Michael Gough reprised his role of Alfred Pennyworth in one of the ads. Baywatch actress Brooke Burns played Vicki Vale in an ad as well. Actor Brian Stepanek played the Riddler in one ad and Curtis Armstrong played the Joker in another. Following a rejected Batman origin story reboot Joss Whedon pitched in December 2002, Warner Bros. hired Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer to script Batman Begins. The duo aimed for a darker and more realistic tone, with humanity and realism being the basis of the film. The film was primarily shot in the United Kingdom and Chicago, and relied on traditional stunts and scale models with minimal use of computer-generated imagery. Christian Bale starred as Batman, Liam Neeson as Ra's al Ghul, and Cillian Murphy as Jonathan Crane/The Scarecrow. Katie Holmes appears in the movie as Wayne's love interest, Rachel Dawes, a role created for the film. Alfred Pennyworth was played by Michael Caine and Jim Gordon was portrayed by Gary Oldman. A new Batmobile (called the Tumbler) and a more mobile Batsuit were both created specifically for the film. The film begins with the death of Bruce's parents and then explores his decision to leave Gotham and his training under the League of Assassins with Ra's al Ghul, before he rebels against the League and adopts the guise of Batman, recognising that he cannot condone their use of lethal force. The League attempt to attack Gotham using Jonathan Crane's weaponised fear toxin, but Batman is able to defeat them. Batman Begins was both critically and commercially successful. The film opened on June 15, 2005, in the United States and Canada in 3,858 theaters. It grossed $48 million in its opening weekend, eventually grossing over $372 million worldwide. The film received an 85% overall approval rating from Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that fear was a common motif throughout the film, and remarked that it had a darker tone compared with previous Batman films. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography and for three BAFTA awards. It was also listed at No. 81 on Empire's "500 Greatest Movies of All Time". Christopher Nolan reprised his duties as director, and brought his brother, Jonathan, to co-write the script for the second installment. The Dark Knight featured Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman/Bruce Wayne, Heath Ledger as The Joker, and Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent / Two-Face. Principal photography began in April 2007 in Chicago and concluded in November. Other locations included Pinewood Studios, Ministry of Sound in London and Hong Kong. On January 22, 2008, after he had completed filming The Dark Knight, Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medication. Warner Bros. had created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screen shots of Ledger as the Joker, but after Ledger's death, the studio refocused its promotional campaign. The film depicts Batman fighting The Joker, aided by the prosecution of charismatic District Attorney Harvey Dent. The Joker tests Batman's resolve when he causes Rachel's death and Dent's transformation into the disfigured criminal Two-Face. Although Batman is able to stop the Joker from forcing two ferries - one loaded with civilians and the other with prisoners - to destroy each other, he is forced to take the blame for the murders committed by Dent to ensure that Gotham's citizens do not lose hope for the future. The film received broad critical acclaim, and set numerous records during its theatrical run. With just over $1 billion in revenue worldwide, it is the 45th-highest-grossing film of all time, unadjusted for inflation. The film received eight Academy Award nominations; it won the award for Best Sound Editing and Ledger was posthumously awarded Best Supporting Actor. Nolan wanted the story for the third and final installment to keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good third movies in a franchise can people name?" He returned out of finding a necessary way to continue the story, but feared midway through filming he would find a sequel redundant. The Dark Knight Rises is intended to complete Nolan's Batman trilogy. By December 2008, Nolan completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to Inception. In February 2010, work on the screenplay was commencing with David S. Goyer and Jonathan Nolan. When Goyer left to work on the Superman reboot, Jonathan was writing the script based on the story by his brother and Goyer. Tom Hardy was cast as Bane and Anne Hathaway plays Selina Kyle. Joseph Gordon- Levitt was cast as Robin John Blake, and Marion Cotillard was cast as Miranda Tate. Filming began in May 2011 and concluded in November. Nolan chose not to film in 3-D but, by focusing on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX format, hoped to push technological boundaries while nevertheless making the style of the film consistent with the previous two. Nolan had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues. The Dark Knight Rises featured more scenes shot in IMAX than The Dark Knight. Cinematographer Wally Pfister expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX. During the film, set eight years after Dark Knight, the arrival of new foe Bane forces Bruce to return to his old role as Batman, only to find himself overpowered and captured by Bane as Gotham is cut off from the rest of the world with a stolen Wayne Enterprises fusion generator prototype set to go off in a few months. With the aid of thief Selina Kyle, Bruce is able to return to Gotham and defeat Bane while redeeming his image as Batman. The film concludes with Bruce having 'retired' as Batman after faking his death to live with Selina Kyle, evidence suggesting that he has passed on the Batcave to Blake while Gotham rebuilds in memory of the Dark Knight's heroism. Upon release, The Dark Knight Rises received a positive critical response and was successful at the box office, going on to outgross its predecessor and become the 24th-highest- grossing film of all time grossing over $1.08 billion. In February 2007, during pre-production for The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. hired husband and wife screenwriting duo Michelle and Kieran Mulroney to script a Justice League film featuring a younger Batman in a separate franchise. George Miller was hired to direct the following September, with Armie Hammer cast as Batman a month later and Teresa Palmer as Talia al Ghul. Filming had nearly commenced at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney, but was pushed back over the Writers Guild of America strike, and once more when the Australian Film Commission denied Warner Bros. a 45 percent tax rebate over lack of Australian actors in the film. Production offices were moved to Vancouver Film Studios in Canada for an expected July 2008 start and a planned summer 2009 theatrical release date, but Warner Bros. ultimately canceled Justice League following the success of The Dark Knight. Hammer's option on his contract lapsed and the studio was more willing to proceed with Christopher Nolan to finish his trilogy separately with The Dark Knight Rises. On June 13, 2013, a source from Warner Bros. told The Wrap that they were discussing more Man of Steel films, as well as a Superman/Batman film, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman. Warner Bros. announced that Superman and Batman would unite in a new film, a follow-up to Man of Steel (2013), taking its inspiration from the comic The Dark Knight Returns and set for release in 2015. Goyer stated at the Superman 75th Anniversary Panel at Comic-Con, that Batman and Superman would face off, and titles under consideration were Superman vs Batman or Batman vs Superman. On August 22, 2013, The Hollywood Reporter announced the casting of Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman. On January 17, 2014, it was announced that the film had been delayed from its original July 17, 2015 release date to May 6, 2016, in order to give the filmmakers "time to realize fully their vision, given the complex visual nature of the story". The film's release was moved again to March 25, 2016, "avoiding a high-profile showdown with on May 6, 2016". At some point prior to the events of the film, Wayne Manor was burned down, and Bruce and Alfred relocated to a smaller glass house above the Batcave. During the film, Lex Luthor manipulates Batman into perceiving Superman as an enemy. Batman fights and nearly kills Superman with kryptonite weapons, but eventually relents after learning that both their mothers share the same name. After Batman saves Martha Kent from Luthor's minions, he fights alongside Superman and Wonder Woman to contain the Kryptonian deformity Luthor created to kill Superman. Taking Luthor's metahuman files, Bruce states that he intends to gather the metahumans to prepare for an implied future threat. Shortly after filming had finished for Man of Steel, Warner Bros hired Will Beall to script a new Justice League film in June 2012. With the release of Man of Steel in June 2013, Goyer was hired to write a new Justice League script, with the Beall draft being scrapped. In April 2014, it was announced that Zack Snyder would also be directing Goyer's Justice League script. Warner Bros. was reportedly courting Chris Terrio to rewrite Justice League the following July, after having been impressed with his rewrite of Batman v Superman. As part of the ensemble cast, Wayne serves as something of a leader to the Justice League. Additionally, he spearheads efforts to revive Superman in preparation for the upcoming assault from Steppenwolf, and brings Lois Lane to help calm down the enraged reanimated Superman. Batman appears in brief flashbacks where he is involved in the capture of Deadshot and Harley Quinn; he rescues Harley from a submerged car, and apprehends Deadshot as the assassin is Christmas shopping with his daughter. Batman's history with Killer Croc is also briefly referenced. At the film's conclusion, Amanda Waller—who appears to know that Bruce Wayne is Batman—provides Bruce with files on various metahumans in exchange for his protection from future fallout from the Enchantress' recent attack. Bruce tells Waller to shut down Task Force X, as his friends (implied to be The Justice League) will handle future problems. Although he does not appear physically, Bruce Wayne is heavily referenced in Wonder Woman. After the events of , Bruce successfully retrieves the photo from Luthor's archives which he used to threaten Diana Prince, along with a watch that belonged to the father of Captain Steve Trevor. He transports them through an armored car to Diana, with a letter wishing to know her story someday. Diana recalls the events of the film as a flashback, after which she sends an e-mail to Bruce that reads "Thanks for bringing him back to me". Bill Dean voices a toy version of Bruce Wayne / Batman in a cameo appearance in David F. Sandberg's Shazam!. Dante Pereira-Olson appears as Bruce Wayne in the 2019 film Joker, directed by Todd Phillips. The film is set during the 1980s, where a failed stand-up comedian named Arthur Fleck turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City. By July 2015, Ben Affleck was in talks to star in, co-write with Geoff Johns, and possibly direct a standalone Batman film. In March 2016, Johns claimed that the appearance of Robin's suit covered in graffiti from Dawn of Justice would be explored later and the identity of the deceased character was intentionally unspecified. (The film implies that Robin was murdered by the Joker and Harley Quinn.) Following the release of Dawn of Justice, William Morris Endeavor's co-CEO Patrick Whitesell confirmed that Affleck had written a screenplay for a standalone Batman film that he hoped would be optioned by Warner Bros as well to direct. Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara confirmed in April 2016 that the studio was moving ahead with Affleck's stand-alone Batman film, which the actor would star in and direct. In May 2016, Jeremy Irons confirmed that he was "tied into The Batman", while Affleck stated that his solo Batman film would borrow from the comics, but mainly be an "original story". In August 2016, Jared Leto expressed his hope that his version of the Joker would appear in Affleck's Batman solo film. Later that month, Deathstroke was teased by Affleck through test footage, later confirmed by Johns that the character would be played by Joe Manganiello. In October 2016, Affleck stated the intended title for the film would be The Batman, but later clarified that the film could end up having a different title. Manganiello and Irons stated that filming would start in spring 2017. In December 2016, Affleck confirmed that the film was on track to begin shooting in spring 2017. Later that month, Warner Bros. executive Greg Silverman stated that the film would be released in 2018. Around the same time, Affleck stated that the film had no script and that he may end up not directing it. Affleck planned to shoot the film in Los Angeles as doubling for Gotham City. He reaffirmed his commitment to direct the film in his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. In late January 2017, Affleck decided to step down as director, but would remain involved as producer and actor. By this point, writer Chris Terrio, who won an Academy Award for writing Affleck's Argo and also helped script , had turned in a rewrite of the script. In February 2017 Reeves signed on to direct and co-produce the film. Production was delayed until 2018 as Reeves was tied up in post-production on War for the Planet of the Apes until June 2017, and The Batman is being re-written to allow Reeves more creative freedom as a director. Reeves stated in an interview that the film will feature "an almost- noir driven, detective version of Batman" that will emphasize the heart and mind of the character and will take inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock. On August 2, 2018, Reeves appeared on a Television Critics Association panel and revealed many details about the film. He confirmed that The Batman is an original, noir-driven story and not an origin story. He also revealed that the script is nearing completion and that the film will make only small connections to the greater "DC Universe." By January 2019, it was announced that Affleck would not return as Batman and no longer involved in any capacity. The film was scheduled to start shooting in early 2019. On May 16, 2019, it was reported by both Variety and The Hollywood Reporter that Robert Pattinson was in "early talks" and the "frontrunner" to replace Affleck as Bruce Wayne / Batman. On May 31, 2019, Pattinson was officially cast in the title role. The Batman is scheduled to be released in North America on June 25, 2021. On September 23, 2019, Jeffrey Wright was reported to be in talks for the role of James Gordon. On October 14, 2019, Zoë Kravitz was cast in the role of Selina Kyle / Catwoman. On October 16, 2019, Mattson Tomlin announced on his Twitter page that he will be co-writing the film. On October 17, 2019, Paul Dano was cast in the role of Edward Nashton / The Riddler. On October 18, 2019, it was announced that Michael Giacchino will be composing the film. On November 4, 2019, it was announced that Colin Farrell and Andy Serkis were in talks for the roles of Oswald Copplepot / The Penguin and Alfred Pennyworth. On November 11, 2019, Collider reported that Juilliard grad Jayme Lawson has been cast in a key role. On November 22, 2019, John Turturro was revealed to be playing Carmine Falcone. On December 6, 2019, it was reported that Peter Sarsgaard is cast in an undisclosed role. Theatrical 1993: , set in the continuity of with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman Direct-to-video 1998: , set in the continuity of Batman: The Animated Series with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2000: , set in the continuity of Batman Beyond with Will Friedle voicing Batman, 2003: , set in the continuity of The New Batman Adventures with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2005: The Batman vs. Dracula, set in the continuity of The Batman with Rino Romano voicing Batman, 2010: , an adaptation of with Bruce Greenwood voicing Batman, 2011: , an adaptation of with Benjamin McKenzie voicing Batman, 2012: , an adaptation of the first half of The Dark Knight Returns with Peter Weller voicing Batman, 2013: , an adaptation of the second half of The Dark Knight Returns with Peter Weller voicing Batman, 2013: , an adaptation of with Troy Baker voicing Batman, 2014: Son of Batman, a loose adaptation of Batman and Son with Jason O'Mara voicing Batman, 2014: , set in the continuity of with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2015: Batman vs. Robin an animated film with Jason O'Mara voicing Batman, 2015: , an animated film with Roger Craig Smith voicing Batman, 2015: , an animated film with Roger Craig Smith voicing Batman, 2016: , an animated film with Roger Craig Smith voicing Batman, 2016: , an animated film also featuring Batwoman and Batwing with Jason O'Mara voicing Batman, 2016: , an adaptation of with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2016: , based on the Batman television series with Adam West voicing Batman, 2017: Batman and Harley Quinn, an animated film with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2017: Batman vs. Two-Face, based on the Batman television series with Adam West voicing Batman for final time before his death, 2018: , an animated film based on the one-shot graphic novel of the same name with Bruce Greenwood voicing Batman, 2018: Batman Ninja, an animated film with Kōichi Yamadera and Roger Craig Smith voicing Batman in Japanese and English respectively. Teen Titans Go! To the Movies with Jimmy Kimmel voicing Batman. 2008: , based on the with Jeremy Sisto voicing Batman, 2009: , based on the comic of the same name with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2010: , a loose adaptation of various DC comics with William Baldwin voicing Batman, 2010: , based on Superman/Batman: The Supergirl from Krypton with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2010: DC Super Friends, based on the Fisher-Price toyline with Daran Norris voicing Batman, 2012: , based on with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman, 2013: , based on Flashpoint with Kevin McKidd voicing Batman, 2014: , an original story with Diedrich Bader voicing Batman, 2014: , based on Justice League: Origin with Jason O'Mara voicing Batman, 2014: animated television special, with Troy Baker reprising his role as Batman from the Lego video games., 2015: , based on Throne of Atlantis with Jason O'Mara voicing Batman, 2015: with Michael C. Hall voicing a Kirk Langstrom version of Batman, 2015: , with Troy Baker reprising his role, 2016: , with Troy Baker reprising his role, 2017: DC Super Heroes vs. Eagle Talon, with Takayuki Yamada voicing Batman, 2019: Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with Troy Baker voicing Batman 2014: A Lego-themed version of Batman appears in The Lego Movie, voiced by Will Arnett., 2017: The character receives his own spin-off film, The Lego Batman Movie, voiced again by Arnett. This film takes place in a universe where all of the previous live-action films, as well as some animated series, have happened., 2019: Arnett reprised his role as Lego Batman in . 2008: , a collection of original shorts with Kevin Conroy voicing Batman With a total gross of over $4.99 billion at the global box office, the series is eleventh highest-grossing film franchise of all time. Domestically, Batman films have grossed U.S. $2,780,457,505, making the franchise the fifth- highest-grossing film series in North America. Critical reception of the modern films has varied throughout its different eras. The Dark Knight, from Christopher Nolan's trilogy, is considered one of the best superhero movies ever, while two entries, Batman and Robin and Catwoman are considered some of the worst. The Dark Knight Rises is the highest-grossing Batman movie, grossing $1,081,041,287 worldwide, while Batman and Robin is the lowest- grossing film to feature Batman, at $238,207,122 worldwide. Films in the series have earned three Academy Awards (Burton's Batman for Production Design and The Dark Knight for Sound Editing and posthumous Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker), one BAFTA (also for Ledger), and ten Saturn Awards, which honor excellence in science fiction, horror, and fantasy. Of the 1980s and 1990s, Tim Burton's films received positive critical reviews for their return of the character to a more serious portrayal, though some felt that Batman Returns was too dark. Joel Schumacher's two films received mixed to negative reviews, particularly Batman and Robin, which has the lowest aggregate scores out of any film in the series. Conversely, the films in Christopher Nolan's trilogy of the 2000s and 2010s have the highest scores on review aggregation websites of the live-action feature films with The Dark Knight receiving a 94% from Rotten Tomatoes and an 84 from Metacritic. Batman's newer iterations in the 2010s DCEU received mixed to negative reviews from critics. The series' theatrically-released animated movies have a large critical disparity, with Mask of the Phantasm and The Lego Batman Movie being well-received while Batman: The Killing Joke received mixed to negative reviews. Batman franchise media, Superman in film, Catwoman (film) Batman franchise overview at Box Office Mojo, Behind Batman: Public Domain Analysis of the Film Franchise

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Big Brother 2004, also known as Big Brother 4, was the fourth season of the Australian reality television series Big Brother, and was aired on Network Ten, starting on Sunday 2 May 2004, with the housemates entering the day before, and ended on Monday 26 July 2004, lasting 86 days. The season was billed as "back to basics, but with one small secret". In a return to the basic format of Big Brother 1 and Big Brother 2 that had been eschewed in favour of twists and surprises in Big Brother 3, all housemates were let into the house together and former surprise elements such as swimming pools and gym equipment were all exposed from the beginning. Two Intruders entered the house later in the game, and Miriam, the transsexual star of the show There's Something About Miriam, entered as a houseguest near the end. The prize money was raised from $250,000 to $1,000,000, but this was kept hidden from housemates until later in the season. Evicted housemates also received larger prizes than any season before, with every evictee receiving a top of the range Mitsubishi Lancer VR-X. The two Intruders were some of the least liked in all the four seasons, with Violeta being chosen for eviction by every single housemate, and then Monica, who already had a boyfriend outside, immediately started falling for Ryan, and she and Bree developed rivalry towards each other. When Monica was finally up for eviction, she was evicted with a large percentage of the votes. The final contestants in 2004 were Bree Amer and Trevor Butler. Trevor won, and then proposed to his girlfriend on stage. Mid- season, The housemates were able to see the unofficial premiere of The Day After Tomorrow. The winner announced of the finale was watched by 2.864 million Australian viewers. The same as the 2003 opening sequence with some minor sound changes. The background colour is more gradient than last years. A scene of a green backyard appears between the diary room and kitchen scenes. The diary room chair is orange instead of red. Also the evicted housemate in the titles was changed to blue. Lastly the 84 days was changed to the series 86 days. The theme also was slightly remixed with the introduction of a guitar component. The first Housemate in each box was Nominated for Two Points, and the second Housemate was Nominated for One Point. The two Intruders faced the Housemate Vote, in which the Housemates would decide which one of them should go home. The Housemates unanimously chose to Evict Violeta. All Housemates were Nominated by Big Brother after failing to give reasonable Nomination reasons. Had this not happened, Ashalea, Ryan, and Paul would have faced the public vote. Monica, as a new Housemate, was exempt from this process. For the second week running all Housemates were automatically Nominated by Big Brother - this was due to the fact that at the last Eviction there was a voting error and Bree had been incorrectly Evicted. Bree later returned to the House, and the correct Evictee, Wesley, was Evicted on Day 68, four days too late. This left no time for Nominations, so all Housemates were put up for the Public Vote. For fun, Big Brother asked each housemate who they wanted to save from eviction. Gretal Killeen hosts the launch show of big brother Australia where a brand new house says hello to 14 brand new housemates but what they don't know is big brother's big secret, what is it? Gretal Kileen hosts a special where the housemates play a game of 2 lies and a truth, what is the truth? and will the housemates guess the secrets? Plus, daily show action including the morning after the night before of Igor and Aphrodite's Argument Meeting Mirriam was a Special Live Show shown on Day 41 in which Mexican Star Mirriam entered the Big Brother House to help the Housemates with their Salsa Dancing Task Gretel Kileen hosts a live special where the housemates play a series of games with the winner being the first to learn big brother's secret and then will be able to tell a friend but must keep it a secret or face a massive price. Who will be first to learn the secret? Gretel Killeen hosts the much anticipated live show where the introduction of the 2 intruders has arrived, how will the house react to their new playmates? Plus, house psychologist Carmel Hill puts in what the house is really going through Gretel Kileen hosts a live show where the 2 intruders are facing the boot and whose journey will end - the housemates will decide but who will go: Movica or Vileta? The Recount was a Special Live Eviction Show which it aired on Day 68. Gretel Killeen hosts the final nominations show joined by evictee Catherine where the final 4 will nominate for a surprise eviction but who will face the chop next? Plus, Gretel talks to the final 4 one on one. Gretel Killeen hosts a surprise eviction where the final 4 is about to become the final 3 but who will not make it to the final days: Paul. Bree or Ryan? Gretel Killeen hosts the final eviction show before the final but which of the final 3 will not make it to the final day and miss out on the million: Paul, Bree or Trevor? Plus, Ryan returns on stage and has a big reunion Housemate Merlin Luck staged a protest at his live eviction show. Upon entering the arena, he revealed a makeshift banner which read "Free Th Refugees". The letter E had fallen off and it was intended to read "Free The Refugees" in reference to Australian Government policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers. Merlin placed gaffer tape over his mouth and refused to speak during the live show. The following night, when he returned to appear as a guest on the Nomination show, he apologised to Killeen for putting her on the spot and making her job difficult by refusing to speak during the eviction show. On this show Merlin spoke about his actions in the highest rating show of the timeslot for that night. The producers were criticized for making a deal with housemate Ryan Fitzgerald who was permitted to wear a T-shirt that was branded with "MLS" (acronym for Massive Loser Squad). The T-shirts were being sold while the show was running and Ryan's friends admitted that a proportion of the profits was going towards votes to keep him in the house, thus giving him what was perceived to be an unfair advantage. However the producer pointed-out that many housemates had companies or local communities rally support for them, which was little different, and that there was nothing stopping any other housemate's supporters doing a similar thing to Ryan's friends. Housemate Bree Amer was incorrectly evicted instead of Wesley due to a vote counting error. The error was discovered after the Sunday night eviction show. Bree had already met up with friends and family. She was returned to the house the following night (Monday). Wesley was evicted in a special show on the following Thursday. MONDAY - FRIDAY DAILY SHOW Big Brother Mouse is a not-for-profit publishing project in Laos. Big Brother Mouse focuses on publishing books that improve literacy and quality of life; and on making those books accessible, particularly in rural Lao villages. Books are scarce in Laos. Many people have never read anything except old textbooks and government pamphlets. The project uses the slogan, “Books that make literacy fun!” Its first books, published in 2006, were easy picture books designed to have a strong appeal for children. Since then, it has expanded to publish books for all ages, “designed not only to make reading fun, but also to share information about the wider world.” A growing number of titles focus on health, nutrition, history, and science. The founder, retired book publisher Sasha Alyson, first visited Laos in May, 2003, and discovered that many children in Lao villages had never seen a book. In fact, he himself “never saw a book in Lao. That gave me the idea for a publishing project here, that would both teach publishing skills and create books.” He began exploring the feasibility of such an idea. For three years, Alyson regularly visited Laos from a temporary base in Thailand, exploring the feasibility of such a project. He met with government officials, non- governmental organizations (NGOs), teachers, and students. During that period, Alyson also worked with two Lao college students: Khamla Panyasouk and Siphone Vouthisakdee. Together they developed five easy and entertaining books for children, often using popular books from the west for inspiration about how to make books appealing. These first five books were: Frog, Alligator, Buffalo by Khamla Panyasouk. This was an alphabet book, with a short humorous rhyme for each consonant in the Lao alphabet. (In the Lao alphabet, vowels are not considered part of the regular alphabet.), The Cat that Meditated by Siphone Vouthisakdee. Siphone wrote four traditional folktales he had learned from his parents and grandparents. The title story tells about a cat that vows to stop eating meat, so the mice begin to bring it vegetables. But one by one, the mice disappear., Bangkok Bob by Sasha Alyson. Inspired by the Curious George books, this tells about a young monkey who visits Bangkok and is overwhelmed by the skyscrapers and big trucks, which he thinks are tall trees and galloping elephants., Baby Frog, Baby Monkey by Siphone Vouthisakdee. Taking inspiration from The Foot Book, by Dr. Seuss, the author used rhymes, repetition, and the pairing of opposite words, to create a book for very young readers., The Polar Bear Visits Laos by Sasha Alyson. Inspired by another Dr. Seuss book, Hop on Pop, this matches short sentences that include an internal rhyme with cartoon images. Three of the books were illustrated by Ounla Santi, a Vientiane art student who has continued to illustrate many books for the project. Two others were illustrated by Tha Tao and Taeng Thaotueheu, high school students who placed first and second in an art contest that Alyson sponsored in an effort to find promising young illustrators. Publishers in Laos are required to have a special publishing license, and each book must be registered with and approved by the government. At the end of 2005, Alyson entered into an agreement with Dokked, a Vientiane-based publisher, to act as publisher for these first five books. They came off the press in March 2006, under the Dokked imprint, but also carrying the Big Brother Mouse logo. The next month a sixth book, The Big Chicken, was published in a similar cooperative arrangement with Action with Lao Children, a Vientiane-based NGO. Soon after that, Sasha agreed with Khamla Panyasouk, author of one of the first books, that they would form a new entity to act as publisher for future books, with Khamla as the owner, and Alyson as the volunteer adviser. In June 2006, Khamla graduated from college, obtained his business license, and then received a publishing license. It was, according to officials, the first publishing license they had ever awarded in Luang Prabang Province, and required extra research for them to learn to how to do it. (It is Lao custom to identify people only by first names, even in formal situations. This article uses that first-name convention for people living in Laos, and last names for people living where that usage is customary.) Although many organizations had expressed interest in purchasing children's books if they were available, few actually did so. Big Brother Mouse began exploring other ways to get books into distribution. On 29 December 2006, they went to a school in Ban Nunsawat, a rural village on the outskirts of Luang Prabang. Khamla discussed the importance of books, Siphone talked about writing books, and Tha Tao gave an art lesson. This developed into the rural school book parties that later became the primary distribution mechanism for Big Brother Mouse books. In its first year, Big Brother Mouse published 30 books, and has continued at approximately that rate. It continues to run book parties in rural schools, and that program has expanded considerably, with 31 of these events in 2007, 196 in 2008, increasing to 510 in 2010. In 2008, Big Brother Mouse began experimenting with another way to create book access in rural villages, by setting up small reading rooms in the home of a volunteer. This is still conducted on a smaller scale than the school book parties. At the end of 2010, there were 146 of these reading rooms, largely in the Ngoi district of Luang Prabang province, sponsored by Planet Wheeler Foundation (founded by Lonely Planet publishers Tony and Maureen Wheeler) and Global Development Group of Australia. The project aims to continue making books available, through village reading rooms such as these in other regions of Laos. This commitment was one of three that was highlighted at the plenary session of the Clinton Global Initiative, held in Hong Kong in 2008. Tourists also help with distribution. “Give books, not candy,” Khamla encourages visitors who want to take a gift when they go to a rural village. The Lao name for the project is “Aai Nuu Noi” which literally translates as “Older brother that is a small rodent.” (Lao uses a single term, “nuu”, for mice, rats, and other rodents, then distinguishes between types by using adjectives such as small, big, wild, etc.) In deciding on an English translation, Alyson originally considered “Brother Mouse” to avoid any confusion with the Big Brother of George Orwell, but finally decided “Big Brother Mouse” was a catchier name, and that most people would understand it was not related to the Orwellian connotations. Sasha Alyson (b. 1952), the founder, continues to act as full-time volunteer adviser to the project. All of the paid staff are Lao, and three of them are the owners: Khamla Panyasouk (b. 1983) the original owner, was born in a rural village in Pac Ou district. As the primary owner, he oversees all activities, and handles most government relations. At about age 12, he moved to Luang Prabang and became a novice monk at a Buddhist temple, so that he could continue his education beyond the primary school that was available in his village. He recalls his surprise, in Luang Prabang, when he saw tourists reading books. He was only aware of books as the dull, obsolete textbooks he sometimes had seen in his school, and couldn't imagine why anyone would read them while on vacation., Siphone Vouthisakdee (b. 1984) Siphone was born in a remote village, where only five children have graduated from primary school. He and Khamla had known each other for many years, first when they were both novice monks, then as students at the Teacher Training College. Siphone has put to paper several collections of Lao folktales, including a collection of stories about Xieng Mieng, the most popular Lao folkhero. He handles a growing range of editorial responsibilities., Sonesoulilat (Sone) Vongsouline (b. 1990) who received eight years of training at the Children's Cultural Center in Luang Prabang, where he learned to lead children's activities. Sone joined the Big Brother Mouse staff during its first year, when he was 16. His responsibilities quickly increased, and he became a part owner three years later, taking responsibility for hiring, training, and coordinating events in schools and villages. As of the end of 2010, about two thirds of the books published by Big Brother Mouse were primarily intended for children up to age 12, although they are also enjoyed by adults, who have not seen such books before. The following sample list of titles shows the range of books the project has produced: Animals of Laos: A well-illustrated introduction to the country's varied animals, which encourages readers to protect Laos's natural heritage, while introducing simple scientific and environmental ideas., Around the World with 23 Children: Students from the Vientiane International School wrote about their home countries from their perspective, talking about such topics as popular foods, holidays, customs, landmarks, and animals., Baby Care: Why is breastfeeding important? What situations call for a visit to the doctor? Why do babies cry? With just one or two sentences per page, this book guides new parents through the first year of their child's life. It was the first book published by Big Brother Mouse that specifically targeted adults rather than children, and sought to directly improve quality of life. The high level of interest that it generated, in rural villages, convinced the staff to continue publishing more such books., The Dead Tiger Who Killed a Princess: Folktales were once passed along orally, but they risk being forgotten, as television spreads. This collection is the first in a series, which the project plans to continue indefinitely, to preserve them. Already enough stories have been collected for three more volumes., The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank's famous and eloquent diary took four years to translate and get into print; it appeared at the end of 2010., The Hungry Frog: An 8-page book, by a Khamla, young woman on the project staff who had no writing experience, has colorful illustrations, strong repetition, and a punchy ending; it's intended to draw the interest of very beginning readers., The Joy of Reading: A small book, inspired by the Mem Fox classic Reading Magic, encourages parents to read aloud to their children, and gives some pointers about how to do so., Laos 1957: Anthropologist Joel Halpern came to Laos for a year, in 1957, and preserved some 3,000 color slides, with detailed captions. They provided the basis for a book which, for most Lao readers, is their first chance to see the world of their parents and grandparents., The Little Mermaid: Hans Christian Andersen’s romantic classic has been popular particularly with teenagers and young adults., New, Improved Buffalo: This story of a boy who improves his buffalo, by adding an umbrella, then a television, wings, extra legs, and more, was illustrated by Chittakone, a 14-year-old boy who won the second art contest sponsored by Big Brother Mouse., Proverbs of Laos: Young people at the Children's Cultural Center and at the Orphanage School in Luang Prabang interviewed parents and grandparents to select a favorite proverb, then illustrated it., Spectacular!: Eye-catching photographs, obtained through Wikimedia Foundation and Creative Commons licensing, show microbes, galaxies, and everything in between., Traditional Toys: Photos and text show how Lao villages have, for generations, made and enjoyed toys from natural objects., Wat Xieng Thong, the stories of Siaosawat: The Buddhist Wat Xieng Thong temple, the most famous temple in Luang Prabang has a chapel decorated with mirrored mosaics, that tell parables of a past age., What's in the Sky?: The spectacular photographs provided in recent years by NASA were the backdrop for one of the project's first science books., Women's Health: Four chapters about women's anatomy, pregnancy, and childbirth, from the Hesperian Foundation's book Where Women Have No Doctor. Lao law does not have a provision for non-profit organizations of the type that exist in many western countries. Big Brother Mouse operates under a standard Lao business license, but on a not-for-profit basis. In 2010 it reported total income of $326,000, from these sources: 26% from foundations (Australia, USA, and Europe), 27% from large individual donors (US$10,000 or more), 29% from individual donors (less than $10,000 U.S.), 18% from sales of books Most American donors contribute through the Laos Literacy Project, Inc., a 501-c-3 non-profit organization in the United States that was established specifically to support Big Brother Mouse's literacy and education work. Significant support also comes from Planet Wheeler Foundation and the Global Development Group (GDG) in Australia, and most Australian donors contribute through the GDG to receive an Australian tax deduction. Big Brother Mouse official website, Laos Literacy Project, Inc. (USA), Global Development Group (Australia) Big Brother Brasil 3 was the third season of Big Brother Brasil which premiered January 14, 2003 with the season finale airing April 1, 2003 on the Rede Globo television network. The show was produced by Endemol Globo and presented by news reporter Pedro Bial and directed by Jose Bonifacio Brasil de Oliveira. The prize award was R$500,000 without tax allowances. The winner was 31-year-old congressional aide André "Dhomini" Ferreira from Goiânia, Goiás There were fourteen Housemates competing for the grand prize, an increase over the two previous seasons. The season lasted 78 days, an increase of one week over the previous season. This season introduced the "Angel Power" or "Power of Immunity". Among the contestants was the Miss Brasil 2002, Joseane Oliveira. Rules of the Miss Brasil contest forbid participation of married women, and when Joseane participated, she stated she was single. Due to the overexposition in the BBB, some magazines discovered she was married since before winning the beauty contest. The marriage being proved, Joseane was stripped of her crown, and Thaisa Tomsem was crowned Miss Brasil 2002. Also, contestant Dilson, not knowing Joseane was married, tried to start a romantic relationship with her during the show. Due to her refusals, he felt unmotivated and left the show voluntarily. Harry replaced him at January 26, and became the first contestant not to enter the show at the first day. The reunion was hosted by Pedro Bial and aired on April 6, 2003. All the former housemates, except Dilson, attended. Alan ended up winning the "Big Boss Prize" which awarded R$50,000. He won over Andrea with 86% of the fans' vote. Sabrina Sato became a personality on the country. She hosts a popular comedy show "Panico na Tv" which premiered in 2003 and has a big audiencie at channel Rede TV!. Juliana Alves starred in some Rede Globo's prime-time soaps operas in 2007 entitled "Duas Caras" and in 2009 another called "Caminho das Índias". Both are one of the biggest celebrities coming out of the show. In 2010, Joseane Oliveira returned to compete in Big Brother Brasil 10, she finished in 17th place in the competition. In 2013, Dhomini, the winner from this season returned to compete in Big Brother Brasil 13, he finished in 15th place in the competition. The voting table below records whom each housemate voted to nominate on the diary room during his or her time in the House. The Head of Household (HOH) vote (cast in front of the other housemates) automatically nominates one housemate from eviction. Then, the other housemates vote and if the vote is tied, the HOH breaks the tie (all these types of vote count for the total number of nominations received). Note 1: At the first round of nominations there were two separate rounds of nominations - one in which males nominated the females, and one in which the females nominated the males. On Day 8 there was a double eviction - with the female and male evictees leaving the House. This Week's HoH Elane could only exercise her powers during the male Nominations round. Big Brother Brasil 3, Terra: BBB3

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The 2006 Texas gubernatorial election was held on November 7, 2006 to elect the Governor of Texas. The election was a rare five-way race, with incumbent Republican Governor Rick Perry running for re-election against Democrat Chris Bell and Independents Carole Keeton Strayhorn and Kinky Friedman, as well as Libertarian nominee James Werner. Perry was re-elected to a second full term in office, winning 39% of the vote to Bell's 30%, Strayhorn's 18% and Friedman's 12%. Perry carried 209 out of the state's 254 counties, while Bell carried 39 and Strayhorn carried 6. Exit polls revealed that Perry won the Anglo vote with 46%, while Bell got 22%, Strayhorn got 16% and Friedman got 15%. Bell won 63% of African Americans, while Perry got 16%, Strayhorn got 15% and Friedman got 4%. Bell also won the Latino vote with 41%, while Perry got 31%, Strayhorn got 18% and Friedman got 4%. Perry was inaugurated for a second full four-year term on January 16, 2007. The ceremony was held inside the House of Representatives chamber at the Texas Capitol after thunderstorms cancelled the planned outdoor ceremony. It is difficult for an independent gubernatorial candidate to gain ballot access in the state of Texas. The election law, summarized briefly, requires the following: The candidate must obtain signatures from registered voters, in an amount equalling at least one percent of the total votes cast in the prior gubernatorial election. For the 2006 ballot, this required 45,540 signatures. (This is also the number of signatures required for a third party to gain ballot access, which only the Libertarian Party did in 2006.), The signatures must come from registered voters who did not vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries or in any runoff elections for governor., The signatures must come from registered voters who have not signed a petition for any other independent candidate. In other words, a Strayhorn supporter cannot also sign Friedman's petition, nor vice versa. If a supporter signed more than one petition, only the first signature counts., The signatures must be obtained within 60 days following the primary election; the window is shortened to 30 days if a runoff election for either party's gubernatorial candidate is required. In 2006, neither party had a runoff election for governor; therefore, the candidates had the full 60 days - until May 11, 2006. In the event a candidate does not qualify for independent status, they may still run as a write-in candidate. The candidate must pay a $3,750 filing fee and submit 5,000 qualified signatures. However, the filing cannot take place any earlier than July 30, nor later than 5:00 PM on August 29. Kinky Friedman – country singer, and mystery author., Carole Keeton Strayhorn – Comptroller, former Railroad Commissioner, former City of Austin Mayor, and former Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees President, who spent June through December 2005 seeking the Republican nomination. James Werner – Sales Consultant. Incumbent Rick Perry became governor in late 2000 when then-Governor George W. Bush resigned following his election as President of the United States. He had been elected lieutenant governor in 1998. Perry was subsequently elected governor in his own right in 2002 and successfully ran for a second full term in 2006. Perry's overall poll ratings had plummeted since the 2002 election, plagued by budget woes, battles over school financing reform, and a contentious and controversial redistricting battle. His approval rating dropped to 38% during the latter part of the 2005 legislative session. Perry then improved from this position, more recently holding a 44% approval rating, with 51% disapproving, as of a September 2006 poll. Texas election laws do not require a run-off in the event that a majority is not achieved, and so Governor Perry joined only two other Texas governors to achieve the office by a plurality of less than 40%. The Texas Governor Elections of 1853 and 1861 both won with less than 40% of the vote. Despite weak polling numbers, Perry had the support of the Texas GOP. According to Perry's campaign website, he gained 142 separate endorsements. Perry had endorsements from virtually the entire Texas GOP Congressional delegation (all but two members), every other Republican statewide officeholder (except Strayhorn and judicial officeholders; the latter by law cannot endorse political candidates), 51 of the 62 members of the Texas Republican Party executive committee, and nearly every major Texas pro-business, fiscal conservative, and social conservative organization and PAC. Perry even managed to gain the endorsement of the Teamsters Union, notwithstanding Texas's strong right to work laws. Kinky Friedman, an independent candidate, gained a good amount of popular support among Texas voters. He claimed that country-music lovers, college students, animal lovers, ranchers, and anyone who didn't vote in the last election were among his supporters. Friedman briefly enjoyed a high standing in the polls, and surpassed Democrat Chris Bell by Independence Day. As Election Day drew near, his campaign fizzled out as much of his wide support was among young voters. He finished fourth in the election with under 13% of the vote. His website claimed that "he doesn't put much stock in unscientific political polls among "likely" voters, saying, "It's Kinky Friedman versus apathy". Friedman stated during the campaign that he was going after the 71% who didn't make it to the polls in 2002. Chris Bell, a former Congressman from Houston, filed an ethics complaint against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay as a lame duck who had been defeated in his party's primary after the controversial mid-decade redistricting in the state. Bell announced his run in July 2005. Bell's official strategy was to get Democrats to unite behind and vote for a Democrat, predicting (and betting on) a splintering of the Republican vote among Perry, Strayhorn, and Friedman, giving the Democrats the needed plurality to win the election. Running on a platform of ethics reform and education issues, he stayed with the pack of three candidates with better name recognition. After a good debate performance, his poll numbers improved significantly to where he had taken second place in nearly every poll afterward. Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the Comptroller of Public Accounts, was initially pegged as running in a potentially contentious three-way Republican primary battle with bitter rival Governor Perry and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. Hutchison declined to run for governor in late 2005, instead opting to run for re-election to the Senate. This left Strayhorn and Perry vying for the GOP nomination. Believing her chances to be better running as an independent and appealing directly to voters, rather than those of the Republican Party first, she announced her intent to challenge him in the general election instead. Had she run in the primary, the December 2005 Scripps Howard Texas Poll of match ups had Perry in the lead against Strayhorn by a 55%-24% margin. Strayhorn was seen as a moderate alternative to Perry, and found support among moderate Republicans and independent voters. Although a few polls had her tied for second going into Election day, she finished with 18.13% of the vote, 12% behind Bell and 21% behind Perry. James Werner was the Libertarian Party candidate. According to Werner's campaign website, he has a master's degree in Spanish and Latin American literature from the University of California, a bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University and is currently working for an Austin-based educational software company. Werner previously ran for Congress in 2004 as the Libertarian nominee. Contending for the 25th District, he garnered 26,748 votes or 0.61%. James "Patriot" Dillon was the only announced write-in candidate, according to information from the Texas Secretary of State's office. denotes polling result winner is within the margin of error *, denotes data was not reported by the pollster Percent change available only for parties that participated in the 2002 Texas gubernatorial election. U.S. gubernatorial elections, 2006 Interview with Richard "Kinky" Friedman, January 14, 2011. University of Texas at San Antonio: Institute of Texan Cultures: Oral History Collection, UA 15.01, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections., The Texas Constitution, Texas Secretary of State Elections info, Governor Rick Perry Campaign, James Werner Campaign, Chris Bell Campaign, Texas Green 2006 Candidates, Libertarian Party of Texas The Texas Governor's Mansion, is a historic home for the Governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. It was built in 1854, designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Phalen Abbott are the 40th family to live in the Texas Governor's Mansion and Abbott is the 41st governor to live in the mansion full-time. On June 8, 2008, while midway through a major renovation, the mansion was badly damaged by an arson fire started with a Molotov cocktail. The mansion is the oldest continuously inhabited house in Texas and fourth oldest governor's mansion in the United States that has been continuously occupied by a chief executive. The mansion was the first-designated Texas historic landmark, in 1962. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Governor's Mansion" in 1970, and further was declared a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1974. Built by Abner Cook in a Greek Revival style and completed in 1856, the building occupies the center of a block and is surrounded by trees and gardens. The original mansion was . Remodeling in 1914 increased the size of the mansion to 8,920 square feet. The original mansion had 11 rooms but no bathrooms. The remodeling brought the room count to 25 rooms and 7 bathrooms. In 1931, at the recommendation of former Texas First Lady Mildred Paxton Moody, the Forty-second Texas Legislature established the Board of Mansion Supervisors to oversee all interior and exterior upkeep and enhancements to the mansion. Mrs. Moody was the first head of the Board, which was abolished in 1965. The mansion was partially destroyed by a four-alarm fire during the early morning of June 8, 2008. Then-Governor Rick Perry and his wife Anita Thigpen Perry were in Europe at the time of the fire. They had relocated in October 2007 for a $10 million major deferred maintenance project that began in January 2008. The project was to include a fire suppression system. State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado said the next Sunday that investigators had evidence that an arsonist targeted the 152-year-old building. On February 2, 2011, Chief Tony Leal, an assistant director of the Texas Rangers, announced that a person of interest has been identified that is connected to an Austin-based anarchist group which has also been linked to an attack (involving Molotov cocktails) which was planned for the Republican National Convention in St. Paul during September 2008. No one has ever been charged and there has never been any evidence linking anarchist involvement to date. An official close to the investigation said agents determined the fire was a criminal act "after reviewing footage from security cameras." To date the crime has gone unclaimed. A restoration was begun, with a scheduled completion in 2012. In May 2009, $22 million was allocated to the restoration of the Governor's Mansion, $11 million of which came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. An additional $3.4 million has been raised through private fund raising. The restoration area, which includes the mansion and the adjacent segment of Colorado Street, has been closed to the public with a chain-link fence and barbed wire. National Register of Historic Places in Travis County, Texas, List of National Historic Landmarks in Texas "The Texas Governor's Mansion," The Magazine ANTIQUES, July 2006. Friends of the Texas Governor's Mansion - includes history, photos, visiting information Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American attorney and politician who has served as the 48th governor of Texas since January 20, 2015. A member of the Republican Party, Abbott previously served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015. He is the first governor of any U.S. state to permanently use a wheelchair since George Wallace left office in 1987. Abbott was the second Republican to serve as Attorney General of Texas since Reconstruction. Prior to assuming the office of attorney general, he was a justice of the Texas Supreme Court, a position to which he was initially appointed in 1995 by then-Governor George W. Bush. He successfully advocated for the right of the state of Texas to display the Ten Commandments in front of the Texas State Capitol in Austin, in a 2005 United States Supreme Court case known as Van Orden v. Perry. Abbott was born on November 13, 1957, in Wichita Falls, of English descent. His mother, Doris Lechristia Jacks Abbott, was a homemaker and his father, Calvin Roger Abbott, was a stockbroker and insurance agent. When he was six years old, they moved to Longview, and the family lived in the East Texas city for six years. At the beginning of junior high school, Abbott's family moved to Duncanville. In his sophomore year in high school, his father died of a heart attack, and his mother went to work in a real estate office. He graduated from Duncanville High School. He was on the track team in high school and asserts that he won every meet he entered his senior year. He was in the National Honor Society and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed." In 1981, he earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity and the Young Republicans Club. He met his wife, Cecilia Phelan, while attending UT Austin. In 1984, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee. On July 14, 1984, at age 26, Abbott was paralyzed below waist-level when an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging following a storm. He had two steel rods implanted in his spine, underwent extensive rehabilitation at TIRR Memorial Hermann in Houston, and has used a wheelchair ever since. He sued the homeowner and a tree service company, resulting in an insurance settlement that provides him with lump sum payments every three years until 2022 along with monthly payments for life; both are adjusted "to keep up with the rising cost of living". As of August 2013, the monthly payment amount was 14,000. Prior to becoming governor, Abbott subsequently backed legislation in Texas that limits "punitive damages stemming from noneconomic losses" and "noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases", at $750,000 and $250,000, respectively. While the settlement in Abbott's case was a "nonmedical liability lawsuit", which remains uncapped, Abbott has faced criticism for "tilt[ing] the judicial scales toward civil defendants." Abbott went into private practice, working for Butler and Binion, LLP between 1984 and 1992. Abbott's judicial career began in Houston, where he served as a state trial judge in the 129th District Court for three years. Then-Governor George W. Bush appointed Abbott to the Texas Supreme Court, and he was then twice elected to the state's highest civil court — in 1996 (two-year term) and in 1998 (six-year term). In 1996, Abbott had no Democratic opponent but was challenged by Libertarian John B. Hawley of Dallas. Abbott defeated Hawley by a margin of 84% to 16%. In 1998, Abbott defeated Democrat David Van Os by 60% to 40%. In 2001, after resigning from the Supreme Court, Abbott went back to private practice and worked for Bracewell & Giuliani LLC. He was also an adjunct professor at University of Texas School of Law. Abbott resigned from the Texas Supreme Court in 2001 to seek the position of Lieutenant Governor of Texas. His campaign for Lieutenant Governor had been running for several months when the previous attorney general, John Cornyn, vacated the post to run for the U.S. Senate. He then switched his campaign to the open attorney general's position in 2002. Abbott defeated the Democratic nominee, former Austin mayor and current state senator Kirk Watson, 57% to 41%. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following fellow Republican Cornyn's election to the Senate. Abbott expanded the attorney general's office's law enforcement division from about thirty people to more than one hundred. He also created a new division called the Fugitive Unit to track down convicted sex offenders in violation of their paroles or probations. In 2003, Abbott supported the Texas Legislature's move to cap non-economic damages for medical malpractice cases at $250,000, with no built-in increases for rising cost of living. The statute allows nuances for higher awards in cases of wrongful death or when more than one health care institution is involved. Abbott has spoken out against concerns such as voter fraud, infringement on the right to bear arms, and President Barack Obama's health care reform. When asked what his job entails, Abbott says: "I go into the office in the morning, I sue Barack Obama, and then I go home." Abbott has filed suit against various U.S. agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services (including challenges to Obamacare), and the Department of Education, among many others. Abbott filed thirty one lawsuits against the Obama administration. According to The Wall Street Journal, from Abbott's tenure as Attorney General through his first term as Governor, Texas sued the Obama administration at least forty-four times, more than any other state over the same period; court challenges included carbon-emission standards, health-care reform, transgender rights, and others. The Dallas Morning News compared Abbott to Scott Pruitt, noting that both Attorneys General had repeatedly sued the federal government over its environmental regulations. The Houston Chronicle noted that Abbott "led the charge against Obama-era climate regulations." Abbott has said that the state must not release Tier II Chemical Inventory Reports for security reasons, but that Texans "can ask every facility whether they have chemicals or not." Koch Industries has denied that their contributions to Abbott's campaign had anything to do with his ruling against releasing the safety information. In March 2014, Abbott filed a motion to intervene with three separate Federal Court suits against Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Plano, in which patients alleged that the hospital allowed Christopher Duntsch to perform neurosurgery despite knowing that he was a dangerous physician. Abbott cited the Texas Legislature's cap on malpractice cases, along with the statute's removal of the term "gross negligence" from the definition of legal malice, as reasons for defending Baylor. On November 21, 2005, Abbott sued Sony BMG. Texas was the first state in the nation to bring legal action against Sony BMG for illegal spyware. The suit is also the first filed under the state's spyware law of 2005. It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they played the CDs, which can compromise the systems. On December 21, 2005, Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG. Abbott says the MediaMax copy protection technology violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws. He says Sony-BMG offered consumers a licensing agreement when they bought CDs and played them on their computers. However, Abbott alleges in the lawsuit that even if consumers reject that agreement, spyware is secretly installed on their computers, posing security risks for music buyers. Abbott said, "We keep discovering additional methods Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music," and "[T]housands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game Sony played with consumers for its own purposes." In addition to violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which allows for civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, the alleged violations added in the updated lawsuit, on December 21, 2005, carry maximum penalties of $20,000 per violation. On March 2, 2005, Abbott appeared before the United States Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., where he defended a Ten Commandments monument on grounds of the Texas State Capitol. Thousands of similar monuments were donated to cities and towns across the nation by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, who were inspired by the Cecil B. DeMille film The Ten Commandments (1956) in following years. In his deposition, Abbott said that "The Ten Commandments are a historically recognized system of law." The Supreme Court held in a 5–4 decision that the Texas display did not violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause and was constitutional. After Abbott's oral arguments in Van Orden v. Perry, Justice John Paul Stevens commented upon Abbott's performance while in a wheelchair, "I want to thank you [...] for demonstrating that it's not necessary to stand at the lectern in order to do a fine job." In January 2013, following the approval by New York governor Andrew Cuomo of the further strengthening of the state's gun laws, Abbott advertised on news sites to internet users with Albany, N.Y. and Manhattan ZIP codes suggesting gun owners should migrate to Texas. His political campaign provided the funding. The two messages read: "Is Gov. Cuomo looking to take your guns?" while the other said: "Wanted: Law abiding New York gun owners looking for lower taxes and greater opportunity." The adverts linked to a letter on Facebook in which Abbott stated such a move would enable citizens "to keep more of what you earn and use some of that extra money to buy more ammo." In February 2014, Abbott argued against a lawsuit brought by the National Rifle Association to allow more people access to concealed carry of firearms, as Abbott felt this would disrupt public safety. As Attorney General, Abbott defended Texas' ban on sex toys. He said Texas had a legitimate interest in "discouraging prurient interests in autonomous sex and the pursuit of sexual gratification unrelated to procreation." As Attorney General, Abbott fought to prevent courts from legalizing same-sex marriage. In 2014, he argued in court that Texas should be allowed to prohibit same-sex marriage because LGBT individuals purportedly cannot procreate. He said that as "same-sex relationships do not naturally produce children, recognizing same-sex marriage does not further these goals to the same extent that recognizing opposite-sex marriage does." He also argued that gay individuals can marry individuals of the opposite sex, thus there is no discrimination against LGBT individuals. He suggested that same-sex marriage was a slippery slope where "any conduct that has been traditionally prohibited can become a constitutional right simply by redefining it at a higher level of abstraction." In the November 7, 2006, general election, Abbott was challenged by civil rights attorney David Van Os, who had been his Democratic opponent in the 1998 election for state Supreme Court. He won re-election to a second term by a margin of 60% to 37%. Abbott ran for a third term in 2010. He defeated the Democratic attorney Barbara Ann Radnofsky of Houston and the Libertarian Jon Roland once again. Radnofsky was also the unsuccessful Democratic candidate opposing U. S. senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the 2006 general election. Abbott defeated Radnofsky by a margin of 64% to 34%. He was the longest-serving Texas attorney general in Texas history. In July 2013, the Houston Chronicle alleged improper ties and oversight between many of Abbott's largest donors and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, of which he was a director. On July 8, 2013, Governor Rick Perry announced that he would not seek a fourth full term. On July 14, 2013, speaking near the Alamo on the 29th anniversary of the accident that left him a paraplegic, Abbott formally announced his intention to run for Governor of Texas in the 2014 Texas gubernatorial election. In the first six months of 2011, he raised more funds for his campaign than any other Texas politician, reaching $1.6 million. The next highest fundraiser among state officeholders was Texas comptroller Susan Combs with $611,700. In February 2014, while speaking on the dangers of corruption in law enforcement, Abbott compared the South Texas area to a Third World country that "erodes the social fabric of our communities and destroys Texans' trust and confidence in government." Abbott further said that he does not consider corruption "limited to one region of Texas [...] My plan is to add more resources to eliminate corruption so people can have confidence in their government." Abbott criticized Ted Nugent's "subhuman mongrel" comment directed at President Barack Obama by saying "This is not the kind of language I would use or endorse in any way. It's time to move beyond this, and I will continue to focus on the issues that matter to Texans." Abbott won the Republican primary on March 4, 2014, with 1,219,903, or 91.5% of the ballots cast. The remaining approximately 103,000 votes were divided among three minor candidates. He faced state senator Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, who polled 432,065 votes (79.1%) in her Democratic primary contest against a lone opponent. Abbott promised to "tie outcomes to funding" for pre-K programs if elected governor, but he said he would not require government standardized testing for 4-year olds, as Davis has accused him of advancing. When defending his education plan, Abbott cited Charles Murray: "Family background has the most decisive effect on student achievement, contributing to a large performance gap between children from economically disadvantaged families and those from middle class homes." A spokesman for Abbott's campaign pointed out that the biggest difference in spending is that Davis has proposed universal pre-K education while Abbott wants to limit state funding to only programs that meet certain standards. Davis' plan could reach 750 million in costs and Abbott has said that Davis' plan is a "budget buster" whereas Abbott's education plan would cost no more than 118 million. Overall, Abbott said the reforms that he envisioned would "level the playing field for all students [and] target schools which don't have access to the best resources." He has called for increased accessibility to technology in the classroom and mathematics instruction for kindergarten pupils. Abbott received 1.4 million in campaign contributions from recipients of the Texas Enterprise Fund, some of whose members submitted the proper paperwork for grants. Elliot Nagin of the Union of Concerned Scientists observed that Abbott was the recipient of large support from the fossil fuels industries, such as NuStar Energy, Koch Industries, Valero Energy, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips. Abbott received the endorsement of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Morning News, the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and the Tyler Morning Telegraph. Abbott, and his lieutenant governor running mate, Dan Patrick, gained an endorsement from the National Rifle Association and received their 'A' rating. Abbott defeated Davis by about 19 percentage points in the November general election. In January 2017, Abbott was reportedly raising funds for a 2018 re-election bid as governor; , he had $34.4 million on hand for his campaign, of which he raised $9 million during the second half of 2016. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick had been mentioned as a potential challenger for governor but confirmed he would run for a second term as lieutenant governor. During the weekend of January 21, 2017, Abbott stated he was intending on running for re- election. He confirmed this on March 28, 2017. Abbott formally announced his re-election campaign on July 14, 2017. He chose the Amtrak depot at historic Sunset Station in San Antonio for his formal announcement of candidacy: "I've proven that I'm willing to take on the liberals, I'm willing to take on Washington, D.C., and I'm counting on you to have my back." Several protesters were led out of the hall before Abbott began speaking. The formal announcement came four days before the beginning of a special legislative session that could split the Republican Party into factions favoring Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Patrick, on one hand, and House speaker Joe Straus, a Moderate Republican who opposes much of the Abbott-Patrick social conservative agenda. In the November 6 general election, Abbott defeated Democratic nominee Lupe Valdez with about 56% of the vote. Abbott received 42% of the Hispanic vote and 16% of African Americans. Abbott was sworn in as the governor of Texas on January 20, 2015. Abbott declared February 2, 2015, as "Chris Kyle Day" in honor of the deceased United States Navy SEAL who was the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history (portrayed in the film American Sniper). This came exactly two years after Kyle was shot and killed. Abbott held his first meeting as governor with a foreign prime minister when he met with the Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny on March 15, 2015, to discuss trade and economic relations. During the 2015 legislative session, initiated by officials at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, the Texas Legislature placed a rider in the Texas budget to cut $150 million from its budget by ending payments and coverage for various developmental therapies for children on Medicaid. A lawsuit has been filed against the state on behalf of affected families and therapy providers, claiming it can cause irreparable damage to the affected children's development. The litigation obtained a temporary injunction order on September 25, 2015, barring THHSC from implementing therapy rate cuts. The Trump Administration appointed several former appointees of Abbott to federal court positions, something some media outlets attributed to Abbott's influence on the administration. His 2016 book, Broken But Unbowed is a reflection on his personal story and views on politics. In October 2016, explosive packages were mailed to Abbott, President Obama, and the Commissioner of the Social Security Administration. The governor's package did not explode when he opened it as he opened the package incorrectly. On June 6, 2017, Abbott called for a special legislative session in order to pass several legislative priorities for Abbott, something supported by Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Abbott vetoed 50 bills in the regular 2017 session, the most vetoed in a session since 2007. In late November 2016, the State of Texas, at Abbott's request, approved new rules that require facilities that perform abortions either to bury or cremate the aborted, rather than dispose of the remains in a sanitary landfill. The rules were intended to go into effect on December 19, but on December 15 a federal judge blocked the rules from going into effect for at least one month after the Center for Reproductive Rights and other advocacy groups filed a lawsuit. On January 27, 2017, a federal judge ruled against the law, but the State of Texas vowed to appeal the ruling. On June 6, 2017, Abbott signed a bill into law banning dismemberment and partial-birth abortions and requiring either the cremation or burial of the aborted. The law was also blocked by a federal judge; the state said it would appeal. On January 8, 2016, Abbott called for a national constitutional convention to address what he sees as abuses by justices of the United States Supreme Court in "abandoning the Constitution." Abbott proposed passing nine new amendments to the Constitution, intended to limit the power of the federal government and expand states' rights. Speaking to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Abbott said, "We the people have to take the lead to restore the rule of law in the United States." In 2016, Abbott spoke to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, calling for a Convention of States to amend the U.S. Constitution. In his speech, he released a plan that includes nine proposed amendments to "unravel the federal government's decades-long power grab "to impose fiscal restraints on the federal government and limit the federal government's power and jurisdiction." Abbott elaborated on his proposal in a public seminar at the Hoover Institute on May 17, 2016. On June 13, 2015, Abbott signed the campus carry (SB 11) and the open carry (HB 910) bills into law. The campus carry law came into effect on August 1, 2015 and allows the licensed carrying of a concealed handgun on public college campuses, with private colleges being able to opt out. The open carry bill went into effect on January 1, 2016 and allows the licensed carrying of handguns openly in public areas and in private businesses that do not display a 30.07 sign. The 30.07 sign (referring to state penal code 30.07) states that a handgun may not be carried openly even by a licensed gun carrier. To do so openly is considered trespassing. Texas is the 45th state to have open carry. On May 26, 2017, Abbott signed a bill into law lowering handgun carry license fees. Following the Sutherland Springs church shooting on November 5, 2017, during an interview with Fox News, Abbott urged historical reflection and the consideration that evil had been present in earlier "horrific events" during the Nazi era, the Middle Ages and biblical times. Southwest Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Dayan Gross, said Abbott's comparison of the mass shooting "to the victims of the Holocaust" were both "deeply offensive" and "insensitive". After the Santa Fe High School shooting on May 18, 2018, Abbott said that he would consult across Texas in an attempt to prevent gun violence in schools and a series of round-table discussions followed at the state capitol. In a speech to a NRA convention in Dallas nearly a fortnight later, Abbott said: "The problem is not guns, it’s hearts without God". In June 2019, he signed a bill allowing for more armed teachers with school districts being unrestricted as to the number they allow. The creation of "threat assessment teams", passed into law by the bill, are intended to identify potentially violent students. Although the state legislature passed measures for students services to deal with related mental health issues, so called red flag laws were defeated. "Right now it’s not necessary in the state of Texas", Abbott said. In comments to CNN after the 2019 El Paso shooting on August 3, 2019, Abbott said the state authorities would "prosecute it as capital murder" and "also as a hate crime". Abbott on April 28, 2015, asked the State Guard to monitor the training exercise Jade Helm 15 amid Internet-fueled suspicions that the war simulation was really a hostile military takeover. In 2018 former director of the CIA and NSA Michael Hayden said that the conspiracy theory had been propagated by Russian intelligence organizations and that Gov. Abbott's response convinced them of the power such a misinformation campaign could have in the United States. On June 11, 2015, Abbott signed the "Pastor Protection Act," which allows pastors to refuse to marry couples if they feel doing so violates their beliefs. On May 21, 2017, Abbott signed Senate Bill 24 into law, preventing state or local governments from subpoenaing pastors' sermons. This bill was inspired by an anti-discrimination ordinance in Houston, where hundreds of sermons from five pastors were subpoenaed. On June 15, 2017, Abbott signed House Bill 3859 which allows faith-based groups working with the Texas child welfare system to deny services "under circumstances that conflict with the provider's sincerely held religious beliefs." Democrats and civil rights advocates said the adoption bill could allow such groups to discriminate against those who practice a different religion or who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender, and LGBT rights groups said they would challenge the bill in court. In response, California added Texas to a list of states in which it banned official government travel. In November 2015, Abbott announced that Texas would block refuse Syrian refugees following the Paris terrorist attack that occurred earlier that month. In December 2015, Abbott ordered the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to file a lawsuit against the federal government and the International Rescue Committee to block refugee settlement, but the lawsuit was struck down by a federal district court. On February 1, 2017, Abbott blocked funding to Travis County, Texas, due to its recently implemented sanctuary city policy. On May 7, 2017, Abbott signed Texas Senate Bill 4 into law, targeting sanctuary cities by charging county or city officials who refuse to work with federal officials and by allowing police officers to check the immigration status of those they detain if they choose. In January 2020, Abbott made Texas the first state to decline refugee resettlement under a new rule implemented by the Trump administration. The move was condemned in a joint statement by all 16 Catholic bishops of Texas. Abbott believes that Earth's climate is changing, but he thinks that further study is necessary to determine human role in such changes. In early 2014, Abbott participated in strategy sessions held at the headquarters of the United States Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., devising a legal strategy for dismantling climate change regulations. In 2016, Abbott supported the appointment of Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), noting "He and I teamed up on many lawsuits against the EPA." Abbott was implicated in the purging of nearly 100,000 registered voters from voter rolls. The voters were purged under allegations that they were not American citizens, however the Texas secretary of state later publicly stated that tens of thousands of legitimate voters had been wrongly removed. Abbott claimed that he played no role in the voter purge, but emails released in June 2019 showed that Abbott pressed officials at the Department of Public Safety about the purge before it was implemented. Abbott condemned the Supreme Court ruling which found prohibitions on same-sex marriage to be unconstitutional. He said, "the Supreme Court has abandoned its role as an impartial judicial arbiter." Shortly thereafter, Abbott filed a lawsuit to stop same-sex spouses of city employees to be covered by benefit policies. In a letter dated May 27, 2017, the CEOs of 14 large technology companies, including Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, urged Abbott not to pass discriminatory legislation. At issue was the so-called "bathroom bill," which would require transgender people to use the bathroom of the sex listed on their birth certificates, not the one of their choice. The bill was revived by Abbott and supported by Republican lieutenant governor Dan Patrick. In March 2018, Byron Cook, the chairman of the House State Affairs committee who blocked the bill, claimed that Abbott privately opposed the bill. The bill was never signed; Abbott later stated that "it's not on my agenda," in a debate with Lupe Valdez, the Democratic candidate for governor in 2018. In 2017, Abbott signed legislation to allow taxpayer-funded adoption agencies to refuse same-sex families from adopting children. In June 2019, the city of Austin introduced an ordinance that repealed a 25-year-old ban on homeless people camping, lying, or sleeping in public. Abbott, a vocal critic of the ordinance, came under fire after sharing multiple Twitter posts about various incidents allegedly instigated by homeless people, including a car accident, that were later proven false. In early October 2019, Abbott sent a widely-publicized letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler criticizing the camping ban repeal and threatened to deploy state resources to combat homelessness. In November 2019, Abbott directed the State of Texas to open a temporary homeless encampment on a former vehicle storage yard owned by the Texas Department of Transportation, which was informally dubbed "Abbottville" by camp residents. In 2017, Abbott signed a bill into law enacting a statewide ban on texting while driving. On November 4, 2014, Abbott defeated Wendy Davis by 21 points. According to exit polls he received 44 percent of the Hispanic vote and 50 percent of Hispanic men, a majority (54 percent) of women voters, and 62 percent of the votes of married women (75% of women in Texas are married). A week after his election, Abbott announced that Carlos Cascos, of Brownsville, the county judge since 2007 of Cameron County in far South Texas, would become the secretary of state of Texas. In the same election in which Abbott defeated Wendy Davis, Cascos, a Republican, won a third term as county judge but resigned in January 2015 upon confirmation by the Texas Senate, to become secretary of state. Abbott, a Roman Catholic, is married to Mexican-American Cecilia Phalen Abbott, the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants. His election as governor of Texas makes her the first Latina to be the first lady of Texas since Texas joined the union. They have one adopted daughter, Audrey. They were married in San Antonio in 1981. Cecilia is a former school teacher and principal. He is the first elected governor of a U.S. state to use a wheelchair since George Wallace of Alabama, 1983–87. Abbott knows some Spanish but is not fluent. He was learning the language as of 2013. Abbott suffered second- and third-degree burns on his legs after coming in contact with scalding water while on vacation in Wyoming in July 2016, which caused him to miss the 2016 Republican National Convention. Gonzalez, John W. "Abbott has friends and foes in disabled community." Houston Chronicle. July 29, 2013. Governor Greg Abbott Official state website

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"All You Need Is Love" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in July 1967. It was written by John Lennon and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The song was Britain's contribution to Our World, the first live global television link, when the Beatles were filmed performing it at EMI Studios in London on 25 June 1967. The programme was broadcast via satellite and seen by an audience of over 400 million in 25 countries. Lennon's lyrics, which were deliberately simplistic to allow for the show's international audience, captured the utopian sentiments of the Summer of Love era. The single topped sales charts in Britain, the United States and many other countries, and became an anthem for the counterculture's embrace of flower power philosophy. Rather than perform the song entirely live on Our World, the Beatles played to a pre-recorded backing track. The released recording featured a new lead vocal by Lennon but was otherwise little changed from this performance. With an orchestral arrangement by George Martin, the song opens with a portion of the French national anthem and ends with musical quotations from works such as Glenn Miller's "In the Mood", "Greensleeves", and Bach's Invention No. 8 in F major, as well as the chorus of the Beatles' 1963 hit "She Loves You". Adding to the festive atmosphere of the broadcast, the studio was adorned with signs and streamers, and filled with guests dressed in psychedelic attire, including members of the Rolling Stones, the Who and the Small Faces. The performance took place at the height of the Beatles' popularity and influence, following the release of their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and was described by Brian Epstein, their manager, as the group's "finest" moment. "All You Need Is Love" was later included on the US Magical Mystery Tour album. It also appears in a sequence in the Beatles' 1968 animated film Yellow Submarine and on the accompanying soundtrack album. Originally broadcast in black-and-white, the Our World performance was colourised for inclusion in the Beatles' 1995 Anthology documentary series. While the song remains synonymous with the 1967 Summer of Love ethos, this quality led to criticism from several commentators, particularly during the 1980s, that the lyrics and general sentiment are naive. Global Beatles Day, an international celebration of the Beatles' music and social message, takes place on 25 June each year in tribute to the Our World performance of the song. On 18 May 1967, the Beatles signed a contract to appear as Britain's representatives on Our World, which was to be broadcast live internationally, via satellite, on 25 June. The Beatles were asked to provide a song with a message that could be easily understood by everyone, and using "basic English" terms. The band undertook the assignment at a time when they were considering making a television special, Magical Mystery Tour, and working on songs for the animated film Yellow Submarine, for which they were contractually obliged to United Artists to supply four new recordings. "All You Need Is Love" was selected for Our World for its contemporary social significance over the Paul McCartney-written "Your Mother Should Know". In a statement to Melody Maker magazine, Brian Epstein, the band's manager, said of "All You Need Is Love": "It was an inspired song and they really wanted to give the world a message. The nice thing about it is that it cannot be misinterpreted. It is a clear message saying that love is everything." Lennon later attributed the song's simple lyrical statements to his liking of slogans and television advertising. He likened the song to a propaganda piece, adding: "I'm a revolutionary artist. My art is dedicated to change." Author Mark Hertsgaard views it as the Beatles' "most political song yet" up to 1967 and the origins of Lennon's posthumous standing as a "humanitarian hero". The song's advocacy of the all- importance of love followed Lennon's introduction of the idea in his lyrics to "The Word" in 1965 and George Harrison's declaration in "Within You Without You", from the band's recently released Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, that "With our love, we could save the world". The Beatles were unimpressed when Epstein first told them that he had arranged for their appearance on Our World, and they delayed choosing a song for the broadcast. In their interviews for The Beatles Anthology in the 1990s, McCartney and Harrison say they were unsure whether "All You Need Is Love" was written for Our World, while Ringo Starr and George Martin, the Beatles' producer, assert that it was. McCartney said: "It was certainly tailored to [the broadcast] once we had it. But I've got a feeling it was just one of John's songs that was coming anyway." "All You Need Is Love" is notable for its asymmetric time signature and complex changes. Musicologist Russell Reising writes that, although the song represents the peak of the Beatles' overtly psychedelic phase, the change in metre during the verses is the sole example of the experimental aspect that typifies the band's work in that genre. The main verse pattern contains a total of 29 beats, split into two measures, a single bar of , followed by a one bar return of before repeating the pattern. The chorus, however, maintains a steady beat with the exception of the last bar of (on the lyric "love is all you need"). The prominent cello line draws attention to this departure from pop-single normality, although it was not the first time that the Beatles had experimented with varied metre within a single song: "Love You To" and "She Said She Said" were earlier examples. The song is in the key of G and the verse opens (on "There's nothing you can do") with a G chord and D melody note, the chords shifting in a I–V–vi chord progression while the bass simultaneously moves from the tonic (G) note to the root note of the relative minor (E minor), via an F, supporting a first inversion D chord. After the verse "learn how to play the game, it's easy", the bass alters the prolonged V (D) chord with F, E, C and B notes. The song includes a dramatic use of a dominant or V chord (here D) on "It's easy." The "Love, love, love" chant involves chords in a I–V–vi shift (G–D–Em) and simultaneous descending B, A, G notes with the concluding G note corresponding not to the tonic G chord, but acting as the third of the E minor chord; this also introducing the E note of the Em chord as a 6th of the tonic G scale. Supporting the same melody note with different and unexpected chords has been termed a characteristic Beatles technique. According to Reising, the lyrics advance the Beatles' anti- materialistic message and are an "anthemic tribute" to universal love in which "nothing is tempered or modulated". He says that Lennon favours words such as "nothing", "no one", "nowhere" and "all", thereby presenting a series of "extreme statements" that conclude with "the final reversals of 'All you need is love' and 'Love is all you need'". On the Beatles' recording, the song starts with the intro to the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", and contains elements from other musical works, such as Glenn Miller's 1939 hit "In the Mood". This use of musical quotations follows an approach first adopted by the Beatles in Harrison's composition "It's All Too Much", a song that similarly reflects the ideology behind the hippie movement during the 1967 Summer of Love. George Martin recalled that in "All You Need Is Love" "the boys ... wanted to freak out at the end, and just go mad". During the long coda, elements of various other songs can be heard, including "Greensleeves", Invention No. 8 in F major (BWV 779) by J. S. Bach, "In the Mood", and the Beatles' own songs "She Loves You" and "Yesterday". The first of these three pieces had been included in the arrangement by Martin. "She Loves You" and "Yesterday" were the result of improvisation by Lennon during rehearsals. Like musicologist Alan Pollack, Kenneth Womack views the "She Loves You" refrain as serving a similar purpose to the wax models of the Beatles depicted on the cover of Sgt. Pepper, beside the real-life band members, and therefore a further example of the group distancing themselves from their past. In his book Rock, Counterculture and the Avant-Garde, author Doyle Greene describes the combination of the "Love is all you need" refrain, "She Loves You" reprise, and orchestral quotations from Bach and Miller as "a joyous, collective anarchy signifying the utopian dreams of the counterculture topped off with a postmodern fanfare". The Beatles began recording the backing track for the song at Olympic Sound Studios in south-west London on 14 June 1967. The producers of Our World were initially unhappy about the use of a backing track, but it was insisted upon by Martin, who said that "we can't just go in front of 350 million people without some work". The line-up was Lennon on harpsichord, McCartney on double bass, Harrison on violin – three instruments that were unfamiliar to the musicians – while Starr played drums. The band recorded 33 takes, before choosing the tenth take as the best. This performance was transferred onto a new 4-track tape, with the four instruments mixed into one track. The engineers at Olympic thought the Beatles displayed a surprising lack of care during this process, a sign, according to author Ian MacDonald, of the group's new preference for randomness in contrast to the high production standards of Sgt. Pepper. From 19 June, working at Studio 2 in EMI Studios (now Abbey Road Studios), the Beatles recorded overdubs including piano (played by Martin), banjo, guitar and some vocal parts. Among the latter were the "Love, love, love" refrains, and a Lennon vocal over the song's choruses. On 23 June, the band began rehearsing the song with an orchestra, whose playing was also added to the backing track. On 24 June, the day before the broadcast, the Beatles decided that the song would be their next single. Late that morning, a press call was held at EMI Studios, attended by over 100 journalists and photographers, followed by further rehearsals and recording. Publicity photos were taken during the press call and rehearsals, and a BBC television crew blocked the camera angles required for the live performance. The Our World broadcast took place in the wake of the Arab–Israeli Six-Day War and, for the Beatles, amid the public furore caused by McCartney's admission that he had taken LSD. On 25 June, the live transmission cut to EMI Studios at 8:54 pm London time, about 40 seconds earlier than expected. Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick were drinking scotch whisky to calm their nerves for the task of mixing the audio for a live worldwide broadcast, and had to scramble the bottle and glasses beneath the mixing desk when they were told they were about to go on air.Badman, Keith. "Universal Love". In: . The Beatles (except for Starr, behind his drum kit) were seated on high stools, accompanied by a thirteen-piece orchestra. The band were surrounded by friends and acquaintances seated on the floor, who sang along with the refrain during the fade-out. These guests included Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Keith Richards, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Pattie Boyd (Harrison's wife), and Mike McGear and Jane Asher (McCartney's brother and girlfriend, respectively). The studio setting was designed to reflect the communal aspect of the occasion while also demonstrating the position of influence that the Beatles held among their peers, particularly following the release of Sgt. Pepper. Many of the invitations were extended through Beatles aides Mal Evans and Tony Bramwell, who visited various London nightclubs the night before the broadcast. Also among the studio audience were members of the Small Faces and the design collective the Fool. Balloons, flowers, streamers and "Love" graffiti added to the celebratory atmosphere. The Beatles and their entourage were dressed in psychedelic clothes and scarves; in his report on the performance, Barry Miles likened the setting to a medieval gathering, broken only by the presence of modern studio equipment such as large headphones and microphones. According to Michael Frontani, an associate professor of communications, whereas Sgt. Pepper had showed the Beatles as artists and "serious musicians", Our World emphasised their identity as members of the hippie counterculture. The segment was directed by Derek Burrell-Davis, the head of the BBC's Our World project. It opened with the band playing "All You Need Is Love" for about a minute, before Martin, speaking from the studio control room, suggested that the orchestral musicians should take their places for the recording as the tape was rewound. The BBC presenter, Steve Race, announced that the Beatles had just recorded this performance and were about to complete the recording live. In fact, in author John Winn's description, Race's statements were part of the "staged" aspect of the segment, which purported to show the Beatles at work in the studio: the opening footage of the band (merely rehearsing over the backing track) had been filmed earlier, and by the time Martin appeared to be issuing instructions, the orchestra were already seated in Studio 1. The Beatles, accompanied by the orchestra and the studio guests, then performed the entire song, overdubbing onto the pre- recorded rhythm track. In addition to the lead and backing vocals and the orchestra, the live elements were McCartney's bass guitar part, Harrison's guitar solo and Starr's drums. In the opinion of music critic Richie Unterberger, the performance of "All You Need Is Love" is "the best footage of the Beatles in the psychedelic period" and "captures Flower Power at its zenith, with enough irreverence to avoid pomposity, what with the sandwich boards of lyrics, the florid clothing and decor, and celebrity guests". Lennon, affecting indifference, was said to be nervous about the broadcast, given the potential size of the international TV audience. Later on 25 June, dissatisfied with his singing, he re-recorded the solo verses for use on the single. On 26 June, in EMI's Studio 2, Lennon's vocal was treated with ADT, and Starr overdubbed a drum roll at the start of the track, replacing a tambourine part. The programme was shown in black-and-white since colour television had yet to commence broadcasting in Britain and most of the world. The Beatles' footage was colourised, based on photographs of the event, for the 1995 documentary The Beatles Anthology. Over the documentary's end credits, a snippet of studio conversation from the 25 June overdubbing session includes Lennon telling Martin: "I'm ready to sing for the world, George, if you can just give me the backing …" The colour version of the band's Our World appearance also appears on the Beatles' 2015 video compilation 1. "All You Need Is Love" was issued in the UK on 7 July 1967, on EMI's Parlophone label, with "Baby, You're a Rich Man" as the B-side. It entered the Record Retailer chart (subsequently the UK Singles Chart) at number 2 before topping the listings for three weeks. The single was released in the United States on 17 July, on Capitol Records, and went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 for a week. In his feature on the song in Rolling Stone, Gavin Edwards writes that "All You Need Is Love" "hit Number One all over the world, providing the sing-song anthem for the Summer of Love, with a sentiment that was simple but profound". The release coincided with the height of the Beatles' popularity and influence during the 1960s, following that of Sgt. Pepper. According to historian David Simonelli, such was their international influence, it was the song that formally announced the arrival of flower power ideology as a mainstream concept. The single was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America on 11 September 1967. In his contemporary review of the single, for Melody Maker, Nick Jones said the Beatles represented the "progressive avant-garde" in their approach to singles releases, and that "All You Need Is Love" was "another milestone in their very phenomenal career". He described the song as a "cool, calculated contagious Beatles singsong" that was more immediate than "Strawberry Fields Forever", and concluded: "The message is 'love' and I hope everyone in the whole wide world manages to get it." According to author Jonathan Gould, the Beatles "bask[ed] in the glow of their artistic achievements" while enjoying their first summer free of tour commitments, having quit performing concerts the previous year. In late July, the band investigated the possibility of buying a Greek island with a view to setting up a hippie-style commune for themselves, their partners and children,Hunt, Chris. "Fantasy Island". In: . and members of their inner circle such as Neil Aspinall, Evans, Epstein and Derek Taylor. After sailing around the Aegean Sea and approving a location on the island of Leslo, the Beatles decided against the idea and returned to London. In early August, Harrison, accompanied by a small entourage including Taylor and Aspinall, made a highly publicised visit to the international hippie capital of Haight-Ashbury, in San Francisco. Writing in 2001, Peter Doggett said that the Beatles' performance on Our World "remains one of the strongest visual impressions of the summer of love"; Womack describes it as "flower power's finest moment". Rolling Stone ranks "All You Need Is Love" 370th on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and 21st on its "100 Greatest Beatles Songs" list. Mojo placed it at number 28 on a similar list of the best Beatles songs. In his commentary for the magazine, producer and musician Dave Stewart admired the track's "jumbled-up mix of music – marching band and rock'n'roll" and recalled the Beatles' Our World appearance as "a signal for those [of us] who felt we were trapped in a mental hospital in some suburban town to break out". In 2018, the music staff of Time Out London ranked "All You Need Is Love" at number 4 on their list of the best Beatles songs. In November 1967, "All You Need Is Love" was included on the American LP version of Magical Mystery Tour, together with the band's other singles tracks from that year. It was also included on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack album, released in January 1969. As a statement on the power of universal love, the song served as the moral in the Yellow Submarine film; it plays over a scene where Lennon's character defeats the Blue Meanies by throwing the word "Love" at their evil Flying Glove. In a rare example of the Beatles licensing their music for use in another artist's film or television project, in February 1968 the song was played in the "Fall Out" episode of the TV series The Prisoner, directed by Patrick McGoohan. The track is also featured in Cirque du Soleil's show Love, based on the songs of the Beatles, and is the closing track of the 2006 soundtrack album. Remixed by Giles and George Martin, this version includes elements from "Baby, You're a Rich Man", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Good Night" and . In a 1981 article on the musical and societal developments of 1967, sociomusicologist Simon Frith described "All You Need Is Love" as a "genuinely moving song" and said that, further to the impact of Sgt. Pepper, the international broadcast confirmed "the Beatles' evangelical role" in a year when "it seemed the whole world was waiting for something new, and the power of music was beyond doubt." Psychiatrist and New Left advocate R.D. Laing wrote about the song's contemporary appeal: The times fitted [the Beatles] like a glove. Everyone was getting the feel of the world as a global village – as us, one species. The whole human race was becoming unified under the shadow of death ... One of the most heartening things about the Beatles was that they gave expression to a shared sense of celebration around the world, a sense of the same sensibility. According to author Jon Wiener, "All You Need Is Love" served as "the anthem of flower power" that summer but also, like Sgt. Pepper, highlighted the ideological gulf between the predominantly white hippie movement and the increasingly political ghetto culture in the United States. Wiener says that the song's pacifist agenda infuriated many student radicals from the New Left and that these detractors "continued to denounce [Lennon] for it for the rest of his life". Wiener also writes that, in summer 1967, "links between the counterculture and the New Left remained murky", since a full dialogue regarding politics and rock music was still a year away and would only be inspired by Lennon's 1968 song "Revolution". Doyle Greene writes that because of its presentation as the conclusion to Our World, "All You Need Is Love" provided "a distinctly political statement". He says that the song was "selling peace" on a program that aimed to foster international understanding in a climate of Cold War hostility, the Vietnam War and revolutionary unrest in the Third World. In the decades following the release of "All You Need Is Love", Beatles biographers and music journalists have criticised the lyrics as naive and simplistic and detected a smugness in the message; the song's musical content has also been dismissed as unimaginative. Writing in 1988, author and critic Tim Riley identified the track's "internal contradictions (positivisms expressed with negatives)" and "bloated self- confidence ('it's easy')" as qualities that rendered it as "the naive answer to 'A Day in the Life'". By contrast, Mark Hertsgaard considers "All You Need Is Love" to be among the Beatles' finest songs and one of the few highlights among their recordings from the Magical Mystery Tour–Yellow Submarine era. In his opinion, Lennon's detractors fail to discern between "shallow and utopian" when ridiculing the song as socially irrelevant, and he adds: "one may as well complain that Martin Luther King was a poor singer as criticize Lennon on fine points of political strategy; his role was the Poet, not the Political Organizer." For his part, Lennon said in a 1971 interview: "I think if you get down to basics, whatever the problem is, it's usually to do with love. So I think 'All You Need Is Love' is a true statement ... It doesn't mean that all you have to do is put on a phoney smile or wear a flower dress and it's gonna be alright ... I'm talking about real love ... Love is appreciation of other people and allowing them to be. Love is allowing somebody to be themselves, and that's what we do need." Ian MacDonald views the song as "one of The Beatles' less deserving hits" and, in its apparently chaotic production, typical of the band's self-indulgent work immediately after Sgt. Pepper. Regarding the song's message, McDonald writes: During the materialistic Eighties, this song's title was the butt of cynics, there being, obviously, any number of additional things needed to sustain life on earth. It should, perhaps, be pointed out that this record was not conceived as a blueprint for a successful career. "All you need is love" is a transcendental statement, as true on its level as the principle of investment on the level of the stock exchange. In the idealistic perspective of 1967 – the polar opposite of 1987 – its title makes perfect sense. In 1978, the Rutles parodied "All You Need Is Love" in their song "Love Life" and titled their television film satirising the Beatles' history All You Need Is Cash. According to New York Times journalist Marc Spitz, writing in 2013, this title was "really an attack" on the commercialisation of rock music by the late 1970s. In July 1985, during his solo performance at Live Aid, Elvis Costello performed "All You Need Is Love" before a television audience estimated at up to 1.9 billion. Costello introduced it as an "old Northern English folk song" and sang with a "vitriolic snarl", in Riley's description, that suggested "how far there still was to go rather than how far we'd come" in terms of realising the song's message. In Granada Television's 1987 documentary It Was Twenty Years Ago Today, commemorating two decades since Sgt. Pepper and the Summer of Love, several of the interviewees were asked whether they still believed that "Love is all you need". Harrison was the only one who unequivocally agreed with the sentiment. Asked why this was, he told Mark Ellen of Q magazine: "They all said All You Need Is Love but you also need such-and-such else. But … love is complete knowledge. If we all had total knowledge, then we would have complete love and, on that basis, everything is taken care of. It's a law of nature." In 2009, George Vaillant, the chief investigator of the Grant Study, which tracked 268 Harvard undergraduates for a period of 80 years with the goal of finding what factors led to happiness, stated that its findings could be summarised as "Happiness is love. Full stop." In response to accusations that the statement was sentimental or overly general, Vaillant revisited his findings and concluded: "The short answer is L-O-V-E." The CBC reported that the "[Grant] study proves Beatles right: All You Need is Love." In 2009, Global Beatles Day was founded as an international celebration of the Beatles' music and social message. The event takes place on 25 June each year in memory of the Our World performance of the song. According to Ian MacDonald, except where noted: The Beatles John Lennon – lead and backing vocals, harpsichord, banjo, Paul McCartney – bass, double bass, backing vocals, George Harrison – lead guitar, violin, backing vocals, Ringo Starr – drums Additional participants George Martin – piano, orchestral arrangement, production, Mike Vickers – conductor, Sidney Sax, Patrick Halling, Eric Bowie, John Ronayne – violins, Lionel Ross, Jack Holmes – cellos, Rex Morris, Don Honeywill – tenor saxophones, David Mason – trumpet, Stanley Woods – trumpet, flugelhorn, Evan Watkins, Harry Spain – trombones, Jack Emblow – accordion, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Marianne Faithfull, Jane Asher, Pattie Boyd, Mike McGear, Keith Moon, Graham Nash, Hunter Davies, Gary Walker and others – background vocals pp. 72–89. Full lyrics for the song at the Beatles' official website "All You Need Is Love" is a song by the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu, independently released as their debut single on 9 March 1987. A politically topical song concerning the British media's AIDS furore, the track was initially given a 12" white label release because of its sampling of other records. "All You Need Is Love" epitomised the artistic attitude of the JAMs' subsequent recordings: making use of popular music by taking extensive samples of other artists' work, and juxtaposing these with each other, adding beatbox rhythms and Bill Drummond's Scottish-accented raps and narrations. The JAMs' promotional tactics were similarly unconventional, including the use of promotional graffiti, a guerrilla communication method which would Drummond and Cauty employed throughout their career. Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty started working together early in 1987. They assumed alter egos—Kingboy D and Rockman Rock respectively—and adopted the name "the Justified Ancients of Mu Mu" (the JAMs), after the fictional conspiratorial group "The Justified Ancients of Mummu" from The Illuminatus! Trilogy. "All You Need Is Love" was their debut single. Initially, the song was released as a limited edition one-sided white label promotional 12", on 9 March 1987, by the JAMs' own label The Sound Of Mu(sic). This version included a 15-second sample of the Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", as well as samples of the MC5's "Kick Out the Jams" and Samantha Fox's "Touch Me (I Want Your Body)". The song had been declined by distributors fearful of prosecution, but copies of the white label were sent to DJs and the music press. The identities of Drummond and Cauty were not made known to these recipients (Drummond was actually something of a music business veteran, and Cauty a former member of the much-hyped but unsuccessful band Brilliant). Underground Magazine speculated on this in March 1987: "The whole affair is mysterious, a telephone number only and a threat that the group will soon be releasing more material... 'No, we've not been in bands before, and yes, I suppose we were originally influenced by the Beastie Boys to actually get up and do something...' Too true, but these colonials seem a touch wiser, world weary a bit, but not angry..." In the 28 March 1987 edition, NME revealed King Boy D's identity as Bill Drummond. The JAMs re-edited the single in such a way that—they hoped—"brought [them] inside the "law" but still got up peoples noses", removing all but a snatch of The Beatles, replacing or doctoring the MC5 sample, and rerecording the Samantha Fox vocal. This new version—named "All You Need Is Love (106bpm)"—was released on 18 May 1987 as JAMS 23T, and was included on The JAMs debut album 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?). According to Drummond, the recording of 1987 was funded by the sales of "All You Need Is Love (106bpm)". The central theme of "All You Need Is Love" was the media coverage given to the AIDS crisis. The original version opens with a 15-second sample of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love", followed by Rob Tyner's cry of "Kick out the Jams, motherfuckers!" from the MC5's album Kick Out the Jams. A simple beatbox rhythm begins, along with samples of John Hurt from a British public information film—entitled Don't Die of Ignorance—about the dangers of AIDS. The samples misquote the film: "sexual intercourse—no known cure". Bill Drummond performs a heavily accented Clydeside rap, beginning "We're back again, they never kicked us out, twenty thousand years of 'shout shout shout'", a reference to the fictional JAMs of The Illuminatus! Trilogy. Later, he raps: "With this killer virus who needs war? Immanentize the eschaton, I said shag shag shag some more!" "Immanentize the eschaton" is a reference to the opening line of Illuminatus!, referring to the end of the world, and "shag" is a British slang word for sexual intercourse. Between verses, the rhythm is punctuated by samples of former glamour model Samantha Fox ("Touch me, touch me, I want to feel your body"), as well as a sample "Ancients of Mu Mu" (by The JAMs' associate rapper Chike) which recurred throughout the next ten years' work of Drummond and Cauty. Also heard is a rendition by children of "Ring a Ring o' Roses", rhythmic panting, and an original female vocal line concerning infant mortality. Sounds magazine said the deliberate placement of Fox's sexually provocative "Touch Me" alongside "Ring a Ring O'Roses" ("the nursery rhyme about the Plague") "highlights explicitly the depth of contradiction embedded in society's attitude towards death through sex". More succinctly, NME said: "'All You Need...' is by everyone" (so many samples) "and about everything" (and a variety of thematic nuances). Drummond has said he was inspired by the hip-hop and scratch he was hearing regularly on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, but looking back in 1991 he said "If you listen to it now, it sounds nothing like a hip hop record, you know, it sounds a lot more like British punk... [a] punk version of a hip hop record, I suppose." The original white label release of "All You Need Is Love" was made "single of the week" in Sounds magazine, who announced that The JAMs had "produced the first single to capture realistically the musical and social climate of 1987". Calling the result "a seething terror ridden pulp", Sounds elaborated: "How have [The JAMs] produced a record more powerful than Lydon/Bambaataa's "World Destruction" without laying a finger on a synthesiser or guitar? THEFT! By stealing all the various beats, noises and sounds they've wanted, and building it into their own stunning audio collage, [The JAMs] are making a direct assault on the way records are put together." Underground magazine were also enthusiastic: "This month I'm pleased to say, what's really moving is entirely British. The best groove so far this year is from Scotland and it shows London and New York exactly how it should be done, a one-sided, one-track 12" (it doesn't need any dub or instrumentals). 'All You Need Is Love' by The Jamms is more than rife with a bit of The Beatles (with a dash of MC5 and Samantha Fox). It seems to be anti-AIDS, but as I know nothing about the band it could easily be a piss take. Either way this is a superb jam, if you can find it, buy it (it's so dodgily constructed in legal terms that no distributor info is given)." In a July 1987 review of 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?), Q magazine recalled that the original release of "All You Need Is Love" "seemed an inspired moment of pure wildness. Here were Red Clydeside beatbox rappers pointing a finger at society, putting their record together from samples pirated directly from other people's recordings, while at the same time crossing almost all contemporary music tribal boundaries by including everyone from Samantha Fox to The MC5 among their victims." This was contrasted with 1987 which the reviewer felt was a "disappointment" with "too few ideas being spread too thin". The re-release of "All You Need Is Love" rewarded The JAMs with further praise, including NME "single of the week", in which Danny Kelly thought that "its maverick requisition of the hip-hop idiom, its fanatical confrontation of copyright laws overrun by music's new technologies, its central subject matters and its termination with the year's most incisively searching question—'1987: what the f**k's going on?'—combine to make 'All You Need Is Love' a triumph of nowness over mere newness."(Sic). Reviewing 1987 later in the year, the same writer described "All You Need Is Love" as "mighty" but he was unable to hide his disappointment in the album as a whole: "is it the runaway juggernaut hyperbrill monster crack that the outriding 45 threatened? No." A retrospective piece in The Guardian called "All You Need Is Love" a "jagged slice of agit-prop" and "shockingly effective", adding that "[the original] was a club hit (i.e. everybody danced to it though nobody bought it), and after being re-edited to avoid copyright restrictions, it reached number three in the Indie chart". "All You Need Is Love" epitomised the artistic attitude of the JAMs' subsequent recordings: plagiarising popular music by taking extensive samples of other artists' work, and juxtaposing these with each other, adding beatbox rhythms and Drummond's Scottish-accented raps, poems and narrations. The albums 1987 and Who Killed The JAMs?, and the singles "All You Need Is Love", "Whitney Joins The JAMs" and "Down Town" all had small-scale production budgets and little mainstream popularity, yet their novel construction and The JAMs' provocative disregard for copyright gained the duo enduring media attention. The JAMs' promotional tactics were similarly unconventional, including the use of promotional graffiti, a guerrilla communication method employed repeatedly by Drummond and Cauty, beginning around the time of their first releases. Some copies of the re-released single were supplied in a picture sleeve which showed The JAMs' "Shag Shag Shag" graffiti defacing a billboard (advertising the Today newspaper) that depicted police chief James Anderton. Anderton, a self-declared Christian, had courted controversy when he said "I see increasing evidence of people swirling about in a human cesspit of their own making… We must ask why homosexuals freely engage in sodomy and other obnoxious practices, knowing the dangers involved" As with much of The JAMs' graffiti, the potency of "Shag Shag Shag" was derived from the context it in which it was placed. Further graffiti followed, "JAMs" and "Shag Shag Shag" slogans defacing billboards and Government-funded AIDS warnings in London. The JAMs also made available "Shag Shag Shag" T-shirts which King Boy D told the NME were "selling like hot cakes". The JAMs later revisited the word "shag" when they named their early career retrospective compilation album Shag Times. Drummond and Cauty's output as The JAMs and later The KLF extensively referenced The Illuminatus! Trilogy, and their debut recordings were no exception. The lyrical references in "All You Need Is Love" are complemented by the first of many iconographic and numerical allusions that soon came to characterise the duo's work. Their "pyramid blaster" logo—a pyramid with a ghetto blaster suspended in front—appeared for the first time on the re-released "All You Need Is Love". The "pyramid blaster" references the "All Seeing I" icon—an eye suspended before a pyramid—associated with The Illuminatus! Trilogy. The catalogue numbers of the single (JAMS 23, JAMS 23S, JAMS 23T) also reference Illuminatus!, in which the number 23 is a recurring element. The JAMs actively enshrouded themselves with the mythology of the conspiratorial Illuminatus!, and by adopting the subversive attitude of the fictional JAMs they quickly developed their own mythology. "All You Need Is Love" was originally released in the UK as a limited edition one-side promotional 12" on 9 March 1987. The UK re-release of 18 May 1987 consisted of a 7" and a 12" that were also limited editions, along with a widely available 12". The re-release included the tracks "Ivum Naya (Ibo Version)" (a version of "All You Need Is Love" with Chike on lead vocals), and "Rap, Rhyme and Scratch Yourself" (an instrumental version of the song, "a stripped down beatbox track for anybody to feel free to do what they want with" according to King Boy D). The 7" A-side was "All You Need Is Love (Me Ru Con Mix)", a Vietnamese song originally titled "Ca Dao Mẹ", written by Trịnh Công Sơn as sung by Duy Khiem, in which The JAMs "[took] remixing as far as we could". "Me Ru Con" featured on The JAMs' 1987 (What the Fuck Is Going On?). The formats and track listings of "All You Need Is Love" are tabulated below: Key O: "All You Need Is Love" (original mix) (5:02), A: "All You Need Is Love (106 bpm)" (4:56), M: "All You Need Is Love (Me Ru Con Mix)" (2:22), I: "Ivum Naya (Ibo Version)" (3:39), R: "Rap, Rhyme and Scratch Yourself" (4:46) All You Need Is Love is a 2015 Hong Kong-Chinese-Taiwanese romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Richie Jen and Andy Luo, with the former helming his directorial debut. The film stars Jen and Shu Qi, who also co- wrote the screenplay. Wealthy heiress Yeh Fen-fen (Shu Qi) flees from her family's constant urging for her to get married, bringing a tape of the song Grandma's Pescadores (Penghu) Bay (外婆的澎湖灣) with her that was left behind by her deceased parents. Fen-fen intends to experience the atmosphere in the song's lyrics and search for the freedom of life. Fen-fen books a seaside villa on the internet and begins her journey with a mind full of imaginations. Fen-fen, however, unexpectedly ends up living in a crummy bed and breakfast owned by Wu Si-shan (Richie Jen), which was a result of false advertisement on the internet by Wu's friends, who wanted to help him expand his business. Fen-fen stays there for a night before angrily leaving. While leaving on a boat ride, Fen-fen's luggage also fall into the sea, leaving her no choice but to stay on the island. Meanwhile, Wu's bead and breakfast had to be closed down due to the fact that his younger brother was cheated in an investment. As a result, Wu has to carry the burden of repaying the high-interest debts. Fen-fen is a picky and cold princess, while Wu is a carefree and passionate islander. As these two polar opposites encounter in the beautiful island, they embark on a relaxed comical romantic journey. Richie Jen as Wu Si-shan, referred by everyone as Wu, a native Pescadores Islander who runs a bed and breakfast. He has a kind and happy-go-lucky personality., Shu Qi as Yeh Fen-fen, a wealthy heiress who arrives in Pescadores Island to search for her parent's memories and flee from her family's arranged marriage of her with an American tycoon, Jack., Jiu Kung as Chen Ta-dong, Wu's good friend and the leader of Mosquito Island who is intent on doing something important for his island. However, his plans often backfire and break into disasters., Lego Lee as Wu Si-fu, Wu's younger brother., Ma Nien-hsien as Ma Nien-hsien, a passionate police officer of Pescadores Island., Chuang Hsiu-ching as Ann, Wu's daughter., Fang Xu as Fen-fen's uncle, Tang Chi-yueh as Fen-fen's aunt, Rim as Green Tea, Chang Nien-jiung as Dong's girl, Sara Hsieh as Dong's girl, Emma Ma as Dong's girl, Lin Mei-hsiu Ti Lung as Old Captain, Wu's father who spent most of his life sailing in the sea, only returning to his family after retiring at an elderly age. Unable to let go of the thoughts of his deceased wife, he lives his life in guilt and loneliness., Lotus Wang as Pearl, Wu's childhood friend who sells fish in the fish market. Growing up together with Wu, she is love struck for him and is intent on marrying him., Hu Qiaohua as the presenter of the matchmaking reality TV show, On the Road to Love (愛的路上我和你)., Vivian Dawson as Jack, an American tycoon who is Fen-fen's fiance., Bowie Tsang as the press conference presenter for Fen-fen's new book, All You Need Is Love (我的澎湖灣). Piera Chen of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review citing its predictable plot and unconvincing characters. Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post gave the film a score of 2 out of 5 stars, citing poorly written characters and inconsistencies. LoveHkFilm gave the film a mixed review describing the plot as "inanity", but praises the chemistry and performances of the leads, writing All You Need Is Love needs a whole lot more to be considered quality, but Shu Qi and Richie Jen get a thumbs up for their very substantial screen charm. Official website

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The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on Independence Day at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original, and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The contest has gained public attention in recent years due to the stardom of Takeru Kobayashi and Joey Chestnut. The defending men's champion is Joey Chestnut, who ate 71 hot dogs in the 2019 contest. The defending women's champion is Miki Sudo, who ate 31 hot dogs in the 2019 contest. Major League Eating (MLE), sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), has sanctioned the event since 1997. Today, only entrants currently under contract by MLE can compete in the contest. The field of about 20 contestants typically includes the following: the defending champion;, winners of a regional qualifying contest for that season;, individuals qualifying as one of two wildcards (highest two average qualifier scores without winning a single qualifier); and, those invited by special invitation of the MLE. (See "Controversies" section below.) The competitors stand on a raised platform behind a long table with drinks and Nathan's Famous hot dogs in buns. Most contestants have water on hand, but other kinds of drinks can and have been used. Condiments are allowed, but usually are not used. The hot dogs are allowed to cool slightly after grilling to prevent possible mouth burns. The contestant that consumes (and keeps down) the most hot dogs and buns (HDB) in ten minutes is declared the winner. The length of the contest has changed over the years, previously 12 minutes, and in some years, only three and a half minutes; since 2008, 10 minutes. Spectators watch and cheer the eaters on from close proximity. A designated scorekeeper is paired with each contestant, flipping a number board counting each hot dog consumed. Partially eaten hot dogs count and the granularity of measurement is eighths of a length. Hot dogs still in the mouth at the end of regulation count if they are subsequently swallowed. Yellow penalty cards can be issued for "messy eating," and red penalty cards can be issued for "reversal of fortune", which results in disqualification. If there is a tie, the contestants go to a 5-hot-dog eat-off to see who can eat that many more quickly. Further ties will result in a sudden-death eat-off of eating one more hot dog in the fastest time. After the winner is declared, a plate showing the number of hot dogs eaten by the winner is brought out for photo opportunities. The winner of the men's competition is given possession of the coveted international "bejeweled" mustard-yellow belt. The belt is of "unknown age and value" according to IFOCE co-founder George Shea and rests in the country of its owner. In 2011, Sonya Thomas won the inaugural women's competition and its "bejeweled" pink belt. Various other prizes have been awarded over the years. For example, in 2004 Orbitz donated a travel package to the winner. Starting in 2007, cash prizes have been awarded to the top finishers. The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest has been held at the original location on Coney Island most years since about 1972, usually in conjunction with Independence Day. Nathan's promoter Mortimer Matz claimed that on July 4, 1916, four immigrants held a hot dog eating contest at Nathan's Famous stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. He also made the spurious claim that the contest has been held each year since then except 1941 ("as a protest to the war in Europe") and 1971 (as a protest to political unrest in the U.S.). A man by the name of Jim Mullen is said to have won the first contest, although accounts vary. One account describes Jimmy Durante (who was not an immigrant) as competing in that all-immigrant inaugural contest, which was judged by Eddie Cantor and Sophie Tucker. Another describes the event as beginning "in 1917, and pitted Mae West's father, Jack, against entertainer Eddie Cantor." In 2010, however, promoter Mortimer "Morty" Matz admitted to having fabricated the legend of the 1916 start date with a man named Max Rosey in the early 1970s as part of a publicity stunt. The legend grew over the years, to the point where The New York Times and other publications were known to have repeatedly listed 1916 as the inaugural year, although no evidence of the contest exists. As Coney Island is often linked with recreational activities of the summer season, several early contests were held on other holidays associated with summer besides Independence Day; Memorial Day contests were scheduled for 1972, 1975, and 1978, and a second 1972 event was held on Labor Day. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the competition was dominated by Japanese contestants, particularly Takeru Kobayashi, who won six consecutive contests from 2001-2006. In 2001, Kobayashi transformed the competition and the world of competitive eating by downing 50 hot dogs—smashing the previous record of 25.5. The Japanese eater introduced advanced eating and training techniques that shattered previous competitive eating world records. The rise in popularity of the event coincided with the surge in popularity of the worldwide competitive eating circuit. On July 4, 2011, Sonya Thomas became the champion of the first Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for Women. Previously, women and men had competed against each other, except for one all-female Memorial Day competition held in 1975. Eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes, Thomas earned the inaugural Pepto-Bismol-sponsored pink belt and won $10,000. In recent years, a considerable amount of pomp and circumstance have surrounded the days leading up to the event, which has become an annual spectacle of competitive entertainment. The event is presented on an extravagant stage complete with colorful live announcers and an overall party atmosphere. The day before the contest is a public weigh-in with the mayor of New York City. Some competitors don flamboyant costumes and/or makeup, while others may promote themselves with eating-related nicknames. On the morning of the event, they have a heralded arrival to Coney Island on the "bus of champions" and are called to the stage individually during introductions. In 2013, six-time defending champion Joey Chestnut was escorted to the stage in a sedan chair. The competition draws many spectators and worldwide press coverage. In 2007, an estimated 50,000 came out to witness the event. In 2004 a three-story-high "Hot Dog Eating Wall of Fame" was erected at the site of the annual contest. The wall lists past winners, and has a digital clock which counts down the minutes until the next contest. Despite substantial damage suffered at Nathan's due to Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, the location was repaired, reopened, and the 2013 event was held as scheduled. ESPN has long enjoyed solid ratings from its broadcast of the Hot Dog Eating Contest on Independence Day, and on July 1, 2014, the network announced it had extended its agreement with Major League Eating and will broadcast the contest through 2024. The event continues to be recognized for its power as a marketing tool. Controversies usually revolve around supposed breaches of rules that are missed by the judges. For example, NY1 television news editor Phil Ellison reviewed taped footage of the 1999 contest and thought that Steve Keiner started eating at the count of one, but the judge, Mike DeVito—himself the champion of the 1990, 1993, and 1994 contests—was stationed directly in front of Keiner and disputed it, saying it was incorrect. Keiner ate 21 1/2 dogs, as shown on the Wall of Fame located at Nathan's flagship store at the corner of Surf and Stillwell avenues in Coney Island. This controversy was created by George Shea, the chief publicist for Nathan's, because it created much more publicity for the contest. Shea assured Keiner at the end of the contest that he would clear the confusion up but never did. Keiner never participated in any advertising or contests set up by Shea because of this. Another controversy occurred in 2003 when former NFL player William "The Refrigerator" Perry competed as a celebrity contestant. Though he had won a qualifier by eating twelve hot dogs, he ate only four at the contest, stopping after just five minutes. Shea stated that the celebrity contestant experiment will likely not be repeated. At the 2007 contest, the results were delayed to review whether defending champion Takeru Kobayashi had vomited (also known as a "Roman method incident" or "reversal of fortune") in the final seconds of regulation. Such an incident results in the disqualification of the competitor under the rules of the IFOCE. The judges ruled in Kobayashi's favor. A similar incident occurred involving Kobayashi in 2002 in a victory over Eric "Badlands" Booker. Takeru Kobayashi has not competed in the contest since 2009 due to his refusal to sign an exclusive contract with Major League Eating, which is the current sanctioning body of the contest. In 2010, he was arrested by police after attempting to jump on the stage after the contest was over and disrupt the proceedings. Some witnesses reported that Kobayashi was attempting to congratulate the winner, Joey Chestnut. On August 5, 2010, all charges against Kobayashi were dismissed by a judge in Brooklyn. Despite his six consecutive victories in their annual event, Nathan's removed Kobayashi's image from their "Wall of Fame" in 2011. Kobayashi again refused to compete in 2011, but instead conducted his own hot dog eating exhibition, consuming 69 HDB, seven more than Joey Chestnut accomplished in the Nathan's contest. The sports website Deadspin deemed Kobayashi's solo appearance "an improbably perfect 'up yours' to the Nathan's hot dog eating contest." The 1990 competition ended in a tie. In 2003, ESPN aired the contest for the first time on a tape-delayed basis. Starting in 2004, ESPN began airing the contest live. From 2005 to 2017, Paul Page was ESPN's play-by-play announcer for the event, accompanied by color commentator Richard Shea. In 2011, the women's competition was carried live on ESPN3, followed by the men's competition on ESPN. In 2012, ESPN signed an extension to carry the event through 2017. In 2014, ESPN signed an agreement to carry the competition on its networks for 10 years until 2024. The Nathan's contest has been featured in these documentaries and TV programs: "A Different Story" (July 4, 1996) – Jeannie Moos covers the contest on CNN, "Red, White, and Yellow" (1998), "A Hot Dog Program: An All-American, Culinary Cruise Through Hot Dog History" (1999), "Gut Busters" (2002) Made for TV – Discovery Channel, "Footlong" (2002) – not the 2003 short film of the same name, "The Tsunami – Takeru Kobayashi" (2003) Japanese, "" (2004), "The Most Extreme", "Big Mouths" episode (2004) (Animal Planet), Cheap Seats, (2004), "True Life" (2006) MTV documentary series, Hungry (2013) documentary film; contract dispute between Nathan's Famous and Kobayashi, "30 for 30: The Good, The Bad, The Hungry" (2019); ESPN Documentary News sources typically use puns in head-lines and copy referring to the contest, such as "'Tsunami' is eating contest's top dog again," "couldn't cut the mustard" (A.P.), "Nathan's King ready, with relish" (Daily News) and "To be frank, Fridge faces a real hot-dog consumer" (ESPN). Reporter Gersh Kuntzman of the New York Post has been covering the event since the early 1990s and has been a judge at the competition since 2000. Darren Rovell, of ESPN, has competed in a qualifier. Each contestant has his or her own eating method. Takeru Kobayashi pioneered the "Solomon Method" at his first competition in 2001. The Solomon method consists of breaking each hot dog in half, eating the two halves at once, and then eating the bun. "Dunking" is the most prominent method used today. Because buns absorb water, many contestants dunk the buns in water and squeeze them to make them easier to swallow, and slide down the throat more efficiently. Other methods used include the "Carlene Pop," where the competitor jumps up and down while eating, to force the food down to the stomach. "Buns & Roses" is a similar trick, but the eater sways from side to side instead. "Juliet-ing" is a cheating method in which players simply throw the hot dog buns over their shoulders. Contestants train and prepare for the event in different ways. Some fast, others prefer liquid-only diets before the event. Takeru Kobayashi meditates, drinks water and eats cabbage, then fasts before the event. Several contestants, such as Ed "Cookie" Jarvis, aim to be "hungry, but not too hungry" and have a light breakfast the morning of the event. Glutton Bowl, Krystal Square Off, Horsemen of the Esophagus, Man v. Food, Wing Bowl Two Dozen Hot Dogs Please, and No, They're Not to Go by Anthony Ramirez, Sports Illustrated feature on the 2006 contest Sonya Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung on July 26, 1967), also known by her nickname The Black Widow, and "The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus", is a South Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joined the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2003 and quickly rose to the top of the ranks, beating competitive eaters such as Eric Booker. Her nickname "The Black Widow" refers to her ability to regularly defeat men four to five times her size. While the size of her stomach is only slightly larger than normal, her skinny build is perhaps her biggest advantage, allowing her stomach to expand more readily since it is not surrounded by the ring of fat common in other heavy eaters. She holds records in over 25 eating competitions, and in December 2008, she set the world record for fruit-cake eaten in 10 minutes. Work Center: She currently works at Burger King on Joint Base Andrews, MD. On July 4, 2005 she ate 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes at Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, setting a then-record for American competitors (which was also the female record). On August 8, 2005, she consumed 35 bratwursts in 10 minutes, beating the previous 10-minute record of 19.5 bratwursts, although her record was beaten in 2006 by Takeru Kobayashi. On July 4, 2011, Thomas became the first champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for Women. Eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes, Thomas earned the inaugural pink Pepto Bismol Belt and won $10,000. She defended and held on to that title the following year eating 46 hot dogs. On July 4, 2013, she again defended her title by eating 36 hot dogs, just beating out Juliet Lee who ate 36 hot dogs. To stay in shape, Thomas has one meal a day, with lots of green vegetables and fresh fruit, and always avoids junk food. She exercises by walking on an inclined treadmill for two hours, five times per week. She also regularly visits all-you-can-eat buffets at restaurants. The night before a contest, she fasts all night in order to put an edge on her appetite. Thomas's first major victory that put her on the competitive eating map was in the 2004 Wing Bowl, where she became the first woman to win a Wing Bowl. Her tally of 32 hot dogs in the 2004 Nathan's Hot Dog contest was the most ever eaten by a male or female American competitor at the time. The only eaters besides Kobayashi to defeat Thomas between the 2004 and 2005 Nathan's contests were Bill "El Wingador" Simmons in the controversial 2005 Wing Bowl, and Dale Boone, who cooled overheated baked beans in order to win an eating contest. On July 4, 2011, Thomas became the first champion of Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest for Women. Eating 40 hot dogs in 10 minutes, Thomas earned the inaugural Pink Belt and won $10,000. Thomas had won 1st place in the National Buffalo Wing Festival US chicken wing eating championship five-years straight from 2007-2011. On September 4, 2011, she attained the United States Chicken Wing Eating Championship in Buffalo, New York by eating 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes. On September 2, 2012 Joey Chestnut consumed 191 wings (7.61 pounds) in 12 minutes to take competitive-eating trophy from the five-year champion Sonya Thomas. When Thomas undertook a challenging schedule of three contests in three cities on Labor Day weekend 2005, she had not lost a contest to anyone besides Kobayashi since the Wing Bowl in early February. Several last-minute victories foreshadowed that her streak would not last forever. At the Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, NY, Ms. Thomas lost to Eric "Badlands" Booker in a chicken wing contest and then lost a waffle eating contest in Atlanta the next day to the fast-rising rookie Joey Chestnut, giving her a two event losing streak to replace her winning streak. Thomas' waffle defeat was avenged on Labor Day, however, when she out-ate Chestnut in the Chattanooga, TN Krystal Square Off qualifier. Thomas ate 57 Krystal Burgers to Chestnut's 56. Before the GoldenPalace.com turkey eating contest in New York City Thanksgiving Eve, Thomas had gone three months without winning a non-qualifying contest, although she did have two impressive victories in qualifiers during that span. It appeared that Chestnut would soon claim the title of the leading American eater from Thomas. The civil engineering student from San Jose State had defeated Thomas in three of their last four match-ups and was the first eater to lead Kobayashi for the majority of a contest at the Krystal Square Off in Chattanooga the previous week. Although Thomas came in third, the silver lining was her domination of Kobayashi on a pound for pound basis: Thomas 56 burgers / 100 lb. = 0.56, Kobayashi 67 burgers / 170 lb. = 0.39. At the turkey contest, Thomas was able to dramatically reverse her recent slump and defeat Chestnut without last second heroics, which she had not been able to do since Nathan's hot dog contest on July 4. Thomas' momentum continued the following week at a meatball contest in Atlantic City. Her total of 10 lb. 3 oz. beat Chestnut by two pounds and almost doubled her total from the previous year's meatball contest. Thomas' continued improvement, along with Chestnut's rapid ascent, gave Kobayashi more to worry about in 2006 than at any previous time in his dominant career. On August 13, 2006, Thomas won her Asian debut competition in Hong Kong while setting her 28th eating record, by consuming 17 Chinese-style lotus seed buns in 12 minutes. She was featured in a MasterCard Paypass commercial. By accident, she meets Takeru Kobayashi, a male competitor, in a convenience store. Their eyes flash, and they begin a hot dog eating duel, which they pay for using the Paypass card. In 2005, Thomas earned more than $50,000 in prize money and made extensive media appearances. She is unsure how long she will continue eating competitively, but she hopes to own a fast-food franchise one day. She would like to compete in Japanese eating contests, which pay more but last longer than she prefers. She intends to continue eating competitively until she either loses her desire, or falls out of the ranks of the elite eaters. Thomas exercises up to two hours a day on an incline treadmill, and has maintained her weight since she started competing in 2003, down from 135 pounds when she worked as a typist in Korea. Her lowest weight has been 99 lb. at Wing Bowl XII in 2004., She only eats one very large meal a day, which takes several hours for her to complete. A typical post-work meal for her would be three large orders of fries, a chicken Whopper, 20 chicken tenders, and two 32-ounce diet soft drinks., She does not practice eating at maximum speed for more than a two-minute period., Her favorite foods to eat in competitions are hard-boiled eggs, oysters and chicken wings., She claims to have had remaining stomach capacity after all her contests, except after eating the nine pound Barrick burger, which took her 48 minutes to finish. She ate enough oysters to set the untimed record for oyster eating after the 2005 oyster competition was officially over., She believes that the combined weight of the Barrick burger, bun and water she drank was probably 17 or 18 pounds, and that this is approximately her current gastronomic maximum., She believes her best chance of beating Kobayashi would be in an 8-10 minute contest, in which superior technique could be a deciding factor. In a longer contest she feels that Kobayashi's advantage in stomach capacity (he can eat over 20 pounds) would be too much to overcome., She had difficulty eating a hot dog in less than a minute when she first started training for her first contest, the 2003 Nathan's qualifier. After practicing, she was able to consume 18 hot dogs in 12 minutes., She out-ate Randy Thomas, a pro football player noted for his appetite, consuming 6.5 pounds of shrimp in 10 minutes to his 1.5 pounds. Asparagus, 5.75 pounds of tempura deep fried asparagus spears in 10 minutes, Cheesecakes, 11 pounds of Downtown Atlantic cheesecake in 9 minutes, Chicken nuggets, 80 chicken nuggets in 5 minutes, Chicken wings, 183 chicken wings in 12 minutes (2011 record), Chili, 1.125 Gallons of Chili in 6 minutes, Crabcakes, 46 three ounce crabcakes in 10 minutes, Eggs, 65 hard boiled eggs in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, Fruitcakes, 4 pounds, 14 ounces of Wegman's Fruitcake in 10 minutes, Gyoza, 206 gyoza in 10 minutes, Hamburgers, 7 burgers ( pound "Thickburgers") in 10 minutes, Jambalaya, 9 pounds of crawfish jambalaya in 10 minutes, Lobster, 44 lobsters totaling 11.3 pounds of lobster meat in 12 minutes, MoonPies, 38 Moonpies in 8 minutes, Oysters, 46 dozen Acme Oysters in 10 minutes(2005), 29 dozen Acme Oysters in 8 minutes (2009)-Louisiana oyster season produced much larger oysters in 2009 explaining the slower pace -reclaimed the World Oyster Eating title, Pizza, 6 extra large Bocce pizza slices in 15 minutes, Pulled pork, 23 pulled pork sandwiches in 10 minutes, Tacos, 43 soft tacos in 11 minutes, Tater tots, 250 tater tots in 5 minutes, Turducken, 7 pounds Turducken.com Thanksgiving Dinner in 12 minutes List of competitive eaters Official website, International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) profile Competitive eating or speed eating, is an activity in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions can last up to thirty minutes, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner. Competitive eating is most popular in the United States, Canada and Japan, where organized professional eating contests often offer prizes, including cash. Traditionally, eating contests, often involving pies, were events at county fairs. The recent surge in the popularity of competitive eating is due in large part to the development of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, an annual holiday tradition that has been held on July 4 every year since 1916 at Coney Island. In 2001, Takeru Kobayashi ate 50 hot dogs – smashing the previous record (25.5). The event generates enormous media attention and has been aired on ESPN for the past eight years, contributing to the growth of the competitive eating phenomenon. Kobayashi won the competition every year from 2001 until 2006, but was dethroned in 2007 by Joey Chestnut. In 2008, Chestnut and Kobayashi tied at 59 hot dogs in 10 minutes (the time span had previously been 12 minutes) and Chestnut won in an eat-off in which he was the first of the two competitors to finish eating 5 hot dogs, earning him a second consecutive title. Kobayashi holds six Guinness World Records, for eating hot dogs, meatballs, Twinkies, hamburgers and pizza. He competed in hot dog contests in 2011 and 2012 and claimed to have eaten 68 and 69. The current champion is Chestnut, with a total of 74 hot dogs and buns eaten on July 4, 2018. All Pro Eating Competitive Eaters include Molly Schuyler, Eric "Silo" Dahl, Jamie "The Bear" McDonald and Stephanie "Xanadu" Torres (who died). The International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE) hosts nearly 50 "Major League Eating" events across North America every year. Other eating contests sponsored by restaurants can involve a challenge to eat large or extraordinarily spicy food items, including giant steaks, hamburgers and curries in a set amount of time. Those who finish the item are often rewarded by getting the item for free, a T-shirt and the addition of their name and/or photo on a wall of challenge victors. For example, Ward's House of Prime located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has a prime rib meat challenge. The current record is 360 ounces by Molly Schuyler in June 2017. Various challenges of this type are featured in the Travel Channel show Man v. Food. The Great American Eat Off - a show that pits two average eaters against each other to see who can eat the fastest, while raising awareness for charity and then brings in a professional competitive eater to beat the winning time, raises the stakes for competitive eaters by incorporating various challenges and obstacles that would interfere with their speed. Obstacles may include eating with two spoons, eating with no hands, or Interval Eating where the competitive eater is permitted to eat for a limited time and then must rest for a specific time (i.e., eat 20 seconds, rest 40 seconds, eat 20 seconds, rest 40 seconds etc.) until they have completed the designated food. Interval Eating was created by Gail Kasper. The type of food used in contests varies greatly, with each contest typically only using one type of food (e.g. a hot dog eating contest). Foods used in professional eating contests include hamburgers, hot dogs, pies, pancakes, chicken wings, asparagus, pizza, ribs, whole turkeys, among many other types of food. There is also a vegan hot dog eating competition held in Austin, Texas. Competitive eating contests often adhere to an 8, 10, 12, or 15 minute time limit. Most contests are presided over by a master of ceremonies, whose job is to announce the competitors prior to the contest and keep the audience engaged throughout the contest with enthusiastic play-by-play commentary and amusing anecdotes. A countdown from 10 usually takes place at the end of the contest, with all eating coming to an end with the expiration of time. Many professional contests also employ a series of judges, whose role is to enforce the contest rules and warn eaters about infractions. Judges will also be called upon to count or weigh each competitor's food and certify the results of the contest prior to the winner being announced. Many eaters will attempt to put as much food in their mouths as possible during the final seconds of a contest, a practice known by professionals as "chipmunking." If chipmunking is allowed in a contest, eaters are given a reasonable amount of time (typically less than two minutes) to swallow the food or risk a deduction from their final totals. In many contests, eaters are allowed to dunk foods in water or other liquids in order to soften the food and make it easier to chew and swallow. Dunking typically takes place with foods involving a bun or other doughy parts. Professional contests often enforce a limit on the number of times competitors are allowed to dunk food. Competitors are required to maintain a relatively clean eating surface throughout the contest. Excess debris after the contest results in a deduction from the eater's final totals. If, at any point during or immediately after the contest, a competitor regurgitates any food, he or she will be disqualified. Vomiting, also known as a "reversal", or, as ESPN and the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest call it, a "reversal of fortune", includes obvious signs of vomiting as well as any small amounts of food that may fall from the mouth deemed by judges to have come from the stomach. Small amounts of food already in the mouth prior to swallowing are excluded from this rule. Many professional competitive eaters undergo rigorous personal training in order to increase their stomach capacity and eating speed with various foods. Stomach elasticity is usually considered the key to eating success, and competitors commonly train by drinking large amounts of water over a short time to stretch out the stomach. Others combine the consumption of water with large quantities of low calorie foods such as vegetables or salads. Some eaters chew large amounts of gum in order to build jaw strength. For a marquee event like the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, some eaters, like current contest champion Joey Chestnut, will begin training several months before the event with personal time trials using the contest food. Retired competitive eater Ed "Cookie" Jarvis trained by consuming entire heads of boiled cabbage followed by drinking up to two gallons of water every day for two weeks before a contest. Due to the risks involved with training alone or without emergency medical supervision, the IFOCE actively discourages training of any sort. The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, which has been held every Fourth of July since the 1970s, is televised live on ESPN from Coney Island in the Brooklyn borough of New York City., The annual Krystal Square Off hamburger eating contest has been televised on ESPN and, in 2008, on the Root Sports South network., In 2002, the Fox Network aired a two-hour competitive eating contest called the Glutton Bowl., Spike TV (now the Paramount Network) broadcast several IFOCE-sanctioned competitive eating competitions as part of its "MLE Chowdown" series. One criticism of competitive eating is the message that gluttonous sport sends as obesity levels rise among Americans. and the example it sets for youth. Actor Ryan Reynolds in an editorial on The Huffington Post, contended that competitive eating is another example of Western gluttony at a time when so many others around the world are starving. In the same article, retired competitive eater Don "Moses" Lerman mentioned some of the dangers of competitive eating when he said he would "stretch my stomach until it causes internal bleeding." Negative health effects of competitive eating include delayed stomach emptying, aspiration pneumonia, perforation of the stomach, Boerhaave syndrome, and obesity. Other medical professionals contend that binge eating can cause stomach perforations in those with ulcers and gulping large quantities of water during training can lead to water intoxication, a condition which dilutes electrolytes in the blood. Long term effects of delayed stomach emptying include chronic indigestion, nausea and vomiting. Discomfort following an event is common with nausea, heartburn, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. People may also use laxatives or force themselves to vomit following the event with associated risks. Most deaths have occurred from choking. In October 2012, a 32-year-old man died while competitively eating live roaches and worms. An autopsy revealed he choked to death., On July 4, 2014, a 47-year-old competitive eater choked to death during a hot dog eating contest., At a Sacred Heart University event on April 2, 2017, a 20-year-old female student died as a result of a pancake-eating contest. She died by choking., In 2017 a woman died from a water drinking competition due to water intoxication., On August 13, 2019, a 41-year-old man choked to death after competing in an amateur taco eating competition at a Fresno Grizzlies baseball game. Man v. Food, Milk chugging, Muk-bang, Wing Bowl Eat This Book (2006), Horsemen of the Esophagus (2006), A Short History of the American Stomach (2008, Frederick Kaufman), Clemens Berger: Die Wettesser. Roman, Skarabäus 2007 (The Competitive Eaters. A Novel) http://www.eatfeats.com eatfeats.com, http://www.CompetitiveEaters.com/ CompetitiveEaters.com, http://www.TheNCCEA.com/ The National Collegiate Competitive Eating Association

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St James Park is a football stadium in Exeter and is the home of Exeter City F.C. The stadium is served by the St James Park railway station which is right next to the ground (the line runs behind the grandstand). It has been adopted by the club who contribute to its upkeep, under the community rail scheme, and its railings have been painted in the red and white of Exeter's strip. The new capacity of St James Park following completion of a £3.4million redevelopment project is 8,696. The record attendance is 20,984, who watched Exeter lose 4–2 to Sunderland in an FA Cup Sixth Round Replay in 1931. The Stagecoach Stand and the away terrace will be closed for the 2017/18 season due to redevelopment work at the stadium, with away fans set to be only allocated around 200-1,000 tickets in the seated stand. This reduced the capacity to around 6,000. In 1654 the land was owned by Lady Anne Clifford who rented it out for fattening pigs. The proceeds went to a charity set up to pay for the apprenticeship of a poor child from the parish of St Stephen, an arrangement that was supposed to be renewed "yearly to the world's end." Pigs were resident for nearly 250 years and in later times, were joined by other tenants of low repute. Prior to 1904, Exeter United FC played its games here and after merging with St. Sidwell's United, the ground was leased to the newly formed Exeter City FC with the new contract stipulating that "no menageries, shows, circuses or steam roundabouts" were to be allowed on the premises. In the ground's early days, some visiting clubs complained about the ground claiming it wasn't regulation length, and both Stoke (in 1909) and Reading (1910) refused to play FA Cup games at the ground, although the matter was resolved in 1920 when the club purchased the land east of the ground and were able to extend the pitch and construct the Big Bank stand. In 1921 the club was able to buy the site, thanks to money raised through the record breaking sale of Dick Pym to Bolton, and proceeded to develop the ground, adding a roof to the Cowshed stand and in 1926 rebuilding the Grandstand destroyed by fire the previous year. In 1994 the club encountered financial difficulties and the ground was sold to Beazer Homes, and was later purchased by Exeter City Council who leased it back to the club. Finances had improved by 1996 and the club began to redevelop St James Park, rebuilding the Big Bank stand (2000) and replacing the Cowshed terrace with an all-seater stand (2001). The neighbouring former St. James' School building was refurbished into new offices, a social club and corporate hospitality /conference and banqueting facilities. Financial difficulties, including debt to stadium redevelopers Mowlem, caused the redevelopment plans to be put on hold but matters continued to decline, culminating in the club's most traumatic episode at the end of the 2002/03 season, when police raided the club and removed the recently instated chairman, his wife and the vice-chairman for questioning. Later that year the Supporters Trust took over day-to-day running of the club, and to overcome the financial problems entered into a CVA. In 2005, thanks largely to the money generated from the FA Cup third round match at Old Trafford the previous year, the club came out of administration and the Supporters Trust began again to look at the redevelopment of the ground. In the meantime, much of the small scale maintenance and repair work has been undertaken by a volunteer workforce of fans organised by the Trust, using resources donated by local businesses. In 2004, talks were held with the Exeter Chiefs rugby club, who were in with a good chance of obtaining promotion to the Zurich Premiership that season. Because the Chiefs 100-year-old County Ground didn't meet Premiership requirements and their new Sandy Park Stadium was not due to open for another season, the clubs were looking at a possible one year groundshare at St James Park. There were also talks of a future groundshare at the Sandy Park stadium should Exeter City decide to leave St James Park. In the end, the Chiefs missed promotion by 4 points to Bristol and were able to stay at the County Ground for the next season. Contractual restrictions on the use of Sandy Park halted talk of a future groundshare there too. In May 2016, permission was granted for a redevelopment of the Old Grandstand (then known as the Stagecoach Family Stand), that would see the 90-year old stand be demolished and replaced with a new 1,600 seat stand, which would be financed by the building of new student accommodation behind the Big Bank. The option for a new, covered standing away terrace was also included and approved under planning permission. As part of the redevelopment, the club announced in October 2018 that the Old Grandstand's replacement would be named 'The Stagecoach Adam Stansfield Stand', in honour of the striker who died from cancer in 2010, at the age of 31. St James Park hosted an international fixture on 22 November 2006, when England Women’s Under 21s took on France in a friendly match. The game finished 1-1\. The Park also hosted the England C international match against Wales on 20 February 2008, which England won 2-1\. Stadium pictures at www.footballgroundguide.com St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,388, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park is known for its outstanding atmosphere generated by the Newcastle United fans. St James' Park has been the home ground of Newcastle United since 1892 and has been used for football since 1880. Throughout its history, the desire for expansion has caused conflict with local residents and the local council. This has led to proposals to move at least twice in the late 1960s, and a controversial 1995 proposed move to nearby Leazes Park. Reluctance to move has led to the distinctive lop-sided appearance of the present-day stadium's asymmetrical stands. Besides club football, St James' Park has also been used for international football, at the 2012 Olympics, for the rugby league Magic Weekend, rugby union World Cup, Premiership and England Test matches, charity football events, rock concerts, and as a set for film and reality television. The site of St James' Park was originally a patch of sloping grazing land, bordered by Georgian Leazes Terrace, and near the historic Town Moor, owned by the Freemen of the City, both factors that later affected development of the ground, with the local council being the landlord of the site. Leazes Terrace was built c1830 by notable Newcastle residents, architect Thomas Oliver and builder Richard Grainger. Once the residence of high society in Newcastle, it is now a Grade 1 listed building, and, recently refurbished, is currently being used as self-catering postgraduate student accommodation by Newcastle University. The site was also near the gallows of the city, last used in 1844, lending the Gallowgate End its name. The first football team to play at St James' Park was Newcastle Rangers in 1880 They moved to a ground at Byker in 1882, then returned briefly to St James' Park in 1884 before folding that year. Newcastle West End took over the ground in 1886. West End were wound up in 1892 and effectively merged into their rivals Newcastle East End, who took over the lease of St James' Park and became Newcastle United later that year. Local residents opposition to football being played at St James' dated back to the first games in the Football League following the building of the first small stand at the Gallowgate End. A redeveloped Gallowgate and further stands followed in 1899, bringing the first official capacity to 30,000 (standing). While the stadium is now synonymous with the Black and Whites, Newcastle United actually played in red and white at St James' Park until 1904. In 1905, a doubling of capacity to 60,000, with a main stand on the Barrack Road (now Milburn Stand), and major other stands, produced a state-of-the-art facility, even boasting a swimming pool. The second-ever rugby league test match, and first test victory by Great Britain, was played at the ground in 1908 against the touring Australian Kangaroos side on 23 January 1909. Between 1920 and 1930, plans were drawn up for a double-tiered stand by notable football architect Archibald Leitch. However, after planning disputes, all that was achieved was a small roof over the Leazes Terrace side (Sir John Hall Stand). Floodlights were constructed in the 1950s, with the first match played using them held on 25 February 1953 against Celtic. Up until the 1960s planning difficulties continued, culminating in lack of development of the ground being cited as the reason for failure of Newcastle United to secure the right to host a group stage of the upcoming 1966 World Cup following political disputes. In the late 1960s further attempts were made to develop the site, and the council proposed a multi-use sports development of St. James' Park. This was rejected as not financially viable. Plans were drawn up by the club for a move to a stadium in Gosforth, or even a groundshare with Sunderland A.F.C. in a new stadium on Wearside. These plans were withdrawn in 1971 after agreement to redevelop St James' Park was finally reached, after mediation by the then Minister for Sport, Denis Howell. In 1972, work started on the East Stand, 50 years after it was last permitted to be developed. In 1978 the Leazes End was demolished, but relegation and financial difficulties meant the new stand was not built. Investigations following the Bradford City stadium fire in 1985 identified a need to replace the ageing West Stand, which was demolished in 1986. Its replacement, the Milburn Stand, was named in honour of Jackie Milburn and opened in 1987. Further development was again shelved for lack of finance. Until the early 1990s the ground had achieved only modest expansion under various owners, with plans dogged by disputes and lack of finance due to poor on-field performances. In January 1992 businessman Sir John Hall, who had led the Magpie Group consortium in a hostile takeover of the club, was installed as chairman. Sir John used his experience in property development to rapidly gain approval and invested heavily in the stadium with finances gained from success under new manager Kevin Keegan. The Leazes End that had been demolished but not replaced was finally rebuilt, and opened as the Sir John Hall stand for Newcastle's debut season in the Premiership in 1993. The Gallowgate End was rebuilt, the Milburn Stand modified, and a new pitch, drainage and floodlights were installed. With all four corners filled in with seating, by 1995 the stadium had reached a capacity of 36,610. As the expanded stadium still received full houses due to continuing success of the team led by the returning Kevin Keegan, in 1995, plans were submitted by the club to relocate to Leazes Park to the north. A new £65m purpose-built 55,000-seat stadium would be erected, less than two pitch lengths away from the original, but rotated, which would be similar to the San Siro in Italy. The old ground would be redeveloped to be used by Newcastle Falcons Rugby Club, as part of the wider envisaged 'Sporting Club of Newcastle', with basketball and ice-hockey teams purchased by Sir John Hall. Leazes Park was historically part of the Town Moor, owned by the Freemen of Newcastle, and protected by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Town Moor Act 1988. The City council initially invited the planning proposal amid suggestions that the club might move to a site in Gateshead, a 75,000-seat stadium next to Gateshead International Stadium, but it led to political debate and opposition. A pressure group "No Business on the Moor" eventually gathered a 36,000-petition signature, equal to the then-current stadium capacity. Opposition also came from a conservation group Friends of Leazes Park led by Dolly Potter. The club proposed to mitigate the loss of the moor land with proposals for a land trade-off with landscaping of land freed up by scaling down of the existing stadium restoring the views of the historic park from Leazes Terrace. It became clear that the relocation plan would not gain planning permission without a potentially long-running public enquiry. To quickly satisfy demand, the club decided to expand the current St James' Park instead. In 1997 Sir John Hall stepped down as chairman (remaining as a director until 2007, now life president of the club), and existing shareholder and board director Freddy Shepherd became chairman. Following the withdrawal of the Leazes Park plan, the club proposed expansion of St James' Park to over 52,000 capacity, through major construction of a second tier over the Milburn Stand, Leazes End and adjoining corner, adding to a structure that was itself just four years old. After a refusal by the Secretary of State to take the application to an enquiry, permission was obtained in July 1998. For minimal disruption to seating capacity during construction, the project required 3-day shutdowns of work on home match days. 750 seats were lost during construction. During this expansion, executive boxes in the East Stand were demolished and replaced by seating blocks from pitch level up to the existing rows, in a mirror image of the Milburn Stand. The executive boxes were transferred to the new Milburn/Leazes complex, with more added to the Gallowgate End. During development, the additional stand and roof was constructed while leaving the existing cantilever roof intact until the last possible moment These developments increased capacity to approximately 52,143. The construction was completed in July 2000 at a cost of £42 million. Ironically, after opposition from local residents to the relocation plan, the expansion of the current ground at the Leazes End has further reduced the view of Leazes Park from Leazes Terrace, although this is now student accommodation. The 1998 redevelopment caused controversy when the club informed 4,000 season- ticket-holding fans that their seat prices would be increased to corporate rates, with the option of paying these or being moved to seats in the proposed expanded sections. Half of these fans were 'bondholders', who had paid £500 in 1994 which they asserted guaranteed them an option on their specific seat for 10 years. Some fans resisted, and after two high-court cases and a Save Our Seats campaign, the club was allowed to move the fans, under an exceptional circumstances clause. As a gesture of goodwill, the club did not pursue the fans for legal costs awarded over their insured limit. In late 2003, preempting the relaxation of the UK gambling laws, the club signed a deal with MGM Mirage to hand over the land above St James Metro station, behind the Gallowgate End, in return for an equity investment, to build a jointly run complex centred on a Super Casino. These plans failed when the proposed number of super casinos was reduced to one in the UK, and in January 2008 £5 million was repaid by the club to MGM. In 2005 the Gallowgate was redeveloped, with a new bar being built beneath the upper tier of the Gallowgate End, named "Shearer's'" after Newcastle player Alan Shearer. During excavation underneath the stand during building work, the builders uncovered the original steps of the old Gallowgate End stand, which had simply been covered up when the stadium was fully renovated in 1993. These steps were removed for Shearer's Bar. The completion of the redevelopment of the Gallowgate saw the creation of Shearer's Bar, an expanded club shop, a club museum and a new box office. It was announced on 2 April 2007 that the club intend to submit plans for a new £300million development of the stadium and surrounding areas, to include a major conference centre, hotels and luxury apartments. The proposals also include a plan to increase the Gallowgate End, eventually taking the capacity to 60,000. This expansion would be funded by the city council and linked to the redevelopment of the land behind the stand and over the Metro Station, which had previously been earmarked for the casino project. Expansion of the Gallowgate end involves difficulties due to the proximity of a road, Strawberry Place, and issues surrounding reinforcement of the underground St James Metro station. The 2007 redevelopment plans announced under the previous regime were put on hold following the takeover of the club and its plc holding company by owner Mike Ashley. One of the first noticeable changes in the stadium in the new era was the removal of advertising mounted underneath the roofs (facing the crowd) for Shepherd Offshore and Cameron Hall Developments, companies associated with the previous regime. A large advertising sign for Sports Direct appeared on the lip of the roof of the Gallowgate, visible from the pitch. A full review of the club performed by the new management team concluded that stadium expansion was not a priority. For the start of the 2008–09 season, the away section was moved from the corner of the Leazes stand/Milburn stand to the other end of the Leazes stand, where it abuts the East stand, at the same upper level. The area of seats designated as the family enclosure were expanded, and certain corporate areas saw increased pricing. The first home game of the 2008–09 season, at 3 pm on a Saturday, saw the lowest-ever Premier League attendance at the expanded ground, of 47,711, resulting in cash turnstiles. It was speculated at the time that this was due to the credit crunch; however, with the shock departure of Kevin Keegan before the next home game, future changes in attendances would be hard to attribute to this alone. The first game after Keegan's resignation, a league fixture against Hull on 13 September 2008, registered a crowd of 50,242 amid protests against Ashley and Dennis Wise. This was followed by an attendance of 44,935 on 27 September in a league fixture against Blackburn Rovers, which followed a record low attendance of 20,577 on Wednesday, 24 September in a League Cup fixture, the lowest ever attendance for a competitive first-team match since the 1993 promotion to the top flight, and a drop of over 4,000 from previous lows. Although Newcastle's crowds inevitably fell in 2009–10 as a result of their relegation and the fact that Britain was still in recession, the Magpies still attracted a modern-day record average attendance for a club at this level with their attendance for the season averaging at 43,383. They also became the first club to attract a league attendance of more than 50,000 at this level in the modern era, and ended the season promoted as champions of the Football League Championship. In October 2014, a scoreboard was installed in the far corner of the Sir John Hall Stand. The scoreboard was used for the first time on 18 October during a Premier League tie against Leicester City. However the game was delayed one hour, due to damage caused by strong wind to the paneling surrounding the scoreboard. Newcastle United later stated on their website: "Supporter safety was of paramount importance." On 10 November 2011, Newcastle United announced that the stadium would officially be renamed Sports Direct Arena, as a temporary measure to "showcase the sponsorship opportunity to interested parties", whilst looking for a sponsor for possible future stadium re-branding. According to the club, the St James' Park title was dropped as not being "commercially attractive". Previously, in 2009, the club had announced plans to sell the naming rights for the stadium. After protests about the possible loss of the name of the stadium, which included the tabling of an early day motion in Parliament, the club clarified the following week that the move would not involve the loss of the name St James' Park altogether, citing the example of 'SportsDirect.com@StJamesPark' as a potential stadium rights package. The following day, the club announced that the stadium would be known as sportsdirect.com @ St James' Park Stadium temporarily until the end of the season, to showcase the idea behind the package, until the new sponsor was announced. The stadium's official renaming as the Sports Direct Arena, or SDA, caused considerable perturbation amongst Magpie supporters. On 9 October 2012, payday loan company Wonga.com became Newcastle United's main commercial sponsor and purchased the stadium naming rights. They subsequently announced that the St James' Park name would be restored as part of the deal. St James' Park is spelt with James' featuring one s and an apostrophe mark, as seen on the signage of the St James' Park steps outside the entrance to the stadium, and signage inside the adjacent Metro station. The use of an apostrophe is in contrast with the name of the Metro station itself, which is signed as St James Metro station, and with the street signs of the nearby St James Street and St James Terrace. Further, the use of one s and an apostrophe mark differs from the common convention of adding a second s to monosyllabic possessives ending in s, as is the case with the well-known public space in London: St James's Park. The full stop after the St giving St. James' Park is both included and omitted by many sources, including the club's official website address information. Post-millennium it has been debated both whether the written name should include an apostrophe mark after St James, and, if it does, whether the official written form should include an extra 's' after the apostrophe. Pronunciation of the name with a second 's' sound or not differs between both the local public and journalists, and is similarly debated. In May 2008 BBC Look North examined the case for adding an extra 's', to denote the ground is "the park of St James". The club stated that the ground is named after its neighbouring street, St James Street, which predates the ground, although it was pointed out the road sign of that street, and that of the adjacent St James Terrace, did not feature apostrophes. The BBC stated that both local newspapers The Evening Chronicle and The Journal write the name with a second 's', reinstating it partially in response to reader complaints after a period of publishing stories without it. The club insisted the name is pronounced without a second 's', whilst it was asserted by the BBC that older fans, in particular, pronounce it with two. A professor of applied linguistics of Newcastle University stated that if a second 's' was added to the name, it has to ultimately be pronounced in speech. The BBC went on to state that according to the Apostrophe Protection Society, if the ground is named as the "Park of St James", the name of the ground is correctly written as St. James's Park, with the second 's' pronounced. Commenting on the written form on Radio Newcastle a week after the BBC story, a different senior lecturer in applied linguistics also of Newcastle University stated that if the name is to denote "the park of St James", the written form should feature an apostrophe, but the use of an additional 's' after it is optional and both are correct. Match-day programmes printed up until the late 1940s have written the name as St. James's Park. According to the club historian, the oldest memorabilia in the club museum refers to the ground as being pronounced without a second 's'. However, a match-day programme dating from 1896, reprinted in the match-day programme of a home match against Derby County (23 December 2007) depicts the stadium name as St. James's Park. Other sources also support the idea that the name should have no apostrophe as found in the name of the adjacent St James Street Regardless of the official name, the stadium is known by its initials of St James' Park (SJP), or the contraction, St James'. In reflection of the early use of the site, it is also often referred to as Gallowgate, not to be confused with similarly unofficially named Gallowgate End, the name of the south stand. The stadium has a rough pitch alignment of north easterly. The four main stands are as follows: Gallowgate End (officially the Newcastle Brown Ale Stand), at the southern end of the ground, named unofficially for its proximity to the old City gallows, and officially after the long association with the club of sponsor Scottish and Newcastle Breweries;, Leazes End (officially the Sir John Hall Stand), at the northern end of the ground, named unofficially for its proximity to Leazes Park, and officially after the club's Life President Sir John Hall; The Singing Section was positioned in Level 7 of this stand., Milburn Stand, the main stand, on the west side of the ground. Named after 1950s footballer Jackie Milburn, East Stand, whose name is self-explanatory, and the smallest stand of the four. Following the death of Sir Bobby Robson, a plan to rename the East Stand the Sir Bobby Robson Stand (or the Robson Stand) was drawn up. As yet, this has not been made official. The unofficial new home of the singing section is located in the "Strawberry Corner" (South East Corner, located next to the Strawberry Pub) - between the Gallowgate End & East Stand. The stadium's location is close to the city centre, 500 m roughly north of Central station, the main railway station of the city. The stadium is bordered by Strawberry Place behind the Gallowgate, Barrack Road in front of the main entrance, a car park to the north and Leazes Terrace to the East. Further south is St James station, a terminus station of the Tyne & Wear Metro line to the east, although the main Metro interchange at Monument station, is situated only 250 m to the east. The Milburn stand is the 'main' stand of the stadium, housing the main entrance, lifts and escalators behind a glass fronted atrium. The dugouts and player's tunnel is located in the traditional position of the middle of the main stand. Behind the seating terraces of the stands, the Milburn/Leazes structure contains four concourse levels, the Gallowgate End has three concourse levels, and the East stand has two concourse levels. The stadium has an asymmetrical appearance from the air and from some angles from ground level, due to the discrepancy in height between the sides and ends of the ground. The height difference between the Leazes/Milburn complex and the East/Gallowgate stands allows views of the city centre from many seating positions inside the ground. Further expansion of the Gallowgate End could potentially produce a more balanced horseshoe arrangement of equal height stands, similar to that of Celtic Park. The Milburn stand and Leazes end are double tiered, separated by a level of executive boxes; The East Stand and Gallowgate End are single tiered, with boxes also at the top of the Gallowgate. The three newest sides, the Milburn Stand, Leazes End and Gallowgate End are of structural steel frame and pre-cast concrete construction. In common with many new or expanded British football stadiums, the traditional box shaped 'stands' were augmented in the 1993 expansion by filling in the corners to maximise available seating, up to a uniform height. The Milburn Stand and Leazes End now rise higher than this level, covered by a one piece cantilevered glass roof. A further smaller stand section rises above this level behind the Gallowgate End. The 1998 built steel truss cantilever roof above the Milburn/Leazes complex is the largest cantilever structure in Europe at 64.5 metres, eclipsing the 58 m cantilevers of Manchester United's Old Trafford. The current stadium design offers an unobstructed view of the pitch from all areas of the ground. The Milburn stand is the location of the directors box and press boxes, and the main TV camera point for televised games. Away fans for league matches were originally accommodated in the upper level, in the north west corner, which can hold a maximum of 3,000 fans. However, plans were made at the end of the 2007–2008 season to relocate the away supporters to the far end of the upper level of the Leazes End. This location has attracted criticism due to the poor view offered by being so far from the pitch due the height of the stand, and the 14 flights of stairs to reach the upper level. For FA Cup matches the lower section of the corner is also used. The traditional home of the more vocal fans is considered the Gallowgate End, in the same vein as The Kop for Liverpool F.C. The Gallowgate End was the end that the team attacked in the second half if they win the coin toss. In recent years there has been unofficial fan movement to create a singing section in the Leazes End upper tier, partly to counter the away fans, and partly to recreate some atmosphere lost since the recent expansion over 36,000. This group of fans call themselves the 'Toon Ultras'. Level 7 of the Milburn Stand houses the official Family Enclosure. Due to the expansion of the Family Enclosure, many fans from the singing section have relocated to the Strawberry Corner. In 2013 a group began to help 'Bring Back The Noise' as St.James Park, this being branded as 'Division '92'. This group first began at home to Metalist Kharkiv in the Europea League. From that date the group began to move from strength to strength with new aims set to develop a singing section within the ground for all league games. As well as the normal Premiership football stadium facilities, the stadium contains conference and banqueting facilities. These comprise a total of 6 suites with a total capacity of 2,050, including the 1,000 capacity Bamburgh Suite containing a stage, dance floor and 3 bars, and the New Magpie Room, on two levels with a pitch view. The stadium houses premium priced seating areas designated into clubs, each with their own access to a bar and lounge behind the stand for use before the match and at half-time. The Platinum Club, Bar 1892, Sovereign Club and the Black & White Club are in the Milburn Stand, and the Sports Bar is in the Leazes End The Gallowgate End houses NINE, a sports bar and lounge, which is effectively another city centre nightspot in Newcastle, accessible only from the exterior of the ground. The bar is named after Newcastle United's famous number Nine shirt, which has been worn by famous strikers throughout the years, including Alan Shearer. The Gallowgate also houses a large club shop, a police station. The Milburn stand houses the main box-office. In the south west corner there is also a cafe and a club museum. The stadium has a maximum seating capacity of 52,354, making it: the eighth-largest club football stadium in England, behind Wembley Stadium, Old Trafford, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Emirates Stadium, Etihad Stadium, Anfield and London Stadium;, the tenth-largest football stadium in the United Kingdom overall when including the Millennium Stadium (the national stadium of Wales), and Celtic Park (a Scottish club football ground);, the twelfth largest stadium in the United Kingdom overall when including the rugby venues of Twickenham in England, Murrayfield in Scotland. Developments since 1993 have ensured the lower tier of seating of the ground still forms a continuous bowl around the pitch, below the level of the executive boxes. The club record attendance is 68,386 set in 1930 against Chelsea, when standing was allowed on the terraces. Newcastle United have played their home league matches continuously at St James' Park. The stadium had not featured a scoreboard or big screen of any kind since the 1993 expansion displaced one from The Gallowgate end, although in 2007 bright red digital time displays were installed near the corner flags at pitch level. A big screen for the stadium was mooted as a possibility as part of a proposed new stadium branding exercise for 2010. On 18 October 2014 a large scoreboard was erected onto the side of the Leazes End, adjacent to the Milburn Stand. The first day of its use in a game versus Leicester City saw a one-hour delay to kick-off over safety concerns around the screen due to high winds. The stadium hosted three matches during Euro 1996. Along with Elland Road it was assigned to Group B, which comprised France, Spain, Romania and Bulgaria. The stadium was one of several venues used as temporary home grounds for the England team while the redevelopment of Wembley Stadium took place. St James' Park also hosted some football matches in the 2012 Summer Olympics. For football use, the pitch has the maximum international dimensions of 105 by 68 metres. On 30 May and 31 May 2015, the stadium held the Super League Magic Weekend. St James' Park was chosen to host the event after the City of Manchester Stadium, which had hosted the event annually since 2012, became unavailable. The event was considered a success, with the 2015 event setting both single-day and aggregate attendance records for the event. The Magic Weekend returned to St James' Park in 2016, breaking the aggregate crowd record in the process, and returned once again for 2017 and 2018. The magic weekend is set to return to Newcastle, in may 2020, for the 2020 Season, after previously been held at Anfield for the 2019 Season. There have been two rugby league internationals played at St James' Park. The stadium is due to host the opening ceremony and opening game of the 2021 Rugby League World Cup, the first rugby league international to be played at the stadium for 110 years. On Friday 6 September 2019, England defeated Italy in a warm-up match for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. This was England's first Test match in Newcastle and first away from Twickenham (outside the World Cup) since 2009. The stadium hosted three 2015 Rugby World Cup matches. The first was a Pool B match between South Africa and Scotland on 3 October 2015, with South Africa winning 34 - 16 with 50,900 in attendance. The second was a Pool C match between New Zealand and Tonga on 9 October 2015, with New Zealand winning 47 - 9 with 50,985 in attendance. The third and final was a Pool B match Samoa and Scotland the next day with Scotland winning a close one 36 - 33 with 51,982 in attendance. In April 2017 the stadium was announced as the host for the 2019 finals of the European Rugby Challenge Cup and Champions Cup. On 21 November 2017 it was announced that Newcastle Falcons would take their Premiership Rugby match against Northampton Saints on 24 March 2018 to St James' Park. The match dubbed The Big One was the first Premiership game at the venue. The Falcons would return the following year to host Sale Sharks on 23 March 2019. As well as professional matches, the stadium has been the venue for several charity football matches, including testimonial matches for Alan Shearer and Peter Beardsley. The stadium was also the venue of the final of The Prince's Trust Challenge Trophy, on 14 October 2007, between the Duke of Northumberland and Earl of Durham teams. On 26 July 2009 St James' Park hosted the Sir Bobby Robson Trophy match, in aid of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, in which the famous Italia '90 World Cup semi-final loss against West Germany, in which Robson's England team were beaten 4–3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw, would be replayed featuring players from the original World Cup squads and other special guests. The stadium has regularly featured on the popular football game series FIFA (video game series) and appears to be included on the global front cover of FIFA 13 with Lionel Messi in the foreground. The stadium has hosted concerts for many famous artists, including The Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & E Street Band, Queen, Bob Dylan, Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, Kings of Leon and most recently Ed Sheeran. The stadium has also been used as an audition venue for the television show The X Factor and also reality television show Big Brother. St James' Park has also hosted the final celebrity matches of the Sky television reality TV show The Match. The stadium was used extensively as a filming location for the film Goal!, as the film follows a fictional player Santiago Muñez who signs for Newcastle. There is also film footage showing a game between Newcastle and Liverpool FC from 1901. Sir Bobby Robson, a lifetime Newcastle fan who managed the club from 1999 to 2004, died of cancer aged 76 on 31 July 2009, five days after having been at St James' Park to watch the England v Germany charity trophy match played in his honour and in aid of his cancer foundation. Immediately after his death, St James' Park became an impromptu shrine to Sir Bobby, with thousands of fans leaving floral tributes, club shirts and scarves in the Leazes End for the following ten days. After a private funeral service on 5 August, a thanksgiving service held on 21 September at Durham Cathedral in Sir Bobby's memory was broadcast on two big screens for spectators in the Leazes End. The Sports Direct Arena Story at NUFC.co.uk, London2012.com profile The Cathedral Church of St. James in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is the home of the oldest congregation in the city, with the parish being established in 1797. The cathedral, with construction beginning in 1850 and opening for services on June 19, 1853, was one of the largest buildings in the city at the time. It was designed by Frederick William Cumberland and is a prime example of Gothic Revival architecture. The church building is designated under the Ontario Heritage Act, and it is the episcopal seat of the Anglican Church of Canada's Diocese of Toronto. Royal St. George's College, on Howland Avenue in Toronto, is the church's choir school and is open to boys in grades 3 through 12. The Anglican parish of St. James was established in 1797 in the then-town of York. In 1807, the first church was built of wood. It was used in 1813 during the War of 1812 as a hospital and subsequently robbed and damaged by the American troops. Shortly after, in 1818, the church was enlarged and a bell tower addition was completed. The bell was used as a fire bell for the town. In 1833, the wooden structure was taken down and replaced by a stone structure in the Neoclassical style. In January 1839, the church burned down and was reconstructed. Upon reopening in December 1839, the church became a cathedral. St. James Cemetery, the parish cemetery, was moved in the 1840s to St. James- the-Less at Parliament and Bloor, although there are still unmarked graves under the modern parking lot. In 1849, the cathedral was destroyed in the first Great Fire of Toronto. An international architectural competition was held to replace it, drawing eleven entries from Canada and the United States. Frederick William Cumberland and Thomas Ridout's Gothic Revival design placed first, followed by the submissions of John Ostell and Kivas Tully respectively. Construction began on July 1, 1850, and the Ohio stone and brick cathedral was opened to the public in 1853. The cathedral's original organ was built in 1853 by Samuel Russell Warren. Upon his death in 1867, John Strachan, Toronto's first Anglican bishop, was buried in a vault beneath the High Altar. Dean Henry James Grasett (1808–1882) was also buried here. It was not until 1873–1874 that the tower and spire, the transepts, and the pinnacles and finials were completed by architect Henry Langley. The spire was the tallest structure in Canada upon completion and would remain so for another 25 years until the construction of Toronto's Old City Hall. The tower's clock was installed one year later. In 1889, side galleries and aisles were removed, and the choir stalls and organ console were installed in the chancel. In 1936, St. George's Chapel was dedicated, and the organ was overhauled by Casavant Frères. Major renovations were completed in 1982. The parish celebrated its bicentenary in 1997, when the peal of 12 change ringing bells was installed as the largest peal in North America. They are one of only nine peals of 12 bells outside the British Isles, and one of only two in North America, the other being located at Trinity Church in New York City. To raise money to help pay for the rising costs of maintaining the cathedral, part of the grounds were planned to be sold to a condominium developer. Part of the land was to have been part of the original cemetery, and the developers planned to move the graves in order to clear the land. A public outcry ensued, and a deal was made to sell off a parking lot to the northwest of the cathedral for the SP!RE condominium development. In addition to the funerals of former Bishops of Toronto, there have been notable funerals at St. James for other prominent people from the Toronto area, including: George Snell (1907–2006), former Bishop of Toronto from 1966 to 1972 – funeral in 2006, Ted Rogers (1939–2008), businessman and founder of Rogers Communications – funeral on December 9, 2008, Jim Flaherty (1949–2014), former Ontario MPP, federal MP and Minister of Finance – state funeral on April 16, 2014, Rob Ford (1969–2016), former Mayor of Toronto and City Councillor (Ward 2) – civic funeral on March 30, 2016 The Rev. George Okill Stuart, who served from 1800 to 1812, and the Rev. John Strachan are the only graves located within the Cathedral. St. James Cathedral's Gothic Revival architecture is reflected throughout the structure. Every part of a Gothic cathedral is directly related to a "core dimension" which is used as an effort to achieve harmony and organic unity within the building where everything is linked rationally and proportionally, creating a coherent whole. Every element in the cathedral—including the stained glass windows, the pointed arches, high ceilings, the pinnacles, even the flying buttresses—allow as much light as possible to flood the interior. The Gothic style means an aesthetically unified whole, but the combination of different architectural elements such as the ribbed vaults, flying buttresses, and pointed arches allows for generous illumination of the interior space with natural light. The cathedral's exterior is composed of white brick and Ohio sandstone. Several layers of brick in the facade create strong, square inset designs around the lancet windows of the clerestory. This allows for a play of light and shadow that dramatizes the heaviness of the wall, and was the effect of emphasizing the wall's depth by partially cutting into it. The spires are built of stone and decorated with pinnacles and dormers, and ball flower ornaments atop the pinnacles. Tower walls are reinforced with square and octagonal buttresses that taper abruptly with generous weatherings at transitional points and terminate in pinnacles, some with slender colonettes abutting chamfered edges, with ribbed, stepped, or gable caps. These buttresses are accented by heavy weatherings in lighter coloured stone (creating visual contrast while drawing attention to the points of stress on the building), and topped with pinnacles, thus emphasizing their massiveness, structural function, and verticality. They provide spatial rhythm on the east and west facades. A careful balance between horizontal and vertical elements can be observed throughout the interior and exterior of the church. On the exterior, a dog-toothed fret runs along the aisle roofline, while on the interior, a band of continuous painted bosses similarly run along the top of the aisle wall. These horizontal bands balance the composition against the verticality of the exterior tower and pinnacles, and the interior pointed arches of the nave arcade, creating a sense of stability and repose. At , the tower and spire have remained the tallest in Canada and the second tallest in North America after St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York—although the spire of St. James is still shorter than the dome of Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, which is the tallest church in the Western Hemisphere. The tower has five bells that still ring through the city today, and the chiming clock is "one of the finest examples of a chiming public clock anywhere in the world." At the turn of the 20th century, St James' Cathedral was still the tallest building in Toronto, and was often the first thing immigrants noticed when they stepped off the train at the old Union Station. The total length of the cathedral is , with a maximum width of . A four sided arch with steeple was erected alongside the cathedral as a military memorial. Over the principal entrance, a carved organ cover rises over a royal coat of arms, while Minton tile-work lies underfoot. The organ has 5000 pipes and includes the original gallery organ from 1853 over the main south entrance at the rear of the cathedral. Trumpet pipes have since been added to the gallery organ. The front chancel and aisle pipes were added in 1916. In the interior, the absence of galleries frees the vertical movement of the arcade and clerestory. A high-pitched roof of heavy timber, crowned with enriched ribs and carved bosses creates a sense of shelter to the nave. The exposed rafters of the roof of the nave are articulated structural elements, and broad tie- beams and decorative cornices accent the joints. The elegant vault of the apsidal chancel, though expressing the thrust from the vault in the ribs that flow down to the ground, is a sham vault of lath and plaster that is coloured to represent stone. The division of the interior into six bays is reflected on the exterior by the buttresses along the east and west elevations. Pews flow through the arcade in rows of four, gallery fronts, and chancel panelling is all black walnut, as are the Corinthian capitals. Glazing bars of windows in sash of varying widths are reminiscent of Gothic tracery, creating divisions in the stained glass. The cathedral is oriented on a north-south axis, whereas the traditional orientation is on an east-west axis with the altar at the east end. The orientation, decided by the design committee at the time, conforms to the symbolic representation of the church at the time, where the conflict with the American troops was apparent. The pews are oriented in central rows, with aisles on each side. The comfort of the seating was not highly regarded in the design. The Cathedral Church of St. James houses one of Canada's most precious musical hidden gems. Uniquely within the city of Toronto, the fully professional 18-voice Cathedral Choir sings as part of the Anglican worship at Eucharist (11:00am) and Evensong (4:30pm) each Sunday to an internationally high standard. Its repertoire spans eight centuries and provides a balanced diet of choral delights to congregations young and old, non-Christians and Christians, and those whose ears hold an insatiable curiosity for music. Choral Eucharist is also celebrated at 9:00am each Sunday and is sung by a group of volunteers. The cathedral's majestic pipe organ can be heard in recitals each Tuesday at 1:00pm and Sunday at 4:00pm, throughout the year. The recital series is curated by the cathedral's organist, David Simon. To the east of the Cathedral is St. James Park, an urban public park that is owned by both the church and the City of Toronto government. The park is bounded by the Cathedral to the west, Adelaide Street East to the north, Jarvis Street to the east and King Street to the south. It is located across King Street from St. Lawrence Hall. Created in the early 20th century (the east and south sides around the park required demolition of a series of three- storey buildings), the park's Postmodern landscaping is Victorian-inspired, with formal gardens and a water fountain. Two walkways with park benches cross the park diagonally, with a large ornamental gazebo in the middle functioning as a central meeting place. The formal gardens are located in the southern quadrant of the park as defined by the X-shaped walkway plan, and the formal gardens have two paths intersecting at the fountain. Maintenance of the park is performed by Toronto Parks staff, and the formal gardens are tended by members of the Garden Club of Toronto. The park is often used for wedding photo shoots. In fall 2011, the park was occupied by members of Occupy Toronto. Dean of Toronto, List of Anglican churches in Toronto, List of cathedrals in Canada, List of oldest buildings and structures in Toronto Official website, Architecture of the Cathedral Church of St. James

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Keith Thibodeaux (born December 1, 1950), also known as Richard Keith, is an American former child actor and musician, best known for playing Little Ricky on the television sitcoms I Love Lucy and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. He was billed as Richard Keith because his Cajun French last name, "Thibodeaux", was considered too difficult to pronounce by producer Desi Arnaz. He is the last living regular appearing cast member from I Love Lucy. Thibodeaux showed skill on the drums at a young age, and was making $500 a week at the age of 3 while touring with the Horace Heidt Orchestra. His father took him to audition for the part of Little Ricky in 1955, "I walked on the set and there was Lucy, she was standing there and she was looking at me," he said. "She said 'OK he's cute, but what does he do?' My dad said, 'Well he plays the drums' and she said, 'Oh, come on--I can't believe that.' Then, she says 'Look, we have a drum set over there, go ahead and let him play.' Eventually Desi Arnaz himself came over and started jamming with me on the drums and then he kind of stood up and said 'Well, I think we found Little Ricky.'" According to Lucie Arnaz, who was interviewed on the TV show Archive of American Television, he became like part of the family. "For a long time I thought Keith was related to us, because he went everywhere with us. Desi (Jr.) considered him his best friend and was responsible for teaching him the drums. He came over our house on many weekends and traveled with them during the summer. My mother kind of adopted him. He is in all of our home movies and photographs growing up and was a great kid, and still is." As a child, he made numerous appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, between 1962 and 1966, as Opie's friend "Johnny Paul Jason". He also accepted small roles on other popular television shows. In 1964 Thibodeaux appeared for a split second in an episode of The Lucy Show titled "Lucy is a Process Server." Initially he was featured in a comedic sequence at a train station in which a vending machine malfunctions. However, the scene was cut when the show ran too long. After the episode was edited, Thibodeaux is only seen for a moment, entering the station. Nevertheless, Thibodeaux remained in the credits listed as Richard Keith, the actor who played "Little Boy." In 1969, Thibodeaux joined the rock group David and the Giants who were based in Laurel, Mississippi. The group recorded in its early years with Capitol Records, Fame Records, and Crazy Horse Records, primarily touring throughout the South, and enjoyed a few regional hits which were recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and were well known in the Northern Soul music scene in England. After turning 21 in 1971, Thibodeaux received a final payment of $8000 from a trust fund set up during his days on I Love Lucy Thibodeaux had developed a drug problem and eventually left the band, which broke up. His difficulties led to his becoming a born- again Christian in 1974. He witnessed to the band leader, David Huff, and the other members, who later converted. The group got back together. The band released nearly ten albums in the 1980s and 1990s for CBS Priority Records (Epic Records), The Benson Company, ABC Word Records (Myrrh) label, and the band's own label Giant Records. David and the Giants released a live CD in 2014 titled Still Rockin. In 2017 the band was honored along with other notable Mississippi musicians such as Steve Forbert, Tammy Wynette, George Soule, and Elvis Presley, by receiving "The Jimmie" Mississippi Dreamers (Jimmie Rodgers Award) for their musical contributions as Mississippi artists at a special concert at Peavey Electronics Corporate headquarters in Meridian, MS, along with Hartley Peavey. A live concert David and the Giants CD/DVD The Best Is Yet To Come was recorded in St. Louis, Mo. in August 2017 celebrating 40 years of David and the Giants music. In 1990, he became the Executive Director for his wife's company, Ballet Magnificat! which tours nationally and internationally. In 2017 the couple pioneered Ballet Magnificat! Brasil dance company and trainee program headquartered in Curitiba, Brazil. Raised as a Roman Catholic, Thibodeaux went to school at St. Victor's elementary in West Hollywood and St. Jane Frances de Chantal in North Hollywood. He attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks for two years before his parents separated in 1966. After his parents separated, Keith, his mother, and siblings moved back to Lafayette, Louisiana. He graduated from Lafayette High School where he continued to play drums in rock and rhythm and blues bands. He left Louisiana for Mississippi in late 1969 after going to college for a short period where he said he "majored in drinking beer and playing pool" to pursue a career with the band David and the Giants. In 1976, he met and married a ballet dancer named Kathy Denton in Jackson, Mississippi. The couple moved briefly to Southern California in 1977 where he was asked to join the pop band Starbuck famous for the late 70s hit "Moonlight Feels Right". Thibodeaux returned to Mississippi in 1978, where he, his wife and daughter Tara (born 1979) eventually settled in Jackson, Mississippi. Thibodeaux played with jazz bands locally for a brief time before joining a newly revamped Christian rock band, David and the Giants in 1979. Thibodeaux's autobiography Life After Lucy was published in 1994. Ballet Magnificat! website, David and the Giants website Enrique Alberto Ricardo IV, "Little Ricky," is a fictional character from the American television series I Love Lucy (1951–57, with Ricky Jr. becoming a part of the show as of his birth in 1953) and The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour (1957–60). Little Ricky was played by a number of actors, including James John Ganzer, twins Richard and Ronald Lee Simmons, twins Michael and Joseph Mayer and, most notably, Keith Thibodeaux, billed as Little Ricky. Although the I Love Lucy announcer and the opening credits of The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour gave his stage name as "Little Ricky", in his post-Lucy acting career, particularly his four-year irregular stint on The Andy Griffith Show, he was billed as Richard Keith. In the show, Little Ricky is the son of Lucy Ricardo and Ricky Ricardo. Little Ricky lives with his parents in a New York Brownstone apartment building, which is owned and run by his godparents; the family later moves to a large suburban house in Westport, Connecticut. Lucy finds out she was expecting Little Ricky on the Season 2 episode "Lucy is Enceinte." The episode in which he is born, "Lucy goes to the Hospital," was aired on the same day as the birth of Lucille Ball's real son, Desi Arnaz Jr. – Monday, January 19, 1953. Mother: Lucy Ricardo, played by Lucille Ball., Father: Ricky Ricardo, played by Desi Arnaz., Maternal Grandmother: Mrs. MacGillicuddy, played by Kathryn Card., Godfather: Fred Mertz played by William Frawley., Godmother: Ethel Mertz played by Vivian Vance., Babysitter: Mrs. Matilda Trumble played by Elizabeth Patterson., Classmates: Stevie Appleby and Bruce Ramsey. Little Ricky's father buys him a set of drums in the season 6 episode "Little Ricky Learns to play the Drums," after he shows he can carry a beat while tapping his spoon on a glass during a family breakfast. His parents enroll him in a music school where he is the only drummer, where he forms a band named "Ricky Ricardo and the Dixieland Band." Little Ricky experiences stage fright before his first music school recital but seems to overcome stage fright as he performs comfortably in many other episodes, such as "The Ricardos Visit Cuba," where he plays the conga drum alongside his father; "Little Ricky's School Pageant," where he plays the lead; and "Ragtime Band," where Little Ricky plays the drums alongside his mother and godparents. Desiderio Alberto Arnaz IV (born January 19, 1953), known professionally as Desi Arnaz Jr., is an American actor and musician. He is the son of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Arnaz is a native of Los Angeles, California. His older sister is actress Lucie Arnaz, who was born in 1951. His birth was one of the most publicized in television history. His parents were the stars of the television sitcom I Love Lucy, and Ball's pregnancy was part of the storyline, which was considered daring then. The same day Ball gave birth to Desi Jr., the fictional Lucy Ricardo gave birth to "Little Ricky". As a testament to how interested the American public was in Lucy's TV baby, Arnaz appeared on the cover of the very first issue of TV Guide with a title that read: "Lucy's $50,000,000 baby." The reason he was given this title was because revenue from certain tie-in commitments was expected to top that mark. Arnaz attended University High School in West Los Angeles. At age 12, Arnaz was a drummer with Dino, Desi, & Billy. The others were Dean Paul Martin (son of Dean Martin) and Billy Hinsche. The band scored two hit singles with "I'm a Fool" and "Not the Lovin' Kind" in 1965. From 1968 to 1974, Desi Arnaz and his sister Lucie co-starred opposite their mother in Here's Lucy as her children. In 1968, he had a guest-starring role as Jerry and Suzie's drum-playing friend Tommy in the episode, "The Hombre Who Came to Dinner: Part 2", from the show The Mothers-in-Law, executive-produced and directed by his father. In 1970, he appeared on The Brady Bunch episode "The Possible Dream". In 1974, Arnaz played the title role in the Western movie Billy Two Hats with Gregory Peck. In 1976, he appeared on two episodes of the television series, The Streets of San Francisco. Arnaz also appeared in a 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL) hosted by both Desi Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.. The younger Arnaz played Ricky Ricardo while Gilda Radner played Lucy in spoofs of supposed ill-fated pilots for I Love Lucy. Although a part of I Love Lucy for the purpose of these SNL parodies, he did not portray Little Ricky in the classic sitcom, a role played instead by Keith Thibodeaux (Richard Keith). In 1977, he was the lead in the film Joyride opposite fellow children of famous actors Melanie Griffith, Robert Carradine, and Anne Lockhart. Arnaz's acting extended into the late 1980s with various appearances on television, and a leading role in the series Automan, which ran from 1983 to 1984. In 1992, he played his father in the movie The Mambo Kings, based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that he felt treated his father with respect. The film includes a scene in which Desi Jr., playing his father's character Ricky Ricardo, acts opposite his mother as Lucy Ricardo with film from the TV series intercut with the cast. In 1997, Arnaz purchased the Boulder Theatre and brought it back to life after being on the brink of extinction. Between 1998 and 2010, he was touring with a new configuration of Dino, Desi & Billy called Ricci, Desi & Billy, featuring Arnaz reunited with Billy Hinsche, and joined by Ricci Martin (youngest son of Dean Martin). The group performs original material as well as the songs the original band performed. From about 2002 to 2007, he was vice-president of the board of Directors of the Lucille Ball–Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York. He resigned over a dispute with the executive director over the center. In 2007, Arnaz appeared at the 5th Annual TV Land Awards with his sister Lucie to accept the Legacy of Laughter award posthumously given to their mother. Arnaz has also headlined Babalu: A Celebration of the Music of Desi Arnaz and his Orchestra with Lucie Arnaz, Raul Esparza and Valarie Pettiford. On October 15, 2011, Arnaz performed in Babalu at the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress. The performance was in conjunction with the Library's Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Collection. Arnaz has a daughter, Julia Arnaz, from a relationship with a model when he was 15 years old; Julia's relationship to Desi Jr. was proven by a paternity test in 1991. Arnaz dated actress Patty Duke when he was 17 and she was 23. He accompanied Duke to the 1970 Emmy Awards ceremony where she won the Emmy for Outstanding Single Performance. The relationship became tabloid news and his mother did not approve of them together. After they broke up, writer and music producer Michael Tell offered to marry Duke as a way out of the scandal. Their marriage lasted only 13 days, and when Duke became pregnant, she would later tell her son, Sean Astin, that Arnaz was his biological father. Arnaz and Astin developed a close relationship, although genetic tests later revealed that Tell was his father. Astin said, "I can call any of them on the phone any time I want to ... John, Desi, Mike or Papa Mike ... my four dads." (Michael Pearce, Duke's husband after John Astin, was his step-father.) Arnaz was subsequently involved with entertainer Liza Minnelli, another relationship of which his mother disapproved; Ball thought that the singer-actress was too old for her son and, because of Liza's perceived reckless lifestyle, not a good influence upon him. Arnaz accompanied Minnelli to the Academy Awards ceremony in March 1973 when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress. Arnaz was married to actress Linda Purl from 1980 to 1981. On October 8, 1987, Arnaz married Amy Laura Bargiel. They lived in Boulder City, Nevada, with their daughter Haley, and own the Boulder Theatre, a cinema converted into a theatre and home to the Boulder City Ballet Company. Desi's wife Amy died of cancer in 2015, at the age of 63. Both Desi and Amy were followers of Vernon Howard and attended meetings of Howard's New Life Foundation in Boulder City.They also followed and have supported the spiritual writer Guy Finley (also one of Vernon Howard's students) and his Life of Learning Center for Spiritual Discovery. 1992: The Mambo Kings – Desi Arnaz Sr., 1987: Paul Reiser Out on a Whim (TV), 1987: Matlock – Michael Porter (1 episode, 1987), 1983: Automan – Walter Nebicher (13 episodes, 1983–1984), 1983: The Night the Bridge Fell Down (TV) – Johnny Pyle, 1983: House of the Long Shadows – Kenneth Magee, 1982: Fake-Out – Detective Clint Morgan, 1981: Advice to the Lovelorn (TV) – Steve Vernon, 1980: Gridlock (TV) – Robbie Reinhardt, 1979: Crisis in Mid-Air (TV) – Tim Donovan, 1978: How to Pick Up Girls! (TV) – Robby Harrington, 1978: Fantasy Island – Barney Hunter (1 episode, 1978), 1978: A Wedding (as himself) – Dino Sloan Corelli, 1978: The Courage and the Passion (TV) – Sgt. Tom Wade, 1978: To Kill a Cop (TV) – Martin Delahanty, 1978: The Love Boat – Steve Hollis (2 episodes, 1978), 1977: Black Market Baby (TV) – Steve Aletti, 1977: Joyride – Scott, 1977: Flight to Holocaust (TV) – Rick Bender, 1976: The Streets of San Francisco – B. J. Palmer (1 episode, 1976), 1976: Police Story – Jay Vernon (2 episodes, 1976), 1976: Having Babies (TV) – Frank Gorman, 1975: Medical Story – Jerry Mitchell (1 episode, 1975), 1975: Medical Center (1 episode, 1975), 1974: Billy Two Hats – Billy Two Hats, 1973: Marco – Marco Polo, 1973: She Lives! (TV) – Andy Reed, 1973: Voyage of the Yes (TV) – Cal Markwell, 1971: Love, American Style – Alan (segment "Love and the Motel Mixup") (1 episode, 1971), 1971: The Mod Squad – Victor Emory (1 episode, 1971), 1971: Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones (TV) – Bo Jo Jones, 1971: Night Gallery – Doran (1 episode, 1971), 1971: Red Sky at Morning – William 'Steenie' Stenopolous, 1970: The Brady Bunch (as himself) ("The Possible Dream" episode), 1968: Here's Lucy – Craig Carter (1968–1972), 1968: The Mothers-In-Law – Tommy (2 episodes, 1968), 1962: The Lucy Show – Spectator (5 episodes, 1962–1965), 1957: I Love Lucy — Himself (1 episode, 1957)

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The 1975 Cricket World Cup (officially called the Prudential Cup '75) was the first edition of the Cricket World Cup, and the first major limited overs One Day International (ODI) cricket tournament to be held. Organised by the International Cricket Conference (ICC) it took place from 7 to 21 June 1975 in England. The tournament was sponsored by Prudential Assurance Company and had eight participating countries: the six Test-playing teams of the time—Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the West Indies—plus leading Associate nations Sri Lanka and East Africa. The teams were divided into two groups of four, with each team playing the other teams in their group once; the top two from each group qualified for the semi-finals, with the winners of these matches meeting in the final. Each match consisted of 60 overs per team and was played in traditional white clothing and with red balls; all were played during the day and hence started early. England and New Zealand finished as the top two teams in Group A, while the West Indies finished top of Group B ahead of Australia as the four teams qualified through to the semi-finals. After Australia defeated England and the West Indies defeated New Zealand in the semi-finals, the West Indies which came into the tournament as favourites, defeated Australia in the final at Lord's by 17 runs to become the first World Cup winners. New Zealand batsman, Glenn Turner was the top run-scorer for the tournament with 333 runs with Australian bowler Gary Gilmour was the top wicket-taker with 11 wickets. The first multilateral competition at international level was the 1912 Triangular Tournament in England. This was played between the three test nations at the time—England, Australia and South Africa. But the weather and public antipathy saw the concept of the tournament scrapped after only one edition. The first instance of a one-day match to occur was in 1962 when four English country-cricket teams filled in a gap to play in a limited overs knockout competition. It was won by Northamptonshire who defeated Leicestershire by five wickets. Nine years later in 1971, the first One Day International took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) as a replacement for the third test of the 1970–71 Ashes series between Australia and England. This was due to the deluge of rain that had affected the match for the first three days of the test. The match was a forty-over match with each over being eight deliveries. After England made 190 from 39.4 overs, Australia chased down the target at a steady rate to secure the match with 42 balls remaining. Two years later at Lord's during the 1973 Women's Cricket World Cup, plans were made for a men's tournament to take place in 1975 which involved all the test nations at the time in two group stages with the top two in each group qualifying for the semi-final before the final at Lord's. The format of the 1975 Cricket World Cup had the eight teams split into two groups of four teams, with each team playing all the other teams in their group. These matches took place from 7 to 14 June. The top two teams from each group then advanced to the semi-finals on June 18, where the winners qualified for the final at Lord's on June 21. If any of the matches had rain throughout the day, the teams could use one of their two reserve days that had been set for each match. The first World Cup saw seven venues being used across England. Eight teams were invited to compete at the World Cup. Six of those nations were full members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), while the other two—Sri Lanka and East Africa—were invited to fill the remaining two spots. South Africa was meant to be one of the teams in the tournament, but due to the apartheid laws in the country, the team had to withdraw from competing until the 1992 edition. The announcement of the venues began on 26 July 1973 when the ICC revealed that the tournament would be played with Lord's selected as the venue for the final. The rest of the venues were revealed on 5 November 1974 with the scheduling for the 1975 Prudential Cup being announced alongside the five counties tournaments that would take place during the 1975 season. Headingley and The Oval were confirmed as the semi-final hosts. Heading into the first Cricket World Cup, Ladbrokes betting agency had the West Indies as the favourites at 9–4. This was followed by England at 11–4 with Pakistan and Australia in third and fourth respectively. East Africa was last in the betting odds at 1500–1. Before the tournament, the teams played in a few warm-up matches against English county sides to get used to the conditions. Most of the national teams had wins against the county sides; East Africa, Sri Lanka and India lost at least one match against a county side. Eight days before the World Cup, the ICC declared in a unanimous decision that any of the balls that went over a batsman's head to be a called a wide due to the fast short-pitched bowling. The opening round of matches took place on 7 June with four matches being played. The match at Lord's saw England deliver the highest score by a team in the 60 over match with 334 runs being scored. Dennis Amiss top scored for the English with 137 from 147 balls helped by Keith Fletcher and Chris Old who each recorded a half-century. In response, Sunil Gavaskar batted through the entire innings for only 36 runs in which Gulabrai Ramchand thought that he was doing some batting practice. Australia opened their campaign with a win against Pakistan at Headingley with a 73-run victory. This was due to Dennis Lillee's five-wicket haul which brought Pakistan's hope of a win crashing down as they collapsed from 181 for four to be all out for 205. Earlier, Ross Edwards top scored for Australia with 80 as he aided the Australians in getting 94 runs from the last 13 overs to bring Australia to 278 for seven from their 60 overs. The other two matches saw easy wins for the West Indies and New Zealand. For Glenn Turner, he occupied the crease during the whole New Zealand innings as he top scored with 171 as New Zealand won by 180 runs over East Africa. The West Indies took a nine-wicket victory over Sri Lanka as the Sri Lankans became the first team to score under 100 runs in a limited overs One Day International (ODI). Despite missing two players due to operation—Asif Iqbal—and examinations—Imran Khan—Pakistan was not phased by the missing players in the second round of games with the team scoring 266 for seven from their 60 overs with standing captain Majid Khan top scoring for Pakistan with 60. In response, the West Indies fell to 166 for eight which included a period of three wickets for only 10 runs as Bernard Julien, Clive Lloyd and Keith Boyce all losing their wickets. But the last wicket pair of Deryck Murray and Andy Roberts stole the match away as the West Indies won by a wicket off the final over. The other match in Group B saw Australia claim their second victory, but it was not all smooth with the Australian captain Ian Chappell remarking in an interview that the English media was trying to unsettle Australia's plans due to the Jeff Thomson no-ball problem with Chappell saying: "I've seen this sort of thing before in England". On the field, Alan Turner scored a century as Australia ended with 328 with Sri Lanka falling 50 runs short as The Daily Telegraph stated that they might not have many new admirers with their short ball stuff sending two Sri Lankan batsman to hospital. Group A saw two convincing wins to England and India. At Trent Bridge, Keith Fletcher top scored for England with 131 as he guided the English to their second victory and going top of the group with an 80-run win over New Zealand. The other match in Group A saw only 720 people pay to see India record a 10-wicket victory with Madan Lal taking three wickets for India in which East Africa fell only 120. With the match sold out four days in advance, the West Indies took on Australia to see who would go top of Group B. With the ball swinging in the air, the pair of Rod Marsh and Ross Edwards guided Australia to 192 with a 99-run partnership for the sixth wicket after Australia fell to 61 for seven. In response, the West Indies went on to take a seven-wicket victory with Alvin Kallicharran top scoring with 78, which included a period of 31 runs of nine Dennis Lillee deliveries as the West Indies finished top. Pakistan ended their tournament with a 192-run victory over Sri Lanka at Trent Bridge with half centuries to Zaheer Abbas, Majid Khan and Sadiq Mohammad. In Group A, New Zealand sealed their spot in the semi- finals with a four-wicket victory over India off the back of a century from Glenn Turner as he hit twelve fours on his way to an unbeaten innings of 114. The other match in Group A saw England clench an overwhelming victory over East Africa with John Snow taking figures of four for 11 runs from his 12 overs. The only player to resist the English bowlers was Ramesh Sethi who lasted 32 overs to score 30 runs as East Africa was bowled out for 95 in 52.4 overs. Earlier England scored 290 from their 60 overs with a 158-run opening partnership between Dennis Amiss and Barry Wood setting up the innings. The knockout stage of the Cricket World Cup consisted of two single- elimination rounds leading to a final. If the match was delayed due to rain there were two reserve days to play out the match. The first semi-final was between England and Australia at Headingley. For Australia, their one change in bringing in Gary Gilmour for Ashley Mallett proved critical in booking Australia's spot into the final. This was due to the grassy pitch that both captains would criticise after the match. After Australia elected to field first, Gilmour took six wickets for 14 runs as he had England at 37 for seven after he bowled his 12 overs. Mike Denness attempted to bring England back but would lose his wicket as England fell for 93. In the run-chase, Australia collapsed to 39 for six before Gilmour partnered with Doug Walters as they chased the remaining runs to book Australia's spot. The second semi-final was between the West Indies and New Zealand at The Oval. Batting first, New Zealand reached 92 for only one loss at the lunch break. After lunch though, they collapsed to 158 with Geoff Howarth top scoring for New Zealand with 51, while Bernard Julien was the top wicket taker with four wickets. In the run chase, a 125-run second wicket partnership between Alvin Kallicharan (top scoring with 72) and Gordon Greenidge (55 runs) laid the foundation for a five-wicket victory with Richard Collinge being the only bowler to produce hostility for New Zealand with figures of three wickets for 28 runs from his twelve overs. The 1975 final saw the match sold out three days before the 21 June event. With the West Indies being favourites for the match, they were asked by Ian Chappell to bat first and would go on to score 291 for eight wickets from their 60 overs. After being given a life from a Ross Edwards dropped chance at mid-wicket, Clive Lloyd went on to top score for the West Indies with 102. Gary Gilmour was the best of the Australian bowlers with five wickets for 48 runs. In response, Ian Chappell scored a half-century to set up the foundation for Australia before three run-outs from the hands of Viv Richards put the pressure on Australia as they collapsed to 233 for nine. A final-wicket partnership of 41 from Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thompson brought hope. But it was not to be. Jeff Thompson was run-out by Deryck Murray—the fifth run-out of the innings. The West Indies won by 17 runs as they claimed their first title on what was the longest day of the year. Glenn Turner ended the tournament as the leading run scorer for the 1975 edition with his 333 runs coming in four games which included a 171* against East Africa, which was also the highest score of the tournament. In second place was English player, Dennis Amiss with Pakistan's Majid Khan rounding out the top three. Australian player, Gary Gilmour was the tournament's leading wicket taker with 11 wickets from his two games, which included the best tournament figures in the semi-finals when he took six wickets for 14 against England. Bernard Julien and Keith Boyce (both from the West Indies) finished in second place—both getting ten wickets for the tournament. 1975 Cricket World Cup from Cricinfo Day/night cricket, also known as floodlit cricket, is a cricket match that is played either totally, or more usually partially, under floodlights in the evening. The first regular cricket to be played under floodlights occurred during World Series Cricket, unsanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC) , attracting large crowds to see some of the world's best players compete in Australia and the West Indies. In 1979, when the ICC and World Series Cricket came to an understanding, the first floodlit One Day International was played, also in Australia. Floodlit cricket has since been played around the world, although England was slow to take it up due to their climate. Floodlit first-class cricket was first played in 1994, when the concept was tried during the Sheffield Shield. Day/night cricket is now commonplace in one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket. For instance, all 27 matches in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 were day/night matches, as were most matches in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. In October 2012, the International Cricket Council recast the playing conditions for Test matches, permitting day/night Test matches. The first day/night game took place between Australia and New Zealand at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide on 27 November 2015, 36 years to the day from the first ICC sanctioned day night match. It is believed that the first match to be played under floodlights took place on 11 August 1952, between Middlesex County Cricket Club and Arsenal Football Club. The match was a benefit for Jack Young, and was not the first benefit match held between the two sides. Floodlights at Arsenal Stadium had been installed in the summer of 1951, and were first used for football in October 1951. The cricket match took place at 19:30, the lights were turned on towards the end of the first innings, in which Arsenal were batting. A public announcement was made, advising spectators (of which there were just over 7,000) to "Keep your eye on the ball, when you see it coming keep low. The batsmen will try to keep it down but they can't promise." The match was televised on the BBC, with over a million viewers tuning in to watch the spectacle. The Times was not convinced of the success of floodlights in cricket, mischievously asking: "What is to prevent non-stop Test matches where the last wicket falls as the milkman arrives?" It appeared that the cricketing world concurred with The Times that playing cricket under floodlights was not a viable concept, and for over twenty years Jack Young's benefit remained a one-off. However, in 1977, when Kerry Packer bought over 50 of the world's leading cricketers to play in his World Series Cricket, the concept came to the fore. After initial attendances at the matches were low, Packer moved from so called "Supertests" to one-day cricket, generally played under floodlights. Attendances of roughly 2,000 had attended the "Supertests" between Australia and the West Indies at the Australian rules football stadium, VFL Park in Melbourne in November 1977. A year later – almost to the day, 44,377 people were inside the Sydney Cricket Ground to watch a floodlit one-day match between the same sides. Opposition to World Series Cricket was large, and the matches did not have Test cricket nor first-class cricket status. In 1979 an agreement between the Australian Cricket Board and Kerry Packer brought World Series Cricket to an end. The marketing potential of floodlit cricket had been noticed though, and the first floodlit One Day International was contested in November 1979 between the official cricket teams of Australia and the West Indies. Floodlit cricket was soon taking place not only in Australia, but also in South Africa, the West Indies and the subcontinent. In England, opposition remained firm; not only was there lingering hostility towards Packer's World Series Cricket, but the differences in climate make the application difficult. In contrast to Australia and South Africa, where twilight is minimal, and the light fades quickly, the long English evenings meant that the floodlights would only be required for the last hour or so of a match. The increased chance of rain also meant that the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was loath to spend money on permanent lights, when rain would stop play anyway. Day/Night cricket is now commonplace in one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket. For instance, all 27 matches in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 were day/night matches, as were most matches in the 2011 Cricket World Cup. During the late 2000s, discussions regarding the possibility of playing day/night Test matches occurred. In the West Indies, the first floodlit first- class cricket match in which the teams used a pink ball, was played between Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago The viability of using a pink ball was also tried out by Cricket Australia and some Indian Premier League and Bangladesh Cricket League franchises. The annual curtain-raiser to the English cricket season in 2010 was played under floodlights in Abu Dhabi, with a mixed but generally positive reception. A year later, in 2011, the first County Championship game to be played under lights was played, between Kent and Glamorgan at St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury. The 2013–14 Sheffield Shield season included three-day/night first-class matches with pink balls. The trials continued in 2014–15 as Cricket Australia looked to host the first day- night Test in 2015 against New Zealand. This match took place at the Adelaide Oval, Adelaide on 27 November 2015. India's first pink ball match took place in Kolkata on 18 July 2016. It was CAB Super League Final between Bhowanipore Club and Mohan Bagan. Mohan Bagan won the match by 296 runs. The 2016 Duleep Trophy matches were played under the lights in Greater Noida. Feedback about the ball was that due to the brightness of the ball, the team handling the camera was able to track the pink ball better than the red. However, catching the ball in the deep during day-light was relatively difficult compared to the red ball. In September 2016, the BCCI confirmed that there would be no day/night Tests in India during the 2016–17 season. Incidentally, the first day-night first-class match in India was held much earlier: in April 1997, the Ranji trophy final between Delhi and Mumbai was played at Gwalior under lights. A pink ball was not used, with play carried for five days using a white ball. The second day/night Test took place between Pakistan and the West Indies on 13–17 October 2016. In October 2016 the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) confirmed that the first Test between England and the West Indies in August 2017 would be played as a day/night game. Australia played two day/night Tests in their home summer of 2016/17: one against South Africa at Adelaide and one against Pakistan at Brisbane. On 7 March 2017, Cricket Australia confirmed that the first ever day/night women's Test would be played between Australia and England. This was the sole Test of the 2017–18 Women's Ashes series and was played at the North Sydney Oval. The FIFA World Cup was first held in 1930, when FIFA, the world's football governing body, decided to stage an international men's football tournament under the era of FIFA president Jules Rimet who put this idea into place. The inaugural edition, held in 1930, was contested as a final tournament of only thirteen teams invited by the organization. Since then, the World Cup has experienced successive expansions and format remodeling, with its current 32-team final tournament preceded by a two-year qualifying process, involving over 200 teams from around the world. The first official international football match was played in 1872 in Glasgow between Scotland and England, although at this stage the sport was rarely played outside Great Britain. By the twentieth century football had gained ground all around the world and national football associations were being founded. The first official international match outside the British Isles was played between Uruguay and Argentina in Montevideo in July 1902. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) was founded in Paris on 22 May 1904 – comprising football associations from France, Belgium (the preceding two teams having played their first national against each other earlier in the month), Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, with Germany pledging to join. As football began to increase in popularity, it was contested as an IOC-recognised Olympic sport at the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics, as well as at the 1906 Intercalated Games, before becoming an official FIFA-supervised Olympic competition at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Organised by England's Football Association, the event was for amateur players only and was regarded suspiciously as a show rather than a competition. The England national amateur football team won the event in both 1908 and 1912. There was an attempt made by FIFA to organize an international football tournament between nations outside of the Olympic framework in 1906 and this took place in Switzerland. These were very early days for international football and the official history of FIFA describes the competition as having been a failure. With the Olympic event continuing to be contested only between amateur teams, competitions involving professional teams also started to appear. The Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva, held in Turin in 1908, was one of the first and the following year; Sir Thomas Lipton organised the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, also held in Turin. Both tournaments were contested between individual clubs (not national teams), each one of which represented an entire nation. For this reason, neither was really a direct forerunner of the World Cup, but notwithstanding that, the Thomas Lipton Trophy is sometimes described as The First World Cup, at the expense of its less well-known Italian predecessor. In 1914, FIFA agreed to recognise the Olympic tournament as a "world football championship for amateurs", and took responsibility for organising the event. This led the way for the world's first intercontinental football competition, at the 1920 Summer Olympics, won by Belgium. Uruguay won the tournaments in 1924 and 1928. In 1930, FIFA made the decision to stage their own international tournament. The 1932 Summer Olympics, held in Los Angeles, did not plan to include football as part of the programme due to the low popularity of the sport in the United States. FIFA and the IOC also disagreed over the status of amateur players, and so football was dropped from the Games. FIFA president Jules Rimet thus set about organizing the inaugural World Cup tournament. With Uruguay now two-time official world champions and due to celebrate their centenary of independence in 1930, FIFA named Uruguay as the host country. The national associations of selected nations were invited to send a team, but the choice of Uruguay as a venue for the competition meant a long and costly trip across the Atlantic Ocean for European sides. No European country pledged to send a team until two months before the start of the competition. Rimet eventually persuaded teams from Belgium, France, Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia to make the trip. In total, 13 nations took part – seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously, and were won by France and the United States, who beat Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. The first goal in World Cup history was scored by Lucien Laurent of France. Four days later, the first World Cup hat-trick was achieved by Bert Patenaude of the U.S. in the Americans' 3–0 win against Paraguay. In the final, Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 93,000 people in Montevideo to become the first nation to win a World Cup. The 1934 World Cup was hosted by Italy and was the first World Cup to include a qualification stage. Sixteen teams qualified for the tournament, a number which would be retained until the expansion of the finals tournament in 1982. Uruguay, the titleholders from 1930, still upset about the poor European attendance at their World Cup in 1930, boycotted the 1934 World Cup. Bolivia and Paraguay were also absent, allowing Argentina and Brazil to progress to the finals in Italy without having to play any qualifying matches. Egypt became the first African team to compete, but lost to Hungary in the first round. Italy won the tournament, becoming the first European team to do so. The 1938 World Cup competition was also held in Europe (in France), much to the consternation of many South Americans, with Uruguay and Argentina boycotting. For the first time, the title holders and the host country were given automatic qualification. Following a play-off match against Latvia, Austria had officially qualified for the final round, but because of the Anschluss in April 1938 with Germany, the Austrian national team withdrew, with some Austrian players being added to the German squad (the combined German squad would be eliminated in the first round for the first time in the World Cup's history, with the second time happening eighty years later during the 2018 tournament). Austria's place was offered to England, but they declined. This left the finals with 15 nations competing. France hosted, but for the first time the hosts did not win the competition, as Italy retained their title, beating Hungary in the final. Polish striker Ernest Willimowski became the first player to score four goals in a World Cup game during Poland's 6–5 loss against Brazil; his record was later equalled by other players, but was bettered only 56 years later in the 1994 World Cup. The FIFA World Cup was planned to take place in 1942. Germany officially applied to host the 1942 FIFA World Cup at the 23rd FIFA Congress on 13 August 1936 in Berlin. In June 1939, Brazil also applied to host the tournament. The beginning of European hostilities in September 1939 prompted further plans for the 1942 World Cup to be cancelled, before a host country was selected. The FIFA tournament did not take place. During World War II, FIFA struggled to keep itself afloat, and it had no financial or personnel resources with which to plan a peacetime tournament for when hostilities ended. When the war ended in 1945, it was clear that FIFA would have no hope in a single year of planning and scheduling a 1946 World Cup. In fact, FIFA's first meeting was on 1 July 1946 – around the time the 1946 World Cup would ordinarily have been played – and when it planned the next World Cup for 1949 no country would host it. The major international tournament in 1946 was the 1946 South American Championship in which Argentina beat Brazil 2–0 on 10 February 1946. Competitions resumed with the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, which was the first to include British participants. British teams withdrew from FIFA in 1920, partly out of unwillingness to play against the countries they had been at war with, and partly as a protest against a foreign influence to football, but rejoined in 1946 following FIFA's invitation. England's involvement, however, was not to be a success. The English failed to make the final group round in a campaign that included a surprise 1–0 loss to the United States. The tournament also saw the return of 1930 champions Uruguay, who had boycotted the previous two World Cups. For political reasons, Eastern European countries (such as Hungary, the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia) did not enter. Title- holder Italy did take part, despite the Superga air disaster of 1949 in which the entire Grande Torino team (many who were national team players) were killed. The 1950 World Cup was the only tournament not to stage a final tie, replacing knockout rounds with two group phases. The last match of the second group phase, however, is sometimes referred to as a "final", as the group standings meant the winners would be the overall winners. Uruguay were surprise victors over hosts Brazil with a final score of 2–1 (the game would later be known as Maracanazo), and became champions for the second time. This game also held the record for the highest attendance at any sporting match, at roughly 200,000. The 1954 World Cup, held in Switzerland, was the first to be televised. The Soviet Union did not participate because of their dismal performance at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Scotland made their first appearance in the tournament, but were unable to register a win, going out after the group stage. This tournament set a number of all-time goal-scoring records, including highest average goals per game and highest-scoring team (Hungary), and most goals in a single match (Austria's 7–5 quarter-final victory over Switzerland). West Germany were the tournament winners, defeating Olympic champions Hungary 3–2 in the final, overturning a 2–0 deficit in the process, with Helmut Rahn scoring the winner. The match is known as the Miracle of Bern in Germany. Brazil won the 1958 World Cup, held in Sweden, and became the first team to win a World Cup outside their home continent (only 4 teams have done this to date – Brazil in 1958, 1970, 1994 and 2002, Argentina in 1986, Spain in 2010 and Germany in 2014). The Soviet Union participated this time, most likely due to their win at Melbourne 1956. For the first (and so far only) time, all four British teams qualified for the final round. Wales was able to take advantage of a situation in the Africa/Asia zone, where the number of withdrawals would give Israel qualification without having played a single qualifying match. This prompted FIFA to rule that qualification without playing was not allowed (despite allowing this to happen in earlier years of the Cup), and so Israel were ordered to play against one of the teams finishing second in the other groups. A tie was created, and Wales defeated Israel 2–0 twice in 1958. It was the first (and so far the only) time that a country played a World Cup final round after having been eliminated in the regular qualifiers. The tournament also saw the emergence of Pelé, who scored two goals in the final. French striker Just Fontaine became the top scorer of the tournament. Chile hosted the 1962 World Cup. Two years before the tournament, an earthquake struck, the largest ever recorded at 9.5 magnitude, prompting officials to rebuild due to major damage to infrastructure. When the competition began, two of the best players were in poor form as Pelé was injured in Brazil's second group match against Czechoslovakia. Also, the Soviet Union saw their goalkeeper Lev Yashin show poor form including a 2–1 loss to hosts Chile as the hosts captured third place. The competition was also marred by overly defensive and often violent tactics. This poisonous atmosphere culminated in what was known as the Battle of Santiago first round match between Italy and Chile in which Chile won 2–0. Prior to the match, two Italian journalists wrote unflattering articles about the host country. In the match, players on both sides made deliberate attempts to harm opponents though only two players from Italy were sent off by English referee Ken Aston. In the end, the Italian team needed police protection to leave the field in safety. When the final whistle blew, Brazil beat Czechoslovakia for the second World Cup in a row by a final of 3–1 led by Garrincha and Amarildo, in Pelé's absence, and retained the Jules Rimet trophy. Colombia's Marcos Coll made World Cup history when he scored a goal direct from a corner kick (called an Olympic Goal in Latin America), the only one ever made in a World Cup, past legendary Soviet goalkeeper Lev Yashin. The 1966 World Cup, hosted by England, was the first to embrace marketing, featuring a mascot and official logo for the first time. The trophy was stolen in the run-up to the tournament but was found a week later by a dog named "Pickles". South Africa was banned for violating the anti-discrimination charter (apartheid). The ban remained in effect until 1992 when the South Africa Football Association was finally accepted by FIFA. The qualifying rounds of the tournament saw a controversy when the African nations decided to withdraw in protest of only one qualifying place allocated by FIFA to the regions of Asia, Oceania and Africa. The eventual qualifiers from the zone, North Korea, became the first Asian team to reach the quarter-finals, eliminating Italy in the process. England won the tournament, although João Havelange (former FIFA president from 1974 to 1998) claimed that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and Germany would win respectively. Geoff Hurst became the first and to this day the only player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup Final and Eusébio, whose team Portugal were taking part in their first World Cup, was the tournament top-scorer, with nine goals to his name. The qualification stages of the 1970 World Cup were coincidental with the Football War between Honduras and El Salvador. The finals were held in Mexico. Israel had been with Europe, but due to political issues, it was becoming harder to place them adequately in the qualifying rounds. They were grouped in Asia/Oceania. Korea DPR then refused to meet them, even though this meant automatic disqualification. The group stage clash between defending champions England and Brazil lived up to its billing, and is still remembered for England goalkeeper Gordon Banks' save from a Pelé header on the six-yard line, arguably the best save ever. The tournament is also remembered for the semi- final match between Italy and West Germany, in which five goals were scored in extra time, and Franz Beckenbauer played with a broken arm, since Germany had used up all their allowed substitutions. Italy were the eventual 4–3 winners, but were defeated 1–4 in the final by Brazil, who became the first nation to win three World Cups, and were awarded the Jules Rimet trophy permanently for their achievement. A new trophy was created for the 1974 edition, held in West Germany. After a draw in their first UEFA/CONMEBOL Intercontinental play-off match against Chile in the qualifiers, the Soviet Union refused to travel to the Chilean capital for the return fixture for political reasons, and in accordance with the regulations, Chile were awarded a victory. East Germany, Haiti, Australia and Zaire made their first finals. The tournament also saw a new format, where the two top teams from each of the earlier four groups were divided into two groups of four each again, the winner of either group playing each other in the final. The West German hosts won the competition by beating the Netherlands 2–1 in the final, but it was also the revolutionary Total Football system of the Dutch that captured the footballing world's imagination. The very well-playing Poland finished third, after defeating Brazil 1–0 (and after defeating Argentina 3–2 and eliminating Italy 2–1 in the initial group play), having barely lost in terrible rain in the semi-finals to West Germany 0–1. The 1978 World Cup was held in Argentina, causing controversy as a military coup had taken place in the country two years earlier. Allegations that Dutch star Johan Cruyff refused to participate because of political convictions were refuted by him 30 years later. and none of the teams decided to stay away. This was the hardest ever World Cup finals to qualify for. With 95 teams vying for 14 places (the holders and hosts qualified automatically), there were nearly seven countries competing for each place in Argentina. Hungary won their European group but had to win a play-off against Bolivia to qualify, while England were eliminated despite winning five of their six qualifying matches. Iran and Tunisia were first time participants. Tunisia won their first match against Mexico 3–1 and became the first African team to ever win a world cup game. There was some on-field controversy as well. During the second round, Argentina had an advantage in their match against Peru since the kick off was several hours after Brazil's match with Poland. Brazil won their match 3–1, so Argentina knew that they had to beat Peru by four goals to advance to the final. Trailing 2–0 at half-time, Peru simply collapsed in the second half, and Argentina eventually won 6–0. Rumors suggested that Peru might have been bribed into allowing Argentina to win the match by such a large margin. Argentina went on to win the final 3–1, Mario Kempes scoring twice, with the Dutch being runners-up for the second time in a row. Spain hosted an expanded 1982 World Cup which featured 24 teams, the first expansion since 1934. The teams were divided into six groups of four, with the top two teams in each group advancing to the second round, where they split into four groups of three. The winners of each group advanced to the semi- finals. Cameroon, Algeria, Honduras, New Zealand and Kuwait were the debutants. The group match between Kuwait and France was stage of a farcical incident. As the French were leading 3–1, the Kuwaiti team stopped playing after hearing a whistle from the stands which they thought had come from referee, as French defender Maxime Bossis scored. As the Kuwaiti team were protesting the goal, Sheikh Fahid Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, president of the Kuwait Football Association, rushed onto the pitch and gave the referee a piece of his mind, who proceeded to disallow the goal. Bossis scored another valid goal a few minutes later and France won 4–1. Also during the group stages, Hungary beat El Salvador 10–1, which has been the only occasion to this day that a team scored ten goals in a World Cup match. The group match between West Germany and Austria later resulted in a change of World Cup rules, after both teams visibly aimed to keep the qualification ensuring 1–0 scoreline over 80 minutes. The semi-final between West Germany and France saw another controversy when German keeper Harald Schumacher's challenge took out Patrick Battiston, with the score at 1–1. Schumacher escaped a red card, and Germany won in a penalty shoot-out, after coming back to level from having gone 1–3 down. The final was won by Italy, making Italian captain Dino Zoff the oldest player to win the World Cup. Italian striker Paolo Rossi, who was making his comeback after a match-fixing scandal and the ensuing ban, was the tournament top-scorer with six goals including a classic hat-trick against Brazil. Because of Colombia's withdrawal to host the tournament, Mexico became the first nation to hold two World Cups by hosting the 1986 World Cup. The format changed again, with the second round being replaced by a pre-quarterfinal, knockout competition, for which 16 teams would qualify. It was also decided that the final two matches in all groups would kick off simultaneously, to ensure complete fairness. Canada, Denmark and Iraq made their first finals. José Batista of Uruguay set a World Cup record being sent off after a mere 56 seconds into the game against Scotland. The quarterfinal match between England and Argentina is remembered for two remarkable Diego Maradona goals, later regarded as player of the tournament, the first, the controversial handball goal, and the second, considered to be the Goal of the Century, in which he dribbled half the length of the field past five English players before scoring. In the final, Argentina beat West Germany 3–2, inspired by Diego Maradona, who set up Jorge Burruchaga for the winner. The 1990 World Cup was held in Italy. Cameroon, participating in their second World Cup, made it to the quarter-finals after beating Argentina in the opening game. No African country had ever reached the quarter-finals before. Mexico was unable to compete in the 1990 World Cup preliminary competition as a result of a two-year ban for age fraud at a youth championship, an incident known as Los Cachirules. the United States qualified for the first time since 1950. An unpleasant episode marred the South American qualifiers: during the match between Brazil and Chile, a firework landed close to the Chilean goalkeeper Roberto Rojas, who then feigned injury by cutting his own face with a razor blade he had hidden in his glove. His team refused to continue the match (as they were down a goal at the time). The plot was discovered and resulted in a 12-year suspension for Rojas and to Chile being banned from the 1994 World Cup. The final featured the same teams as in 1986. After finishing runners-up in the two previous tournaments, West Germany beat Argentina 1–0 in the final to record their third title. The Republic of Ireland also made their first appearance in the tournament, reaching the quarter-finals without winning a single game (four draws, with a penalty shoot-out win over Romania in the second round). This is the furthest a team has ever advanced in the World Cup without winning a game. The 1994 World Cup, held in the United States, saw the first World Cup final to be decided on penalties, with Brazil edging out Italy. FR Yugoslavia was excluded due to UN sanctions in connection with the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Colombia qualified unexpectedly defeating Argentina 5-0. Japan narrowly missed a ticket to the World Cup after drawing with Iraq in the final match of the qualification round, remembered by fans as the "Agony of Doha". As a result, South Korea qualified to the tournament. Russia (taking the place of the Soviet Union which had disintegrated over 1990 and 1991) played their first World Cup competition as a new country, with Greece, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia as the other first-timers. Diego Maradona was banned mid-tournament after testing positive for cocaine: without him, Argentina were eliminated in the last 16 by Romania. Colombian defender Andrés Escobar was murdered ten days after scoring an own-goal against the hosts in a first-round match that eliminated Colombia. The total attendance for the tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the biggest in World Cup history. Oleg Salenko of Russia became the first player to score five goals in a single World Cup finals game in his country's 6–1 group stage win over Cameroon. In the same match, 42-year-old Roger Milla scored the only goal for Cameroon, becoming the oldest player ever to score in a World Cup match. Hristo Stoichkov shared the Golden Boot as the joint top goal scorer in the tournament with Oleg Salenko (six goals), as well as earning the Bronze Ball award. He led Bulgaria to a shock 2-1 win over defending champions Germany in the quarter-finals, before losing 2–1 to Italy and losing the third place play-off to Sweden, 4–0. The 1998 World Cup was held in France, and had an expanded format featuring 32 teams. Iran beat the Maldives in qualification by the widest margin in World Cup history – 17–0. In the finals, the second round match between France and Paraguay witnessed the first golden goal in World Cup history, as Laurent Blanc scored to give the hosts a 1–0 victory. Hosts France won the tournament by beating Brazil 3–0 in the final, as the Brazilian Ronaldo had health issues and therefore he hasn't impact on the match. Debutants Croatia finished a commendable third. The 2002 World Cup was the first to be held in Asia, and was hosted jointly by South Korea and Japan. Togolese Souleymane Mamam became the youngest player ever to take to a World Cup preliminary game field at 13 years, 310 days in Lomé in May 2001. Australia defeated American Samoa 31–0 in a preliminary match – a new record for the margin of victory, and the highest-scoring match ever. The tournament was a successful one for teams traditionally regarded as minnows, with South Korea, Senegal and the United States all reaching the last eight. Brazil beat Germany 2–0 in the final for their fifth title. The Turkish Hakan Sukur made history by scoring the earliest World Cup goal of all time against South Korea at only 11 seconds. The 2006 World Cup was held in Germany. It was the first World Cup for which the previous winner had to qualify; the host nation(s) continue to receive an automatic berth. Four African teams also made their debut in the world cup finals: Togo, Ivory Coast, Angola and Ghana who impressively made it to last 16 by beating the Czech Republic, third ranked in the world, 2–1, along with the United States 2–0, before losing to the defending champions Brazil 0–3. First seed and holders Brazil and second seeded England were initially English bookmakers' favourites. A strong performance by Germany brought them as far as the semi- finals. However, the final match-up was between Italy and France, in which French captain Zinedine Zidane was sent off in the last ten minutes of extra time for a headbutt to the chest of Italian central defender Marco Materazzi. Italy went on to win 5–3 in a penalty shootout, the score having been 1–1 after 90 minutes and extra time. The 2010 World Cup was held in South Africa. It was the first cup hosted on African soil, and the cup was won by Spain. The tournament was noted for its highly defensive opening matches, controversies surrounding goal-line technology, and the introduction of vuvuzelas. Though considered as one of the tournament favorites, the Spaniards won the cup despite scoring only eight goals in seven games and losing their opening match to Switzerland. David Villa led the squad in scoring with five goals. In a final which saw a record number of yellow cards distributed and what some considered violent play from the Dutch side, the ten-man Netherlands squad were defeated 1–0 in the 116th minute of extra time by an Andrés Iniesta goal. The 2014 World Cup was held in Brazil, marking the second time that Brazil hosted the competition. The cup was won by Germany, who beat Argentina 1-0 in the final. The Netherlands defeated Brazil (who lost to the eventual winners, Germany, 7-1 in the semifinals) 3–0 in the bronze medal game. Because of the relatively high ambient temperatures in Brazil, particularly at the northern venues, cooling breaks for the players were first introduced during these games. In this World Cup there was the debut of sensors to avoid phantom goals with the Goal-line technology, used to determine, in doubtful situations, whether the ball crossed the goal line or not. The 2018 World Cup was held in Russia. It was the first cup to be held in Eastern Europe. The cup was won by France, who beat Croatia 4–2 in the final. Belgium defeated England 2–0 in the bronze medal game. It was also the first cup to use the video assistant referee (VAR) system. The 2022 World Cup hosted by Qatar will be the first tournament to not be held in summer time in which it is usually held. It will take place from 21 November to 18 December 2022. The number of teams and the format of each final tournament have varied considerably over the years. In most tournaments, the tournament consists of a round-robin group stage followed by a single-elimination knockout stage. Until the 1990 FIFA World Cup, 2 points were conceded for a win and 1 point was conceded for a draw. Since the 1994 FIFA World Cup, 3 points are conceded for a win and 1 point is conceded for a draw. Each group of four teams plays a round-robin schedule. As of the 1986 World Cup, all final group games must be held simultaneously, a rule instituted by FIFA to minimize collusion amongst teams requiring a certain result to advance. FIFA instituted a policy to award three points for a win in the 1994 World Cup. Although goals for was already a tiebreaker, FIFA hoped to create an additional incentive for teams to pursue victory. The first team affected by the rule was Paraguay in 1998, which would have won its group on goal differential over Nigeria under prior FIFA rules. Paraguay advanced to the knockout phase as group runner-up and was defeated by host nation and eventual champion France in the round of 16. It is not possible under the new point system to be eliminated from the group stage with a second place or higher winning percentage, however it is possible to finish behind a team with the same winning percentage yet a lower goal difference. This took place in the 2010 World Cup when New Zealand finished with three draws and Slovakia finished with one win, one draw, and one loss. Slovakia advanced in Group F by finishing second with four points, eliminating New Zealand with three points. Under the previous FIFA point allotment system, New Zealand would have advanced with a zero goal difference, while Slovakia would have been eliminated with a goal difference of −1. The criteria for advancement to knockout phase is as follows: 1. Greatest number of points in group matches 2. Greatest total goal difference in the three group matches 3. Greatest number of goals scored in the three group matches 4. If teams remained level after those criteria, a mini-group would be formed from those teams, who would be ranked on: 1. Most points earned in matches against other teams in the tie 2. Greatest goal difference in matches against other teams in the tie 3. Greatest number of goals scored in matches against other teams in the tie 5. If teams remained level after all these criteria, FIFA would hold a drawing of lots 6. The drawing of lots for tied teams takes place one hour after the final game in the group at the stadium where the championship match is held. The drawing of lots is similar to the World Cup draw in terms of style and format; a ball is drawn from a pot, which contains balls with the names of each tied team. As of the 2014 World Cup, lots have only been drawn once in tournament history. However, they were used to separate second and third place in a group (Republic of Ireland and the Netherlands in 1990) where both were already assured of qualification. Thus, a team has never been eliminated based upon drawn lots. History of FIFA, FIFA World Cup hosts

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"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by English pop rock band Tears for Fears. It was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes and produced by Hughes. The song was first released on 18 March 1985 by Phonogram, Mercury and Vertigo Records as the third single from the band's second album, Songs from the Big Chair (1985). "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave song. Its lyrics detail the desire humans have for control and power and centre on themes of corruption. Music critics praised "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" in their retrospective reviews, with some including the song in their respective decade lists. It is regarded as the group's signature song, along with "Shout" (1984). It garnered success on charts internationally, peaking at number two in Ireland and the United Kingdom and at number one in Canada, New Zealand and on the Billboard Hot 100. It was certified gold by both Music Canada (MC) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Nigel Dick directed the music video, which received promotion from MTV. It shows bassist Curt Smith (who sings lead vocal), driving an antique Austin-Healey 3000 sports car around Southern California intercut with shots of the band performing the song in a studio. In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards. The group re-recorded the song as a charity single for the Sport Aid campaign. New Zealand singer Lorde recorded a cover of the song which was included in the for (2013). "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was written by Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley and Chris Hughes, and produced by Hughes. The song was a "last-minute" addition during recording sessions of Songs from the Big Chair (1985). The decision to include the song in the album came after Orzabal played two chords on his acoustic guitar for Hughes. It was recorded in two weeks and added as the final track on the album. According to Orzabal, he initially regarded the song as a lightweight that would not fit with the rest of the album. In an interview with Mix magazine, Hughes said that "as a piece of recording history, [the song is] bland as hell." The lyrics of the song were originally "everybody wants to go to war", which Orzabal felt was lackluster. However, Hughes convinced Orzabal to record it, in a calculated effort to gain American chart success. Orzabal acknowledged that the shuffle beat used in the song was "alien" to their way of writing music, stating it was "jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of 'Shout', but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert." Curt Smith, the lead singer, said the themes were "quite serious – it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes." "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was first released on 18 March 1985 through Phonogram, Mercury and Vertigo Records as the third single from the band's second studio album, Songs from the Big Chair. The song was released for sale (as a 7-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch vinyl set) which included its B-side, interviews from the band and different versions of the song. To accommodate the vinyl release, a CD video set was also distributed and included the song's music video along audios of bonus tracks. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a new wave song. The song is set in the key of D major with a time signature and a tempo of 112 beats per minute. The band stated that the driving shuffle rhythm was influenced by Simple Minds' 1983 song "Waterfront". Tal Rosenberg of Pitchfork noted the song's various components, from the "twinkling synth", "spider-like guitar" and "snappy" instrumental near the track's opening, as well as its shuffling dream-like beat, "galvanizing" bridge, moody instrumental passage, shift in melody and two guitar solos as it progressed. The song's lyrics detail the desire humans have for control and power. In 2017, Tal Rosenberg of Pitchfork stated that its lyrics could be applied in different scenarios such as the environment ("Turn your back on mother nature"), short-lived financial success ("Help me make the most of freedom and of pleasure/Nothing ever lasts forever"), dictatorial rule ("Even while we sleep/We will find you"), and the Cold War ("Holding hands while the walls come tumbling down"). The group revisited the song and its message in an interview with Yahoo! Music, stating that the song's themes were still "just as poignant" as they were when they first wrote it. They mentioned that they discussed the Cold War with "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" and Songs from the Big Chair but that was the "U.S. and Russia then, and now the concern is more with the U.S. and [North] Korea." Marc Ambinder from The Atlantic used the lyrics "Say that you'll never, never, never need it / One headline, why believe it? / Everybody wants to rule the world" in his article about the United States government's use of "original classified authority" and the abuse of power between the branches of government. Consequence of Sound editor Michael Roffman praised the group for being able to produce a "timeless and influential composition" with minimal effort. Roffman also noted that "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was appropriate when it was first time, calling it a "meditative commentary on an era that was so corrupt economically and spiritually." AllMusic's Stanton Swihart expressed in his retrospective review that the group "perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic." Pitchfork called it a song with "near-universal appeal", as well as a staple for "classic-rock radio, pharmacies, bars, and parties." In their review for the best albums of the 1980s, Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine stated that the song "seems like one of the great indictments of the materialism and false triumphalism of the decade." "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was voted the 25th best single in The Village Voices Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1985 with 17 points, sharing the spot with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' "Don't Come Around Here No More" (1985) and Sade's "Smooth Operator" (1984). Pitchfork placed the song at number 82 on their list for the best songs of the 80s expressing that "underneath the synth-pop sheen, its vague message" and its lesson in how power-driven society could be, the song was able to reach "Reagan and Margaret-era youth fed up with political greed." Kevin Korber from Spectrum Culture ranked the song at 24 on his 80s decade list, calling the song a "testament to how much of a free-for-all the pop landscape was in the 1980s." Korber dismissed the song's vague lyrics but praised its complex melodic structure, saying it was "both the perfect representation of its time and a timeless composition." Treble included the song at number 49 on their decade list. In 1986, the song won "Best Single" at the Brit Awards. Band member and co-writer Roland Orzabal argued that the song deserved to win the Ivor Novello International Hit of the Year award, claiming that the winner—"19" by Paul Hardcastle—was not an actual song, but only a "dialogue collage". In 2015, 30 years after its release, the song was honoured at the annual BMI Awards in London for achieving 6 million radio airplays. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is regarded as the group's signature song, along with "Shout" (1984). "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was banned for broadcast by the BBC during the duration of the first Gulf War (2 August 199028 February 1991) due to the song's political themes. In the United Kingdom, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" debuted at number 16 on the UK Singles Chart, in the issue dated 24 March 1985. On the week of 14 April 1985, the song peaked at number two, behind the charity single "We Are the World" (1985) recorded by the supergroup United Support of Artists (USA) for Africa. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" received a gold certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 13 April 2018 for 500,000 sales. The song peaked at number three in Belgium and at number two in both the Netherlands and Ireland. In Canada, the song reached the number one spot, earning a gold certification from Music Canada (MC) for 40,000 sales shipments on 1 May 1985. In Australia, the song reached the number two position. On the report dated 19 May 1985, the song debuted at number four on the New Zealand Top 40 Singles chart; it would later peak at number one. It was certified Gold by the Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for sales of 10,000. In the United States, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" debuted at number 70 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the issue dated 16 March 1985. On the week of 27 April 1985, the song rose to number 18. On the week of 8 June 1985, the song moved 2-1, replacing Wham!'s "Everything She Wants" (1984) as the number one on the chart; it would spent a total of two weeks in this position. The song was a commercial success in other American markets, peaking at number two on the Adult Contemporary and Top Rock Tracks and charting at number one on the Hot Dance Club Play, Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales and Cash Box charts. "Pharaohs" is the B-side to the "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" single. It samples a recording of BBC Radio 4 announcer Brian Perkins reading the Shipping Forecast for the North Sea region of the United Kingdom. The title of the song has an identical enunciation to the Faroe Islands ("Faroes"), one of the places referenced in the forecast. Orzabal, Ian Stanley, Curt Smith and Hughes share writing credits. "Pharaohs" is included on the Groove Armada compilation album (2000). Chris Hughes wrote about the song in the liner notes of Saturnine Martial & Lunatic, saying: "Pharaohs" shipping forecast read by Brian Perkins: The promotional video for "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", filmed in early 1985, was directed by Nigel Dick. It was filmed in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, a desert in Southern California, the Salton Sea and Cabazon as well as a London studio. Curt Smith admitted to Pitchfork that the video shoot was a "disaster"; director Nigel Dick was "in tears" on the second night of shooting. Smith also mentioned that there was an accident while filming the "dirt bikes and four-wheel [sic] off-road vehicles" scene, with one child flying out of a vehicle and smashing his head, leaving him unconscious. The video begins with Smith driving a vintage Austin-Healey 3000 sports car while a toddler points toy guns in Smith's direction. The car is then seen driving through a desert, this scene is intercut with the band performing the song in a studio. Smith parks the car at the Wheel Inn diner and makes a call from a telephone booth. The camera pans to show a statue of a man riding a horse nearby. Smith leaves the diner in the car while singing the song's lyrics. The following scene shows two black men in suits performing synchronized dance movements in front of two gas pumps. Shots of young people riding three- wheeled ATVs and dirt bikes through desert sand dunes are also shown. Smith is then shown singing in the desert wearing black sunglasses as many of the dirt bike and ATV riders approach from behind him and pass to either side. The music video promoted the group in America, due to "heavy rotation" on the music video channel MTV. HuffPost editor Daryl Deino ranked the video at number three on their year-end list for best music videos of 1985 stating that the video "represents pure Americana as it was in 1985". Deino also mentioned that the video "proves that at times, artists were able to do so much with so little." 7": Mercury / IDEA 9 (UK) 1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"4:11 2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42 Double 7" Special Limited Edition: Mercury / IDEA 99 (UK) 1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:11 2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42 3. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Urban Mix) 6:06 4. B. "Roland & Curt Interviewed" 7:30 10": Mercury / IDEA 910 (UK) 1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" 4:11 2. B. "Pharaohs" 3:42 12": Mercury / IDEA 912 (UK) 1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Extended Version) 5:43 2. B1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (7" Version) 4:11 3. B2. "Pharaohs" 3:42 Urban Mix 12": Mercury / IDEA 912 (UK) 1. A. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Urban Mix) 6:06 2. B. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Instrumental) 4:26 CD Video: Mercury / 080 032-2 (UK, PAL) 1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Audio) 4:10 2. "The Marauders" (Audio) 4:13 3. "When In Love With a Blind Man" (Audio) 2:22 4. "Pharaohs" (Audio) 3:39 5. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Video) 4:41 CD Video: Mercury / 870 745-2 (US, NTSC) 1. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Audio) 4:10 2. "The Marauders" (Audio) 4:13 3. "When In Love With a Blind Man" (Audio) 2:22 4. "Pharaohs" (Audio) 3:39 5. "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" (Video) 4:41 Credits adapted from the liner notes of Saturnine Martial & Lunatic. Tears for Fears Roland Orzabal guitar, keyboards, vocals, Curt Smith bass guitar, lead vocals, Ian Stanley keyboards, LinnDrum programming, Oberheim DMX, Manny Elias drums, Oberheim DMX Additional personnel Neil Taylor second guitar solo, Chris Hughes producer, drums, Oberheim DMX, MIDI programming, Dave Bascombe engineer Other artists have recorded or performed versions of "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". American singer Gloria Gaynor recorded a cover of the song for her twelfth studio album, The Power of Gloria Gaynor (1986). Ken Boothe released a reggae version of the song that appeared on a compilation album titled The Tide Is High – ReggaeRocks A Tribute to Rock 'N' Roll (2001). American hip hop artist Nas sampled the guitar riff from "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" on his 2001 song "Rule". American jazz trio The Bad Plus recorded a version of the song from their 2007 album, Prog. The song was covered by American singer Patti Smith and released on her tenth studio album, Twelve (2007). American rock band Ted Leo and the Pharmacists performed a cover of the song on The A.V. Clubs "Undercover" series on 16 March 2010. Canadian electropop band Bear Mountain released a cover of the song as a non-album single in 2014. American multi-instrumentalist Mayer Hawthorne released a "retrofit '60s R&B;" cover of the song. American rock band Weezer released a cover of the song that appeared on their fifth self-titled record, which features covers of several other hit songs from the same era. American musical comedy duo Ninja Sex Party recorded a cover of the song onto their fourth studio album and first cover album, Under the Covers (2016). "Everybody Wants to Run the World" is a re-recording of the band's song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". The reworked single was released in 1986 as the theme song for the Sport Aid campaign, a charitable event held to raise money for famine relief in Africa. The group did not attend the event, saying, "Geldof announced we were playing. He didn't ask us. I was pissed off. We went on holiday." It was a success in the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's sixth top 5 hit, peaking at number 5 in June 1986. The song also reached number 4 in Ireland. New Zealand singer Lorde recorded a cover of the song for the of (2013). The cover was produced by Peter Shurkin and Natalie Baartz with arrangement by Michael A. Levine and Lucas Cantor. It was later used in the cinematic trailer of Assassin's Creed Unity at E3 2014, promotional videos for the BBC First network, and the 2015 BBC TV series Banished. It was also used during season 4 of Homeland. Orzabal praised Lorde for reinventing the cover, stating that the group finds it interesting when artists take what they do and reinterpret it. For their Rule the World Tour, the duo uses this version to launch their show. Critics were positively receptive to the cover, some praised it for its darker atmosphere mood although others criticized it for stripping away the song's original upbeat composition. David Haglund from Slate stated that while the song "doesn't top the great original, it does memorably reinvent it." Sam Lansky from Idolator called the cover "haunting and melodramatic". Conversely, Stereogum editor Nate Patrin criticized the chorus and production but praised the "aloof strangeness" in Lorde's vocals for being able to carry the song "past the usual Dramatic Reenvisionings." Paste included the cover at number 8 on their 2013 year-end list for covers. Her cover appeared on the New Zealand Singles Chart at number 14. It reached number 53 in Australia, number 65 in the United Kingdom, number 93 in France, and number 27 on the US Hot Rock Songs chart. List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1985, List of Cash Box Top 100 number-one singles of 1985, List of number-one dance singles of 1985 (U.S.), List of number-one singles of 1985 (Canada), List of number-one singles from the 1980s (New Zealand) Songs from the Big Chair is the second studio album by British rock/pop band Tears for Fears, released on 25 February 1985 by Phonogram Records. The album peaked at number two in the UK and at number one in the US and Canada, becoming a multi-platinum seller in all three countries. It also reached number one in Germany and the Netherlands and top-ten positions in various other countries including Australia, Switzerland, New Zealand and Italy. It spawned the international hit singles "Mothers Talk", "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head over Heels", and "I Believe". It remains their best-selling album to date. A companion video documentary entitled Scenes from the Big Chair was released in late 1985. Once the band had finished a lengthy touring and promotion schedule for the album, they took an extended hiatus from the music industry. The album title was derived from the 1976 television film Sybil about a woman with multiple personality disorder who only feels safe when she is sitting in her analyst's "big chair". A mostly-instrumental track called "The Big Chair" (which includes dialogue samples from the film) was released as the B-side of "Shout" in 1984, but was not included on the album. In his review of Songs from the Big Chair, Barry McIlheney of Melody Maker stated that "none of you should really be too surprised that Tears for Fears have made such an excellent album", calling it "an album that fully justifies the rather sneering, told-you-so looks adopted by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal on the sleeve", before concluding, "An awful lot of people will, of course, go on and on about overcoats, The Lotus Eaters and an alleged lack of depth. And an awful lot of people will have to eat an awful lot of words." Ian Cranna of Smash Hits described it as "looser, more exploratory than before" in nature, and noted its "unflinching lyrical honesty". Rolling Stone critic Don Shewey wrote that Tears for Fears "sounds a lot like a lot of other British bands" and observed traces of "U2's social conscience, the Bunnymen's echoing guitars and XTC's contorted pop wit" on the album, but commented that Chris Hughes' production "nudges Songs from the Big Chair slightly ahead of the pack." Robert Christgau was less enthusiastic in his review for The Village Voice, observing some substantial lyrics, particularly on "The Working Hour", and musical elements such as an "uncommon command of guitar and piano, Baker Street sax, synthesizers more jagged than is deemed mete by the arbiters of dance-pop accessibility". However, he felt these are all beneath grandiloquent lamentations suggesting "a depth and drama English lads have been falling short on since the dawn of progressive rock." In a retrospective review published on AllMusic, Stanton Swihart wrote: "In the loping, percolating 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World', Tears for Fears perfectly captured the zeitgeist of the mid-'80s while impossibly managing to also create a dreamy, timeless pop classic. Songs from the Big Chair is one of the finest statements of the decade." Mark Elliott of Record Collector agreed, while adding that it contained the band's "most consistently interesting material". Q remarked that the album "zeroed in on every angsty adolescent's desire to feel heroic, with a sound of spotlit, spacious sophistication plus anthemic choruses you'd bet your house on." In Stylus Magazine, Andrew Unterberger concluded that "even today, when all rock musicians seem to be able to do is be emotional and honest, the brutality and power of Songs from the Big Chairs catharsis is still quite shocking." Songs from the Big Chair has been included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Slant Magazine listed the album at number 95 on its list of the best albums of the 1980s. In 1998, MFSL remastered and re-issued the album with an extended "Head over Heels" (running 5:24) and two bonus tracks (extended mixes of "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"). The album was remastered and re-issued on CD in 1999 with bonus tracks, including B-sides and remixes. The track listing is based on the Special Edition cassette version of the album, which featured five B-sides as bonus tracks—including three tracks ("The Conflict", "The Marauders" and "Broken Revisited") from The Hurting period. In addition to these tracks, it includes two remixes. The album was re-released again in a deluxe edition 2-disc format in 2006 with the full collection of B-sides and many alternate versions and remixes of the album's tracks. In 2014, the album was released by Universal Music Japan on SHM-SACD. To mark the album's 30th anniversary, Universal Music released the album in five different formats on 10 November 2014, including a 6-disc Super Deluxe Edition which includes four CDs and two DVDs (1 audio, 1 video). This edition also includes a 30-page replica 1985 tour programme and a 32-page booklet. Additional formats released simultaneously include another 2-disc Deluxe Edition, a single disc remastered edition, a 180-gram heavyweight vinyl album, and a "Pure Audio" Blu-Ray edition. The 5.1 surround sound mix is done by renowned remixer and progressive rock musician Steven Wilson. Notes "I Believe" is dedicated to 'Robert Wyatt (if he's listening)', In some US editions, the live reprise of "Broken" was omitted, and the end of "Head over Heels" led directly into "Listen". On these same US editions, the full 5:09 version of "Mothers Talk" was replaced with the 3:53 short version, resulting in an overall runtime two minutes and ten seconds shorter than the original album., In some later Canadian editions, "Head over Heels" and the live reprise of "Broken" was split into two separate tracks creating a nine-track release; the booklet and other CD artwork still had the original tracklist, however., A limited edition UK cassette version of the album contained many bonus tracks ("The Big Chair", "Empire Building", "The Marauders", "Broken Revisited", "The Conflict") as well as a short version of "The Working Hour" (titled "Piano Version", although there is none); the configuration was recreated on CD for the 30th anniversary with even more additional tracks appended. Note "Mothers Talk" (U.S. remix) on the remastered CD is the correct version of this remix, but has had additional reverb applied. The 1999 remaster is the only CD on which this "extra reverb" version can be found. Notes Track 4 was intended to be "Everybody Wants to Run the World" but was mistakenly replaced by a repetition of the album version (incorrectly labeled as the '7" version', but such a version does not exist); the album's liner notes confirm this., Track 7 is labeled "U.S. remix" on the packaging but is in fact a different version from the real U.S. remix of "Mothers Talk" on the original vinyl singles. On CD, the real "U.S. remix" can be found on the compilations The Millennium Collection: The Best of Tears for Fears and Shout: The Very Best of Tears for Fears, as well as the 30th anniversary edition. Roland Orzabal – guitar, keyboards, lead vocals, grand piano on 5, vocal styling on 8, bass synth and LinnDrum programming on 1, Curt Smith – bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on 3 and 8, Ian Stanley – keyboards, LinnDrum programming, arrangements on "Listen", Manny Elias – drums (all except track 1), drum arrangement on "The Working Hour" "Shout": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Chris Hughes – drums, "The Working Hour": Jerry Marotta – percussion and saxophone arrangement, Will Gregory – saxophone solos, Mel Collins – saxophone, Andy Davis – grand piano, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World": Neil Taylor – second guitar solo, Chris Hughes - MIDI programming Drumulator, "Mothers Talk": Stevie Lange – backing vocals, "I Believe": Will Gregory – saxophone, "Broken": Neil Taylor – guitar solo, "Head Over Heels": Sandy McLelland – backing vocals, Andy Davis – grand piano, Annie McCaig – backing vocals, Marilyn Davis – backing vocals, "Listen": Marilyn Davis – operatic vocal Chris Hughes – producer, Dave Bascombe – engineer, Paul King – management, Tim O'Sullivan – cover photography 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Ian Christopher Stanley (born 28 February 1957) is an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He was previously a member of the English band Tears for Fears for most of the 1980s, and played a key role in the making of their multi-platinum selling second album Songs from the Big Chair. After offering them free use of his recording facility, Stanley became a member of Tears for Fears, contributing on synthesizers, drum machines, organ, pianos and backing vocals on their first 3 albums. He also co-wrote (with Roland Orzabal) many of their songs from the period 1983-85, and was a part of the production team during this era as the band worked with producer Chris Hughes at their studio, The Wool Hall, in Bath. He has appeared in several Tears for Fears music videos, including "Change" (in which he plays one of the two masked musicians), "Mothers Talk" (version 1 & 3), "Shout", "Everybody Wants to Rule the World", "Head over Heels" and "I Believe", and has performed with the band on many television performances. He also appeared in the 1983 Tears for Fears live video In My Mind's Eye, and the 1985 Tears for Fears documentary film Scenes from the Big Chair, as well as completing two world tours with the band. Following the success of Songs from the Big Chair, Stanley collaborated with Roland Orzabal on the 1986 side project Mancrab, releasing a single, "Fish for Life," which was made for the soundtrack of the film The Karate Kid Part II. Stanley also began working on Tears for Fears' third album, The Seeds of Love, but (along with producer Chris Hughes) left the project due to creative differences. His more prominent contributions to this album, however, can be heard on the hit single "Sowing the Seeds of Love" and the B-sides "Always in the Past" and "My Life in the Suicide Ranks." Since the 1980s, Stanley has produced such artists as Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, A-ha, The Pretenders, Howard Jones, Ultra, Republica, Naimee Coleman, Stephanie Kirkham, Natalie Imbruglia, Propaganda, The Human League and Tori Amos. He also contributed to The Sisters of Mercy re-recording of "Temple of Love". Stanley also did A&R; for Warners East West Records but left in 1998. Stanley's most recent work was producing The Beautiful South's album Superbi (2006), in part at his studio in Enniskerry, County Wicklow.

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A Place to Call Home is an Australian television drama series created by Bevan Lee for the Seven Network. It premiered on 28 April 2013. Set in rural New South Wales in the period following the Second World War, it follows Sarah Adams (Marta Dusseldorp), who has returned to Australia after twenty years abroad to start a new life and ends up clashing with wealthy matriarch Elizabeth Bligh (Noni Hazlehurst). The main cast also consists of Brett Climo (George Bligh), Craig Hall (Dr. Jack Duncan), David Berry (James Bligh), Abby Earl (Anna Poletti), Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood (Olivia Bligh), Aldo Mignone (Gino Poletti), Sara Wiseman (Carolyn Bligh), Jenni Baird (as Regina Standish), Tim Draxl (Henry Fox), Dominic Allburn (Harry Polson), and Frankie J. Holden (Roy Briggs). It has been described as a "compelling melodrama about love and loss set against the social change of the 1950s". The show ended after six seasons in 2018. Marta Dusseldorp as Sarah Adams, who despite a strictly religious Catholic upbringing, had moved to Paris to be with the man she loved and to adopt his Jewish faith. A new life awaits her, however, when she comes to work for the local hospital near the Bligh family, whom she met while serving as a nurse on the ship taking them all back to Australia from Europe. Later, she is astonished to hear a report that her husband is still alive following World War II, and her life again spins into troubled times., Noni Hazlehurst as Elizabeth Bligh, the headstrong and stubborn matriarch of the Bligh family. She is at first rude and cruel to Sarah, but she grudgingly mellows over time. Later in the series, she leaves for Sydney to live with her daughter Carolyn, and to become a better person., Brett Climo as Elizabeth's son, George Bligh, a good-hearted man who takes Sarah under his protection and gradually falls in love with her. He is Elaine's widower; at the beginning of the series, he appears to be father to James and Anna; eventually it emerges that Anna is actually a secret child of his sister Carolyn and their friend Jack, taken in by George and Elaine to spare Carolyn any scandal. His worst flaw may be his trust in people who seek to take advantage of him., Craig Hall as Jack Duncan, the secret past lover of Carolyn, who now faces many challenges in his work as a doctor in a hospital run by the Bligh family. He is a genuine person despite his personal problems and would do anything to help others., David Berry as James Bligh (regular: seasons 1–4, 6; recurring: season 5), the only son of George and Elaine, who grows up unaware of his "sister" Anna's true background. He marries Olivia, but is tormented by the realisation that he is gay, and tries to commit suicide. He later feels betrayed when his wife has an affair, but returns to Ash Park to live for his young son., Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood as Olivia Bligh, James' wife, a newlywed from England at the start of the series. She develops anger toward James for his indifference to her desperate need for affection, but does try to come to terms with his "condition"., Abby Earl as Anna Bligh, the secret child of Carolyn and Jack, who was raised believing she was daughter of George and Elaine. Anna marries a local farmer, Gino, after rebelling against the Bligh family. The marriage faces difficulties, however, when Gino goes into debt, and his attempts to expand the farm fail., Frankie J. Holden as Roy Briggs, a kindly old farmer who lives alone at the series start. He is very generous toward Sarah from the time she arrives in town, eventually offering her a refuge in his small home. They develop an easy, informal, mutually-supportive friendship., Sara Wiseman as Carolyn Bligh (regular: season 2–6; recurring: season 1). Much like her secret daughter Anna, Carolyn was the rebel child of her generation. For a long time, she gave up on her relationship with the Bligh family, and has had little contact for years. Once her secret is revealed, she is reunited with her long-separated daughter Anna and they develop an even closer relationship than before. Later on Carolyn works for Sir Richard Bennett, encountering new problems., Tim Draxl as Doctor Henry Fox (regular: season 3–6), the doctor who helps to save George's life after he is shot. Henry then goes on to befriend James, and they realize their mutual attraction to each other is stronger than mere friendship. Henry falls under the devious control of Regina, when she blackmails him into supplying her with morphine for her addiction., Deborah Kennedy as Doris Collins (regular: season 4–6; recurring: seasons 1–3), the most widely-known member of the Inverness village, who seems omnipresent on her bicycle. Although she means well, her gossiping ways can sometimes make her seem rude and intrusive. Sarah dislikes her at first, but as time goes on, finds her helpful as someone who always knows who has done what in the village., Dominic Allburn as Harry Polson (regular: season 1; recurring: season 4; regular: season 6), Amy Polson's gay brother. He has a brief romantic involvement with James, but when much of the village learns of Harry's true nature, he leaves Inverness for a new life elsewhere. Later, when he returns after having been severely beaten, Sarah helps him to settle back into a more stable life at Inverness. Aldo Mignone as Gino Poletti (seasons 1–4), the young, handsome Italian farmer who has set Anna's heart on fire. He has a real passion for farming and trying to please everybody, but his ambitious business decisions are not very successful., Jenni Baird as Regina Standish (season 1–5), the widowed, wealthy and still money-hungry sister of George's late wife, Elaine. Regina is the opposite of who Elaine had been: cold, bitter, and scheming, she despises Jews and openly displays religious intolerance toward Sarah. Regina has now set her sights on the widower George's inheritance, and would take extreme actions to achieve her goals regardless of anyone she sees as an obstacle. After being committed in an asylum for the murder of Millie Davis and a policeman, Regina was let go in 1958. She returned to the town and helped Sarah and George fight Sir Richard's cruel intentions. She committed suicide at the end of season 5, overdosing on morphine and making her death appear to be homicide., Matt Levett as Andrew Swanson (guest: season 6; regular: season 2; recurring: season 1), a somewhat entitled heir apparent who tries to win the hand of Anna Bligh., Ben Winspear as Doctor Rene Nordmann (regular: season 3; recurring: season 2), the long-lost first love and husband of Sarah Adams. First seen only in flashback, Rene had been arrested by the Nazi occupiers of Paris, and had disappeared without a trace. Later, when Sarah is amazed to learn that he is still alive, she travels to Paris to rescue him from the deep psychological damage caused by his long ordeal of imprisonment and torture. Rene has great difficulty adjusting to normal life, and still seems to carry his imprisonment within him., Brenna Harding as Rose O'Connell (regular: season 4; recurring: season 3), Robert Coleby as Douglas Goddard, a retiree who ran a club for Australian war veterans. He married Elizabeth Bligh but died in season 5. Heather Mitchell as Prudence Swanson, the wealthy friend of Elizabeth. Prudence socializes with Elizabeth whenever she comes to visit Sydney. As a member of Sydney's upper class, she is very aristocratic and looks down her nose at Sarah when she arrives for a garden party., Judi Farr as Peg Maloney, the aunt of Sarah Adams, who writes to her frequently from her home in Sydney. She and Sarah have grown very close, and when Sarah later decides to take a difficult action, she asks Peg for help., Dina Panozzo as Carla Poletti, the mother of Gino. She is very critical of the relationship with Anna and her son, saying that it will never work because she is not Catholic. But when George accedes, she does so as well., Krew Boylan and then Amy Mathews as Amy Polson, the maid of the Bligh household. When Regina suspects that James is gay she manipulates Amy into spying for her, which eventually forces Elizabeth to fire Amy with great sorrow., Angelo D'Angelo as Amo Poletti, the father of Gino, Jacinta Acevski as Alma Grey, Scott Grimley as Norman Parker (driver), Rick Donald as Lloyd Ellis-Parker, a talented portrait artist on temporary assignment, who seems to offer Olivia the romantic affection she desperately craves., Michael Sheasby as Bert Ford, a local yobbo who always seems to be looking for a fight. His suspicion of outsiders and religious intolerance make Sarah a natural target, as are the Italian Poletti family. Bert disappears under mysterious circumstances, but his unknown fate continues to haunt his former victims., Mark Lee as Sir Richard Bennett, a rich and powerful, but unprincipled owner of a major city newspaper. He is used to taking whatever he wishes to possess, including the people around him., Conrad Coleby as Matthew Goddard, Douglas' son who returns to town after his father's death. He starts dating Olivia and later asks her to marry him. Development for A Place to Call Home began after Bevan Lee completed his "domestic trilogy" (Always Greener, Packed to the Rafters and Winners & Losers). He took inspiration from film director Douglas Sirk's 1950s films such as Written on the Wind (1956) and All That Heaven Allows (1955). Lee told The Age that he wanted to create a romance-driven melodrama based in the 1950s because people's lives in the present are "relatively bland". He said: "At the end of the day, conflict is drama and we live in relatively conflict-free society. I had to go to a place where there was pain and damage and hurt; after the war there was." The script is co-written by Lee and Trent Atkinson. Noni Hazlehurst (Elizabeth Bligh) was the first cast member to be announced for A Place to Call Home, on 18 June 2012. Marta Dusseldorp (Sarah Adams), Brett Climo (George Bligh) and Frankie J. Holden (Roy Briggs) were announced a month later, with Dusseldorp leading the overall cast. Newcomers David Berry (James Bligh), Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood (Olivia Bligh), Abby Earl (Anna Bligh) and Aldo Mignone (Gino Poletti), made up the rest of the main cast. A Place to Call Home is set primarily in both the fictional estate "Ash Park" and the nearby fictional country town of "Inverness" in New South Wales. Inverness was also used as the country setting of Always Greener. Camden and the Southern Highlands in New South Wales serves as the backdrop for Inverness. Ash Park is actually Camelot, a heritage-listed property located at Kirkham, on the outskirts of Camden. Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, is a third location where major events occur, but most city scenes are filmed indoors, aside from some establishing shots such as historic footage of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Filming for the first season began on 9 July 2012 and concluded on 12 December 2012. Season one was shot on a Sony F65 camera, the first Australian television production to do so. In June 2013, Erin McWhirter of TV Week announced that A Place to Call Home had been renewed for another season. Abby Earl told McWhirter, "We're locked in pre-production in August and then we start filming in September, so there's plenty of time for me to get back in Anna's shoes." The second season started on 11 May 2014 and concluded on 13 July 2014. TV Week confirmed that a third season had been commissioned. In June 2014, however, the magazine reported that Channel Seven had declined the option to renew the series, and that the cast and crew had been told that they would not be required for a third season. On 15 October 2014, it was announced that Foxtel had finalised a deal with Channel Seven that would see a third season written by Bevan Lee, produced by Seven Productions, but aired on Foxtel. On 25 October 2014, The Daily Telegraph announced that A Place to Call Home was renewed for another two seasons and would return in late 2015, airing on Foxtel channel, SoHo. It was also announced that all the original cast and crew members would return. On 16 August 2015 it was announced via the official Facebook page that season 3 would premiere on 27 September 2015 on SoHo. Season 4 premiered on Foxtel's Showcase channel on 11 September 2016. Season 5 was announced by Foxtel on 16 November 2016. The timeline of season 5 skips ahead from 1954 to the year 1958. Production of A Place to Call Home resumed in February 2017 with principal photography continuing through July 2017. Season 5 premiered on Foxtel's Showcase Channel in Australia starting on 8 October 2017. A sixth and final season was announced by Foxtel on 6 December 2017, which was noted to be the last in March 2018. The final season began airing on 19 August 2018 and the final episode aired 21 October 2018. When Seven Network revealed its new television series lineup for 2012, A Place to Call Home was mentioned alongside other titles. Seven Network's Angus Ross said that it would potentially premiere in late 2012, but would not be rushed to air by a certain date unless "casting and other elements" were right. The first season of A Place to Call Home consisted of thirteen episodes. The pilot episode was originally broadcast on 28 April 2013, in the 8:30 pm time slot (previously occupied by Downton Abbey). Shortly after airing in Australia A Place to Call Home started broadcasting on TV One in New Zealand. Series one and two began airing on BBC2 in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2014, series three on 25 February 2016, and series four on 13 February 2017. The fifth series was promoted to a BBC1 daytime slot, and began airing daily on 13 March 2018. The sixth and final series begins on BBC1 on 11 February 2019. All six seasons are available for streaming in the US and Canada on Acorn TV. The first four seasons were also distributed to television stations by American Public Television. A Place to Call Home — Music from Seasons 1–5 was released on 20 October 2017 Australian Cinematographers Society Awards Equity Ensemble Awards Logie Awards The first season of the Seven Network television series A Place to Call Home, consisting of 13 episodes, premiered on 28 April 2013 and concluded on 21 July 2013. A Place to Call Home was announced in Channel Seven's 2012 line-up. Seven Network's Angus Ross said that it would potentially premiere in late 2012, but wouldn't rush the show to air by a certain date unless "casting and other elements" were right. Set in Australia in the 1950s, A Place to Call Home is a compelling and romantic story of one woman's journey to heal her soul and of a privileged family rocked by scandal. Acclaimed actress Marta Dusseldorp leads the cast as Sarah Adams, a woman with a mysterious past who returns to Australia after 20 years in Europe. Working her passage home aboard an ocean liner, Sarah becomes involved in the lives of the Blighs, a wealthy Australian pastoralist family. She develops an immediate connection with handsome and charming widower George (Brett Climo), as well as his modern young daughter Anna (Abby Earl) and withdrawn daughter-in-law Olivia (Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood). But it is when Sarah unwittingly discovers a potentially scandalous Bligh family secret that her future becomes forever linked with theirs. Only the uncompromising matriarch of the family, Elizabeth (Noni Hazlehurst), and her grandson James (David Berry), know Sarah has uncovered this family skeleton. Elizabeth is intent on keeping it that way - and Sarah at arm's length. Bearing the scars of war and facing the animosity of a determined matriarch, it is time for Sarah to face life again and begin her journey towards healing and hopefully finding a place to call home. Marta Dusseldorp as Sarah Adams, Noni Hazlehurst as Elizabeth Bligh, Brett Climo as George Bligh, Craig Hall as Dr. Jack Duncan, David Berry as James Bligh, Abby Earl as Anna Bligh, Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood as Olivia Bligh, Aldo Mignone as Gino Poletti, Frankie J. Holden as Roy Briggs Deborah Kennedy as Doris Collins, Krew Boylan as Amy Polson, Michael Sheasby as Bert Ford, Dominic Allburn as Harry Polson, Jacinta Acevski as Alma Grey, Dina Panozzo as Carla Poletti, Sara Wiseman as Carolyn Bligh, Jenni Baird as Regina Standish, Tristan Maxwell as Colin Walker, Angelo D'Angelo as Amo Poletti, Judi Farr as Peg Maloney, Lisa Peers as Miriam Goldberg, Kris McQuade as Grace Stevens Scott Grimley as Norman Parker, Paul Holmes as Reverend Green, Erica Lovell as Eve Walker, Adam Gray as Dr. René Nordmann, Heather Mitchell as Prudence Swanson, Nicole Shostak as Maude Carvolth, Jeremy Lewis Hubbard as Clem, Avital Greenberg-Teplitsky as Leah Goldberg, Sean Taylor as Henry Swanson, Matt Levett as Andrew Swanson, Siena Elchaar as Gilda Poletti, Martin Sacks as Itzaak Goldberg, Russell Queay as William Brackley, Alan Dearth as Robert Menzies Notes On 28 June 2012, it was reported that Noni Hazelhurst had been secured in a lead role as Elizabeth Bligh. A week later, on July 8, it was announced that Marta Dusseldorp and Brett Climo had joined Hazelhurst in the lead roles of Sarah Adams and George Bligh, respectively. Frankie J. Holden, David Berry, Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood, Craig Hall, Abby Earl and Aldo Mignone were announced the following day, completing the main cast. The fifth season of the Seven Network television series A Place to Call Home premiered on Showcase on 8 October 2017. The series was produced by Chris Martin-Jones, and executive produced by Penny Win and Julie McGauran. On 16 November 2016, Foxtel announced that A Place to Call Home had been renewed for a fifth season. Of the renewal, Foxtel CEO, Peter Tonagh stated "[The show] goes way beyond just being a piece of content that appears on the screen. It’s a passion for hundreds of thousands of people who watch it every week." Production on the fifth season began in February 2017. Of the show's return, Foxtel's Head of Drama, Penny Win stated, "A Place to Call Home has continued to build very strong audiences and passionate fans throughout its time on Foxtel. We are thrilled with the success of the series both here and around the world, and series five promises to be more of what our audience loves. The incredible cast, whose performances are exemplary, and the creative team, led by Julie McGauran and Chris Martin-Jones, have brought Foxtel a wonderful piece of dramatic television that we are all very proud of." Seven's Head of Drama, Julie McGauran stated, "All of us at Seven Productions are delighted to continue the hugely successful collaboration with Foxtel on A Place To Call Home. This series is testament to how great storytelling, the talents of a truly gifted cast and a superb production can align to create extraordinary television and Seven are proud to be a part of an industry here in Australia that continues to deliver world class drama." Season five will time jump to 1958, where four years have passed since we left Sarah and the Bligh family. Those four years have seen ever increasing changes in Australian society. The world of wealth and privilege is being eroded, moral values are fraying and a new young generation is rising, full of disaffection with the world of their elders. To them the War is a matter of the dead past, bringing conflict with those who suffered its pain and deprivation. Economic change and the devious actions of unseen enemies threaten Ash Park. While friends become bitter rivals and former enemies become unlikely allies. And in the midst of the turmoil, love becomes the only sure place anyone can call home. Marta Dusseldorp as Sarah Nordmann, Noni Hazelhurst as Elizabeth Goddard, Brett Climo as George Bligh, Craig Hall as Dr. Jack Duncan, David Berry as James Bligh, Abby Earl as Anna Bligh, Arianwen Parkes-Lockwood as Olivia Bligh, Sara Wiseman as Carolyn Duncan, Jenni Baird as Regina Bligh, Tim Draxl as Dr. Henry Fox, Deborah Kennedy as Doris Collins, Frankie J. Holden as Roy Briggs Elliot Domoney as David Bligh, Martin Sacks as Isaac Gold, Madeleine Clunies-Ross as Leah Gold, Heather Mitchell as Prudence Swanson, Mark Lee as Sir Richard Bennett, Robert Coleby as Douglas Goddard, Conrad Coleby as Matthew Goddard, Clodagh Crowe as Dawn Briggs, George Pullar as Larry Forbes, Aaron Pedersen as Frank Gibbs, Matt Day as Ed Jarvis Notes

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Tokyo Ghoul: re Call to Exist is a survival action game developed by Three Rings and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Based on Tokyo Ghoul, it was released for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. TOKYO GHOUL:re [CALL to EXIST] is a co-op survival action game that lets you experience the exciting world of Tokyo Ghoul and Tokyo Ghoul:re. Based off the popular horror manga, TOKYO GHOUL: re [CALL to EXIST] is the first video game of the franchise to come to the west, uniting the characters from TOKYO GHOUL, TOKYO GHOUL √A and TOKYO GHOUL:re. Bandai Namco website The second season of the Tokyo Ghoul anime series, titled Tokyo Ghoul √A, is a direct sequel to the first season of the anime, picking up right where the final episode left off. The series is produced by Pierrot, and directed by Shuhei Morita. The anime aired from January 9, 2015 to March 27, 2015 on Tokyo MX, TVO, TVA, TVQ, MRO, BS Dlife and CS AT-X. The season roughly adapts the second half of the manga. Unlike the first season of the series, however, Tokyo Ghoul √A does not directly adapt everything from the manga. Rather, it mixes in the manga's events and overall plotline with an original story written by the manga author Sui Ishida. The anime follows Ken Kaneki after he joins Aogiri Tree, as the group begins their battle against the CCG, who are trying to exterminate the ghoul organization. The score is composed by Yutaka Yamada, who also produced the score for the first season. The opening theme for the anime is by österreich, and the ending theme is by amazarashi. TC Entertainment released the series in Japan onto six volumes from March 27, 2015 to August 28, 2015. A complete set containing all twelve episodes was later released on September 30, 2016. Funimation licensed the series in North America, simulcasted the series on their website, produced an English dub as it aired, and released the series on home video on May 24, 2016. Madman Entertainment licensed the series in Australia and New Zealand, simulcasted the series on AnimeLab, and released the series on home video on July 6, 2016. Anime Limited licensed the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who simulcasted the series on Wakamin, and released the series on home video on June 13, 2016. The series aired on Toonami in the United States from July 9, 2017 to October 1, 2017. Tokyo Ghoul:re is the first season of the anime series adapted from the sequel manga of the same name by Sui Ishida, and is the third season overall within the Tokyo Ghoul anime series. The series is produced by Pierrot, and is directed by Odahiro Watanabe. The anime series aired from April 3, 2018 to June 19, 2018 on Tokyo MX, Sun TV, TVA, TVQ and BS11. This season adapts the first fifty-eight chapters of the manga. Set two years after the ending of the original series, it follows the story of Haise Sasaki, Ken Kaneki's new identity, who is a member of the CCG and the leader of the Quinx Squad, a group of half-ghoul, half-human hybrids who use their ability to attack and defeat ghouls. Yutaka Yamada returns as the composer for the score. The opening theme for the series is "Asphyxia" by Cö shu Nie, and the ending theme is "Half" by Queen Bee. TC Entertainment released the series onto six volumes in Japan, with the first volume being released on June 27, 2018, and the final volume released on November 28, 2018. Funimation licensed the series in North America, who simulcasted the series on FunimationNow and Hulu, produced an English dub as it aired, and released the series on home media on May 28, 2019. Madman Entertainment licensed the series in Australia and New Zealand, who simulcasted the series on AnimeLab. Anime Limited licensed the series in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who simulcasted the series on Crunchyroll.

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The large intestine, also known as the large bowel, is the last part of the gastrointestinal tract and of the digestive system in vertebrates. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste material is stored as feces before being removed by defecation. The colon is the largest portion of the large intestine, so many mentions of the large intestine and colon overlap in meaning whenever precision is not the focus. Most sources define the large intestine as the combination of the cecum, colon, rectum, and anal canal. Some other sources exclude the anal canal. In humans, the large intestine begins in the right iliac region of the pelvis, just at or below the waist, where it is joined to the end of the small intestine at the cecum, via the ileocecal valve. It then continues as the colon ascending the abdomen, across the width of the abdominal cavity as the transverse colon, and then descending to the rectum and its endpoint at the anal canal. Overall, in humans, the large intestine is about long, which is about one-fifth of the whole length of the gastrointestinal tract. The colon is the last part of the digestive system. It extracts water and salt from solid wastes before they are eliminated from the body and is the site in which flora-aided (largely bacterial) fermentation of unabsorbed material occurs. Unlike the small intestine, the colon does not play a major role in absorption of foods and nutrients. About 1.5 litres or 45 ounces of water arrives in the colon each day. The length of the average adult human colon is 65 inches or 166 cm (range of 80 to 313 cm) for males, and 61 inches or 155 cm (range of 80 to 214 cm) for females. In mammals, the colon consists of six sections: the cecum plus the ascending colon, the transverse colon, the descending colon, the sigmoid colon, and the rectum. Sections of the colon are: The ascending colon including the cecum and appendix, The transverse colon including the colic flexures and transverse mesocolon, The descending colon, The sigmoid colon – the s-shaped region of the large intestine, The rectum The parts of the colon are either intraperitoneal or behind it in the retroperitoneum. Retroperitoneal organs in general do not have a complete covering of peritoneum, so they are fixed in location. Intraperitoneal organs are completely surrounded by peritoneum and are therefore mobile. Of the colon, the ascending colon, descending colon and rectum are retroperitoneal, while the cecum, appendix, transverse colon and sigmoid colon are intraperitoneal. This is important as it affects which organs can be easily accessed during surgery, such as a laparotomy. In terms of diameter, the cecum is the widest, averaging slightly less than 9 cm in healthy individuals, and the transverse colon averages less than 6 cm in diameter. The descending and sigmoid colon are slightly smaller, with the sigmoid colon averaging 4–5 cm in diameter. Diameters larger than certain thresholds for each colonic section can be diagnostic for megacolon. The cecum is the first section of the colon and involved in the digestion, while the appendix which develops embryologically from it, is a structure of the colon, not involved in digestion and considered to be part of the gut- associated lymphoid tissue. The function of the appendix is uncertain, but some sources believe that the appendix has a role in housing a sample of the colon's microflora, and is able to help to repopulate the colon with bacteria if the microflora has been damaged during the course of an immune reaction. The appendix has also been shown to have a high concentration of lymphatic cells. The ascending colon is the first of four sections of the large intestine. It is connected to the small intestine by a section of bowel called the cecum. The ascending colon runs upwards through the abdominal cavity toward the transverse colon for approximately eight inches (20 cm). One of the main functions of the colon is to remove the water and other key nutrients from waste material and recycle it. As the waste material exits the small intestine through the ileocecal valve, it will move into the cecum and then to the ascending colon where this process of extraction starts. The unwanted waste material is moved upwards toward the transverse colon by the action of peristalsis. The ascending colon is sometimes attached to the appendix via Gerlach's valve. In ruminants, the ascending colon is known as the spiral colon. Taking into account all ages and sexes, colon cancer occurs here most often (41%). The transverse colon is the part of the colon from the hepatic flexure, also known as the right colic, (the turn of the colon by the liver) to the splenic flexure also known as the left colic, (the turn of the colon by the spleen). The transverse colon hangs off the stomach, attached to it by a large fold of peritoneum called the greater omentum. On the posterior side, the transverse colon is connected to the posterior abdominal wall by a mesentery known as the transverse mesocolon. The transverse colon is encased in peritoneum, and is therefore mobile (unlike the parts of the colon immediately before and after it). The proximal two-thirds of the transverse colon is perfused by the middle colic artery, a branch of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA), while the latter third is supplied by branches of the inferior mesenteric artery (IMA). The "watershed" area between these two blood supplies, which represents the embryologic division between the midgut and hindgut, is an area sensitive to ischemia. The descending colon is the part of the colon from the splenic flexure to the beginning of the sigmoid colon. One function of the descending colon in the digestive system is to store feces that will be emptied into the rectum. It is retroperitoneal in two-thirds of humans. In the other third, it has a (usually short) mesentery. The arterial supply comes via the left colic artery. The descending colon is also called the distal gut, as it is further along the gastrointestinal tract than the proximal gut. Gut flora are very dense in this region. The sigmoid colon is the part of the large intestine after the descending colon and before the rectum. The name sigmoid means S-shaped (see sigmoid; cf. sigmoid sinus). The walls of the sigmoid colon are muscular, and contract to increase the pressure inside the colon, causing the stool to move into the rectum. The sigmoid colon is supplied with blood from several branches (usually between 2 and 6) of the sigmoid arteries, a branch of the IMA. The IMA terminates as the superior rectal artery. Sigmoidoscopy is a common diagnostic technique used to examine the sigmoid colon. The rectum is the last section of the large intestine. It holds the formed feces awaiting elimination via defecation. The cecum – the first part of the large intestine Taeniae coli – three bands of smooth muscle, Haustra – bulges caused by contraction of taeniae coli, Epiploic appendages – small fat accumulations on the viscera The taenia coli run the length of the large intestine. Because the taenia coli are shorter than the large bowel itself, the colon becomes sacculated, forming the haustra of the colon which are the shelf-like intraluminal projections. Arterial supply to the colon comes from branches of the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and inferior mesenteric artery (IMA). Flow between these two systems communicates via a "marginal artery" that runs parallel to the colon for its entire length. Historically, it has been believed that the arc of Riolan, or the meandering mesenteric artery (of Moskowitz), is a variable vessel connecting the proximal SMA to the proximal IMA that can be extremely important if either vessel is occluded. However, recent studies conducted with improved imaging technology have questioned the actual existence of this vessel, with some experts calling for the abolition of the terms from future medical literature. Venous drainage usually mirrors colonic arterial supply, with the inferior mesenteric vein draining into the splenic vein, and the superior mesenteric vein joining the splenic vein to form the hepatic portal vein that then enters the liver. Lymphatic drainage from the ascending colon and proximal two-thirds of the transverse colon is to the colic lymph nodes and the superior mesenteric lymph nodes, which drain into the cisterna chyli. The lymph from the distal one- third of the transverse colon, the descending colon, the sigmoid colon, and the upper rectum drain into the inferior mesenteric and colic lymph nodes. The lower rectum to the anal canal above the pectinate line drain to the internal iliac nodes. The anal canal below the pectinate line drains into the superficial inguinal nodes. The pectinate line only roughly marks this transition. Sympathetic supply : Superior & inferior mesenteric ganglia Parasympathetic supply : Vagus & pelvic nerves One variation on the normal anatomy of the colon occurs when extra loops form, resulting in a colon that is up to five metres longer than normal. This condition, referred to as redundant colon, typically has no direct major health consequences, though rarely volvulus occurs, resulting in obstruction and requiring immediate medical attention. A significant indirect health consequence is that use of a standard adult colonoscope is difficult and in some cases impossible when a redundant colon is present, though specialized variants on the instrument (including the pediatric variant) are useful in overcoming this problem. The wall of the large intestine is lined with simple columnar epithelium with invaginations. The invaginations are called the intestinal glands or colonic crypts. The colon crypts are shaped like microscopic thick walled test tubes with a central hole down the length of the tube (the crypt lumen). Four tissue sections are shown here, two cut across the long axes of the crypts and two cut parallel to the long axes. In these images the cells have been stained by immunohistochemistry to show a brown-orange color if the cells produce a mitochondrial protein called cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (CCOI). The nuclei of the cells (located at the outer edges of the cells lining the walls of the crypts) are stained blue-gray with haematoxylin. As seen in panels C and D, crypts are about 75 to about 110 cells long. Baker et al. found that the average crypt circumference is 23 cells. Thus, by the images shown here, there are an average of about 1,725 to 2,530 cells per colonic crypt. Nooteboom et al. measuring the number of cells in a small number of crypts reported a range of 1,500 to 4,900 cells per colonic crypt. Cells are produced at the crypt base and migrate upward along the crypt axis before being shed into the colonic lumen days later. There are 5 to 6 stem cells at the bases of the crypts. As estimated from the image in panel A, there are about 100 colonic crypts per square millimeter of the colonic epithelium. Since the average length of the human colon is 160.5 cm and the average inner circumference of the colon is 6.2 cm, the inner surface epithelial area of the human colon has an average area of about 995 sq cm, which includes 9,950,000 (close to 10 million) crypts. In the four tissue sections shown here, many of the intestinal glands have cells with a mitochondrial DNA mutation in the CCOI gene and appear mostly white, with their main color being the blue-gray staining of the nuclei. As seen in panel B, a portion of the stem cells of three crypts appear to have a mutation in CCOI, so that 40% to 50% of the cells arising from those stem cells form a white segment in the cross cut area. Overall, the percent of crypts deficient for CCOI is less than 1% before age 40, but then increases linearly with age. Colonic crypts deficient for CCOI in women reaches, on average, 18% in women and 23% in men by 80–84 years of age. Crypts of the colon can reproduce by fission, as seen in panel C, where a crypt is fissioning to form two crypts, and in panel B where at least one crypt appears to be fissioning. Most crypts deficient in CCOI are in clusters of crypts (clones of crypts) with two or more CCOI-deficient crypts adjacent to each other (see panel D). About 150 of the many thousands of protein coding genes expressed in the large intestine, some are specific to the mucous membrane in different regions and include CEACAM7. The large intestine absorbs water and any remaining absorbable nutrients from the food before sending the indigestible matter to the rectum. The colon absorbs vitamins that are created by the colonic bacteria, such as vitamin K (especially important as the daily ingestion of vitamin K is not normally enough to maintain adequate blood coagulation), thiamine and riboflavin. It also compacts feces, and stores fecal matter in the rectum until it can be discharged via the anus in defecation. The large intestine also secretes K+ and Cl-. Chloride secretion increases in cystic fibrosis. Recycling of various nutrients takes place in colon. Examples include fermentation of carbohydrates, short chain fatty acids, and urea cycling. The appendix contains a small amount of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue which gives the appendix an undetermined role in immunity. However, the appendix is known to be important in fetal life as it contains endocrine cells that release biogenic amines and peptide hormones important for homeostasis during early growth and development. The appendix can be removed with no apparent damage or consequence to the patient. By the time the chyme has reached this tube, most nutrients and 90% of the water have been absorbed by the body. At this point some electrolytes like sodium, magnesium, and chloride are left as well as indigestible parts of ingested food (e.g., a large part of ingested amylose, starch which has been shielded from digestion heretofore, and dietary fiber, which is largely indigestible carbohydrate in either soluble or insoluble form). As the chyme moves through the large intestine, most of the remaining water is removed, while the chyme is mixed with mucus and bacteria (known as gut flora), and becomes feces. The ascending colon receives fecal material as a liquid. The muscles of the colon then move the watery waste material forward and slowly absorb all the excess water, causing the stools to gradually solidify as they move along into the descending colon. The bacteria break down some of the fiber for their own nourishment and create acetate, propionate, and butyrate as waste products, which in turn are used by the cell lining of the colon for nourishment. No protein is made available. In humans, perhaps 10% of the undigested carbohydrate thus becomes available, though this may vary with diet; in other animals, including other apes and primates, who have proportionally larger colons, more is made available, thus permitting a higher portion of plant material in the diet. The large intestine produces no digestive enzymes — chemical digestion is completed in the small intestine before the chyme reaches the large intestine. The pH in the colon varies between 5.5 and 7 (slightly acidic to neutral). Water absorption at the colon typically proceeds against a transmucosal osmotic pressure gradient. The standing gradient osmosis is the reabsorption of water against the osmotic gradient in the intestines. Cells occupying the intestinal lining pump sodium ions into the intercellular space, raising the osmolarity of the intercellular fluid. This hypertonic fluid creates an osmotic pressure that drives water into the lateral intercellular spaces by osmosis via tight junctions and adjacent cells, which then in turn moves across the basement membrane and into the capillaries, while more sodium ions are pumped again into the intercellular fluid. Although water travels down an osmotic gradient in each individual step, overall, water usually travels against the osmotic gradient due to the pumping of sodium ions into the intercellular fluid. This allows the large intestine to absorb water despite the blood in capillaries being hypotonic compared to the fluid within the intestinal lumen. The large intestine houses over 700 species of bacteria that perform a variety of functions, as well as fungi, protozoa, and archaea. Species diversity varies by geography and diet. The microbes in a human distal gut often number in the vicinity of 100 trillion, and can weigh around 200 grams (0.44 pounds). This mass of mostly symbiotic microbes has recently been called the latest human organ to be "discovered" or in other words, the "forgotten organ". The large intestine absorbs some of the products formed by the bacteria inhabiting this region. Undigested polysaccharides (fiber) are metabolized to short-chain fatty acids by bacteria in the large intestine and absorbed by passive diffusion. The bicarbonate that the large intestine secretes helps to neutralize the increased acidity resulting from the formation of these fatty acids. These bacteria also produce large amounts of vitamins, especially vitamin K and biotin (a B vitamin), for absorption into the blood. Although this source of vitamins, in general, provides only a small part of the daily requirement, it makes a significant contribution when dietary vitamin intake is low. An individual who depends on absorption of vitamins formed by bacteria in the large intestine may become vitamin-deficient if treated with antibiotics that inhibit the vitamin producing species of bacteria as well as the intended disease-causing bacteria. Other bacterial products include gas (flatus), which is a mixture of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, with small amounts of the gases hydrogen, methane, and hydrogen sulfide. Bacterial fermentation of undigested polysaccharides produces these. Some of the fecal odor is due to indoles, metabolized from the amino acid tryptophan. The normal flora is also essential in the development of certain tissues, including the cecum and lymphatics. They are also involved in the production of cross- reactive antibodies. These are antibodies produced by the immune system against the normal flora, that are also effective against related pathogens, thereby preventing infection or invasion. The two most prevalent phyla of the colon are firmicutes and bacteroides. The ratio between the two seems to vary widely as reported by the Human Microbiome Project. Bacteroides are implicated in the initiation of colitis and colon cancer. Bifidobacteria are also abundant, and are often described as 'friendly bacteria'. A mucus layer protects the large intestine from attacks from colonic commensal bacteria. Following are the most common diseases or disorders of the colon: Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the large intestine and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It can provide a visual diagnosis (e.g. ulceration, polyps) and grants the opportunity for biopsy or removal of suspected colorectal cancer lesions. Colonoscopy can remove polyps as small as one millimetre or less. Once polyps are removed, they can be studied with the aid of a microscope to determine if they are precancerous or not. It takes 15 years or less for a polyp to turn cancerous. Colonoscopy is similar to sigmoidoscopy—the difference being related to which parts of the colon each can examine. A colonoscopy allows an examination of the entire colon (1200–1500 mm in length). A sigmoidoscopy allows an examination of the distal portion (about 600 mm) of the colon, which may be sufficient because benefits to cancer survival of colonoscopy have been limited to the detection of lesions in the distal portion of the colon. A sigmoidoscopy is often used as a screening procedure for a full colonoscopy, often done in conjunction with a fecal occult blood test (FOBT). About 5% of these screened patients are referred to colonoscopy. Virtual colonoscopy, which uses 2D and 3D imagery reconstructed from computed tomography (CT) scans or from nuclear magnetic resonance (MR) scans, is also possible, as a totally non-invasive medical test, although it is not standard and still under investigation regarding its diagnostic abilities. Furthermore, virtual colonoscopy does not allow for therapeutic maneuvers such as polyp/tumour removal or biopsy nor visualization of lesions smaller than 5 millimeters. If a growth or polyp is detected using CT colonography, a standard colonoscopy would still need to be performed. Additionally, surgeons have lately been using the term pouchoscopy to refer to a colonoscopy of the ileo-anal pouch. The large intestine is truly distinct only in tetrapods, in which it is almost always separated from the small intestine by an ileocaecal valve. In most vertebrates, however, it is a relatively short structure running directly to the anus, although noticeably wider than the small intestine. Although the caecum is present in most amniotes, only in mammals does the remainder of the large intestine develop into a true colon. In some small mammals, the colon is straight, as it is in other tetrapods, but, in the majority of mammalian species, it is divided into ascending and descending portions; a distinct transverse colon is typically present only in primates. However, the taeniae coli and accompanying haustra are not found in either carnivorans or ruminants. The rectum of mammals (other than monotremes) is derived from the cloaca of other vertebrates, and is, therefore, not truly homologous with the "rectum" found in these species. In fish, there is no true large intestine, but simply a short rectum connecting the end of the digestive part of the gut to the cloaca. In sharks, this includes a rectal gland that secretes salt to help the animal maintain osmotic balance with the seawater. The gland somewhat resembles a caecum in structure, but is not a homologous structure. Large intestine (Chinese medicine), Colectomy The human digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract plus the accessory organs of digestion (the tongue, salivary glands, pancreas, liver, and gallbladder). Digestion involves the breakdown of food into smaller and smaller components, until they can be absorbed and assimilated into the body. The process of digestion has three stages. The first stage is the cephalic phase of digestion which begins with gastric secretions in response to the sight and smell of food. This stage includes the mechanical breakdown of food by chewing, and the chemical breakdown by digestive enzymes, that takes place in the mouth. Saliva contains digestive enzymes called amylase, and lingual lipase, secreted by the salivary glands and serous glands on the tongue. The enzymes start to break down the food in the mouth. Chewing, in which the food is mixed with saliva, begins the mechanical process of digestion. This produces a bolus which can be swallowed down the esophagus to enter the stomach. In the stomach the gastric phase of digestion takes place. The food is further broken down by mixing with gastric acid until it passes into the duodenum, in the third intestinal phase of digestion, where it is mixed with a number of enzymes produced by the pancreas. Digestion is helped by the chewing of food carried out by the muscles of mastication, the tongue, and the teeth, and also by the contractions of peristalsis, and segmentation. Gastric acid, and the production of mucus in the stomach, are essential for the continuation of digestion. Peristalsis is the rhythmic contraction of muscles that begins in the esophagus and continues along the wall of the stomach and the rest of the gastrointestinal tract. This initially results in the production of chyme which when fully broken down in the small intestine is absorbed as chyle into the lymphatic system. Most of the digestion of food takes place in the small intestine. Water and some minerals are reabsorbed back into the blood in the colon of the large intestine. The waste products of digestion (feces) are defecated from the anus via the rectum. There are several organs and other components involved in the digestion of food. The organs known as the accessory digestive organs are the liver, gall bladder and pancreas. Other components include the mouth, salivary glands, tongue, teeth and epiglottis. The largest structure of the digestive system is the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract). This starts at the mouth and ends at the anus, covering a distance of about nine (9) metres. The largest part of the GI tract is the colon or large intestine. Water is absorbed here and the remaining waste matter is stored prior to defecation. Most of the digestion of food takes place in the small intestine which is the longest part of the GI tract. A major digestive organ is the stomach. Within its mucosa are millions of embedded gastric glands. Their secretions are vital to the functioning of the organ. There are many specialised cells of the GI tract. These include the various cells of the gastric glands, taste cells, pancreatic duct cells, enterocytes and microfold cells. Some parts of the digestive system are also part of the excretory system, including the large intestine. The mouth is the first part of the upper gastrointestinal tract and is equipped with several structures that begin the first processes of digestion. These include salivary glands, teeth and the tongue. The mouth consists of two regions; the vestibule and the oral cavity proper. The vestibule is the area between the teeth, lips and cheeks, and the rest is the oral cavity proper. Most of the oral cavity is lined with oral mucosa, a mucous membrane that produces a lubricating mucus, of which only a small amount is needed. Mucous membranes vary in structure in the different regions of the body but they all produce a lubricating mucus, which is either secreted by surface cells or more usually by underlying glands. The mucous membrane in the mouth continues as the thin mucosa which lines the bases of the teeth. The main component of mucus is a glycoprotein called mucin and the type secreted varies according to the region involved. Mucin is viscous, clear, and clinging. Underlying the mucous membrane in the mouth is a thin layer of smooth muscle tissue and the loose connection to the membrane gives it its great elasticity. It covers the cheeks, inner surfaces of the lips, and floor of the mouth, and the mucin produced is highly protective against tooth decay. The roof of the mouth is termed the palate and it separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity. The palate is hard at the front of the mouth since the overlying mucosa is covering a plate of bone; it is softer and more pliable at the back being made of muscle and connective tissue, and it can move to swallow food and liquids. The soft palate ends at the uvula. The surface of the hard palate allows for the pressure needed in eating food, to leave the nasal passage clear. The opening between the lips is termed the oral fissure, and the opening into the throat is called the fauces. At either side of the soft palate are the palatoglossus muscles which also reach into regions of the tongue. These muscles raise the back of the tongue and also close both sides of the fauces to enable food to be swallowed. Mucus helps in the mastication of food in its ability to soften and collect the food in the formation of the bolus. There are three pairs of main salivary glands and between 800 and 1,000 minor salivary glands, all of which mainly serve the digestive process, and also play an important role in the maintenance of dental health and general mouth lubrication, without which speech would be impossible. The main glands are all exocrine glands, secreting via ducts. All of these glands terminate in the mouth. The largest of these are the parotid glands—their secretion is mainly serous. The next pair are underneath the jaw, the submandibular glands, these produce both serous fluid and mucus. The serous fluid is produced by serous glands in these salivary glands which also produce lingual lipase. They produce about 70% of the oral cavity saliva. The third pair are the sublingual glands located underneath the tongue and their secretion is mainly mucous with a small percentage of saliva. Within the oral mucosa, and also on the tongue, palates, and floor of the mouth, are the minor salivary glands; their secretions are mainly mucous and they are innervated by the facial nerve (CN7). The glands also secrete amylase a first stage in the breakdown of food acting on the carbohydrate in the food to transform the starch content into maltose. There are other serous glands on the surface of the tongue that encircle taste buds on the back part of the tongue and these also produce lingual lipase. Lipase is a digestive enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of lipids (fats). These glands are termed Von Ebner's glands which have also been shown to have another function in the secretion of histatins which offer an early defense (outside of the immune system) against microbes in food, when it makes contact with these glands on the tongue tissue. Sensory information can stimulate the secretion of saliva providing the necessary fluid for the tongue to work with and also to ease swallowing of the food. Saliva moistens and softens food, and along with the chewing action of the teeth, transforms the food into a smooth bolus. The bolus is further helped by the lubrication provided by the saliva in its passage from the mouth into the esophagus. Also of importance is the presence in saliva of the digestive enzymes amylase and lipase. Amylase starts to work on the starch in carbohydrates, breaking it down into the simple sugars of maltose and dextrose that can be further broken down in the small intestine. Saliva in the mouth can account for 30% of this initial starch digestion. Lipase starts to work on breaking down fats. Lipase is further produced in the pancreas where it is released to continue this digestion of fats. The presence of salivary lipase is of prime importance in young babies whose pancreatic lipase has yet to be developed. As well as its role in supplying digestive enzymes, saliva has a cleansing action for the teeth and mouth. It also has an immunological role in supplying antibodies to the system, such as immunoglobulin A. This is seen to be key in preventing infections of the salivary glands, importantly that of parotitis. Saliva also contains a glycoprotein called haptocorrin which is a binding protein to vitamin B. It binds with the vitamin in order to carry it safely through the acidic content of the stomach. When it reaches the duodenum, pancreatic enzymes break down the glycoprotein and free the vitamin which then binds with intrinsic factor. Food enters the mouth where the first stage in the digestive process takes place, with the action of the tongue and the secretion of saliva. The tongue is a fleshy and muscular sensory organ, and the very first sensory information is received via the taste buds in the papillae on its surface. If the taste is agreeable, the tongue will go into action, manipulating the food in the mouth which stimulates the secretion of saliva from the salivary glands. The liquid quality of the saliva will help in the softening of the food and its enzyme content will start to break down the food whilst it is still in the mouth. The first part of the food to be broken down is the starch of carbohydrates (by the enzyme amylase in the saliva). The tongue is attached to the floor of the mouth by a ligamentous band called the frenum and this gives it great mobility for the manipulation of food (and speech); the range of manipulation is optimally controlled by the action of several muscles and limited in its external range by the stretch of the frenum. The tongue's two sets of muscles, are four intrinsic muscles that originate in the tongue and are involved with its shaping, and four extrinsic muscles originating in bone that are involved with its movement. Taste is a form of chemoreception that takes place in the specialised taste receptors, contained in structures called taste buds in the mouth. Taste buds are mainly on the upper surface (dorsum) of the tongue. The function of taste perception is vital to help prevent harmful or rotten foods from being consumed. There are also taste buds on the epiglottis and upper part of the esophagus. The taste buds are innervated by a branch of the facial nerve the chorda tympani, and the glossopharyngeal nerve. Taste messages are sent via these cranial nerves to the brain. The brain can distinguish between the chemical qualities of the food. The five basic tastes are referred to as those of saltiness, sourness, bitterness, sweetness, and umami. The detection of saltiness and sourness enables the control of salt and acid balance. The detection of bitterness warns of poisons—many of a plant's defences are of poisonous compounds that are bitter. Sweetness guides to those foods that will supply energy; the initial breakdown of the energy-giving carbohydrates by salivary amylase creates the taste of sweetness since simple sugars are the first result. The taste of umami is thought to signal protein-rich food. Sour tastes are acidic which is often found in bad food. The brain has to decide very quickly whether the food should be eaten or not. It was the findings in 1991, describing the first olfactory receptors that helped to prompt the research into taste. The olfactory receptors are located on cell surfaces in the nose which bind to chemicals enabling the detection of smells. It is assumed that signals from taste receptors work together with those from the nose, to form an idea of complex food flavours. Teeth are complex structures made of materials specific to them. They are made of a bone-like material called dentin, which is covered by the hardest tissue in the body—enamel. Teeth have different shapes to deal with different aspects of mastication employed in tearing and chewing pieces of food into smaller and smaller pieces. This results in a much larger surface area for the action of digestive enzymes. The teeth are named after their particular roles in the process of mastication—incisors are used for cutting or biting off pieces of food; canines, are used for tearing, premolars and molars are used for chewing and grinding. Mastication of the food with the help of saliva and mucus results in the formation of a soft bolus which can then be swallowed to make its way down the upper gastrointestinal tract to the stomach. The digestive enzymes in saliva also help in keeping the teeth clean by breaking down any lodged food particles. The epiglottis is a flap of elastic cartilage attached to the entrance of the larynx. It is covered with a mucous membrane and there are taste buds on its lingual surface which faces into the mouth. Its laryngeal surface faces into the larynx. The epiglottis functions to guard the entrance of the glottis, the opening between the vocal folds. It is normally pointed upward during breathing with its underside functioning as part of the pharynx, but during swallowing, the epiglottis folds down to a more horizontal position, with its upper side functioning as part of the pharynx. In this manner it prevents food from going into the trachea and instead directs it to the esophagus, which is behind. During swallowing, the backward motion of the tongue forces the epiglottis over the glottis' opening to prevent any food that is being swallowed from entering the larynx which leads to the lungs; the larynx is also pulled upwards to assist this process. Stimulation of the larynx by ingested matter produces a strong cough reflex in order to protect the lungs. The pharynx is a part of the conducting zone of the respiratory system and also a part of the digestive system. It is the part of the throat immediately behind the nasal cavity at the back of the mouth and above the esophagus and larynx. The pharynx is made up of three parts. The lower two parts—the oropharynx and the laryngopharynx are involved in the digestive system. The laryngopharynx connects to the esophagus and it serves as a passageway for both air and food. Air enters the larynx anteriorly but anything swallowed has priority and the passage of air is temporarily blocked. The pharynx is innervated by the pharyngeal plexus of the vagus nerve. Muscles in the pharynx push the food into the esophagus. The pharynx joins the esophagus at the oesophageal inlet which is located behind the cricoid cartilage. The esophagus, commonly known as the foodpipe or gullet, consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach. The esophagus is continuous with the laryngopharynx. It passes through the posterior mediastinum in the thorax and enters the stomach through a hole in the thoracic diaphragm—the esophageal hiatus, at the level of the tenth thoracic vertebra (T10). Its length averages 25 cm, varying with an individual's height. It is divided into cervical, thoracic and abdominal parts. The pharynx joins the esophagus at the esophageal inlet which is behind the cricoid cartilage. At rest the esophagus is closed at both ends, by the upper and lower esophageal sphincters. The opening of the upper sphincter is triggered by the swallowing reflex so that food is allowed through. The sphincter also serves to prevent back flow from the esophagus into the pharynx. The esophagus has a mucous membrane and the epithelium which has a protective function is continuously replaced due to the volume of food that passes inside the esophagus. During swallowing, food passes from the mouth through the pharynx into the esophagus. The epiglottis folds down to a more horizontal position to direct the food into the esophagus, and away from the trachea. Once in the esophagus, the bolus travels down to the stomach via rhythmic contraction and relaxation of muscles known as peristalsis. The lower esophageal sphincter is a muscular sphincter surrounding the lower part of the esophagus. The gastroesophageal junction between the esophagus and the stomach is controlled by the lower esophageal sphincter, which remains constricted at all times other than during swallowing and vomiting to prevent the contents of the stomach from entering the esophagus. As the esophagus does not have the same protection from acid as the stomach, any failure of this sphincter can lead to heartburn. The diaphragm is an important part of the body's digestive system. The muscular diaphragm separates the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity where most of the digestive organs are located. The suspensory muscle attaches the ascending duodenum to the diaphragm. This muscle is thought to be of help in the digestive system in that its attachment offers a wider angle to the duodenojejunal flexure for the easier passage of digesting material. The diaphragm also attaches to, and anchors the liver at its bare area. The esophagus enters the abdomen through a hole in the diaphragm at the level of T10. The stomach is a major organ of the gastrointestinal tract and digestive system. It is a consistently J-shaped organ joined to the esophagus at its upper end and to the duodenum at its lower end. Gastric acid (informally gastric juice), produced in the stomach plays a vital role in the digestive process, and mainly contains hydrochloric acid and sodium chloride. A peptide hormone, gastrin, produced by G cells in the gastric glands, stimulates the production of gastric juice which activates the digestive enzymes. Pepsinogen is a precursor enzyme (zymogen) produced by the gastric chief cells, and gastric acid activates this to the enzyme pepsin which begins the digestion of proteins. As these two chemicals would damage the stomach wall, mucus is secreted by innumerable gastric glands in the stomach, to provide a slimy protective layer against the damaging effects of the chemicals on the inner layers of the stomach. At the same time that protein is being digested, mechanical churning occurs through the action of peristalsis, waves of muscular contractions that move along the stomach wall. This allows the mass of food to further mix with the digestive enzymes. Gastric lipase secreted by the chief cells in the fundic glands in the gastric mucosa of the stomach, is an acidic lipase, in contrast with the alkaline pancreatic lipase. This breaks down fats to some degree though is not as efficient as the pancreatic lipase. The pylorus, the lowest section of the stomach which attaches to the duodenum via the pyloric canal, contains countless glands which secrete digestive enzymes including gastrin. After an hour or two, a thick semi-liquid called chyme is produced. When the pyloric sphincter, or valve opens, chyme enters the duodenum where it mixes further with digestive enzymes from the pancreas, and then passes through the small intestine, where digestion continues. When the chyme is fully digested, it is absorbed into the blood. 95% of absorption of nutrients occurs in the small intestine. Water and minerals are reabsorbed back into the blood in the colon of the large intestine, where the environment is slightly acidic. Some vitamins, such as biotin and vitamin K produced by bacteria in the gut flora of the colon are also absorbed. The parietal cells in the fundus of the stomach, produce a glycoprotein called intrinsic factor which is essential for the absorption of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 (cobalamin), is carried to, and through the stomach, bound to a glycoprotein secreted by the salivary glands - transcobalamin I also called haptocorrin, which protects the acid-sensitive vitamin from the acidic stomach contents. Once in the more neutral duodenum, pancreatic enzymes break down the protective glycoprotein. The freed vitamin B12 then binds to intrinsic factor which is then absorbed by the enterocytes in the ileum. The stomach is a distensible organ and can normally expand to hold about one litre of food. This expansion is enabled by a series of gastric folds in the inner walls of the stomach. The stomach of a newborn baby will only be able to expand to retain about 30 ml. The spleen is the largest lymphoid organ in the body but has other functions. It breaks down both red and white blood cells that are spent. This is why it is sometimes known as the 'graveyard of red blood cells'. A product of this digestion is the pigment bilirubin, which is sent to the liver and secreted in the bile. Another product is iron, which is used in the formation of new blood cells in the bone marrow. Medicine treats the spleen solely as belonging to the lymphatic system, though it is acknowledged that the full range of its important functions is not yet understood. The liver is the second largest organ (after the skin) and is an accessory digestive gland which plays a role in the body's metabolism. The liver has many functions some of which are important to digestion. The liver can detoxify various metabolites; synthesise proteins and produce biochemicals needed for digestion. It regulates the storage of glycogen which it can form from glucose (glycogenesis). The liver can also synthesise glucose from certain amino acids. Its digestive functions are largely involved with the breaking down of carbohydrates. It also maintains protein metabolism in its synthesis and degradation. In lipid metabolism it synthesises cholesterol. Fats are also produced in the process of lipogenesis. The liver synthesises the bulk of lipoproteins. The liver is located in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen and below the diaphragm to which it is attached at one part, the bare area of the liver. This is to the right of the stomach and it overlies the gall bladder. The liver synthesises bile acids and lecithin to promote the digestion of fat. Bile produced by the liver is made up of water (97%), bile salts, mucus and pigments, 1% fats and inorganic salts. Bilirubin is its major pigment. Bile acts partly as a surfactant which lowers the surface tension between either two liquids or a solid and a liquid and helps to emulsify the fats in the chyme. Food fat is dispersed by the action of bile into smaller units called micelles. The breaking down into micelles creates a much larger surface area for the pancreatic enzyme, lipase to work on. Lipase digests the triglycerides which are broken down into two fatty acids and a monoglyceride. These are then absorbed by villi on the intestinal wall. If fats are not absorbed in this way in the small intestine problems can arise later in the large intestine which is not equipped to absorb fats. Bile also helps in the absorption of vitamin K from the diet. Bile is collected and delivered through the common hepatic duct. This duct joins with the cystic duct to connect in a common bile duct with the gallbladder. Bile is stored in the gallbladder for release when food is discharged into the duodenum and also after a few hours. The gallbladder is a hollow part of the biliary tract that sits just beneath the liver, with the gallbladder body resting in a small depression. It is a small organ where the bile produced by the liver is stored, before being released into the small intestine. Bile flows from the liver through the bile ducts and into the gall bladder for storage. The bile is released in response to cholecystokinin (CCK) a peptide hormone released from the duodenum. The production of CCK (by endocrine cells of the duodenum) is stimulated by the presence of fat in the duodenum. It is divided into three sections, a fundus, body and neck. The neck tapers and connects to the biliary tract via the cystic duct, which then joins the common hepatic duct to form the common bile duct. At this junction is a mucosal fold called Hartmann's pouch, where gallstones commonly get stuck. The muscular layer of the body is of smooth muscle tissue that helps the gallbladder contract, so that it can discharge its bile into the bile duct. The gallbladder needs to store bile in a natural, semi-liquid form at all times. Hydrogen ions secreted from the inner lining of the gallbladder keep the bile acidic enough to prevent hardening. To dilute the bile, water and electrolytes from the digestion system are added. Also, salts attach themselves to cholesterol molecules in the bile to keep them from crystallising. If there is too much cholesterol or bilirubin in the bile, or if the gallbladder doesn't empty properly the systems can fail. This is how gallstones form when a small piece of calcium gets coated with either cholesterol or bilirubin and the bile crystallises and forms a gallstone. The main purpose of the gallbladder is to store and release bile, or gall. Bile is released into the small intestine in order to help in the digestion of fats by breaking down larger molecules into smaller ones. After the fat is absorbed, the bile is also absorbed and transported back to the liver for reuse. The pancreas is a major organ functioning as an accessory digestive gland in the digestive system. It is both an endocrine gland and an exocrine gland. The endocrine part secretes insulin when the blood sugar becomes high; insulin moves glucose from the blood into the muscles and other tissues for use as energy. The endocrine part releases glucagon when the blood sugar is low; glucagon allows stored sugar to be broken down into glucose by the liver in order to re-balance the sugar levels. The pancreas produces and releases important digestive enzymes in the pancreatic juice that it delivers to the duodenum. The pancreas lies below and at the back of the stomach. It connects to the duodenum via the pancreatic duct which it joins near to the bile duct's connection where both the bile and pancreatic juice can act on the chyme that is released from the stomach into the duodenum. Aqueous pancreatic secretions from pancreatic duct cells contain bicarbonate ions which are alkaline and help with the bile to neutralise the acidic chyme that is churned out by the stomach. The pancreas is also the main source of enzymes for the digestion of fats and proteins. Some of these are released in response to the production of CKK in the duodenum. (The enzymes that digest polysaccharides, by contrast, are primarily produced by the walls of the intestines.) The cells are filled with secretory granules containing the precursor digestive enzymes. The major proteases, the pancreatic enzymes which work on proteins, are trypsinogen and chymotrypsinogen. Elastase is also produced. Smaller amounts of lipase and amylase are secreted. The pancreas also secretes phospholipase A2, lysophospholipase, and cholesterol esterase. The precursor zymogens, are inactive variants of the enzymes; which avoids the onset of pancreatitis caused by autodegradation. Once released in the intestine, the enzyme enteropeptidase present in the intestinal mucosa activates trypsinogen by cleaving it to form trypsin; further cleavage results in chymotripsin. The lower gastrointestinal tract (GI), includes the small intestine and all of the large intestine. The intestine is also called the bowel or the gut. The lower GI starts at the pyloric sphincter of the stomach and finishes at the anus. The small intestine is subdivided into the duodenum, the jejunum and the ileum. The cecum marks the division between the small and large intestine. The large intestine includes the rectum and anal canal. Partially digested food starts to arrive in the small intestine as semi-liquid chyme, one hour after it is eaten. After two hours the stomach has emptied. In the small intestine, the pH becomes crucial; it needs to be finely balanced in order to activate digestive enzymes. The chyme is very acidic, with a low pH, having been released from the stomach and needs to be made much more alkaline. This is achieved in the duodenum by the addition of bile from the gall bladder combined with the bicarbonate secretions from the pancreatic duct and also from secretions of bicarbonate-rich mucus from duodenal glands known as Brunner's glands. The chyme arrives in the intestines having been released from the stomach through the opening of the pyloric sphincter. The resulting alkaline fluid mix neutralises the gastric acid which would damage the lining of the intestine. The mucus component lubricates the walls of the intestine. When the digested food particles are reduced enough in size and composition, they can be absorbed by the intestinal wall and carried to the bloodstream. The first receptacle for this chyme is the duodenal bulb. From here it passes into the first of the three sections of the small intestine, the duodenum. (The next section is the jejunum and the third is the ileum). The duodenum is the first and shortest section of the small intestine. It is a hollow, jointed C-shaped tube connecting the stomach to the jejunum. It starts at the duodenal bulb and ends at the suspensory muscle of duodenum. The attachment of the suspensory muscle to the diaphragm is thought to help the passage of food by making a wider angle at its attachment. Most food digestion takes place in the small intestine. Segmentation contractions act to mix and move the chyme more slowly in the small intestine allowing more time for absorption (and these continue in the large intestine). In the duodenum, pancreatic lipase is secreted together with a co-enzyme, colipase to further digest the fat content of the chyme. From this breakdown, smaller particles of emulsified fats called chylomicrons are produced. There are also digestive cells called enterocytes lining the intestines (the majority being in the small intestine). They are unusual cells in that they have villi on their surface which in turn have innumerable microvilli on their surface. All these villi make for a greater surface area, not only for the absorption of chyme but also for its further digestion by large numbers of digestive enzymes present on the microvilli. The chylomicrons are small enough to pass through the enterocyte villi and into their lymph capillaries called lacteals. A milky fluid called chyle, consisting mainly of the emulsified fats of the chylomicrons, results from the absorbed mix with the lymph in the lacteals. Chyle is then transported through the lymphatic system to the rest of the body. The suspensory muscle marks the end of the duodenum and the division between the upper gastrointestinal tract and the lower GI tract. The digestive tract continues as the jejunum which continues as the ileum. The jejunum, the midsection of the small intestine contains circular folds, flaps of doubled mucosal membrane which partially encircle and sometimes completely encircle the lumen of the intestine. These folds together with villi serve to increase the surface area of the jejunum enabling an increased absorption of digested sugars, amino acids and fatty acids into the bloodstream. The circular folds also slow the passage of food giving more time for nutrients to be absorbed. The last part of the small intestine is the ileum. This also contains villi and vitamin B12; bile acids and any residue nutrients are absorbed here. When the chyme is exhausted of its nutrients the remaining waste material changes into the semi-solids called feces, which pass to the large intestine, where bacteria in the gut flora further break down residual proteins and starches. The cecum is a pouch marking the division between the small intestine and the large intestine. It lies below the ileocecal valve in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. The cecum receives chyme from the last part of the small intestine, the ileum, and connects to the ascending colon of the large intestine. At this junction there is a sphincter or valve, the ileocecal valve which slows the passage of chyme from the ileum, allowing further digestion. It is also the site of the appendix attachment. In the large intestine, the passage of the digesting food in the colon is a lot slower, taking from 12 to 50 hours until it is removed by defecation. The colon mainly serves as a site for the fermentation of digestible matter by the gut flora. The time taken varies considerably between individuals. The remaining semi-solid waste is termed feces and is removed by the coordinated contractions of the intestinal walls, termed peristalsis, which propels the excreta forward to reach the rectum and exit via defecation from the anus. The wall has an outer layer of longitudinal muscles, the taeniae coli, and an inner layer of circular muscles. The circular muscle keeps the material moving forward and also prevents any back flow of waste. Also of help in the action of peristalsis is the basal electrical rhythm that determines the frequency of contractions. The taeniae coli can be seen and are responsible for the bulges (haustra) present in the colon. Most parts of the GI tract are covered with serous membranes and have a mesentery. Other more muscular parts are lined with adventitia. The digestive system is supplied by the celiac artery. The celiac artery is the first major branch from the abdominal aorta, and is the only major artery that nourishes the digestive organs. There are three main divisions – the left gastric artery, the common hepatic artery and the splenic artery. The celiac artery supplies the liver, stomach, spleen and the upper 1/3 of the duodenum (to the sphincter of Oddi) and the pancreas with oxygenated blood. Most of the blood is returned to the liver via the portal venous system for further processing and detoxification before returning to the systemic circulation via the hepatic veins. The next branch from the abdominal aorta is the superior mesenteric artery, which supplies the regions of the digestive tract derived from the midgut, which includes the distal 2/3 of the duodenum, jejunum, ileum, cecum, appendix, ascending colon, and the proximal 2/3 of the transverse colon. The final branch which is important for the digestive system is the inferior mesenteric artery, which supplies the regions of the digestive tract derived from the hindgut, which includes the distal 1/3 of the transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, rectum, and the anus above the pectinate line. The enteric nervous system consists of some one hundred million neurons that are embedded in the peritoneum, the lining of the gastrointestinal tract extending from the esophagus to the anus. These neurons are collected into two plexuses - the myenteric (or Auerbach's) plexus that lies between the longitudinal and the smooth muscle layers, and the submucosal (or Meissner's) plexus that lies between the circular smooth muscle layer and the mucosa. Parasympathetic innervation to the ascending colon is supplied by the vagus nerve. Sympathetic innervation is supplied by the splanchnic nerves that join the celiac ganglia. Most of the digestive tract is innervated by the two large celiac ganglia, with the upper part of each ganglion joined by the greater splanchnic nerve and the lower parts joined by the lesser splanchnic nerve. It is from these ganglia that many of the gastric plexuses arise. Early in embryonic development, the embryo has three germ layers and abuts a yolk sac. During the second week of development, the embryo grows and begins to surround and envelop portions of this sac. The enveloped portions form the basis for the adult gastrointestinal tract. Sections of this foregut begin to differentiate into the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. During the fourth week of development, the stomach rotates. The stomach, originally lying in the midline of the embryo, rotates so that its body is on the left. This rotation also affects the part of the gastrointestinal tube immediately below the stomach, which will go on to become the duodenum. By the end of the fourth week, the developing duodenum begins to spout a small outpouching on its right side, the hepatic diverticulum, which will go on to become the biliary tree. Just below this is a second outpouching, known as the cystic diverticulum, that will eventually develop into the gallbladder. Each part of the digestive system is subject to a wide range of disorders many of which can be congenital. Mouth diseases can also be caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and as a side effect of some medications. Mouth diseases include tongue diseases and salivary gland diseases. A common gum disease in the mouth is gingivitis which is caused by bacteria in plaque. The most common viral infection of the mouth is gingivostomatitis caused by herpes simplex. A common fungal infection is candidiasis commonly known as thrush which affects the mucous membranes of the mouth. There are a number of esophageal diseases such as the development of Schatzki rings that can restrict the passageway, causing difficulties in swallowing. They can also completely block the esophagus. Stomach diseases are often chronic conditions and include gastroparesis, gastritis, and peptic ulcers. A number of problems including malnutrition and anemia can arise from malabsorption, the abnormal absorption of nutrients in the GI tract. Malabsorption can have many causes ranging from infection, to enzyme deficiencies such as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. It can also arise as a result of other gastrointestinal diseases such as coeliac disease. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune disorder of the small intestine. This can cause vitamin deficiencies due to the improper absorption of nutrients in the small intestine. The small intestine can also be obstructed by a volvulus, a loop of intestine that becomes twisted enclosing its attached mesentery. This can cause mesenteric ischemia if severe enough. A common disorder of the bowel is diverticulitis. Diverticula are small pouches that can form inside the bowel wall, which can become inflamed to give diverticulitis. This disease can have complications if an inflamed diverticulum bursts and infection sets in. Any infection can spread further to the lining of the abdomen (peritoneum) and cause potentially fatal peritonitis. Crohn's disease is a common chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which can affect any part of the GI tract, but it mostly starts in the terminal ileum. Ulcerative colitis an ulcerative form of colitis, is the other major inflammatory bowel disease which is restricted to the colon and rectum. Both of these IBDs can give an increased risk of the development of colorectal cancer. Ulcerative coliltis is the most common of the IBDs Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common of the functional gastrointestinal disorders. These are idiopathic disorders that the Rome process has helped to define. Giardiasis is a disease of the small intestine caused by a protist parasite Giardia lamblia. This does not spread but remains confined to the lumen of the small intestine. It can often be asymptomatic, but as often can be indicated by a variety of symptoms. Giardiasis is the most common pathogenic parasitic infection in humans. There are diagnostic tools mostly involving the ingestion of barium sulphate to investigate disorders of the GI tract. These are known as upper gastrointestinal series that enable imaging of the pharynx, larynx, oesophagous, stomach and small intestine and lower gastrointestinal series for imaging of the colon. Gestation can predispose for certain digestive disorders. Gestational diabetes can develop in the mother as a result of pregnancy and while this often presents with few symptoms it can lead to pre-eclampsia. The stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a vital digestive organ. In the digestive system the stomach is involved in the second phase of digestion, following chewing. It performs a chemical breakdown due to enzymes and hydrochloric acid. In humans and many other animals, the stomach is located between the oesophagus and the small intestine. It secretes digestive enzymes and gastric acid to aid in food digestion. The pyloric sphincter controls the passage of partially digested food (chyme) from the stomach into the duodenum where peristalsis takes over to move this through the rest of the intestines. In humans, the stomach lies between the oesophagus and the duodenum (the first part of the small intestine). It is in the left upper part of the abdominal cavity. The top of the stomach lies against the diaphragm. Lying behind the stomach is the pancreas. A large double fold of visceral peritoneum called the greater omentum hangs down from the greater curvature of the stomach. Two sphincters keep the contents of the stomach contained; the lower oesophageal sphincter (found in the cardiac region), at the junction of the oesophagus and stomach, and the pyloric sphincter at the junction of the stomach with the duodenum. The stomach is surrounded by parasympathetic (stimulant) and sympathetic (inhibitor) plexuses (networks of blood vessels and nerves in the anterior gastric, posterior, superior and inferior, celiac and myenteric), which regulate both the secretory activity of the stomach and the motor (motion) activity of its muscles. In adult humans, the stomach has a relaxed, near empty volume of about 75 millilitres. Because it is a organ, it normally expands to hold about one litre of food. The stomach of a newborn human baby will only be able to retain about 30 millilitres. The maximum stomach volume in adults is between 2 and 4 litres. In classical anatomy the human stomach is divided into four sections, beginning at the cardia, each of which has different cells and functions. The cardia is where the contents of the esophagus empty into the stomach., The fundus () is formed in the upper curved part., The body is the main, central region of the stomach., The pylorus () is the lower section of the stomach that empties contents into the duodenum. The cardia is defined as the region following the "z-line" of the gastroesophageal junction, the point at which the epithelium changes from stratified squamous to columnar. Near the cardia is the lower oesophageal sphincter. Recent research has shown that the cardia is not an anatomically distinct region of the stomach but region of the oesophageal lining damaged by reflux. The stomach bed refers to the structures upon which the stomach rests in mammals. These include the pancreas, spleen, left kidney, left suprarenal gland, transverse colon and its mesocolon, and the diaphragm. The term was introduced around 1896 by Philip Polson of the Catholic University School of Medicine, Dublin. However this was brought into disrepute by surgeon anatomist J Massey. The lesser curvature of the human stomach is supplied by the right gastric artery inferiorly and the left gastric artery superiorly, which also supplies the cardiac region. The greater curvature is supplied by the right gastroepiploic artery inferiorly and the left gastroepiploic artery superiorly. The fundus of the stomach, and also the upper portion of the greater curvature, is supplied by the short gastric arteries, which arise from the splenic artery. Like the other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, the human stomach walls consist of an outer mucosa, inner submucosa, muscularis externa, and serosa. The outer part of the lining of the stomach, the gastric mucosa, consists of an outer layer of column-shaped cells, a lamina propria, and a thin layer of smooth muscle called the muscularis mucosa. Beneath the mucosa lies the submucosa, consisting of fibrous connective tissue. Meissner's plexus is in this layer. Outside of the submucosa lies another muscular layer, the muscularis externa. It consists of three layers of muscular fibres, with fibres lying at angles to each other. These are the inner oblique, inner circular, and outer longitudinal layers. The presence of the inner oblique layer is distinct from other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, which do not possess this layer. The inner oblique layer: This layer is responsible for creating the motion that churns and physically breaks down the food. It is the only layer of the three which is not seen in other parts of the digestive system. The antrum has thicker skin cells in its walls and performs more forceful contractions than the fundus., The middle circular layer: At this layer, the pylorus is surrounded by a thick circular muscular wall, which is normally tonically constricted, forming a functional (if not anatomically discrete) pyloric sphincter, which controls the movement of chyme into the duodenum. This layer is concentric to the longitudinal axis of the stomach., Auerbach's plexus (AKA myenteric plexus) is found between the outer longitudinal and the middle circular layer and is responsible for the innervation of both (causing peristalsis and mixing) The outer longitudinal layer is responsible for moving the bolus towards the pylorus of the stomach through muscular shortening. To the outside of the muscularis externa lies a serosa, consisting of layers of connective tissue continuous with the peritoneum. The mucosa lining the stomach is lined with a number of these pits, which receive gastric juice, secreted by between 2 and 7 gastric glands. Gastric juice is an acidic fluid containing hydrochloric acid and the digestive enzyme pepsin. Within the glands contains a number of cells, with the function of the glands changing depending on their position within the stomach. Within the body and fundus of the stomach lie the fundic glands. In general, these glands are lined by column-shaped cells that secrete a protective layer of mucous and bicarbonate. Additional cells present include parietal cells that secrete hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor, chief cells that secrete pepsin, and neuroendocrine cells that secrete serotonin. Glands differ where the stomach meets the oesophagus, and near the pylorus. Near the junction between the stomach and the oesophagus lie cardiac glands, which primarily secrete mucous. They are fewer in number than the other gastric glands and are more shallowly positioned in the mucosa. There are two kinds - either simple tubular with short ducts or compound racemose resembling the duodenal Brunner's glands. Near the pylorus lie pyloric glands are located in the antrum of the pylorus. They mucous as well as gastrin produced by their G cells. About 20,000 protein coding genes are expressed in human cells and nearly 70% of these genes are expressed in the normal stomach. Just over 150 of these genes are more specifically expressed in the stomach compared to other organs, with only some 20 genes being highly specific. The corresponding specific proteins expressed in stomach are mainly involved in creating a suitable environment for handling the digestion of food for uptake of nutrients. Highly stomach-specific proteins include GKN1, expressed in the mucosa; pepsinogen PGC and the lipase LIPF, expressed in chief cells; and gastric ATPase ATP4A and gastric intrinsic factor GIF, expressed in parietal cells. In early human embryogenesis, the ventral part of the embryo abuts the yolk sac. During the second week of development, as the embryo grows, it begins to surround parts of the sac. The enveloped portions form the basis for the adult gastrointestinal tract. The sac is surrounded by a network of vitelline arteries. Over time, these arteries consolidate into the three main arteries that supply the developing gastrointestinal tract: the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, and inferior mesenteric artery. The areas supplied by these arteries are used to define the foregut, midgut, and hindgut. The surrounded sac becomes the primitive gut. Sections of this gut begin to differentiate into the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, and the esophagus, and stomach form from the foregut. In the human digestive system, a bolus (a small rounded mass of chewed up food) enters the stomach through the esophagus via the lower esophageal sphincter. The stomach releases proteases (protein-digesting enzymes such as pepsin) and hydrochloric acid, which kills or inhibits bacteria and provides the acidic pH of 2 for the proteases to work. Food is churned by the stomach through muscular contractions of the wall called peristalsis – reducing the volume of the bolus, before looping around the fundus and the body of stomach as the boluses are converted into chyme (partially digested food). Chyme slowly passes through the pyloric sphincter and into the duodenum of the small intestine, where the extraction of nutrients begins. Depending on the quantity and contents of the meal, the stomach will digest the food into chyme within anywhere between forty minutes and a few hours . The average human stomach can comfortably hold about a litre of food. Gastric juice in the stomach also contains pepsinogen. Hydrochloric acid activates this inactive form of enzyme into the active form, pepsin. Pepsin breaks down proteins into polypeptides. Although the absorption in the human digestive system is mainly a function of the small intestine, some absorption of certain small molecules nevertheless does occur in the stomach through its lining. This includes: Water, if the body is dehydrated, Medication, such as aspirin, Amino acids, 10–20% of ingested ethanol (e.g. from alcoholic beverages), Caffeine, To a small extent water-soluble vitamins (most are absorbed in the small intestine) The parietal cells of the human stomach are responsible for producing intrinsic factor, which is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12. B12 is used in cellular metabolism and is necessary for the production of red blood cells, and the functioning of the nervous system. The movement and the flow of chemicals into the stomach are controlled by both the autonomic nervous system and by the various digestive hormones of the digestive system: Other than gastrin, these hormones all act to turn off the stomach action. This is in response to food products in the liver and gall bladder, which have not yet been absorbed. The stomach needs to push food into the small intestine only when the intestine is not busy. While the intestine is full and still digesting food, the stomach acts as storage for food. Effects of EGF Epidermal growth factor (EGF) results in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival. EGF is a low-molecular-weight polypeptide first purified from the mouse submandibular gland, but since then found in many human tissues including the submandibular gland, and the parotid gland. Salivary EGF, which also seems to be regulated by dietary inorganic iodine, also plays an important physiological role in the maintenance of oro- oesophageal and gastric tissue integrity. The biological effects of salivary EGF include healing of oral and gastroesophageal ulcers, inhibition of gastric acid secretion, stimulation of DNA synthesis, and mucosal protection from intraluminal injurious factors such as gastric acid, bile acids, pepsin, and trypsin and from physical, chemical, and bacterial agents. Stomach as nutrition sensor The human stomach can "taste" sodium glutamate using glutamate receptors and this information is passed to the lateral hypothalamus and limbic system in the brain as a palatability signal through the vagus nerve. The stomach can also sense, independently of tongue and oral taste receptors, glucose, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. This allows the brain to link nutritional value of foods to their tastes. A series of radiographs can be used to examine the stomach for various disorders. This will often include the use of a barium swallow. Another method of examination of the stomach, is the use of an endoscope. A gastric emptying scan is considered the gold standard to assess gastric emptying rate. A large number of studies have indicated that most cases of peptic ulcers, and gastritis, in humans are caused by Helicobacter pylori infection, and an association has been seen with the development of stomach cancer. A stomach rumble is actually noise from the intestines. The stomach has to regenerate a new layer of mucus every two weeks, or else damage to the epithelium may result. In humans, many bariatric surgery procedures involve the stomach, in order to lose weight. A gastric band may be placed around the cardia area, which can adjust to limit intake. The anatomy of the stomach may be modified, or the stomach may be bypassed entirely. Surgical removal of the stomach is called a gastrectomy, and removal of the cardia area is a called a cardiectomy. "Cardiectomy" is a term that is also used to describe the removal of the heart. A gastrectomy may be carried out because of gastric cancer or severe perforation of the stomach wall. Fundoplication is stomach surgery in which the fundus is wrapped around the lower esophagus and stitched into place. It is used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). There were previously conflicting statements in the academic anatomy community over whether the cardia is part of the stomach, part of the oesophagus or a distinct entity. Modern surgical and medical textbooks have agreed that "The gastric cardia is now clearly considered to be part of the stomach." The word stomach is derived from the Latin which has roots from the Greek word stomachos (), ultimately from stoma (), "mouth". Gastro- and gastric (meaning related to the stomach) are both derived from the Greek word gaster (, meaning "belly"). Although the precise shape and size of the stomach varies widely among different vertebrates, the relative positions of the oesophageal and duodenal openings remain relatively constant. As a result, the organ always curves somewhat to the left before curving back to meet the pyloric sphincter. However, lampreys, hagfishes, chimaeras, lungfishes, and some teleost fish have no stomach at all, with the oesophagus opening directly into the anus. These animals all consume diets that either require little storage of food, or no pre-digestion with gastric juices, or both. The gastric lining is usually divided into two regions, an anterior portion lined by fundic glands, and a posterior with pyloric glands. Cardiac glands are unique to mammals, and even then are absent in a number of species. The distributions of these glands vary between species, and do not always correspond with the same regions as in humans. Furthermore, in many non-human mammals, a portion of the stomach anterior to the cardiac glands is lined with epithelium essentially identical to that of the oesophagus. Ruminants, in particular, have a complex stomach, the first three chambers of which are all lined with oesophageal mucosa. In birds and crocodilians, the stomach is divided into two regions. Anteriorly is a narrow tubular region, the proventriculus, lined by fundic glands, and connecting the true stomach to the crop. Beyond lies the powerful muscular gizzard, lined by pyloric glands, and, in some species, containing stones that the animal swallows to help grind up food. In insects there is also a crop. The insect stomach is called the midgut. Information about the stomach in echinoderms or molluscs can be found under the respective articles. Gut flora, Gastroesophageal reflux disease, Proton pump inhibitors Stomach at the Human Protein Atlas, "Stomach" article from the Encyclopedia of Nursing & Allied Health, from enotes.com, Digestion of proteins in the stomach or tiyan, Site with details of how ruminants process food, Control of Gastric Emptying

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Singin' in the Rain is a stage musical with story by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown. Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original. Set in Hollywood in the waning days of the silent screen era, it focuses on romantic lead Don Lockwood, his sidekick Cosmo Brown, aspiring actress Kathy Selden, and Lockwood's leading lady Lina Lamont, whose less-than-dulcet vocal tones make her an unlikely candidate for stardom in talking pictures. The original West End production, directed by Tommy Steele and choreographed by Peter Gennaro, opened on June 30, 1983 at the London Palladium, where it ran until September 1985. The original cast included Steele as Don, Roy Castle as Cosmo, Danielle Carson as Kathy, and Sarah Payne as Lina and Julia. The original film's vocal score was embellished with additional tunes by Comden, Green, and Roger Edens, Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh, George and Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer and Richard Whiting, and Cole Porter. Singin' in the Rain opened on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre on July 2, 1985 and closed on May 18, 1986 after 367 performances and 38 previews. Directed and choreographed by Twyla Tharp, the scenic design was by Santo Loquasto, costume design by Ann Roth, and lighting design by Jennifer Tipton. The cast included Don Correia as Don, Mary D'Arcy as Kathy, Peter Slutsker as Cosmo, and Faye Grant as Lina. The musical was dramatically revamped. The 1983 London Palladium production was remounted in 1994 for an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, which ran until December 1995. The new production, again directed by Steele, starred Paul Nicholas as Don, Shona Lindsay as Kathy, Tony Howes as Cosmo with Sarah Payne reprising her role as Lina from the original cast. Supporting cast included Matt Zimmerman and Mark Donovan. A new production of the musical was staged at the Olivier Theatre (Royal National Theatre), from June 2, 2000 to July 20, 2000 and again from December 18, 2000 to January 27, 2001. This production was a transfer from the West Yorkshire production, which ran from December 1999 to February 2000. The cast featured Zoe Hart as Kathy, Rebecca Thornhill as Lina, and Paul Robinson as Don. The direction was by Jude Kelly, and choreography was by Stephen Mear. Thornhill received an Olivier Award nomination for her performance. The musical played at Sadler's Wells Theatre from July 29, 2004 to September 4, 2004, with direction by Paul Kerryson and choreography by Adam Cooper (dancer), who also played the lead role of Don Lockwood. Cooper's choreography was nominated for the 2004 Critic's Circle National Dance award. The show later transferred to Leicester Haymarket. The show was revived at the 2011 Chichester Festival Theatre, starring Adam Cooper, Daniel Crossley and Scarlett Strallen. It was choreographed by Andrew Wright who was nominated for an Olivier Award and won the WhatsOnStage award for his work. The show received positive reviews, and then transferred to London's West End, at the Palace Theatre, in February 2012, where Cooper, Crossley and Strallen all reprised their roles. The rain, which first appeared it the 2011 Chichester Production, was designed and installed by specialists Water Sculptures Limited and the rain system features in the show's ongoing Pan Asia tour (2015) and the Moscow 2015 production. A UK tour followed the show closing on the West End starting on November 9 at the Manchester Opera House. The Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris presented a new production from March 12–26, 2015, and again from November 27 to January 17, 2016, directed by Robert Carsen, choreography by Stephen Mear, and costumes by Anthony Powell. This production had been reportedly moving to Broadway in 2016. Playbill reported that the "Broadway cast will be a combination of new and existing cast members from the Châtelet staging." No further details (theatre, dates) were announced. This production faithfully reproduces the dialogue and action of the film, with its songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, and its famous splash-in-the-puddles, rain-drenched dance solo for Gene Kelly. A different production appeared on Broadway in 1985. The New York Times reported in November 2015 that the Théâtre du Châtelet production would transfer to Broadway in the fall of 2016, produced by Weinstein Live Entertainment. However, the musical's opening on Broadway was reportedly delayed in 2016 "due to a lack of available theaters"; at that time, the musical was still expected to open on Broadway. In October 2017, Playbill reported that the Théâtre du Châtelet had informed the magazine that a Broadway transfer produced by Weinstein Live Entertainment would not take place. Don Lockwood is a silent film star with humble roots as a musician, dancer and stunt man. Don barely tolerates his vapid leading lady, Lina Lamont, who is convinced that their screen romance is real, although Don tries to tell her otherwise. After the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer, proves to be a smash hit, the head of the studio, R. F. Simpson, decides he has no choice but to convert the new Lockwood and Lamont film, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties, by far the worst being Lina's comically grating voice. After a disastrous test screening, Don's best friend, Cosmo Brown, comes up with the idea to overdub Lina's voice and they convince Simpson to turn The Dueling Cavalier into The Dancing Cavalier, a musical comedy film. Meanwhile, Don falls in love with an aspiring actress, Kathy Selden, who is providing the voice for Lina. When Lina finds out, she is furious and does everything possible to sabotage the romance. She maliciously demands that Kathy continue to provide her voice in all future films, but remain uncredited. An irate, but desperate Simpson is forced to agree; Kathy has no choice because she is under contract. The premiere is a tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don and Cosmo improvise and get Lina to lip-synch while Kathy sings into a second microphone while hidden behind the curtain. Unbeknownst to Lina, as she starts "singing", Don, Cosmo and Simpson gleefully raise the curtain behind her, revealing the deception. Kathy becomes a star, and Lina is finished. The highlight of both productions was the recreation of the film's title tune sequence, complete with an on-stage rain shower. According to The New York Times review, "The rain is wonderful. It descends from the flies of the Gershwin Theater in sheets at the end of Act I, drenching a Santo Loquasto courtyard set that floats beneath a distant, twinkling Hollywoodland sign..." Of the London "rain" effect, a reviewer wrote: "The stage downpour is so noisy -- and poses such a danger of microphone short circuits -- that Steele has to mime his song to a tape recording." The Finger Lakes Musical Theatre Festival (Auburn, N.Y.) put on a production of the show in the summer of 2013 and created an effect where it rained indoors. The Festival puts on the show every ten years. Act I Fit as a Fiddle - Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown, Beautiful Girl - Don Lockwood and Fans, I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin' - Kathy Selden and Coconut Grove Coquettes, Make 'Em Laugh - Cosmo Brown, Hubbub - Cosmo Brown and Studio Stage Hands, You Are My Lucky Star - Don Lockwood and Kathy Selden, Moses Supposes - Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown, Good Mornin' - Don Lockwood, Kathy Selden and Cosmo Brown, Singin' in the Rain - Don Lockwood Act II Wedding of the Painted Doll - Selected Ensemble, Rag Doll - Selected Ensemble, Temptation - Selected Ensemble, Takin' Miss Mary to the Ball - Selected Ensemble, Love is Where You Find It - Ensemble, Would You? - Kathy Selden, Broadway Rhythm - Company, Blue Prelude - Company, Would You? (Reprise) - Kathy Selden, You Are My Lucky Star - Don Lockwood, Kathy Selden and Company, Singin' in the Rain (Reprise) - Company Act I Overture - Orchestra, Fit As A Fiddle - Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, The Royal Rascal - Orchestra, You Stepped Out of a Dream - Don Lockwood & Company, All I Do Is Dream Of You - Kathy Selden and Girls of the Coconut Grove, You Stepped Out Of A Dream (Reprise) - Don Lockwood, Make 'Em Laugh - Cosmo Brown, Beautiful Girls - Production Tenor and Female Chorus (including Kathy Selden), You Are My Lucky Star - Kathy Selden, You Were Meant For Me - Don Lockwood & Kathy Selden, Moses Supposes - Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, Moses Supposes (Reprise) - Company, Good Morning - Don Lockwood, Cosmo Brown, Kathy Selden, Singin' In The Rain - Don Lockwood Act II Entr'acte - Orchestra, Good Morning (Reprise)- Company, Would You? - Kathy Selden, What's Wrong With Me? - Lina Lamont, The Broadway Ballet (aka Broadway Rhythm) - Cosmo Brown, Don Lockwood and Full Company, Would You? (Reprise)- Kathy Selden (Voicing for Lina) & Cosmo Brown, You Are My Lucky Star (Reprise) - Kathy Selden and Don Lockwood, Singin' In The Rain (Finale) - Full Company, Exit Music - Orchestra Singin' In The Rain London 2012 Production, Singin' in the Rain London listings, 2000 and 2004, Internet Broadway Database listing, Singin' in the Rain Synopsis and song lists at guidetomusicaltheatre.com, Singin' in the Rain at the Music Theatre International website, London production details Singin' in the Rain is a 1952 American musical-romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor, and Debbie Reynolds. It offers a lighthearted depiction of Hollywood in the late 1920s, with the three stars portraying performers caught up in the transition from silent films to "talkies". The film was only a modest hit when first released. O'Connor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, and Betty Comden and Adolph Green won the Writers Guild of America Award for their screenplay, while Jean Hagen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, it has since been accorded legendary status by contemporary critics, and is frequently regarded as the best film musical ever made, and the best film ever made in the "Freed Unit" at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It topped the AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals list and is ranked as the fifth-greatest American motion picture of all time in its updated list of the greatest American films in 2007. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry. In 2005 the British Film Institute included it in its list of the 50 films to be seen by the age of 14. In Sight & Sound magazine's 2017 list of the 50 greatest films of all time, Singin' in the Rain placed 20th. Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) is a popular silent film star with humble roots as a singer, dancer, and stuntman. Don barely tolerates his vain, cunning, conniving, and shallow leading lady, Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen), though their studio, Monumental Pictures, links them romantically to increase their popularity. Lina is convinced they are in love, despite Don's protestations otherwise. At the premiere of his latest film, The Royal Rascal, Don tells the gathered crowd an exaggerated version of his life story, including his motto: "Dignity, always dignity." His words are humorously contradicted by flashbacks showing him alongside his best friend Cosmo Brown (Donald O'Connor). To escape from his fans after the premiere, Don jumps into a passing car driven by Kathy Selden (Debbie Reynolds). She drops him off, but not before claiming to be a stage actress and sneering at his "undignified" accomplishments as a movie star. Later, at a party, the head of Don's studio, R.F. Simpson (Millard Mitchell), shows a short demonstration of a talking picture, but his guests are unimpressed. To Don's amusement, Kathy pops out of a mock cake right in front of him, revealing herself to be a chorus girl. Furious at Don's teasing, she throws a real cake at him, only to accidentally hit Lina in the face. She runs away. Don is smitten with Kathy and searches for her for weeks. While filming a love scene, Lina tells him that she had Kathy fired. Don finally finds Kathy working in another Monumental Pictures production. She confesses to having been a fan of his all along. After a rival studio has an enormous hit with its first talking picture, the 1927 film The Jazz Singer, R.F. decides he has no choice but to convert the next Lockwood and Lamont film, The Dueling Cavalier, into a talkie. The production is beset with difficulties, including Lina's grating voice and strong New York accent. An exasperated diction coach tries to teach her how to speak properly, but to no avail. The Dueling Cavaliers preview screening is a disaster; the actors are barely audible thanks to the awkward placing of the microphones, Don repeats the line "I love you" to Lina over and over, to the audience's derisive laughter, and in the middle of the film, the sound goes out of synchronization, with hilarious results as Lina shakes her head while the villain's deep voice says, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" and the villain nods his head while Lina's squeaky soprano says, "No! No! No!" Don, Kathy, and Cosmo come up with the idea to turn The Dueling Cavalier into a musical called The Dancing Cavalier, complete with a modern musical number called "Broadway Melody". The three are disheartened when they realize Lina's terrible voice remains a problem, but Cosmo, inspired by a scene in The Dueling Cavalier where Lina's voice was out of sync, suggests that they dub Lina's voice with Kathy's. R.F. approves the idea but tells them not to inform Lina about the dubbing. When Lina finds out, she is infuriated. She becomes even angrier when she discovers that R.F. intends to give Kathy a screen credit and a big publicity buildup afterward. Lina threatens to sue R.F. unless he orders Kathy to continue working uncredited as Lina's voice. R.F. reluctantly agrees to her demands, as a clause in her contract states that the studio is responsible for media coverage of her and she can sue if she is not happy with it. The premiere of The Dancing Cavalier is a tremendous success. When the audience clamors for Lina to sing live, Don, Cosmo, and R.F. tell her to lip sync into the microphone while Kathy, concealed behind the curtain, sings into a second one. While Lina is "singing", Don, Cosmo, and R.F. gleefully raise the curtain, revealing the fakery. Lina flees. A distressed Kathy tries to run away as well, but Don proudly announces to the audience that she's "the real star" of the film. Later, Kathy and Don kiss in front of a billboard for their new film, Singin' in the Rain. Gene Kelly as Don Lockwood. His performance in the song "Singin' in the Rain" is now considered to be iconic., Debbie Reynolds as Kathy Selden. Directors Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen insisted that Reynolds was always first in their minds for the role. Although the film revolves around the idea that Kathy has to dub over for Lina's voice, in the scene where Kathy is dubbing a line of Lina's dialogue ("Nothing can keep us apart, our love will last 'til the stars turn cold"), Jean Hagen's normal voice is used., Donald O'Connor as Cosmo Brown, Don's lifelong pal and vaudeville partner, who becomes the head of Monumental Pictures' music department., Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont. Fresh off her role in The Asphalt Jungle, Hagen read for the part for producer Arthur Freed. She did a dead-on impression of Judy Holliday's Billie Dawn character from Born Yesterday, - for which Hagen had been Holliday's understudy - which won her the role., Millard Mitchell as R.F. Simpson. The initials of the fictional head of Monumental Pictures are a reference to producer Arthur Freed. R.F. also uses one of Freed's favorite expressions when he says that he "cannot quite visualize it" and has to see it on film first, referring to the "Broadway Melody" sequence. This is a joke, since the audience has just seen it., Cyd Charisse as the long-legged woman in the green sequined dress and Louise Brooks hair who vamps Gene Kelly in the "Broadway Melody" sequence., Douglas Fowley as Roscoe Dexter, the director of Don and Lina's films., Rita Moreno as Zelda Zanders, the "Zip Girl" and Lina's friend. Uncredited King Donovan as Rod, head of the publicity department at Monumental Pictures., Judy Landon as Olga Mara, a silent screen vamp who attends the premiere of The Royal Rascal., Madge Blake as Dora Bailey, a Hollywood gossip columnist based on Louella Parsons., Kathleen Freeman as Phoebe Dinsmore, Lina's diction coach., Bobby Watson as Lockwood's diction coach during the "Moses Supposes" number., Jimmy Thompson as the singer of "Beautiful Girl"., Mae Clarke as the hairdresser who puts the finishing touches on Lina Lamont's hairdo., Julius Tannen as the man demonstrating the technology of talking pictures., Tommy Farrell as Sid Philips, the director of the movie featuring the song "Beautiful Girl". Singin' in the Rain was originally conceived by MGM producer Arthur Freed, the head of the "Freed Unit" responsible for turning out MGM's lavish musicals, as a vehicle for his catalog of songs written with Nacio Herb Brown for previous MGM musical films of the 1929–39 period. Screenwriters Betty Comden and Adolph Green wrote two entirely new songs, "Make 'Em Laugh" and "Moses Supposes", the latter with music director Roger Edens providing the music (see below). All songs have lyrics by Freed and music by Brown unless otherwise indicated. Some of the songs, such as "Broadway Rhythm," "Should I?," and especially "Singin' in the Rain" itself, have been featured in numerous films. The films listed below mark the first time each song was presented on screen. "Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready for Love)," originally published in 1932 with music by Al Hoffman and Al Goodhart, lyrics by Freed., "Temptation" (instrumental only) from Going Hollywood (1933)., "All I Do Is Dream of You" from Sadie McKee (1934). The arrangement in "Singin' in the Rain" is an up tempo, upbeat, "flapper" version of the song with full instrumentation. In contrast, the "Sadie McKee" version is slower tempo, and appears routinely throughout the film as a love ballad accompanied by a solo ukulele. An instrumental only version with full orchestration is also part of the film's opening and closing theme., "Singin' in the Rain" from The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (1929)., "Make 'Em Laugh," considered an original song, but bearing a striking resemblance to Cole Porter's "Be a Clown," used in another MGM Freed-produced musical, The Pirate (1948). Credited to Comden and Green., "Beautiful Girl Montage" comprising "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" from Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), "The Wedding of the Painted Doll" from The Broadway Melody (1929), "Should I?" from Lord Byron of Broadway (1930) and "Beautiful Girl" from Stage Mother (1933), "You Were Meant for Me" from The Broadway Melody (1929), "You Are My Lucky Star" from Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935), "Moses Supposes" (music by Roger Edens, lyrics by Comden and Green), based on the tongue-twister with the same title., "Good Morning" from Babes In Arms (1939), "Would You?" from San Francisco (1936), "Broadway Melody" composed of "The Broadway Melody" from The Broadway Melody (1929) and "Broadway Rhythm" from Broadway Melody of 1936 (1935). The music for the "Broadway Ballet" section is by Nacio Herb Brown. Arthur Freed, the head of the "Freed Unit" at MGM responsible for the studio's glossy and glamorous musicals, conceived the idea of a movie based on the back catalog of songs written by himself and Nacio Herb Brown, and called in Betty Comden and Adolph Green from New York to come up with a story to tie the songs together and to write the script. Comden and Green first refused the assignment, as their agent had assured them that their new contract with MGM called for them to write the lyrics to all songs unless the score was by Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, or Rodgers and Hammerstein. After a two-week hold- out, their new agent, Irving "Swifty" Lazar, having looked over the contract, told them that the clause had been entirely an invention of their previous agent, and that there was no such language in the contract. After hearing this, Comden and Green began working on the story and script. Because many of the songs had originally been written during the time when silent films were giving way to "talkies", and musicals were popular with audiences, Comden and Green came up with the idea that the story should be set during that transitional period in Hollywood, an era they were intimately familiar with. When Howard Keel was mentioned as the possible lead, they tried to work up a story involving a star of Western films who makes a comeback as a singing cowboy, but they kept gravitating to a story about a swashbuckling romantic hero with a vaudeville background who survives the transition by falling back on his abilities as a song-and-dance man, a story which Gene Kelly was well- suited for. Kelly could not be approached at the time, as he was deeply immersed in An American in Paris (1951), which he was starring in and co- choreographing with Stanley Donen. Comden and Green continued to work on the script, and had at that time three possible openings for the film: a silent movie premiere, a magazine interview with a Hollywood star, and a star-meets- girl, star-loses-girl sequence. Unable to decide which to use or how to proceed, they had just decided to return their advance to MGM and admit defeat, when Betty Comden's husband arrived from New York and suggested that they combine all three openings into one. The script with the re-written opening was approved by Freed and by MGM's head of production Dore Schary, who had recently replaced Louis B. Mayer. By this time shooting on An American in Paris had completed, and Freed suggested that Kelly be given the script to read. Kelly and Donen responded enthusiastically, and immediately become involved in re-writes and adjustments to the script. Comden, Green, Kelly, and Donen were all old friends, and the process went smoothly. Besides the Freed- Brown songs, Comden and Green contributed the lyrics to "Moses Supposes", which was set to music by Roger Edens. Shortly before shooting began, "The Wedding of the Painted Dolls", which Comden and Green had "painfully wedged into the script as a cheering-up song" was replaced with a new Freed-Brown song, "Make 'Em Laugh". After Comden and Green had returned to New York to work on other projects, they received word that a new song was needed for a love-song sequence between Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. The original had been a song-and-dance medley involving different sets in different soundstages on the studio lot, but they were asked for a romantic love song set in an empty sound stage, and it was needed immediately. Comden and Green provided such a scene for "You Are My Lucky Star" and sent it off to Hollywood. In an early draft of the script, the musical number "Singin' in the Rain" was to be sung by Reynolds, O'Connor, and Kelly, emerging from a restaurant after the flop preview of The Dueling Cavalier, to celebrate the idea of changing the film into a musical., Kelly singing "You Were Meant For Me" to Reynolds on an empty sound stage was not included in that draft. The number was originally conceived as Kelly singing a medley of other songs to her as they romped around various studio back lot sets., Rita Moreno was originally to have sung the lead in "I've Got a Feelin' You're Foolin'" with other showgirls, but this ended up as part of the "Beautiful Girl Montage" without her. Gene Kelly sang a reprise of "All I Do Is Dream of You" after the party at R.F. Simpson's house when Kelly chases after Reynolds. The song, ending in Kelly's bedroom, was cut from the release version after two previews, and the footage has been lost., Reynolds' solo rendition of "You Are My Lucky Star" (to a billboard showing an image of Lockwood) was cut after previews. This number has survived and is included on the original soundtrack and DVD version of the film., In the steamy "Vamp Dance" segment of the "Broadway Melody Ballet" with Cyd Charisse and Gene Kelly, reviewers from both the Production Code and the Catholic Church's Legion of Decency objected to a brief, suggestive pose or movement between the dancers. Although there is no precise documentation of what or where it was, close examination of footage toward the end of the dance shows an abrupt cut when Charisse is wrapped around Kelly, indicating the probable location. In the sequence in which Gene Kelly dances and sings the title song while spinning an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked with rain, Kelly was sick with a fever. The water used in the scene caused Kelly's wool suit to shrink during filming. A common myth is that Kelly managed to perform the entire song in one take, thanks to cameras placed at predetermined locations. However, this was not the case; filming the sequence took 2 to 3 days. Another myth is that the rain was mixed with milk in order for the drops to show up better on camera; but the desired visual effect was produced, albeit with difficulty, through backlighting. Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer when she made Singin' in the Rain; her background was as a gymnast. Kelly apparently insulted her for her lack of dance experience, upsetting her. In a subsequent encounter when Fred Astaire was in the studio, he found Reynolds crying under a piano. Hearing what had happened, Astaire volunteered to help her with her dancing. Kelly later admitted that he had not been kind to Reynolds and was surprised that she was still willing to talk to him afterwards. After shooting the "Good Morning" routine, which had taken from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. to shoot, Reynolds' feet were bleeding. Years later, she was quoted as saying that "Singin' in the Rain and childbirth were the two hardest things I ever had to do in my life." Donald O'Connor had to stay in bed in the hospital for several days after filming the "Make 'Em Laugh" sequence, due to his smoking up to four packs of cigarettes a day. Most of the costumes from this film were eventually acquired by Debbie Reynolds and held in her massive collection of original film costumes, sets, and props. Many of these items were sold at a 2011 auction in Hollywood. While most items were sold to private collectors, Donald O'Connor's green check "Fit As a Fiddle" suit and shoes were purchased by Costume World, Inc. They are now on permanent display at the Costume World Broadway Collection Museum in Pompano Beach, Florida. According to MGM records, during the film's initial theatrical release, it made $3,263,000 in the US and Canada and $2,367,000 internationally, earning the studio a profit of $666,000. It was the tenth highest-grossing movie of the year in the US and Canada. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "Compounded generously of music, dance, color spectacle and a riotous abundance of Gene Kelly, Jean Hagen and Donald O'Connor on the screen, all elements in this rainbow program are carefully contrived and guaranteed to lift the dolors of winter and put you in a buttercup mood." Variety was also positive, writing: "Arthur Freed has produced another surefire grosser for Metro in Singin' in the Rain. Musical has pace, humor, and good spirits a-plenty, in a breezy, good-natured spoof at the film industry itself ... Standout performances by Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor, especially the latter, enhance the film's pull." Harrison's Reports called it "top-notch entertainment in every department — music, dancing, singing, staging and story." Richard L. Coe of The Washington Post called it "yet another fresh and breezy, colorful and funny musical" from Gene Kelly, adding, "Of the players there's not a dud in the lot, from Kelly's facile performing to the brief but electric dance appearance by Cyd Charisse, a swell partner for him." Pauline Kael, the long-time film critic for The New Yorker, said of the film "This exhuberant and malicious satire of Hollywood in the late twenties is perhaps the most enjoyable of movie musicals - just about the best Hollywood musical of all time." Roger Ebert placed Singin' in the Rain on his Great Movies list, calling the film "a transcendent experience, and no one who loves movies can afford to miss it." On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a perfect 100% "Certified fresh" approval rating based on 56 reviews with an average rating of 9.27/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' In The Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical." Betty Comden and Adolph Green report that when they met Francois Truffaut at a party in Paris, Truffaut was very excited to meet the authors of Chantons sous la pluie. He told them that he had seen the film so many times that he knew it frame by frame, and that he and fellow director and screenwriter Alain Resnais, among others, went to see it regularly at a small Parisian movie theatre where it sometimes ran for months at a time. For her role as Lina Lamont, Jean Hagen was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was also nominated for Best Original Music Score for Lennie Hayton. Donald O'Connor won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his portrayal of Cosmo Brown. Betty Comden and Adolph Green received the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Musical. Singin' in the Rain has appeared twice on Sight & Sounds list of the ten best films of all time, in 1982 and 2002. Its position in 1982 was at number 4 on the critics list; on the 2002 critics' list, it was listed as number 10, and it tied for 19 on the directors' list. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 100% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 49 reviews, with an average score of 9.2/10. The film is ranked as No. 14 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of best rated films. Rotten Tomatoes summarizes the critical consensus as, "Clever, incisive, and funny, Singin' in the Rain is a masterpiece of the classical Hollywood musical." In 2008, Singin' in the Rain was placed on Empire's 500 Greatest Movies of All Time List, ranking at #8, the highest ranked G-rated movie on the list. In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was among the first 25 films chosen for the newly established National Film Registry for films that are deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation. The film is recognized by the American Film Institute in these lists: 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #10, 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #16, 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #16, 2003: AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes & Villains:, Lina Lamont – Nominated Villain, 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:, "Singin' in the Rain" – #3, "Make 'Em Laugh" – #49, "Good Morning" – #72, 2005: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes:, Lina Lamont: "What do they think I am, dumb or something? Why, I make more money than Calvin Coolidge! Put together!" – Nominated, 2006: AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – #1, 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #5 The 40th Anniversary Edition VHS version released in 1992 includes a documentary, the original trailer, and Reynolds's solo rendition of "You Are My Lucky Star," which had been cut from the final film. According to the audio commentary on the 2002 Special Edition DVD, the original negative was destroyed in a fire. Despite this, the film was digitally restored for its DVD release. A Blu-ray Ultimate Collector's Edition was released in July 2012. Comic book adaptation Eastern Color Movie Love #14 (April 1952) Stage adaptation The Broadway musical Singin' in the Rain was adapted from the motion picture, and the plot of the stage version closely adheres to the original. Directed and choreographed by post-modern choreographer Twyla Tharp, the opening night cast starred Don Correia as Don Lockwood, Mary D'Arcy as Kathy Selden, Richard Fancy as Roscoe Dexter, Faye Grant as Lina Lamont, and Peter Slutsker as Cosmo Brown. The musical opened on July 2, 1985 at the Gershwin Theatre after 39 previews, and ran for 367 performances, closing on May 18, 1986. Kelly's hometown Pittsburgh Pirates games at PNC Park play the scene from the film during rain delays., In the 1983 television special Paddington Goes to the Movies, the film is mentioned at some points and Paddington performs a version of Gene Kelly's famous dance from the 1952 film., In the 1989 Woody Allen film Crimes and Misdemeanors, Cliff (Woody Allen) and Halley (Mia Farrow) watch Singin’ in the Rain at Cliff’s apartment. Cliff claims to watch the film “every few months to keep my spirits up.”, In their 1976 Christmas special, the British comedy act Morecambe and Wise parodied the "Singin' in the Rain" sequence., Gene Kelly's "Singin' in the Rain" sequence was one of the opening scenes of The Great Movie Ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios. Kelly approved his Audio-Animatronics likeness prior to its delivery to Florida., The dance to the title song is parodied in the 2005 Broadway musical Spamalot in the dance break to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," complete with tap-dancing knights spinning bright yellow umbrellas around., The "Singin' in the Rain" sequence was featured in a 2005 Volkswagen Golf commercial, with Gene Kelly seen break-dancing in the street. Also featured was Mint Royale's version of the song accompanying the commercial., A parody of the number "Singin' in the Rain" was featured in the 2005 animated film Robots where Fender (Robin Williams) breaks out singing and dancing after dropping off a date. Instead of 'rain' he says 'oil' to fit the film's theme, and emulates Gene Kelly's iconic swing on the lamppost., Two songs from the film were featured in "The Substitute", a season 2 episode of the musical comedy television series Glee., In the 2012 film Silver Linings Playbook, Jennifer Lawrence's character is inspired by a clip of Donald O'Connor and Gene Kelly dancing to "Moses Supposes" from Singin' in the Rain., The 2013 anime short Gisoku no Moses features a young female ghost dancing with a pair of haunted dance shoes to the tune of "Moses Supposes.", In the 2015 romantic drama film Brooklyn, Tony Fiorello (Emory Cohen) takes Eilis Lacey (Saoirse Ronan) out on a date to see the film. In the next scene, he emulates Gene Kelly's iconic swing on the lamppost., The scene in which Gene Kelly sings "You Were Meant for Me" is featured in the 2015 Nancy Meyers film The Intern., Singin' in the Rain was an inspiration for the 2016 musical film La La Land, directed by Damien Chazelle., The song "Good Morning" was featured in the Legends of Tomorrow season 3 episode "Phone Home"., The video to the BTS song "Boy with Luv" heavily references "Singin' in the Rain., The title song “Singin’ in the Rain” was also referenced in the Terry Pratchett book ”Moving Pictures”. As people are infected with the dangerous idea of the clicks (movies), Mr. Dibbler, purveyor of sausages-inna-bun, dances down a wet and rainy road and swings off light poles, much to the bemusement of the city Watch. List of films considered the best, List of films with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a film review aggregation website, List of films featuring fictional films Informational notes Citations Bibliography Comden, Betty & Green, Adolph (1972) "Introduction" Singin' in the Rain. New York: Viking. SBN 670-01946-1 Further reading Singin' in the Rain at CinemaClassic, Singin' in the Rain at Virtual History "Singing in the Rain" is a song by Canadian rock band Simple Plan from their fifth studio album, Taking One for the Team (2016). On the album, American musical duo Rock City are featured on the track, with an additional verse written by the duo's Timothy and Theron Thomas, however the single version does not include this feature. The solo Simple Plan version of "Singing in the Rain" was released to digital retailers on March 25, 2016 as the album's third official single. The accompanying music video was directed by Mark Staubach and pays homage to the 1996 film, That Thing You Do!. It premiered April 12, 2016. Set in 1964, the video seeks to depict the positive and negative aspects of the life of a musician, and "the exhilarating power that 3 chords, a drum beat and a catchy melody can have on the lives of the people who create it," according to a statement from the band. Credits are adapted from the digital liner notes at AllMusic.

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"The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?)" is an electronic dance novelty song and viral video by Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis. The top trending video of 2013 on YouTube, "The Fox" was posted on the video-sharing website on 3 September 2013, and has received over 900 million views as of December 2019. "The Fox" peaked at the top of the Norwegian Singles Chart and was hugely successful in the United States, where it peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 for three consecutive weeks, and was, before the U.S. release of "Am I Wrong" by Nico & Vinz, the highest-ranked song by a Norwegian artist on the chart since A-ha's number-one song "Take On Me" in 1985. Originally an "anti-hit" produced as a part of the duo's new season of Norwegian television talk show I kveld med YLVIS (Tonight with Ylvis) and uploaded on YouTube as a teaser, "The Fox", "created to fail", went viral, becoming Ylvis' "breakout" song and drawing international attention to the group. In 2013, Ylvis stated there were no plans to release an album including the song or any sequel to it. The brothers Vegard and Bård Ylvisåker, members of the Norwegian comedy group Ylvis, produced the song and music video "The Fox" to promote their upcoming third season of I kveld med Ylvis on TVNorge. In an interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, the brothers stated that the idea of a song about a fox was originally conceived in 2012, but then shelved. Half a year later, in 2013, Bård and lyricist Christian Løchstøer began to play with the idea once again. Vegard was initially skeptical about making a song about a fox, but soon relented. In an interview on the Norwegian-Swedish talk show Skavlan, the brothers mentioned that given the opportunity to collaborate with Stargate, they originally wanted to make a dance song about men who cannot dance or dread dancing and named it "The Dancing Stick", but felt that the idea was "too clever", and that they would appear to be trying to make a hit. The idea was therefore scrapped and "The Fox" got produced instead. Bård described the writing process for "The Fox" in an interview with Billboard in the United States: "The way we work is we just sit around and talk about things and get ideas and take some notes. I guess we must have been talking about what sound a fox makes. And then we had a chance to work with Stargate, a Norwegian production company based in New York City... We actually did a favor for them and we asked them if they could produce a song for the new season in exchange". Tor Erik Hermansen of Stargate recalled in an interview with Spin that the favor was actually a mockumentary done by the Ylvisåker brothers to celebrate Mikkel Storleer Eriksen 40th birthday, in which they pretended to be the Stargate duo. Australian producer M4SONIC was also involved in the production. Bård, being interviewed by Entertainment Weekly, talked about their intention of making "The Fox": M4SONIC described producing "The Fox": The video was released on 3 September 2013. It is performed in the style of a typical electronic dance pop song, and the lyrics are sung "with deadpan seriousness". The video was originally created to promote the brand-new season of Ylvis' talk show I kveld med Ylvis on TVNorge but after being released on the TVNorge YouTube channel went viral. The video was directed by Ole Martin Hafsmo with cinematography by Magnus Flåto. The choreography was done by Thea Bay. The video is produced by Fredrik Kvåle Dørum and Jørgen Thue (Concorde TV). The forest scenes were filmed in Nittedal municipality, from Oslo downtown. The video begins with Bård singing at a costume party where other participants are dressed as different animals, whose appearances follow the progression of the lyrics. He gives a summary of animal sounds ("Dog goes woof/cat goes meow", etc.) that "could have been lifted straight from a preschool primer" and asks "what does the fox say?" The group then transitions into a synchronized dance scene in a forest with Bård in a bear costume and Vegard a squirrel costume (as they failed to find any fox costume in the Norwegian Film Institute the day before filming to make up for their melted spray-painted plastic costumes), complete with face-paint and giant, bushy tails. During each chorus, the song offers several increasingly absurd possibilities for the fox's sound such as "gering-ding-ding-ding- dingeringeding!" and in the second chorus where Vegard sings "fraka-kaka-kaka- kaka-kow!" Among the dancers, an elderly man (Bernhard Ramstad) is shown reading the lyrics from a book to a boy sitting on his lap. The song then describes the fox and the singer's admiration for it, and asks whether it would communicate with a horse using morse code. In the end, the singers float in the air, continuing to wonder what sound the fox makes, while failing to notice a computer-animated fox behind them, which stands on its hind legs and scat sings (voiced by Vegard), answering their question. Bård finishes the song with a melancholy falsetto and the fox leaves without being seen. With the chord progression of C♯m—B—F♯, the song is written in the key of C♯ dorian, with lead vocal range spanning from C♯3 to F♯5. Listeners noticed that the song has a similar structure to "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons and "Polly" by Nirvana. In Norway, homeland of Ylvis, "The Fox" became the duo's first entry on the VG-lista and eventually topped the chart for four consecutive weeks from 20 September to 17 October 2013. In the U.S., "The Fox" debuted on 12 September 2013 on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 29, and at number 3 on the Streaming Songs chart. It later reached the top spot on the Streaming Songs chart for the weeks ending 19 October and 2 November. The song in the following week also broke into the Hot Digital Songs top 10 at number 8 with 108,000 downloads during the week and debuted on the On-Demand Songs chart, when it sat in the top 10 of Hot 100 for the third week. The song has sold 1,367,000 copies in the U.S. as of June 2014. The music video's viral success and catchiness has also drawn comparison to that of PSY's "Gangnam Style". It took only 35 days to hit 100 million views, compared to 51 days by "Gangnam Style" to reach the mark. In the annual year- end lists of "Top 10 Everything" compiled by Time magazine, "The Fox" was ranked number two on the "Top 10 Viral Videos" of 2013 for being "one of the catchiest songs of the year", only after "Gentleman", PSY's follow-up to "Gangnam Style". Ylvis were surprised by the international success of the song, intending only to target their Norwegian audience. Vegard described the success of the song as "definitely very shocking", while Bård said he was "quite surprised" and that it was "supposed to entertain a few Norwegians for three minutes — and that's all". Three months after the release of "The Fox", he further commented that "[their] lives will forever be defined as before and after the song now". The duo were signed on by Warner Music: Vegard has stated that the "record deal was landed way before 'Fox' — in the spring sometime". Ylvis' first live performance of "The Fox" in the United States was on 20 September 2013 at the iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas. They also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on 20 September, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on 9 October and The Today Show on 11 October. After their appearance at the 2013 MTV Europe Music Awards in Amsterdam on 10 November, they gave their first performance in the United Kingdom on the annual fundraising telethon Children in Need on 15 November and later The Paul O'Grady Show on 18 November. On 22 November, joined by K-pop and Western stars including Stevie Wonder, Icona Pop and Paris Hilton, the brothers participated in the biggest music festival in Asia, the Mnet Asian Music Awards ("MAMA") at Hong Kong AsiaWorld-Expo, in which they performed "The Fox", danced in a collaboration with South Korean girl group Crayon Pop to their song "Bar Bar Bar", and accepted the award for "International Favorite Artist". The duo later returned to North America to perform the viral hit in the season finale of Dancing with the Stars on 26 November, 2013 Much Presents: The Big Jingle organized by MuchMusic on 7 December in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and on Live! with Kelly and Michael on 12 December 2013. The song was later performed live during concerts given in 2014-2015 in Norway and Sweden as a part of duo's The Expensive Jacket Tour. The brothers signed a deal with Simon & Schuster to publish a children's book illustrated by Svein Nyhus based on the song which was released on 10 December 2013, called "The Fox". The brothers have stated that the book is not a spin- off because the idea was conceived before the song had become viral. The children's book was an instant success, being the bestselling children's picture book for the week ending 29 December 2013 according to The New York Times Book Review, and coming in twenty-third on USA Todays list of best- selling books for the week of 19 December 2013. The book was sold-out in a day on Amazon, and broke the record in children's publishing for selling more than 60,000 units in-store within one week, pushing for a sixth reprinting with 300,000 copies in print a week after its initial release. Tris McCall of The Star-Ledger describes "The Fox" as "a parody of the excesses and absurdities of contemporary club music": the brothers "take turns singing preposterous lyrics about animal noises" over "typically vainglorious synthpop", with the proposed fox sounds "mimic[king] the car-alarm synthesizers of contemporary dubstep". He compares it to Ylvis' "Someone Like Me" which mocked the insertion of dubstep breaks into pop songs. Danielle Seamon of The Lantern acknowledges that while some may be "extremely perplexed by the attention stupidity and bizarreness collects in 2013" displayed by the song, it is in fact "meant to be a funny and almost satirical to pop music", and Ylvis has "pushed everybody's buttons by breaking and manipulating every rule of a Top 40 pop song". Evan Sawdey of PopMatters, who names "The Fox" one of the best songs of the year, calls it "a concept that's so stupid it's smart" by bending "the very fabric of pop culture in such a memorable, ridiculous way" with simple lines of "utter comic brilliance". Caitlin Carter of online music site Music Times echoes the comments above, adding that "The Fox" becoming the first song to get serious recognition "makes [the staff at Music Times] wonder", as the duo's other songs and videos prior to the release of "The Fox" "are just about as random and melodramatic", such as "from contemplating the meaning of Stonehenge" ('Stonehenge'), to scientifically examining the inner-workings of the female reproductive organ ('Work It'), to honoring a United Nations Human Rights hero ('Jan Egeland')." Jonathan Ore of CBC News, although calling "The Fox" a "catchy tune [...] paired with the most absurd lyrics this side of the theme song to DuckTales", also gives the comedy duo credit for "the arguably better" "Stonehenge". Both brothers have commented on the "absurdity" of "The Fox". Bård called the song "a stupid thing" and that "even though people find it interesting, it's still a stupid fox song, and when people start to get over this, it gets even worse, because it is so stupid". In response to the negative feedback of the song, Vegard has made the following remark: Speaking of the meaning of the song, Vegard characterizes it as coming from "a genuine wonder of what the fox says, because we didn't know". Although interpreted by some commentators as a reference to the furry fandom, the brothers have stated they did not know about its existence when producing "The Fox". Like many viral music videos, "The Fox" has become an Internet meme and has been extensively covered and adapted by others, with some of the most prominent being a cover by The Ohio University Marching 110 who had previously covered "Gangnam Style" and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem"; a cover by Tay Zonday of "Chocolate Rain"; an acoustic guitar cover of the first verse by Tyler Ward; an adaptation based on the popular video game League of Legends entitled "What Does Teemo Say?"; and an adaptation by Annoying Orange entitled "The Sock". The video was also featured twice by the Fine Brothers on their popular series Elders React and Teens React, which show reactions of elderly people and teens to YouTube videos, respectively. A video showing actor Morgan Freeman reading the lyrics of "The Fox" aloud when being interviewed by online TV/movies review site Screen Junkies has also garnered media attention and millions of YouTube views. During an interview with 4Music, in response to the many parodies inspired by their song, the Ylvisåker brothers themselves have reviewed some of the more popular ones. The song has also been featured substantially in "YouTube Rewind: What Does 2013 Say?", a homage paid by YouTube to the year's top videos. The song has been featured for multiple times on television. It was used in an advertisement for the Fox Network featuring clips of FOX programs and actors singing the song. On 28 October, four contestants on the seventeenth season of Dancing with the Stars performed the song for the "Team Dance" week under the team name "Foxing Awesome", scoring a perfect 30. NBC's Saturday Night Live cast-member Jay Pharoah and host Kerry Washington appeared in a parody video of the song titled "My Girl" on 2 November 2013, featuring a boyfriend who got caught by his girlfriend for sexting with other girls. The song has also been performed by the Glee cast in the episode "Puppet Master" aired on Thanksgiving Day (28 November 2013). Due to the popularity of the song, TMZ reported on 18 October 2013 that two weeks away from Halloween, the sales of fox costumes had already risen by almost 40% at one costume outlet from last Halloween, according to the data from Spirit Halloween, BuyCostumes and Amazon. The song has also been synchronized with a "singing Halloween house" by the neighborhood in Edwards Landing, Leesburg, Virginia, who every Halloween creates an LED light show with a hit song. This song appears in Just Dance 2015. This song was also parodied by 442oons to celebrate Leicester City's title win in a song "What do the Foxes Say?" on YouTube. !scope="col" colspan="3"| Streaming Note: The song was planned to be released on iTunes in the United States on 9 September, but remained unavailable for one week due to allegations of copyright infringement by a third party. It became available on the U.S. iTunes on 16 September and has peaked at number 5 on the Top Songs chart from 11 to 12 October 2013. Vocalization of the fox, List of animal sounds British Library Sound and Vision blog – what does the fox say? (red fox vocalizations), What does the fox say easter egg in Wolfram Alpha The Fox is a traditional folk song (Roud 131) from England. It is also the subject of at least two picture books, The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night: an old song, illustrated by Peter Spier and Fox Went out on a Chilly Night, by Wendy Watson. The earliest version of the song was a Middle English poem, dating from the 15th century, found in the British Museum. Typical lyrics are as follows: In Joseph Ritson's Gammer Gurton's Garland (1810), the song is recorded (under the name "Dame Widdle Waddle") thus: The two earliest versions both date from the fifteenth century ( 1500), and are written in Middle English. The first, usually called "The Fox and the Goose", goes as follows: The second, called "The False Fox" ("false" here meaning "deceitful"), is as follows: "The Fox" has been recorded or covered by: 1950s Harry Belafonte, on Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites RCA LPM-1022, LP (1954), Pete Seeger, on Birds Beasts Bugs & Bigger Fishes Smithsonian Folkways, LP (1955), Burl Ives, on Burl Ives Sings... For Fun (1956), Odetta, on Odetta at the Gate of Horn (1957), Salli Terri, on Songs of Enchantment (1959) 1960s The Brothers Four, on the album Rally 'Round! (c. 1960), Jimmie Rogers, from the album Jimmie Rogers sings Folk Songs (1960), Tom Glazer, from the Album Come On and Join in the Game (1960s), The Smothers Brothers, on the comedy album Think Ethnic (1963), Jon Pertwee, on the album Children's Favourites (1966) MFP 1175, The Young Tradition, as "Daddy Fox," on the album So Cheerfully Round (1967) TRA 155 1970s MacLean & MacLean, as a parody with vulgar lyrics on MacLean & MacLean Suck Their Way to the Top, Roger Whittaker, on the album "The Magical World of Roger Whittaker" (1975), Tom Glazer, on the album "Children's Greatest Hits, Vol II" (1977) 1980s Tim Hart, as "A Fox Jumped Up" on the album The Drunken Sailor and other Kids Favourites (1983), Fred Penner, on Special Delivery, LP (1983), later reissued as Ebeneezer Sneezer, (1994), CD., Nancy Cassidy, on the album "Kids Songs" (1986), A cartoon made by Weston Woods (1988), Benjamin Luxon and Bill Crofut, on the album Simple Gifts (1989) 1990s Spider John Koerner, as "The Fox" on his album "Raised By Humans" (1992)., Peter, Paul and Mary, on the album Peter, Paul and Mommy, Too (1993), Ceilidh Friends, as "Daddy Fox," on the album Yellowknife Evening (1994) MDS-2, Bill Staines, on his album One More River (1998), Charlie Zahm, on his album The Celtic Balladeer (1999) 2000s Nickel Creek, on their self titled album" (2000), Da Vinci's Notebook, parodied as "The Gates" about a disgruntled laptop PC user going after Bill Gates on Brontosaurus (2002), Eddie Blazonczyk and the Versatones, on Under The Influence (2005), Tom Chapin, sung/narrated as an audio book with Chapin providing all the voices (2006), The Boogers, on their album "Road to Rock" (2008) 2010s Three Quarter Ale, on their album Shall We Gather by the Fire (2010), Garrison Keillor and Guy's All Star Shoe Band, performed on a broadcast of Prairie Home Companion (2011), Laura Veirs, on her album Tumble Bee: Laura Veirs Sings Folk Songs For Children (2011), Rising Regina, on their album Rearranged (2011), We Banjo 3, released as a single with artist Sharon Shannon (2015), Misha Collins and Darius Marder, on a livestream (2016), Peter Hollens on his album 'Legendary Folk Songs' (2018) http://www.ibiblio.org/folkindex/gp07.htm There was a version sung by Marty Robbins in 1954 with the same lyrics. He did a cover of the song to honor his grandfather. Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series produced by Fox. It focuses on the glee club New Directions, at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio. The show was created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan, and features many cover versions of songs sung on-screen by the characters. Murphy is responsible for selecting all of the songs used, and strives to maintain a balance between show tunes and chart hits, as he wants there to be "something for everybody in every episode." Once Murphy selects a song, rights are cleared with its publishers by music supervisor P.J. Bloom, and music producer Adam Anders arranges it for the Glee cast. Numbers are pre- recorded by the cast, while the show's choreographers (Zach Woodlee in previous seasons; Brooke Lipton and Mandy Moore in season 5) construct the accompanying dance moves, which are then taught to the cast and filmed. Studio recordings of tracks is then made. The process begins six to eight weeks before each episode is filmed, and can end as late as the day before filming begins. The list below contains all 119 musical performances of the fifth season, with each performance delivering an individual song or a mashup of two or more songs in a single performance. List of songs in Glee (season 1), List of songs in Glee (season 2), List of songs in Glee (season 3), List of songs in Glee (season 4), List of songs in Glee (season 6), Glee albums discography General Singles:, All releases: Specific

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Race and ethnicity in the United States is a complex topic because the United States of America has a racially and ethnically diverse population. At the federal level, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. The most recent United States Census officially recognized five racial categories (White American, Black or African American, Native American and Alaska Native, Asian American, and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander) as well as people of two or more races. The Census Bureau also classified respondents as "Hispanic or Latino" or "Not Hispanic or Latino", identifying Hispanic and Latino as an ethnicity (not a race), which comprises the largest minority group in the nation. The United States Supreme Court unanimously held that "race" is not limited to Census designations on the "race question" but extends to all ethnicities, and thus can include Jewish, Arab, Hungarian, Laotian, Zulu, etc. The Census also asked an "Ancestry Question," which covers the broader notion of ethnicity, in the 2000 Census long form and the American Community Survey; the question will return in the 2020 Census. , White Americans are the racial majority. African Americans are the largest racial minority, comprising an estimated 12.7% of the population. Hispanic and Latino Americans are the largest ethnic minority, comprising an estimated 17.8% of the population. The White, non-Hispanic or Latino population make up 61.3% of the nation's total, with the total White population (including White Hispanics and Latinos) being 76.9%. White Americans are the majority in every census- defined region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) and in every state except Hawaii, but contribute the highest proportion of the population in the Midwestern United States, at 85% per the Population Estimates Program (PEP) or 83% per the American Community Survey (ACS). Non-Hispanic Whites make up 79% of the Midwest's population, the highest ratio of any region. However, 35% of White Americans (whether all White Americans or non-Hispanic/Latino only) live in the South, the most of any region. Currently, 55% of the African American population lives in the South. A plurality or majority of the other official groups reside in the West. The latter region is home to 42% of Hispanic and Latino Americans, 46% of Asian Americans, 48% of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 68% of Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, 37% of the "two or more races" population (Multiracial Americans), and 46% of those self- designated as "some other race". The five inhabited U.S. territories are ethnically diverse — American Samoa has a high percentage of Pacific Islanders, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are mostly Asian and Pacific Islander, Puerto Rico is mostly Hispanic/Latino, and the U.S. Virgin Islands is mostly African-American. The first United States Census in 1790 classed residents as "free white" people (divided by age and sex), "all other free persons" (reported by sex and color), and "slaves". The 2000 Census officially recognized six racial categories including people of two or more races; a category called "some other race" was also used in the census and other surveys, but is not official. In the 2000 Census and subsequent Census Bureau surveys, Americans self-described as belonging to these racial groups: White American, European American, or Middle Eastern American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Following consultations with Middle East and North Africa (MENA) organizations, the Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab world., Black or African American: those having origins in any of the native peoples of Sub-Saharan Africa., Native American or Alaska Native: those having origins in any of the original peoples of North, Central and South America, irrespective of whether they maintain tribal affiliation or community attachment., Asian American: those having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, North Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent., Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander: those having origins in any of the original peoples of Polynesia, Melanesia, or Micronesia., Other: respondents wrote how they identified themselves if different from the preceding categories (e.g. Roma or Aboriginal/Indigenous Australian). However, 95% of the people who report in this category are Hispanic Mestizos. This is not a standard OMB race category. Responses have included mixed-race terms such as Métis, Creole, and Mulatto, which are generally considered to be categories of multi-racial ancestry (see below), but, write-in entries reported in the 2000 census also included nationalities (as opposed to ethnicities), such as South African, Belizean, or Puerto Rican, as well as other terms for mixed-race groups like Wesort, Melungeon, mixed, interracial, and others., Two or more races, widely known as multiracial: those who check off and/or write in more than one race. There is no option labelled "two or more races" or "multiracial" on census and other forms; people who report more than one of the foregoing six options are classified as people of "two or more races" in subsequent processing. Any respondent may identify with any number (including all six) of the racial categories. Each person has two identifying attributes, racial identity and whether or not they are of Hispanic ethnicity. These categories are sociopolitical constructs and should not be interpreted as being scientific or anthropological in nature. They have been changed from one census to another, and the racial categories include both "racial" and national-origin groups. In 2007, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of the US Department of Labor finalized the update of its EEO-1 report format and guidelines concerning the definitions of racial/ethnic categories. The question on Hispanic or Latino origin is separate from the question on race. Hispanic and Latino Americans have ethnic origins in the countries of Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Latin American countries are, like the United States, racially diverse. Consequently, no separate racial category exists for Hispanic and Latino Americans, as they do not constitute a race, nor a national group. When responding to the race question on the census form, each person is asked to choose from among the same racial categories as all Americans, and are included in the numbers reported for those races. Each racial category may contain Non-Hispanic or Latino and Hispanic or Latino Americans. For example: the White or European-American race category contains Non-Hispanic Whites and Hispanic Whites (see White Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Black or African-American category contains Non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanic Blacks (see Black Hispanic and Latino Americans); the Asian-American category contains Non-Hispanic Asians and Hispanic Asians (see Asian Hispanic and Latino Americans); and likewise for all the other categories. See the section on Hispanic and Latino Americans in this article. Self-identifying as both Hispanic or Latino and not Hispanic or Latino is neither explicitly allowed nor explicitly prohibited. In the United States since its early history, Native Americans, Africans and Europeans were considered to belong to different races. For nearly three centuries, the criteria for membership in these groups were similar, comprising a person's appearance, their social circle (how they lived), and their . History played a part, as persons with known slave ancestors were assumed to be African (or, in later usage, black), regardless of whether they also had European ancestry. The differences between how Native American and Black identities are defined today (blood quantum versus one-drop and political assumptions) have been based on different historical circumstances. According to the anthropologist Gerald Sider, such racial designations were a means to concentrate power, wealth, privilege and land in the hands of Whites in a society of White hegemony and privilege (Sider 1996; see also Fields 1990). The differences had little to do with biology and more to do with the history of slavery and its racism, and specific forms of White supremacy (the social, geopolitical and economic agendas of dominant Whites vis-à-vis subordinate Blacks and Native Americans). They related especially to the different social places which Blacks and Amerindians occupied in White- dominated 19th-century America. Sider suggests that the blood quantum definition of Native American identity enabled mixed-race Whites to acquire Amerindian lands during the allotment process. The one-drop rule of Black identity, enforced legally in the early 20th century, enabled Whites to preserve their agricultural labor force in the South. The contrast emerged because, as peoples transported far from their land and kinship ties on another continent, they became reduced to valuable commodities as agricultural laborers. In contrast, Amerindian labor was more difficult to control; moreover, Amerindians occupied large territories that became valuable as agricultural lands, especially with the invention of new technologies such as railroads. Sider thinks the blood quantum definition enhanced White acquisition of Amerindian lands in a doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which subjected Native Americans to marginalization and resulted in numerous conflicts related to American expansionism. The political economy of race had different consequences for the descendants of aboriginal Americans and African slaves. The 19th-century blood quantum rule meant that it was relatively easier for a person of mixed Euro-Amerindian ancestry to be accepted as White. The offspring of a few generations of intermarriage between Amerindians and Whites likely would not have been considered Amerindian (at least not in a legal sense). Amerindians could have treaty rights to land, but because an individual with only one Amerindian great-grandparent no longer was classified as Amerindian, he lost a legal claim to Amerindian land, under the allotment rules of the day. According to Sider's theory, Whites were more easily able to acquire Amerindian lands. On the other hand, the same individual who could be denied legal standing in a tribe, according to the government, because he was "too White" to claim property rights, might still have enough visually identifiable Amerindian ancestry to be considered socially as a "half-breed" or breed, and stigmatized by both communities. The 20th-century one-drop rule made it relatively difficult for anyone of known Black ancestry to be accepted as White. The child of an African-American sharecropper and a White person was considered Black by the local communities. In terms of the economics of sharecropping, such a person also would likely become a sharecropper as well, thus adding to the landholder or employer's labor force. In short, this theory suggests that in a 20th-century economy that benefited from sharecropping, it was useful to have as many Blacks as possible. Although some scholars of the Jim Crow period agree that the 20th-century notion of invisible Blackness shifted the color line in the direction of paleness, and "expanded" the labor force in response to Southern Blacks' Great Migration to the North. But, others (such as the historians Joel Williamson, C. Vann Woodward, George M. Fredrickson, and Stetson Kennedy) considered the one-drop rule a consequence of the need to define Whiteness as being pure, and justifying White-on-Black oppression. Over the centuries when Whites wielded power over both Blacks and Amerindians and believed in their inherent superiority over people of color, they created a social order of hypodescent, in which they assigned mixed-race children to the lower-status groups. They were often ignorant of the systems among Native American tribes of social classification, including kinship and hypodescent. The Omaha people, for instance, who had a patrilineal kinship system, classified all children with white fathers as "white", and excluded them as members of the clans and tribe, unless one was formally adopted by a male member. Tribal members might care for mixed-race children of white fathers, but considered them outside the hereditary clan and kinship fundamental to tribal society. The hypodescent social construction related to the racial caste that was associated with African slavery and the conditions of the slave societies. It was made explicit by Virginia and other colonies' laws as early as 1662. Virginia incorporated the Roman principle of partus sequitur ventrem into slave law, saying that children of slave mothers were born into their status. Under English common law for subjects, children's social status was determined by the father, not the mother. But the colonists put Africans outside the category of English subjects. Generally, white men were in positions of power to take sexual advantage of black women slaves. But, historian Paul Heinegg has shown that most free African-American families listed in the censuses of 1790–1810 were, in fact, descended from unions between white women and African men in colonial Virginia, from the years when working classes lived and worked closely together, and before slavery had hardened as a racial caste. In the United States, social and legal conventions developed over time by whites that classified individuals of mixed ancestry into simplified racial categories (Gossett 1997), but these were always porous. The decennial censuses conducted since 1790, after slavery was well established in the United States, included classification of persons by race: white, black, mulatto, and Indian (Nobles 2000). But, the inclusion of mulatto was an explicit acknowledgement of mixed race. In addition, before the Civil War, Virginia and some other states had legal definition of "whiteness" that provided for people being classified as white if no more than 1/8 black. (For example, if not born into slavery, Thomas Jefferson's children by his slave Sally Hemings would have been classified as legally white, as they were 7/8 white by ancestry. Three of the four surviving children entered white society as adults, and their descendants have identified as white.) In the late 18th and 19th centuries, people of mixed race often migrated to frontiers where societies were more open, and they might be accepted as white if satisfying obligations of citizenship. The more familiar "one-drop rule" was not adopted by Virginia and other states until the 20th century, but it classified persons with any known African ancestry as black (Davis 2001). Passage of such laws was often urged by white supremacists and people promoting "racial purity" through eugenics, having forgotten the long history of multi-racial unions in the South that comprised the ancestry of many families. In other countries in the Americas, where mixing among groups was overtly more extensive, social categories have tended to be more numerous and fluid. In some cases, people may move into or out of categories on the basis of a combination of socioeconomic status, social class, ancestry, and appearance (Mörner 1967). The term Hispanic as an ethnonym emerged in the 20th century, with the rise of migration of laborers from Spanish-speaking countries of the western hemisphere to the United States. It includes people who may have been considered racially distinct (Black, White, Amerindian or other mixed groups) in their home countries. Today, the word "Latino" is often used as a synonym for "Hispanic". Even if such categories were earlier understood as racial categories, today they have begun to represent ethno-linguistic categories (regardless of perceived race). Similarly, "Anglo" is now used among many Hispanics to refer to non-Hispanic White Americans or European Americans, most of whom speak the English language but are not of primarily English descent. The United States is a racially diverse country. The growth of the Hispanic population through immigration and high birth rates is noted as a partial factor for the US' population gains in the last quarter-century. The 2000 census revealed that Native Americans had reached their highest documented population, 4.5 million, since the US was founded in 1776. The immigrants to the New World came largely from widely separated regions of the Old World. In the Americas, the immigrant populations began to mix among themselves and with the indigenous inhabitants of the continents. In the United States, for example, most people who identify as African American have some European ancestors, as revealed by genetic studies. In one analysis of those genetic markers that have differing frequencies between continents, European ancestry ranged from an estimated 7% for a sample of Jamaicans to ~ 23 % for a sample of African Americans from New Orleans, where there was historically a large class of mixed race (now called Louisiana Creoles) (Parra et al. 1998). In the United States since its early history, Native Americans, African Americans, and European Americans were classified as belonging to different races. For nearly three centuries, the criteria among whites for membership in these groups were similar, comprising physical appearance, assumption of non- European ancestry, and social circle. The criteria for membership in these races diverged in the late 19th century. During and after Reconstruction, after the emancipation of slaves after the Civil War, in the effort to restore white supremacy in the South, whites began to classify anyone with "one drop" of "black blood", or known African ancestry, to be black. Such a legal definition was not put into law until the early 20th century in most southern states, but many established racial segregation of facilities during the Jim Crow era, after white Democrats regained control of state legislatures in the South. Efforts to track mixing between groups led to an earlier proliferation of historical categories (such as "mulatto" and "octaroon" among persons with partial African descent) and "blood quantum" distinctions, which became increasingly untethered from self-reported ancestry. In the 20th century, efforts to classify the increasingly mixed population of the United States into discrete categories generated many difficulties (Spickard 1992). By the standards used in past censuses, many mixed-race children born in the United States were classified as of a different race than one of their biological parents. In addition, a person may change personal racial identification over time because of cultural aspects, and self-ascribed race can differ from assigned race (Kressin et al. 2003). Until the 2000 census, Latinos were required to identify as one race, and none was Latino. Partly as a result of the confusion generated by the distinction, 32.9% (U.S. census records) of Latino respondents in the 2000 census ignored the specified racial categories and checked "some other race". (Mays et al. 2003 claim a figure of 42%) Historical trends influencing the ethnic demographics of the United States include: Patterns of original settlement, settlement of the Americas by a variety of Native American peoples, including Alaska Natives., settlement of Pacific islands by Polynesian people, including Native Hawaiians, Samoans, the Chamorro people in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands., settlement of Puerto Rico by the Taíno people., settlement of the United States Virgin Islands by the Ciboney, Carib, and Arawaks., Colonization, Colonization of what is now eastern Canada and the area between the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi River as New France. Historical events, including the Expulsion of the Acadians, influenced the ethnic mix, especially in Louisiana, northern New England and New York State., Colonization of the Thirteen Colonies by the Dutch, British, and later immigrants such as Germans from northern Europe., Spanish colonization of the Americas, including Florida, the Southwest, and Puerto Rico, later acquired by the US., Denmark and other historical colonial powers influenced the ethnic makeup of what are now the United States Virgin Islands., The Atlantic slave trade, bringing millions of Africans to the South, Caribbean, and Latin America., Severe reduction of Native American populations in the contiguous United States, mostly because of new infectious diseases carried by European colonists, combined with warfare, Forced migration, Deportation and flight of United Empire Loyalists to Canada, the Caribbean and Britain after the American Revolution, Forced removal of more than one million African Americans in the domestic slave trade from the Upper South to the Deep South during the early 19th century as Americans developed new lands for plantations, Territorial conflict with Native Americans and the Indian removal policy of the 19th century displaced many remaining native populations from east of the Mississippi River to territories to the west, especially to what is now Oklahoma., Immigration, Historical immigration to the United States from all countries of the world and throughout the history of the country, for religious, political and economic reasons. Since the late 19th century, the History of laws concerning immigration and naturalization in the United States and illegal immigration to the United States have influenced the ethnic balance of that immigration. Various groups have been denied entry due to discrimination, economic protectionism, and political conflict with their nation of origin. Other groups have received favored status, such as refugees and nationals of allied nations., Transatlantic migrations from Europe, especially in the 19th century, created ethnic enclaves in many eastern cities and settling many rural areas east of the Mississippi, Immigration from Asia has had the most influence on Hawaii and the West Coast, but has also created predominantly Asian neighborhoods in many major cities across the country., Immigration from Mexico and other existing Latino populations has strongly influenced the Southwest., Westward expansion of the United States, The Royal Proclamation of 1763 restricted the western boundary of European settlement to the watershed east of the Appalachian Mountains; despite the Confederation Congress Proclamation of 1783 and Nonintercourse Acts prohibiting private purchase of Native American lands, the territory between the Mississippi River and Appalachian Mountains granted to the United States by the Treaty of Paris (1783) was gradually opened to white settlers through public purchase of Indian lands., The Homestead Act promoting settlement west of the Mississippi after the Louisiana Purchase, Mormon settlement of Utah, California Gold Rush, Oregon Trail, Klondike Gold Rush promoting settlement of Alaska, Internal migration, African Americans escaped from slavery, sometimes via the Underground Railroad, reaching the free North before the American Civil War., The American Industrial Revolution, promoted urbanization of what was previously a largely agrarian society, Especially as transportation systems have improved over the centuries, it has become relatively easy for many Americans to move from one part of the country to another, given the lack of internal borders and dominance of English in most areas. Many do so for reasons of economic opportunity, climate, or culture., In the 20th century, to seek jobs and escape racial violence, African Americans left the South in the Great Migration and Second Great Migration, moving to Northern, Midwestern, and Western cities, where they had to compete with recent European immigrants., Railroads, promoting migration westwards and streetcar suburbs, created significant ethnic shifts in urban areas., Economics and natural disasters have driven migration, for example during the Dust Bowl, World War II, and since the decline of the Rust Belt, Suburbanization period after World War II, with "white flight" to new housing and away from later social unrest, followed by "black flight", The majority of Native Hawaiians who moved to the mainland U.S. have settled in California., Air conditioning has promoted migration from northern areas to the Sun Belt. The Jet Age promoted vacationing and part-time living in warmer areas (snowbirding). In some cases, immigrants and migrants form ethnic enclaves; in others, mixture creates ethnically diverse neighborhoods. White and European Americans are the majority of people living in the United States. White people are defined by the United States Census Bureau as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa." Like all official U.S. racial categories, "White" has a "not Hispanic or Latino" and a "Hispanic or Latino" component, the latter consisting mostly of White Mexican Americans and White Cuban Americans. White Americans are the majority in 49 of the 50 states, with Hawaii as the exception. Non-Hispanic Whites are the majority in 46 states; Hawaii, New Mexico, California, and Texas (and the District of Columbia) are the exceptions. These five jurisdictions have "minority majorities", i.e. minority groups compose the majority of the population. In addition, all five inhabited U.S. territories have "minority majorities" (in all five major U.S. territories, non-Hispanic whites are a minority). The non-Hispanic White percentage (63% in 2012) tends to decrease every year, and this sub-group is expected to become a plurality of the overall U.S. population after the year 2043. White Americans overall (non-Hispanic Whites together with White Hispanics) are projected to continue as the majority, at 73.1% (or 303 million out of 420 million) in 2050, from currently 77.1%. Although a high proportion of the population is known to have multiple ancestries, in the 2000 census, the first with the option to choose more than one, most people still identified with one racial category. In the 2000 census, self-identified German Americans made up 17.1% of the U.S. population, followed by Irish Americans at 12%, as reported in the 2000 U.S. Census. This makes German and Irish the largest and second-largest self-reported ancestry groups in the United States. Both groups had high rates of immigration to the U.S. beginning in the mid-19th century, triggered by the Great Famine in Ireland and the failed 1848 Revolution in Germany. However, English Americans and British Americans are still considered the largest ethnic group due to a serious under count following the 2000 census whereby many English and British Americans self-identified under the new category entry 'American' considering themselves 'indigenous' because their families had resided in the US for so long or, if of mixed European ancestry, identified with a more recent and differentiated ethnic group. 7.2% of the population listed their ancestry as American on the 2000 census (see American ethnicity). According to the United States Census Bureau, the number of people in the U.S. who reported American and no other ancestry increased from 12.4 million in 1990 to 20.2 million in 2000. This change in reporting represented the largest "growth" of any ethnic group in the United States during the 1990s, but it represented how people reported themselves more than growth through birth rates, for instance, and certainly did not reflect immigration. Most French Americans are believed descended from colonists of Catholic New France; exiled Huguenots, much fewer in number and settling in the eastern English colonies in the late 1600s and early 1700s, needed to assimilate into the majority culture and have intermarried over generations. Isleños of Louisiana and the Hispanos of the Southwest have had, in part, direct Spanish ancestry; most self-reported White Hispanics are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Argentine, and Cuban origins, each of which are multi- ethnic nations. Hispanic immigration has increased from nations of Central and South America. Black and African Americans are citizens and residents of the United States with origins in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Office of Management and Budget, the grouping includes individuals who self-identify as African- American, as well as persons who emigrated from nations in the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa who may alternatively identify as Black or some other written-in race versus African-American given they were not part of the historic US slave system. In this case, grouping is thus based on the geography of the individual, and may contradict or misrepresent their self- identification, for instance not all immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa are "Black". Among these racial outliers are persons from Cape Verde, Madagascar, various Hamito-Semitic populations in East Africa and the Sahel, and the Afrikaners of Southern Africa including such notable figures as the inventor Elon Musk and actress Charlize Theron. African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans or Afro-Americans, and formerly as American Negroes) are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. According to the 2009 American Community Survey, there were 38,093,725 Black and African Americans in the United States, representing 12.4% of the population. There were 37,144,530 non-Hispanic blacks, which comprised 12.1% of the population. This number increased to 42 million according to the 2010 United States Census, when including Multiracial African Americans, making up 14% of the total U.S. population. Black and African Americans make up the second largest group in the United States, but the third largest group after White Americans and Hispanic or Latino Americans (of any race). The majority of the population (55%) lives in the South; compared to the 2000 Census, there has also been a decrease of African Americans in the Northeast and Midwest. The U.S. state/territory with the highest percentage of African-Americans is the U.S. Virgin Islands (76% African-American as of 2010). Most African Americans are the direct descendants of captives from West Africa, who survived the slavery era within the boundaries of the present United States. As an adjective, the term is usually written African-American. The first West Africans were brought to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. The English settlers treated these captives as indentured servants and released them after a number of years. This practice was gradually replaced by the system of race-based slavery used in the Caribbean. All the American colonies had slavery, but it was usually the form of personal servants in the North (where 2% of the people were slaves), and field hands in plantations in the South (where 25% were slaves); by the beginning of the American Revolutionary War 1/5th of the total population was enslaved. During the revolution, some would serve in the Continental Army or Continental Navy, while others would serve the British Empire in Lord Dunmore's Ethiopian Regiment, and other units. By 1804, the northern states (north of the Mason–Dixon line) had abolished slavery. However, slavery would persist in the southern states until the end of the American Civil War and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Following the end of the Reconstruction Era, which saw the first African American representation in Congress, African Americans became disenfranchised and subject to Jim Crow laws, legislation that would persist until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 due to the Civil Rights Movement. According to US Census Bureau data, very few African immigrants self-identify as "African- American" (as "African-American" is usually referring to blacks with deeply rooted ancestry dating back to the US slave period as discussed in the previous paragraph.) On average, less than 5% of African residents self- reported as "African-American" or "Afro-American" on the 2000 US Census. The overwhelming majority of African immigrants (~95%) identified instead with their own respective ethnicities. Self-designation as "African-American" or "Afro-American" was highest among individuals from West Africa (4%-9%), and lowest among individuals from Cape Verde, East Africa and Southern Africa (0%-4%). Nonetheless, African immigrants often develop very successful professional and business working-relationships with African-Americans. In 2008, "Hispanic or Latino origin" was the self-identification of 47 million Americans. They chiefly have origins in the Spanish-speaking nations of Latin America. Very few also come from other places, for example: 0.2% of Hispanic and Latino Americans were born in Asia. The group is heterogeneous in race and national ancestry. The Census Bureau defines "Hispanic or Latino origin" thus: The leading country-of-origin for Hispanic Americans is Mexico (30.7 million), followed by Cuba (1.6 million), as of 2008. In addition, in 2008, 4.2 million people from Puerto Rico (a U.S. territory) moved to the states and the District of Columbia. However, as of 2010, there were 1,648,968 Salvadorans in the United States, the largest of the U.S.-Central American community. Salvadorans are poised to become the third largest Hispanic group by the next census, significantly overtaking and replacing Cubans. Recent estimates already put the Salvadoran population as high as 2 million, as of 2013, the third largest Hispanic-American group. 62.4% of Hispanic and Latino Americans identified as white. 30.5% identified as "some other race" (other than the ones listed). According to the PEP 91.9% of Latinos are white, as these official estimates do not recognize "some other race". In the official estimates, Black or African American Hispanics are the second-largest group, with 1.9 million, or 4.0% of the whole group. The remaining Hispanics are accounted as follows, first per the PEP: 1.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.5% two or more races, 0.7% Asian, and 0.03% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. Per the ACS: 3.9% two or more races, 1.9% Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, and 0.05% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander. In the United States the Hispanic and Latino population has reached 58 million in 2016. According to Pew Research Center the Latino population has been the principal driver of United States demographic growth since 2000. Mexicans make up most of the Hispanic and Latino population 35,758,000. There is also a growth of Hispanics who are receiving a college education in 2015, 40% of Hispanics age 25 and older have had a college experience. In 2000 the percentage was at a low 30%. Among U.S. states, California houses the largest population percentage of Latinos. In 2015, 15.2 million Hispanics lived in California. The U.S. state/territory with the largest percentage of Hispanics/Latinos is Puerto Rico (99% Hispanic or Latino). The Hispanic or Latino population is young and fast-growing, due to immigration and higher birth rates. For decades it has contributed significantly to U.S. population increases, and this is expected to continue. The Census Bureau projects that by 2050, one-quarter of the population will be Hispanic or Latino. A third significant minority is the Asian American population, comprising 19.4 million in 2013, or 6.0% of the U.S. population. California is home to 4.5 million Asian Americans, whereas 495,000 live in Hawaii, where they compose the plurality, at 38.5% of the islands' people. This is their largest share of any state. Historically first concentrated on Hawaii and the West Coast, Asian Americans now live across the country, living and working in large numbers in New York City, Chicago, Boston, Houston, and other major urban centers. There are also many Asians living in two Pacific U.S. territories (Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands) — as of 2010, Guam's population was 32.2% Asian, and the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 49.9% Asian. In 2017, Hawaii's population was 38% Asian (540,556 Asians). Their histories are diverse. As with the new immigration from central and eastern Europe to the East Coast from the mid-19th century on, Asians started immigrating to the United States in large numbers in the 19th century. This first major wave of immigration consisted predominantly of Chinese and Japanese laborers, but also included Korean and South Asian immigrants. Many immigrants also came during and after this period from the Philippines, which was a US colony from 1898 to 1946. Exclusion laws and policies largely prohibited and curtailed Asian immigration until the 1940s. After the US changed its immigration laws during the 1940s to 1960s to make entry easier, a much larger new wave of immigration from Asia began. Today the largest self-identified Asian American sub-groups according to census data are Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans, and Japanese Americans, among other groups. Not all of Asian Americans' ancestors directly migrated from their country of origin to the US. For example, over 270,000 people from Guyana, a South American country, reside in the US. But a predominant amount of Guyanese people are Indo-Guyanese, or are of Indian descent. Indigenous peoples of the Americas, particularly Native Americans, made up 0.8% of the population in 2008, numbering 2.4 million. An additional 2.3 million persons declared part-American Indian or Alaska Native ancestry. The legal and official designation of who is Native American has aroused controversy by demographers, tribal nations, and government officials for many decades. Federally recognized tribes and state recognized tribes set their own membership requirements; tribal enrollment may require residency on a reservation, documented lineal descent from recognized records, such as the Dawes Rolls, and other criteria. Some tribes have adopted the use of blood quantum, requiring members to have a certain percentage. The federal government requires individuals to certify documented blood quantum of ancestry for certain federal programs, such as education benefits, available to members of recognized tribes. But Census takers accept any respondent's identification. Genetic scientists estimated that more than 15 million other Americans, including African Americans and Hispanic Americans (specifically those of Mexican heritage), may have up to one quarter of American Indian ancestry. Once thought to face extinction as a race or culture, Native Americans of numerous tribes have achieved revival of aspects of their cultures, together with asserting their sovereignty and direction of their own affairs since the mid-20th century. Many have started language programs to revive use of traditional languages; some have established tribally controlled colleges and other schools on their reservations, so that education is expressive of their cultures. Since the late 20th century, many tribes have developed gaming casinos on their sovereign land to raise revenues for economic development, as well as to promote the education and welfare of their people through health care and construction of improved housing. Today more than 800,000 to one million persons claim Cherokee descent in part or as full- bloods; of these, an estimated 300,000 live in California, 70,000—160,000 in Oklahoma, and 15,000 in North Carolina in ancestral homelands. The second largest tribal group is the Navajo, who call themselves Diné and live on a 16-million acre (65,000 km²) Indian reservation covering northeast Arizona, northwest New Mexico, and southeast Utah. It is home to half of the 450,000 Navajo Nation members. The third largest group are the Lakota (Sioux) Nation, with distinct federally recognized tribes located in the states of Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana, Wyoming; and North and South Dakota. Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders numbered 427,810 in 2008, or 0.1% of the population. Additionally, nearly as many individuals identify as having partial Native Hawaiian ancestry, for a total of 829,949 people of full or part Native Hawaiian ancestry. This group constitutes the smallest minority in the United States. More than half identify as "full-blooded", but historically most Native Hawaiians on the island chain of Hawaii are believed to have admixture with Asian and European ancestries. But, the Census takes reporting by individuals as to how they identify. Some demographers believe that by the year 2025, the last full-blooded Native Hawaiian will die off, leaving a culturally distinct, but racially mixed population. The total number of persons who have identified as Native Hawaiian in 2008 was more than the estimated Hawaiian population when the US annexed the islands in 1898. Native Hawaiians are receiving ancestral land reparations. Throughout Hawaii, they are working to preserve and assert adaptation of Native Hawaiian customs and the Hawaiian language. They have cultural schools solely for legally Native Hawaiian students. (See also, Hawaiian Renaissance and Hawaiian sovereignty movement). There are significant Pacific Islander populations living in three Pacific U.S. territories (American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands). As of 2010, American Samoa's population was 92.6% Pacific Islander (mostly Samoan), Guam's population was 49.3% Pacific Islander (mostly Chamorro), and the population of the Northern Mariana Islands was 34.9% Pacific Islander. Out of all U.S. states/territories, American Samoa has the highest percentage of Pacific Islanders. According to the Arab American Institute (AAI), countries of origin for Arab Americans include Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. There are an estimated 1.9-2.0 million Middle Eastern Americans according to the U.S. Census, including both Arab and non-Arab Americans, comprising 0.6% of the total U.S. population; however, the Arab American Institute estimates a population closer to 3.6 million. U.S. Census population estimates are based on responses to the ancestry question on the census, which makes it difficult to accurately count Middle Eastern Americans. Though Middle Eastern American communities can be found in each of the 50 states, the majority live in just 10 states with nearly "one third of the total liv[ing] in California, New York, and Michigan". More Middle Eastern Americans live in California than any other state, with ethnic groups such as Arabs, Jews, Persians, and Armenians being a large percentage, but Middle Eastern Americans represent the highest percentage of the population of Michigan. In particular, Dearborn, Michigan has long been home to a high concentration of Middle Eastern Americans. The United States Census Bureau is presently finalizing the ethnic classification of MENA populations. Middle Eastern Americans are counted as White on the census. In 2012, prompted in part by post-9/11 discrimination, the American- Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee petitioned the Department of Commerce's Minority Business Development Agency to designate the MENA populations as a minority/disadvantaged community. Following consultations with MENA organizations, the US Census Bureau announced in 2014 that it would establish a new MENA ethnic category for populations from the Middle East, North Africa and the Arab world, separate from the "white" classification that these populations had previously sought in 1909. The expert groups felt that the earlier "white" designation no longer accurately represents MENA identity, so they successfully lobbied for a distinct categorization. This process does not currently include ethnoreligious groups such as Jews, who originate from the Levant, or Sikhs, as the Bureau only tabulates these groups as followers of religions rather than members of ethnic groups. As of December 2015, the sampling strata for the new MENA category includes the Census Bureau's working classification of 19 MENA groups, as well as Turkish, Sudanese, Somali, Mauritanian, Armenian, Cypriot, Afghan, Iranian, Azerbaijani and Georgian groups. Self-identified multiracial Americans numbered 7.0 million in 2008, or 2.3% of the population. They have identified as any combination of races (White, Black or African American, Asian, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, "some other race") and ethnicities. The U.S. has a growing multiracial identity movement. While the colonies and southern states protected white fathers by making all children born to slave mothers be classified as slaves, regardless of paternity, they also banned miscegenation or interracial marriage, most notably between whites and blacks. This did little to stop interracial relationships, except as legal, consensual unions. Demographers state that, due to new waves of immigration, the American people through the early 20th century were mostly multi-ethnic descendants of various immigrant nationalities, who maintained cultural distinctiveness until, over time, assimilation, migration and integration took place. The Civil Rights Movement through the 20th century gained passage of important legislation to enforce constitutional rights of minorities. According to James P. Allen and Eugene Turner from California State University, Northridge, by some calculations in the 2000 Census, the multiracial population that is part white (which is the largest percentage of the multiracial population), is as follows: white/Native American and Alaskan Native, at 7,015,017,, white/black at 737,492,, white/Asian at 727,197, and, white/Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander at 125,628. A 2002 study found an average of 18.6% European genetic contribution and 2.7% Native American genetic contribution (with standard errors 1.5% and 1.4% respectively) in a sample of 232 African Americans. Meanwhile, in a sample of 187 European Americans from State College, Pennsylvania, there was an average of 0.7% West African genetic contribution and 3.2% Native American genetic contribution (with standard errors 0.9% and 1.6% respectively). Most of the non-European admixture was concentrated in 30% of the sample, with West African admixture ranging from 2 to 20%, with an average of 2.3%. In 1958 Robert Stuckert produced a statistical analysis using historical census data and immigration statistics. He concluded that the growth in the White population could not be attributed solely to births in the White population and immigration from Europe, but was also due to people identifying as white who were partly black. He concluded that 21 percent of white Americans had some recent African-American ancestors. He also concluded that the majority of Americans of known African descent were partly European and not entirely sub- Saharan African. More recently, many different DNA studies have shown that many African Americans have European admixture, reflecting the long history in this country of the various populations. Proportions of European admixture in African-American DNA have been found in studies to be 17% and between 10.6% and 22.5%. Another recent study found the average to be 21.2%, with a standard error of 1.2%. The Race, Ethnicity, and Genetics Working Group of the National Human Genome Research Institute notes that "although genetic analyses of large numbers of loci can produce estimates of the percentage of a person's ancestors coming from various continental populations, these estimates may assume a false distinctiveness of the parental populations, since human groups have exchanged mates from local to continental scales throughout history." In the 2000 census, the non-standard category of "Other" was especially intended to capture responses such as Mestizo and Mulatto, two large multiracial groups in most of the countries of origin of Hispanic and Latino Americans. However, many other responses are captured by the category. In 2008 15.0 million people, nearly 5% of the total U.S. population, were estimated to be "some other race", with 95% of them being Hispanic or Latino. Due to this category's non-standard status, statistics from government agencies other than the Census Bureau (for example: the Centers for Disease Control's data on vital statistics, or the FBI's crime statistics), but also the Bureau's own official Population Estimates, omit the "some other race" category and include most of the people in this group in the white population, thus including the vast majority (about 90%) of Hispanic and Latino Americans in the white population. For an example of this, see The World Factbook, published by the Central Intelligence Agency. The ancestry of the people of the United States of America is widely varied and includes descendants of populations from around the world. In addition to its variation, the ancestry of people of the United States is also marked by varying amounts of intermarriage between ethnic and racial groups. While some Americans can trace their ancestry back to a single ethnic group or population in Europe, Africa, or Asia, these are often first- and second-generation Americans. Generally, the degree of mixed heritage increases the longer one's ancestors have lived in the United States (see melting pot). In theory, there are several means available to discover the ancestry of the people living in the United States, including genealogy, genetics, oral and written history, and analysis of Federal Population Census schedules. In practice, only few of these have been used for a larger part of the population. According to the 2010–2015 American Community Survey, the twenty largest ancestry groups in the United States were (see above for the OMB self- designation options): These images display frequencies of self-reported ancestries, as of the 2000 U.S. Census. Regional African ancestries are not listed, though an African American map has been added from another source. These images display frequencies of self-reported European American ancestries as of the 2000 U.S. Census. Historical racial and ethnic demographics of the United States, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Language Spoken at Home (U.S. Census) American Factfinder; keyword search for "Ancestry", all programs; United States Census Bureau, For additional county-level U.S. maps on a wide range of ethnic and nationality groups, visit the Map Gallery of Ethnic Groups in the United States, part of the course materials for American Ethnic Geography at Valparaiso University. At the end of 2016, the Prison Policy Initiative estimated that in the United States, about 2,298,300 people were incarcerated out of a population of 324.2 million. This means that 0.7% of the population was behind bars. Of those who were incarcerated, about 1,316,000 people were in state prison, 615,000 in local jails, 225,000 in federal prisons, 48,000 in youth correctional facilities, 34,000 in immigration detention camps, 22,000 in involuntary commitment, 11,000 in territorial prisons, 2,500 in Indian Country jails, and 1,300 in United States military prisons. Total U.S. incarceration (prisons and jails) peaked in 2008. Total correctional population peaked in 2007. If all prisoners are counted (including those juvenile, territorial, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) (immigration detention), Indian country, and military), then in 2008 the United States had around 24.7% of the world's 9.8 million prisoners. The United States has the highest documented incarceration rate in the world, at 754 per 100,000 (). As of December 31, 2010, the International Centre for Prison Studies (ICPS) at King's College London estimated 2,266,832 prisoners from a total population of 310.64 million as of this date (730 per 100,000 in 2010). This number comprises local jails with a nominal capacity of 866,782 inmates occupied at 86.4% (June 6, 2010), state prisons with a nominal capacity of approximately 1,140,500 occupied at approximately 115% (December 31, 2010), and federal prisons with a nominal capacity of 126,863 occupied at 136.0% (December 31, 2010). Of this number, 21.5% are pretrial detainees (December 31, 2010), 8.7% are female prisoners (December 31, 2010), 0.4% are juveniles (June 6, 2009), and 5.9% are foreign prisoners (June 30, 2007). The imprisonment rate varies widely by state; Louisiana surpasses this by about 100%, but Maine incarcerates at about a fifth this rate. A report released 28 February 2008, indicates that more than 1 in 100 adults in the United States are in prison. According to a U.S. Department of Justice report published in 2006, over 7.2 million people were at that time in prison, on probation, or on parole (released from prison with restrictions). That means roughly 1 in every 32 adult Americans are under some sort of criminal justice system control. In the last forty years, incarceration has increased with rates upwards of 500% despite crime rates decreasing nationally. Between the years 2001 and 2012, crime rates (both property and violent crimes) have consistently declined at a rate of 22% after already falling an additional 30% in years prior between 1991 and 2001. As of 2012, there are 710 people per every 100,000 U.S. residents in the United States that are imprisoned in either local jails, state prisons, federal prisons, and privately operated facilities. This correlates to incarcerating a number close to almost a quarter of the prison population in the entire world. Mass incarceration is an intervening variable to more incarceration. The Bureau of Justice Statistics has released a study which finds that, despite the total number of prisoners incarcerated for drug-related offenses increasing by 57,000 between 1997 and 2004, the proportion of drug offenders to total prisoners in State prison populations stayed steady at 21%. The percentage of Federal prisoners serving time for drug offenses declined from 63% in 1997 to 55% in that same period. In the twenty-five years since the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, the United States penal population rose from around 300,000 to more than two million. Between 1986 and 1991, African-American women's incarceration in state prisons for drug offenses increased by 828 percent. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the growth rate of the state prison population had fallen to its lowest since 2006, but it still had a 0.2% growth-rate compared to the total U.S. prison population. The California state prison system population fell in 2009, the first year that populations had fallen in 38 years. When looking at specific populations within the criminal justice system the growth rates are vastly different. In 1977, there were just slightly more than eleven thousand incarcerated women. By 2004, the number of women under state or federal prison had increased by 757 percent, to more than 111,000, and the percentage of women in prison has increased every year, at roughly double the rate of men, since 2000. The rate of incarcerated women has expanded at about 4.6% annually between 1995 and 2005 with women now accounting for 7% of the population in state and federal prisons. Comparing some countries with similar percentages of immigrants, Germany has an incarceration rate of 76 per 100,000 population (as of 2014), Italy is 85 per 100,000 (as of 2015), and Saudi Arabia is 161 per 100,000 (as of 2013). Comparing other countries with a zero tolerance policy for illegal drugs, the rate of Russia is 455 per 100,000 (as of 2015), Kazakhstan is 275 per 100,000 (as of 2015), Singapore is 220 per 100,000 (as of 2014), and Sweden is 60 per 100,000 (as of 2014). A 2014 report by the National Research Council identified two main causes of the increase in the United States' incarceration rate over the previous 40 years: longer prison sentences and increases in the likelihood of imprisonment. The same report found that longer prison sentences were the main driver of increasing incarceration rates since 1990. Even though there are other countries that commit more inmates to prison annually, the fact that the United States keeps their prisoners longer causes the total rate to become higher. To give an example, the average burglary sentence in the United States is 16 months, compared to 5 months in Canada and 7 months in England. Looking at reasons for imprisonment will further clarify why the incarceration rate and length of sentences are so high. The practice of imposing longer prison sentences on repeat offenders is common in many countries but the three-strikes laws in the U.S. with mandatory 25 year imprisonment — implemented in many states in the 1990s — are statutes enacted by state governments in the United States which mandate state courts to impose harsher sentences on habitual offenders who are previously convicted of two prior serious criminal offenses and then commit a third. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 contributed to the mass incarceration. Crime rates in low-income areas are much higher than in middle to high class areas. As a result, Incarceration rates in low-income areas are much higher than in wealthier areas due to these high crime rates. When the incarcerated or criminal is a youth, there is a significant impact on the individual and rippling effects on entire communities. Social capital is lost when an individual is incarcerated. How much social capital is lost is hard to accurately estimate, however Aizer and Doyle found a strong positive correlation between lower income as an adult if an individual is incarcerated in their youth in comparison to those who are not incarcerated. 63 percent to 66 percent of those involved in crimes are under the age of thirty. People incarcerated at a younger age lose the capability to invest in themselves and in their communities. Their children and families become susceptible to financial burden preventing them from escaping low-income communities. This contributes to the recurring cycle of poverty that is positively correlated with incarceration. Poverty rates have not been curbed despite steady economic growth. Poverty is not the sole dependent variable for increasing incarceration rates. Incarceration leads to more incarceration by putting families and communities at a dynamic social disadvantage. The "War on Drugs" is a policy that was initiated by Richard Nixon with the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 and vigorously pursued by Ronald Reagan. By 2010, drug offenders in federal prison had increased to 500,000 per year, up from 41,000 in 1985. According to Michelle Alexander, drug related charges accounted for more than half the rise in state prisoners between 1985 and 2000. 31 million people have been arrested on drug related charges, approximately 1 in 10 Americans. In contrast, John Pfaff of Fordham Law School has accused Alexander of exaggerating the influence of the War on Drugs on the rise in the United States' incarceration rate: according to him, the percent of state prisoners whose primary offense was drug-related peaked at 22% in 1990. The Brookings Institution reconciles the differences between Alexander and Pfaff by explaining two ways to look at the prison population as it relates to drug crimes, concluding "The picture is clear: Drug crimes have been the predominant reason for new admissions into state and federal prisons in recent decades" and "rolling back the war on drugs would not, as Pfaff and Urban Institute scholars maintain, totally solve the problem of mass incarceration, but it could help a great deal, by reducing exposure to prison." After the passage of Reagan's Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1986, incarceration for non-violent offenses dramatically increased. The Act imposed the same five-year mandatory sentence on those with convictions involving crack as on those possessing 100 times as much powder cocaine. This had a disproportionate effect on low-level street dealers and users of crack, who were more commonly poor blacks, Latinos, the young, and women. Courts were given more discretion in sentencing by the Kimbrough v. United States (2007) decision, and the disparity was decreased to 18:1 by the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010. , 49.3% of state prisoners, or 656,000 individuals, were incarcerated for non-violent crimes. , 90.7% of federal prisoners, or 165,457 individuals, were incarcerated for non-violent offenses. By 2003, 58% of all women in federal prison were convicted of drug offenses. Black and Hispanic women in particular have been disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs. Since 1986, incarceration rates have risen by 400% for women of all races, while rates for Black women have risen by 800%. Formerly incarcerated Black women are also most negatively impacted by the collateral legal consequences of conviction. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, "Even when women have minimal or no involvement in the drug trade, they are increasingly caught in the ever-widening net cast by current drug laws, through provisions of the criminal law such as those involving conspiracy, accomplice liability, and constructive possession that expand criminal liability to reach partners, relatives and bystanders." These new policies also disproportionately affect African-American women. According to Dorothy E. Roberts, the explanation is that poor women, who are disproportionately black, are more likely to be placed under constant supervision by the State in order to receive social services. They are then more likely to be caught by officials who are instructed to look specifically for drug offenses. Roberts argues that the criminal justice system's creation of new crimes has a direct effect on the number of women, especially black women, who then become incarcerated. One of the first laws in the U.S. against drugs was the Opium Exclusion Act of 1909. It prohibited the smoking of opium, which was ingested but not smoked by a substantial portion of Caucasian housewives in America. It was smoked mainly by Asian American immigrants coming to build the railroads. These immigrants were targeted with anti-Asian sentiment, as many voters believed they were losing jobs to Asian immigrants. Currently, the U.S. is at its highest rate of imprisonment in history, with young Black men experiencing the highest levels of incarceration. A 2004 study reported that the majority of people sentenced to prison in the United States are Black, and almost one-third of Black men in their twenties are either on parole, on probation, or in prison. These disproportionate levels of imprisonment have made incarceration a normalized occurrence for African- American communities. This has caused a distrust from Black individuals towards aspects of the legal system such as police, courts, and heavy sentences. In 2011, more than 580,000 Black men and women were in state or federal prison. Black men and women are imprisoned at higher rates compared to all other age groups, with the highest rate being Black men aged 25 to 39. In 2001, almost 17% of Black men had previously been imprisoned in comparison to 2.6% of White men. By the end of 2002, of the two million inmates of the U.S. incarceration system, Black men surpassed the number of White men (586,700 to 436,800 respectively of inmates with sentences more than one year). In the same year, there were also more Black women behind bars than White women (36,000 to 35,400). African-Americans are about eight times more likely to be imprisoned than Whites. The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based non- profit organization, released in 1990 that almost one in four Black men in the U.S. between the ages of 20 and 29 were under some degree of control by the criminal justice system. In 1995, the organization announced that the rate had increased to one in three. In the same year, the non-profit stated that more than half of young Black men were then under criminal supervision in both D.C. and Baltimore. In addition, African-American women are the largest growing incarcerated population. The War on Drugs plays a role in the disproportionate amount of incarcerated African-Americans. Despite a general decline in crime, the massive increase in new inmates due to drug offenses ensured historically high incarceration rates during the 1990s and beyond, with New York City serving as an example. Drug-related arrests continued to increase in the city despite a near 50% drop in felony crimes. While White individuals have a higher rate of drug use, 60% of people imprisoned for drug charges in 1998 were Black. Drug crimes constituted 27% of the increase in the number of Black state prisoners in the 1990s, while Whites experienced a 14% increase. The rise in African-American imprisonment as a result of newer drug crimes has been justified for its alleged societal benefits. Law officials and advocates of these policies argue that targeting underserved, primarily inner-city neighborhoods is appropriate because these areas see the more harmful and violent effects of drug use. These same individuals further point to the negative effects drug distribution has on these areas to support the inequity in how crimes involving, for example, powdered cocaine can be treated with less severity than crack cocaine. This ideology results in a greater number of arrests of poor, inner-city Black individuals. A significant contributing factor to these figures are the racially and economically segregated neighborhoods that account for the majority of the Black prison population. These neighborhoods are normally impoverished and possess a high minority population. For example, as many as one in eight adult males who inhabit these urban areas is sent to prison each year, and one in four of these men is in prison on any given day. A 1992 study revealed that 72% of all New York State’s prisoners came from only 7 of New York City’s 55 community board districts. Many recently-released individuals return to the area they lived in prior to incarceration. Also in New York City, rates of incarceration stayed the same or grew in 1996 in neighborhoods that had the highest rates in 1990. Additionally, in these same neighborhoods, there was a stronger police presence and parole surveillance despite a period of a general decline in crime. Finding employment post-release is a significant struggle for African- Americans. American sociologist Devah Pager performed a study to prove this. She assembled pairs of fake job seekers to find jobs with résumés that portrayed the applicant had a criminal record. The findings indicated that the presence of a criminal record reduced callbacks by approximately 50%. This was more common for African-Americans than for Whites. There is a 31% incarceration history for Black men who have sex with men (BMSM). According to the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the odds of incarceration are even higher among Black transgender women compared to BMSM. Incarceration is also higher among BMSM aged 35 or older compared to younger populations, and is more prevalent among BMSM who identify as heterosexual or straight. In the 1980s, the rising number of people incarcerated as a result of the War on Drugs and the wave of privatization that occurred under the Reagan Administration saw the emergence of the for-profit prison industry. Prior to the 1980s, private prisons did not exist in the US. In a 2011 report by the ACLU, it is claimed that the rise of the for-profit prison industry is a "major contributor" to "mass incarceration," along with bloated state budgets. Louisiana, for example, has the highest rate of incarceration in the world with the majority of its prisoners being housed in privatized, for-profit facilities. Such institutions could face bankruptcy without a steady influx of prisoners. A 2013 Bloomberg report states that in the past decade the number of inmates in for-profit prisons throughout the U.S. rose 44 percent. Corporations who operate prisons, such as the Corrections Corporation of America and The GEO Group, spend significant amounts of money lobbying the federal government along with state governments. The two aforementioned companies, the largest in the industry, have been contributors to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which seeks to expand the privatization of corrections and lobbies for policies that would increase incarceration, such as three-strike laws and "truth-in-sentencing" legislation. Prison companies also sign contracts with states that guarantee at least 90 percent of prison beds be filled. If these "lockup quotas" aren't met, the state must reimburse the prison company for the unused beds. Prison companies use the profits to expand and put pressure on lawmakers to incarcerate a certain number of people. This influence on the government by the private prison industry has been referred to as the Prison–industrial complex. The industry is well aware of what reduced crime rates could mean to their bottom line. This from the CCA's SEC report in 2010: Our growth … depends on a number of factors we cannot control, including crime rates … [R]eductions in crime rates … could lead to reductions in arrests, convictions and sentences requiring incarceration at correctional facilities. Gallup polling since 1989 has found that in most years in which there was a decline in the U.S. crime rate, a majority of Americans said that violent crime was getting worse. A substantial body of research claims that incarceration rates are primarily a function of media editorial policies, largely unrelated to the actual crime rate. Constructing Crime: Perspectives on Making News and Social Problems is a book collecting together papers on this theme. The researchers say that the jump in incarceration rate from 0.1% to 0.5% of the United States population from 1975 to 2000 (documented in the figure above) was driven by changes in the editorial policies of the mainstream commercial media and is unrelated to any actual changes in crime. Media consolidation reduced competition on content. That allowed media company executives to maintain substantially the same audience while slashing budgets for investigative journalism and filling the space from the police blotter, which tended to increase and stabilize advertising revenue. It is safer, easier and cheaper to write about crimes committed by poor people than the wealthy. Poor people can be libeled with impunity, but major advertisers can materially impact the profitability of a commercial media organization by reducing their purchases of advertising space with that organization. News media thrive on feeding frenzies (such as missing white women) because they tend to reduce production costs while simultaneously building an audience interested in the latest development in a particular story. It takes a long time for a reporter to learn enough to write intelligently about a specific issue. Once a reporter has achieved that level of knowledge, it is easier to write subsequent stories. However, major advertisers have been known to spend their advertising budgets through different channels when they dislike the editorial policies. Therefore, a media feeding frenzy focusing on an issue of concern to an advertiser may reduce revenue and profits. Sacco described how "competing news organizations responded to each other's coverage [while] the police, in their role as gatekeepers of crime news, reacted to the increased media interest by making available more stories that reflected and reinforced" a particular theme. "[T]he dynamics of competitive journalism created a media feeding frenzy that found news workers 'snatching at shocking numbers' and 'smothering reports of stable or decreasing use under more ominous headlines.'" The reasons cited above for increased incarcerations (US racial demographics, Increased sentencing laws, and Drug sentencing laws) have been described as consequences of the shift in editorial policies of the mainstream media. Additionally, media coverage has been proven to have a profound impact on criminal sentencing. A study conducted found that the more media attention a criminal case is given, the greater the incentive for prosecutors and judges to pursue harsher sentences. This is directly linked to the enormous increase in media coverage of crime over the past two decades. While crime decreased by 8% between 1992 and 2002, news reports on crime increased by 800% and the average prison sentence length increased by 2,000% for all crimes. Less media coverage means a greater chance of a lighter sentence or that the defendant may avoid prison time entirely. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, 80.7% of Federal inmates are U.S. citizens (as of November 2018). 12.1% are citizens of Mexico, and the next three countries—Colombia, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic, contribute less than 1% each. 4.9% have other or unknown citizenship. The Bureau did not state how many had come to the U.S. legally. Comparison of United States incarceration rate with other countries, Felony disenfranchisement in the United States, Incarceration in the United States, List of U.S. states by incarceration rate, Mass incarceration, Mentally ill people in United States jails and prisons, Prison–industrial complex, Race and the War on Drugs, Youth incarceration in the United States Alexander, Michelle (2012). . The New Press., Gottschalk, Marie (2014). Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics. Princeton University Press. Book Hardcover , eBook ., Harcourt, Bernard (2012). The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order. Harvard University Press., Selman, Donna and Paul Leighton (2010). Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers., SpearIt, How Mass Incarceration Underdevelops Latino Communities (April 2, 2015). U.S. Latinos and Criminal Injustice (Michigan State University Press 2015). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2589112 U. S. Crime and Imprisonment Statistics Total and by State from 1960 - Current Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment and rehabilitation for the commission of felony and other offenses. The United States has the largest prison population in the world, and the highest per- capita incarceration rate. In 2018 in the US, there were 698 people incarcerated per 100,000, this includes the incarceration rate for adults or people tried as adults. In 2016, 2.2 million Americans have been incarcerated, which means for every 100,000 there are 655 that are currently inmates. Prison, parole, and probation operations generate an $81 billion annual cost to U.S. taxpayers, while police and court costs, bail bond fees, and prison phone fees generate another $100 billion in costs that are paid by individuals. Additionally, 4,751,400 adults in 2013 (1 in 51) were on probation or on parole. In total, 6,899,000 adults were under correctional supervision (probation, parole, jail, or prison) in 2013 – about 2.8% of adults (1 in 35) in the U.S. resident population. In 2014, the total number of persons in the adult correctional systems had fallen to 6,851,000 persons, approximately 52,200 fewer offenders than at the year-end of 2013 as reported by the BJS. About 1 in 36 adults (or 2.8% of adults in the US) were under some form of correctional supervision – the lowest rate since 1996. On average, the correctional population has declined by 1.0% since 2007; while this continued to stay true in 2014 the number of incarcerated adults slightly increased in 2014. In 2016, the total number of persons in U.S. adult correctional systems was an estimated 6,613,500. From 2007 to 2016, the correctional population decreased by an average of 1.2% annually. By the end of 2016, approximately 1 in 38 persons in the United States were under correctional supervision. In addition, there were 54,148 juveniles in juvenile detention in 2013. Although debtor's prisons no longer exist in the United States, residents of some U.S. states can still be incarcerated for debt . The Vera Institute of Justice reported in 2015 that majority of those incarcerated in local and county jails are there for minor violations, and have been jailed for longer periods of time over the past 30 years because they are unable to pay court-imposed costs. According to a 2014 Human Rights Watch report, "tough-on-crime" laws adopted since the 1980s, have filled U.S. prisons with mostly nonviolent offenders. However, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that, as of the end of 2015, 54% of state prisoners sentenced to more than 1 year were serving time for a violent offense. Fifteen percent of state prisoners at year-end 2015 had been convicted of a drug offense as their most serious. In comparison, 47% of federal prisoners serving time in September 2016 (the most recent date for which data are available) were convicted of a drug offense. This policy failed to rehabilitate prisoners and many were worse on release than before incarceration. Rehabilitation programs for offenders can be more cost effective than prison. In the 1700s, English philanthropists began to focus on the reform of convicted criminals in prisons, which they believed needed a chance to become morally pure in order to stop or slow crime. Since at least 1740, some of these philosophers began thinking of solitary confinement as a way to create and maintain spiritually clean people in prisons. As English people immigrated to North America, so did these theories of penology. Spanish colonizers also brought ideas on confinement and Spanish soldiers in St. Augustine, Florida built the first substantial prison. Some of the first structures built in English-settled America were jails, and by the 18th century, every English North American county had a jail. These jails served a variety of functions such as a holding place for debtors, prisoners-of-war, and political prisoners, those bound in the penal transportation and slavery systems, and of those accused-of but not tried for crimes. Sentences for those convicted of crimes were rarely longer than three months, and often lasted only a day. Poor citizens were often imprisoned for longer than their richer neighbors, as bail was rarely not accepted. One of the first prisons in America was founded in 1790 by the Pennsylvanian Quakers. The Quakers wanted something that was less cruel than dungeon prisons. They created a space where prisoners could read scriptures and repent as a means of self-improvement. In 1841, Dorothea Dix discovered that prison conditions in the US were, in her opinion, inhumane. Prisoners were chained naked, whipped with rods. Others, criminally insane, were caged, or placed in cellars, or closets. She insisted on changes throughout the rest of her life. While focusing on the insane, her comments also resulted in changes for other inmates. After the Civil War and really gaining momentum during the Progressive Era of America, new concepts of the prison system, such as parole, indeterminate sentencing, and probation, were introduced. These soon became mainstream practices in America. At this time there was an increase in crime causing officials to handle crime in a more retributive way. But, as the crime rate declined, they started to focus more on rehabilitation. Researcher Valerie Jenness writes, “Since the 1970s, the final wave of expansion of the prison system, there has been a huge expansion of prisons that exist at the federal and state level. Now, prisons are starting to become a private industry as more and more prisons are starting to become privatized rather than being under government control.” In the United States criminal law is a concurrent power. Individuals who violate state laws and/or territorial laws generally are placed in state or territorial prisons, while those who violate United States federal law are generally placed in federal prisons operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), an agency of the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ). The BOP also houses adult felons convicted of violating District of Columbia laws due to the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997. As of 2004, state prisons proportionately house more violent felons, so state prisons in general gained a more negative reputation compared to federal prisons. In 2016, almost 90% of prisoners were in state prisons; 10% were in federal prisons. At sentencing in federal court, judges use a point system to determine which inmate goes into which housing branch. This helps federal law employees to determine who goes to which facility and to which punishing housing unit to send them. Another method to determine housing is the admission committees. In prisons, multiple people come together to determine to which housing unit an inmate belongs. People like the case manager, psychologist, and social worker have a voice in what is appropriate for the inmate. As of 2016, 2.3 million people were incarcerated in the United States, at a rate of 698 people per 100,000. Total US incarceration peaked in 2008. Total correctional population (prison, jail, probation, parole) peaked in 2007. In 2008 the US had around 24.7% of the world's 9.8 million prisoners. In 2016, almost 7 million people were under some type of control by the correction industry (incarcerated, on probation or parole, etc.). 3.6 million of those people were on probation and 840,000 were on parole. In recent decades the U.S. has experienced a surge in its prison population, quadrupling since 1980, partially as a result of mandatory sentencing that came about during the "War on Drugs." Nearly 53,000 youth were incarcerated in 2015. 4,656 of those were held in adult facilities, while the rest were in juvenile facilities. Of those in juvenile facilities, 69% are 16 or older, while over 500 are 12 or younger. The Prison Policy Initiative broke down those numbers, finding that "black and American Indian youth are overrepresented in juvenile facilities while white youth are underrepresented." Black youth comprise 14% of the national youth population, but "43% of boys and 34% of girls in juvenile facilities are Black. And even excluding youth held in Indian country facilities, American Indians make up 3% of girls and 1.5% of boys in juvenile facilities, despite comprising less than 1% of all youth nationally." As of 2009, the three states with the lowest ratios of imprisoned people per 100,000 population are Maine (150 per 100,000), Minnesota (189 per 100,000), and New Hampshire (206 per 100,000). The three states with the highest ratio are Louisiana (881 per 100,000), Mississippi (702 per 100,000) and Oklahoma (657 per 100,000). A 2018 study by the Prison Policy Initiative placed Oklahoma's incarceration rate as 1,079, supplanting Louisiana (with a rate of 1,052) as "the world's prison capital." A 2005 report estimated that 27% of federal prison inmates are noncitizens, convicted of crimes while in the country legally or illegally. However, federal prison inmates account for six percent of the total incarcerated population; noncitizen populations in state and local prisons are more difficult to establish. Many legislatures continually have reduced discretion of judges in both the sentencing process and the determination of when the conditions of a sentence have been satisfied. Determinate sentencing, use of mandatory minimums, and guidelines-based sentencing continue to remove the human element from sentencing, such as the prerogative of the judge to consider the mitigating or extenuating circumstances of a crime to determine the appropriate length of the incarceration. As the consequence of "three strikes laws," the increase in the duration of incarceration in the last decade was most pronounced in the case of life prison sentences, which increased by 83% between 1992 and 2003 while violent crimes fell in the same period. In 2016, there were an estimated 1.2 million violent crimes committed in the United States. Over the course of that year, U.S. law enforcement agencies made approximately 10.7 million arrests, excluding arrests for traffic violations. In that year, approximately 2.3 million people were incarcerated in jail or prison. As of September 30, 2009 in federal prisons, 7.9% of sentenced prisoners were incarcerated for violent crimes, while at year end 2008 of sentenced prisoners in state prisons, 52.4% had been jailed for violent crimes. In 2002 (latest available data by type of offense), 21.6% of convicted inmates in jails were in prison for violent crimes. Among unconvicted inmates in jails in 2002, 34% had a violent offense as the most serious charge. 41% percent of convicted and unconvicted jail inmates in 2002 had a current or prior violent offense; 46% were nonviolent recidivists. From 2000 to 2008, the state prison population increased by 159,200 prisoners, and violent offenders accounted for 60% of this increase. The number of drug offenders in state prisons declined by 12,400 over this period. Furthermore, while the number of sentenced violent offenders in state prison increased from 2000 through 2008, the expected length of stays for these offenders declined slightly during this period. In 2016, about 200,000, under 16%, of the 1.3 million people in state jails, were serving time for drug offenses. 700,000 were incarcerated for violent offenses. Violent crime was not responsible for the quadrupling of the incarcerated population in the United States from 1980 to 2003. Violent crime rates had been relatively constant or declining over those decades. The prison population was increased primarily by public policy changes causing more prison sentences and lengthening time served, for example through mandatory minimum sentencing, "three strikes" laws, and reductions in the availability of parole or early release. 49% of sentenced state inmates were held for violent offenses. Perhaps the single greatest force behind the growth of the prison population has been the national "War on Drugs". The War on Drugs initiative expanded during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. During Reagan's term, a bi-partisan Congress established the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, galvanized by the death of Len Bias. According to the Human Rights Watch, legislation like this led to the extreme increase in drug offense imprisonment and "increasing racial disproportions among the arrestees". The number of incarcerated drug offenders has increased twelvefold since 1980. In 2000, 22 percent of those in federal and state prisons were convicted on drug charges. In 2011, 55.6% of the 1,131,210 sentenced prisoners in state prisons were being held for violent crimes (this number excludes the 200,966 prisoners being held due to parole violations, of which 39.6% were re-incarcerated for a subsequent violent crime). Also in 2011, 3.7% of the state prison population consisted of prisoners whose highest conviction was for drug possession (again excluding those incarcerated for parole violations of which 6.0% were re- incarcerated for a subsequent act of drug possession). A 2002 study survey, showed that among nearly 275,000 prisoners released in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3 years, and 51.8% were back in prison. However, the study found no evidence that spending more time in prison raises the recidivism rate, and found that those serving the longest time, 61 months or more, had a slightly lower re-arrest rate (54.2%) than every other category of prisoners. This is most likely explained by the older average age of those released with the longest sentences, and the study shows a strong negative correlation between recidivism and age upon release. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a study was conducted that tracked 404,638 prisoners in 30 states after their release from prison in 2005. From the examination it was found that within three years after their release 67.8% of the released prisoners were rearrested; within five years, 76.6% of the released prisoners were rearrested, and of the prisoners that were rearrested 56.7% of them were rearrested by the end of their first year of release. With around 100 prisoners per 100,000, the United States had an average prison and jail population until 1980. Afterwards it drifted apart considerably. The United States has the highest prison and jail population (2,121,600 in adult facilities in 2016), and the highest incarceration rate in the world (655 per 100,000 population in 2016). According to the World Prison Population List (11th edition) there were around 10.35 million people in penal institutions worldwide in 2015. The US had 2,173,800 prisoners in adult facilities in 2015. That means the US held 21.0% of the world's prisoners in 2015, even though the US represented only around 4.4 percent of the world's population in 2015, Comparing other English-speaking developed countries, whereas the incarceration rate of the US is 655 per 100,000 population of all ages, the incarceration rate of Canada is 114 per 100,000 (as of 2015), England and Wales is 146 per 100,000 (as of 2016), and Australia is 160 per 100,000 (as of 2016). Comparing other developed countries, the rate of Spain is 133 per 100,000 (as of 2016), Greece is 89 per 100,000 (as of 2016), Norway is 73 per 100,000 (as of 2016), Netherlands is 69 per 100,000 (as of 2014), and Japan is 48 per 100,000 (as of 2014). A 2008 New York Times article, said that "it is the length of sentences that truly distinguishes American prison policy. Indeed, the mere number of sentences imposed here would not place the United States at the top of the incarceration lists. If lists were compiled based on annual admissions to prison per capita, several European countries would outpace the United States. But American prison stays are much longer, so the total incarceration rate is higher." The U.S. incarceration rate peaked in 2008 when about 1 in 100 US adults was behind bars. This incarceration rate exceeded the average incarceration levels in the Soviet Union during the existence of the Gulag system, when the Soviet Union's population reached 168 million, and 1.2 to 1.5 million people were in the Gulag prison camps and colonies (i.e. about 0.8 imprisoned per 100 USSR residents, according to numbers from Anne Applebaum and Steven Rosefielde). In The New Yorker article The Caging of America (2012), Adam Gopnik writes: "Over all, there are now more people under 'correctional supervision' in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height." According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in 2013 black males accounted for 37% of the total male prison population, white males 32%, and Hispanic males 22%. White females comprised 49% of the prison population in comparison to black females who accounted for 22% of the female population. The imprisonment rate for black females (113 per 100,000) was 2x the rate for white females (51 per 100,000. Out of all ethnic groups, African Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, and Native Americans have some of the highest rates of incarceration. Though, of these groups, the black population is the largest, and therefore make up a large portion of those incarcerated in US prisons and jails. Hispanics (of all races) were 20.6% of the total jail and prison population in 2009. Hispanics comprised 16.3% of the US population according to the 2010 US census. The Northeast has the highest incarceration rates of Hispanics in the nation. Connecticut has the highest Hispanic-to-White incarceration ratio with 6.6 Hispanic males for every white male. The National Average Hispanic-to-White incarceration ratio is 1.8. Other states with high Hispanic-to-White incarcerations include Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. In 2010, adult black non-Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 4,347 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. Adult white males were incarcerated at the rate of 678 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. Adult Hispanic males were incarcerated at the rate of 1,755 inmates per 100,000 U.S. residents. (For female rates see the table below.) Asian Americans have lower incarceration rates than any other racial group, including whites. There is general agreement in the literature that blacks are more likely to be arrested for violent crimes than whites in the United States. Whether this is the case for less serious crimes is less clear. Black majority cities have similar crime statistics for blacks as do cities where majority of population is white. For example, white-plurality San Diego has a slightly lower crime rate for blacks than does Atlanta, a city which has black majority in population and city government. In 2013, by age 18, 30% of black males, 26% of Hispanic males, and 22% of white males have been arrested. By age 23, 49% of black males, 44% of Hispanic males, and 38% of white males have been arrested. According to Attorney Antonio Moore in his Huffington Post article, "there are more African American men incarcerated in the U.S. than the total prison populations in India, Argentina, Canada, Lebanon, Japan, Germany, Finland, Israel and England combined." There are only 19 million African American males in the United States, but collectively these countries represent over 1.6 billion people. Moore has also shown using data from the World Prison Brief & United States Department of Justice that there are more black males incarcerated in the United States than all women imprisoned globally. To give perspective there are just about 4 billion woman in total globally, there are only 19 million black males of all ages in the United States. In 2013, there were 102,400 adult females in local jails in the United States, and 111,300 adult females in state and federal prisons. Within the US, the rate of female incarceration increased fivefold in a two decade span ending in 2001; the increase occurred because of increased prosecutions and convictions of offenses related to recreational drugs, increases in the severities of offenses, and a lack of community sanctions and treatment for women who violate laws. In the United States, authorities began housing women in correctional facilities separate from men in the 1870s. In 2013, there were 628,900 adult males in local jails in the United States, and 1,463,500 adult males in state and federal prisons. In a study of sentencing in the United States in 1984, David B. Mustard found that males received 12 percent longer prison terms than females after "controlling for the offense level, criminal history, district, and offense type," and noted that "females receive even shorter sentences relative to men than whites relative to blacks." A later study by Sonja B. Starr found sentences for men to be up to 60% higher when controlling for more variables. Several explanations for this disparity have been offered, including that women have more to lose from incarceration, and that men are the targets of discrimination in sentencing. Through the juvenile courts and the adult criminal justice system, the United States incarcerates more of its youth than any other country in the world, a reflection of the larger trends in incarceration practices in the United States. This has been a source of controversy for a number of reasons, including the overcrowding and violence in youth detention facilities, the prosecution of youths as adults and the long term consequences of incarceration on the individual's chances for success in adulthood. In 2014, the United Nations Human Rights Committee criticized the United States for about ten judicial abuses, including the mistreatment of juvenile inmates. A UN report published in 2015 criticized the US for being the only nation in the world to sentence juveniles to life imprisonment without parole. According to federal data from 2011, around 40% of the nation's juvenile inmates are housed in private facilities. The incarceration of youths has been linked to the effects of family and neighborhood influences. One study found that the "behaviors of family members and neighborhood peers appear to substantially affect the behavior and outcomes of disadvantaged youths". The percentage of prisoners in federal and state prisons aged 55 and older increased by 33% from 2000 to 2005 while the prison population grew by 8%. The Southern Legislative Conference found that in 16 southern states, the elderly prisoner population increased on average by 145% between 1997 and 2007. The growth in the elderly population brought along higher health care costs, most notably seen in the 10% average increase in state prison budgets from 2005 to 2006. The SLC expects the percentage of elderly prisoners relative to the overall prison population to continue to rise. Ronald Aday, a professor of aging studies at Middle Tennessee State University and author of Aging Prisoners: Crisis in American Corrections, concurs. One out of six prisoners in California is serving a life sentence. Aday predicts that by 2020 16% percent of those serving life sentences will be elderly. State governments pay all of their inmates' housing costs which significantly increase as prisoners age. Inmates are unable to apply for Medicare and Medicaid. Most Departments of Correction report spending more than 10 percent of the annual budget on elderly care. The American Civil Liberties Union published a report in 2012 which asserts that the elderly prison population has climbed 1300% since the 1980s, with 125,000 inmates aged 55 or older now incarcerated. LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender) youth are disproportionately more likely than the general population to come into contact with the criminal justice system. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, 16 percent of transgender adults have been in prison and/or jail, compared to 2.7 percent of all adults. It has also been found that 13–15 percent of youth in detention identify as LGBT, whereas an estimated 4-8 percent of the general youth population identify as such. The reasons behind these disproportionate numbers are multi-faceted and complex. Poverty, homelessness, profiling by law enforcement, and imprisonment are disproportionately experienced by transgender and gender non-conforming people. LGBT youth not only experience these same challenges, but many also live in homes unwelcoming to their identities. This often results in LGBT youth running away and/or engaging in criminal activities, such as the drug trade, sex work, and/or theft, which places them at higher risk for arrest. Because of discriminatory practices and limited access to resources, transgender adults are also more likely to engage in criminal activities to be able to pay for housing, health care, and other basic needs. LGBT people in jail and prison are particularly vulnerable to mistreatment by other inmates and staff. This mistreatment includes solitary confinement (which may be described as "protective custody"), physical and sexual violence, verbal abuse, and denial of medical care and other services. According to the National Inmate Survey, in 2011–12, 40 percent of transgender inmates reported sexual victimization compared to 4 percent of all inmates. In the United States, the percentage of inmates with mental illness has been steadily increasing, with rates more than quadrupling from 1998 to 2006. Many have attributed this trend to the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill persons beginning in the 1960s, when mental hospitals across the country began closing their doors. However, other researchers indicate that "there is no evidence for the basic criminalization premise that decreased psychiatric services explain the disproportionate risk of incarceration for individuals with mental illness". According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, over half of all prisoners in 2005 had experienced mental illness as identified by "a recent history or symptoms of a mental health problem"; of this population, jail inmates experienced the highest rates of symptoms of mental illness at 60 percent, followed by 49 percent of state prisoners and 40 percent of federal prisoners. Not only do people with recent histories of mental illness end up incarcerated, but many who have no history of mental illness end up developing symptoms while in prison. In 2006, the Bureau of Justice Statistics found that a quarter of state prisoners had a history of mental illness, whereas 3 in 10 state prisoners had developed symptoms of mental illness since becoming incarcerated with no recent history of mental illness. According to Human Rights Watch, one of the contributing factors to the disproportionate rates of mental illness in prisons and jails is the increased use of solitary confinement, for which "socially and psychologically meaningful contact is reduced to the absolute minimum, to a point that is insufficient for most detainees to remain mentally well functioning". Another factor to be considered is that most inmates do not get the mental health services that they need while incarcerated. Due to limited funding, prisons are not able to provide a full range of mental health services and thus are typically limited to inconsistent administration of psychotropic medication, or no psychiatric services at all. Human Rights Watch also reports that corrections officers routinely use excessive violence against mentally ill inmates for nonthreatening behaviors related to schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Inmates are often shocked, shackled and pepper sprayed. Although many argue that prisons have become the facilities for the mentally ill, very few crimes point directly to symptoms of mental illness as their sole cause. Despite the disproportionate representation of mentally ill persons in prison, a study by American Psychological Association indicates that only 7.5 percent of crimes committed were found to be directly related to mental illness. However, some advocates argue that many incarcerations of mentally ill persons could have been avoided if they had been given proper treatment, which would be a much less costly alternative to incarceration. Mental illness rarely stands alone when analyzing the risk factors associated with incarceration and recidivism rates. The American Psychological Association recommends a holistic approach to reducing recidivism rates among offenders by providing "cognitive–behavioral treatment focused on criminal cognition" or "services that target variable risk factors for high-risk offenders" due to the numerous intersecting risk factors experienced by mentally ill and non-mentally ill offenders alike. To prevent the recidivism of individuals with mental illness, a variety of programs are in place that are based on criminal justice or mental health intervention models. Programs modeled after criminal justice strategies include diversion programs, mental health courts, specialty mental health probation or parole, and jail aftercare/prison re-entry. Programs modeled after mental health interventions include forensic assertive community treatment and forensic intensive case management. It has been argued that the wide diversity of these program interventions points to a lack of clarity on which specific program components are most effective in reducing recidivism rates among individuals with mental illness. The term "school-to-prison-pipeline", also known as the "schoolhouse-to- jailhouse track", is a concept that was named in the 1980s. The school-to- prison pipeline is the idea that a school's harsh punishments—which typically push students out of the classroom—lead to the criminalization of students' misbehaviors and result in increasing a student's probability of entering the prison system. Although the school-to-prison pipeline is aggravated by a combination of ingredients, zero-tolerance policies are viewed as main contributors. It is also important to note that, "The School to Prison Pipeline disproportionately impacts the poor, students with disabilities, and youth of color, especially African Americans, who are suspended and expelled at the highest rates, despite comparable rates of infraction. Zero-tolerance policies are regulations that mandate specific consequences in response to outlined student misbehavior, typically without any consideration for the unique circumstances surrounding a given incident. Zero-tolerance policies both implicitly and explicitly usher the student into the prison track. Implicitly, when a student is extracted from the classroom, the more likely that student is to drop out of school as a result of being in class less. As a dropout, that child is then ill-prepared to obtain a job and become a fruitful citizen. Explicitly, schools sometimes do not funnel their pupils to the prison systems inadvertently; rather, they send them directly. Once in juvenile court, even sympathetic judges are not likely to evaluate whether the school's punishment was warranted or fair. For these reasons, it is argued that zero-tolerance policies lead to an exponential increase in the juvenile prison populations. The national suspension rate doubled from 3.7% to 7.4% from 1973 to 2010. The claim that Zero Tolerance Policies affect students of color at a disproportionate rate is supported in the Code of Maryland Regulations study, that found black students were suspended at more than double the rate of white students. This data is further backed by Moriah Balingit, who states that when compared to white students, blacks are suspended and expelled at greater rates according to the Civil Rights Data Collection, that has records with specific information for the 2015-2016 school year of about 96,000 schools. In addition, further data shows that although black students only accounted for 15% of the student population, they represented a 31% of the arrests. Hispanic children share this in common with their black counterparts, as they too are more susceptible to harsher discipline like suspension and expulsion. This trend can be seen throughout numerous studies of this type of material and particularly in the south. Furthermore, between 1985 and 1989, there was an increase in referrals of minority youth to juvenile court, petitioned cases, adjudicated delinquency cases, and delinquency cases placed outside the home. During this time period, the number of African American youth detained increased by 9% and the number of Hispanic youths detained increased by 4%, yet the proportion of White youth declined by 13%. Documentation of this phenomenon can be seen as early as 1975 with the book School Suspensions: Are they helping children? Additionally, as punitive action leads to dropout rates, so does imprisonment. Data shows in the year 2000, one in three black male students ages 20-40 who did not complete high school were incarcerated. Moreover, about 70% of those in state prison have not finished high school. Lastly, if one is a black male living post-Civil Rights Movement with no high school diploma, there is a 60% chance that they will be incarcerated in their lifetime. The BOP receives all prisoner transfer treaty inmates sent from foreign countries, even if their crimes would have been, if committed in the United States, tried in state, DC, or territorial courts. Non-US citizens incarcerated in federal and state prisons are eligible to be transferred to their home countries if they qualify. In some, but not all, states' department of corrections, inmates reside in different facilities that vary by security level, especially in security measures, administration of inmates, type of housing, and weapons and tactics used by corrections officers. The federal government's Bureau of Prisons uses a numbered scale from one to five to represent the security level. Level five is the most secure, while level one is the least. State prison systems operate similar systems. California, for example, classifies its facilities from Reception Center through Levels I to V (minimum to maximum security) to specialized high security units (all considered Level V) including Security Housing Unit (SHU)—California's version of supermax—and related units. As a general rule, county jails, detention centers, and reception centers, where new commitments are first held while either awaiting trial or before being transferred to "mainline" institutions to serve out their sentences, operate at a relatively high level of security, usually close security or higher. Supermax prison facilities provide the highest level of prison security. These units hold those considered the most dangerous inmates, as well as inmates that have been deemed too high-profile or too great a national security risk for a normal prison. These include inmates who have committed assaults, murders, or other serious violations in less secure facilities, and inmates known to be or accused of being prison gang members. Most states have either a supermax section of a prison facility or an entire prison facility designated as a supermax. The United States Federal Bureau of Prisons operates a federal supermax, A.D.X. Florence, located in Florence, Colorado, also known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies" and widely considered to be perhaps the most secure prison in the United States. A.D.X. Florence has a standard supermax section where assaultive, violent, and gang-related inmates are kept under normal supermax conditions of 23-hour confinement and abridged amenities. A.D.X. Florence is considered to be of a security level above that of all other prisons in the United States, at least in the "ideological" ultramax part of it, which features permanent, 24-hour solitary confinement with rare human contacts or opportunity to earn better conditions through good behavior. In a maximum security prison or area (called high security in the federal system), all prisoners have individual cells with sliding doors controlled from a secure remote control station. Prisoners are allowed out of their cells one out of twenty four hours (one hour and 30 minutes for prisoners in California). When out of their cells, prisoners remain in the cell block or an exterior cage. Movement out of the cell block or "pod" is tightly restricted using restraints and escorts by correctional officers. Under close security, prisoners usually have one- or two-person cells operated from a remote control station. Each cell has its own toilet and sink. Inmates may leave their cells for work assignments or correctional programs and otherwise may be allowed in a common area in the cellblock or an exercise yard. The fences are generally double fences with watchtowers housing armed guards, plus often a third, lethal-current electric fence in the middle. Prisoners that fall into the medium security group may sleep in cells, but share them two and two, and use bunk beds with lockers to store their possessions. The cell may have showers, toilets and sinks, but it's not a strictly enforced rule. Cells are locked at night with one or more correctional officers supervising. There is less supervision over the internal movements of prisoners. The perimeter is generally double fenced and regularly patrolled. Prisoners in minimum security facilities are considered to pose little physical risk to the public and are mainly non-violent "white collar criminals". Minimum security prisoners live in less-secure dormitories, which are regularly patrolled by correctional officers. As in medium security facilities, they have communal showers, toilets, and sinks. A minimum-security facility generally has a single fence that is watched, but not patrolled, by armed guards. At facilities in very remote and rural areas, there may be no fence at all. Prisoners may often work on community projects, such as roadside litter cleanup with the state department of transportation or wilderness conservation. Many minimum security facilities are small camps located in or near military bases, larger prisons (outside the security perimeter) or other government institutions to provide a convenient supply of convict labor to the institution. Many states allow persons in minimum-security facilities access to the Internet. Research indicates that inmates who maintain contact with family and friends in the outside world are less likely to be convicted of further crimes and usually have an easier reintegration period back into society. Research demonstrates that inmates benefit from corresponding with friends and family members, especially when in-person visits are infrequent. However, guidelines exist as to what constitutes acceptable mail, and these policies are strictly enforced. Mail sent to inmates in violation of prison policies can result in sanctions such as loss of imprisonment time reduced for good behavior. Most Department of Corrections websites provide detailed information regarding mail policies. These rules can even vary within a single prison depending on which part of the prison an inmate is housed. For example, death row and maximum security inmates are usually under stricter mail guidelines for security reasons. There have been several notable challenges to prison corresponding services. The Missouri Department of Corrections (DOC) stated that effective June 1, 2007, inmates would be prohibited from using pen pal websites, citing concerns that inmates were using them to solicit money and defraud the public. Service providers such as WriteAPrisoner.com, together with the ACLU, plan to challenge the ban in Federal Court. Similar bans on an inmate's rights or a website's right to post such information has been ruled unconstitutional in other courts, citing First Amendment freedoms. Some faith-based initiatives promote the positive effects of correspondence on inmates, and some have made efforts to help ex-offenders reintegrate into society through job placement assistance. Inmates' ability to mail letters to other inmates has been limited by the courts. The non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch claims that prisoners and detainees face "abusive, degrading and dangerous" conditions within local, state and federal facilities, including those operated by for-profit contractors. The organization also raised concerns with prisoner rape and medical care for inmates. In a survey of 1,788 male inmates in Midwestern prisons by Prison Journal, about 21% responded they had been coerced or pressured into sexual activity during their incarceration, and 7% that they had been raped in their current facility. In August 2003, a Harper's article by Wil S. Hylton estimated that "somewhere between 20 and 40% of American prisoners are, at this very moment, infected with hepatitis C". Prisons may outsource medical care to private companies such as Correctional Medical Services (now Corizon) that, according to Hylton's research, try to minimize the amount of care given to prisoners in order to maximize profits. After the privatization of healthcare in Arizona's prisons, medical spending fell by 30 million dollars and staffing was greatly reduced. Some 50 prisoners died in custody in the first 8 months of 2013, compared to 37 for the preceding two years combined. The poor quality of food provided to inmates has become an issue, as over the last decade corrections officials looking to cut costs have been outsourcing food services to private, for-profit corporations such as Aramark, A'Viands Food & Services Management, and ABL Management. A prison riot in Kentucky has been blamed on the low quality of food Aramark provided to inmates. A 2017 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that because of lapses in food safety, prison inmates are 6.4 times more likely to contract a food-related illness than the general population. Also identified as an issue within the prison system is gang violence, because many gang members retain their gang identity and affiliations when imprisoned. Segregation of identified gang members from the general population of inmates, with different gangs being housed in separate units often results in the imprisonment of these gang members with their friends and criminal cohorts. Some feel this has the effect of turning prisons into "institutions of higher criminal learning." Many prisons in the United States are overcrowded. For example, California's 33 prisons have a total capacity of 100,000, but they hold 170,000 inmates. Many prisons in California and around the country are forced to turn old gymnasiums and classrooms into huge bunkhouses for inmates. They do this by placing hundreds of bunk beds next to one another, in these gyms, without any type of barriers to keep inmates separated. In California, the inadequate security engendered by this situation, coupled with insufficient staffing levels, have led to increased violence and a prison health system that causes one death a week. This situation has led the courts to order California to release 27% of the current prison population, citing the Eighth Amendment's prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment. The three- judge court considering requests by the Plata v. Schwarzenegger and Coleman v. Schwarzenegger courts found California's prisons have become criminogenic as a result of prison overcrowding. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court case of Cutter v. Wilkinson established that prisons that received federal funds could not deny prisoners accommodations necessary for religious practices. According to a Supreme Court ruling issued on May 23, 2011, California — which has the highest overcrowding rate of any prison system in the country — must alleviate overcrowding in the state's prisons, reducing the prisoner population by 30,000 over the next two years. Solitary confinement is widely used in US prisons, yet it is underreported by most states, while some don't report it at all. Isolation of prisoners has been condemned by the UN in 2011 as a form of torture. At over 80,000 at any given time, the US has more prisoners confined in isolation than any other country in the world. In Louisiana, with 843 prisoners per 100,000 citizens, there have been prisoners, such as the Angola Three, held for as long as forty years in isolation. In 1999, the Supreme Court of Norway refused to extradite American hashish-smuggler Henry Hendricksen, as they declared that US prisons do not meet their minimum humanitarian standards. In 2011, some 885 people died while being held in local jails (not in prisons after being convicted of a crime and sentenced) throughout the United States. According to federal statistics, roughly 4,400 inmates die in US prisons and jails annually, excluding executions. As of September 2013, condoms for prisoners are only available in the U.S. State of Vermont (on September 17, 2013, the California Senate approved a bill for condom distribution inside the state's prisons, but the bill was not yet law at the time of approval) and in county jails in San Francisco. In September 2016, a group of corrections officers at Holman Correctional Facility have gone on strike over safety concerns and overcrowding. Prisoners refer to the facility as a "slaughterhouse" as stabbings are a routine occurrence. Prior to the 1980s, private prisons did not exist in the U.S. During the 1980s, as a result of the War on Drugs by the Reagan Administration, the number of people incarcerated rose. This created a demand for more prison space. The result was the development of privatization and the for-profit prison industry. A 1998 study was performed using three comparable Louisiana medium security prisons, two of which were privately run by different corporations and one of which was publicly run. The data from this study suggested that the privately run prisons operated more cost-effectively without sacrificing the safety of inmates and staff. The study concluded that both privately run prisons had a lower cost per inmate, a lower rate of critical incidents, a safer environment for employees and inmates, and a higher proportional rate of inmates who completed basic education, literacy, and vocational training courses. However, the publicly run prison outperformed the privately run prisons in areas such as experiencing fewer escape attempts, controlling substance abuse through testing, offering a wider range of educational and vocational courses, and providing a broader range of treatment, recreation, social services, and rehabilitative services. According to Marie Gottschalk, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, studies that claim private prisons are cheaper to run than public prisons fail to "take into account the fundamental differences between private and public facilities," and that the prison industry "engages in a lot of cherry-picking and cost-shifting to maintain the illusion that the private sector does it better for less." The American Civil Liberties Union reported in 2013 that numerous studies indicate private jails are actually filthier, more violent, less accountable, and possibly more costly than their public counterparts. The ACLU stated that the for-profit prison industry is "a major contributor to bloated state budgets and mass incarceration – not a part of any viable solution to these urgent problems." The primary reason Louisiana is the prison capital of the world is because of the for-profit prison industry. According to The Times-Picayune, "a majority of Louisiana inmates are housed in for-profit facilities, which must be supplied with a constant influx of human beings or a $182 million industry will go bankrupt." In Mississippi, a 2013 Bloomberg report stated that assault rates in private facilities were three times higher on average than in their public counterparts. In 2012, the for-profit Walnut Grove Youth Correctional Facility was the most violent prison in the state with 27 assaults per 100 offenders. A federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center on behalf of prisoners at the privately run East Mississippi Correctional Facility in 2013 claims the conditions there are "hyper-violent," "barbaric" and "chaotic," with gangs routinely beating and exploiting mentally ill inmates who are denied medical care by prison staff. A May 2012 riot in the Corrections Corporation of America-run Adams County Correctional Facility, also in Mississippi, left one corrections officer dead and dozens injured. Similar riots have occurred in privatized facilities in Idaho, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Florida, California and Texas. Sociologist John L. Campbell of Dartmouth College claims that private prisons in the U.S. have become "a lucrative business." Between 1990 and 2000, the number of private facilities grew from five to 100, operated by nearly 20 private firms. Over the same time period the stock price of the industry leader, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), which rebranded as CoreCivic in 2016 amid increased scrutiny of the private prison industry, climbed from $8 a share to $30. According to journalist Matt Taibbi, major investors in the prison industry include Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Fidelity Investments, General Electric and The Vanguard Group. The aforementioned Bloomberg report also notes that in the past decade the number of inmates in for-profit prisons throughout the U.S. rose 44 percent. Controversy has surrounded the privatization of prisons with the exposure of the genesis of the landmark Arizona SB 1070 law. This law was written by Arizona State Congressman Russell Pearce and the CCA at a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in the Grand Hyatt in Washington, D.C. Both CCA and GEO Group, the two largest operators of private facilities, have been contributors to ALEC, which lobbies for policies that would increase incarceration, such as three-strike laws and "truth-in-sentencing" legislation. In fact, in the early 1990s, when CCA was co-chair of ALEC, it co-sponsored (with the National Rifle Association) the so-called "truth-in-sentencing" and "three-strikes-you're- out" laws. Truth-in-sentencing called for all violent offenders to serve 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for release; three strikes called for mandatory life imprisonment for a third felony conviction. Some prison officers unions in publicly run facilities such as California Correctional Peace Officers Association have, in the past, also supported measures such as three-strike laws. Such laws increased the prison population. In addition to CCA and GEO Group, companies operating in the private prison business include Management and Training Corporation, and Community Education Centers. The GEO Group was formerly known as the Wackenhut Corrections division. It includes the former Correctional Services Corporation and Cornell Companies, which were purchased by GEO in 2005 and 2010. Such companies often sign contracts with states obliging them to fill prison beds or reimburse them for those that go unused. Private companies which provide services to prisons combine in the American Correctional Association, a 501(c)3 which advocates legislation favorable to the industry. Such private companies comprise what has been termed the prison–industrial complex. An example of this phenomenon would be the Kids for cash scandal, in which two judges in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, were receiving judicial kickbacks for sending youths, convicted of minor crimes, to a privatized, for- profit juvenile facility run by the Mid Atlantic Youth Service Corporation. The industry is aware of what reduced crime rates could mean to their bottom line. This from the CCA's SEC report in 2010: Marie Gottschalk claims that while private prison companies and other economic interests were not the primary drivers of mass incarceration originally, they do much to sustain it today. The private prison industry has successfully lobbied for changes that increase the profit of their employers. They have opposed measures that would bring reduced sentencing or shorter prison terms. The private prison industry has been accused of being at least partly responsible for America's high rates of incarceration. According to The Corrections Yearbook, 2000, the average annual starting salary for public corrections officers was $23,002, compared to $17,628 for private prison guards. The poor pay is a likely factor in the high turnover rate in private prisons, at 52.2 percent compared to 16 percent in public facilities. In September 2015, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced the "Justice Is Not for Sale" Act, which would prohibit the United States government at federal, state and local levels from contracting with private firms to provide and/or operate detention facilities within two years. An August 2016 report by the U.S. Department of Justice asserts that privately operated federal facilities are less safe, less secure and more punitive than other federal prisons. Shortly after this report was published, the DoJ announced it will stop using private prisons. On February 23, the DOJ under Attorney General Jeff Sessions overturned the ban on using private prisons. According to Sessions, "the (Obama administration) memorandum changed long- standing policy and practice, and impaired the bureau's ability to meet the future needs of the federal correctional system. Therefore, I direct the bureau to return to its previous approach." The private prison industry has been booming under the Trump Administration. Additionally, both CCA and GEO Group have been expanding into the immigrant detention market. Although the combined revenues of CCA and GEO Group were about $4 billion in 2017 from private prison contracts, their number one customer was ICE. About 18% of eligible prisoners held in federal prisons are employed by UNICOR and are paid less than $1.25 an hour. Prisons have gradually become a source of low-wage labor for corporations seeking to outsource work to inmates. Corporations that utilize prison labor include Walmart, Eddie Bauer, Victoria's Secret, Microsoft, Starbucks, McDonald's, Nintendo, Chevron Corporation, Bank of America, Koch Industries, Boeing and Costco Wholesale. It is estimated that 1 in 9 state government employees works in corrections. As the overall U.S. prison population declined in 2010, states are closing prisons. For instance, Virginia has removed 11 prisons since 2009. Like other small towns, Boydton in Virginia has to contend with unemployment woes resulting from the closure of the Mecklenburg Correctional Center. In September 2016, large, coordinated prison strikes took place in 11 states, with inmates claiming they are subjected to poor sanitary conditions and jobs that amount to forced labor and modern day slavery. Organizers, which include the Industrial Workers of the World labor union, assert it is the largest prison strike in U.S. history. Starting August 21, 2018, another prison strike, sponsored by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak and the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, took place in 17 states from coast to coast to protest what inmates regard as unfair treatment by the criminal justice system. In particular, inmates objected to being excluded from the 13th amendment which forces them to work for pennies a day, a condition they assert is tantamount to "modern-day slavery." The strike was the result of a call to action after a deadly riot occurred at Lee Correctional Institution in April of that year, which was sparked by neglect and inhumane living conditions. Judicial, police, and corrections costs totaled $212 billion in 2011 according to the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2007, around $74 billion was spent on corrections according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics. In 2014, among facilities operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the average cost of incarceration for federal inmates in fiscal year 2014 was $30,619.85. The average annual cost to confine an inmate in a residential re-entry center was $28,999.25. State prisons averaged $31,286 per inmate in 2010 according to a Vera Institute of Justice study. It ranged from $14,603 in Kentucky to $60,076 in New York. In California in 2008, it cost the state an average of $47,102 a year to incarcerate an inmate in a state prison. From 2001 to 2009, the average annual cost increased by about $19,500. Housing the approximately 500,000 people in jail in the US awaiting trial who cannot afford bail costs $9 billion a year. Most jail inmates are petty, nonviolent offenders. Twenty years ago most nonviolent defendants were released on their own recognizance (trusted to show up at trial). Now most are given bail, and most pay a bail bondsman to afford it. 62% of local jail inmates are awaiting trial. To ease jail overcrowding over 10 counties every year consider building new jails. As an example Lubbock County, Texas has decided to build a $110 million megajail to ease jail overcrowding. Jail costs an average of $60 a day nationally. In Broward County, Florida supervised pretrial release costs about $7 a day per person while jail costs $115 a day. The jail system costs a quarter of every county tax dollar in Broward County, and is the single largest expense to the county taxpayer. The National Association of State Budget Officers reports: "In fiscal 2009, corrections spending represented 3.4 percent of total state spending and 7.2 percent of general fund spending." They also report: "Some states exclude certain items when reporting corrections expenditures. Twenty- one states wholly or partially excluded juvenile delinquency counseling from their corrections figures and fifteen states wholly or partially excluded spending on juvenile institutions. Seventeen states wholly or partially excluded spending on drug abuse rehabilitation centers and forty-one states wholly or partially excluded spending on institutions for the criminally insane. Twenty-two states wholly or partially excluded aid to local governments for jails. For details, see Table 36." , the cost of medical care for inmates was growing by 10 percent annually. According to a 2016 study by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis, the true cost of incarceration exceeds $1 trillion, with half of that falling on the families, children and communities of those incarcerated. According to a 2016 analysis of federal data by the U.S. Education Department, state and local spending on incarceration has grown three times as much as spending on public education since 1980. Three articles written in the early 2000s claim that increasing incarceration has a negative effect on crime, but this effect becomes smaller as the incarceration rate increases. Higher rates of prison admissions increase crime rates, whereas moderate rates of prison admissions decrease crime. The rate of prisoner releases in a given year in a community is also positively related to that community's crime rate the following year. A 2010 study of panel data from 1978 to 2003 indicated that the crime-reducing effects of increasing incarceration are totally offset by the crime-increasing effects of prisoner re-entry. According to a 2015 study by the Brennan Center for Justice, falling crime rates cannot be ascribed to mass incarceration. Within three years of being released, 67% of ex-prisoners re-offend and 52% are re-incarcerated, according to a study published in 1994. The rate of recidivism is so high in the United States that most inmates who enter the system are likely to reenter within a year of their release. Former inmate Wenona Thompson argues "I realized that I became part of a cycle, a system, that looked forward to seeing me there. And I was aware that...I would be one of those people who fill up their prisons". In 1995, the government allocated $5.1 billion for new prison space. Every $100 million spent in construction costs $53 million per year in finance and operational costs over the next three decades. Taxpayers spend $60 billion a year for prisons. In 2005, it cost an average of $23,876 a year to house a prisoner. It takes about $30,000 per year per person to provide drug rehabilitation treatment to inmates. By contrast, the cost of drug rehabilitation treatment outside of a prison costs about $8,000 per year per person. The effects of such high incarceration rates are also shown in other ways. For example, a person who has been recently released from prison is ineligible for welfare in most states. They are not eligible for subsidized housing, and for Section 8 they have to wait two years before they can apply. In addition to finding housing, they also have to find employment, but this can be difficult as employers often check for a potential employees Criminal record. Essentially, a person who has been recently released from prison comes into a society that is not prepared structurally or emotionally to welcome them back. In The New Jim Crow in 2011, legal scholar and advocate Michelle Alexander contended that the U.S. incarceration system worked to bar black men from voting. She wrote "there are more African Americans under correctional control -- in prison or jail, on probation or parole -- than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began". Alexander's work has drawn increased attention through 2011 and into 2013. Yale Law Professor, and opponent of mass incarceration James Forman Jr. has countered that 1) African Americans, as represented by such cities as the District of Columbia, have generally supported tough on crime policies. 2) There appears to be a connection between drugs and violent crimes, the discussion of which, he says, New Jim Crow theorists have avoided. 3) New theorists have overlooked class as a factor in incarceration. Blacks with advanced degrees have fewer convictions. Blacks without advanced education have more. Incarceration of an individual does not have a singular effect: it affects those in the individual's tight-knit circle as well. For every mother that is incarcerated in the United States there are about another ten people (children, grandparents, community, etc.) that are directly affected. Moreover, more than 2.7 million children in the United States have an incarcerated parent. That translates to one out of every 27 children in the United States having an incarcerated parent. Approximately 80 percent of women who go to jail each year are mothers. This ripple effect on the individual's family amplifies the debilitating effect that entails arresting individuals. Given the general vulnerability and naivete of children, it is important to understand how such a traumatic event adversely affects children. The effects of a parent's incarceration on their children have been found as early as three years old. Local and state governments in the United States have recognized these harmful effects and have attempted to address them through public policy solutions. The effects of an early traumatic experience of a child can be categorized into health effects and behavioral externalizations. Many studies have searched for a correlation between witnessing a parent's arrest and a wide variety of physiological issues. For example, Lee et al. showed significant correlation between high cholesterol, Migraine, and HIV/AIDS diagnosis to children with a parental incarceration. Even while adjusting for various socioeconomic and racial factors, children with an incarcerated parent have a significantly higher chance of developing a wide variety of physical problems such as Obesity, asthma, and developmental delays. The current literature acknowledges that there are a variety of poor health outcomes as a direct result of being separated from a parent by law enforcement. It is hypothesized that the chronic stress that results directly from the uncertainty of the parent's legal status is the primary influence for the extensive list of acute and chronic conditions that could develop later in life. In addition to the chronic stress, the immediate instability in a child's life deprives them of certain essentials e.g. money for food, parental love that are compulsory for leading a healthy life. Though most of the adverse effects that result from parental incarceration are regardless of whether the mother or father was arrested, some differences have been discovered. For example, males whose father have been incarcerated display more behavioral issues than any other combination of parent/child. There has also been a substantial effort to understand how this traumatic experience manifests in the child's mental health and to identify externalizations that may be helpful for a diagnosis. The most prominent mental health outcomes in these children are Anxiety disorder, Depression (mood), and Posttraumatic stress disorder(PTSD). These problems worsen in a typical positive feedback loop without the presence of a parental figure. Given the chronic nature of these diseases, they can be detected and observed at distinct points in a child's development, allowing for ample research. Murray et al. have been able to isolate the cause of the expression of Anti-social behaviours specific to the parental incarceration. In a specific case study in Boston by Sack, within two months of the father being arrested, the adolescent boy in the family developed severe aggressive and antisocial behaviors. This observation is not unique; Sack and other researchers have noticed an immediate and strong reaction to sudden departures from family structure norms. These behavioral externalizations are most evident at school when the child interacts with peers and adults. This behavior leads to punishment and less focus on education, which has obvious consequences for future educational and career prospects. In addition to externalizing undesirable behaviors, children of incarcerated parents are more likely to be incarcerated compared to those without incarcerated parents. More formally, transmission of severe emotional strain on a parent negatively impacts the children by disrupting the home environment. Societal stigma against individuals, specifically parents, who are incarcerated is passed down to their children. The children find this stigma to be overwhelming and it negatively impacts their short- and long-term prospects. There are four main phases that can be distinguished in the process of arresting a parent: arrest, sentencing, incarceration, and re-entry. Re-entry is not relevant if a parent is not arrested for other crimes. During each of these phases, solutions can be implemented that mitigate the harm placed on the children during the process. While their parents are away, children rely on other caretakers (family or friends) to satisfy their basic need. Solutions for the children of incarcerated parents have identified caretakers as a focal point for successful intervention. One in five children witness their parent arrested by authorities, and a study interviewing 30 children reported that the children experienced flashbulb memories and nightmares associated with the day their parent was arrested. These single, adverse moments have long-reaching effects and policymakers around the country have attempted to ameliorate the situation. For example, the city of San Francisco in 2005 implemented training policies for its police officers with the goal of making them more cognizant of the familial situation before entering the home. The guidelines go a step further and stipulate that if no information is available before the arrest, that officers ask the suspect about the possibility of any children in the house. San Francisco is not alone: New Mexico passed a law in 2009 advocating for child safety during parental arrest and California provides funding to agencies to train personnel how to appropriately conduct an arrest in the presence of family members. Extending past the state level, the Department of Justice has provided guidelines for police officers around the country to better accommodate for children in difficult family situations. During the sentencing phase, the judge is the primary authority in determine if the appropriate punishment, if any. Consideration of the sentencing effects on the defendant's children could help with the preservation of the parent- child relationship. In a law passed in 2014, Oklahoma requires judges to inquire if convicted individuals are single custodial parents, and if so, authorize the mobility of important resources so the child's transition to different circumstances is monitored. The distance that the jail or prison is from the arrested individual's home is a contributing factor to the parent- child relationship. Allowing a parent to serve their sentence closer to their residence will allow for easier visitation and a healthier relationship. Recognizing this, the New York Senate passed a bill in 2015 that would ensure convicted individuals be jailed in the nearest facility. While serving a sentence, measures have been put in place to allow parents to exercise their duty as role models and caretakers. The state of New York (state) allows newborns to be with their mothers for up to one year. Studies have shown that parental, specifically maternal, presence during a newborn's early development are crucial to both physical and cognitive development. Ohio law requires nursery support for pregnant inmates in its facilities. California also has a stake in the support of incarcerated parents, too, through its requirement that women in jail with children be transferred to a community facility that can provide pediatric care. These regulations are supported by the research on early child development that argue it is imperative that infants and young children are with a parental figure, preferably the mother, to ensure proper development. This approach received support at the federal level when then-Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates instituted several family-friendly measures, for certain facilities, including: improving infrastructure for video conferencing and informing inmates on how to contact their children if they were placed in the foster care system, among other improvements. The last phase of the incarceration process is re-entry back into the community, but more importantly, back into the family structure. Though the time away is painful for the family, it does not always welcome back the previously incarcerated individual with open arms. Not only is the transition into the family difficult, but also into society as they are faced with establishing secure housing, insurance, and a new job. As such, policymakers find it necessary to ease the transition of an incarcerated individual to the pre-arrest situation. Of the four outlined phases, re-entry is the least emphasized from a public policy perspective. This is not to say it is the least important, however, as there are concerns that time in a correctional facility can deteriorate the caretaking ability of some prisoners. As a result, Oklahoma has taken measurable strides by providing parents with the tools they need to re-enter their families, including classes on parenting skills. Though the effects on caregivers of these children vary based on factors such as the relationship to the prisoner and his or her support system, it is well known that it is a financial and emotional burden to take care of a child. In addition to taking care of their nuclear family, caregivers are now responsible for another individual who requires attention and resources to flourish. Depending on the relationship to the caregiver, the transition to a new household may not be easy for the child. The rationale behind targeting caregivers for intervention policies is to ensure the new environment for the children is healthy and productive. The federal government funds states to provide counseling to caretaking family members to alleviate some of the associated emotional burden. A more comprehensive program from Washington (state) employs "kinship navigators" to address caretakers' needs with initiatives such as parental classes and connections to legal services. Felony records greatly influence the chances of people finding employment. Many employers seem to use criminal history as a screening mechanism without attempting to probe deeper. They are often more interested in incarceration as a measure of employability and trustworthiness instead of its relation to any specific job. People who have felony records have a harder time finding a job. The psychological effects of incarceration can also impede an ex-felon's search for employment. Prison can cause social anxiety, distrust, and other psychological issues that negatively affect a person's reintegration into an employment setting. Men who are unemployed are more likely to participate in crime which leads to there being a 67% chance of ex-felons being charged again. In 2008, the difficulties male ex-felons in the United States had finding employment lead to approximately a 1.6% decrease in the employment rate alone. This is a loss of between $57 and $65 billion of output to the US economy. Although incarceration in general has a huge effect on employment, the effects become even more pronounced when looking at race. Devah Pager performed a study in 2003 and found that white males with no criminal record had a 34% chance of callback compared to 17% for white males with a criminal record. Black males with no criminal record were called back at a rate of 14% while the rate dropped to 5% for those with a criminal record. Black men with no criminal background have a harder time finding employment than white men who have a history of criminal activity. While having a criminal record decreases the chance of a callback for white men by 50%, it decreases the callback chances for black men by 64%. While Pager's study is greatly informative, it does lack some valuable information. Pager only studied white and black males, which leaves out women and people of other races. It also fails to account for the fact that applying for jobs has largely shifted from applying in person to applying over the Internet. A study done by Scott H. Decker, Cassia Spohn, Natalie R. Ortiz, and Eric Hedberg from Arizona State University in 2014 accounts for this missing information. This study was set up similarly to the Pager study, but with the addition of female job applicants, Hispanic job applicants, and online job applications. Men and women of white, black, and Hispanic ethnicities account for 92% of the US prison population. The results of Arizona State University study were somewhat different from Pager's study, but the main finding was expected: Incarceration decreased the chances of getting employed. For females submitting applications online and in-person, regardless of criminal history, white women received the most callbacks, roughly 40%. Hispanic women followed up with a 34% callback rate. Black women had the lowest rate at 27%. The effects of incarceration on female applicants in general were that females with a prison record were less likely to receive a callback compared to females without a prison record. The significant exceptions are white women applying in person and Hispanic women with a community college degree applying online. For males submitting applications online and in-person, regardless of criminal history, Hispanic males received the most callbacks, roughly 38%. White males followed up with a 35% callback rate. Black males had the lowest rate at 27%. The effects of incarceration on male applicants applying in-person was that males with a prison record were less likely than males without a prison record to receive a callback. However, the effects of incarceration on male applicants applying online were nearly nonexistent. In fact, the study found that "there was no effect of race/ethnicity, prison record, or community college [education] on men's success in advancing through the [online] hiring process". The Arizona State University study also had results that contradicted Pager's study. It found that white males with a prison record did not have a higher callback rate than black males (and Hispanic males) without a prison record. Hispanic men without a prison record had a 40% higher callback rate than white males with a prison record, and black men without a prison record had a 6% higher callback rate than white males without a prison record. Given that there is an 11 year gap between these studies, this discrepancy may be due to the social and demographic changes over time, rather than flaws in Pager's study. Mass incarceration cannot be remedied in a short length of time, because each prisoner serves a separate sentence, the average length of sentences has risen over the last 35 years and public support for prison reform is still relatively low. Decriminalizing drugs has been suggested by libertarians and advocated for by socialists, but remains a remote political option. Additional parole and probation can be facilitated with enhanced electronic monitoring, though monitoring is expensive. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld prisoner releases to relieve California's unconstitutional prison conditions in Brown v. Plata, long-standing litigation wherein the federal courts intervened as they have done in most states through the years. There is also the Prison abolition movement which calls for the immediate elimination and reduction of both public and private prisons. Angela Davis is a popular advocate for the prison abolition movement and has outlined how organizations like G4S, the third largest private corporation just behind McDonald's and Foxconn, make a huge profit from privatized prisons across the globe. Socialists have been a major advocate for abolition of prisons and argues that capitalism has led to the creation of prisons as well as mass-incarceration by pointing to G4S which profits from locking up other people behind bars and segregating lands in other countries, as well as enforcing borders and deporting immigrants. Angela Davis explains many of these views and how to implement reforms based on rehabilitation over incarceration. There is greater indication that education in prison helps prevent reincarceration. Many people inside prisons lack education. Dropout rates are seven times greater for children in impoverished areas than those who come from families of higher incomes. This is due to the fact that many children in poverty are more likely to have to work and care for family members. People in prisons generally come from poverty creating a continuous cycle of poverty and incarceration. High rates of incarceration may be due to sentence length, which is further driven by many other factors. Shorter sentences may even diminish the criminal culture by possibly reducing re-arrest rates for first-time convicts. The U.S. Congress has ordered federal judges to make imprisonment decisions "recognizing that imprisonment is not an appropriate means of promoting correction and rehabilitation." Critics have lambasted the United States for incarcerating a large number of non-violent and victimless offenders; half of all persons incarcerated under state jurisdiction are for non-violent offenses, and 20% are incarcerated for drug offenses (in state prisons; federal prison percentages are higher). "Human Rights Watch believes the extraordinary rate of incarceration in the United States wreaks havoc on individuals, families and communities, and saps the strength of the nation as a whole." The population of inmates housed in prisons and jails in the United States exceeds 2 million, with the per capita incarceration population higher than that officially reported by any other country. Criminal justice policy in the United States has also been criticized for a number of other reasons. In the 2014 book , journalist Matt Taibbi argues that the expanding disparity of wealth and the increasing criminalization of those in poverty have culminated in the U.S. having the largest prison population "in the history of human civilization." The scholars Michael Meranze and Marie Gottschalk contend that the massive "carceral state" extends far beyond prisons, and distorts democracy, degrades society, and obstructs meaningful discourse on criminal punishment. A December 2017 report by Philip Alston, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, asserted that the justice system throughout the U.S. is designed to keep people mired in poverty and to generate revenue to fund the justice system and other governmental programs. Some scholars have linked the ascent of neoliberal, free market ideology in the late 1970s to mass incarceration. Sociologist Loïc Wacquant postulates the expansive prison system has become a political institution designed to deal with an urban crisis created by welfare state retrenchment and economic deregulation, and that this "overgrown and intrusive penal state" is "deeply injurious to the ideals of democratic citizenship." Academic and activist Angela Davis argues that prisons in the U.S. have "become venues of profit as well as punishment;" as mass incarceration has increased, the prison system has become more about economic factors than criminality. Professor of Law at Columbia University Bernard Harcourt contends that neoliberalism holds the state as incompetent when it comes to economic regulation but proficient at policing and punishing, and that this paradox has resulted in the expansion of penal confinement. According to The Routledge Handbook of Poverty in the United States, "neoliberal social and economic policy has more deeply embedded the carceral state within the lives of the poor, transforming what it means to be poor in America." Another possibly cause for this increase of incarceration since the 1970s could be the "war on drugs," which started around that time. More elected prosecutors were favored by voters for promising to take more harsh approaches than their opponents, such as locking up more people. Reporting at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association (August 3, 2008), Becky Pettit, associate professor of sociology from the University of Washington and Bryan Sykes, a UW post-doctoral researcher, revealed that the mammoth increase in the United States's prison population since the 1970s is having profound demographic consequences that affect 1 in 50 Americans. Drawing data from a variety of sources that looked at prison and general populations, the researchers found that the boom in prison population is hiding lowered rates of fertility and increased rates of involuntary migration to rural areas and morbidity that is marked by a greater exposure to and risk of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV or AIDS. Guilty plea bargains concluded 97% of all federal cases in 2011. , two state prison systems, Alabama and South Carolina, segregated prisoners based on their HIV status. On December 21, U.S. District Court Judge Myron Thompson ruled in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of several inmates that Alabama's practice in doing so violated federal disabilities law. He noted the state's "outdated and unsupported assumptions about HIV and the prison system's ability to deal with HIV-positive prisoners." On August 12, 2013, at the American Bar Association's House of Delegates meeting, Attorney General Eric Holder announced the "Smart on Crime" program, which is "a sweeping initiative by the Justice Department that in effect renounces several decades of tough-on-crime anti-drug legislation and policies." Holder said the program "will encourage U.S. attorneys to charge defendants only with crimes "for which the accompanying sentences are better suited to their individual conduct, rather than excessive prison terms more appropriate for violent criminals or drug kingpins…" Running through Holder's statements, the increasing economic burden of over-incarceration was stressed. , the Smart on Crime program is not a legislative initiative but an effort "limited to the DOJ's policy parameters." The procedural use of strip searches and cavity searches in the prison system has raised human rights concerns. In relation to popular culture, mass incarceration has become a popular issue in the Hip-Hop community. Artists like Tupac Shakur, NWA, LL Cool J, and Kendrick Lamar have written songs and poems that condemn racial disparities in the criminal justice system, specifically the alleged practice of police officers targeting African Americans. By presenting the negative implications of mass incarceration in a way that is widespread throughout popular culture, rap music is more likely to impact younger generations than a book or scholarly article would. Hip hop accounts of mass incarceration are based on victim-based testimony and are effective in inspiring others to speak out against the corrupt criminal justice system. In addition to references in popular music, mass incarceration has also played a role in modern film. For example, Ava DuVernay's Netflix film 13th, released in 2017, criticizes mass incarceration and compares it to the history of slavery throughout the United States, beginning with the provision of the 13th Amendment that allows for involuntary servitude "as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The film delivers the staggering message that mass incarceration could be equated to the post-Civil War Jim Crow Era. The fight against mass incarceration has also been a part of the larger discourse in the 21st century movement for Black Lives. #BlackLivesMatter, a progressive movement created by Alicia Garza after the death of Trayvon Martin, was designed as an online platform to fight against anti-black sentiments such as mass incarceration, police brutality, and ingrained racism within modern society. According to Garza, "Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. It is an affirmation of Black folks' contributions to this society, our humanity, and our resilience in the face of deadly oppression." This movement has focused on specific racial issues faced by African Americans in the justice system including police brutality, ending capital punishment, and eliminating "the criminalization and dehumanization of Black youth across all areas of society." The Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the United States Department of Justice, is responsible for the administration of United States federal prisons. Imprisonment by the state judicial systems has steadily diminished since 2006 to 2012, from 689,536 annually to 553,843 annually. Capital punishment in the United States, Death in custody, History of United States Prison Systems, Religion in United States prisons, Prison gangs in the United States, Prisoner rights in the United States, Prisoner suicide, Social groups in male and female prisons in the United States, United States incarceration rate Administration Federal Prison Industries, Inc., Inmate telephone system Conditions of confinement Prison Legal News Controversies Kids for cash scandal Prison advocacy groups November Coalition, Prison Policy Initiative Related Parole in the United States, Crime in the United States, United States cities by crime rate, Law enforcement in the United States, List of detention sites in the United States, Penal labor in the United States, Civilian noninstitutional population, Felony disenfranchisement in the United States, Human rights in the United States#Prison system, Race in the United States criminal justice system, Race and the War on Drugs, Race and crime, Racial profiling in the United States By state Prisons in California, List of Florida state prisons, Incarceration in Florida Alexander, Michelle (2012). . The New Press., Davis, Angela (2003). Are Prisons Obsolete?. Seven Stories Press., Enns, Peter K. (2016). Incarceration Nation: How the United States Became the Most Punitive Democracy in the World. Cambridge University Press., Gottschalk, Marie (2014). Caught: The Prison State and the Lockdown of American Politics. Princeton University Press. Book Hardcover , eBook ., Harcourt, Bernard (2012). The Illusion of Free Markets: Punishment and the Myth of Natural Order. Harvard University Press., Hinton, Elizabeth (2016). From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America. Harvard University Press., Selman, Donna and Paul Leighton (2010). Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business, and the Incarceration Binge. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers., Taibbi, Matt (2014). . Spiegel & Grau., Wacquant, Loïc (2009). Prisons of Poverty. University of Minnesota Press., ——— (2009). Punishing the Poor: The Neoliberal Government of Social Insecurity. Duke University Press., Wang, Jackie. (2018). Carceral Capitalism. Semiotext(e)., Western, Bruce (2007). Punishment and Inequality in America. Russell Sage Foundation., DeConde, A. (2001). Gun Violence in America. 1st ed. Boston: Northeastern University Press. The Prison State of America (2014-12-28), Chris Hedges, Truthdig, How Prisons Rip Off and Exploit the Incarcerated, Part I (2015-01-04) and Part II (2015-01-07), Marshall "Eddie" Conway and Chris Hedges, The Real News, Do Prisons and Mass Incarceration Keep Us Safe? Part I (2015-01-11) and Part II (2015-01-13), Marshall "Eddie" Conway and Maya Schenwar, author of Locked Down and Locked Out. The Real News. See also Tomgram: Maya Schenwar, Prison by Any Other Name (2015-01-18), TomDispatch, "Carceral Conglomerate" Makes Millions From Incarcerated, Their Friends and Families (February 2015), James Kilgore and Brian Dolinar, Truthout, Prison Industries: "Don't Let Society Improve or We Lose Business" (April 2012), Dina Rasor, Truthout, Immigrants mistreated in 'inhumane' private prisons, finds report. Al Jazeera America. June 10, 2014., Watch John Oliver Explain the Insanity of Our Prison System With Puppets. Mother Jones. July 21, 2014., Locked Up for Being Poor: How private debt collectors contribute to a cycle of jail, unemployment, and poverty. The Atlantic. February 25, 2015., Why does the US imprison so many people? Al Jazeera America. May 14, 2015., Why Isn't More Happening to Reduce America's Bloated Prison Population? Rolling Stone. June 24, 2015., Cruel and All-Too-Usual. The Huffington Post. July 1, 2015., Big business built the prison state. Why should we trust them to tear it down? The Guardian. July 17, 2015., SpearIt, Economic Interest Convergence in Downsizing Imprisonment (2014). University of Pittsburgh Law Review, Vol. 25, 2014. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2608698, "My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard": Shane Bauer Goes Undercover to Expose Conditions. Democracy Now! June 27, 2016., Inside America's biggest prison strike: 'The 13th amendment didn't end slavery'. The Guardian. October 22, 2016., 5 facts behind America's high incarceration rate "CNN"'Drew Kann' July 10, 2018

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Color television is a television transmission technology that includes information on the color of the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It is considered an improvement on the earliest television technology, monochrome or black and white television, in which the image is displayed in shades of gray (grayscale). Television broadcasting stations and networks in most parts of the world upgraded from black and white to color transmission in the 1960s to the 1980s. The invention of color television standards is an important part of the history of television, and it is described in the technology of television article. Transmission of color images using mechanical scanners had been conceived as early as the 1880s. A practical demonstration of mechanically-scanned color television was given by John Logie Baird in 1928, but the limitations of a mechanical system were apparent even then. Development of electronic scanning and display made an all-electronic system possible. Early monochrome transmission standards were developed prior to the Second World War, but civilian electronics developments were frozen during much of the war. In August 1944, Baird gave the world's first demonstration of a practical fully electronic color television display. In the United States, commercially competing color standards were developed, finally resulting in the NTSC standard for color that retained compatibility with the prior monochrome system. Although the NTSC color standard was proclaimed in 1953 and limited programming became available, it was not until the early 1970s that color television in North America outsold black and white or monochrome units. Color broadcasting in Europe was not standardized on the PAL and SECAM formats until the 1960s. Broadcasters began to switch from analog color television technology to digital television around 2006. This changeover is now complete in many countries, but analog television is still the standard elsewhere. The human eye's detection system, which is in the retina, consists primarily of two types of light detectors: rod cells that capture light, dark, and shapes/figures, and the cone cells that detect color. A typical retina contains 120 million rods and 4.5 million to 6 million cones, which are divided into three types, each one with a characteristic profile of excitability by different wave lengths of the spectrum of visible light. This means that the eye has far more resolution in brightness, or "luminance", than in color. However, post-processing of the optic nerve and other portions of the human visual system combine the information from the rods and cones to re- create what appears to be a high-resolution color image. The eye has limited bandwidth to the rest of the visual system, estimated at just under 8 Mbit/s. This manifests itself in a number of ways, but the most important in terms of producing moving images is the way that a series of still images displayed in quick succession will appear to be continuous smooth motion. This illusion starts to work at about 16 frame/s, and common motion pictures use 24 frame/s. Television, using power from the electrical grid, tunes its rate in order to avoid interference with the alternating current being supplied – in North America, some Central and South American countries, Taiwan, Korea, part of Japan, the Philippines, and a few other countries, this is 60 video fields per second to match the 60 Hz power, while in most other countries it is 50 fields per second to match the 50 Hz power. In its most basic form, a color broadcast can be created by broadcasting three monochrome images, one each in the three colors of red, green, and blue (RGB). When displayed together or in rapid succession, these images will blend together to produce a full-color image as seen by the viewer. One of the great technical challenges of introducing color broadcast television was the desire to conserve bandwidth, potentially three times that of the existing black-and-white standards, and not use an excessive amount of radio spectrum. In the United States, after considerable research, the National Television Systems Committee approved an all-electronic system developed by RCA which encoded the color information separately from the brightness information and greatly reduced the resolution of the color information in order to conserve bandwidth. The brightness image remained compatible with existing black-and-white television sets at slightly reduced resolution, while color televisions could decode the extra information in the signal and produce a limited-resolution color display. The higher resolution black-and-white and lower resolution color images combine in the eye to produce a seemingly high-resolution color image. The NTSC standard represented a major technical achievement. Experiments with facsimile image transmission systems that used radio broadcasts to transmit images date to the 19th century. It was not until the 20th century that advances in electronics and light detectors made what we know as television practical. A key problem was the need to convert a 2D image into a "1D" radio signal; some form of image scanning was needed to make this work. Early systems generally used a device known as a "Nipkow disk", which was a spinning disk with a series of holes punched in it that caused a spot to scan across and down the image. A single photodetector behind the disk captured the image brightness at any given spot, which was converted into a radio signal and broadcast. A similar disk was used at the receiver side, with a light source behind the disk instead of a detector. A number of such mechanical television systems were being used experimentally in the 1920s. The best-known was John Logie Baird's, which was actually used for regular public broadcasting in Britain for several years. Indeed, Baird's system was demonstrated to members of the Royal Institution in London in 1926 in what is generally recognized as the first demonstration of a true, working television system. In spite of these early successes, all mechanical television systems shared a number of serious problems. Being mechanically driven, perfect synchronization of the sending and receiving discs was not easy to ensure, and irregularities could result in major image distortion. Another problem was that the image was scanned within a small, roughly rectangular area of the disk's surface, so that larger, higher-resolution displays required increasingly unwieldy disks and smaller holes that produced increasingly dim images. Rotating drums bearing small mirrors set at progressively greater angles proved more practical than Nipkow discs for high-resolution mechanical scanning, allowing images of 240 lines and more to be produced, but such delicate, high-precision optical components were not commercially practical for home receivers. It was clear to a number of developers that a completely electronic scanning system would be superior, and that the scanning could be achieved in a vacuum tube via electrostatic or magnetic means. Converting this concept into a usable system took years of development and several independent advances. The two key advances were Philo Farnsworth's electronic scanning system, and Vladimir Zworykin's Iconoscope camera. The Iconoscope, based on Kálmán Tihanyi's early patents, superseded the Farnsworth-system. With these systems, the BBC began regularly scheduled black-and-white television broadcasts in 1936, but these were shut down again with the start of World War II in 1939. In this time thousands of television sets had been sold. The receivers developed for this program, notably those from Pye Ltd., played a key role in the development of radar. By 22 March 1935, 180-line black-and- white television programs were being broadcast from the Paul Nipkow TV station in Berlin. In 1936, under the guidance of "Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda" Joseph Goebbels, direct transmissions from fifteen mobile units at the Olympic Games in Berlin were transmitted to selected small television houses () in Berlin and Hamburg. In 1941, the first NTSC meetings produced a single standard for US broadcasts. US television broadcasts began in earnest in the immediate post-war era, and by 1950 there were 6 million televisions in the United States. The basic idea of using three monochrome images to produce a color image had been experimented with almost as soon as black-and-white televisions had first been built. Among the earliest published proposals for television was one by Maurice Le Blanc in 1880 for a color system, including the first mentions in television literature of line and frame scanning, although he gave no practical details. Polish inventor Jan Szczepanik patented a color television system in 1897, using a selenium photoelectric cell at the transmitter and an electromagnet controlling an oscillating mirror and a moving prism at the receiver. But his system contained no means of analyzing the spectrum of colors at the transmitting end, and could not have worked as he described it. An Armenian inventor, Hovannes Adamian, also experimented with color television as early as 1907. The first color television project is claimed by him, and was patented in Germany on March 31, 1908, patent number 197183, then in Britain, on April 1, 1908, patent number 7219, in France (patent number 390326) and in Russia in 1910 (patent number 17912). Scottish inventor John Logie Baird demonstrated the world's first color transmission on July 3, 1928, using scanning discs at the transmitting and receiving ends with three spirals of apertures, each spiral with filters of a different primary color; and three light sources, controlled by the signal, at the receiving end, with a commutator to alternate their illumination. The demonstration was of a young girl wearing different colored hats. The girl, Noele Gordon, later became a TV actress in the soap opera Crossroads. Baird also made the world's first color broadcast on February 4, 1938, sending a mechanically scanned 120-line image from Baird's Crystal Palace studios to a projection screen at London's Dominion Theatre. Mechanically scanned color television was also demonstrated by Bell Laboratories in June 1929 using three complete systems of photoelectric cells, amplifiers, glow-tubes, and color filters, with a series of mirrors to superimpose the red, green, and blue images into one full color image. As was the case with black-and-white television, an electronic means of scanning would be superior to the mechanical systems like Baird's. The obvious solution on the broadcast end would be to use three conventional Iconoscopes with colored filters in front of them to produce an RGB signal. Using three separate tubes each looking at the same scene would produce slight differences in parallax between the frames, so in practice a single lens was used with a mirror or prism system to separate the colors for the separate tubes. Each tube captured a complete frame and the signal was converted into radio in a fashion essentially identical to the existing black-and-white systems. The problem with this approach was there was no simple way to recombine them on the receiver end. If each image was sent at the same time on different frequencies, the images would have to be "stacked" somehow on the display, in real time. The simplest way to do this would be to reverse the system used in the camera: arrange three separate black-and-white displays behind colored filters and then optically combine their images using mirrors or prisms onto a suitable screen, like frosted glass. RCA built just such a system in order to present the first electronically scanned color television demonstration on February 5, 1940, privately shown to members of the US Federal Communications Commission at the RCA plant in Camden, New Jersey. This system, however, suffered from the twin problems of costing at least three times as much as a conventional black-and-white set, as well as having very dim pictures, the result of the fairly low illumination given off by tubes of the era. Projection systems of this sort would become common decades later, however, with improvements in technology. Another solution would be to use a single screen, but break it up into a pattern of closely spaced colored phosphors instead of an even coating of white. Three receivers would be used, each sending its output to a separate electron gun, aimed at its colored phosphor. However, this solution was not practical. The electron guns used in monochrome televisions had limited resolution, and if one wanted to retain the resolution of existing monochrome displays, the guns would have to focus on individual dots three times smaller. This was beyond the state of the art. Instead, a number of hybrid solutions were developed that combined a conventional monochrome display with a colored disk or mirror. In these systems the three colored images were sent one after each other, in either complete frames in the "field-sequential color system", or for each line in the "line-sequential" system. In both cases a colored filter was rotated in front of the display in sync with the broadcast. Since three separate images were being sent in sequence, if they used existing monochrome radio signaling standards they would have an effective refresh rate of only 20 fields, or 10 frames, a second, well into the region where flicker would become visible. In order to avoid this, these systems increased the frame rate considerably, making the signal incompatible with existing monochrome standards. The first practical example of this sort of system was again pioneered by John Logie Baird. In 1940 he publicly demonstrated a color television combining a traditional black-and-white display with a rotating colored disk. This device was very "deep", but was later improved with a mirror folding the light path into an entirely practical device resembling a large conventional console. However, Baird was not happy with the design, and as early as 1944 had commented to a British government committee that a fully electronic device would be better. In 1939, Hungarian engineer Peter Carl Goldmark introduced an electro- mechanical system while at CBS, which contained an Iconoscope sensor. The CBS field-sequential color system was partly mechanical, with a disc made of red, blue, and green filters spinning inside the television camera at 1,200 rpm, and a similar disc spinning in synchronization in front of the cathode ray tube inside the receiver set. The system was first demonstrated to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on August 29, 1940, and shown to the press on September 4. CBS began experimental color field tests using film as early as August 28, 1940, and live cameras by November 12. NBC (owned by RCA) made its first field test of color television on February 20, 1941. CBS began daily color field tests on June 1, 1941. These color systems were not compatible with existing black-and-white television sets, and as no color television sets were available to the public at this time, viewing of the color field tests was restricted to RCA and CBS engineers and the invited press. The War Production Board halted the manufacture of television and radio equipment for civilian use from April 22, 1942 to August 20, 1945, limiting any opportunity to introduce color television to the general public. As early as 1940, Baird had started work on a fully electronic system he called the "Telechrome". Early Telechrome devices used two electron guns aimed at either side of a phosphor plate. The phosphor was patterned so the electrons from the guns only fell on one side of the patterning or the other. Using cyan and magenta phosphors, a reasonable limited-color image could be obtained. He also demonstrated the same system using monochrome signals to produce a 3D image (called "stereoscopic" at the time). Baird's demonstration on August 16, 1944 was the first example of a practical color television system. Work on the Telechrome continued and plans were made to introduce a three-gun version for full color. However, Baird's untimely death in 1946 ended development of the Telechrome system. Similar concepts were common through the 1940s and 50s, differing primarily in the way they re-combined the colors generated by the three guns. The Geer tube was similar to Baird's concept, but used small pyramids with the phosphors deposited on their outside faces, instead of Baird's 3D patterning on a flat surface. The Penetron used three layers of phosphor on top of each other and increased the power of the beam to reach the upper layers when drawing those colors. The Chromatron used a set of focusing wires to select the colored phosphors arranged in vertical stripes on the tube. In the immediate post-war era the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was inundated with requests to set up new television stations. Worrying about congestion of the limited number of channels available, the FCC put a moratorium on all new licenses in 1948 while considering the problem. A solution was immediately forthcoming; rapid development of radio receiver electronics during the war had opened a wide band of higher frequencies to practical use, and the FCC set aside a large section of these new UHF bands for television broadcast. At the time, black and white television broadcasting was still in its infancy in the U.S., and the FCC started to look at ways of using this newly available bandwidth for color broadcasts. Since no existing television would be able to tune in these stations, they were free to pick an incompatible system and allow the older VHF channels to die off over time. The FCC called for technical demonstrations of color systems in 1948, and the Joint Technical Advisory Committee (JTAC) was formed to study them. CBS displayed improved versions of its original design, now using a single 6 MHz channel (like the existing black-and-white signals) at 144 fields per second and 405 lines of resolution. Color Television Inc. (CTI) demonstrated its line-sequential system, while Philco demonstrated a dot-sequential system based on its beam-index tube-based "Apple" tube technology. Of the entrants, the CBS system was by far the best-developed, and won head-to-head testing every time. While the meetings were taking place it was widely known within the industry that RCA was working on a dot-sequential system that was compatible with existing black-and-white broadcasts, but RCA declined to demonstrate it during the first series of meetings. Just before the JTAC presented its findings, on August 25, 1949, RCA broke its silence and introduced its system as well. The JTAC still recommended the CBS system, and after the resolution of an ensuing RCA lawsuit, color broadcasts using the CBS system started on June 25, 1951. By this point the market had changed dramatically; when color was first being considered in 1948 there were fewer than a million television sets in the U.S., but by 1951 there were well over 10 million. The idea that the VHF band could be allowed to "die" was no longer practical. During its campaign for FCC approval, CBS gave the first demonstrations of color television to the general public, showing an hour of color programs daily Mondays through Saturdays, beginning January 12, 1950, and running for the remainder of the month, over WOIC in Washington, D.C., where the programs could be viewed on eight 16-inch color receivers in a public building. Due to high public demand, the broadcasts were resumed February 13–21, with several evening programs added. CBS initiated a limited schedule of color broadcasts from its New York station WCBS-TV Mondays to Saturdays beginning November 14, 1950, making ten color receivers available for the viewing public. All were broadcast using the single color camera that CBS owned. The New York broadcasts were extended by coaxial cable to Philadelphia's WCAU-TV beginning December 13, and to Chicago on January 10, making them the first network color broadcasts. After a series of hearings beginning in September 1949, the FCC found the RCA and CTI systems fraught with technical problems, inaccurate color reproduction, and expensive equipment, and so formally approved the CBS system as the U.S. color broadcasting standard on October 11, 1950. An unsuccessful lawsuit by RCA delayed the first commercial network broadcast in color until June 25, 1951, when a musical variety special titled simply Premiere was shown over a network of five East Coast CBS affiliates. Viewing was again restricted: the program could not be seen on black-and-white sets, and Variety estimated that only thirty prototype color receivers were available in the New York area. Regular color broadcasts began that same week with the daytime series The World Is Yours and Modern Homemakers. While the CBS color broadcasting schedule gradually expanded to twelve hours per week (but never into prime time), and the color network expanded to eleven affiliates as far west as Chicago, its commercial success was doomed by the lack of color receivers necessary to watch the programs, the refusal of television manufacturers to create adapter mechanisms for their existing black-and-white sets, and the unwillingness of advertisers to sponsor broadcasts seen by almost no one. CBS had bought a television manufacturer in April, and in September 1951, production began on the only CBS-Columbia color television model, with the first color sets reaching retail stores on September 28. But it was too little, too late. Only 200 sets had been shipped, and only 100 sold, when CBS discontinued its color television system on October 20, 1951, ostensibly by request of the National Production Authority for the duration of the Korean War, and bought back all the CBS color sets it could to prevent lawsuits by disappointed customers. RCA chairman David Sarnoff later charged that the NPA's order had come "out of a situation artificially created by one company to solve its own perplexing problems" because CBS had been unsuccessful in its color venture. While the FCC was holding its JTAC meetings, development was taking place on a number of systems allowing true simultaneous color broadcasts, "dot-sequential color systems". Unlike the hybrid systems, dot-sequential televisions used a signal very similar to existing black-and-white broadcasts, with the intensity of every dot on the screen being sent in succession. In 1938 Georges Valensi demonstrated an encoding scheme that would allow color broadcasts to be encoded so they could be picked up on existing black-and-white sets as well. In his system the output of the three camera tubes were re-combined to produce a single "luminance" value that was very similar to a monochrome signal and could be broadcast on the existing VHF frequencies. The color information was encoded in a separate "chrominance" signal, consisting of two separate signals, the original blue signal minus the luminance (B'–Y'), and red-luma (R'–Y'). These signals could then be broadcast separately on a different frequency; a monochrome set would tune in only the luminance signal on the VHF band, while color televisions would tune in both the luminance and chrominance on two different frequencies, and apply the reverse transforms to retrieve the original RGB signal. The downside to this approach is that it required a major boost in bandwidth use, something the FCC was interested in avoiding. RCA used Valensi's concept as the basis of all of its developments, believing it to be the only proper solution to the broadcast problem. However, RCA's early sets using mirrors and other projection systems all suffered from image and color quality problems, and were easily bested by CBS's hybrid system. But solutions to these problems were in the pipeline, and RCA in particular was investing massive sums (later estimated at $100 million) to develop a usable dot- sequential tube. RCA was beaten to the punch by the Geer tube, which used three B&W; tubes aimed at different faces of colored pyramids to produce a color image. All-electronic systems included the Chromatron, Penetron and beam-index tube that were being developed by various companies. While investigating all of these, RCA's teams quickly started focusing on the shadow mask system. In July 1938 the shadow mask color television was patented by Werner Flechsig (1900–1981) in Germany, and was demonstrated at the International radio exhibition Berlin in 1939. Most CRT color televisions used today are based on this technology. His solution to the problem of focusing the electron guns on the tiny colored dots was one of brute-force; a metal sheet with holes punched in it allowed the beams to reach the screen only when they were properly aligned over the dots. Three separate guns were aimed at the holes from slightly different angles, and when their beams passed through the holes the angles caused them to separate again and hit the individual spots a short distance away on the back of the screen. The downside to this approach was that the mask cut off the vast majority of the beam energy, allowing it to hit the screen only 15% of the time, requiring a massive increase in beam power to produce acceptable image brightness. In spite of these problems in both the broadcast and display systems, RCA pressed ahead with development and was ready for a second assault on the standards by 1950. The possibility of a compatible color broadcast system was so compelling that the NTSC decided to re-form, and held a second series of meetings starting in January 1950. Having only recently selected the CBS system, the FCC heavily opposed the NTSC's efforts. One of the FCC Commissioners, R. F. Jones, went so far as to assert that the engineers testifying in favor of a compatible system were "in a conspiracy against the public interest". Unlike the FCC approach where a standard was simply selected from the existing candidates, the NTSC would produce a board that was considerably more pro-active in development. Starting before CBS color even got on the air, the U.S. television industry, represented by the National Television System Committee, worked in 1950–1953 to develop a color system that was compatible with existing black-and-white sets and would pass FCC quality standards, with RCA developing the hardware elements. ("Compatible color," a phrase from advertisements for early sets, appears in the song "America" of West Side Story, 1957.) RCA first made publicly announced field tests of the dot sequential color system over its New York station WNBT in July 1951. When CBS testified before Congress in March 1953 that it had no further plans for its own color system, the National Production Authority dropped its ban on the manufacture of color television receivers, and the path was open for the NTSC to submit its petition for FCC approval in July 1953, which was granted on December 17. The first publicly announced network demonstration of a program using the NTSC "compatible color" system was an episode of NBC's Kukla, Fran and Ollie on August 30, 1953, although it was viewable in color only at the network's headquarters. The first network broadcast to go out over the air in NTSC color was a performance of the opera Carmen on October 31, 1953 Colour broadcasts from the United States were available to Canadian population centers near the border since the mid-1950s. At the time that NTSC colour broadcasting was officially introduced into Canada in 1966, less than one percent of Canadian households had a colour television set. Colour television in Canada was launched on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's (CBC) English language TV service on September 1, 1966. Private television broadcaster CTV also started colour broadcasts in early September 1966. The CBC's French-language TV service, Radio-Canada, was broadcasting colour programming for 15 hours a week in 1968. Full-time colour transmissions started in 1974 on the CBC, with other private sector broadcasters in the country doing so by the end of the 1970s. The following provinces and areas of Canada introduced colour television by the years as followed: Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec (1966; Major networks only - private sector around 1968-1972), Newfoundland and Labrador (1967), Nova Scotia, New Brunswick (1968), Prince Edward Island (1969), Yukon (1971), Northwest Territories (including Nunavut) (1972; Major networks in large centres, many remote areas in the far north did not get colour until at least 1977/1978) Cuba in 1958 became the second country in the world to introduce color television broadcasting, with Havana's Channel 12 using standards established by the NTSC Committee of United States Federal Communications Commission in 1940, and American technology patented by the American electronics company RCA, or Radio Corporation of America. But the color transmissions ended when broadcasting stations were seized in the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and did not return until 1975, using equipment acquired from Japan's NEC Corporation, and SECAM equipment from the Soviet Union, adapted for the American NTSC standard. Guillermo González Camarena independently invented and developed a field- sequential tricolor disk system in México in the late 1930s, for which he requested a patent in México on August 19, 1940, and in the United States in 1941. González Camarena produced his color television system in his Gon-Cam laboratory for the Mexican market and exported it to the Columbia College of Chicago, which regarded it as the best system in the world. Goldmark had actually applied for a patent for the same field-sequential tricolor system in the US on September 7, 1940, while González Camarena had made his Mexican filing 19 days before, on August 19. On August 31, 1946, González Camarena sent his first color transmission from his lab in the offices of the Mexican League of Radio Experiments at Lucerna St. No. 1, in Mexico City. The video signal was transmitted at a frequency of 115 MHz. and the audio in the 40-metre band. He obtained authorization to make the first publicly announced color broadcast in Mexico, on February 8, 1963, of the program Paraíso Infantil on Mexico City's XHGC-TV, using the NTSC system which had by now been adopted as the standard for color programming. González Camarena also invented the "simplified Mexican color TV system" as a much simpler and cheaper alternative to the NTSC system. Due to its simplicity, NASA used a modified version of the system in its Voyager mission of 1979, to take pictures and video of Jupiter. Although all-electronic color was introduced in the U.S. in 1953, high prices and the scarcity of color programming greatly slowed its acceptance in the marketplace. The first national color broadcast (the 1954 Tournament of Roses Parade) occurred on January 1, 1954, but over the next dozen years most network broadcasts, and nearly all local programming, continued to be in black-and-white. In 1956 NBC's The Perry Como Show became the first live network television series to present a majority of episodes in color. CBS's The Big Record, starring pop vocalist Patti Page, was the first television show broadcast in color for the entire 1957-1958 season; its production costs were greater than most movies were at the time not only because of all the stars featured on the hour-long extravaganza but the extremely high-intensity lighting and electronics required for the new RCA TK-41 cameras. It was not until the mid-1960s that color sets started selling in large numbers, due in part to the color transition of 1965 in which it was announced that over half of all network prime-time programming would be broadcast in color that autumn. The first all-color prime-time season came just one year later. NBC made the first coast-to-coast color broadcast when it telecast the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1, 1954, with public demonstrations given across the United States on prototype color receivers by manufacturers RCA, General Electric, Philco, Raytheon, Hallicrafters, Hoffman, Pacific Mercury, and others. Two days earlier, Admiral had demonstrated to their distributors the prototype of Admiral's first color television set planned for consumer sale using the NTSC standards, priced at $1,175 (). It is not known when the later commercial version of this receiver was first sold. Production was extremely limited, and no advertisements for it were published in New York nor Washington newspapers. A color model from Admiral C1617A became available in the Chicago area on January 4, 1954 and appeared in various stores throughout the country, including those in Maryland January 6, 1954, San Francisco, January 14, 1954, Indianapolis, January 17, 1954, Pittsburgh January 25, 1954, and Oakland, January 26, 1954, among other cities thereafter. A color model from Westinghouse H840CK15 ($1,295, or ) became available in the New York area on February 28, 1954 ; Only 30 sets were sold in its first month. "Color TV Reduced by Westinghouse," April 2, 1954, p. 36. a less expensive color model from RCA (CT-100) reached dealers in April 1954. Television's first prime time network color series was The Marriage, a situation comedy broadcast live by NBC in the summer of 1954. NBC's anthology series Ford Theatre became the first network color filmed series that October however, due to the high cost of the first fifteen color episodes, Ford ordered that two black-and-white episodes be filmed for every color episode. The first series to be filmed entirely in color was NBC's Norby, a sitcom which lasted 13 weeks, from January to April 1955, and was replaced by repeats of Ford Theatre's color episodes. Early color telecasts could be preserved only on the black-and-white kinescope process introduced in 1947. It was not until September 1956 that NBC began using color film to time-delay and preserve some of its live color telecasts. Ampex introduced a color videotape recorder in 1958, which NBC used to tape An Evening With Fred Astaire, the oldest surviving network color videotape. This system was also used to unveil a demonstration of color television for the press. On May 22, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the WRC-TV NBC studios in Washington, D.C. and gave a speech touting the new technology's merits. His speech was recorded in color, and a copy of this videotape was given to the Library of Congress for posterity. The syndicated Cisco Kid had been filmed in color since 1949 in anticipation of color broadcasting. Several syndicated shows had episodes filmed in color during the 1950s, including The Cisco Kid, The Lone Ranger, My Friend Flicka, and Adventures of Superman. The first two were carried by some stations equipped for color telecasts well before NBC began its regular weekly color dramas in 1959, beginning with the Western series Bonanza. NBC was at the forefront of color programming because its parent company RCA manufactured the most successful line of color sets in the 1950s and, at the end of August 1956, announced that in comparison with 1955–56, when only three of its regularly scheduled programs were broadcast in color, the 1956–57 season will feature 17 series in color. By 1959 RCA was the only remaining major manufacturer of color sets. CBS and ABC, which were not affiliated with set manufacturers and were not eager to promote their competitor's product, dragged their feet into color. CBS broadcast color specials and sometimes aired its big weekly variety shows in color, but it offered no regularly scheduled color programming until the fall of 1965. At least one CBS show, The Lucy Show, was filmed in color beginning in 1963 but continued to be telecast in black and white through the end of the 1964–65 season. ABC delayed its first color programs until 1962, but these were initially only broadcasts of the cartoon shows The Flintstones, The Jetsons and Beany and Cecil. The DuMont network, although it did have a television-manufacturing parent company, was in financial decline by 1954 and was dissolved two years later. The relatively small amount of network color programming, combined with the high cost of color television sets, meant that as late as 1964 only 3.1 percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set. But by the mid-1960s, the subject of color programming turned into a ratings war. A 1965 American Research Bureau (ARB) study that proposed an emerging trend in color television set sales convinced NBC that a full shift to color would gain a ratings advantage over its two competitors. As a result, NBC provided the catalyst for rapid color expansion by announcing that its prime time schedule for fall 1965 would be almost entirely in color. ABC and CBS followed suit and over half of their combined prime-time programming also was in color that season, but they were still reluctant to telecast all their programming in color due to production costs. All three broadcast networks were airing full color prime time schedules by the 1966–67 broadcast season, and ABC aired its last new black-and-white daytime programming in December 1967. Public broadcasting networks like NET, however, did not use color for a majority of their programming until 1968. The number of color television sets sold in the U.S. did not exceed black-and-white sales until 1972, which was also the first year that more than fifty percent of television households in the U.S. had a color set. This was also the year that "in color" notices before color television programs ended, due to the rise in color television set sales, and color programming having become the norm. In a display of foresight, Disney had filmed many of its earlier shows in color so they were able to be repeated on NBC, and since most of Disney's feature-length films were also made in color, they could now also be telecast in that format. To emphasize the new feature, the series was re-dubbed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, which premiered in September 1961, and retained that moniker until 1969. By the mid-1970s, the only stations broadcasting in black-and-white were a few high-numbered UHF stations in small markets, and a handful of low-power repeater stations in even smaller markets such as vacation spots. By 1979, even the last of these had converted to color and by the early 1980s, B&W; sets had been pushed into niche markets, notably low-power uses, small portable sets, or use as video monitor screens in lower-cost consumer equipment. By the late 1980s, even those areas switched to color sets. Color broadcasting in Hawaii started in September 1965, and in Alaska a year later. One of the last television stations in North America to convert to color, WQEX (now WINP-TV) in Pittsburgh, started broadcasting in color on October 16, 1986 after its black-and-white transmitter, which dated from the 1950s, broke down in February 1985 and the parts required to fix it were no longer available. The then-owner of WQEX, PBS member station WQED, used some of its pledge money to buy a color transmitter. Early color sets were either floor-standing console models or tabletop versions nearly as bulky and heavy, so in practice, they remained firmly anchored in one place. The introduction of GE's relatively compact and lightweight Porta-Color set in the spring of 1966 made watching color television a more flexible and convenient proposition. In 1972, sales of color sets finally surpassed sales of black-and-white sets. Also in 1972, the last holdout among daytime network programs converted to color, resulting in the first completely all-color network season. The first regular colour broadcasts in Europe were by Belarus's Belteleradio in 1961. Soon followed the UK's BBC2 beginning on July 1, 1967 (using the PAL system). West Germany's first colour broadcast occurred in August (PAL), followed by the Netherlands in September (PAL), and by France in October (SECAM). Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Austria, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary all started regular colour broadcasts around 1969/1970. Ireland's national TV station RTÉ began using colour in 1968 for recorded programmes; the first outside broadcast made in colour for RTÉ Television was when Ireland hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Dublin in 1971. The PAL system spread through most of Western Europe. More European countries introduced colour television using the PAL system in the 1970s and early 1980s; examples include Belgium (1971), Yugoslavia (1971), Spain (1972, but not fully implemented until 1977), Iceland (1973), Portugal (1975, but not fully implemented until 1980), Albania (1981), Turkey (1981) and Romania (1983, but not fully implemented until 1991). In Italy there were debates to adopt a national colour television system, the ISA, developed by Indesit, but that idea was scrapped. As a result, Italy was one of the last European countries to officially adopt the PAL system in the 1976-1977 season. France, Luxembourg, and most of the Eastern Bloc along with their overseas territories opted for SECAM. SECAM was a popular choice in countries with much hilly terrain, and countries with a very large installed base of older monochrome equipment, which could cope much better with the greater ruggedness of the SECAM signal. However, for many countries the decision was more down to politics than technical merit. A drawback of SECAM for production is that, unlike PAL or NTSC, certain post-production operations of encoded SECAM signals are not really possible without a significant drop in quality. As an example, a simple fade to black is trivial in NTSC and PAL: one merely reduces the signal level until it is zero. However, in SECAM the colour difference signals, which are frequency modulated, need first to be decoded to e.g. RGB, then the fade-to-black is applied, and finally the resulting signal is re- encoded into SECAM. Because of this, much SECAM video editing was actually done using PAL equipment, then the resultant signal was converted to SECAM. Another drawback of SECAM is that comb filtering, allowing better colour separation, is not possible in TV receivers. This was not, however, much of a drawback in the early days of SECAM as such filters were not readily available in high-end TV sets before the 1990s. The first regular colour broadcasts in SECAM were started on October 1, 1967, on France's Second Channel (ORTF 2e chaîne). In France and the UK colour broadcasts were made on UHF frequencies, the VHF band being used for black and white, 405 lines in UK or 819 lines in France, until the beginning of the 1980s. Countries elsewhere that were already broadcasting 625-line monochrome on VHF and UHF, simply transmitted colour programs on the same channels. Some British television programs, particularly those made by or for ITC Entertainment, were shot on colour film before the introduction of colour television to the UK, for the purpose of sales to U.S. networks. The first British show to be made in colour was the drama series The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956–57), which was initially made in black and white but later shot in colour for sale to the NBC network in the United States. Other British colour television programs made before the introduction of colour television in the UK include Stingray (1964–1965), which was the first British TV show to be filmed entirely in colour, Thunderbirds (1965–1966), The Saint (from 1966-1969), The Avengers (from 1967-1969), Man in a Suitcase (1967-1968), The Prisoner (1967-1968) and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967–1968). However, most UK series predominantly made using videotape, such as Doctor Who (1963–89; 2005–present) did not begin colour production until later, with the first colour Doctor Who episodes not airing until 1970. (The first four, comprising the story Spearhead from Space, were shot on film owing to a technician's strike, with videotape being used threafter.) In Japan, NHK and NTV introduced colour television, using a variation of the NTSC system (called NTSC-J) on September 10, 1960, making it the first country in Asia to introduce colour television. The Philippines (1966) and Taiwan (1969) also adopted the NTSC system. Other countries in the region instead used the PAL system, starting with Australia (1967, originally scheduled for 1972, but not fully implemented until 1975), and then Thailand (1969; this country converted from a 525-line system to 625 lines), Hong Kong (1970), the People's Republic of China (1971), New Zealand (1973), North Korea (1974), Singapore (1974), Pakistan (1976, but not fully implemented until 1982), Kazakhstan (1978), Vietnam (1978), Malaysia (1978, but not fully implemented until 1980), Indonesia (1979), India (1979, but not fully implemented until 1982), and Bangladesh (1980). South Korea did not introduce colour television (using NTSC) until 1980 (with full-time colour transmissions starting from 1981), although it was already manufacturing color television sets for export. The last country in Asia was Myanmar in 1984. Nearly all of the countries in the Middle East use PAL. The first country in the Middle East to introduce color television was Iraq in 1967. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar followed in the mid-1970s, but Israel, Lebanon, and Cyprus continued to broadcast in black and white until the early 1980s. Israeli television even erased the color signals using a device called the mekhikon. The first color television service in Africa was introduced on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, in 1973, using PAL. In 1973 also, MBC of Mauritius broadcast the OCAMM Conference, in color, using SECAM. At the time, South Africa did not have a television service at all, owing to opposition from the apartheid regime, but in 1976, one was finally launched. Nigeria adopted PAL for color transmissions in 1974 in the then Benue Plateau state in the north central region of the country, but countries such as Ghana and Zimbabwe continued with black and white until 1984. The Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service (SLBS) started television broadcasting in 1963 as a cooperation between the SLBS and commercial interests; coverage was extended to all districts in 1978 when the service was also upgraded to color. Unlike most other countries in the Americas, which had adopted NTSC, Brazil began broadcasting in color using PAL-M, on February 19, 1972. Ecuador was the first South American country to broadcast in color using NTSC, on November 5, 1974. In 1978, Argentina started broadcasting in color using PAL-N in connection with the country's hosting of the FIFA World Cup. Some countries in South America, including Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay, broadcast only in black and white until the early 1980s. Cor Dillen, director and later CEO of the South American branch of Philips, was responsible for bringing color television to South America. There are three main analog broadcast television systems in use around the world, PAL (Phase Alternating Line), NTSC (National Television System Committee), and SECAM (Séquentiel Couleur à Mémoire—Sequential Color with Memory). The system used in The Americas and part of the Far East is NTSC. Most of Asia, Western Europe, Australia, Africa, and Eastern South America use PAL (though Brazil uses a hybrid PAL-M system). Eastern Europe and France uses SECAM. Generally, a device (such as a television) can only read or display video encoded to a standard which the device is designed to support; otherwise, the source must be converted (such as when European programs are broadcast in North America or vice versa). This table illustrates the differences: Digital television broadcasting standards, such as ATSC, DVB-T, DVB-T2, and ISDB, have superseded these analog transmission standards in many countries. Triniscope, Beam-index tube Television in Color, April 1944 one of the earliest magazine articles detailing the new technology of color television, TV Color Controversy, LIFE February 27, 1950 Article about FCC debating which color television system to approve for US broadcasts. The Wizard of Oz, produced by MGM, was first released in theatres on August 25, 1939, then re-released nationwide in 1949 and again in 1955. It was first broadcast on television on Saturday, November 3, 1956. The film was shown as the last installment of the CBS anthology series Ford Star Jubilee. Since that telecast, it has been shown respectively by CBS, NBC, the WB Network, and several of Ted Turner's national cable channels. It has never been licensed to any local affiliate broadcast TV station. From 1959 until 1991, it was an annual tradition on American commercial network television. During these years, and for several afterwards, it was always shown as a television special. After the film was shown on television for the second time, network telecasts of it became a much-anticipated family event in the United States, drawing large audiences annually for many years. Between 1956 and 1980, commercial broadcast television was virtually the only means by which families were able to see The Wizard of Oz, unless they attended the MGM Children's Matinees in the early 1970s. Until 1999, the film had been shown in the U.S. only on commercial broadcast television. After the film went to cable that year, TV showings of the movie became increasingly more frequent, and the tradition of televising it only once a year ended, at least in the U.S. The Wizard of Oz has become perhaps the most famous film to be shown regularly on U.S. television, and one of the most cherished. Of the many family-oriented musical fantasies broadcast after the successful 1955 version of the Mary Martin Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz is the only one which is still shown regularly. Following the 1956 premiere, there were no rebroadcasts of the film until 1959. The 1959-1962 broadcasts occurred in autumn between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Beginning with the 1963-64 season, these special presentations were seen in the first quarter of the year. The film was not broadcast in the U.S. in 1963, 1992, 1995, or 1997. The film was first issued on home video formats in 1980. The Wizard of Oz, which had been a critical but only modest financial success during its theatrical run, was chosen to be the first Hollywood film to be shown uncut in prime time on a coast to coast television network. The first telecast took place on Saturday, November 3, 1956 as part of the final program in the soon-to-be-canceled CBS anthology series Ford Star Jubilee – a rotating potpourri of highly budgeted but low-rated specials, including a well- publicized debut hour hosted by Judy Garland. The original asking price of $250,000 was negotiated by MGM attorney, later company president, Frank Rosenfelt. The network paid MGM $225,000 for the rights to televise the film and committed to showing it again for the same price with an option to re- broadcast if the telecast was a success. This 1956 broadcast was shown as CBS's response to the successful color telecast of the Broadway musical Peter Pan with Mary Martin, which had been restaged especially for TV at NBC Studios as part of the anthology series Producers' Showcase. Peter Pan had first been shown live on TV by NBC in 1955, and been repeated (again live) by public demand in 1956. Its enormous success on television ushered in a temporary "fad" of mostly live family-oriented specials based on fantasy tales, such as Aladdin (1958, and no relation to the Disney film), Alice in Wonderland (1955) (a live-action version), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (1957), The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1957), and Pinocchio (1957, no relation to the Disney film). As part of this trend, CBS bought the rights from MGM to telecast The Wizard of Oz. For the first TV broadcast of The Wizard of Oz, the normally 90-minute Ford Star Jubilee was expanded to a full two hours to accommodate the entire film, which, in addition to having commercial breaks, was celebrity hosted. The main reason that CBS arranged for a host for the film was that at 101-minutes, the film was not considered long enough to run in the allotted 120-minute slot at that time, even with commercial breaks, without additional content to pad the entire telecast out to two hours. The 1956 television debut of the film marked the only time any actor who had appeared in the movie was selected to host the broadcast: Bert Lahr, who played the Cowardly Lion (and his Kansas farmhand counterpart Zeke) in the film, appeared alongside the daughter of Judy Garland, a then 10 year old Liza Minnelli, and young Oz expert Justin G. Schiller. Lorna Luft, Minnelli's half-sister, did not appear as she was only four years old at the time, although she did have her picture taken with Minnelli in a promotional photo. Unlike several of the other Oz telecasts, apparently no stills were taken during the hosting sequences in 1956. The practice of a show business celebrity regularly "hosting" The Wizard of Oz lasted from the film's first television showing until 1968, when the film went to NBC after being shown on CBS nine times. The film was always presented uncut in a two-hour time slot between 1956 and 1968, despite having commercials and hosted segments. The Professor Marvel sequence has never been omitted (at least in American telecasts of the film), and the tracking shot of Munchkinland was not edited until the film went to NBC in 1968. The film's first broadcast received positive critical notices in newspapers the following day. Variety magazine prophetically suggested that the film could be telecast annually and at an earlier time. The film was a ratings success with a Nielsen rating of 33.9 and an audience share of 53%. The film was not rebroadcast in 1957 or 1958. For telecasts from 1959 (the year of its second telecast) up until 1998, the film was always shown as a stand-alone TV special instead of as part of an anthology or movie series. Between 1959 and 1968, and again in 1990 when Angela Lansbury, star of CBS' Murder She Wrote, hosted the 50th-anniversary telecast, CBS chose its hosts from its then-current prime time lineup. In 1959, the host was Red Skelton (The Red Skelton Show); in 1960 it was Richard Boone (Have Gun, Will Travel), in 1961 and 1962 it was Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show), and from 1964 through 1967, it was Danny Kaye (The Danny Kaye Show). Skelton, Boone and Van Dyke brought their then-young children along to appear with them. Although the hosting segments for the 1956 telecast of the film had to be done live, Skelton's, Boone's, Van Dyke's and Kaye's segments were recorded on video tape in advance of the telecasts. Lansbury's hosting segment was the first one recorded on film. During these years, the hosting sequences were not staged in a run-of-the-mill manner, with the host merely standing in a studio set, but in what could be considered imaginative ways. Richard Boone was taped on the set of his television series Have Gun, Will Travel, in a "living room" with his real son about to watch the film on a TV set. Dick Van Dyke was shown in a living room set with his children, and Danny Kaye's hosting segment featured him sitting on a prop toadstool against a painted backdrop of the Yellow Brick Road and the Emerald City. The Kaye segment did not include a television set as part of its design. Some humor was sometimes incorporated into these segments. Red Skelton was seen as two characters: Before the film began, he was seen in a studio set of an early 20th-century bookstore, in costume as a Victorian-era storyteller who introduced L. Frank Baum's original 1900 novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to a young girl played by Skelton's real daughter, and at film's end, he appeared in a studio recreation of a modern living room as himself. Danny Kaye reassured viewers not to panic when the film began in black-and-white rather than in color, and encouraged young viewers not to be afraid of the roaring MGM lion at the beginning of the film. No directors or writers were credited for the hosting sequences, just as none are credited for hosting segments prior to films on Turner Classic Movies. The Wizard of Oz did not become an annual television tradition immediately — only after the 1959 showing, when, because of the earlier hour at which it was shown (6:00 P.M., E.S.T.), more children tuned into the broadcast, and it gained an even larger television audience than before with a Nielsen rating of 36.5 and an audience share of 58%. The 1959 telecast was especially welcomed by media critic John Crosby, who commented in the New York Herald Tribune, "Television — any television — looks awfully ordinary after The Wizard of Oz". From 1959 until 1991, the film was telecast once every year, the one exception being 1963, when it was not telecast at all. WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, did not carry the network's yearly Oz telecast in 1961, the year WISN began its affiliation with CBS, running Green Bay Packers football instead. However, due to viewer outcry, WISN was able to get permission to run the film locally at 2:00 p.m. C.S.T., on Christmas Eve. In 1978, after the film had returned to CBS, a computer malfunction at the CBS owned-and-operated WBBM-TV in Chicago accidentally cut off most of the ending to that year's Oz telecast, interrupting the final minute with a commercial block that was not supposed to air until after the movie had ended. Because the break was only 42 seconds long, no attempt was made to override the computer, for fear of making the problem worse. For several hours thereafter, WBBM received angry calls from viewers, while those unable to get through chose to voice their displeasure wrote to the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times newspapers. The film, as telecast on U.S. television between 1959 and 1968, was arguably given a much more elaborate TV presentation than it received afterwards. During those years, it always had videotaped wraparound opening and closing credits segments devised by CBS, accompanied by the network's own specially recorded opening and closing music based on the film's score. For the opening "wraparound" credits, the title The Wizard of Oz and the names of its five leading actors, Judy Garland, Frank Morgan, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, and Jack Haley, were first shown in CBS's own format and font, while an anonymous announcer read them off and then followed this with an announcement of the film's sponsor(s): "This portion of The Wizard of Oz is brought to you by...[name of sponsor mentioned]". These specially-devised opening credits never mentioned that the film was made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. From 1959 to 1964, CBS created different wraparound credits for each showing, but because the same hosting segment — the Danny Kaye one — was shown between 1964 and 1968, audiences saw the same "wraparound" credits from 1964 until the film went to NBC. The special CBS introduction was followed by the host speaking about the movie for about three minutes or so. Those remarks lead into the actual film, beginning with all of its original 1939 opening credits (shown against a background of moving clouds), including the MGM Leo the Lion logo, the name of the film, the cast list, and the film's principal technical staff, exactly as MGM had created them, with the film's main title music heard. The host reappeared just before the film's second half began, to say a few more words about it, before the telecast proceeded with the rest of the film, commercials included. However, at the end of the movie, the film's closing cast list, as created by MGM, was not be shown, and the title card with "The End" right after Dorothy's closing line was never seen on television during these early CBS showings. Instead, immediately after Dorothy spoke her last line ("Oh, Auntie Em, there's no place like home!"), and the camera faded out on her, television viewers once again saw CBS's own title card The Wizard of Oz, this time accompanied by some of the film's end title music, exactly as heard on the soundtrack, and the announcer's voice saying that the host for that year would return in a moment. After a final commercial, the host was then seen once again, to bid farewell to the TV audience, and CBS showed its own version of the cast list that appears during the film's end credits. At the end, referring to both the film and the hosting segments, the same announcer declared that "This has been a film and videotape presentation." From the beginning The Wizard of Oz was telecast in color, although few people owned color television sets in 1956. Except for 1961, all U.S. telecasts have been in color, an effect that seemed much more striking in the early 1960s, when there were still relatively few color programs on television. It was not televised in color in 1961 because color telecasts had to be paid for by their sponsors, who declined to do so that year. Between 1956 and 1965, the Wizard of Oz showings were rare exceptions to the black and white program schedule at CBS. During this period, CBS had the ability to broadcast programs in color, but generally chose not to do so unless a sponsor paid for a film or program to be shown in color. During this period, the competing network NBC was owned by RCA, which by 1960 manufactured 95% of the color sets sold in the U.S. Hence, CBS perceived that increased use of color broadcasting would primarily benefit its rival by promoting sales of RCA color television sets. Not until the fall of 1965 did color broadcasts play a major role at CBS and ABC, at which time half the network shows from ABC and CBS were being made and shown in color. Meanwhile, all but two NBC prime time shows were in color and most of NBC’s daytime shows were. By the fall of 1966, all three networks produced all of their prime time shows in color. By the time the movie went to NBC in 1968, all network shows (except for reruns of black and white movies) were in color. Partly because commercial time during programs increased beginning in the late 1960s, the idea of regularly having hosts to introduce the film was dropped when The Wizard of Oz went to NBC in 1968, where no "wraparound" sequence was shown. The presentation consisted only of the film itself, with its original opening and closing credits, and no special NBC-created credits or hosting segments. The famous NBC peacock was shown immediately prior to the beginning of the film, with announcer Mel Brandt saying that "the first 22 minutes of this program [i.e. the Kansas and tornado sequences] will be shown in black- and-white", a not quite accurate statement, since the final three minutes of the film also took place in Kansas, and were at that time also shown in black- and-white, rather than in the sepia tone in which they originally had been made (the sepia was not restored to the Kansas and tornado scenes until 1989, the film's 50th anniversary). However, one NBC telecast featured an on-screen host: the 1970 showing, which opened with veteran actor Gregory Peck paying tribute to the recently deceased Judy Garland (a segment directed by Oz producer Mervyn LeRoy, marking his first TV work), although this segment consisted of only a few brief remarks, while the opening hosting segments on CBS had gone on for about three minutes or so. The NBC Oz telecasts began the tradition of the film's annual showings during the Easter and Passover seasons of the year as opposed to the winter showings on CBS. The switch in networks resulted because CBS was unwilling to meet MGM's increased price — fostered by the film's ever increasing popularity — for renewal of the rights to telecast it. The film stayed on NBC until 1976. When CBS, realizing its error in allowing it to go to another network, bought back the rights at MGM's asking price, their viewer ratings shot up, and one executive was heard to remark, "That picture is better [for the network] than a gushing oil well". After its 1976 return to CBS, the film was hosted on that network only once more, in a filmed segment featuring Angela Lansbury in 1990, but the CBS "wraparound" opening and closing credits were not - and have never been - revived, although, during those years, a blue card featuring a painting of a rainbow and the title The Wizard of Oz was shown on the screen while the night's pre- empted programs or programs to be shown at regular time and the sponsors were being announced, and immediately before and after commercial breaks. In the 1980s clips from the film shown on a red background with title was shown at the start, while a still of Emerald City with title was used during commercials. Angela Lansbury also narrated a documentary about the making of the film, originally entitled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: 50 Years of Magic and years later re-titled The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: The Making of a Movie Classic. It was first shown immediately after the movie's 1990 telecast, and is included as a supplement on all the DVD releases beginning with the 1999 DVD release. Jack Haley, Jr., the documentary's director, was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work. When shown on Turner Classic Movies, The Wizard of Oz was usually hosted by TCM host Robert Osborne. On June 3, 2007, Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, hosted a telecast of the film on Turner Classic Movies, as part of Essentials, Jr., a special summer series of family movies. On July 27, 2008, the film was shown twice in a row on Turner Network Television without a host, but with commercials, and with "pop-up" animated ads for other TNT programs at the bottom of the screen just before and after commercial breaks. On March 24 and 25, 2012, the film was hosted on Cartoon Network by television actor Robert Wu, who provides the voice of Mr. Washee Washee in the Family Guy episode, "Tiegs for Two". This telecast ran two-and- a-half hours, longer than any CBS or NBC telecasts. On June 10, 2012, which would have been Judy Garland's 90th birthday, the film was telecast on Turner Classic Movies without commercials, and hosted by comedian Bill Hader, again as part of the Essentials, Jr. summer series of family films. Unlike the CBS hosting segments which were a part of the 1960s telecasts of the film, Hader's segment showed clips from the film before it actually began. Being a presentation of network TV, The Wizard of Oz was subject to sponsorship from a variety of advertisers. The first telecast of "Oz" was a presentation of Ford Star Jubilee and thus sponsored by Ford Motor Company and its dealers. In the ensuing years of 1959 thru 1967, the yearly telecast was sponsored by one primary sponsor with a co-sponsor. Perhaps the best remembered examples were the telecasts sponsored by Procter and Gamble and promoted when the company gave free premiums of hand puppets with packages of some of its most popular products. Many also remember the 1970 telecast presented on NBC by Singer Manufacturing Company as a tribute to Judy Garland, who had died in June 1969. In later years, several different advertisers shared sponsorship; no one advertiser predominated. The showing in 1983 was the 25th network prime-time showing, a record then for any film or television special. In the first nine showings, all on CBS, The Wizard of Oz gained at least 49% of the television audience. In 1966, it ranked No. 1 in the ratings for the week that it was shown. Between 1960 and 1968, the film even beat out episodes of ABC-TV's Walt Disney Presents (in 1960) and NBC's Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color (from 1961 to 1968), which aired opposite the film. When the film moved temporarily from CBS to NBC, it always preempted the Disney program altogether, except for once, when NBC showed Oz on a Saturday in 1968. When CBS bought the film back from NBC in 1976, it again began to beat episodes of Disney in the ratings. It preempted Disney on one more occasion, after the series moved to that network in the early 1980s. In 2006, the first year it was shown on TV in high-definition, the film placed No. 11 in the Nielsen ratings among cable television programs for the week of November 11. From 1968 to 1984, minor cuts were made to the film to make room for added commercial time and in order to have the film "clock in" at two hours. No dialogue or singing was removed, only moments such as camera pans and establishing shots, as well as MGM's written foreword to the film. On a few occasions beginning in 1985, again because of the increased time spent on commercial breaks, the film was time-compressed to fit it into a two-hour running time without cutting it. However, The Wizard of Oz is now always shown complete and at its regular speed on television, both with and without commercials. When shown with ads, the film now runs about two hours and fifteen minutes, simply because of the increase in commercial time. The March 1991 showing was the first after the film gained protected status from the Library of Congress and the National Film Preservation Board. Networks opted to no longer shorten the film by "microcutting" a few individual moments throughout the movie as had been done from the late 1960s to the early 1980s to make room for commercials and keep it in a two-hour broadcast. This extended the running time of the film from 8 P.M to 10:07 p.m. and sometimes even longer, depending on the amount of time spent on commercials. It was one of the first 50 films selected for this protection. In the 1980s, Ted Turner purchased the film from MGM, alongside Gone with the Wind. Because both films were still licensed to CBS, Turner and the network negotiated a deal that extended CBS' license for Oz in exchange for relinquishing its rights to Gone with the Wind. In 1991, the film was shown twice during the year for the first time. 1991 also marked the first time since 1956 that the film was shown in November. This also happened in 1993, when the film was telecast in both February and November of that year. The film was not shown on television at all in 1992, 1995 and 1997, marking the first time since 1963 that a year was skipped in showings of the film. Turner, which owned most of the pre-May 1986 MGM film and television library at the time (later owned by Warner Bros.), began moving to make its properties exclusive to Turner-owned outlets in the late 1990s; as such, in 1998, The Wizard of Oz made its last appearance on CBS, moving exclusively to Turner- owned properties the next year. 2000 marked the first time that the film was shown on U.S. television during the summer. In 2002, it was shown five times. On November 6, 2011, TBS became the American television channel on which The Wizard of Oz has been shown most often, when the film had its 32nd showing on that channel, finally breaking CBS' record 31 showings. As of April 29, 2013, Turner Classic Movies has shown the film 23 times. In addition to the frequent cable showings, another difference between showings on NBC, CBS, the WB network, and cable channels is that when the film was shown on CBS and NBC, it was always presented as a special instead of just a televised film. From 1959 until it went to cable, the film was never shown on NBC Saturday Night at the Movies or any other movie anthology series, and telecasts of the film regularly preempted two hours or more of regular television programming. Promos for the CBS and NBC showings during the 1960s began airing on television as much as two weeks in advance of that year's telecast and were still airing as late as 1989. On the major commercial networks, it was never termed a "CBS Movie Special" or an "NBC Movie Special", as movie specials shown on those networks are frequently termed, but as simply The Wizard of Oz. The 1955 and 1998 theatrical re-releases were matted in movie theaters to produce a widescreen effect for the Academy-standard aspect-ratio film. When shown in HDTV, the film is pillarboxed so that its aspect ratio is preserved. On DVD, the film has always been issued in its original 1939 aspect ratio. The movie has also been shown on television successfully in the United Kingdom, Canada and is shown every year in Australia, but it has not become the television phenomenon there that it has in the U.S. In Indonesia, the film was aired for the first time on the newly-inaugurated television network RCTI in November 1989, with reruns on other four networks in the 1990s. In Japan, the film has aired on the Japanese version of The Magical World of Disney, although Disney had nothing to do with its production or release. Eastern Time (taken from TV Guide and from The Wizard of Oz: The Official 50th Anniversary Pictorial History). 1956 - CBS - Saturday, November 3–9:00 p.m., 1959 - CBS - Sunday, December 13 - 6:00 p.m., 1960 - CBS - Sunday, December 11 - 6:00 p.m., 1961 - CBS - Sunday, December 10 - 6:00 p.m. Only time fully shown in Black & White, 1962 - CBS - Sunday, December 9 - 6:00 p.m. December 16 in Hawaii - 5:00 p.m., 1964 - CBS - Sunday, January 26 - 6:00 p.m. The reason that the film did not air in December 1963 has never been stated, but some say that it was because of John F. Kennedy's assassination, others say room needed to be made for more Christmas themed specials and that the movie fit in better during January. For whatever reason, the movie continued to air early in the year rather than late in the year from 1964 until the 1990s. 1965 - CBS - Sunday, January 17 - 6:00 p.m., 1966 - CBS - Sunday, January 9 - 6:00 p.m., 1967 - CBS - Sunday, February 12 - 6:00 p.m. Last airing on CBS until 1976. Moved to NBC in 1968, at this time, the showings were moved from midwinter to late winter/early spring. 1968 - NBC - Saturday, April 20 - 7:00 p.m. First showing by NBC, in Spring rather than Winter. The first time that the film was shown at 7:00 P.M instead of 6:00 P.M. 1969 - NBC - Sunday, March 9 - 7:00 p.m., 1970 - NBC - Sunday, March 15 - 7:00 p.m., 1971 - NBC - Sunday, April 18 - 7:00 p.m., 1972 - NBC - Tuesday, March 7 - 7:00 p.m. The first time that the film aired in the middle of the week, rather than on a weekend. 1973 - NBC - Sunday, April 8 - 7:00, 1974 - NBC - Sunday, February 24 7:00 p.m. Due to a breaking news story, NBC decided to show the film two weeks later, on March 10, rather than show it too late or in progress., 1975 - NBC - Easter Sunday, March 30 - 7:00 p.m., 1976 - CBS - Sunday, March 14 - 7 p.m. The year that The Wizard Of Oz returned to CBS. It remained there for twenty- two more years, a likely record in those years for a film's consecutive showings on one network. Initially the movie aired late winter/early spring, but beginning in 1991, the movie moved back and forth from spring to late fall. Another change was that CBS no longer began the movie before normal prime time. Before 1976, when run on a day other than Sunday, NBC took back the 7 p.m. Eastern / 6 p.m. Central time slots from affiliates to run the movie early enough so children could see it before bedtime. Also, prior to 1968, CBS always took the 6 p.m. hour to run the movie early. Logic was that times have changed and children now stay up a little later than they did in the past. From then on, if shown in a Sunday 6 to 8 or 7 to 9 pm time slot on CBS, the film preempted 60 Minutes, so beginning in 1978, CBS executives moved the showings to other nights of the week. If the film was shown on a Sunday, CBS usually scheduled it at 8 pm, so that it did not conflict with 60 Minutes. (As of 2017, 60 Minutes continues to air in the same Sunday 7 p.m. time slot on CBS.) 1977 - CBS - Sunday, March 20 - 7 p.m., 1978 - CBS - Easter Sunday, March 26 - 7 p.m., 1979 - CBS - Friday, March 23 - 8 p.m., 1980 - CBS - Friday, March 7–8 p.m., 1981 - CBS - Friday, February 27 - 8 p.m., 1982 - CBS - Saturday, March 27 - 8 p.m., 1983 - CBS - Friday, March 18 - 8 p.m., 1984 - CBS - Friday, March 30 - 8 p.m., 1985 - CBS - Friday, March 1–8 p.m., 1986 - CBS - Saturday, February 15 - 8 p.m., 1987 - CBS - Friday, March 6–8 p.m., 1988 - CBS - Wednesday, February 24 - 8:30 p.m. Delayed due to a CBS News Special report. 1989 - CBS - Sunday, March 18 - 7 p.m. The last time that the film pre-empted 60 Minutes. 1990 - CBS - Tuesday, February 20 - 8 p.m., 1991 - CBS - Tuesday, March 19 - 8 p.m. Soundtrack remastered in stereo using CBS StereoSound system. 1991 - CBS - Wednesday, November 27 - 8 p.m. The first time the film aired twice in the same year. This was done to switch it to a November date. 1993 - CBS - Friday, February 26 - 8 p.m., 1993 - CBS - Wednesday, November 11 - 8 p.m., 1994 - CBS - Thursday, November 23 - 8 p.m., 1996 - CBS - Friday, May 10 - 8 p.m. This was the same day that the film Twister, which contains plenty of references to The Wizard of Oz, was released to theatres. The first time that the film aired close to summertime. 1998 - CBS - Friday, May 8 - 8 p.m. - This was the last airing on CBS. From then on, Turner Broadcasting was to be in charge of telecasting the film., 2002 - WB - Sunday, November 24 - 7 p.m. First broadcast TV airing since 1998., 2003 - WB - Sunday, December 7 - 7 p.m., 2004 - WB - Sunday, December 19 - 7 p.m., 2005 - WB - Sunday, December 18 - 7 p.m. Cable showings November 21, 1999, TBS July 3, 2000, TCM November 19 and 25, 2000, TNT July 4, 2001, TCM December 1 and 2, 2001, TNT July 4, 2002, TCM November 28, 2002, TBS December 8, 13, and 25, 2002, TNT July 5 and 6, 2003, TCM November 16 and 21, 2003, TBS December 13 and 14, 2003, TNT July 2 and 3, 2004, TCM December 8 and 12, 2004, TNT November 19, 20, and 24, 2004, TBS July 3 and 4, 2005, TCM November 11, 12, and 13, 2005, TBS July 3 and 4, 2006, TCM November 10, 11, and 12, 2006, TBS December 11 and 17, 2006, TNT June 3, 2007, TCM November 9, 10, 11, 2007, TBS November 9 and 25, 2007, TNT December 22 and 23, 2007, TNT March 21 and 22, 2008, TCM July 27, 2008, TNT November 14, 2008, TNT November 14–16, 2008, TBS December 20 and 21, 2008, TNT The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric (GE); however, in 1932, RCA became an independent company after GE was required to divest its ownership as part of the settlement of a government antitrust suit. An innovative and progressive company, RCA was the dominant electronics and communications firm in the United States for over five decades. RCA was at the forefront of the mushrooming radio industry in the early 1920s, as a major manufacturer of radio receivers, and the exclusive manufacturer of the first superheterodyne models. RCA also created the first nationwide American radio network, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). The company was also a pioneer in the introduction and development of television, both black-and-white and especially, color television. During this period, RCA was closely identified with the leadership of David Sarnoff. He was general manager at the company's founding, became president in 1930, and remained active, as chairman of the board, until the end of 1969. During the 1970s, RCA's seemingly impregnable stature began to weaken as it attempted to expand into a diversified multinational conglomerate. The company suffered enormous financial losses in the mainframe computer industry and other failed projects such as the CED videodisc. Though the company rebounded by the mid 1980s, RCA was reacquired by General Electric in 1986, which over the next few years liquidated most of the corporation's assets. Today, RCA exists as a brand name only; the various RCA trademarks are currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment and Technicolor, which in turn license the brand name to several other companies including Voxx International, Curtis International, AVC Multimedia, TCL Corporation, and Express LUCK International, Ltd. for their various products. RCA originated as a reorganization of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company of America (commonly called "American Marconi"). In 1897, the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company, Limited, was founded in London to promote the radio (then known as "wireless telegraphy") inventions of Guglielmo Marconi. As part of worldwide expansion, in 1899 American Marconi was organized as a subsidiary company, holding the rights to use the Marconi patents in the United States and Cuba. In 1912 it took over the assets of the bankrupt United Wireless Telegraph Company, and from that point forward it had been the dominant radio communications company in the United States. With the entry of the United States into World War One in April 1917, the government took over most civilian radio stations, to use them for the war effort. Although the overall U.S. government plan was to restore civilian ownership of the seized radio stations once the war ended, many Navy officials hoped to retain a monopoly on radio communication even after the war. Defying instructions to the contrary, the Navy began purchasing large numbers of stations outright. With the conclusion of the conflict, Congress turned down the Navy's efforts to have peacetime control of the radio industry, and instructed the Navy to make plans to return the commercial stations it controlled, including the ones it had improperly purchased, to the original owners. Due to national security considerations, the Navy was particularly concerned about returning the high- powered international stations to American Marconi, since a majority of its stock was in foreign hands, and the British already largely controlled the international undersea cables. This concern was increased by the announcement in late 1918 of the formation of the Pan-American Wireless Telegraph and Telephone Company, a joint venture between American Marconi and the Federal Telegraph Company, with plans to set up service between the United States and South America. The Navy had installed a high-powered Alexanderson alternator, built by General Electric (GE), at the American Marconi transmitter site in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It proved to be superior for transatlantic transmissions to the spark transmitters that had been traditionally used by the Marconi companies. Marconi officials were so impressed by the capabilities of the Alexanderson alternators that they began making preparations to adopt them as their standard transmitters for international communication. A tentative plan made with General Electric proposed that over a two-year period the Marconi companies would purchase most of GE's alternator production. However, this proposal was met with disapproval, on national security grounds, by the U.S. Navy, which was concerned that this would guarantee British domination of international radio communication. The Navy, claiming it was acting with the support of President Wilson, looked for an alternative that would result in an "all-American" company taking over the American Marconi assets. In April 1919 two naval officers, Admiral H. G. Bullard and Commander S. C. Hooper, met with GE's president, Owen D. Young, asking that he suspend the pending alternator sales to the Marconi companies. This move would leave General Electric without a buyer for its transmitters, so the officers proposed that GE purchase American Marconi, and use the assets to form its own radio communications subsidiary. Young consented to this proposal, which, effective November 20, 1919, transformed American Marconi into the Radio Corporation of America. The new company was promoted as being a patriotic gesture. RCA's incorporation papers required that its officers needed to be U.S. citizens, with a majority of its stock held by Americans. RCA retained most of the American Marconi staff, although Owen Young became the new company's head as the chairman of the board. Former American Marconi vice president and general manager E. J. Nally become RCA's first president. Nally's term ended on December 31, 1922, and he was succeeded the next day by Major General James G. Harbord. Harbord, in turn, resigned the presidency on January 3, 1930, replacing Owen D. Young as the company's chairman of the board. He was succeeded, as RCA's third president, by David Sarnoff, who had been the company's general manager at its founding. RCA worked closely with the federal government and felt it deserved to maintain its predominant role in U.S. radio communications. At the company's recommendation, President Woodrow Wilson appointed Rear Admiral Bullard "to attend the stockholders' and director's meetings... in order that he may present and discuss informally the Government's views and interests". As of its founding RCA was the largest radio communications firm in the United States. American Marconi had been falling behind industry advances, particularly in vacuum tube technology, and GE needed access to additional patents before its new subsidiary could be fully competitive. The result was a series of negotiations and a complicated set of cross-licensing agreements between various companies. On July 1, 1920, an agreement was made with the American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T;), which purchased 500,000 shares of RCA, although it would divest these shares in early 1923. The United Fruit Company held a small portfolio of radio patents and signed two agreements in 1921. GE's traditional electric company rival, the Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Corporation, had also purchased rights to some critical patents, including one for heterodyne receiving originally issued to Reginald Fessenden, plus regenerative circuit and superheterodyne receiver patents issued to Edwin Armstrong. Westinghouse used this position to negotiate a cross-licensing agreement, effective July 1, 1921, that included a concession that 40% of RCA's equipment purchases would be from Westinghouse. Following these transactions, GE owned 30.1% of RCA's stock, Westinghouse 20.6%, AT&T; 10.3%, and United Fruit 4.1%, with the remaining 34.9% owned by individual shareholders. In 1930, RCA agreed to occupy the yet-to-be-constructed landmark building of the Rockefeller Center complex, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, which in 1933 became known as the RCA building (later renamed the GE Building, now the Comcast Building). This lease was critical for enabling the massive project to proceed as a commercially viable venture—David Rockefeller cited RCA's action as being responsible for "the salvation of the project". At the time RCA was founded in 1919 all radio and telegraphic communications between China and the US, including offical communications, were run through either German radio or British cables. The US Navy wanted a reluctant RCA to seek a concession in China (even though RCA's other Asian concessions were operating at a loss). With RCA's agreement the transmitter was completed in 1928, but when another American interest signed a similar agreement with China in 1932 RCA claimed breach of contract in Radio Corporation of America v China. RCA's primary business objectives at its founding were to provide equipment and services for seagoing vessels, and "worldwide wireless" communication in competition with the undersea cables. To provide the international service, the company soon undertook a massive project to build a "Radio Central" communications hub at Rocky Point, Long Island, New York, designed to achieve "the realization of the vision of communication engineers to transmit messages to all points of the world from a single centrally located source". Construction began in July 1920, and the site was dedicated on November 5, 1921, after two of the antenna spokes had been completed, and two of the 200-kilowatt alternators installed. The debut transmissions received replies from stations in 17 countries. Although the initial installation would remain in operation, the additional antenna spokes and alternator installations would not be completed, due to a major discovery about radio signal propagation. While investigating transmitter "harmonics" – unwanted additional radio signals produced at higher frequencies than a station's normal transmission frequency – Westinghouse's Frank Conrad unexpectedly found that in some cases the harmonics could be heard farther than the primary signal, something previously thought impossible, as high- frequency shortwave signals, which had poor groundwave coverage, were thought to have a very limited transmission range. In 1924, Conrad demonstrated to Sarnoff that a low-powered shortwave station in East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could be readily received in London by a simple receiver using a curtain rod as an antenna, matching, at a small fraction of the cost, the performance of the massive alternator transmitters. In 1926 Dr. Harold H. Beverage further reported that a shortwave signal, transmitted on a 15-meter wavelength (approximately 20 MHz), was received in South America more readily during the daytime than the 200-kilowatt alternator transmissions. The Alexanderson alternators, control of which had led to RCA's formation, were now considered obsolete, and international communication would be primarily conducted using vacuum tube transmitters operating on shortwave bands. RCA would continue to operate international telecommunications services for the remainder of its existence, through its subsidiary RCA Communications, Inc., and later the RCA Global Communications Company. International shortwave was in turn largely supplanted by communications satellites, especially for distributing network radio and television programming. In 1975, the company formed RCA American Communications, which operated its Satcom series of geostationary communications satellites. The introduction of organized radio broadcasting in the early 1920s resulted in a dramatic reorientation and expansion of RCA's business activities. The development of vacuum tube radio transmitters made audio transmissions practical, in contrast with the earlier transmitters which were limited to sending the dits-and-dahs of Morse code. Since at least 1916, when he was still at American Marconi, David Sarnoff had proposed establishing broadcasting stations, but his memos to management promoting the idea for sales of a "Radio Music Box" had not been followed up at the time. Starting around 1920 a small number of broadcasting stations began operating, and soon interest in the innovation was spreading nationwide. In the summer of 1921, a Madison Square Garden employee, Julius Hopp, devised a plan to raise charitable funds by broadcasting, from ringside, the July 2, 1921 Dempsey- Carpentier heavyweight championship fight to be held in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hopp recruited theaters and halls as listening locations that would charge admission fees to be used as charitable donations. He also contacted RCA's J. Andrew White, the acting president of the National Amateur Wireless Association (NAWA), an organization originally formed by American Marconi which had been inherited by RCA. White agreed to recruit the NAWA membership for volunteers to provide assistance at the listening sites, and also enlisted David Sarnoff for financial and technical support. RCA was authorized to set up a temporary longwave radio station, located in Hoboken a short distance from the match site, and operating under the call letters WJY. For the broadcast White and Sarnoff telephoned commentary from ringside, which was typed up and then read over the air by J. Owen Smith. The demonstration was a technical success, with a claimed audience of 300,000 listeners throughout the northeast. RCA quickly moved to expand its broadcasting activities. In the fall of 1921, it set up its first full-time broadcasting station, WDY, at the Roselle Park, New Jersey company plant. By 1923 RCA was operating three stations—WJZ (now WABC) and WJY in New York City, and WRC (now WTEM) in Washington, D.C. A restriction imposed by AT&T;'s interpretation of the patent cross-licensing agreements required that the RCA stations remain commercial free, and they were financed by profits from radio equipment sales. Beginning in 1922, AT&T; became heavily involved in radio broadcasting, and soon became the new industry's most important participant. From the beginning, AT&T;'s policy was to finance stations by commercial sponsorship of the programs. The company also created the first radio network, centered on its New York City station WEAF (now WFAN), using its long-distance telephone lines to interconnect stations. This allowed them to economize by having multiple stations carry the same program. RCA and its partners soon faced an economic crisis, as the costs of providing programming threatened to exceed the funds available from equipment profits. The problem was resolved in 1926 when AT&T; unexpectedly decided to exit the radio broadcasting field. RCA purchased, for $1,000,000, AT&Ts; two radio stations, WEAF and WCAP in Washington, D.C., as well as its network operations. These assets formed the basis for the creation of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), with ownership divided between RCA (50%), General Electric (30%), and Westinghouse (20%) until 1930, when RCA assumed 100% ownership. This purchase also included the right to begin commercial operations. NBC formed two radio networks that eventually expanded nationwide: the NBC-Red Network, with flagship station WEAF, and NBC-Blue, centered on WJZ. Although NBC was originally promoted as expecting to just break even economically, it soon became extremely profitable, which would be an important factor in helping RCA survive the economic pressures of the Great Depression that began in late 1929. Concerned that NBC's control of two national radio networks gave it too much power over the industry, in 1941 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) promulgated a rule designed to force NBC to divest one of them. This order was upheld by the U.S Supreme Court, and on October 12, 1943, the NBC-Blue network was sold to candy magnate Edward J. Noble for $8,000,000, and renamed "The Blue Network, Inc." In 1946 the name was changed to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The "Red" network retained the NBC name and remained under RCA ownership until 1986. For two decades the NBC radio network's roster of stars provided ratings consistently surpassing those of its main competitor, the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). But in 1948, as the transition from radio to television was beginning, NBC's leadership came under attack due to what became known as the "Paley raids", named after the president of CBS, William S. Paley. After World War II the tax rate for annual incomes above $70,000 was 77%, while capital gains were taxed at 25%. Paley worked out an accounting technique whereby individual performers could set up corporations that allowed their earnings to be taxed at the significantly lower rate. Instead of NBC responding with a similar package, Sarnoff decided that this accounting method was legally and ethically wrong. NBC's performers did not agree, and most of the top stars, including Amos and Andy, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Edgar Bergen, Burns and Allen, Ed Wynn, Fred Waring, Al Jolson, Groucho Marx and Frank Sinatra moved from NBC to CBS. As a result, CBS boasted of having sixteen of the twenty top-rated programs in 1949. The consequences would carry over to television, where CBS maintained its newfound dominance for decades. Paley had personally worked to woo the performers, while Sarnoff professed his indifference to the defections, stating at an annual meeting that "Leadership built over the years on a foundation of solid service cannot be snatched overnight by buying a few high-priced comedians. Leadership is not a laughing matter." RCA acted as the sales agent for a small line of Westinghouse and GE branded receivers and parts used by home constructors, originally for a limited market of amateur radio enthusiasts. By 1922, the rise of broadcasting had dramatically increased the demand for radio equipment by the general public, and this development was reflected in the title of RCA's June 1, 1922 catalog, "Radio Enters the Home". RCA began selling receivers under the "Radiola" name, marketing equipment produced by GE and Westinghouse under the production agreement that allocated a 60%–40% ratio in output between the two companies. Although the patent cross-licensing agreements had been intended to give the participants domination of equipment sales, the tremendous growth of the market led to fierce competition, and in 1925 RCA fell behind Atwater Kent as the leader in receiver sales. RCA was particularly hamstrung by the need to coordinate its sales within the limits of the GE/Westinghouse production quotas, and often had difficulty keeping up with industry trends. However, it made a key advance in early 1924 when it began to sell the first superheterodyne receivers, whose high level of performance increased the brand's reputation and popularity. RCA was the exclusive manufacturer of superheterodyne radio sets until 1930. Until late 1927, all RCA receivers ran on batteries, but at that point plug-in AC sets were introduced, which provided another boost in sales. RCA inherited American Marconi's status as a major producer of vacuum tubes, which were branded Radiotron in the United States. Especially after the rise of broadcasting, they were a major profit source for the company. RCA's strong patent position meant that the company effectively set the selling prices for vacuum tubes in the U.S., which were significantly higher than in Europe, where Lee de Forest had allowed a key patent issued to him to lapse. RCA was responsible for creating a series of innovative products, ranging from octal base metal tubes co-developed with General Electric before World War II, to miniaturized Nuvistor tubes used in the tuners of the New Vista series of TV sets. The Nuvistor tubes were a last major vacuum tube innovation, and were meant to compete with the newly introduced transistor. By 1975, RCA had completely switched from tubes to solid-state devices in their television sets, except for the cathode ray tube (CRT) picture tube. The rise of radio broadcasting during the early 1920s, which provided unlimited free entertainment in the home, had a detrimental effect on the American phonograph record industry. In 1929, RCA purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the world's largest manufacturer of both records and phonographs, including its popular showcase "Victrola" line. This acquisition was organized as a new subsidiary called RCA Victor, and included majority ownership of Victor's Japanese subsidiary, the Victor Company of Japan (JVC), formed in 1927. With this purchase, RCA acquired the western hemisphere rights to the famous Nipper/"His Master's Voice" trademark. RCA Victor popularized combined radio receiver-phonographs, and also created RCA Photophone, a movie sound-on-film system that competed with William Fox's sound-on-film Movietone and Warner Bros.' sound-on-disc Vitaphone. RCA's main motivation behind the acquisition of Victor was the record company's superior distribution capabilities through Victor's large established network of authorized dealers and extensive, efficient manufacturing facilities in Camden, New Jersey. After the purchase of Victor, RCA immediately began the manufacture of radio sets and components on Victor's Camden assembly lines, while decreasing the production of Victrolas and records. RCA Victor began selling the first all- electric phonograph in 1930. In 1931, RCA Victor introduced 33⅓ revolutions- per-minute (rpm) records, which were a commercial failure during the Great Depression, partly because the records and playback equipment were very expensive, and also because the audio performance was generally poor; the new format used the same groove size as existing 78 rpm records, and it would require the smaller-radius stylus of the later microgroove systems to achieve acceptable slower-speed performance. In 1932, during the nadir of the record business in America, RCA Victor introduced the inexpensive Duo Jr., a small, basic turntable designed to be plugged into radio sets. Also during the 1930s, RCA sold the modernistic RCA Victor M Special, a polished aluminum portable record player designed by John Vassos that has become an icon of Thirties American industrial design. In 1949, RCA Victor released the first 45 rpm "single" records, as a response to CBS/Columbia's successful introduction of its microgroove 33⅓ rpm "LP" format. RCA Victor began selling 33⅓ rpm LP records in 1950, and in 1951 CBS/Columbia began selling 45 rpm records. RCA also made investments in the movie industry, but they performed poorly. In April 1928 RCA Photophone, Inc., was organized by a group of companies including RCA to develop sound-movie technology. In the fall of 1927, RCA had purchased stock in Film Booking Office (FBO), and on October 25, 1928, with the help of Joseph P. Kennedy, the Radio-Keith-Orpheum Corporation (RKO) studio was formed by merging FBO with Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation (KAO), a company whose holdings included motion picture theaters. The theaters in which RKO had an interest provided a potential market for the RCA Photophone sound systems. RCA ownership of RKO stock expanded from approximately 25% in 1930 to approximately 61% in 1932. However, the RKO studio encountered severe financial problems, going into receivership from early 1933 to 1940. RCA sold its holdings in order to raise funds for its basic operations. Following years of industry complaints that the cross-licensing agreements between RCA, GE and Westinghouse had in effect created spheres-of-influence for the participating companies, resulting in illegal monopolies, in May 1930 the U.S. Department of Justice brought antitrust charges against the three companies. After a long period of negotiation, in 1932 the Justice Department accepted a consent agreement which removed the restrictions established by the cross-licensing agreements, and also provided that RCA would become a fully independent company. As a result, GE and Westinghouse gave up their ownership interests in RCA, while RCA was allowed to keep its factories. In order to give RCA a chance to establish itself, GE and Westinghouse were required to refrain from competing in the radio business for the next two and one-half years. RCA began TV development in early 1929, after an overly optimistic Vladimir K. Zworykin convinced Sarnoff that a commercial version of his prototype system could be produced in a relatively short time for $100,000. Following what would actually be many years of additional research and millions of dollars, RCA demonstrated an all-electronic black-and-white television system at the 1939 New York World's Fair. RCA began regular experimental television broadcasting from the NBC studios to the New York metropolitan area on April 30, 1939 via station W2XBS, channel 1 (which evolved into WNBC channel 4) from the new Empire State Building transmitter on top of the structure. Around this time, RCA began selling its first television set models, including the TRK-5 and TRK-9, in various New York stores. However, the FCC had not approved the start of commercial television operations, because technical standards had not been yet been finalized. Concerned that RCA's broadcasts were an attempt to flood the market with sets that would force it to adopt RCA's current technology, the FCC stepped in to limit its broadcasts. Following the adoption of National Television System Committee (NTSC) recommended standards, the FCC authorized the start of commercial television broadcasts on July 1, 1941. The entry of the United States into World War II a few months later greatly slowed its deployment, but RCA resumed selling television receivers almost immediately after the war ended in 1945. (See also: History of television) In 1950, the FCC adopted a standard for color television that had been promoted by CBS, but the effort soon failed, primarily because the color broadcasts could not be received by existing black-and-white sets. As the result of a major research push, RCA engineers developed a method of "compatible" color transmissions that, through the use of interlacing, simultaneously broadcast color and black-and-white images, which could be picked up by both color and existing black-and-white sets. In 1953, RCA's all-electronic color TV technology was adopted as the standard for American television. At that time, Sarnoff predicted annual color TV sales would reach 1.78 million in 1956, but the sets were expensive and difficult to adjust, and there was initially a lack of color programming, so sales lagged badly and the actual 1956 total would only be 120,000. RCA's ownership of NBC proved to be a major benefit, as that network was instructed to promote its color programming offerings; even so, it was only in 1968 that color TV sales in the U.S. surpassed black-and- white. While lauding the technical prowess of his engineers who had developed color TV, David Sarnoff, in marked contrast to William Paley of CBS, did not disguise his dislike for popular TV programs. His authorized biography even boasted that "no one has yet caught him in communion with one of the upper dozen or so top-rated programs" and "The popular programs, to put the matter bluntly, have very little appeal for him." RCA professional video cameras and studio gear, particularly of the TK-40/41 series, became standard equipment at many American television network affiliates, as RCA CT-100 ("RCA Merrill" to dealers) television sets introduced color television to the public. In 1941, a few months before the United States entered World War II, the cornerstone was laid for a research and development facility in Princeton, New Jersey called RCA Laboratories. Led for many years by Elmer Engstrom, it was used to develop many innovations, including color television, the electron microscope, CMOS-based technology, heterojunction physics, optoelectronic emitting devices, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), videocassette recorders, direct broadcast television, direct broadcast satellite systems and high- definition television. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, RCA plants switched to war production. In September of 1942, work began on a secret project for the US Navy called Madame X. The Bloomington, Indiana, plant was one of the first of five RCA plants to produce Madame X. Madame X was a VT fuse, which is a proximity fuse used to electronically detonate a projectile's payload when it was in range of its target, as opposed to relying on a direct hit. James V. Forrestal, former secretary of the Navy said, "The proximity fuse had helped blaze the trail to Japan. Without the protection this ingenious device has given the surface ships of the fleet, our westward push could not have been so swift and the cost in men and ships would have been immeasurably greater." During World War II, RCA was involved in radar and radio development in support of the war effort, and ranked 43rd among United States corporations in the value of wartime military production contracts. During and after the war, RCA set up several new divisions for defense, space exploration and other activities. The RCA Service Corporation provided large numbers of staff for the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. RCA units won five Army–Navy "E" Awards for Excellence in production. Also during the war, ties between RCA and JVC were severed. In 1955, RCA sold its Estate large appliance operations to Whirlpool Corporation. As part of the transaction, Whirlpool was given the right to market "RCA Whirlpool" appliances through the mid-1960s. RCA Made equipment for repairing radios such as oscilloscopes. RCA Graphic Systems Division (GSD) was an early supplier of electronics designed for the printing and publishing industries. It contracted with German company Rudolf Hell to market adaptations of the Digiset photocomposition system as the Videocomp, and a Laser Color Scanner. The Videocomp was supported by a Spectra computer that ran the Page-1 and, later the Page-II and FileComp composition systems. RCA later sold the Videocomp rights to Information International Inc. RCA became a major proponent of the eight-track tape cartridge, which it launched in 1965. The eight-track cartridge initially had a huge and profitable impact on the consumer marketplace. Sales of the 8-track tape format declined when consumers increasingly favored the 4-track compact cassette tape format developed by Philips. RCA was one of a number of companies in the 1960s that entered the mainframe computer field in order to challenge the market leader International Business Machines (IBM) (see also: Computing). Although at this time computers were almost universally used for routine data processing and scientific research, in 1964 Sarnoff, who prided himself as a visionary, predicted that "The computer will become the hub of a vast network of remote data stations and information banks feeding into the machine at a transmission rate of a billion or more bits of information a second... Eventually, a global communications network handling voice, data and facsimile will instantly link man to machine—or machine to machine—by land, air, underwater, and space circuits. [The computer] will affect man's ways of thinking, his means of education, his relationship to his physical and social environment, and it will alter his ways of living. ... [Before the end of this century, these forces] will coalesce into what unquestionably will become the greatest adventure of the human mind." RCA marketed a Spectra 70 computer line that was hardware, but not software, compatible with IBM's System/360 series. It also produced the RCA Series, which competed against the IBM System/370. This technology was leased to the English Electric company, which used it for their System 4 series, which were essentially RCA Spectra 70 clones. RCA's TSOS operating system was the first mainframe, demand paging, virtual memory operating system on the market. Despite significant investment, in 1971 RCA only had a 4% market share, and it was estimated that it would cost $500 million over the next five years to remain competitive with the IBM/370 series. On September 17, 1971 the RCA Board of Directors announced its decision to close its computer systems division (RCA-CSD), which would be written off as a $490 million company loss. Sperry Rand's UNIVAC division took over the RCA base in January 1972. On January 1, 1965, Robert Sarnoff succeeded his father as RCA's president, although the elder Sarnoff remained in control as chairman of the board. The younger Sarnoff sought to modernize RCA's image with the introduction in 1968 of a new, futuristic-looking (at the time) logo (the letters 'RCA' in block, modernized form), replacing the original lightning bolt logo, and the virtual retirement of both the Victor and Nipper/His Master's Voice trademarks. The RCA Victor Division was now known as RCA Records; 'Victor' was now restricted to the album covers and labels of RCA's regular popular record releases, while the Nipper trademark was seen only on the album covers of Red Seal records. In 1969, the company name was officially changed from "Radio Corporation of America" to the "RCA Corporation", to reflect its broader range of corporate activities and expansion into other countries. At the end of that same year David Sarnoff, after being incapacitated by a long-term illness, was removed as the company's chairman of the board. He died in 1971. RCA's exit from the mainframe computer market in 1971 marked a milestone in its transition from electronics and technology toward diversification as a business conglomerate. During the late 1960s and 1970s, the company made a wide-ranging series of acquisitions, including Hertz (rental cars), Banquet (frozen foods and TV dinners), Coronet (carpeting), Random House (publishing) and Gibson (greeting cards). However, the company was slipping into financial disarray, with wags calling it "Rugs Chickens & Automobiles" (RCA), to poke fun at its new direction. Robert Sarnoff's tenure as RCA president was unsuccessful, marked by falling profits, in addition to being disliked personally by many company executives. He was ousted in a 1975 "boardroom coup" led by Anthony Conrad, who became the new company president. Conrad resigned less than a year later after he admitted failing to file income tax returns for six years. His successor, Edgar H. Griffiths, proved to be unpopular and retired in early 1981. Thornton Bradshaw would be the next, and last, RCA president. RCA maintained its high standards of engineering excellence in broadcast engineering and satellite communications equipment, but ventures such as the NBC radio and television networks declined. Beginning in 1976, largely due to popular demand, the RCA Corporation revived the Nipper/His Master's Voice trademark. RCA Records reinstated Nipper to most record labels in countries where RCA held the rights to the trademark. Nipper was also once again widely used in RCA newspaper and magazine advertisements, as well as store displays and promotional items such as T-shirts, watches, coffee mugs and stuffed toys. The trademark was also painted on RCA delivery and service trucks and reappeared for a time on RCA television sets and CED Videodisc players. Several TV news reports and newspaper articles about Nipper's return appeared at the time. Around 1980, RCA corporate strategy reported on moving manufacture of its television sets to Mexico. RCA was still profitable in 1983, when it switched manufacturing of its VHS VCRs from Panasonic to Hitachi. Projects attempting to establish new consumer electronics products during this era, lost money. An RCA Studio II home video game console, introduced in 1977, was canceled just under two years later due to poor sales. A capacitance electronic (CED) videodisc system, marketed under the SelectaVision name, was launched in 1981 after several years of delays. The system was practically obsolete by the time it finally did appear, and never developed the manufacturing volumes that even approached the numbers needed to substantially bring down its price. The system was unable to compete against the newer, recordable and increasingly cheaper videotape technology. CED players were abandoned in 1984 and the manufacture of discs in 1986, after a write-off of several hundred million dollars. In 1981, Columbia Pictures sold its share in the home video division to RCA and outside of North America this division was renamed to "RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video (now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment)". The following year, within North America, it was renamed to "RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video". In 1983, Arista Records owner Bertelsmann sold 50% of Arista to RCA. In 1985, Bertelsmann and RCA formed a joint venture called RCA/Ariola International, which took over management of RCA Records. In 1984, RCA Broadcast Systems Division moved from Camden, New Jersey, to the site of the RCA antenna engineering facility in Gibbsboro, New Jersey. On October 3, 1985, RCA announced it was closing the Broadcast Systems Division. In the years that followed, the broadcast product lines developed in Camden were terminated or sold off, and most of the old RCA Victor buildings and factories in Camden were demolished, except for a few of the nearly century old, original Victor buildings that had been declared national historic buildings. For several years, RCA spinoff L-3 Communications Systems East was headquartered in the famous Nipper Building, but has since moved to an adjacent building built by the city for them. The Nipper Building was restored and now houses shops and luxury loft apartments. In December 1985, it was announced that General Electric would reacquire its former subsidiary for $6.28 billion in cash, or $66.50 per share of stock. The sale was completed the next year, and GE proceeded to immediately sell off most of the RCA assets. (The only RCA unit which GE ultimately retained was Government Services.) GE disposed of its 50% interest in RCA Records to its partner Bertelsmann, and the company was renamed BMG Music, for Bertelsmann Music Group. In 1987, RCA Global Communications Inc., a division with roots dating back to RCA's founding, was sold to the MCI Communications Corporation. The rights to make RCA and GE-branded televisions and other consumer electronics products were purchased in 1988 by the French company Thomson Consumer Electronics, in exchange for some of Thomson's medical businesses. (For information on the RCA brand after 1986, see RCA (trademark).) That same year, its semiconductor business (including the former RCA Solid State unit and Intersil) was bought by Harris Corporation. In 1991, GE sold its share in RCA/Columbia to Sony Pictures which renamed the unit "Columbia TriStar Home Video" (later further renamed to Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, now Sony Pictures Home Entertainment). This merger surpassed the Capital Cities/ABC merger that happened earlier in 1985 as the largest non-oil merger in business history. Sarnoff Labs was put on a five-year plan whereby GE would fund all the labs' activities for the first year, then reduce its support to near zero after the fifth year. This required Sarnoff Labs to change its business model to become an industrial contract research facility. In 1988 it was transferred to SRI International (SRI) as the David Sarnoff Research Center, and subsequently renamed the Sarnoff Corporation. In January 2011 it was fully integrated into SRI. GE sold all of its radio station holdings to various owners, and the NBC Radio Network to Westwood One. In 2011, a controlling interest in the National Broadcasting Company, by this time part of the multimedia NBC Universal venture that included TV and cable, was sold by GE to Comcast, and in 2013, Comcast acquired the remaining interest. RCA antique radios, and early color television receivers such as the RCA Merrill/CT-100, are among the more sought-after collectible radios and televisions, due to their popularity during the golden age of radio and the historic significance of the RCA name, as well as their styling, manufacturing quality and engineering innovations. Most collectable are the pre-war television sets manufactured by RCA beginning in 1939, including the TRK-5, TRK-9 and TRK-12 models. The "RCA Heritage Museum" was established at Rowan University in 2012. The historic RCA Victor Building 17, the "Nipper Building", in Camden, New Jersey, was converted to luxury apartments in 2003. A type of plug/jack combination used in audio and video cables is still called the RCA connector. To this day, a variety of consumer electronics including 2-in-1 tablets, televisions and telephones, home appliances and more are sold under the RCA brand name. Numerous former RCA manufacturing sites have been reported to be polluted with industrial waste. A former RCA facility in Taiwan's northern county of Taoyuan (now Taoyuan City) polluted groundwater with toxic chemicals and led to a high incidence of cancer among former employees. The area was declared a toxic site by the Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency. GE and Thomson spent millions of dollars for cleanup, removing of soil and installing municipal water treatment facilities for neighboring communities. A spokesman for RCA's current owners denied responsibility, saying a study conducted by the Taiwan government showed no correlation between the illnesses and the company's facilities, which shut down in 1991. On April 17, 2015, RCA lost the case and the Taipei District Court ordered RCA's current owners to compensate its former employees with a total of NT$560 million (approximately USD18.1 million)., A plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania which RCA operated from the late 1940s to June 1986, released more than 250,000 pounds of 1,1,1-trichloroethane pollutants per year from its exhaust stacks. Tests by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the late 1980s and early 1990s, found the groundwater contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) and 1,2-dichloroethylene (1,2-DCE). In 1991 and 1992, contaminants were detected in monitoring wells on the east side of the Conestoga River in Lancaster., The shallow and deep groundwater aquifers beneath the Intersil Facility in Mountaintop, Pennsylvania, which RCA operated in the 1960s and later sold to Harris Corporation, were found in 1999 to contain elevated levels of volatile organic compounds., A site in Burlington, Massachusetts which RCA used from 1958 to 1994 to make and test military electronics equipment, generated hazardous waste (VOCs, TCE, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes)., In Barceloneta, Puerto Rico, an RCA-operated plant generated wastes containing chromium, selenium and iron. Four lagoons holding chemical waste drained into the limestone aquifer. Used water from the manufacturing process (process water), containing ferric chloride, was treated onsite to remove contaminants and then was discharged into a sinkhole at the site. The treatment of process water created a sludge that was stored onsite in drying beds and in surface impoundments. Ampliphase, Berliner Gramophone Company, whose Canadian operation became RCA Victor of Canada, Capacitance Electronic Disc format, marketed as RCA SelectaVision, Claude E. Robinson, American pioneer in advertising and opinion survey research, CMOS 4000 series, Colortrak and Colortrak 2000, notable trademarks for RCA's early color television sets, Dimensia, a high-end advanced trademark TV for RCA, Edwin Howard Armstrong, Inventor and Radio Engineer working with RCA, Electrofax, Elmer T. Cunningham, Empire State Building broadcast stations, Ernst F. W. Alexanderson RCA's first Chief Engineer, 1920–1924, Film Chain – RCA TK-26, TK-27 and TK-28, George H. Brown, a research engineer who headed RCA's development of color television, Harold H. Beverage vice president of research and development at RCA Communications, Inc., HMV – His Master's Voice, Victor Company of Japan (JVC), List of phonograph manufacturers, Missile Test Project, Professional video cameras – TK 47 and more, RCA connector, RCA Mark II Sound Synthesizer, RCA Photophone, Motion Picture sound recording, RCA Records, RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (internationally known as RCA/Columbia Pictures International Video), a joint venture between RCA and Columbia Pictures, RKO Pictures, founded in part by RCA, Superette (radio) RCA trademark for their line of superheterodyne receivers during the early 1930s., Vladimir K. Zworykin Invented the Iconoscope image pickup tube for RCA early television camera video system., XL-100, RCA trademark for extended life and 100% solid state chassis on color television sets in the 1970s and later. Official RCA trademark website, Radio Corporation of American records (1887–1983) at Hagley Museum and Library., David Sarnoff Library Digital Collection at Hagley Museum and Library., RCA TV equipment archive (oldradio.com), Video: Early RCA Computers: the RCA 501

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The Louisiana Purchase ( 'Sale of Louisiana') was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from France in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or approximately eighteen dollars per square mile, the United States nominally acquired a total of . However, France only controlled a small fraction of this area, with most of it inhabited by Native Americans; for the majority of the area, what the United States bought was the "preemptive" right to obtain Native American lands by treaty or by conquest, to the exclusion of other colonial powers. The total cost of all subsequent treaties and financial settlements over the land has been estimated to be around 2.6 billion dollars. The Kingdom of France had controlled the Louisiana territory from 1699 until it was ceded to Spain in 1762. In 1800, Napoleon, then the First Consul of the French Republic, regained ownership of Louisiana as part of a broader project to re-establish a French colonial empire in North America. However, France's failure to put down a revolt in Saint-Domingue, coupled with the prospect of renewed warfare with the United Kingdom, prompted Napoleon to consider selling Louisiana to the United States. Acquisition of Louisiana was a long-term goal of President Thomas Jefferson, who was especially eager to gain control of the crucial Mississippi River port of New Orleans. Jefferson tasked James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston with purchasing New Orleans. Negotiating with French Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois (who was acting on behalf of Napoleon), the American representatives quickly agreed to purchase the entire territory of Louisiana after it was offered. Overcoming the opposition of the Federalist Party, Jefferson and Secretary of State James Madison convinced Congress to ratify and fund the Louisiana Purchase. The Louisiana Purchase extended United States sovereignty across the Mississippi River, nearly doubling the nominal size of the country. The purchase included land from fifteen present U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, including the entirety of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska; large portions of North Dakota and South Dakota; the area of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Continental Divide; the portion of Minnesota west of the Mississippi River; the northeastern section of New Mexico; northern portions of Texas; New Orleans and the portions of the present state of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River; and small portions of land within the present Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. At the time of the purchase, the territory of Louisiana's non-native population was around 60,000 inhabitants, of whom half were African slaves. The western borders of the purchase were later settled by the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain, while the northern borders of the purchase were adjusted by the Treaty of 1818 with Britain. Throughout the second half of the 18th century, Louisiana was a pawn on the chessboard of European politics. It was controlled by the French, who had a few small settlements along the Mississippi and other main rivers. France ceded the territory to Spain in the secret Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762). Following French defeat in the Seven Years' War, Spain gained control of the territory west of the Mississippi and the British the territory to the east of the river. Following the establishment of the United States, the Americans controlled the area east of the Mississippi and north of New Orleans. The main issue for the Americans was free transit of the Mississippi to the sea. As the lands were being gradually settled by a few American migrants, many Americans, including Jefferson, assumed that the territory would be acquired "piece by piece." The risk of another power taking it from a weakened Spain made a "profound reconsideration" of this policy necessary. New Orleans was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the areas of the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains. Pinckney's Treaty, signed with Spain on October 27, 1795, gave American merchants "right of deposit" in New Orleans, granting them use of the port to store goods for export. Americans used this right to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. The treaty also recognized American rights to navigate the entire Mississippi, which had become vital to the growing trade of the western territories. In 1798, Spain revoked the treaty allowing American use of New Orleans, greatly upsetting Americans. In 1801, Spanish Governor Don Juan Manuel de Salcedo took over from the Marquess of Casa Calvo, and restored the American right to deposit goods. However, in 1800 Spain had ceded the Louisiana territory back to France as part of Napoleon's secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. The territory nominally remained under Spanish control, until a transfer of power to France on November 30, 1803, just three weeks before the formal cession of the territory to the United States on December 20, 1803. A further ceremony was held in St. Louis, Upper Louisiana regarding the New Orleans formalities. The March 9–10, 1804 event is remembered as Three Flags Day. James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston had traveled to Paris to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in January 1803. Their instructions were to negotiate or purchase control of New Orleans and its environs; they did not anticipate the much larger acquisition which would follow. The Louisiana Purchase was by far the largest territorial gain in U.S. history. Stretching from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, the purchase doubled the size of the United States. Before 1803, Louisiana had been under Spanish control for forty years. Although Spain aided the rebels in the American Revolutionary War, the Spanish didn't want the Americans to settle in their territory. Although the purchase was thought of by some as unjust and unconstitutional, Jefferson determined that his constitutional power to negotiate treaties allowed the purchase of what became fifteen states. In hindsight, the Louisiana Purchase could be considered one of his greatest contributions to the United States. On April 18, 1802, Jefferson penned a letter to United States Ambassador to France Robert Livingston. It was an intentional exhortation to make this supposedly mild diplomat strongly warn the French of their perilous course. The letter began: Jefferson's letter went on with the same heat to a much quoted passage about "the day that France takes possession of New Orleans." Not only did he say that day would be a low point in France's history, for it would seal America's marriage with the British fleet and nation, but he added, astonishingly, that it would start a massive shipbuilding program. While the transfer of the territory by Spain back to France in 1800 went largely unnoticed, fear of an eventual French invasion spread nationwide when, in 1801, Napoleon sent a military force to secure New Orleans. Southerners feared that Napoleon would free all the slaves in Louisiana, which could trigger slave uprisings elsewhere. Though Jefferson urged moderation, Federalists sought to use this against Jefferson and called for hostilities against France. Undercutting them, Jefferson took up the banner and threatened an alliance with the United Kingdom, although relations were uneasy in that direction. In 1801 Jefferson supported France in its plan to take back Saint- Domingue (present-day Haiti), which was then under control of Toussaint Louverture after a slave rebellion. Jefferson sent Livingston to Paris in 1801 after discovering the transfer of Louisiana from Spain to France under the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso. Livingston was authorized to purchase New Orleans. In January 1802, France sent General Charles Leclerc on an expedition to Saint-Domingue to reassert French control over a colony that had become essentially autonomous under Toussaint Louverture. Louverture had fended off invasions by the Spanish and British empires, but had also begun to consolidate power for himself on the island. Before the Revolution, France had derived enormous wealth from St. Domingue at the cost of the lives and freedom of the slaves. Napoleon wanted its revenues and productivity for France restored. Alarmed over the French actions and its intention to re-establish an empire in North America, Jefferson declared neutrality in relation to the Caribbean, refusing credit and other assistance to the French, but allowing war contraband to get through to the rebels to prevent France from regaining a foothold. In 1803, Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, a French nobleman, began to help negotiate with France at the request of Jefferson. Du Pont was living in the United States at the time and had close ties to Jefferson as well as the prominent politicians in France. He engaged in back-channel diplomacy with Napoleon on Jefferson's behalf during a visit to France and originated the idea of the much larger Louisiana Purchase as a way to defuse potential conflict between the United States and Napoleon over North America. Jefferson disliked the idea of purchasing Louisiana from France, as that could imply that France had a right to be in Louisiana. Jefferson had concerns that a U.S. president did not have the constitutional authority to make such a deal. He also thought that to do so would erode states' rights by increasing federal executive power. On the other hand, he was aware of the potential threat that France could be in that region and was prepared to go to war to prevent a strong French presence there. Throughout this time, Jefferson had up-to-date intelligence on Napoleon's military activities and intentions in North America. Part of his evolving strategy involved giving du Pont some information that was withheld from Livingston. He also gave intentionally conflicting instructions to the two. Desperate to avoid possible war with France, Jefferson sent James Monroe to Paris in 1803 to negotiate a settlement, with instructions to go to London to negotiate an alliance if the talks in Paris failed. Spain procrastinated until late 1802 in executing the treaty to transfer Louisiana to France, which allowed American hostility to build. Also, Spain's refusal to cede Florida to France meant that Louisiana would be indefensible. Monroe had been formally expelled from France on his last diplomatic mission, and the choice to send him again conveyed a sense of seriousness. Napoleon needed peace with the United Kingdom to implement the Treaty of San Ildefonso and take possession of Louisiana. Otherwise, Louisiana would be an easy prey for the UK or even for the United States. But in early 1803, continuing war between France and the UK seemed unavoidable. On March 11, 1803, Napoleon began preparing to invade the UK. In Saint-Domingue, Leclerc's forces took Louverture prisoner, but their expedition soon faltered in the face of fierce resistance and disease. By early 1803, Napoleon decided to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Without sufficient revenues from sugar colonies in the Caribbean, Louisiana had little value to him. Spain had not yet completed the transfer of Louisiana to France, and war between France and the UK was imminent. Out of anger towards Spain and the unique opportunity to sell something that was useless and not truly his yet, Napoleon decided to sell the entire territory. Although the foreign minister Talleyrand opposed the plan, on April 10, 1803, Napoleon told the Treasury Minister François Barbé-Marbois that he was considering selling the entire Louisiana Territory to the United States. On April 11, 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Barbé-Marbois offered Livingston all of Louisiana for $15 million, which averages to less than three cents per acre (7¢/ha). The total of $15 million is equivalent to about $305 million in 2017 dollars. The American representatives were prepared to pay up to $10 million for New Orleans and its environs, but were dumbfounded when the vastly larger territory was offered for $15 million. Jefferson had authorized Livingston only to purchase New Orleans. However, Livingston was certain that the United States would accept the offer. The Americans thought that Napoleon might withdraw the offer at any time, preventing the United States from acquiring New Orleans, so they agreed and signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty on April 30, 1803. On July 4, 1803, the treaty was announced, but the documents did not arrive in Washington, D.C. until July 14. The Louisiana Territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west. Acquiring the territory doubled the size of the United States, at a sum of less than 3 cents per acre. In November 1803, France withdrew its 7,000 surviving troops from Saint-Domingue (more than two-thirds of its troops died there) and gave up its ambitions in the Western Hemisphere. In 1804 Haiti declared its independence; but, fearing a slave revolt at home, Jefferson and Congress refused to recognize the new republic, the second in the Western Hemisphere, and imposed a trade embargo against it. This, together with later claims by France to reconquer Haiti, encouraged by the United Kingdom, made it more difficult for Haiti to recover after over a decade of war. Henry Adams and other historians have argued that Jefferson acted hypocritically with the Louisiana Purchase, due to his position as a strict constructionist regarding the Constitution since he stretched the intent of that document to justify his purchase. This argument goes as follows: The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. Jefferson's philosophical consistency was in question because of his strict interpretation of the Constitution. Many people believed that he and others, including James Madison, were doing something they surely would have argued against with Alexander Hamilton. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoleon, and were concerned that the United States had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain. Both Federalists and Jeffersonians were concerned over the purchase's constitutionality. Many members of the House of Representatives opposed the purchase. Majority Leader John Randolph led the opposition. The House called for a vote to deny the request for the purchase, but it failed by two votes, 59–57. The Federalists even tried to prove the land belonged to Spain, not France, but available records proved otherwise. The Federalists also feared that the power of the Atlantic seaboard states would be threatened by the new citizens in the West, whose political and economic priorities were bound to conflict with those of the merchants and bankers of New England. There was also concern that an increase in the number of slave-holding states created out of the new territory would exacerbate divisions between North and South as well. A group of Northern Federalists led by Senator Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts went so far as to explore the idea of a separate northern confederacy. Another concern was whether it was proper to grant citizenship to the French, Spanish, and free black people living in New Orleans, as the treaty would dictate. Critics in Congress worried whether these "foreigners", unacquainted with democracy, could or should become citizens. The U.S. Government had to use English Common Law to make them citizens to collect taxes. Spain protested the transfer on two grounds: First, France had previously promised in a note not to alienate Louisiana to a third party and second, France had not fulfilled the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso by having the King of Etruria recognized by all European powers. The French government replied that these objections were baseless since the promise not to alienate Louisiana was not in the treaty of San Ildefonso itself and therefore had no legal force, and the Spanish government had ordered Louisiana to be transferred in October 1802 despite knowing for months that Britain had not recognized the King of Etruria in the Treaty of Amiens. Henry Adams claimed "The sale of Louisiana to the United States was trebly invalid; if it were French property, Bonaparte could not constitutionally alienate it without the consent of the French Chambers; if it were Spanish property, he could not alienate it at all; if Spain had a right of reclamation, his sale was worthless." The sale of course was not "worthless"—the U.S. actually did take possession. Furthermore, the Spanish prime minister had authorized the U.S. to negotiate with the French government "the acquisition of territories which may suit their interests." Spain turned the territory over to France in a ceremony in New Orleans on November 30, a month before France turned it over to American officials. Other historians counter the above arguments regarding Jefferson's alleged hypocrisy by asserting that countries change their borders in two ways: (1) conquest, or (2) an agreement between nations, otherwise known as a treaty. The Louisiana Purchase was the latter, a treaty. The Constitution specifically grants the president the power to negotiate treaties (Art. II, Sec. 2), which is just what Jefferson did. Jefferson's Secretary of State, James Madison (the "Father of the Constitution"), assured Jefferson that the Louisiana Purchase was well within even the strictest interpretation of the Constitution. Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin added that since the power to negotiate treaties was specifically granted to the president, the only way extending the country's territory by treaty could not be a presidential power would be if it were specifically excluded by the Constitution (which it was not). Jefferson, as a strict constructionist, was right to be concerned about staying within the bounds of the Constitution, but felt the power of these arguments and was willing to "acquiesce with satisfaction" if the Congress approved the treaty. The Senate quickly ratified the treaty, and the House, with equal alacrity, authorized the required funding, as the Constitution specifies. The opposition of New England Federalists to the Louisiana Purchase was primarily economic self-interest, not any legitimate concern over constitutionality or whether France indeed owned Louisiana or was required to sell it back to Spain should it desire to dispose of the territory. The Northerners were not enthusiastic about Western farmers gaining another outlet for their crops that did not require the use of New England ports. Also, many Federalists were speculators in lands in upstate New York and New England and were hoping to sell these lands to farmers, who might go west instead, if the Louisiana Purchase went through. They also feared that this would lead to Western states being formed, which would likely be Republican, and dilute the political power of New England Federalists. When Spain later objected to the United States purchasing Louisiana from France, Madison responded that America had first approached Spain about purchasing the property, but had been told by Spain itself that America would have to treat with France for the territory. The Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed on April 30, 1803, by Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and François Barbé-Marbois at the Hôtel Tubeuf in Paris. Jefferson announced the treaty to the American people on July 4. After the signing Livingston made this famous statement, "We have lived long, but this is the noblest work of our whole lives... From this day the United States take their place among the powers of the first rank." The United States Senate advised and consented to ratification of the treaty with a vote of twenty-four to seven on October 20. The Senators who voted against the treaty were: Simeon Olcott and William Plumer of New Hampshire, William Wells and Samuel White of Delaware, James Hillhouse and Uriah Tracy of Connecticut, and Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts. On the following day, October 21, 1803, the Senate authorized Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on October 31, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for several missions to explore and chart the territory, the most famous being the Lewis and Clark Expedition. A timeline of legislation can be found at the Library of Congress, in American Memory: The Louisiana Purchase Legislative Timeline—1803–1804. France turned over New Orleans, the historic colonial capital, on December 20, 1803, at the Cabildo, with a flag-raising ceremony in the Plaza de Armas, now Jackson Square. Just three weeks earlier, on November 30, 1803, Spanish officials had formally conveyed the colonial lands and their administration to France. On March 9 and 10, 1804, another ceremony, commemorated as Three Flags Day, was conducted in St. Louis, to transfer ownership of Upper Louisiana from Spain to the French First Republic, and then from France to the United States. From March 10 to September 30, 1804, Upper Louisiana was supervised as a military district, under Commandant Amos Stoddard. Effective October 1, 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Territory of Orleans (most of which would become the state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under control of the governor and judicial system of the Indiana Territory. The following year, the District of Louisiana was renamed the Territory of Louisiana, aka Louisiana Territory (1805–1812). New Orleans was the administrative capital of the Orleans Territory, and St. Louis was the capital of the Louisiana Territory. The American government used $3 million in gold as a down payment, and issued bonds for the balance to pay France for the purchase. Earlier that year, Francis Baring and Company of London had become the U.S. government's official banking agent in London. Because of this favored position, the U.S. asked the Baring firm to handle the transaction. Francis Baring's son Alexander was in Paris at the time and helped in the negotiations. Another Baring advantage was a close relationship with Hope and Company of Amsterdam. The two banking houses worked together to facilitate and underwrite the Purchase. Because Napoleon wanted to receive his money as quickly as possible, the two firms received the American bonds and shipped the gold to France. Napoleon used the money to finance his planned invasion of England, which never took place. A dispute soon arose between Spain and the United States regarding the extent of Louisiana. The territory's boundaries had not been defined in the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau that ceded it from France to Spain, nor in the 1801 Third Treaty of San Ildefonso ceding it back to France, nor the 1803 Louisiana Purchase agreement ceding it to the United States. The U.S. claimed Louisiana included the entire western portion of the Mississippi River drainage basin to the crest of the Rocky Mountains and land extending southeast to the Rio Grande and West Florida. Spain insisted that Louisiana comprised no more than the western bank of the Mississippi River and the cities of New Orleans and St. Louis. The dispute was ultimately resolved by the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819, with the United States gaining most of what it had claimed in the west. The relatively narrow Louisiana of New Spain had been a special province under the jurisdiction of the Captaincy General of Cuba while the vast region to the west was in 1803 still considered part of the Commandancy General of the Provincias Internas. Louisiana had never been considered one of New Spain's internal provinces. If the territory included all the tributaries of the Mississippi on its western bank, the northern reaches of the Purchase extended into the equally ill-defined British possession—Rupert's Land of British North America, now part of Canada. The Purchase originally extended just beyond the 50th parallel. However, the territory north of the 49th parallel (including the Milk River and Poplar River watersheds) was ceded to the UK in exchange for parts of the Red River Basin south of 49th parallel in the Anglo-American Convention of 1818. The eastern boundary of the Louisiana purchase was the Mississippi River, from its source to the 31st parallel, though the source of the Mississippi was, at the time, unknown. The eastern boundary below the 31st parallel was unclear. The U.S. claimed the land as far as the Perdido River, and Spain claimed that the border of its Florida Colony remained the Mississippi River. In early 1804, Congress passed the Mobile Act, which recognized West Florida as part of the United States. The Adams–Onís Treaty with Spain (1819) resolved the issue upon ratification in 1821. Today, the 31st parallel is the northern boundary of the western half of the Florida Panhandle, and the Perdido is the western boundary of Florida. Because the western boundary was contested at the time of the Purchase, President Jefferson immediately began to organize three missions to explore and map the new territory. All three started from the Mississippi River. The Lewis and Clark Expedition (1804) traveled up the Missouri River; the Red River Expedition (1806) explored the Red River basin; the Pike Expedition (1806) also started up the Missouri, but turned south to explore the Arkansas River watershed. The maps and journals of the explorers helped to define the boundaries during the negotiations leading to the Adams–Onís Treaty, which set the western boundary as follows: north up the Sabine River from the Gulf of Mexico to its intersection with the 32nd parallel, due north to the Red River, up the Red River to the 100th meridian, north to the Arkansas River, up the Arkansas River to its headwaters, due north to the 42nd parallel and due west to its previous boundary. Governing the Louisiana Territory was more difficult than acquiring it. Its European peoples, of ethnic French, Spanish and Mexican descent, were largely Catholic; in addition, there was a large population of enslaved Africans made up of a high proportion of recent arrivals, as Spain had continued the international slave trade. This was particularly true in the area of the present-day state of Louisiana, which also contained a large number of free people of color. Both present-day Arkansas and Missouri already had some slaveholders in the early 19th century. During this period, south Louisiana received an influx of French-speaking refugee planters, who were permitted to bring their slaves with them, and other refugees fleeing the large slave revolt in Saint-Domingue, today's Haiti. Many Southern slaveholders feared that acquisition of the new territory might inspire American-held slaves to follow the example of those in Saint-Domingue and revolt. They wanted the US government to establish laws allowing slavery in the newly acquired territory so they could be supported in taking their slaves there to undertake new agricultural enterprises, as well as to reduce the threat of future slave rebellions. The Louisiana Territory was broken into smaller portions for administration, and the territories passed slavery laws similar to those in the southern states but incorporating provisions from the preceding French and Spanish rule (for instance, Spain had prohibited slavery of Native Americans in 1769, but some slaves of mixed African-Native American descent were still being held in St. Louis in Upper Louisiana when the U.S. took over). In a freedom suit that went from Missouri to the US Supreme Court, slavery of Native Americans was finally ended in 1836. The institutionalization of slavery under U.S. law in the Louisiana Territory contributed to the American Civil War a half century later. As states organized within the territory, the status of slavery in each state became a matter of contention in Congress, as southern states wanted slavery extended to the west, and northern states just as strongly opposed new states being admitted as "slave states." The Missouri Compromise of 1820 was a temporary solution. After the early explorations, the U.S. government sought to establish control of the region, since trade along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers was still dominated by British and French traders from Canada and allied Indians, especially the Sauk and Fox. The U.S. adapted the former Spanish facility at Fort Bellefontaine as a fur trading post near St. Louis in 1804 for business with the Sauk and Fox. In 1808 two military forts with trading factories were built, Fort Osage along the Missouri River in western present-day Missouri and Fort Madison along the Upper Mississippi River in eastern present-day Iowa. With tensions increasing with Great Britain, in 1809 Fort Bellefontaine was converted to a U.S. military fort, and was used for that purpose until 1826. During the War of 1812, Great Britain and allied Indians defeated U.S. forces in the Upper Mississippi; the U.S. abandoned Forts Osage and Madison, as well as several other U.S. forts built during the war, including Fort Johnson and Fort Shelby. After U.S. ownership of the region was confirmed in the Treaty of Ghent (1814), the U.S. built or expanded forts along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, including adding to Fort Bellefontaine, and constructing Fort Armstrong (1816) and Fort Edwards (1816) in Illinois, Fort Crawford (1816) in Prairie du Chien Wisconsin, Fort Snelling (1819) in Minnesota, and Fort Atkinson (1819) in Nebraska. The Louisiana Purchase was negotiated between France and the United States, without consulting the various Native American tribes who lived on the land and who had not ceded the land to any colonial power. It would cost the United States a further 2.6 billion dollars to buy this land from Native Americans, a much higher price than paid to France, but still far lower than the true value of the land. The four decades following the Louisiana Purchase was an era of court decisions removing many tribes from their lands east of the Mississippi, culminating in the Trail of Tears. Alaska Purchase, Florida Purchase, Corps of Discovery, Foreign affairs of the Jefferson administration, Franco-American alliance, List of French possessions and colonies, New France, Historic regions of the United States, Louisiana Purchase Historic State Park, Territorial evolution of the United States, Territories of the United States on stamps Notes Bibliography Further reading Text of the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, Library of Congress: Louisiana Purchase Treaty, Teaching about the Louisiana Purchase, Louisiana Purchase Bicentennial 1803–2003*Lewis and Clark Trail, Louisiana Purchase and Lewis & Clark student and teacher guide: dates, people, analysis, multimedia, New Orleans/Louisiana Purchase 1803, The Haitian Revolution and the Louisiana Purchase, Case and Controversies in U.S. History, Page 42 Senator Pickering explains his opposition to the Louisiana Purchase, 1803., Booknotes interview with Jon Kukla on A Wilderness So Immense: The Louisiana Purchase and the Destiny of America, July 6, 2003. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition gold dollar is a commemorative coin issue dated 1903. Struck in two varieties, the coins were designed by United States Bureau of the Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber. The pieces were issued to commemorate the Louisiana Purchase Exposition held in 1904 in St. Louis; one variety depicted former president Thomas Jefferson, and the other, the recently assassinated president William McKinley. Although not the first American commemorative coins, they were the first in gold. Promoters of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, originally scheduled to open in 1903, sought a commemorative coin for fundraising purposes. Congress authorized an issue in 1902, and exposition authorities, including numismatic promoter Farran Zerbe, sought to have the coin issued with two designs, to aid sales. The price for each variety was $3, the same cost whether sold as a coin, or mounted in jewelry or on a spoon. The coins did not sell well, and most were later melted down. Zerbe, who had promised to support the issue price of the coins, did not do so as prices dropped once the fair (rescheduled for 1904) closed. This drop, however, did not greatly affect Zerbe's career, as he went on to promote other commemorative coins and become president of the American Numismatic Association. The coins also recovered, regaining their issue price by 1915; they are now worth between a few hundred and several thousand dollars, depending on condition. Much of the area near the Mississippi River was explored by French explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1682, René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, claimed the entire area drained by the river for France, naming it Louisiana for Louis XIV. Although most French territory in the Western Hemisphere was lost in the French and Indian War (1756–1763), the Mississippi basin did not pass to the victors in that war (primarily the British) as it had been secretly transferred to Spain by the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau. Napoleon came to power in 1799. Dreaming of a renewed French empire, he secured the return of the Louisiana territory from Spain via the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso the following year, and through other agreements. These pacts were initially secret, and newly inaugurated American President Thomas Jefferson learned of them in 1801. Fearing that the port of New Orleans would be closed to American shipping, he sent former Virginia senator James Monroe to France to assist American Minister Robert Livingston in purchasing the lower Mississippi; Congress appropriated $2 million for the purpose. When the Americans met with Napoleon, they found that the emperor desired to sell the entire territory, much of which was unmapped and unexplored by white men; Napoleon was faced with defeat in revolting Haiti and feared that the British would capture New Orleans, meaning he would lose Louisiana with no compensation. After some haggling, they agreed on a price of 60 million francs, plus 20 million more to pay claims by American citizens against France—a total of some $15 million, which paid for some of land. The treaty was signed on April 30, 1803, and, although there was some question as to whether there was constitutional power for such a purchase, the American Senate ratified the treaty on October 20, 1803. The United States took formal possession two months later. The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the United States, and today forms much of the center of the country. Desirous of honoring the centennial of the purchase, Congress passed authorizing legislation for an exposition; the bill was signed by President William McKinley on March 3, 1901. McKinley was assassinated in September of that year. The Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollar was authorized by Congress on June 28, 1902, when President Theodore Roosevelt signed an appropriations bill that included a $5,000,000 rider to subsidize the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The bill in question authorized 250,000 gold one-dollar pieces to be paid over to the exposition organizers as part of the appropriation, upon their posting a bond that they would fulfill the requirements of the legislation. The bill did not specify the wording or design to be placed on the coins, leaving that to the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. Anthony Swiatek and Walter Breen, in their encyclopedia of commemorative coins, suggested that the decision to have multiple designs was "through some unrecorded agreement". The legislation was ambiguous enough to permit such an interpretation, and numismatist Farran Zerbe urged the Mint to strike more than one type of coin, stating that sales would be increased if this was done. Zerbe was not only a collector (he would serve as president of the American Numismatic Association from 1908 to 1910), but he also promoted numismatics with his traveling exhibition, "Money of the World". He was involved in the distribution of commemorative coins from the Columbian half dollar of 1892 to the Panama- Pacific issue of 1915, and would be the sole distributor of Louisiana Purchase dollars. On August 12, 1902, Treasury Secretary Leslie M. Shaw wrote to former Missouri governor David R. Francis, one of the promoters of the exposition, enquiring what design exposition officials would like to see on the reverse of the coins. Although Francis's response is not extant, Mint authorities originally determined upon an olive branch surrounding a numeral "1". This was apparently disliked by the Director of the Mint, George E. Roberts, for on October 2, 1902, Philadelphia Mint Superintendent John Landis wrote to him, enclosing cardboard impressions of the original and revised proposed reverses. The new design had the value spelled out and the letter stated that the changes were being made at Roberts's suggestion. On October 13, Barber went to Washington (where the director's office was located) to confer with Roberts about the design. Roberts considered the olive branch "too conspicuous", given the size of the coin and the lettering, and asked that the branch be reduced in size. This apparently was done. By September 1902, work upon the dies for the obverses, showing the heads of McKinley and Jefferson, being worked upon by Mint Chief Engraver Charles E. Barber, was well-advanced. In December 1902, the Philadelphia Mint struck 75,080 gold dollars. These were dated 1903, a violation of normal Mint practice to have the date of striking on the coin. This was not unprecedented; the 1900-dated Lafayette dollar had been struck in December 1899. It is not known which gold dollar was first struck. In January 1903, an additional 175,178 pieces were coined; the excess of 258 over the authorized mintage was set aside for testing by the annual Assay Commission. There is no difference between those pieces struck in 1902 and those minted in 1903. Fifty thousand pieces were sent to the St. Louis sub-treasury on December 22, 1902, to await the organizing committee's compliance with other parts of the law, most likely relating to the required posting of a bond. The first 100 specimens of each design were struck in a proof finish. These were mounted on cardboard with presentation certificates and presented to favored insiders and Mint officials; they were not available to the public. The certificates were signed by Superintendent Landis, and by Rhine R. Freed, Chief Coiner of the Philadelphia Mint. The coin was placed inside a holder with wax paper window, secured into place with heavy string with that mint's seal. These were the first commemorative gold coins struck by the United States. Barber took the design for the Jefferson obverse from the former president's Indian Peace Medal, created by engraver John Reich, who used a bust by Jean- Antoine Houdon as his model. The chief engraver modeled the McKinley obverse after his own design for the fallen president's medal issued by the Mint. Barber's medal had been modeled from life; McKinley had sat for the chief engraver. The reverse, for both coins, contains the denomination, a commemorative inscription, and an olive branch above the anniversary dates. Coin dealer B. Max Mehl deemed the issue "the most attractive of all of our commemorative gold dollars". Others disagreed; Swiatek and Breen criticized the pieces, stating that Jefferson's "facial features, inaccurately rendered by Charles E. Barber, have acquired a resemblance to Napoleon Bonaparte, the other party in the Louisiana Purchase transaction." Stating that McKinley was recognizable by his bow tie, they note of the reverse, "the olive branch—if that is the plant intended—may refer to this 828,000 square mile territory's acquisition by peaceful means". Numismatic historian Don Taxay criticized Reich's medal, stating that it "is hardly elegant, with Jefferson hunched unpleasantly in the circle as though placed there by a modern Procrustes". Taxay noted that Barber's rendition of McKinley for that medal had attracted the insult of "deadly" from the chief engraver's longtime enemy, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Art historian Cornelius Vermeule criticized the Louisiana Purchase Exposition dollar and the Lewis and Clark Exposition dollar issued in 1904–1905: "the lack of spark in these coins, as in so many designs by Barber or [Assistant Engraver George T.] Morgan, stems from the fact that the faces, hair, and drapery are flat and the lettering is small, crowded, and even." He did not believe that the problems he saw were due to the small size of the dollar, stating that the gold dollar of the Panama-Pacific issue, by Charles Keck, is far more beautiful. Vermeule noted that contemporary accounts saw the 1903 issue as an innovation; a 1904 article in the American Journal of Numismatics stated that they "indicate a popular desire for a new departure from the somewhat monotonous types of Liberty which have characterized our money ... If this tendency could make itself felt on the regular coinage, it would give a new zeal to collectors." Beginning in 1909 with the Lincoln cent, the Mint would depict an actual person on the circulating coinage; this would become more common with the 1932 Washington quarter. The fair at St. Louis opened on April 30, 1904, a year later than originally planned. It was one of the largest World's Fairs in area, set over in Forest Park. There were 15 major buildings and a host of smaller exhibits, and it is doubtful if many attendees saw more than a fraction of the attractions—seeing everything in the Agricultural Building alone required a walk of . Twenty million people attended the exposition, which inspired the popular song, "Meet Me in St. Louis". The coins were sold at $3 each. They were available in a case of issue, or could be purchased mounted in spoons and various sorts of jewelry. Some were mounted with solder, which has impaired their present-day numismatic value; others were sold with mountings that did not damage the coin. Zerbe had thought of these varied ways of selling the coin, and many of the sales at the fair were in this manner. No additional charge was made for these adornments. Zerbe also promoted the pieces to the numismatic community. Although the $3 price was not high by later standards, triple face value was considered excessive by many coin collectors, and the coins did not sell well. Efforts by Zerbe to promote the pieces included proposing that the government produce a billion-dollar gold piece to be exhibited at the fair, and co- ordinating sales with the vendors of near-worthless replicas of tiny gold pieces struck privately in California in pioneer days, which were half price with the purchase of a dollar coin. Thomas L. Elder, a dealer coming into prominence at that time, spoke out against Zerbe, calling him a huckster whose advertising was misleading and who was bringing discredit upon coin dealers. The organizers, including Zerbe, promised to support the $3 issue price against the possibility of price drops on the secondary market. Prices of the Columbian half dollar and Lafayette dollar had fallen and remained below their issue prices. By November 1903, only about 10,000 of the gold pieces had been sold, including sales to the fair's promoters and others interested in it. According to numismatist Q. David Bowers, fairgoers likely accounted for several thousand coins, but the bulk of the distribution was to coin dealers and collectors. Zerbe sold them at his coin exhibit for years afterwards; coin dealer B. Max Mehl bought thousands from Zerbe at just over face value. These were sold in Mehl's mail order sales through the 1920s. Despite efforts by Zerbe which Bowers finds "enthusiastic or even heroic", only about 35,000 were sold to the public; the remaining 215,000 were returned to the Mint and melted around 1914. Numismatist David M. Bullowa in 1938 noted that the Mint kept no records of how many of each variety was melted, but that he thought that about 10% more of the McKinley issue was sold. Bowers, writing about a half century later, opined to the contrary; that in his experience and in grading service reports, the Jefferson coin was slightly more prevalent. Swiatek, in his 2012 book, prints statistics showing the number of pieces examined by the numismatic grading services, indicating more Jefferson dollars than McKinley. Despite Zerbe's statement that he would support the issue price of the coins at $3, he did not do so and the price of the dollars fell to about $2 by late 1905. Their market price again reached $3 by about 1915, and thereafter continued to rise. The 2014 edition of R.S. Yeoman's A Guide Book of United States Coins (the Red Book) lists both the Jefferson and the McKinley variety at prices ranging from $500 in Almost Uncirculated (AU-50) condition to $2,150 in near pristine MS-66 condition, though the Jefferson is more expensive in some intermediate grades. Zerbe stated in 1905 that he "was the only man to sell 50,000 dollars at $3 apiece". In 1923, he wrote in an article that the Louisiana Purchase dollars had always sold for $3 or more "for the particular reason that the one in charge of their sale felt a price protection obligation to every purchaser." He did not, however, identify himself as "the one in charge of their sale". Books Other sources Louisiana () or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control 1682 to 1762 and 1801 (nominally) to 1803, the area was named in honor of King Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. It originally covered an expansive territory that included most of the drainage basin of the Mississippi River and stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains. Louisiana included two regions, now known as Upper Louisiana (), which began north of the Arkansas River, and Lower Louisiana (). The U.S. state of Louisiana is named for the historical region, although it is only a small part of the vast lands claimed by France. French exploration of the area began during the reign of Louis XIV, but French Louisiana was not greatly developed, due to a lack of human and financial resources. As a result of its defeat in the Seven Years' War, France was forced to cede the east part of the territory in 1763 to the victorious British, and the west part to Spain as compensation for Spain losing Florida. France regained sovereignty of the western territory in the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso of 1800. Strained by obligations in Europe, Napoleon Bonaparte sold the territory to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, ending France's presence in Louisiana. The United States ceded part of the Louisiana Purchase to the United Kingdom in the Treaty of 1818. This section lies above the 49th parallel north in a part of present-day Alberta and Saskatchewan. In the 18th century, Louisiana included most of the Mississippi River basin (see drawing alongside) from what is now the Midwestern United States south to the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Within this vast territory, only two areas saw substantial French settlement: Upper Louisiana (), also known as the Illinois Country (), which consisted of settlements in what are now the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana; and Lower Louisiana, which comprised parts of the modern states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama. Both areas were dominated numerically by Native American tribes. At times, fewer than two hundred [French] soldiers were assigned to all of the colony, on both sides of the Mississippi. In the mid-1720s, Louisiana Indians numbered well over 35,000, forming a clear majority of the colony's population." Generally speaking, the French colony of Louisiana bordered the Great Lakes, particularly Lake Michigan and Lake Erie towards the north; this region was the "Upper Country" of the French province of Canada. To the east was territory disputed with the British colonies on the Atlantic seaboard; the French claim extended to the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains marked the western extent of the French claim, while Louisiana's southern border was the Gulf of Mexico. The general flatness of the land aided movement through the territory; its average elevation is less than . The topography becomes more mountainous towards the west, with the notable exception of the Ozark Mountains, which are located in the mid-south. Lower Louisiana consisted of lands in the Lower Mississippi River watershed, including settlements in what are now the U.S. states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The French first explored it in the 1660s, and a few trading posts were established in the following years; serious attempt at settlement began with the establishment of Fort Maurepas, near modern Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1699. A colonial government soon emerged, with its capital originally at Mobile, later at Biloxi and finally at New Orleans (in 1722, four years after the city's founding). The government was led by a governor- general, and Louisiana became an increasingly important colony in the early 18th century. The earliest settlers of Upper Louisiana mostly came from French Canada, while Lower Louisiana was colonized by people from all over the French colonial empire, with various waves coming from Canada, France, and the French West Indies. Upper Louisiana, also known as the Illinois Country, was the French territory in the upper Mississippi River Valley, including settlements and fortifications in what are now the states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana. French exploration of the area began with the 1673 expedition of Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette, which charted the upper Mississippi. As noted above, Upper Louisiana was primarily settled by colonists from French Canada. There was further substantial intermarriage and integration with the local Illinois peoples. French settlers were attracted by the availability of arable farmland as well as by the forests, abundant with animals suitable for hunting and trapping. Between 1699 and 1760, six major settlements were established in Upper Louisiana: Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Fort de Chartres, Saint Philippe, and Prairie du Rocher, all on the east side of the Mississippi River in present- day Illinois; and Ste. Genevieve across the river in today's Missouri. The region was initially governed as part of Canada, but was declared to be part of Louisiana in 1712, with the grant of the Louisiana country to Antoine Crozat. By the 1720s a formal government infrastructure had formed; leaders of the towns reported to the commandant of Fort de Chartres, who in turn reported to the governor-general of Louisiana in New Orleans. The geographical limits of Upper Louisiana were never precisely defined, but the term gradually came to describe the country southwest of the Great Lakes. A royal ordinance of 1722 may have featured the broadest definition: all land claimed by France south of the Great Lakes and north of the mouth of the Ohio River, which would include the Missouri Valley as well as both banks of the Mississippi. A generation later, trade conflicts between Canada and Louisiana led to a defined boundary between the French colonies; in 1745, Louisiana governor general Vaudreuil set the northeastern bounds of his domain as the Wabash valley up to the mouth of the Vermilion River (near present-day Danville, Illinois); from there, northwest to le Rocher on the Illinois River, and from there west to the mouth of the Rock River (at present-day Rock Island, Illinois). Thus, Vincennes and Peoria were the limit of Louisiana's reach. The outposts at Ouiatenon (on the upper Wabash near present-day Lafayette, Indiana), Chicago, Fort Miamis (near present-day Fort Wayne, Indiana), and Prairie du Chien operated as dependencies of Canada. This boundary remained in effect through the capitulation of French forces in Canada in 1760 until the Treaty of Paris in 1763, after which France surrendered its remaining territory east of the Mississippi to Great Britain. (Although British forces had occupied the "Canadian" posts in the Illinois and Wabash countries in 1761, they did not occupy Vincennes or the Mississippi River settlements at Cahokia and Kaskaskia until 1764, after the peace treaty was ratified.) As part of a general report on conditions in the newly conquered Province of Canada, Gen. Thomas Gage (then commandant at Montreal) explained in 1762 that, although the boundary between Louisiana and Canada was not exact, it was understood that the upper Mississippi (above the mouth of the Illinois) was in Canadian trading territory. Following the transfer of power (at which time many of the French settlers on the east bank of the Mississippi crossed the river to what had become Spanish Louisiana) the eastern Illinois Country became part of the British Province of Quebec, and later the United States' Northwest Territory. Those fleeing from British control founded outposts such as the important settlement of St. Louis (1764). This became a French fur- trading center, connected to trading posts on the Missouri and Upper Mississippi rivers, leading to later French settlement in that area. In the 1762 Treaty of Fontainebleau, France ceded Louisiana west of the Mississippi River to Spain, its ally in the war, as compensation for the loss of Spanish Florida to Britain. Even after France had lost its claim to Louisiana, settlement of Upper Louisiana by French-speakers continued for the next four decades. French explorers and frontiersmen, such as Pedro Vial, were often employed as guides and interpreters by the Spanish and later by the Americans. The Spanish lieutenant governors at St. Louis maintained the traditional "Illinois Country" nomenclature, using titles such as "commander in chief of the western part and districts of Illinois" and administrators commonly referred to their capital St. Louis "of the Ylinuses". In 1800 Spain returned its part of Louisiana to France in the Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, but France sold it to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Through this time, but especially following the Louisiana Purchase, French Creoles, as they called themselves, began to move further into the Missouri Ozarks, where they formed mining communities such as Mine à Breton and La Vieille Mine (Old Mines). A unique dialect, known as Missouri French, developed in Upper Louisiana. It is distinguished from both Louisiana French and the various forms of Canadian French, such as Acadian. The dialect continued to be spoken around the Midwest, particularly in Missouri, through the 20th century. It is nearly extinct today, with only a few elderly speakers still able to use it. In 1660, France started a policy of expansion into the interior of North America from what is now eastern Canada. The objectives were to locate a Northwest Passage to China; to exploit the territory's natural resources, such as fur and mineral ores; and to convert the native population to Catholicism. Fur traders began exploring the pays d'en haut (upper country around the Great Lakes) at the time. In 1659, Pierre-Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart des Groseilliers reached the western end of Lake Superior. Priests founded missions, such as the Mission of Sault Sainte Marie in 1668. On May 17, 1673, Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette began the exploration of the Mississippi River, which they called the Sioux Tongo (the large river) or Michissipi. They reached the mouth of the Arkansas River, and then returned upstream, having learned that the great river ran toward the Gulf of Mexico, not toward the Pacific Ocean as they had presumed. In 1675, Marquette founded a mission in the Native American village of Kaskaskias on the Illinois River. A permanent settlement was made by 1690. In 1682, Cavelier de La Salle and the Italian Henri de Tonti descended to the Mississippi River Delta. They left Fort Crèvecoeur on the Illinois River, accompanied by 23 Frenchmen and 18 Indians. They built Fort Prud'homme (later the city of Memphis) and claimed French sovereignty on the whole of the valley, which they called Louisiane in honor of the Louis XIV of France. They sealed alliances with the Quapaw Indians. In April 1682, they arrived at the mouth of the Mississippi. La Salle eventually returned to Versailles, where he convinced the Minister of the Marine to grant the command of Louisiana to him. He claimed that Louisiana was close to New Spain by drawing a map showing the Mississippi as much farther west than it really was. With four ships and 320 emigrants, La Salle set sail for Louisiana. La Salle did not find the river's mouth in the Mississippi River Delta and tried to establish a colony on the Texas coast. La Salle was assassinated in 1687 by members of his exploration party, reportedly near what is now Navasota, Texas. 1673: The Frenchmen Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin to explore the Mississippi River from the north and determine that it must run into the Gulf of Mexico on the south., 1675: Marquette founds a mission at the Grand Village of the Illinois., 1680: Fort Crevecoeur founded in the Illinois Country, 1682: René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, descends the Mississippi to its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico., 1682: Fort St. Louis du Rocher on the Illinois River is founded, 1685–88: La Salle attempts to establish a colony on the Gulf of Mexico to secure the entire river valley for France. He establishes a camp at Fort Saint Louis; but his mission fails, in part because he fails to rediscover the Mississippi's mouth., 1686: Henri de Tonti establishes Arkansas Post, a trading post at the site of a Quapaw Indian village, near where the Arkansas River meets the Mississippi., 1696: Cahokia village in Illinois Country is settled., 1699: Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville explores the Louisiana coast and founds Fort Maurepas at Old Biloxi (now in Mississippi) on the Gulf of Mexico., 1701: Antoine Laumet de La Mothe founds Detroit., 1702: In January, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville founds Mobile (now in Alabama) as the capital of Louisiana for his brother Iberville., 1703: Kaskaskia village in Illinois Country is settled, 1713: Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont publishes the first report on explorations of the Missouri River., 1714: Louis Juchereau de St. Denis founds Natchitoches, the oldest permanent settlement in what is now the State of Louisiana., 1716: Fort Rosalie is established on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River; the settlement became the town of Natchez., 1717: Illinois Country is detached from Canada to be governed by Louisiana (Haute-Louisiane)., 1718: New Orleans is founded, at a crescent in the river, for protection against flooding., 1719: The first ships bringing black slaves from Africa arrive at Mobile, Alabama., 1720: Biloxi (in the future state of Mississippi) becomes capital of French Louisiana., 1720: Fort de Chartres is established as the administrative center of the Illinois Country., 1720: Pawnees destroy the Spanish Villasur expedition near Columbus, Nebraska, effectively ending Spanish incursions into the territory until 1763., 1723: New Orleans becomes the official capital of French Louisiana., 1723: Fort Orleans is established near Brunswick, Missouri., 1735: Sainte-Geneviève in the Illinois Country (Upper Louisiana) is founded., 1755: British authorities begin expelling French settlers from "Acadia" (in Nova Scotia); many migrate to the southernmost parts of Louisiana, where they become the Cajuns., 1762: France secretly cedes Louisiana to Spain in the Treaty of Fontainebleau (1762)., 1763: France cedes Canada and Louisiana east of the Mississippi to Great Britain in the Treaty of Paris. The rest of Louisiana, including New Orleans, is formally ceded to Spain and incorporated as Luisiana or Spanish Louisiana into the Spanish Empire., 1764: Pierre Laclède founds St. Louis, Missouri., 1764: The terms of the Treaty of Fontainebleau are revealed., 1768: In the Rebellion of 1768, Creole and German settlers force the new Spanish governor to flee., 1769: Spain quells the rebellion, executes the leaders and officially takes possession, imposing Spanish law., 1778: France declares war on Great Britain, in support of the American revolution., 1779: Spain declares war on Great Britain., 1783: The Treaty of Paris officially ends hostilities between the U.S., with its French and Spanish allies, and Great Britain., 1788: The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) destroys most of New Orleans, which is subsequently rebuilt in Spanish style., 1793: Spain declares war on the French Republic in the French Revolutionary Wars., 1795: France defeats Spain in the War of the Pyrenees, ended by the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso., 1800: France regains Louisiana in 1803 in the secret Third Treaty of San Ildefonso., 1801: The Treaty of Aranjuez confirms the Spanish retrocession to France., 1803: Napoleon Bonaparte sells Louisiana to the United States, a few weeks after sending a prefect to New Orleans to assume control., 1803: In New Orleans, Spain officially transfers (Lower) Louisiana to France in November. Three weeks later, in December, France officially cedes it to the United States., 1804: In St. Louis in March, Three Flags Day, Spain officially transfers Upper Louisiana to France, which then officially cedes it to the United States. It was not easy for an absolute monarchy to administer Louisiana, a territory several times larger than European France. Louis XIV and his successors tried to impose their absolutist ambitions on the colony, often without giving the colonial administration enough financial means to do its work. If the leaders of Ancien Régime took control of, and sometimes encouraged, the colonization of New France, it was for many reasons. The reign of Henry IV gave an important impetus to the colonisation of New France. Henry IV, the first Bourbon king, was personally interested in foreign affairs. In the 17th century, the ministers Richelieu and later Colbert advanced colonial politics. Louis XIV and his ministers were worried about the size of the kingdom, over which they constantly competed with other European nations. European rivalry and a game of political alliances greatly marked the history of Louisiana, in direct and indirect ways. Within those shifting conditions, the French desire to limit British influence in the New World was a constant in royal politics. Louis XIV took care to limit the appearance of intermediary bodies and countervailing powers in North America. He did not want an assembly of notables or parliament. In the 1660s, the colony was royal property. In 1685, Louis XIV banned all publishing in New France. Between 1712 and 1731, the French possession came under the control of Antoine Crozat, a rich businessman, then under that of the Mississippi Company (created by John Law), which recruited immigrants to settle the colony. In 1731, Louisiana reverted to royal rule. In contrast to Metropolitan France, the government applied a single unified law of the land: the Custom of Paris for civil law (rather egalitarian for the time); the "Code Louis", consisting of the 1667 ordinance on civil procedure and 1670 ordinance on criminal procedure; the 1673 "Code Savary" for trade; and the 1685 Code noir for slavery. This served as an equaliser for a while; riots and revolts against authority were rare. But, the centralised government had difficulty maintaining communications over the long distance and sailing time that separated France from Louisiana. Toward the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th, the colonists on the Gulf of Mexico were left almost completely to fend for themselves; they counted far more on the assistance of the Native Americans than on France. The distance had its advantages: the colonists smuggled goods into the colony with impunity. Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV's Minister of the Navy and Trade, was eager to stuff the coffers of the Crown. He dissolved the trading companies and took care to increase the production of the country and the colonies. Being a mercantilist, he believed it was necessary to sell as much as possible and to reduce reliance on imports. He imposed a French monopoly on trade. Colbert wanted to reduce the expenditure of the monarchy. It was, however, necessary to invest much money and to mobilize important human resources retain the American colony. Much work was done on the economic infrastructure (factories, ports) in metropolitan France, but the investment was not enough in Louisiana. No plan to facilitate the movement of goods or men was ever carried out. The French budget was exhausted because of the wars in Europe, but the colonists in Louisiana did not have to pay royal taxes and were free of the hated gabelle. Under the Ancien Régime, Louisiana formed part of a larger colonial unit, French American territory—New France (Nouvelle France), which included a large part of modern-day Canada. New France was initially ruled by a viceroy in 1625, the Duke of Ventadour. The colony was then given a government like the Bourbons' other possessions. Its capital was Quebec City until 1759. A governor-general, assisted by a single intendant, was charged with ruling this vast region. In theory, Louisiana was subordinate to Canada, and so it was explored and settled chiefly by French-Canadians rather than colonists from France. Given the enormous distance between New Orleans and Quebec, communications outside cities and forts were limited. French settlements were widely dispersed, which afforded them de facto autonomy. The government decided to break up governance of the vast varied colony of New France into five smaller provinces, including Louisiana. The Illinois Country, south of the Great Lakes, was added to Louisiana in 1717 and became known as Upper Louisiana. Mobile served as French Louisiana's first "capital". The seat of government moved to Biloxi in 1720, and then to New Orleans in 1722, where the governor lived. While the office of governor general was the most eminent, it was not the most powerful. His was a military position that required him to lead the troops and maintain diplomatic relations. The second provincial authority was the commissaire-ordonnateur. His was a civil post with similar functions as that of the intendants in France: the king's administrator and representative, he oversaw justice, the police force, and finances. He managed the budget, set prices, presided the Superior Council (Conseil supérieur—the court of justice), and organized the census. Appointed by the king, Louisiana's commissaire-ordonnateur had broad powers that sometimes conflicted with those of the governor general. The military outposts of the hinterland were directed by commanders. The French possessions of North America were under the authority of a single Catholic diocese, whose seat was in Quebec. The archbishop, named and paid by the king, was spiritual head of all New France. With loose religious supervision, the fervor of the population was very weak; Louisianans tended to practice their faith much less than did their counterparts in France and Canada. The tithe, a tax by the clergy on the congregations, produced less revenue than in France. The Church nevertheless played an important part in the exploration of French Louisiana; it sent missions, primarily carried out by Jesuits, to convert Native Americans. It also founded schools and hospitals: By 1720, the Ursulines were operating a hospital in New Orleans. The church and its missionaries established contact with the numerous Amerindian tribes. Certain priests, such as Father Marquette in the 17th century, took part in exploratory missions. The Jesuits translated collections of prayers into numerous Amerindian languages to convert the Native Americans. They also looked for ways to relate Indian practices to Christian worship, and helped show the Natives how these were related. A syncretic religion developed among new Christians. Sincere and permanent conversions were limited in number; many who received missionary instruction tended to assimilate the Holy Trinity into their belief of "spirits", or rejected the concept outright. It is difficult to estimate the total population of France's colonies in North America. While historians have relatively precise sources regarding the colonists and enslaved Africans, estimates of Native American peoples is difficult. During the 18th century, the society of Louisiana became quite creolized. Further information: Colonial French Colonial French (commonly known as Colonial Louisiana French) is a variety of Louisiana French. It is associated with the misnomer the Cajun French dialect and with Louisiana Creole French, a related creole language. Spoken widely in what is now the U.S. state of Louisiana, it is now considered to have been relabeled as "Cajun French". Colonial French is conventionally described as the form of French spoken in Lower French Louisiana prior to the mass arrival of Acadians after the Great Upheaval of the mid-18th century, which resulted in the birth of the Cajun dialect. The prestige dialect still used by Creoles and Cajuns is often identified as deriving from Colonial French, but some linguists differentiate between the two, referring to the latter as Plantation Society French. Historically spoken by Louisiana Creole population in lower French Louisiana, Colonial French is generally considered to have been adopted by whites, blacks and Cajuns. It is known among the educated that it has been incorrectly relabelled "Cajun French" by Cajuns and CODOFIL. Following the Great Upheaval in 1764, when many Acadians were exiled to French Louisiana, Louisiana French was adopted by the Acadians. Some scholars suggested that it survived as the prestige dialect spoken by Creoles, both white and of color, into the 21st century. There are populations of Creoles and Cajuns among other ethnic groups in the parishes of St. Martin, Avoyelles, Iberia, Pointe-Coupée, St. Charles, St. Landry, St. Mary, St. Tammany, Plaquemines, and other parishes south of Orleans, that still speak this prestige dialect. However, linguists have pointed out this prestige dialect is distinct from the pre-Upheaval Colonial French, and is largely derived from the standard French of the mid-19th century, Spanish, African languages, and Native Americans languages. As such, in 1998 linguist Michael Picone of the University of Alabama introduced the term "Plantation Society French" for the prestige dialect. There is a history of diglossia between Plantation Society French and Louisiana Creole French. Plantation Society French, at any rate, is quite close to the Standard French of the time of its origin, with some possible differences in pronunciation and vocabulary use. It is still spoken by the Louisiana Indians, such as the Houmas, Avoyelles, Choctaw, and other tribal remnants, all present in pre- Acadian Louisiana and still present in contemporary Louisiana. According to the demographer Russel Thornton, North America contained approximately seven million native inhabitants in 1500. The population plummeted from the 16th century onward, primarily because of the new infectious diseases carried by Europeans, to which the Native Americans had no acquired immunity. At the end of the 17th century, there were likely no more than 100,000 to 200,000 Native Americans in Lower Louisiana. French colonists forced a small number of Native Americans into slavery, in spite of official prohibition. These slaves were persons who had been captured by rival tribes during raids and in battle, and sold to French colonists. At the time, many were sent to Saint Domingue in the West Indies for sale as slaves, or to Canada. In Louisiana, planters generally preferred using African slaves, though some had Native American servants. In 1717, John Law, the French Comptroller General of Finances, decided to import African slaves into Louisiana. His objective was to develop the plantation economy of Lower Louisiana. The Royal Indies Company held a monopoly over the slave trade in the area. It imported approximately 6,000 slaves from Africa between 1719 and 1743. A small portion of these were sent to the Illinois Country to cultivate the fields or to work the lead mines. The economy of Lower Louisiana consequently became slave-dependent. As in other French colonies, the treatment of the slaves was regulated by the Code Noir. The slaves often had a degree of autonomy beyond that suggested by the code. Initially, during public holidays, slaves were permitted to sell a portion of the crops they had cultivated. Some would hunt, cut wood or keep livestock far from the plantation. Lastly, although interracial marriages and regroupings of slaves were prohibited, planters often kept slave mistresses. The life and work of the slaves was difficult, with the intense harvest season and processing of sugar undoubtedly the hardest. The maintenance of canals for rice irrigation and travel also involved much labor. Slave residences and furnishings as supplied by planters were modest. The slaves were given simple straw pallets as beds. They typically had some trunks and kitchen utensils. The condition of the slaves depended on the treatment they received from their masters. When it was excessively cruel, the slaves often fled and hid in the marshes or in New Orleans. The Maroon societies that runaway slaves founded were often short-lived; Louisiana did not have the larger and semi-permanent Maroon villages that developed in the West Indies. Meanwhile, slave revolts were not as frequent in this area as they were in the Caribbean. The possibility of being set free was rather low; the slaves could not purchase their freedom. One of the first slaves to be freed was Louis Congo, who, in 1725, received freedom, land, and compensation in exchange for becoming the public executioner of New Orleans. Some freed slaves (notably women and former soldiers) formed small communities, which suffered from segregation; justice was more severe against them, and they did not have right to possess weapons. Slaves contributed to the creolization of Louisianan society. They brought okra from Africa, a plant common in the preparation of gumbo. While the Code Noir required that the slaves receive a Christian education, many secretly practiced animism and often combined elements of the two faiths. The commonly accepted definition of Louisiana Creole today is the community whose members are a descendant of the "native-born" individuals of la Louisiane. Some individuals may not have each ethnic heritage, and some may have additional ancestries. It is estimated that 7,000 European immigrants settled in Louisiana during the 18th century—a hundredth the number of British colonists on the Atlantic coast. Initially, creole was the term used for Europeans (and sometimes, separately for Africans) born in Louisiana, in contrast to those who immigrated there. Louisiana attracted considerably fewer French colonists than did its West Indian colonies. After the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, which lasted several months, the colonists had several challenges ahead of them. Their living conditions were difficult: uprooted, they had to face a new, often hostile, environment. Many of these immigrants died during the maritime crossing or soon after their arrival. Physical conditions were harsh, and the tropical climate was difficult for colonists. Hurricanes, unknown in France, periodically struck the coast, destroying whole villages. The Mississippi River Delta was plagued with periodic floods and yellow fever epidemics, to which malaria and cholera were added as part of the Eurasian diseases that arrived with the Europeans. These conditions slowed colonization. Moreover, French villages and forts were not necessarily safe from enemy offensives. Attacks by Native Americans represented a real threat to the groups of isolated colonists; in 1729, their attacks killed 250 in Lower Louisiana. Forces of the Native American Natchez people took Fort Rosalie (now Natchez, Mississippi) by surprise, killing, among others, pregnant women. The French responded with warfare during the next two years: some Natchez were captured and deported as slaves to Saint Domingue; others left the area if they escaped. Colonists were often young men, volunteers recruited in French ports or in Paris. Many served as indentured servants; they were required to remain in Louisiana for a length of time fixed by the contract of service to pay off their passage. During this time, they were "temporary semi-slaves". To increase the colonial population, the crown sent filles à la cassette ("casket girls," referring to the small trunks they arrived with), young Frenchwomen, to marry the soldiers. They were given a dowry financed by the King. This practice built upon the 17th-century precedent when Louis XIV paid for transport and dowries for about 800 filles du roi (King's Daughters) to emigrate to New France to encourage marriage and formation of families in the colony. By contrast, comfort women were described as those women "of easy virtue", vagrants or outlaws, and those without family, who arrived in Louisiana with a lettre de cachet; they were sent by force to the colony, especially during the Régence period early in the reign of Louis XV. Their stories inspired the novel Story of the Knight of Grieux and Manon Lescaut, written by Abbé Prévost in 1731. In 1721, the ship La Baleine carried nearly 90 women of childbearing age to Louisiana; they were recruited from the Paris prison of La Salpetrière. Most quickly found husbands among the residents of the colony. These women, many of whom were most likely prostitutes or felons, were known as The Baleine Brides. Communities of Swiss and German peoples also settled in French Louisiana, but royal authorities always referred to the population as "French". After the Seven Years' War, in which Britain defeated France, the settlement attracted a variety of groups: Spanish settlers, refugees from Saint Domingue (particularly after 1791 when the slave uprisings began), opponents of the French Revolution, and Acadians. In 1785, 1633 people of Acadian origin were brought from France to New Orleans, 30 years after having been expelled from their homeland by the British. Other Acadians were transported there by the British after they were expelled from Acadia. About 4000 are thought to have settled in Louisiana, gradually forming the Cajun community. Social mobility was easier in America than in France at the time. The seigneurial system was not imposed on the banks of the Mississippi, although the long lot land division scheme of the seigneurial system was adapted to some of the meandering rivers and bayous there. There were few corporations treated hierarchically and strictly regulated. Certain tradesmen managed to build fortunes rather quickly. The large planters of Louisiana were attached to the French way of life: they imported wigs and clothing fashionable in Paris. In the Country of Illinois, the wealthiest constructed stone-built houses and had several slaves. The largest traders mostly wound up settling in New Orleans. The King sent the army in the event of conflict with the other colonial powers; in 1717, the colony of Mississippi counted 300 soldiers out of 550 people (Havard G, Vidal C, History of French America, p. 225.). However, the colonial army, like that of France, suffered from desertions. Certain soldiers fled to become coureurs de bois. There were few mutinies because repression was severe. The army held a fundamental place in the control of the territory. Soldiers built forts and frequently negotiated with the Native Americans. The coureurs des bois (literally "runners of the woods") played an important part, though not well documented, in the expansion of French influence in North America. By the end of the 17th century, these adventurers had journeyed the length of the Mississippi River. They were motivated by the hope of finding gold or of carrying out a profitable fur trade with the Indians. The fur trade, often practiced without authorization, was a difficult activity, carried on most of the time by young unmarried men. Many ultimately wished to go on to more sedentary agricultural activities. Meanwhile, a good number of them were integrated into native communities, learned the languages, and took native wives. A well-known example is the French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau, husband to Sacagawea, who gave birth to Jean-Baptiste. They took part in the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1804–1806. Ancien Régime France wished to make Native Americans subjects of the king and good Christians, but the distance from Metropolitan France and the sparseness of French settlement prevented this. In official rhetoric, the Native Americans were regarded as subjects of the king of France, but in reality, they were largely autonomous due to their numerical superiority. The local authorities (governors, officers) did not have the means of imposing their decisions, and often compromised. The tribes offered essential support for the French in Louisiana: they ensured the survival of the colonists, participated with them in the fur trade, and were used as guides in expeditions. Their alliance was also essential in the fight against the British. The two peoples influenced each other in many fields: the French learned the languages of the natives, who bought European goods (fabric, alcohol, firearms, etc.), and sometimes adopted their religion. The coureurs des bois and the soldiers borrowed canoes and moccasins. Many of them ate native food such as wild rice and various meats, like bear and dog. The colonists were often dependent on the Native Americans for food. Creole cuisine is the heir of these mutual influences: thus, sagamité, for example, is a mix of corn pulp, bear fat and bacon. Today jambalaya, a word of Seminole origin, refers to a multitude of recipes calling for meat and rice, all very spicy. Sometimes shamans succeeded in curing the colonists thanks to traditional remedies (application of fir tree gum on wounds and Royal Fern on a rattlesnake bite). Many colonists both admired and feared the military power of the Native Americans, but others scorned their culture and regarded them as racially less pure than the Whites. In 1735, interracial marriages without the approval of the authorities were prohibited in Louisiana. The Jesuit priests were often scandalized by the supposedly libertine ways of the Native Americans. In spite of some disagreements (the Indians killed pigs, which devastated corn fields), and sometimes violent confrontations (Fox Wars, Natchez uprisings, and expeditions against the Chicachas), the relationship with the Native Americans was relatively good in Louisiana. French imperialism was expressed through some wars and the slavery of some Native Americans. But most of the time, the relationship was based on dialogue and negotiation. This comparatively sparsely-settled northern area of French Louisiana was formerly the southern part of French Canada, and was transferred in 1717 by order of the King. It lies along the Mississippi and its tributaries, and was primarily devoted to grain and cereals agriculture. The French farmers lived in villages (such as near Fort de Chartres (the colonial administrative center), Kaskaskia, Prairie du Rocher, and Sainte-Geneviève). They cultivated the land with paid and slave laborers, producing mostly corn and wheat. The fields were cleared with ploughs. They raised horses, cows and pigs, and also grew a little tobacco, hemp, flax and grapes (though most wine was still imported from France). Agriculture was seasonal and periodic flooding of the Mississippi took its toll on these communities. The trading posts in the Illinois Country concentrated mostly on the fur trade. Placed at strategic points, they were modestly fortified. Only a few were made out of stone (e.g., Fort de Chartres). Like their American "mountain man" counterparts, the coureurs des bois exchanged beaverskin or deer pelts for weapons, cloth or shoddy goods, because the local economy was based on barter. The skins and fur are later sold in the forts and cities of New France. The Illinois Country also produced salt and lead, and provided New Orleans with game. Lower Louisiana's plantation economy was based on slave labor. The owners generally had their main residence in New Orleans and entrusted the supervision of the fields to a treasurer. Crops were varied and adapted to the climate and terrain. Part of the production was intended for use by Louisianans (corn, vegetables, rice, livestock), the rest being exported to France (especially tobacco and indigo). New Orleans was the economic capital of Louisiana, though it remained a village for several decades. The colonists built infrastructure to encourage trade; a canal was dug in 1723. The shops on the banks of the Mississippi also served as warehouses. The city exported pelts from the interior as well as agricultural products from the plantations. It was also, of course, a local hub of commerce. The rare shipments from France brought food (lard, wheat...), alcohol, and various indispensable finished products (weapons, tools, cloth, and clothing). Exports remained relatively weak on the whole. New Orleans continued to sell wood, rice, and corn to the French West Indies. The hostility between the French and British flared up again two years before the beginning of the Seven Years' War in Europe. In North America, the war became known as the French and Indian War. After some early victories from 1754 to 1757, thanks to help from their Native American allies, the French suffered several disastrous defeats in Canada from 1758 to 1760, culminating in the surrender of the capital city Quebec. With the loss of Canada, defense of Louisiana became impossible. The Treaty of Paris, signed on 10 February 1763, formalized the eviction of the French from North America. Canada and the east bank of the Mississippi were handed over to Great Britain (Province of Quebec (1763–91)). New Orleans and the west bank of the river had been secretly given to Spain the previous year. This decision provoked the departure of a few settlers; however, the Spaniards effectively took control of their new territories, which they named Luisiana, rather late (in 1766), and there was not much Spanish immigration. To the East, the United States foresaw the conquest of the West; commercial navigation on the Mississippi was opened to Americans in 1795. During the French Revolution, Louisiana was agitated under Spanish control: certain French-speaking colonists sent petitions to the metropolis and the slaves attempted revolts in 1791 and 1795. The Third Treaty of San Ildefonso, signed in secrecy on October 1, 1800, envisaged the transfer of Western Louisiana as well as New Orleans to France in exchange for the Duchy of Parma. The transfer was confirmed by the Treaty of Aranjuez signed on March 21, 1801. However, Napoleon Bonaparte soon decided not to keep the immense territory. The army he sent to take possession of the colony was first required to put down a revolution in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti); its failure to do so, and the rupture of the Treaty of Amiens with the United Kingdom, prompted him to decide to sell Louisiana to the newly founded United States. This was done on April 30, 1803 for the sum of 80 million francs (15 million dollars). American sovereignty was established on December 20, 1803. French colonization in Louisiana left a cultural inheritance that has been celebrated significantly in recent decades. The heritage of the French language, Louisiana Creole French, and Cajun French has been most threatened; for this reason, the CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana) was created in 1968. A subject of debate is the variety of French that should be taught: that of France, Canadian French, standard Louisiana French, or Cajun French. Today, many Cajun-dominated areas of Louisiana have formed associations with Acadian communities in Canada, which send French professors to re-teach the language in the schools. In 2003, 7% of Louisianans were French-speaking, though most also spoke English. An estimated 25% of the state's population has some French ancestry, carrying a number of last names of French origin (e.g., LeBlanc, Cordier, Dauthier, Dion, Menard, Pineaux, Hébert, Ardoin, Roubideaux, …). Many cities and villages have names of French origin. They include St. Louis; Detroit; Baton Rouge; New Orleans; Lafayette; Mobile; Des Moines; St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Duluth, Minnesota (However, present day Duluth is located in what used to be the old Northwest Territory, not the former Louisiana Territory). The flag and the seal of the state of Minnesota carry a French legend. The Iowa state flag uses a variation of the French national flag as its base. Missouri state flag and flag of New Orleans colors are based on French flag. The flag of St. Louis has a fleur-de-lis prominently displayed. Historical festivals and commemorations point out the French presence: in 1999, Louisiana celebrated the 300th anniversary of its foundation; in 2001, Detroit did the same. In 2003, the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase was commemorated on numerous occasions as well as by a formal conference to recall its history. Certain places testify to a cultural inheritance left by the French; a prime example is the French Quarter of New Orleans. In 2015, St. Louis celebrated the 250th anniversary of its founding by the French in 1764. Many French forts have been rebuilt and opened to visitors. A key part of Louisianan culture finds its roots in the French period: Creole songs influenced the blues and jazz. Cajun music, often sung in French, remains very much alive today. New Orleans' Carnival season, with its height on Mardi Gras Day, testifies to a long-lived Roman Catholic heritage. History of Louisiana, List of colonial governors of Louisiana, List of French possessions and colonies French Arnaud Balvay, L'Epée et la Plume. Amérindiens et Soldats des Troupes de la Marine en Louisiane et au Pays d'en Haut, Québec, Presses de l'Université Laval, 2006., Arnaud Balvay, La Révolte des Natchez, Paris, Editions du Félin, 2008., Michaël Garnier, Bonaparte et la Louisiane, Kronos/SPM, Paris, 1992, 247 p. ., Marcel Giraud, Histoire de la Louisiane française (1698–1723), Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1953–1974, 4 tomes., Réginald Hamel, La Louisiane créole politique, littéraire et sociale (1762–1900), Leméac, coll. < Francophonie vivante >, Ottawa, 1984, 2 tomes ., Gilles Havard, Cécile Vidal, Histoire de l'Amérique française, Flammarion, coll. < Champs >, Paris, 2nd ed. (1st ed. 2003), 2006, 863 p. ., Philippe Jacquin, Les Indiens blancs: Français et Indiens en Amérique du Nord (XVI – XVIII siècles), Payot, coll. < Bibliothèque historique >, Paris, 1987, 310 p. ., Gilles-Antoine Langlois, Des villes pour la Louisiane française: Théorie et pratique de l'urbanistique coloniale au XVIII siècle, L'Harmattan, coll. < Villes et entreprises >, Paris, 2003, 448 p. ., Thierry Lefrançois (dir.), La Traite de la Fourrure: Les Français et la découverte de l'Amérique du Nord, Musée du Nouveau Monde, La Rochelle et L'Albaron, Thonon-les-Bains, 1992, 172 p. ; Catalogue de l'exposition, La Rochelle, Musée du Nouveau-Monde, 1992, Bernard Lugan, Histoire de la Louisiane française (1682–1804), Perrin, Paris, 1994, 273 p. , ., Jean Meyer, Jean Tarrade, Annie Rey-Goldzeiguer, Histoire de la France coloniale, t. 1, A. Colin, coll. < Histoires Colin >, Paris, 1991, 846 p. . English Charles J. Balesi, The Time of the French in the Heart of North America (1673–1818), Alliance française de Chicago, Chicago, 2nd ed. (1st ed. 1992), 1996, 348 p. ., Glenn R. Conrad (dir.), The French Experience in Louisiana, University of Southwestern Louisiana Press, La Fayette, 1995, VIII–666 p. ., Marcel Giraud, A History of French Louisiana (1723–1731), tome 5, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge, 1991., Charles R. Goins, J. M. Calwell, Historical Atlas of Louisiana, Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1995., V. Hubert, A Pictorial History, Louisiana, Ch. Scribner, New York City, 1975., Robert W. Neuman, An Introduction of Louisiana Archeology, Louisiana State University Press, Baton Rouge/ Londres, 1984, XVI–366 p. ., Russel Thornton, American Indian Holocaust and Survival..., Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1987., Sophie White, Wild Frenchmen and Frenchified Indians: Material Culture and Race in Colonial Louisiana. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2012. Site du ministère de la culture française: La Louisiane française (1682–1803), Bibliothèque Nationale de France: La France en Amérique, Archives Canada-France: Nouvelle-France. Histoire d'une terre française en Amérique, Site personnel de Jean-Pierre Pazzoni: Histoire de la Louisiane française, Site de l'association France-Louisiane: Louisiane française. Entretien avec Bernard Lugan, Hérodote: 9 avril 1682, Cavelier de la Salle baptise la Louisiane, University of Laval: 30 avril 1803: traité d'achat de la Louisiane, Museum of the State of Louisiana, Fort Rosalie, Mississippi, New France: 1524–1763, History of New Orleans

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"Drift Away" is a song by Mentor Williams written in 1970 and originally recorded by John Henry Kurtz on his 1972 album Reunion. Mentor Williams was a country songwriter, and John Henry Kurtz was an actor and swamp rock singer. It was later given to soul singer Dobie Gray for whom it became a surprise international hit; and the best known version. In 1973 the song became Dobie Gray's biggest hit, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and certified gold by the RIAA. It was the final pop hit for Decca Records in the United States. A new version by Uncle Kracker, with Gray, became a major hit in 2003. A country version was recorded by Narvel Felts in 1973. Felts' version — which changed the lyrics "I wanna get lost in your rock and roll" to "I wanna get lost in your country song" — peaked at #8 on the Billboard' Hot Country Singles chart in mid-August 1973, about three months after Gray's version reached its popularity peak. This song marked Narvel's first success in the country scene, as he was known from the late 1950s as a rockabilly singer. Michael Bolton covered "Drift Away" in 1992. The single was released from the LP . His rendition became the only hit version of the song in the United Kingdom, where it reached #18. The song also charted in Ireland and New Zealand. A cover version was released by Uncle Kracker in 2003 from his album No Stranger To Shame. This version, which featured Dobie Gray singing the bridge and joining Uncle Kracker on the final verse, reached #9 on the Hot 100. The song was in the year-end top 20 just like the original 1973 version. It spent a record-setting 28 weeks atop the adult contemporary chart in the U.S. It also peaked at #25 on the New Zealand Singles chart. The music video was directed by Bronston Jones. Filmed in Kracker's hometown of Detroit, it shows him performing the song on stage to an audience (Dobie, during his parts, comes in to perform) and Kracker working at a garage (owned by his brother), unloading and stacking tires. Scenes also feature him walking alone on snowy railroad tracks, and singing on an empty stage in the garage. His mechanic's uniform is labeled "Matt," a reference to his real first name, Matthew. "Drift Away" has also been covered by many bands and vocalists around the world. Versions include those of Uncle Kracker, Allan Clarke, Roy Orbison, Ike & Tina Turner, Humble Pie, Mud, Rod Stewart, James Hollis, Waylon Jennings, Ray Charles, Michael Bolton, the Neville Brothers, Jon Bon Jovi, Copperhead, Christian Kane, the Rolling Stones, the Nylons, Ringo Starr, Bruce Springsteen, BoDeans, Judson Spence, Billy Joe Royal, Steve Young and John Kay. Folk singer Tom Rush recorded the song on his album What I Know, released in 2009. The Rolling Stones recorded a cover of the song during the sessions for their It's Only Rock 'n Roll LP in 1974, but it did not appear on the finished album. The Heptones recorded a reggae version which is included on many compilation CDs. Street Corner Symphony also sang a version of this song as their swan song on the season 2 finale of the NBC series The Sing-Off; that version is arranged by Deke Sharon. Bon Jovi usually played the song live in 1987: a version was recorded as part of a Westwood One radio live series concert. Dolly Parton and Anne Murray performed the song together in 1976 on Parton's variety show Dolly!, though they sang the lyrics of the Felts below- referenced version ("I want to get lost in your country song"). Garth Brooks for the 2013 Blue-Eyed Soul album in the Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences compilation. Temuera Morrison recorded and included Drift Away in his 2014 debut album "Tem". Country music star, Lynn Anderson (who was the partner of Mentor Williams who wrote the song), recorded a gospel version that was rewritten by Williams for her 2015 gospel album, Drift Away, which would become her final album. List of Billboard Adult Contemporary number ones of 2003 and 2004 (U.S.) "I Got Lost in His Arms" is a song from the 1946 musical Annie Get Your Gun, written by Irving Berlin. It was performed by Ethel Merman in the original production of the musical. In the torch song, Annie Oakley sings about the sensation of falling in love with Frank Butler. Judy Holliday - Trouble Is a Man (2001)., Stacey Kent - The Lyric (with Jim Tomlinson) (2005)., Julie London - Julie Is Her Name, Volume II (1958)., Liza Minnelli - on her 1996 album Gently., Suzi Quatro - starred as Annie Oakley in the 1986 West End (London) production of Annie Get Your Gun. She sings the song in the album Annie Get Your Gun - 1986 London Cast (1986), the associated single "I Got Lost in His Arms" (1986), plus the compilation albums The Divas Collection (2003) and Songs from the Greatest Musicals (2008). "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" is a song written by Phil Spector, Barry Mann, and Cynthia Weil. It was first recorded by the Righteous Brothers in 1964, produced by Phil Spector. Their recording is considered by some music critics to be the ultimate expression and illustration of Spector's "Wall of Sound" recording technique. It has also been described by various music writers as "one of the best records ever made" and "the ultimate pop record". The original Righteous Brothers version was a critical and commercial success on its release, becoming a number-one hit single in both the United States and the United Kingdom in February 1965. It was the fifth best selling song of 1965 in the US. It also entered the Top 10 in the UK chart on an unprecedented three separate occasions. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" has been covered successfully by numerous artists. In 1965, Cilla Black's recording reached number two in the UK Singles Chart. Dionne Warwick took her version to number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1969. A 1971 duet version by singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway peaked at number 30 on the Billboard R&B; singles chart. Long John Baldry charted at number two in Australia with his 1979 remake and a 1980 version by Hall and Oates reached number 12 on the US Hot 100. In December 1999, the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) ranked the song as the most-played song on American radio and television in the 20th century, having accumulated more than 8 million airplays by 1999, and nearly 15 million by 2011. It held the distinction as the most-played song for 22 years until 2019. The song was chosen as one of the Songs of the Century by RIAA and ranked No. 34 on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, the single was inducted into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1964, music producer Phil Spector conducted the band at a show in San Francisco where the Righteous Brothers was also appearing, and he was impressed enough with the duo to want them to record for his own label Philles Records. All the songs previously produced by Spector for Philles Records featured black singers, and the Righteous Brothers would become his first white vocal group. However they had a black vocal style, termed blue-eyed soul, that suited Spector. Spector commissioned Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil to write a song for the group, bringing them over from New York to Los Angeles to stay at the Chateau Marmont so they could write the song. Taking a cue from "Baby I Need Your Loving" by The Four Tops that was then rising in the charts, Mann and Weil decided to write a ballad. Mann wrote the melody first, and came up with the opening line "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips", influenced by a line from the song "I Love How You Love Me" that was co-written by Mann - "I love how your eyes close whenever you kiss me". Mann and Weil wrote the first two verses quickly, including the chorus line "you've lost that lovin' feelin'". When Spector joined in with the writing, he added "gone, gone, gone, whoa, whoa, whoa" to the end of the chorus, which Weil disliked. The line "you've lost that lovin' feelin'" was originally only intended to be a dummy line that would be replaced later, but Spector liked it and decided to keep it. The form of the song is of verse-chorus-verse-chorus- bridge-chorus or ABABCB form. Mann and Weil had problems writing the bridge and the ending, and asked Spector for help. Spector experimented on the piano with a "Hang On Sloopy" riff that they would then use to build on for the bridge. Weil recalled that, "after Phil, Barry and I finished [writing it], we took it over to the Righteous Brothers. Bill Medley, who has the low voice, seemed to like the song." However, Medley initially felt that the song did not suit their more up-tempo rhythm and blues style, and Mann and Spector had sung the song in a higher key: "And we just thought, 'Wow, what a good song for The Everly Brothers.' But it didn't seem right for us." The song, which has a very big range, was originally written in the higher key of F. But to accommodate Medley's baritone voice the key was gradually lowered, eventually down to C, which, together with slowing the song down, changed the "whole vibe of the song" according to Medley. Bobby Hatfield reportedly expressed his annoyance to Spector when he learned that Bill Medley would start the first verse alone and that he had to wait until the chorus before joining Medley's vocals. Prior to this they would have been given equal prominence in a song. When Hatfield asked Spector just what he was supposed to do during Medley's solo, Spector replied: "You can go directly to the bank!" The song was recorded at Studio A of Gold Star Studios in Los Angeles. When Hatfield and Medley went to record the vocals a few weeks after the song was written, all the instrumental tracks had already been recorded and overdubbed. They would repeat recording the vocal many times - Medley would sing the opening verse over and over again until Spector was satisfied, then the process would be repeated with the next verse. The recording took over 39 takes, and around eight hours over a period of two days. The song would become one of the foremost examples of Spector's "Wall of Sound" technique. It features the studio musicians the Wrecking Crew, included for this recording were Don Randi on piano, Tommy Tedesco on guitar, Carol Kaye and Ray Pohlman on bass, and Steve Douglas on sax. They were also joined by Barney Kessel on guitar and Earl Palmer on drums for this session. Jack Nitzsche usually arranged the songs for Spector, but he was absent, and the arrangement for this song was done by Gene Page. As with his other songs, Spector started by cutting the instrumental track first, building up layers of sound to create the Wall of Sound effect. The recording was done mono so Spector could fix the sound exactly as he wanted it. According to sound engineer Larry Levine, they started recording four acoustic guitars, when that was ready, they added the pianos, of which there were three, followed by three basses, the horns (two trumpets, two trombones, and three saxophones), then finally the drums. The vocals by Hatfield and Medley were then recorded and the strings overdubbed. The background singers were mainly the vocal group The Blossoms, also joining in the song's crescendo was a young Cher. Reverb was applied in the recording, and more was added on the lead vocals during the mix. According to music writer Robert Palmer, the effect of the technique used was to create a sound that was "deliberately blurry, atmospheric, and of course huge; Wagnerian rock 'n' roll with all the trimmings." The song started slowly in the recording, with Medley singing in a basso profondo voice. Right before the second verse started Spector also wanted the tempo to stay the same but the beat would also be just a little behind where they are supposed to land to give the impression of the song slowing down. The recorded song was three ticks slower and a tone and a half lower than what Mann and Weil had written. When Mann heard the finished record over the phone, he thought that it had been mistakenly played at 33 1/3 instead of 45 rpm and told Spector, "Phil, you have it on the wrong speed!" Even with his interest in the song, Medley had his doubts because of its length that was then unusually long for a pop song. In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, he recalled, "We had no idea if it would be a hit. It was too slow, too long, and right in the middle of The Beatles and the British Invasion." The song ran for nearly four minutes when released. This was too long by contemporary AM radio standards, as radio stations at that time rarely played songs longer than three minutes because longer songs meant that fewer ads could be placed between song sets. Spector however refused to cut it shorter. Following a suggestion by Larry Levine, Spector had "3:05" printed on the label, instead of the track's actual running time of 3:45. He also added a false ending which made the recording more dramatic, and would also trick radio deejays into thinking it was a shorter song. The production of the single cost Spector around $35,000, then a considerable amount. Spector himself was deeply concerned about the reception to a song that was unusual for its time, worrying that his vision would not be understood. He canvassed a few opinions - his publisher Don Kirshner suggested that the song should be re-titled "Bring Back That Lovin' Feelin'", while New York DJ Murray the K thought that bass line in the middle section similar to that of a slowed-down "La Bamba" should be the start of the song. Spector took these as criticisms and later said: "I didn't sleep for a week when that record came out. I was so sick, I got a spastic colon; I had an ulcer." Andrew Oldham, who was then the manager of The Rolling Stones and a fan and friend of Spector, chanced upon Spector listening to a test pressing of the song that had just been delivered to Spector. Oldham later wrote, "The room was filled with this amazing sound, I had no idea what it was, but it was the most incredible thing I'd ever heard." He added, "I'd never heard a recorded track so emotionally giving or empowering." Later, when Cilla Black recorded a rival version of the same song and it was racing up the charts ahead of The Righteous Brothers' version in Britain, Oldham was appalled, and took it upon himself to run a full-page ad in Melody Maker: In other ads, Oldham also coined a new term to describe the song, "Phil Spector's Wall of Sound", which Spector would later register as a trademark. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys heard the song and rang Mann and Weil in January 1965: "Your song is the greatest record ever. I was ready to quit the music business, but this has inspired me to write again." Assessments by music writers were also highly positive. Nick Logan and Bob Woffinden thought that the song might be "the ultimate pop record ... here [Spector's] genius for production truly bloomed to create a single of epic proportion ..." Richard Williams, who wrote the 1972 biography of Phil Spector Out of His Head, considered the song to be one of the best records ever made, while Charlie Gillett in his 1970 book The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll wrote that "the ebb and flow of passion the record achieved had no direct equivalent." Mick Brown, author of a biography of Spector, Tearing Down the Wall of Sound, considered the song to be "Spector's defining moment" and his "most Wagnerian production yet - a funeral march to departed love". The opening line was said to be "one of the most familiar opening passages in the history of pop", and Vanity Fair described the song as "the most erotic duet between men on record". However, when it was first presented on the BBC television panel show Juke Box Jury in January 1965 upon its release in the UK, it was voted a miss by all four panelists, with one questioning if it was played at the right speed. There were initially reservations about the song from the radio industry; a common complaint was that it was too long, and others also questioned the speed of the song, and thought that the singer "keeps yelling". Some stations refused to play the song after checking the song's length, or after it had caused them to miss the news. The radio industry trade publication Gavin Report offered the opinion that "blue-eyed soul has gone too far". In Britain, Sam Costa, a DJ on the BBC Light Programme, said that The Righteous Brothers' record was a dirge, adding, "I wouldn't even play it in my toilet." However, despite the initial reservations, the song would become a highly popular song on radio. Spector himself would later rate the song as the pinnacle of his achievement at Philles Records. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin made its debut in the charts on December 12, 1964. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 on February 6, 1965 and remained at No. 1 for a further week (February 13). It became the longest song to top the chart to that time. In addition, the song crossed over to the R&B; charts, peaking at number two. Billboard ranked the record as the number 5 song of 1965. The song was released in January 1965 in the UK. It debuted at No. 35 on the UK Top 40 chart, for the chart week of January 20, 1965. It reached No. 1 in its fourth week (February 10) and remained there the following week. It would become the only single to ever enter the UK Top 10 three times, being re-released in 1969 (No. 10), and again in 1990 (No. 3). The 1990 re-release was issued as a double A-sided single with "Ebb Tide" and was a follow-up to the re-release of "Unchained Melody", which had hit No. 1 after being featured in the film Ghost. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" also reached No. 42 after a 1977 re-release and in 1988 reached No. 87. In Ireland, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" charted twice, first in January 1965, when it peaked at No. 2, and again in December 1990, following its reissue as a double A-sided single with "Ebb Tide", when it peaked at No. 2 again. The original Righteous Brothers recording remains the only version of the song to chart in Ireland. In the Netherlands "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin" reached No. 8 in March 1965 with three versions ranked together as one entry: those of the Righteous Brothers, Cilla Black and a local cover by Trea Dobbs (). In 1965, the Righteous Brothers recording of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was nominated in the Best Rock and Roll Recording category at the 7th Annual Grammy Awards. It was also awarded Best Pop Single To Date 1965 in the Billboard Disc Jockey Poll. In 2001, this recording was ranked at No. 9 in the list of Songs of the Century released by the Recording Industry Association of America and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2004, the same recording was ranked at No. 34 by Rolling Stone magazine in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 2005, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" was awarded the Songwriters Hall of Fame's Towering Song Award presented to "the creators of an individual song that has influenced the culture in a unique way over many years". In 2015, the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress, which each year selects from 130 years of sound recordings for special recognition and preservation, chose the Righteous Brothers recording of the song as one of the 25 recordings that has "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation's audio legacy". English singer Cilla Black first became a recording star by covering Dionne Warwick's newly released American hit "Anyone Who Had a Heart" for the UK market, which gave her a number one song in both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Singles Chart in February 1964, out-performing Dionne Warwick's original version, which only peaked at number 42 in the UK. Black's producer George Martin repeated this strategy with the Righteous Brothers "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" that had just been released in the US. Black's version is shorter with an abbreviated bridge, which she explained by saying: "I don't want people to get bored". The abridgement also removed the necessity of Black's attempting to match the Righteous Brothers' climactic vocal trade-off. Both Cilla Black's and the Righteous Brothers versions of the song debuted on the UK chart in the same week in January 1965, with Black debuting higher at number 28. According to Tony Hall of Decca Records who was responsible for promoting the Righteous Brothers record in the UK, Black's version was preferred by BBC radio where one of its DJs disparaged the Righteous Brothers' version as a "dirge" and refused to play it. Hall therefore requested that Spector send the Righteous Brothers over to Britain to promote the song so it might have a chance on the chart. The following week Black remained in ascendancy at number 12 with the Righteous Brothers at number 20. The Righteous Brothers came over to Britain, spent a week promoting the song and performed for television shows in Manchester and Birmingham. At the same time, Andrew Oldham placed a full-page ad on Melody Maker promoting the Righteous Brothers version at his own initiative and expense, and urged the readers to watch the Righteous Brothers appearance on the ITV television show Ready Steady Go!. In its third week on the February 3, 1965 chart, Black jumped to number two, while the Righteous Brothers made an even larger jump to No. 3. Hall recalled meeting at a party Brian Epstein, the manager of Black, who said that Black's version would be number one and told Hall, "You haven't a hope in hell." However, in its fourth week, Black's version began its descent, dropping to number five, while the Righteous Brothers climbed to number one. Cilla Black then reportedly cabled her congratulations to the Righteous Brothers on their number one. Black's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin would prove to be her highest charting UK single apart from her two No. 1's: "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "You're My World". While Black's version was released in Ireland, it did not make the official Irish Singles Chart as published by RTÉ, but it reached number five on the unofficial Evening Herald charts. Black remade "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" for her 1985 Surprisingly Cilla album. In 1969, American singer Dionne Warwick recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" for her studio album Soulful. Her version was the only single released from the album and it was aimed to showcase Warwick as more of an R&B; singer than was evidenced by her work with Burt Bacharach. Co- produced by Warwick and Chips Moman and recorded at American Sound Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, Soulful was one of Warwick's most successful albums peaking at number 11 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The single "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" reached number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and charted at number 13 on the Billboard R&B; singles chart. In Australia the Go- Set Top 40 chart ranked Warwick's version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with a number 34 peak in January 1970. In Warwick's version of the song, she spells the last word of the title out fully as "feeling" rather than the usual "feelin. In 1971, American singers Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Their version of the song was produced by Joel Dorn and was included on their 1972 self-titled duet album Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, issued on the Atlantic Records label. Their version of the song was released as the second single from the album after the Top 30 version of "You've Got a Friend". The Flack/Hathaway take on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin reached number 30 on the Billboard R&B; singles chart and charted at number 71 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart. It also reached number 57 in the Cash Box Top 100 Singles and peaked at number 53 on the Record World 100 Pop Chart. In 1979, English blues singer Long John Baldry recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling as a duet with Kathi McDonald for his album Baldry's Out, the Jimmy Horowitz-produced disc which was Baldry's first recording in his newly adopted homeland of Canada. In this version, Kathi McDonald sang the latter half of the first verse using the part from the second verse ("It makes me just feel like crying ..."), inverting the usual order. Released as a single, Baldry's "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin charted at number 45 on the Canadian RPM singles chart, and spilled over into the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number 89. The single also reached number two in Australia in 1980. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers told Baldry that he liked their remake of the song better than his own. Baldry had first recorded the song – as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" – for his 1966 album Looking at Long John. The Baldry/McDonald duet version of "You've Lost That Loving Feeling" also reached number 37 in New Zealand. In 1980, the American musical duo Hall & Oates recorded a cover version of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin for their ninth studio album Voices. Their version of the song was produced by the duo and included a sparse arrangement contrasting with the lavish Righteous Brothers original version. It was the second non-original song Hall & Oates had ever recorded. According to Oates, this was the very last song recorded for the album, as it had been deemed complete with the other ten tracks. However, Hall and Oates felt that there was "something missing" from the album. Then they came across the Righteous Brothers' version of the song on a jukebox machine while going out to get food and they decided to cover it. They went back to the studio, cut it in a period of four hours, and placed on the album. The track was issued on RCA Records as the album's second single after the original "How Does It Feel to Be Back" peaked at number 30 on the Billboard Hot 100. The November peak of number 12 on the Hot 100 chart made "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin the first Hall & Oates single to ascend higher than number 18 since the number one hit "Rich Girl" in the spring of 1977. "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin also reached number 15 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, on the Radio & Records Airplay chart the song debuted at number 30 on the September 26, 1980 issue, after seven weeks it reached and peaked at number four staying there for one week, the song stayed on the top 10 of the chart for six weeks and remained on it for thirteen. It also reached number 55 in the UK Singles Chart. 1965 – Joan Baez with Phil Spector on piano, at The Big T.N.T. Show, 1968 – Nancy Sinatra with Lee Hazlewood on the album "Nancy & Lee., 1970 – Elvis Presley on the album That's the Way It Is, 1975 – "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin charted C&W; at No. 41 for Barbara Fairchild in 1975., 1986 – A remake of "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin by Grant & Forsyth (formerly of Guys 'n' Dolls) reached No. 48 in the Netherlands., 1988 – Carroll Baker took the song to No. 7 on the Country Singles chart in Canada., 1996 – reached No. 31 on the Belgian charts (Flemish region) with his 1996 recording "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling"., 2002 – The song charted at No. 57 in Netherlands in 2002 for André Hazes & Johnny Logan. The song is highly popular on the radio; according to the performing-rights organization Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), it became the most-played song of all time on American radio in 1997 with over 7 million airplays (all versions), overtaking the Beatles' "Yesterday". At the end of 1999, the song was ranked by the BMI as the most-played song of the 20th century, having been broadcast more than 8 million times on American radio and television, and it remains the most-played song, having accumulated almost 15 million airplays in the US by 2011. The song also received 11 BMI Pop Awards by 1997, the most for any song, and has received 14 in total so far. In 2019, "Every Breath You Take" by The Police displaced it as the most played song on US radio. The popularity of the song also means that it is one of the highest grossing songs for its copyright holders. It was estimated by the BBC programme The Richest Songs in the World in 2012 to be the third biggest earner of royalties of all songs, behind "White Christmas" and "Happy Birthday to You". The song has been adopted as an anthem by fans of Nottingham Forest FC and is generally sung when Nottingham Forest have scored a goal or won a match by several goals. One reason for the song's resurgence during the mid-1980s was the song's inclusion in the iconic '80s film Top Gun. After Maverick (assisted by Goose) serenades his love interest with the tune, she returns the favor by selecting it on the jukebox at his old hangout to catch his attention and reunite. As the end credits begin to roll, the main character, Maverick, literally flies off into the sunset as the Righteous Brothers harmonic chorus continues in the background. The song also made a significant appearance in the TV sitcom Cheers. It was said to be the favorite song of main character Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) and was included in multiple episodes throughout the series.

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An outhouse is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure. Outhouses were in use in cities of developed countries (e.g. Australia) well into the second half of the twentieth century. They are still common in rural areas and also in cities of developing countries. Outhouses that are covering pit latrines in densely populated areas can cause groundwater pollution. In some localities and varieties of English, particularly outside North America, the term "outhouse" refers not to a toilet, but to outbuildings in a general sense: sheds, barns, workshops, etc. Outhouses vary in design and construction. They are by definition outside the dwelling, and are not connected to plumbing, sewer, or septic system. The World Health Organization recommends they be built a reasonable distance from the house balancing issues of easy access versus that of smell. The superstructure exists to shelter the user, and also to protect the toilet itself. The primary purpose of the building is for privacy and human comfort, and the walls and roof provide a visual screen and some protection from the elements. The outhouse also has the secondary role of protecting the toilet hole from sudden influxes of rainwater, which would flood the hole and flush untreated wastes into the underlying soils before they can decompose. Outhouses are commonly humble and utilitarian, made of lumber or plywood. This is especially so they can easily be moved when the earthen pit fills up. Depending on the size of the pit and the amount of use, this can be fairly frequent, sometimes yearly. As pundit "Jackpine" Bob Cary wrote: "Anyone can build an outhouse, but not everyone can build a good outhouse." Floor plans typically are rectangular or square, but hexagonal outhouses have been built. The arrangements inside the outhouse vary by culture. In Western societies, many, though not all, have at least one seat with a hole in it, above a small pit. Others, often in more rural, older areas in European countries, simply have a hole with two indents on either side for the user's feet. In Eastern societies, there is a hole in the floor, over which the user crouches. A roll of toilet paper is usually available. Old corn cobs, leaves, or other types of paper may instead be used. The decoration on the outhouse door has no standard. The well-known crescent moon on American outhouses was popularized by cartoonists and had a questionable basis in fact. There are authors who claim the practice began during the colonial period as an early "mens"/"ladies" designation for an illiterate populace (the sun and moon being popular symbols for the sexes during those times). Others dismiss the claim as an urban legend. What is certain is that the purpose of the hole is for venting and light and there were a wide variety of shapes and placements employed. The shelter may cover very different sorts of toilets. An outhouse often provides the shelter for a pit latrine, which collects human feces in a hole in the ground. When properly built and maintained they can decrease the spread of disease by reducing the amount of human feces in the environment from open defecation. When the pit fills to the top, it should be either emptied or a new pit constructed and the shelter moved or re-built at the new location. The management of the fecal sludge removed from the pit is complicated. There are both environment and health risks if not done properly. As of 2013 pit latrines are used by an estimated 1.77 billion people. This is mostly in the developing world as well as in rural and wilderness areas. Another system is the bucket toilet, consisting of a seat and a portable receptacle (bucket or pail). These may be emptied by their owners into composting piles in the garden (a low-tech composting toilet), or collected by contractors for larger-scale disposal. Historically, this was known as the pail closet; the municipality employed workers, often known as "nightmen" (from night soil), to empty and replace the buckets. This system was associated in particular with the English town of Rochdale, to the extent that it was described as the "Rochdale System" of sanitation. 20th century books report that similar systems were in operation in parts of France and elsewhere in continental Europe. The system of municipal collection was widespread in Australia; "dunny cans" persisted well into the second half of the twentieth century, see below. In Scandinavia and some other countries, outhouses are built over removable containers that enable easy removal of the waste and enable much more rapid composting in separate piles. A similar system operates in India, where hundreds of thousands of workers engage in manual scavenging, i.e. emptying pit latrines and bucket toilets without any personal protective equipment. A variety of systems are used in some national parks and popular wilderness areas, to cope with the increased volume of people engaged in activities such as mountaineering and kayaking. The growing popularity of paddling, hiking, and climbing has created special waste disposal issues throughout the world. It is a dominant topic for outdoor organizations and their members. For example, in some places the human waste is collected in drums which need to be helicoptered in and out at considerable expense. Alternatively, some parks mandate a "pack it in, pack it out" rule. Many reports document the use of containers for the removal of excrement, which must be packed in and packed out on Mount Everest. Also known as "expedition barrels" or "bog barrels", the cans are weighed to make sure that groups do not dump them along the way. "Toilet tents" are erected. There has been an increasing awareness that the mountain needs to be kept clean, for the health of the climbers at least. Worm hold privies, another variant of the composting toilet, are being used by Vermont's Green Mountain Club. These simple outhouses are stocked with red worms (a staple used by home composters). Despite their environmental benefits, composting toilets are likewise subject to regulations. The "Clivus Multrum" is another type of composting toilet which can be inside of an outhouse. There are other types of toilet that may be covered by an outhouse superstructure, or a toilet tent (e.g. in humanitarian relief operations), or even be installed inside a house that is beyond the reach of sewers. The Swedish Pacto toilet uses a continuous roll of plastic to collect and dispose of waste. Incinerating toilets are installed in several thousand cabins in Norway. These toilets incinerate waste into ashes, using only propane and 12 volt electricity. Outhouse design, placement, and maintenance has long been recognized as being important to the public health. See posters created by the Works Progress Administration. Some types of flying insects such as the housefly are attracted to the odor of decaying material, and will use it for food for their offspring, laying eggs in the decaying material. Other insects such as mosquitoes seek out standing water that may be present in the pit for the breeding of their offspring. Both of these are undesirable pests to humans, but can be easily controlled without chemicals by enclosing the top of the pit with tight-fitting boards or concrete, using a sufficiently sealed toilet hole cover that is closed after every use, and by using fine-grid insect screen to cover the inlet and outlet vent holes. This prevents flying insect entry by all potential routes. It is common (at least in the United States) for outhouses to have a bucket or a bag of powdered lime with a scoop of some kind in it. Either before or after using the outhouse (usually after but sometimes both) a scoop or two of lime is sprinkled into the lid holes to cover the waste as to suppress the odor which also can help with the insect issues. This method of using powdered lime is also used (and for the same reasons) in common/mass graves. One of the purposes of outhouses is to avoid spreading parasites such as intestinal worms, notably hookworms, which might otherwise be spread via open defecation. On August 29, 2007, the highest outhouse (actually, not a building at all, but a pit toilet surrounded by a low rock wall) in the continental United States, which sat atop Mount Whitney at about above sea level, offering a magnificent panorama to the user, was removed. Two other outhouses, in the Inyo National Forest, were closed due to the expense and danger involved in transporting out large sewage drums via helicopter. The annual 19,000 or so hikers of the Mount Whitney Trail, who must pick up National Forest Service permits, are now given Wagbags (a double-sealed sanitation kit) and told how to use them. "Pack it in; pack it out" is the new watchword. Solar-powered toilets did not sufficiently compact the excrement, and the systems were judged failures at that location. Additionally, by relieving park rangers of latrine duty, they were better able to concentrate on primary ranger duties such as talking to hikers. The use of Wagbags and the removal of outhouses is part of a larger trend in US parks. The US National Park Service once built an outhouse that cost above $333,000., In 2007, Europe's two highest outhouses were helicoptered to the top of France's Mont Blanc at a height of . The containers from these outhouses are emptied by helicopter. The facilities will serve 30,000 skiers and hikers annually, thus helping to alleviate the deposit of urine and feces that spread down the mountain face with the spring thaw, and turned it into 'Mont Noir'. More technically, the 2002 book Le versant noir du mont Blanc ("The black hillside of Mont Blanc") exposes problems in conserving the site., Upon the Mount Elbrus—Russia's highest peak, the highest mountain in all of Europe and topographically dividing Europe from Asia—sits the world's "nastiest outhouse" at . It is in the Caucasus Mountains, near the frontier between Georgia and Russia. As one writer opined, "...it does not much feel like Europe when you're there. It feels more like Central Asia or the Middle East." The outhouse is surrounded by and covered in ice, perched off the end of a rock, and with a pipe pouring effluvia onto the mountain. It consistently receives low marks for sanitation and convenience, but is considered to be a unique experience., Australia's highest outhouse — located at Rawson's Pass in the Main Range in Kosciuszko National Park, which each year receives more than 100,000 walkers outside of winter and has a serious human waste management issue, was completed in 2008., A stone outhouse in Colca Canyon, Peru, has been claimed to be "the world's highest". Old outhouse pits are seen as excellent places for archeological and anthropological excavations, offering up a trove of common objects from the pasta veritable inadvertent time capsulewhich yields historical insight into the lives of the bygone occupants. This is also called privy digging. It is especially common to find old bottles, which seemingly were secretly stashed or trashed, so their content could be privately imbibed. Fossilised feces (coprolites) yield much information about diet and health. "Dunny" or "dunny can" are Australian words for a toilet, particularly an outhouse. For other uses of the word, see Dunny (disambiguation). In suburban areas not connected to the sewerage, outhouses were not always built over pits. Instead, these areas utilized a pail closet, where waste was collected into large cans positioned under the toilet seat, to be collected by contractors (or night soil collectors) hired by property owners or the local council. The used cans were replaced with empty, cleaned cans. Brisbane relied on "dunny carts" until the 1950s (one source says until the 1970s); because the population was so dispersed, it was difficult to install sewerage. Tar, creosote, and disinfectant kept the smell down. Academic George Seddon claimed that "the typical Australian back yard in the cities and country towns" had, throughout the first half of the twentieth century, "a dunny against the back fence, so that the pan could be collected from the dunny lane through a trap- door". The person who appeared weekly to empty the buckets beneath the seats was known as the "dunnyman", see gong farmer. The "dunny lanes" provided access to collectors. These access lanes can now be worth considerable sums see Ransom strip. The Great Australian Dunny Race has become an icon during the Weerama Festival at Werribee. The remains of a thousand year old Viking outhouse were discovered in 2017. This is the oldest known outhouse in the country, even though evidence cannot establish it to be "the first." This discovery was considered to be culturally significant. Outhouses are typically built on one level, but two-story models are to be found in unusual circumstances. One double-decker was built to serve a two- story building in Cedar Lake, Michigan. The outhouse was connected by walkways. It still stands (but not the building). The waste from "upstairs" is directed down a chute separate from the "downstairs" facility in these instances, so contrary to various jokes about two-story outhouses, the user of the lower level has nothing to fear if the upper level is in use at the same time. The Boston Exchange Coffee House (1809–1818) was equipped with a four- story outhouse with windows on each floor Some outhouses were built surprisingly ornately, considering the time and the place. For example, an opulent 19th century antebellum example (a three-holer) is at the plantation area at the state park in Stone Mountain, Georgia. The outhouses of Colonial Williamsburg varied widely, from simple expendable temporary wood structures to high-style brick. Thomas Jefferson designed and had built two brick octagons at his vacation home. Such outhouses are sometimes considered to be overbuilt, impractical and ostentatious, giving rise to the simile "built like a brick shithouse." That phrase's meaning and application is subject to some debate; but (depending upon the country) it has been applied to men, women, or inanimate objects. With regards to anal cleansing, old newspapers and mail order catalogs, such as those from Montgomery Ward or Sears Roebuck, were common before toilet paper was widely available. Paper was often kept in a can or other container to protect it from mice, etc. The catalogs served a dual purpose, also giving one something to read. Outdoor toilets are referred to by many terms throughout the English-speaking world. The term "outhouse" is used in North American English for the structure over a toilet, usually a pit latrine ("long drop"). However, in British English "outhouse" means any outbuilding, such as a shed or barn. In instances where there are other large uncovered excretory fluid collecting areas, such as large pots, vats, jugs, reservoirs, sewers or wells, they have been referred to as "outdoor urine stations." In Australia, an outdoor toilet is known as a "dunny". "Privy", an archaic variant of "private", is used in North America, Scotland, and northern England. "Bog" is common throughout Britain (used to coin the neologism "tree bog"). The name "little house" (as ) continues as a euphemism for any toilet in both the Welsh language and the Welsh English dialect. Other terms include "back house", "house of ease", and "house of office". The last was common in 17th-century England and appeared in Samuel Pepys's Diary on numerous occasions. A regional name for an outhouse in North America used especially in Virginia is "johnnyhouse" or "johnny house". In the Scouting Movement in North America, a widespread term for outhouse is "kybo". This appears to have originated from camps which used Kybo brand coffee cans to hold lye or lime which was sprinkled down the hole to reduce odor. "Keep Your Bowels Open" may be a backronym. Temporary encampments may use a tent or tarpaulin over a shallow pit; one name for this is a "hudo". It is not easy to determine whether a given term was restricted to an outdoor toilet, or whether the meaning had extended, over time and with the development of indoor plumbing, to any toilet. Tsi-Ku, also known as Tsi Ku Niang, is described as the Chinese goddess of the outhouse and divination. It is said that a woman could uncover the future by going to the outhouse to ask Tsi-Ku. See toilet god. Construction and maintenance of outhouses in the US is subject to state and local governmental restriction, regulation and prohibition. It is potentially both a public health issue, which has been addressed both by law and by education of the public as to good methods and practices (e.g., separation from drinking water sources). This also becomes a more prevalent issue as urban and suburban development encroaches on rural areas, and is an external manifestation of a deeper cultural conflict. See also urban sprawl, urban planning, regional planning, suburbanization, urbanization and counterurbanization. The double-decker outhouse has been used as an unflattering metaphor for the "Trickle-down theory" of politics, economics, command, management, labor relations, responsibility, etc. Depending on who is depicted on top and below, it is an easy and familiar cartoon., On November 10, 2003, a drawing of an outhouse was used by B.C. cartoonist Johnny Hart as a motif in a controversial and allegedly religiously-themed piece. The cartoonist denied the allegations and the convoluted analysis of the alleged iconography of the cartoon., Charles "Chic" Sale was a famous comedian in vaudeville and the movies. In 1929 he published a small book, The Specialist, which was a hugely popular "underground" success. Its entire premise centered on sales of outhouses, touting the advantages of one kind or another, and labeling them in "technical" terms such as "one-holers", "two-holers", etc. Over a million copies were sold. In 1931 his monologue "I'm a Specialist" was made into a hit record (Victor 22859) by popular recording artist Frank Crumit (music by Nels Bitterman). As memorialized in the "Outhouse Wall of Fame", the term "Chic Sale" became a rural slang synonym for privies, an appropriation of Mr. Sale's name that he personally considered unfortunate. (See Outhouse humor.), Folk singer Billy Edd Wheeler wrote and performed a song titled "The Little Brown Shack Out Back", a sentimental look at the outhouse., In Newfoundland, a well-known song entitled "Good Old Newfie Outhouse" sings the praises of using the outhouse when it is -25 degrees out, mentioning pleasures like pants being frozen in position at the knees. A version by singer Bobby Evans is available on an album called Silly Songs on iTunes. In Michigan, the Upper Peninsula's Trenary has the largest outhouse race, but Mackinaw City is home to an annual and largest "outhouse race south of the Mackinac Bridge". Other famous outhouse races are during the Yale Bologna Festival and in Dawson City, Yukon., As a college student, Richard Nixon achieved renown by providing a three-hole outhouse to be tossed onto the traditional campus bonfire. Harvest Home is a 1973 novel by Thomas Tryon, which he wrote following his critically acclaimed 1971 novel, The Other. Harvest Home was a New York Times bestseller. The book became an NBC mini-series in 1978 titled The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, which starred Bette Davis (as Mary Fortune) and David Ackroyd (as Nick). The mini-series was generally quite faithful to the plot of the book. Ned (Nick in the film) Constantine, his wife Beth, and their daughter Kate relocate from New York City to an isolated Connecticut village, Cornwall Coombe, where the villagers adhere to "the old ways", eschewing modern agricultural methods and having limited contact with the outside world. The villagers celebrate a number of festivals that revolve around the cultivation of corn. The most important festival is "Harvest Home", which takes place once every seven years. Ned befriends Robert Dodd, a former college professor who is now blind and housebound; like Ned, Robert was once an outsider who moved to Cornwall Coombe at the behest of his wife Maggie, who was born in the village. Ned also meets Justin Hooke, who serves as the current ceremonial "Harvest Lord"; Justin's wife Sophie, his chosen "Corn Maiden" in the approaching "Corn Play"; and Worthy Pettinger, a young man whose dream of going to agricultural college are frustrated by his parents, who hold to the old ways. The most important person in the village is the widow Mary Fortune, known as "Widow," the village herbalist and midwife. When Kate suffers a severe asthma attack, the Widow Fortune performs a tracheotomy to save her life, and later prescribes home remedies which cure Kate entirely. Beth and Kate grow to adore the Widow, but Ned is suspicious of her herbal medicines and finds her influence in the town troubling. Meanwhile, Worthy is chosen as the next "Harvest Lord" who will replace Justin at the end of his seven years of service. Worthy does not wish to become the Harvest Lord, confusing Ned, who understood the title to be an honor. At church, Worthy shouts out a curse upon the corn before fleeing. The Widow announces that Worthy is henceforth "bane" and will be shunned from the village if he ever returns. Ned, however, secretly provides Worthy with money to escape the village, and Worthy promises to write to him. Ned begins to understand that the villagers, led by their women, practice pagan fertility rites to ensure their harvests. He became suspicious of the upcoming Harvest Home, but the most anyone will tell him is that it is "what no man may see nor woman tell." Meanwhile, unknown to Ned, Worthy's letter to Ned is intercepted and used to send a posse to retrieve him. Ned is horrified to see Worthy's body burned in a massive bonfire on Kindling Night. On the day of Harvest Home, Justin's wife Sophie commits suicide. She is denied burial in consecrated ground on the orders of the Widow Fortune. Ned denounces her for this cruelty, and the Widow declares Ned an outcast and has him imprisoned in the village jail to keep him from interfering with Harvest Home. All the women then depart to choose another Corn Maiden. Ned escapes and returns home to find his car missing and his phone dead. Ned goes to Robert for help, only to be told that on the night of Harvest Home, all the phones are disabled and all the cars confiscated until morning, while all the men are confined to their homes. Robert reveals that he himself was blinded for attempting to discover the secret of Harvest Home and begs Ned not to go out again. Fearing for his wife and daughter, Ned ignores Robert and returns to the village. Ned arrives in time to see the heavily- veiled new Corn Maiden, Justin, and the village women depart for Harvest Home. Ned races ahead of them. The Corn Maiden removes her veil, revealing herself to be Beth. When Ned cries out in horror, the women capture him and are on the verge of killing him before they are stopped by Widow Fortune. The Widow explains that Ned's family was allowed to move to Cornwall Coombe because they needed new blood. She then forces him to watch as Beth has sex with Justin, symbolically uniting the Harvest Lord and the Corn Maiden to ensure a good harvest. At the moment of Justin's climax, Tamar Penrose cuts his throat with a sickle. The women then sprinkle his blood through the fields. Ned tries to escape but the women surround him, blind him, and cut out his tongue. Months later, the blind, mute Ned learns that Beth is pregnant and that Kate is to be the next Corn Maiden. In a 1973 book review by Kirkus Reviews called the book "not only tethered to considerable earlier Americana but sometimes garroted by it—there's too much corn to husk before the last loaded third of the book." Writing in 1976 for The New York Times, Stephen King wrote, "It isn’t a great book, not a great horror novel, not even a great suspense novel ... Never mind the best seller list. Mind this, instead: Sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, it is a true book; it is an honest book in the sense that it says exactly what Tryon wanted to say. And if what he wanted to say wasn’t exactly Miltonian, it does have this going for it: in forty years, when most of us are underground, there will still be a routine rebinding once a year for the library copies of Harvest Home". The White Goddess, Eleusinian Mysteries The Golden Bough A crescent shape (, British English also ) is a symbol or emblem used to represent the lunar phase in the first quarter (the "sickle moon"), or by extension a symbol representing the Moon itself. It is used as the astrological symbol for the Moon, and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver. It was also the emblem of Diana/Artemis, and hence represented virginity. In Roman Catholic Marian veneration, it is associated with the Virgin Mary. From its use as roof finial in Ottoman era mosques, it has also become associated with Islam, and the crescent was introduced as chaplain badge for Muslim chaplains in the US military in 1993. The crescent symbol is primarily used to represent the Moon, not necessarily in a particular lunar phase. When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, "crescent" or "increscent" refers to the waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called "decrescent". The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology, and by extension of Silver (as the corresponding metal) in alchemy. The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes. In the 2nd-century Bianchini's planisphere, the personification of the Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon (as symbolised by a crescent) representing the female principle (as juxtaposed with the Sun representing the male principle), and (Artemis-Diana being a virgin goddess) especially virginity and female chastity. In Roman Catholic tradition, the crescent entered Marian iconography, by the association of Mary with the Woman of the Apocalypse (described with "the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" in Revelation) The most well known representation of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse is the Virgin of Guadalupe. The crescent shape is a type of lune, the latter consisting of a circular disk with a portion of another disk removed from it, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs which intersect at two points. In a crescent, the enclosed shape does not include the center of the original disk. The tapered regions towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the "horns" of the crescent. The classical crescent shape has its horns pointing upward (and is often worn as horns when worn as a crown or diadem, e.g. in depictions of the lunar goddess, or in the headdress of Persian kings, etc. The word crescent is derived etymologically from the present participle of the Latin verb "to grow", technically denoting the waxing moon (). As seen from the northern hemisphere, the waxing Moon tends to appear with its horns pointing towards the left, and conversely the waning Moon with its horns pointing towards the right; the English word crescent may however refer to the shape regardless of its orientation, except for the technical language of blazoning used in heraldry, where the word "increscent" refers to a crescent shape with its horns to the left, and "decrescent" refers to one with its horns to the right, while the word "crescent" on its own denotes a crescent shape with horns pointing upward. The shape of the lit side of a spherical body (most notably the Moon) that appears to be less than half illuminated by the Sun as seen by the viewer appears in a different shape from what is generally termed a crescent in planar geometry: Assuming the terminator lies on a great circle, the crescent Moon will actually appear as the figure bounded by a half-ellipse and a half-circle, with the major axis of the ellipse coinciding with a diameter of the semicircle. Unicode encodes a crescent (increscent) at U+263D (☽) and a decrescent at U+263E (☾). The Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block provides variants with faces: and . The crescent shape is used to represent the Moon, and the Moon deity Nanna/Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC. The crescent was well used in the iconography of the ancient Near East and was used transplanted by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage in modern Tunisia. The crescent and star also appears on pre-Islamic coins of South Arabia. The combination of star and crescent also arises in the ancient Near East, representing the Moon and Ishtar (the planet Venus), often combined into a triad with the solar disk. It was inherited both in Sassanian and Hellenistic iconography. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period, the crescent became the symbol of Artemis-Diana, the virgin hunter goddess associated with the Moon. Numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. The related symbol of the star and crescent was the emblem of the Mithradates dynasty in the Kingdom of Pontus and was also used as the emblem of Byzantium. The crescent remained in use as an emblem in Sassanid Persia, used as a Zoroastrian regal or astrological symbol. In the Crusades it came to be associated with the Orient (the Byzantine Empire, the Levant and Outremer in general) and was widely used (often alongside a star) in Crusader seals and coins. It was used as a heraldic charge by the later 13th century. Anna Notaras, daughter of the last megas doux of the Byzantine Empire Loukas Notaras, after the fall of Constantinople and her emigration to Italy, made a seal with her coat of arms which included "two lions holding above the crescent a cross or a sword". From its use in Sassanid Persia, the crescent also found its way into Islamic iconography after the Muslim conquest of Persia. Umar is said to have hung two crescent-shaped ornaments captured from the Sassanid capital Ctesiphon in the Kaaba. The crescent appears to have been adopted as an emblem on military flags by the Islamic armies from at least the 13th century, although the scholarly consensus holds that the widespread use of the crescent in Islam develops later, during the 14th to 15th century. The use of such flags is reflected in the 14th-century Libro del Conoscimiento and the Catalan Atlas. Examples include the flags attributed to Gabes, Tlemcen, Tunis and Buda, Nubia/Dongola (documented by Angelino Dulcert in 1339) and the Mamluks of Egypt. The Roman Catholic fashion of depicting Madonna standing or sitting on a crescent develops in the 15th century. The goddess Diana was associated with the Moon in classical mythology. In reference to this, feminine jewelry representing crescents, especially diadems, became popular in the early modern period. The tarot card of the "Popess" also wears a crescent on her head. Conrad Grünenberg in his Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1486) consistently depicts cities in the Holy Land with crescent finials. Flags with crescents appear to have been used on Ottoman vessels since at least the 16th century. Prints depicting the Battle of Lepanto (1571), including the print by Agostino Barberigo of Rome made just a few weeks after the battle, and the Martino Rota of Venice in the following year, show the Ottoman vessels displaying flags with one or several crescents in various orientations (as do the monumental paintings commissioned later based on these prints). Rota also shows numerous crescent finials, both on ships and on fortresses depicted in the background, as well as some finials with stars or suns radiant, and in some cases a sun radiant combined with a crescent in the star-and-crescent configuration. The official adoption of star and crescent as the Ottoman state symbol started during the reign of Mustafa III (1757–1774) and its use became well-established during Abdul Hamid I (1774–1789) and Selim III (1789–1807) periods. A (decree) from 1793 states that the ships in the Ottoman navy have that flag. Muhammad Ali, who became Pasha of Egypt in 1805, introduced the first national flag of Egypt, red with three white crescents, each accompanied by a white star. The association of the crescent with the Ottoman Empire appears to have resulted in a gradual association of the crescent shape with Islam in the 20th century. A Red Crescent appears to have been used as a replacement of the Red Cross as early as in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877/8, and it was officially adopted in 1929. While some Islamic organisations since the 1970s have embraced the crescent as their logo or emblem (e.g. Crescent International magazine, established 1980), Muslim publications tend to emphasize that the interpretation of the crescent, historically used on the banners of Muslim armies, as a "religious symbol" of Islam was an error made by the "Christians of Europe". The identification of the crescent as an "Islamic symbol" is mentioned by James Hastings as a "common error" to which "even approved writers on Oriental subjects" are prone as early as 1928. The crescent has been used as a heraldic charge since the 13th century. In heraldic terminology, the term "crescent" when used alone refers to a crescent with the horns pointing upward. A crescent with the horns pointing left (dexter) is called "a crescent increscent" (or simply "an increscent"), and when the horns are pointing right (sinister), it is called "a crescent decrescent" (or "a decrescent"). A crescent with horns pointing down is called "a crescent reversed". Two crescents with horns pointing away from each other are called "addorsed". Siebmachers Wappenbuch (1605) has 48 coats of arms with one or more crescents, for example: Azure, a crescent moon argent pierced by an arrow fesswise Or all between in chief three mullets of six points and in base two mullets of six points argent (von Hagen, p. 176);, Azure, an increscent and a decrescent addorsed Or (von Stoternheim, p. 146);, Per pale Or and sable, a crescent moon and in chief three mullets of six points counterchanged (von Bodenstein, p. 182). In English heraldry, the crescent is used as a difference denoting a second son. The crescent remains in use as astrological symbol and astronomical symbol representing the Moon. Use of a standalone crescent in flags is less common than the star and crescent combination. Crescents without stars are found in the South Carolina state flag (1861), the flag of the Maldives (1965), the flag of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (1981) and the flag of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (c. 2002). New Orleans is nicknamed "the Crescent City", and a crescent (or crescent and star) is used to represent the city in official emblems. Crescents, often with faces, are found on numerous modern municipal coats of arms in Europe, e.g. Germany: Bönnigheim, Dettighofen, Dogern, Jesenwang, Karstädt, Michelfeld (Angelbachtal), Waldbronn; Switzerland: Boswil, Dättlikon, Neerach (from the 16th-century Neuamt coat of arms); France: Katzenthal, Mortcerf; Malta: Qormi; Sweden: Trosa. The crescent printed on military ration boxes is the US Department of Defense symbol for subsistence items. The symbol is used on packaged foodstuffs but not on fresh produce or on items intended for resale. Since 1993, the crescent has also been in use as chaplain badge for Muslim chaplains in the US military. The term crescent may also refer to objects with a shape reminiscent of the crescent shape, such as houses forming an arc, a type of solitaire game, Crescent Nebula, glomerular crescent (crescent shaped scar of the glomeruli of the kidney)., the Fertile Crescent (the fertile area of land between Mesopotamia and Egypt roughly forming a crescent shape), and the croissant (the French form of the word) for the crescent-shaped pastry. Lune (mathematics), Star and crescent, Astronomical symbols, Astrological symbols, Lunar phase

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Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American former professional basketball player and the principal owner of the Charlotte Hornets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played 15 seasons in the NBA, winning six championships with the Chicago Bulls. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. Jordan played three seasons for coach Dean Smith with the North Carolina Tar Heels. As a freshman, he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982. Jordan joined the Bulls in 1984 as the third overall draft pick. He quickly emerged as a league star and entertained crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, demonstrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests, earned him the nicknames Air Jordan and His Airness. He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball before the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season, and started a new career in Minor League Baseball, he returned to the Bulls in March 1995 and led them to three additional championships in 1996, 1997, and 1998, as well as a then-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in January 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards. Jordan's individual accolades and accomplishments include six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, ten scoring titles (both all-time records), five MVP Awards, ten All-NBA First Team designations, nine All-Defensive First Team honors, fourteen NBA All-Star Game selections, three All-Star Game MVP Awards, three steals titles, and the 1988 NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award. He holds the NBA records for highest career regular season scoring average (30.12 points per game) and highest career playoff scoring average (33.45 points per game). In 1999, he was named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century by ESPN, and was second to Babe Ruth on the Associated Press' list of athletes of the century. Jordan is a two-time inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, having been enshrined in 2009 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as part of the group induction of the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team ("The Dream Team"). He became a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015. Jordan is also known for his product endorsements. He fueled the success of Nike's Air Jordan sneakers, which were introduced in 1984 and remain popular today. Jordan also starred as himself in the 1996 film Space Jam. In 2006, he became part-owner and head of basketball operations for the Charlotte Bobcats (now Hornets), and bought a controlling interest in 2010. In 2014, Jordan became the first billionaire player in NBA history. He is the third-richest African-American, behind Robert F. Smith and Oprah Winfrey. Jordan was born in New York City, New York, to Deloris (née Peoples), who worked in banking, and James R. Jordan Sr., an equipment supervisor. His family moved to Wilmington, North Carolina, when he was a toddler. Jordan attended Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, where he highlighted his athletic career by playing basketball, baseball, and football. He tried out for the varsity basketball team during his sophomore year, but at 5'11" (1.80 m), he was deemed too short to play at that level. His taller friend, Harvest Leroy Smith, was the only sophomore to make the team. Motivated to prove his worth, Jordan became the star of Laney's junior varsity team, and tallied several 40-point games. The following summer, he grew four inches (10 cm) and trained rigorously. Upon earning a spot on the varsity roster, Jordan averaged more than 25 points per game (ppg) over his final two seasons of high school play. As a senior, he was selected to play in the 1981 McDonald's All-American Game and scored 30 points, after averaging 27 points, 12 rebounds and 6 assists per game for the season. Jordan was recruited by numerous college basketball programs, including Duke, North Carolina, South Carolina, Syracuse, and Virginia. In 1981, Jordan accepted a basketball scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in cultural geography. As a freshman in coach Dean Smith's team-oriented system, he was named ACC Freshman of the Year after he averaged 13.4 ppg on 53.4% shooting (field goal percentage). He made the game-winning jump shot in the 1982 NCAA Championship game against Georgetown, which was led by future NBA rival Patrick Ewing. Jordan later described this shot as the major turning point in his basketball career. During his three seasons with the Tar Heels, he averaged 17.7 ppg on 54.0% shooting, and added 5.0 rpg. He was selected by consensus to the NCAA All-American First Team in both his sophomore (1983) and junior (1984) seasons. After winning the Naismith and the Wooden College Player of the Year awards in 1984, Jordan left North Carolina one year before his scheduled graduation to enter the 1984 NBA draft. The Chicago Bulls selected Jordan with the third overall pick, after Hakeem Olajuwon (Houston Rockets) and Sam Bowie (Portland Trail Blazers). One of the primary reasons why Jordan was not drafted sooner was because the first two teams were in need of a center. However, Trail Blazers general manager Stu Inman contended that it was not a matter of drafting a center, but more a matter of taking Sam Bowie over Jordan, in part because Portland already had Clyde Drexler, who was a guard with similar skills to Jordan. ESPN, citing Bowie's injury-laden college career, named the Blazers' choice of Bowie as the worst draft pick in North American professional sports history. Jordan returned to North Carolina to complete his degree in 1986. He graduated the same year with a Bachelor of Arts degree in geography. During his rookie season with the Bulls, Jordan averaged 28.2 ppg on 51.5% shooting, and helped make a team that had won 35% of games in the previous three seasons playoff contenders. He quickly became a fan favorite even in opposing arenas, Roy S. Johnson of The New York Times described him as "the phenomenal rookie of the Bulls" in November, and Jordan appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the heading "A Star Is Born" in December. The fans also voted in Jordan as an All-Star starter during his rookie season. Controversy arose before the All-Star game when word surfaced that several veteran players—led by Isiah Thomas—were upset by the amount of attention Jordan was receiving. This led to a so-called "freeze-out" on Jordan, where players refused to pass the ball to him throughout the game. The controversy left Jordan relatively unaffected when he returned to regular season play, and he would go on to be voted Rookie of the Year. The Bulls finished the season 38–44 and lost to the Milwaukee Bucks in four games in the first round of the playoffs. Jordan's second season was cut short when he broke his foot in the third game of the year, causing him to miss 64 games. The Bulls made the playoffs despite Jordan's injury and a 30–52 record, at the time the fifth worst record of any team to qualify for the playoffs in NBA history. Jordan recovered in time to participate in the postseason and performed well upon his return. Against a 1985–86 Boston Celtics team that is often considered one of the greatest in NBA history, Jordan set the still-unbroken record for points in a playoff game with 63 in Game 2. The Celtics, however, managed to sweep the series. Jordan had completely recovered in time for the 1986–87 season, and he had one of the most prolific scoring seasons in NBA history. He became the only player other than Wilt Chamberlain to score 3,000 points in a season, averaging a league high 37.1 points on 48.2% shooting. In addition, Jordan demonstrated his defensive prowess, as he became the first player in NBA history to record 200 steals and 100 blocked shots in a season. Despite Jordan's success, Magic Johnson won the league's Most Valuable Player Award. The Bulls reached 40 wins, and advanced to the playoffs for the third consecutive year. However, they were again swept by the Celtics. Jordan again led the league in scoring during the 1987–88 season, averaging 35.0 ppg on 53.5% shooting and won his first league MVP Award. He was also named the Defensive Player of the Year, as he had averaged 1.6 blocks and a league high 3.16 steals per game. The Bulls finished 50–32, and made it out of the first round of the playoffs for the first time in Jordan's career, as they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games. However, the Bulls then lost in five games to the more experienced Detroit Pistons, who were led by Isiah Thomas and a group of physical players known as the "". In the 1988–89 season, Jordan again led the league in scoring, averaging 32.5 ppg on 53.8% shooting from the field, along with 8 rpg and 8 apg. The Bulls finished with a 47–35 record, and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating the Cavaliers and New York Knicks along the way. The Cavaliers series included a career highlight for Jordan when he hit The Shot over Craig Ehlo at the buzzer in the fifth and final game of the series. However, the Pistons again defeated the Bulls, this time in six games, by utilizing their "Jordan Rules" method of guarding Jordan, which consisted of double and triple teaming him every time he touched the ball. The Bulls entered the 1989–90 season as a team on the rise, with their core group of Jordan and young improving players like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, and under the guidance of new coach Phil Jackson. On March 28, 1990, Jordan scored a career-high 69 points in a 117–113 road win over the Cavaliers. He averaged a league leading 33.6 ppg on 52.6% shooting, to go with 6.9 rpg and 6.3 apg in leading the Bulls to a 55–27 record. They again advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after beating the Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. However, despite pushing the series to seven games, the Bulls lost to the Pistons for the third consecutive season. In the 1990–91 season, Jordan won his second MVP award after averaging 31.5 ppg on 53.9% shooting, 6.0 rpg, and 5.5 apg for the regular season. The Bulls finished in first place in their division for the first time in 16 years and set a franchise record with 61 wins in the regular season. With Scottie Pippen developing into an All-Star, the Bulls had elevated their play. The Bulls defeated the New York Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers in the opening two rounds of the playoffs. They advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals where their rival, the Detroit Pistons, awaited them. However, this time the Bulls beat the Pistons in a four-game sweep. The Bulls advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history to face the Los Angeles Lakers, who had Magic Johnson and James Worthy, two formidable opponents. The Bulls won the series four games to one, and compiled a 15–2 playoff record along the way. Perhaps the best known moment of the series came in Game 2 when, attempting a dunk, Jordan avoided a potential Sam Perkins block by switching the ball from his right hand to his left in mid-air to lay the shot into the basket. In his first Finals appearance, Jordan posted per game averages of 31.2 points on 56% shooting from the field, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals, and 1.4 blocks. Jordan won his first NBA Finals MVP award, and he cried while holding the NBA Finals trophy. Jordan and the Bulls continued their dominance in the 1991–92 season, establishing a 67–15 record, topping their franchise record from 1990–91. Jordan won his second consecutive MVP award with averages of 30.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game on 52% shooting. After winning a physical 7-game series over the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs and finishing off the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals in 6 games, the Bulls met Clyde Drexler and the Portland Trail Blazers in the Finals. The media, hoping to recreate a Magic–Bird rivalry, highlighted the similarities between "Air" Jordan and Clyde "The Glide" during the pre-Finals hype. In the first game, Jordan scored a Finals-record 35 points in the first half, including a record-setting six three-point field goals. After the sixth three-pointer, he jogged down the court shrugging as he looked courtside. Marv Albert, who broadcast the game, later stated that it was as if Jordan was saying, "I can't believe I'm doing this." The Bulls went on to win Game 1, and defeat the Blazers in six games. Jordan was named Finals MVP for the second year in a row and finished the series averaging 35.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg, and 6.5 apg, while shooting 53% from the floor. In the 1992–93 season, despite a 32.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, and 5.5 apg campaign and a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting, Jordan's streak of consecutive MVP seasons ended as he lost the award to his friend Charles Barkley. Coincidentally, Jordan and the Bulls met Barkley and his Phoenix Suns in the 1993 NBA Finals. The Bulls won their third NBA championship on a game-winning shot by John Paxson and a last-second block by Horace Grant, but Jordan was once again Chicago's leader. He averaged a Finals-record 41.0 ppg during the six-game series, and became the first player in NBA history to win three straight Finals MVP awards. He scored more than 30 points in every game of the series, including 40 or more points in 4 consecutive games. With his third Finals triumph, Jordan capped off a seven- year run where he attained seven scoring titles and three championships, but there were signs that Jordan was tiring of his massive celebrity and all of the non-basketball hassles in his life. During the Bulls' playoff run in 1993, Jordan was seen gambling in Atlantic City, New Jersey, the night before a game against the New York Knicks. The previous year, he admitted that he had to cover $57,000 in gambling losses, and author Richard Esquinas wrote a book in 1993 claiming he had won $1.25 million from Jordan on the golf course. NBA Commissioner David Stern denied in 1995 and 2006 that Jordan's 1993 retirement was a secret suspension by the league for gambling, but the rumor spread widely. In 2005, Jordan discussed his gambling with Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes and admitted that he made reckless decisions. Jordan stated, "Yeah, I've gotten myself into situations where I would not walk away and I've pushed the envelope. Is that compulsive? Yeah, it depends on how you look at it. If you're willing to jeopardize your livelihood and your family, then yeah". When Bradley asked him if his gambling ever got to the level where it jeopardized his livelihood or family, Jordan replied, "No". In 2010 Ron Shelton, director of Jordan Rides the Bus, said that he began working on the documentary believing that the NBA had suspended him, but that research "convinced [him it] was nonsense". On October 6, 1993, Jordan announced his retirement, citing a loss of desire to play the game. Jordan later stated that the death of his father three months earlier also shaped his decision. Jordan's father was murdered on July 23, 1993, at a highway rest area in Lumberton, North Carolina, by two teenagers, Daniel Green and Larry Martin Demery, who carjacked his luxury Lexus bearing the license plate "UNC 0023". His body was dumped in a South Carolina swamp and was not discovered until August 3. The assailants were traced from calls that they made on James Jordan's cell phone. The two criminals were caught, convicted at trial, and sentenced to life in prison. Jordan was close to his father; as a child he had imitated his father's proclivity to stick out his tongue while absorbed in work. He later adopted it as his own signature, displaying it each time he drove to the basket. In 1996, he founded a Chicago area Boys & Girls Club and dedicated it to his father. In his 1998 autobiography For the Love of the Game, Jordan wrote that he had been preparing for retirement as early as the summer of 1992. The added exhaustion due to the Dream Team run in the 1992 Olympics solidified Jordan's feelings about the game and his ever-growing celebrity status. Jordan's announcement sent shock waves throughout the NBA and appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world. Jordan then further surprised the sports world by signing a Minor League Baseball contract with the Chicago White Sox on February 7, 1994. He reported to spring training in Sarasota, Florida, and was assigned to the team's minor league system on March 31, 1994. Jordan has stated this decision was made to pursue the dream of his late father, who had always envisioned his son as a Major League Baseball player. The White Sox were another team owned by Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf, who continued to honor Jordan's basketball contract during the years he played baseball. In 1994, Jordan played for the Birmingham Barons, a Double-A minor league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, batting .202 with three home runs, 51 runs batted in, 30 stolen bases, 114 strikeouts, 51 base on balls, and 11 errors. He also appeared for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the 1994 Arizona Fall League, batting .252 against the top prospects in baseball. On November 1, 1994, his number 23 was retired by the Bulls in a ceremony that included the erection of a permanent sculpture known as The Spirit outside the new United Center. In the 1993–94 season, the Bulls achieved a 55–27 record without Jordan in the lineup, and lost to the New York Knicks in the second round of the playoffs. The 1994–95 Bulls were a shell of the championship team of just two years earlier. Struggling at mid-season to ensure a spot in the playoffs, Chicago was 31–31 at one point in mid-March. The team received help, however, when Jordan decided to return to the Bulls. In March 1995, Jordan decided to quit baseball due to the ongoing Major League Baseball strike, as he wanted to avoid becoming a potential replacement player. On March 18, 1995, Jordan announced his return to the NBA through a two-word press release: "I'm back." The next day, Jordan took to the court with the Bulls to face the Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis, scoring 19 points. The game had the highest Nielsen rating of a regular season NBA game since 1975. Although he could have opted to wear his normal number in spite of the Bulls having retired it, Jordan instead wore number 45, as he had while playing baseball. Although he had not played an NBA game in a year and a half, Jordan played well upon his return, making a game-winning jump shot against Atlanta in his fourth game back. He then scored 55 points in the next game against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 1995. Boosted by Jordan's comeback, the Bulls went 13–4 to make the playoffs and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Orlando Magic. At the end of Game 1, Orlando's Nick Anderson stripped Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic; he would later comment that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan" and that "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to." Jordan responded by scoring 38 points in the next game, which Chicago won. Before the game, Jordan decided that he would immediately resume wearing his former number, 23. The Bulls were fined $25,000 for failing to report the impromptu number change to the NBA. Jordan was fined an additional $5,000 for opting to wear white sneakers when the rest of the Bulls wore black. He averaged 31 points per game in the series, but Orlando won the series in six games. Jordan was freshly motivated by the playoff defeat, and he trained aggressively for the 1995–96 season. The Bulls were strengthened by the addition of rebound specialist Dennis Rodman, and the team dominated the league, starting the season at 41–3. The Bulls eventually finished with the then-best regular season record in NBA history, 72–10; this record was later surpassed by the 2015–16 Golden State Warriors. Jordan led the league in scoring with 30.4 ppg and won the league's regular season and All-Star Game MVP awards. In the playoffs, the Bulls lost only three games in four series (Miami Heat 3–0, New York Knicks 4–1, Orlando Magic 4–0). They defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 4–2 in the NBA Finals to win their fourth championship. Jordan was named Finals MVP for a record fourth time, surpassing Magic Johnson's three Finals MVP awards. He also achieved only the second sweep of the MVP Awards in the All-Star Game, regular season and NBA Finals, Willis Reed having achieved the first, during the 1969–70 season. Because this was Jordan's first championship since his father's murder, and it was won on Father's Day, Jordan reacted very emotionally upon winning the title, including a memorable scene of him crying on the locker room floor with the game ball. In the 1996–97 season, the Bulls started out 69–11, but missed out on a second consecutive 70-win season by losing their final two games to finish 69–13. However, this year Jordan was beaten for the NBA MVP Award by Karl Malone. The Bulls again advanced to the Finals, where they faced Malone and the Utah Jazz. The series against the Jazz featured two of the more memorable clutch moments of Jordan's career. He won Game 1 for the Bulls with a buzzer-beating jump shot. In Game 5, with the series tied at 2, Jordan played despite being feverish and dehydrated from a stomach virus. In what is known as the "Flu Game", Jordan scored 38 points, including the game-deciding 3-pointer with 25 seconds remaining. The Bulls won 90–88 and went on to win the series in six games. For the fifth time in as many Finals appearances, Jordan received the Finals MVP award. During the 1997 NBA All-Star Game, Jordan posted the first triple double in All-Star Game history in a victorious effort; however, he did not receive the MVP award. Jordan and the Bulls compiled a 62–20 record in the 1997–98 season. Jordan led the league with 28.7 points per game, securing his fifth regular-season MVP award, plus honors for All-NBA First Team, First Defensive Team and the All-Star Game MVP. The Bulls won the Eastern Conference Championship for a third straight season, including surviving a seven-game series with the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals; it was the first time Jordan had played in a Game 7 since the 1992 Eastern Conference Semifinals with the Knicks. After winning, they moved on for a rematch with the Jazz in the Finals. The Bulls returned to the Delta Center for Game 6 on June 14, 1998, leading the series 3–2. Jordan executed a series of plays, considered to be one of the greatest clutch performances in NBA Finals history. With the Bulls trailing 86–83 with 41.9 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Phil Jackson called a timeout. When play resumed, Jordan received the inbound pass, drove to the basket, and hit a shot over several Jazz defenders, cutting the Utah lead to 86–85. The Jazz brought the ball upcourt and passed the ball to forward Karl Malone, who was set up in the low post and was being guarded by Rodman. Malone jostled with Rodman and caught the pass, but Jordan cut behind him and took the ball out of his hands for a steal. Jordan then dribbled down the court and paused, eyeing his defender, Jazz guard Bryon Russell. With 10 seconds remaining, Jordan started to dribble right, then crossed over to his left, possibly pushing off Russell, although the officials did not call a foul. With 5.2 seconds left, Jordan launched the climactic shot of his career. Chicago took an 87–86 lead with his key-top jumper over a fallen Russell. Afterwards, the Jazz' John Stockton narrowly missed a game-winning three-pointer. The buzzer sounded, Jordan and the Bulls won their sixth NBA championship, and they achieved their second three-peat in the decade. Once again, Jordan was voted the Finals MVP, having led all scorers averaging 33.5 points per game, including 45 in the deciding Game 6. Jordan's six Finals MVPs is a record; Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, LeBron James and Tim Duncan are tied for second place with three apiece. The 1998 Finals holds the highest television rating of any Finals series in history. Game 6 also holds the highest television rating of any game in NBA history. With Phil Jackson's contract expiring, the pending departures of Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman looming, and being in the latter stages of an owner- induced lockout of NBA players, Jordan retired for the second time on January 13, 1999. On January 19, 2000, Jordan returned to the NBA not as a player, but as part owner and president of basketball operations for the Washington Wizards. Jordan's responsibilities with the Wizards were comprehensive. He controlled all aspects of the Wizards' basketball operations, and had the final say in all personnel matters. Opinions of Jordan as a basketball executive were mixed. He managed to purge the team of several highly paid, unpopular players (such as forward Juwan Howard and point guard Rod Strickland), but used the first pick in the 2001 NBA draft to select high schooler Kwame Brown, who did not live up to expectations and was traded away after four seasons. Despite his January 1999 claim that he was "99.9% certain" that he would never play another NBA game, in the summer of 2001 Jordan expressed interest in making another comeback, this time with his new team. Inspired by the NHL comeback of his friend Mario Lemieux the previous winter, Jordan spent much of the spring and summer of 2001 in training, holding several invitation-only camps for NBA players in Chicago. In addition, Jordan hired his old Chicago Bulls head coach, Doug Collins, as Washington's coach for the upcoming season, a decision that many saw as foreshadowing another Jordan return. On September 25, 2001, Jordan announced his return to the NBA to play for the Washington Wizards, indicating his intention to donate his salary as a player to a relief effort for the victims of the September 11 attacks. In an injury- plagued 2001–02 season, he led the team in scoring (22.9 ppg), assists (5.2 apg), and steals (1.42 spg). However, torn cartilage in his right knee ended Jordan's season after only 60 games, the fewest he had played in a regular season since playing 17 games after returning from his first retirement during the 1994–95 season. Jordan started 53 of his 60 games for the season, averaging 24.3 points, 5.4 assists, and 6.0 rebounds, and shooting 41.9% from the field in his 53 starts. His last seven appearances were in a reserve role, in which he averaged just over 20 minutes per game. Playing in his 14th and final NBA All-Star Game in 2003, Jordan passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the all- time leading scorer in All-Star Game history (a record since broken by Kobe Bryant). That year, Jordan was the only Washington player to play in all 82 games, starting in 67 of them. He averaged 20.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. He also shot 45% from the field, and 82% from the free throw line. Even though he turned 40 during the season, he scored 20 or more points 42 times, 30 or more points nine times, and 40 or more points three times. On February 21, 2003, Jordan became the first 40-year-old to tally 43 points in an NBA game. During his stint with the Wizards, all of Jordan's home games at the MCI Center were sold out, and the Wizards were the second most-watched team in the NBA, averaging 20,172 fans a game at home and 19,311 on the road. However, neither of Jordan's final two seasons resulted in a playoff appearance for the Wizards, and Jordan was often unsatisfied with the play of those around him. At several points he openly criticized his teammates to the media, citing their lack of focus and intensity, notably that of the number one draft pick in the 2001 NBA draft, Kwame Brown. With the recognition that 2002–03 would be Jordan's final season, tributes were paid to him throughout the NBA. In his final game at the United Center in Chicago, which was his old home court, Jordan received a four-minute standing ovation. The Miami Heat retired the number 23 jersey on April 11, 2003, even though Jordan never played for the team. At the 2003 All-Star Game, Jordan was offered a starting spot from Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson, but refused both. In the end, he accepted the spot of Vince Carter, who decided to give it up under great public pressure. Jordan played in his final NBA game on April 16, 2003, in Philadelphia. After scoring only 13 points in the game, Jordan went to the bench with 4 minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the third quarter and his team trailing the Philadelphia 76ers, 75–56. Just after the start of the fourth quarter, the First Union Center crowd began chanting "We want Mike!" After much encouragement from coach Doug Collins, Jordan finally rose from the bench and re-entered the game, replacing Larry Hughes with 2:35 remaining. At 1:45, Jordan was intentionally fouled by the 76ers' Eric Snow, and stepped to the line to make both free throws. After the second foul shot, the 76ers in-bounded the ball to rookie John Salmons, who in turn was intentionally fouled by Bobby Simmons one second later, stopping time so that Jordan could return to the bench. Jordan received a three-minute standing ovation from his teammates, his opponents, the officials, and the crowd of 21,257 fans. Jordan played on two Olympic gold medal-winning American basketball teams. He won a gold medal as a college player in the 1984 Summer Olympics. The team was coached by Bob Knight and featured players such as Patrick Ewing, Sam Perkins, Chris Mullin, Steve Alford, and Wayman Tisdale. Jordan led the team in scoring, averaging 17.1 ppg for the tournament. In the 1992 Summer Olympics, he was a member of the star-studded squad that included Magic Johnson and Larry Bird that was dubbed the "Dream Team". Jordan was the only player to start all eight games in the Olympics. Playing limited minutes due to the frequent blowouts, Jordan averaged 14.9 ppg, finishing second on the team in scoring. Jordan and fellow Dream Team members Ewing and Mullin are the only American men's basketball players to win Olympic gold medals as amateurs and professionals. After his third retirement, Jordan assumed that he would be able to return to his front office position as Director of Basketball Operations with the Wizards. However, his previous tenure in the Wizards' front office had produced the aforementioned mixed results and may have also influenced the trade of Richard "Rip" Hamilton for Jerry Stackhouse (although Jordan was not technically Director of Basketball Operations in 2002). On May 7, 2003, Wizards owner Abe Pollin fired Jordan as the team's president of basketball operations. Jordan later stated that he felt betrayed, and that if he had known he would be fired upon retiring he never would have come back to play for the Wizards. Jordan kept busy over the next few years. He stayed in shape, played golf in celebrity charity tournaments, and spent time with his family in Chicago. He also promoted his Jordan Brand clothing line and rode motorcycles. Since 2004, Jordan has owned Michael Jordan Motorsports, a professional closed-course motorcycle road racing team that competed with two Suzukis in the premier Superbike championship sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) until the end of the 2013 season. On June 15, 2006, Jordan bought a minority stake in the Charlotte Bobcats, becoming the team's second-largest shareholder behind majority owner Robert L. Johnson. As part of the deal, Jordan took full control over the basketball side of the operation, with the title "Managing Member of Basketball Operations." Despite Jordan's previous success as an endorser, he has made an effort not to be included in Charlotte's marketing campaigns. A decade earlier, Jordan had made a bid to become part-owner of Charlotte's original NBA team, the Charlotte Hornets, but talks collapsed when owner George Shinn refused to give Jordan complete control of basketball operations. In February 2010, it was reported that Jordan was seeking majority ownership of the Bobcats, who changed their nickname to the Hornets in 2014. As February wore on, it became apparent that Jordan and former Houston Rockets president George Postolos were the leading contenders for ownership of the team. On February 27, the Bobcats announced that Johnson had reached an agreement with Jordan and his group, MJ Basketball Holdings, to buy the team pending NBA approval. On March 17, the NBA Board of Governors unanimously approved Jordan's purchase, making him the first former player to become the majority owner of an NBA team. It also made him the league's only African-American majority owner of an NBA team. During the 2011 NBA lockout, The New York Times wrote that Jordan led a group of 10 to 14 hardline owners who wanted to cap the players' share of basketball-related income at 50 percent and as low as 47. Journalists observed that, during the labor dispute in 1998, Jordan had told Washington Wizards then-owner Abe Pollin, "If you can't make a profit, you should sell your team." Jason Whitlock of FoxSports.com called Jordan a "sellout" wanting "current players to pay for his incompetence." He cited Jordan's executive decisions to draft disappointing players Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison. During the 2011–12 NBA season that was shortened to 66 games by the lockout, the Bobcats posted a 7–59 record. Their .106 winning percentage was the worst in NBA history. "I'm not real happy about the record book scenario last year. It's very, very frustrating", Jordan said later that year. During the 2019 NBA offseason, Jordan sold a minority piece of the Hornets to Gabe Plotkin and Daniel Sundheim, retaining the majority of the team for himself. Jordan was a shooting guard who was also capable of playing as a small forward (the position he would primarily play during his second return to professional basketball with the Washington Wizards), and as a point guard. Jordan was known throughout his career for being a strong clutch performer. With the Bulls, he decided 25 games with field goals or free throws in the last 30 seconds, including two NBA Finals games and five other playoff contests. His competitiveness was visible in his prolific trash-talk and well-known work ethic. As the Bulls organization built the franchise around Jordan, management had to trade away players who were not "tough enough" to compete with him in practice. To help improve his defense, he spent extra hours studying film of opponents. On offense, he relied more upon instinct and improvization at game time. Noted as a durable player, Jordan did not miss four or more games while active for a full season from 1986–87 to 2001–02, when he injured his right knee. Of the 15 seasons Jordan was in the NBA, he played all 82 regular season games nine times. Jordan has frequently cited David Thompson, Walter Davis, and Jerry West as influences. Confirmed at the start of his career, and possibly later on, Jordan had a special "Love of the Game Clause" written into his contract (unusual at the time) which allowed him to play basketball against anyone at any time, anywhere. Jordan had a versatile offensive game. He was capable of aggressively driving to the basket, as well as drawing fouls from his opponents at a high rate; his 8,772 free throw attempts are the 11th- highest total in NBA history. As his career progressed, Jordan also developed the ability to post up his opponents and score with his trademark fadeaway jump shot, using his leaping ability to "fade away" from block attempts. According to Hubie Brown, this move alone made him nearly unstoppable. Despite media criticism as a "selfish" player early in his career, Jordan's 5.3 assists per game also indicate his willingness to defer to his teammates. After shooting under 30% from three-point range in his first five seasons in the NBA, including a career-low 13% in the season, Jordan improved to a career-high 50% in the season. The three-point shot became more of a focus of his game from 1994–95 to 1996–97, when the NBA shortened its three-point line to (from ). His three-point field-goal percentages ranged from 35% to 43% in seasons in which he attempted at least 230 three-pointers between 1989–90 and 1996–97. For a guard, Jordan was also a good rebounder (6.2 per game). In 1988, Jordan was honored with the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award and became the first NBA player to win both the Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in a career (since equaled by Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, and Kevin Garnett; Olajuwon is the only player other than Jordan to win both during the same season). In addition, he set both seasonal and career records for blocked shots by a guard, and combined this with his ball-thieving ability to become a standout defensive player. He ranks third in NBA history in total steals with 2,514, trailing John Stockton and Jason Kidd. Jerry West often stated that he was more impressed with Jordan's defensive contributions than his offensive ones. He was also known to have strong eyesight; broadcaster Al Michaels said that he was able to read baseball box scores on a 27-inch (69 cm) television clearly from about 50 feet (15 m) away. Jordan's talent was clear from his first NBA season; by November he was being compared to Julius Erving. Larry Bird said that he had "Never seen anyone like him", that Jordan was "One of a kind" and the best player he had ever seen, and comparable to Wayne Gretzky as an athlete. In his first game in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks, Jordan received a standing ovation of almost one minute. After he scored a playoff record 63 points against the Boston Celtics on April 20, 1986, Bird described him as "God disguised as Michael Jordan". Jordan led the NBA in scoring in 10 seasons (NBA record) and tied Wilt Chamberlain's record of seven consecutive scoring titles. He was also a fixture on the NBA All-Defensive First Team, making the roster nine times (NBA record shared with Gary Payton, Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant). Jordan also holds the top career regular season and playoff scoring averages of 30.1 and 33.4 points per game, respectively. By 1998, the season of his Finals-winning shot against the Jazz, he was well known throughout the league as a clutch performer. In the regular season, Jordan was the Bulls' primary threat in the final seconds of a close game and in the playoffs; he would always ask for the ball at crunch time. Jordan's total of 5,987 points in the playoffs is the second-highest in NBA history. He retired with 32,292 points in regular season play, placing him fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring list behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James. With five regular-season MVPs (tied for second place with Bill Russell—only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has won more, with six), six Finals MVPs (NBA record), and three All-Star Game MVPs, Jordan is the most decorated player in NBA history. Jordan finished among the top three in regular-season MVP voting 10 times, and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. He is one of only seven players in history to win an NCAA championship, an NBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal (doing so twice with the 1984 and 1992 U.S. men's basketball teams). Since 1976, the year of the NBA's merger with the American Basketball Association, Jordan and Pippen are the only two players to win six NBA Finals playing for one team. In the All-Star Game fan ballot, Jordan received the most votes nine times, more than any other player. Many of Jordan's contemporaries have said that Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time. In 1999, an ESPN survey of journalists, athletes and other sports figures ranked Jordan the greatest North American athlete of the 20th century, above such luminaries as Babe Ruth and Muhammad Ali. Jordan placed second to Babe Ruth in the Associated Press' December 1999 list of 20th century athletes. In addition, the Associated Press voted him the greatest basketball player of the 20th century. Jordan has also appeared on the front cover of Sports Illustrated a record 50 times. In the September 1996 issue of Sport, which was the publication's 50th-anniversary issue, Jordan was named the greatest athlete of the past 50 years. Jordan's athletic leaping ability, highlighted in his back-to-back Slam Dunk Contest championships in 1987 and 1988, is credited by many people with having influenced a generation of young players. Several current NBA players—including LeBron James and Dwyane Wade—have stated that they considered Jordan their role model while they were growing up. In addition, commentators have dubbed a number of next-generation players "the next Michael Jordan" upon their entry to the NBA, including Penny Hardaway, Grant Hill, Allen Iverson, Bryant, James, Vince Carter, and Dwyane Wade. Although Jordan was a well-rounded player, his "Air Jordan" image is also often credited with inadvertently decreasing the jump shooting skills, defense, and fundamentals of young players, a fact Jordan himself has lamented. During his heyday, Jordan did much to increase the status of the game. Television ratings increased only during his time in the league. The popularity of the NBA in the U.S. declined after his last title. As late as 2015, Finals ratings had not returned to the level reached during his last championship-winning season. In August 2009, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, opened a Michael Jordan exhibit that contained items from his college and NBA careers, as well as from the 1992 "Dream Team". The exhibit also has a batting glove to signify Jordan's short career in Minor League Baseball. After Jordan received word of his acceptance into the Hall of Fame, he selected Class of 1996 member David Thompson to present him. As Jordan would later explain during his induction speech in September 2009, when he was growing up in North Carolina, he was not a fan of the Tar Heels and greatly admired Thompson, who played at rival North Carolina State. In September, he was inducted into the Hall with several former Bulls teammates in attendance, including Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Charles Oakley, Ron Harper, Steve Kerr, and Toni Kukoč. Two of Jordan's former coaches, Dean Smith and Doug Collins, were also among those present. His emotional reaction during his speech—when he began to cry—was captured by Associated Press photographer Stephan Savoia and would later go viral on social media as the Crying Jordan Internet meme. In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Jordan with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Jordan married Juanita Vanoy in September 1989, and they had two sons, Jeffrey and Marcus, and a daughter, Jasmine. Jordan and Vanoy filed for divorce on January 4, 2002, citing irreconcilable differences, but reconciled shortly thereafter. They again filed for divorce and were granted a final decree of dissolution of marriage on December 29, 2006, commenting that the decision was made "mutually and amicably". It is reported that Juanita received a $168 million settlement (equivalent to $ million in ), making it the largest celebrity divorce settlement on public record at the time. In 1991, Jordan purchased a lot in Highland Park, Illinois, to build a 56,000 square-foot (5,200 m) mansion, which was completed four years later. Jordan listed his Highland Park mansion for sale in 2012. His two sons attended Loyola Academy, a private Roman Catholic high school located in Wilmette, Illinois. Jeffrey graduated as a member of the 2007 graduating class and played his first collegiate basketball game on November 11, 2007, for the University of Illinois. After two seasons, Jeffrey left the Illinois basketball team in 2009. He later rejoined the team for a third season, then received a release to transfer to the University of Central Florida, where Marcus was attending. Marcus transferred to Whitney Young High School after his sophomore year at Loyola Academy and graduated in 2009. He began attending UCF in the fall of 2009, and played three seasons of basketball for the school. Jordan is the fourth of five children. He has two older brothers, Larry Jordan and James R. Jordan Jr., one older sister, Deloris, and one younger sister, Roslyn. James retired in 2006 as the Command Sergeant Major of the 35th Signal Brigade of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the U.S. Army. Jordan's nephew through Larry, Justin Jordan, played Division I basketball at UNC Greensboro. On July 21, 2006, a judge in Cook County, Illinois, determined that Jordan did not owe his alleged former lover Karla Knafel $5 million in a breach of contract claim. Jordan had allegedly paid Knafel $250,000 to keep their relationship a secret. Knafel claimed Jordan promised her $5 million for remaining silent and agreeing not to file a paternity suit after Knafel learned she was pregnant in 1991. A DNA test showed Jordan was not the father of the child. He proposed to his longtime girlfriend, Cuban-American model Yvette Prieto, on Christmas 2011, and they were married on April 27, 2013, at Bethesda-by-the-Sea Episcopal Church. It was announced on November 30, 2013, that the two were expecting their first child together. On February 11, 2014, Prieto gave birth to identical twin daughters named Victoria and Ysabel. Jordan became a grandfather in 2019 when his daughter Jasmine gave birth to a son, whose father is former Indiana Pacer Rakeem Christmas. From 2001 to 2014, Jordan hosted an annual golf tournament, the Michael Jordan Celebrity Invitational, that raised money for various charities. In 2006, Jordan and his wife Juanita pledged $5 million to Chicago's Hales Franciscan High School. The Jordan Brand has made donations to Habitat for Humanity and a Louisiana branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. The Make-A-Wish Foundation named Jordan its Chief Wish Ambassador in 2008. Five years later, he granted his 200th wish for the organization. As of 2019, he has raised more than $5 million for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2015, Jordan donated a settlement of undisclosed size from a lawsuit against supermarkets that had used his name without permission to 23 different Chicago charities. Jordan funded two Novant Health Michael Jordan Family Clinics in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2017 by giving $7 million, the biggest donation he had made at the time. One year later, after Hurricane Florence damaged parts of North Carolina, including his former hometown of Wilmington, Jordan donated $2 million to relief efforts. He gave $1 million to aid the Bahamas' recovery following Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Jordan is one of the most marketed sports figures in history. He has been a major spokesman for such brands as Nike, Coca-Cola, Chevrolet, Gatorade, McDonald's, Ball Park Franks, Rayovac, Wheaties, Hanes, and MCI. Jordan has had a long relationship with Gatorade, appearing in over 20 commercials for the company since 1991, including the "Be Like Mike" commercials in which a song was sung by children wishing to be like Jordan. Nike created a signature shoe for him, called the Air Jordan, in 1984. One of Jordan's more popular commercials for the shoe involved Spike Lee playing the part of Mars Blackmon. In the commercials Lee, as Blackmon, attempted to find the source of Jordan's abilities and became convinced that "it's gotta be the shoes". The hype and demand for the shoes even brought on a spate of "shoe-jackings" where people were robbed of their sneakers at gunpoint. Subsequently, Nike spun off the Jordan line into its own division named the "Jordan Brand". The company features an impressive list of athletes and celebrities as endorsers. The brand has also sponsored college sports programs such as those of North Carolina, California, Georgetown, and Marquette. Jordan also has been associated with the Looney Tunes cartoon characters. A Nike commercial shown during 1992's Super Bowl XXVI featured Jordan and Bugs Bunny playing basketball. The Super Bowl commercial inspired the 1996 live action/animated film Space Jam, which starred Jordan and Bugs in a fictional story set during the former's first retirement from basketball. They have subsequently appeared together in several commercials for MCI. Jordan also made an appearance in the music video of Michael Jackson's "Jam" (1992). Jordan's yearly income from the endorsements is estimated to be over forty million dollars. In addition, when Jordan's power at the ticket gates was at its highest point, the Bulls regularly sold out both their home and road games. Due to this, Jordan set records in player salary by signing annual contracts worth in excess of US$30 million per season. An academic study found that Jordan's first NBA comeback resulted in an increase in the market capitalization of his client firms of more than $1 billion. Most of Jordan's endorsement deals, including his first deal with Nike, were engineered by his agent, David Falk. Jordan has described Falk as "the best at what he does" and that "marketing-wise, he's great. He's the one who came up with the concept of 'Air Jordan.'" In June 2010, Jordan was ranked by Forbes magazine as the 20th-most powerful celebrity in the world with $55 million earned between June 2009 and June 2010. According to the Forbes article, Jordan Brand generates $1 billion in sales for Nike. In June 2014, Jordan was named the first NBA player to become a billionaire, after he increased his stake in the Charlotte Hornets from 80% to 89.5%. On January 20, 2015, Jordan was honored with the Charlotte Business Journal's Business Person of the Year for 2014. In 2017, he became a part owner of the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball. Forbes designated Jordan as the athlete with the highest career earnings in 2017. From his Jordan Brand income and endorsements, Jordan's 2015 income was an estimated $110 million, the most of any retired athlete. , his current net worth is estimated at $1.9 billion by Forbes. Jordan is the third-richest African-American as of 2018, behind Robert F. Smith and Oprah Winfrey. Jordan co-owns an automotive group which bears his name. The company has a Nissan dealership in Durham, North Carolina, acquired in 1990, and formerly had a Lincoln–Mercury dealership from 1995 until its closure in June 2009. The company also owned a Nissan franchise in Glen Burnie, Maryland. The restaurant industry is another business interest of Jordan's. His restaurants include a steakhouse in New York City's Grand Central Terminal, among others. Jordan is the majority investor in a golf course, Grove XXIII, under construction in Hobe Sound, Florida. Jordan has authored several books focusing on his life, basketball career, and world view. Rare Air: Michael on Michael (1993) with Mark Vancil and Walter Iooss., I Can't Accept Not Trying: Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence (1994) with Mark Vancil and Sandro Miller., For the Love of the Game: My Story (1998) with Mark Vancil., Driven from Within (2005) with Mark Vancil. NCAA national championship – 1981–82, ACC Freshman of the Year – 1981–82, Two-time Consensus NCAA All-American First Team – 1982–83, 1983–84, ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year – 1983–84, USBWA College Player of the Year – 1983–84, Naismith College Player of the Year – 1983–84, Adolph Rupp Trophy – 1983–84, John R. Wooden Award – 1983–84, Number 23 retired by the North Carolina Tar Heels Six-time NBA champion – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, Six-time NBA Finals MVP – 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1998, Five-time NBA MVP – 1988, 1991, 1992, 1996, 1998, 10-time NBA scoring leader – 1987–1993, 1996–1998, 14-time NBA All-Star – 1985–1993, 1996–1998, 2002, 2003, Three-time NBA All-Star Game MVP – 1988, 1996, 1998, 11-time All-NBA Team:, Nine-time NBA All-Defensive First Team – 1988–1993, 1996–1998, Two-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion – 1987, 1988, NBA Rookie of the Year –, Two-time IBM Award winner – 1985, 1989, NBA Defensive Player of the Year –, Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, Number 23 retired by the Chicago Bulls, Number 23 retired by the Miami Heat Two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, class of 2009 – individual, class of 2010 – as a member of the "Dream Team", United States Olympic Hall of Fame – class of 2009 (as a member of the "Dream Team"), FIBA Hall of Fame – class of 2015, Two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner – 1984, 1992, "Triple Crown of Basketball" winner, Three-time Associated Press Athlete of the Year – 1991, 1992, 1993, Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year – 1991, Section of Madison Street in Chicago renamed Michael Jordan Drive – 1994, Ranked No.1 by Slam magazine's Top 50 Players of All-Time, Ranked No.1 by ESPN SportsCentury's Top North American Athletes of the 20th century, North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame, 1997 Marca Leyenda winner, 10-time ESPY Award winner (in various categories), Statue in front of the United Center, 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom List of athletes who came out of retirement, Michael Jordan's Restaurant, Michael Jordan in Flight, NBA 2K11, NBA 2K12 Condor, Bob. Michael Jordan's 50 Greatest Games. Carol Publishing Group, 1998. ., Halberstam, David. Playing for Keeps: Michael Jordan and the World He Made. Broadway Books, 2000. ., Jordan, Michael. For the Love of the Game: My Story. New York City: Crown Publishers, 1998. ., Kruger, Mitchell. One Last Shot: The Story of Michael Jordan's Comeback. New York City: St. Martin's Paperbacks, 2003. ., Lazenby, Roland. Michael Jordan: The Life. New York City: Little, Brown and Company, 2014. ., LaFeber, Walter. Michael Jordan and the New Global Capitalism. W. W. Norton, 2002. ., Markovits, Andrei S. and Lars Rensman. Gaming the World: How Sports are Reshaping Global Politics and Culture. Princeton University Press, June 3, 2010. ., Porter, David L. Michael Jordan: A Biography, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. ., Rein, Irving J., Philip Kotler and Ben Shields. The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc, 2006. ., Sachare, Alex. The Chicago Bulls Encyclopedia. Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1999. ., The Sporting News Official NBA Register 1994–95. The Sporting News, 1994. . The 1991 NBA Finals was the championship round of the 1990–91 National Basketball Association (NBA) season, and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. It was also the first NBA Finals broadcast by NBC after 17 years with CBS. The Eastern Conference playoff champion Chicago Bulls took on the Western Conference playoff champion Los Angeles Lakers for the title, with Chicago having home court advantage. It was Michael Jordan's first NBA Finals appearance, Magic Johnson's last, and the last NBA Finals for the Lakers until 2000. The Bulls would win the series, 4–1. Jordan averaged 31.2 points on 56% shooting, 11.4 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 steals and 1.4 blocks en route to his first NBA Finals MVP Award. The series was not the first time that the Bulls and Lakers faced off in the playoffs. Prior to 1991, they met for four postseason series (1968, 1971, 1972 and 1973), all Lakers victories. Chicago was a member of the Western Conference at the time and moved into the East in 1981. The 1991 Finals marked the first time the Bulls defeated the Lakers in a playoff series. This series would mark the end of the Lakers Showtime era and the beginning of the Bulls' dynasty. After winning five championships in eight finals appearances in the 1980s, the Lakers would struggle for the rest of the 1990s before winning five championships between the 2000–2002 and 2009–2010 seasons. The 1991 Lakers were led by Johnson, who was 32 and playing in what would be his last full season, as well as fellow All-Star teammate James Worthy; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had retired two seasons earlier. The Bulls, led by NBA MVP Michael Jordan and superstar small forward Scottie Pippen, would win five more championships after 1991 in a seven-year span, cementing their status as a dynasty. When it was all said and done, Michael Jordan became only the third man in NBA history (after George Mikan and Abdul-Jabbar) to capture the scoring title and the NBA Finals Championship in the same season. Until 2015, the Bulls were the last team to win an NBA championship despite fielding a full roster lacking in championship or Finals experience. None of the Bulls players had logged even a minute of NBA Finals experience prior to this. The 1990–91 season marked the Bulls' 25th in franchise history. The team was coming off a grueling seven-game loss to the Detroit Pistons in the 1990 Eastern Conference Finals, and in the six years since Michael Jordan joined the Bulls, they were showing signs of improvement. They managed to put it all together that season, winning a then-franchise record 61 games. Jordan won the scoring title for a fifth consecutive season, but the team was no longer a one-man show of years past. Instead, Jordan distributed the ball with regularity, thanks in large part to the triangle offense instituted by head coach Phil Jackson and assistant Tex Winter. This gave the Bulls additional offensive weapons to choose from, ranging from wingman Scottie Pippen and post players Horace Grant and Bill Cartwright to shooters such as John Paxson and B. J. Armstrong. Jordan's improved all-around play earned him his second MVP award. In the playoffs, the Bulls lost only once in the first three rounds. They swept the New York Knicks in the first round, then eliminated the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round. Their much-awaited rematch with the Detroit Pistons in the conference finals showcased the maturity and poise that the Bulls displayed all season, as they swept the injury-riddled Pistons team. In a last show of defiance, most of the Pistons walked off the court with :08 left on the clock in a blowout loss at home so as not to congratulate the new Eastern Conference champions, though Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, and John Salley did remain to shake the Bulls' hands. The Lakers were coming off a stunning second round loss to the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs. Even though the Lakers won 63 games that season, and Magic Johnson won league MVP and surpassed Oscar Robertson for the all-time career assist record, it was clear that the team was growing weary of Pat Riley's intense approach. The Lakers replaced Riley with Mike Dunleavy, Sr., formerly an assistant coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. Dunleavy then abandoned the trademark Showtime offense in favor of a more deliberate style of play, but despite the change in playbook, the Lakers still enjoyed an impressive season, winning 58 games. In the playoffs, the Lakers swept the Houston Rockets in the first round, then eliminated Run TMC and the Golden State Warriors in the second round. Next up for the Lakers were the Portland Trail Blazers, who were coming off a trip to the NBA finals the previous year. The Lakers stunned the Blazers in Portland to open the series, and they went on to win the conference finals in six games. Both teams split the two meetings, each won by the home team: Michael Jordan started dominating with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in the first quarter alone. In the second quarter, the Lakers continued to stay competitive despite Magic Johnson not attempting one field goal in the second quarter. Despite this, Magic Johnson would hit back-to-back 3 pointers in the third quarter to give the Lakers their largest lead, and also Magic Johnson's 29th career playoff triple-double. Jordan made a comeback in the fourth quarter with 13 points, but it was Scottie Pippen's two free throws that would give the Bulls a 91-89 lead. Each team ran the shot clock down but neither could hit a shot until Sam Perkins hit a 3-pointer (the potential game winner) with 14 seconds left to give the Lakers a 92-91 lead. Michael Jordan's 17-foot jumper then rattled out, and Byron Scott hit one of two free throws. The Bulls were out of time outs so all they could manage was a 50-foot heave by Pippen that went off the back of the rim. This was also the last time any game of the NBA Finals aired in the afternoon (Eastern Time Zone), with every game of the NBA Finals since this game in 1991 airing in prime time, including all weekend games. To date, this is the most recent time any finals game in any of the four major American sports leagues started before 6:00 p.m. Eastern. The biggest decision of the game was putting Scottie Pippen on Magic Johnson, while Michael Jordan guarded Vlade Divac. For the Bulls, the hero was Horace Grant who led the Bulls with 14 first half points, while Jordan only had 2 points for the first 20 minutes; however, for Jordan, this shooting drought would only prove to be temporary and Jordan would hit his next 13 shots in compensation. The Lakers were in the game even when Chicago was leading 58-51 until Byron Scott fouled Pippen, and the Bulls would make 17 of their next 20 field goals in the third quarter despite Jordan spending time on the bench with foul trouble. By the time Jordan returned, their lead was 16 and then Jordan led the Bulls to an 11-0 run to a Bulls victory. The signature moment of the series came when Jordan accelerated towards the basket, raised the ball in his right hand for a dunk, then, to avoid a potential Sam Perkins block, switched the ball to his left and banked in a layup that caused a booming standing ovation at Chicago Stadium. The Bulls were having trouble in the frontcourt (in Game 1, the Lakers frontcourt outscored Chicago's 60-31). In Game 3, the Lakers would be the ones having trouble, setting a rebounding low in the Finals. Despite this problem, the Lakers went for an 18-2 run that brought them from 3 down (49-52) to 13 up (67-54). The Bulls would answer with a 20-7 run that would tie the game in the 4th quarter at 74. Horace Grant's layup gave the Bulls a 3-point lead with 1:07 to play, while Perkins then scored to cut the lead to 1 with 0:39 left. Vlade would then go for a layup, only to be fouled and give the Lakers a 2-point lead. Michael then went up and shot a 2-point field goal to tie the game. In overtime, Jordan would score half of the Bulls 12 points to win the game. The Lakers had a 28-27 lead in the first quarter; only the second time in the 1991 playoffs that a team led the Bulls at the end of the first quarter. This did not matter as Chicago went on a 19-9 run to start the second period and gain a 46-37 lead. While Michael Jordan scored 11 points in the second quarter, the Lakers only made 12 of their 41 shots in the second and third quarters. The Lakers faced a huge blow as Worthy and Scott left the game (and eventually the series) with ankle and shoulder injuries, respectively. With the lack of Worthy and Scott, and bad shooting (especially from Sam Perkins), the Bulls were able to take a 16-point lead in the third quarter. The Lakers refused to go down and shrank the deficit to 7 points in the fourth quarter, but it was the closest they would get, as Pippen and Jordan led the Bulls on a 19-8 run to put them one game away from their first NBA Championship. The Lakers were facing elimination, and the absences of James Worthy and Byron Scott were not any help to the Lakers. This would not stop Magic Johnson as Johnson had 20 assists in the game. Elden Campbell outscored Michael Jordan with 13 points in the first half. The Lakers still fought and even led 93-90 in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls went on a 9-0 run, and Paxson's 10 points in the final half of the fourth quarter helped secure the Chicago Bulls', and Michael Jordan's, first NBA title. It was the only one of the Bulls' six Finals appearances to end in four games to one. This was also the last NBA Finals game to be played in The Forum (by the time the Lakers returned to the NBA Finals, they had moved to the new Staples Center). Chicago Bulls | align="left" | || 5 || 0 || 7.4 || .455 || .000 || .000 || 0.6 || 0.8 || 0.4 || 0.0 || 2.0 Los Angeles Lakers | align="left" | || 3 || 0 || 11.0 || .625 || .000 || .750 || 1.3 || 0.0 || 1.0 || 0.7 || 7.7 As previously stated, this was the first Finals to be telecast in the United States by NBC. NBC Sports used Marv Albert on play-by-play and Mike Fratello as color analyst. Ahmad Rashād (for the Bulls) and Steve "Snapper" Jones (for the Lakers) served as sideline reporters. This was the only NBA Finals series in which recently departed Lakers coach Pat Riley worked as a broadcaster; he was paired with Bob Costas in the pre-game, half-time and post-game presentations. Riley was then hired as head coach by the New York Knicks in the 1991 offseason. In Chicago, this was Jim Durham's only Finals appearance as the Bulls' radio announcer (he also announced Bulls games on television via simulcast during the regular season and playoffs). He would later announce several NBA Finals games on ESPN Radio. Neil Funk succeeded Durham the following season and was the radio voice on five NBA Finals involving the Bulls (1992, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998). The simulcasts would also end after the season, with Wayne Larrivee (on WGN-TV) and Tom Dore (on cable) becoming the Bulls' television announcers the next season; by the 2008–09 NBA season Funk was calling television play-by-play on both networks while Chuck Swirsky called radio play-by-play. The Bulls championship started the dynasty that lasted through the 1990s. In the 1991-92 NBA season the Bulls won their second straight NBA title, winning a then-franchise record 67 wins and defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in six games of the 1992 NBA Finals. The Lakers' Showtime era would end on November 7, 1991, as Magic Johnson announced his retirement due to the HIV virus. He did, however, play in the 1992 NBA All-Star Game and eventually with the Dream Team in the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Lakers would decline in the years following Magic's retirement, being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs two straight years (1992 - 1993) before missing the playoffs entirely in 1994. It would be nine years before the Lakers returned to the NBA Finals; by then they had moved to the new Staples Center, marking the 1991 Finals the last to be held at the Forum. "Sam Perkins...from downtown to take the lead." - Marv Albert call on Sam Perkin's 3-pointer (potential game-winning 3-pointer) in Game 1 on NBC - June 2, 1991, "The Los Angeles Lakers take Game 1 from the Chicago Bulls." - Marv Albert final call in Game 1 on NBC - June 2, 1991, "Jordan...OOH!!!...a spectacular move by Michael Jordan." - Marv Albert call on Michael Jordan's spectacular moving play in Game 2 on NBC - June 5, 1991, "Three-on-two for the Bulls...Michael with drive...willie jam." - Jim Durham call on Michael Jordan's jam in Game 3 on WGN Radio - June 7, 1991, "Starting to say the World Champion Chicago Bulls." - Jim Durham call before the Bulls win their first NBA title in Game 5 - June 12, 1991, "And the Chicago Bulls have won their first ever NBA championship." - Marv Albert final call in Game 5 on NBC - June 12, 1991 1991 NBA Playoffs NBA History Air Jordan is a brand of basketball shoes, athletic, casual, and style clothing produced by Nike. It was created for former NBA player and 5 time NBA MVP Michael Jordan. The original Air Jordan sneakers were produced exclusively for Michael Jordan in early 1984, and released to the public in late 1984. The shoes were designed for Nike by Peter Moore, Tinker Hatfield, and Bruce Kilgore. The Air Jordan I was first produced for Michael Jordan in 1984. It was designed by Peter C. Moore. The red and black colorway of the Nike Air Ship, the prototype for the Jordan I, was later outlawed by then-NBA Commissioner David Stern for having very little white on them (this rule, known as the '51 percent' rule, was repealed in the late 2000s). It is a common misconception that the Jordan I was banned; however, it was the Nike Air Ship. After the Nike Air Ship was banned, Michael Jordan and Nike introduced the Jordan I in color ways with more white such as the "Chicago" color way and the "Black Toe" color way. They used the Nike Air Ship's banning as a promotional tool in advertisements, hinting that the shoes gave an unfair competitive advantage for the Jordan I and that whoever wore them had a certain edginess associated with outlaw activities. The Air Jordan I was originally released on the market from 1985 to 1986, with re-releases (known as "retros") in 1994, 2001–2004, and 2007–2018. Some released colorways include: Black/Red: September 15, 1985 White/Black-Red: September 15, 1985 Black/Royal Blue: 1985 White/Blue: 1986 Pewter/Black Max-Orange: January 31, 2009 White/Sea Green: July 4, 2009 Black/Shadow Grey-White: September 1, 2009 Wolf Grey/Spice White: July 1, 2010 Metallic Silver/White: November 1, 2010 Black/Anthracite: December 1, 2010 Altitude Green/Black: December 11, 2010 The success of the Air Jordan I encouraged Nike to release a new Air Jordan in 1986 for the new basketball season. Designed by Peter Moore and Bruce Kilgore, the original Air Jordan II was unique in that it was made in Italy. The Air Jordan II introduced better cushioning with a polyurethane midsole and a full length encapsulated Nike air bubble for maximum comfort. The Air Jordan II was the first Jordan not to have the Nike swoosh on the upper. The Air Jordan II originally retailed at $100 and was released from 1986 to 1987. The shoe later re-released in 1994, 2004–2005, 2008, 2010, 2014–2018. The Air Jordan III was designed by Tinker Hatfield who works for Nike as a designer for stores and offices. By that time Michael Jordan was ready to leave Nike, but the Jordan III changed his mind. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a visible air unit on the heel, the new Jumpman logo, an elephant print trim and tumbled leather to give it a luxury look. The Air Jordan III was also famous for the humorous ads depicting film director Spike Lee as Mars Blackmon, the character he played in his film She's Gotta Have It. This campaign was known as "Mars and Mike", which was one of Nike's most successful advertisement campaigns. These were the first Jordans to feature the "NIKE AIR" logo on the back. These were said to be Michael Jordan's favorite shoes, he wore them during the 1988 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and many other events in his basketball career. The Air Jordan III's had poor sales when first reintroduced in 1994. On their second reintroduction in 2001, they sold well. In 2007, Jordan Brand collaborated with director Spike Lee to release a limited pair of Air Jordan IIIs with a colorway based on the blue-yellow poster for Lee's film Do the Right Thing. In 2009, the Jordan Brand reintroduced the highly sought after Air Jordan III in the True Blue colorway. It was an international-only release, meaning they were not sold in the US. In 2011, the brand released a Black History Month (BHM) Air Jordan III colorway in commemoration of the 35th anniversary of Black History Month. Also, the same year saw the release of the "True Blue" III on June 4. The Stealth colorway of the III was released in September and the Black Cements were released in November. The "Black Flips" were released on December 3, 2011. In 2013, Jordan released a special edition of the Jordan III this shoe was deemed the Air Jordan III "Retro '88" White Cement and were released in February. Multiple retros and new colorways have been released in 1994, 2001, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2016-2018. In 1989, Nike released the Air Jordan IV to the public. Designed by Tinker Hatfield, it was the first Air Jordan released on the global market. It had four colorways: White/Black, Black/Cement Grey, White/Fire Red-Black, and Off White/Military Blue. Nike featured director and actor Spike Lee in ads for the AJ IV. Lee had featured the shoe in his movie Do The Right Thing. Michael Jordan wore the Air Jordan IV when he made "The Shot," a series winner in Game 5 of the 1989 NBA First Round between the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers. In 2012 a Cavalier colorway dubbed the "Cavs" was released to honor "The Shot." The Air Jordan IV re-released in 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010–2013 and 2015–2019. AJ V: The Air Jordan V was released in February 1990, designed by Tinker Hatfield again. Some elements were carried over from the Air Jordan IV, but overall they were a completely new look. Some of its new features include a reflective tongue (with a unique protruding design and look), translucent rubber soles and lace locks. The soles gave them a new look, but yellowed over time when exposed to moisture and were the source of many complaints early on due to the slippery nature of the soles when collecting dust. Hatfield is believed to have drawn inspiration for the Air Jordan V from World War II fighter planes, which was most notably visible in the shark teeth shapes on the midsole. The Air Jordan V was reintroduced in 2000, including a new colorway featuring Michael Jordan's high school (Laney High) colors. In 2006 several V's were reintroduced, including the LS "Grape" V's, the LS "Burgundy" V's, the "Fire- Red" V's, the "Green Bean" V's, and "Stealth Blue" V's. Along with the latter, a very limited laser design and the black/metallic/fire red colorways were released in early 2007. The shoe was retro-ed in 2000, 2006–2009, 2011, and 2013–2017. The Air Jordan V saw a lot of use in popular sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. During many episodes Will Smith wore the 'Metallic Silver', 'Grape', and 'Fire Red' colorway. To pay tribute to his character, Jordan released the Air Jordan 5 Bel Air in 2013. AJ VI: The Air Jordan VI had a new design by Tinker Hatfield and released in 1991. The Original 5 colorways were: Black/Infrared, White/Infrared, White/Carmine- Black, White/Sport Blue, and Off White/Maroon. The Air Jordan VI introduced a reinforcement around the toe, It had two holes in the tongue, and a molded heel tab on the back of the sneaker (demanded by Jordan so it wouldn't hit his Achilles tendon). Like the Air Jordan V, this sneaker also had translucent rubber soles. The Air Jordan VI was the last Air Jordan to feature the Nike Air logo on it. Later that year the Bulls defeated the Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals, with Jordan (wearing the Black/Infrared) named as the most valuable player. That was also the first NBA Championship won by Jordan and the Bulls. The Jordan VI was also seen in the film White Men Can't Jump, which was produced in 1991 and released one year later. The Air Jordan VI has been retro-ed many times since its original release in 1991, Notable releases were in 2000, 2010, 2014 and 2019 with the Black Infrared Colorway. In addition to a Porsche-inspired rear pull tab and visible air the Air Jordan VI was the first Jordan with an inner bootie. The shoe was retro-ed in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2008–2010, 2012, and 2014–2017 and 2019. The VI was the first shoe used by the protagonist of Slam Dunk, Hanamichi Sakuragi. Nike released special versions of both the VI and the Jordan Super.Fly 3 featuring artwork from the series in 2014. The VI also had Sakuragi's number 10 embroidered on the side of the heels. Various other models in the Air Jordan line are featured in the series, including the original (which Sakuragi eventually switched to), the V, and the XII (both worn by Sakuragi's rival, Kaede Rukawa). AJ VII The Air Jordan VII was released in 1992 with a new design by Tinker Hatfield. This shoe introduced the huarache technology which allowed the shoes to better conform to the user's foot. A few things were no longer featured on the new model, such as the visible air sole, the Nike Air logo, and the translucent soles. This was the first Air-Jordan in the line that did not have any distinctive "Nike Air" on the outer portions of the shoe. The "Nike Air" branding was still on the in-soles, which Air Jordans VIII-XI also had. The VIIs were also known for a successful ad campaign in which Bugs Bunny appeared alongside Michael Jordan to market the shoes. When Jordan went to compete at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics to play for the US Men's Basketball Team (also known as the "Dream Team"), Nike released a special Olympic color combo of the Air Jordan VII model which had Jordan's Olympic jersey number 9, instead of the usual "23" found on other colorways. Various models of the Air Jordan VII were re-released in 2002, again in 2004, and again with different colors in 2006. In 2011 the Air Jordan VII saw releases in the "Orion" and "Bordeaux" colorways. The "Olympic" and "Charcoal" (commonly referred to as Raptors) were re-released in 2012. The shoe was retro-ed in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008–2012, and 2015–2017. AJ VIII: The Air Jordan VIII was released to coincide with the 1992–1993 NBA season. The eighth model of the Air Jordan was noticeably heavier than its predecessors. The Air Jordan VIII model became known as the "Punisher" because of the advanced basketball ankle support and enhanced traction. This shoe contains a full length air sole, polyurethane midsole, polycarbonate shank plate, and two crossover straps (for added support and more custom fit). The shoe was retro-ed in 2003, 2007, 2008, 2013, and 2015–2017. AJ IX: Originally released in November 1993, the Air Jordan IX model was the first model released after Michael Jordan's retirement. Jordan never played an NBA season wearing these shoes. This model was inspired by baseball cleats that Jordan wore when playing minor-league baseball. Like the VII and VIII models, the Air Jordan IX featured an inner sock sleeve and nubuck accents. The sole featured different symbols and languages of different countries. The Air Jordan IX has been the shoe chosen to adorn Jordan's feet for his statue outside of the United Center in Chicago. In popular culture, in the children's movie The Little Rascals one of the bullies, Butch is wearing a pair of these shoes. American rap icon Tupac Shakur also wore Air Jordans in a popular "Thug Life" photo set in 1993. The shoe was retro-ed in 2002, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014–2018. AJ X: This was released in 1995 in eight different colors, Black/grey, varsity- black, off-white/black/varsity red*, Powder Blue (worn by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Men's and Women's basketball teams), Orlando Magic*, New York Knicks*, Seattle SuperSonics*, and Sacramento Kings*. It was the first Air Jordan to feature a lightweight Phylon midsole. The shoe also featured all of Michael Jordan's accomplishments up to his first retirement on the outsole. In 2012, the Air Jordan X was re-released. They are dubbed the "Chicago Bulls", as they are part of a regional pack (City Pack), representing five teams. The lacing and tongue are completely black, and the red inner lining contrasts with the red inserts on the outsole. The outsole's design features a striped (wavy) design, which list many of Jordan's accomplishments. They retailed at $160. The Air Jordan X was released again in an OVO collaboration in 2015 and 2016, releasing in white and black colorways respectively with stingray detailing. The shoe was retro-ed in 2005, 2008, 2012–2016, and 2018. AJ XI: This model was designed by Tinker Hatfield. When the shoe launched, Michael Jordan (retired from basketball by then) was with the Birmingham Barons in baseball's minor baseball leagues. Hatfield designed the sneaker waiting for Jordan to come back and hoping he would play in them. The ballistic mesh upper of the sneaker was meant to make the Air Jordan XI lighter and more durable than past sneakers. Further changes came with the use of a carbon fiber spring plate in the translucent "frosty" outsole, giving the shoe better torque when twisting on the court. The highlight and arguably best-known aspect of the shoe is its patent leather mudguard. Patent leather was lightweight compared to genuine leather and also tended not to stretch as much – a property to help keep the foot within the bounds of the foot bed during directional changes on the court. The patent leather gave the XI a "formal" look. When this shoe released, some wore this model with business suits instead of dress shoes. The sneakers were only samples in 1995 when Jordan decided to come back to the NBA. Hatfield and Nike discouraged Jordan from playing in them, but once they were produced, he couldn't resist. Also noteworthy, Jordan violated league dress code by wearing the shoes, as his teammates wore all-black shoes. It wasn't the first time Jordan had run afoul of NBA footwear rules, having broken them with his very first signature shoe in 1985. He was fined $5,000 for not following the Bulls colorway policy with the AJ XI. After the fine, Nike made him a pair of the shoes in a black/white/concord colorway for the series against Orlando. A similar black/white/royal blue colorway was released to the public at the end of 2000. The colorway was changed for the public release because the concord purple had looked like royal blue on television. Jordan wore the Air Jordan XI on the way to helping the Chicago Bulls claim the 1995–96 NBA Championship. He also wore the XI white Columbia colorway in the 1996 NBA All-Star Game and was selected MVP of the game. The shoes received more media exposure when Jordan wore the Air Jordan XI model in the 1996 animated movie Space Jam. These shoes were eventually released in 2000 and re-released in 2009 with the nickname Space Jams. The concord purple was changed to royal blue for the released versions of the shoe. The Air Jordan XI was originally released from 1995 to 1996. It was retro'd in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006–2018 and 2019. The Air Jordan XI is the most popular Air Jordan in the series and has released almost ritualistically every December since 2008, selling out in minutes. It also is Hatfield's favorite. With the Air Jordan XI being the most popular Jordan, supply used to be very limited and would cause fans to line up outside of stores before releases. AJ XII: Main article: Air Jordan Retro XII The Air Jordan XII was inspired by Nisshoki (the Japanese flag), and a 19th- century women dress boot. However, featuring gold-plated steel lace loops, embossed lizard skin pattern and a full length zoom air unit with a carbon fiber shank plate, this model set a new direction in style and technology in shoe design. Though not as light weight as previous models, the construction and firmness of the shoe is widely considered to be the most durable and sturdy shoes from the Air Jordan line. The first model released after the creation of subsidiary Jordan Brand, the Air Jordan XII has no Nike branding on it of any kind, while all the models before it have Nike Air or other Nike branding outwardly (Air Jordans I-VI) or just simply on the insoles (Air Jordans VII-XI). This shoe came in 5 colorways and was released on March 13. The shoe was re-released on December 25, 2008 with the Eleven as the final countdown pack. In addition, the Twelve was combined with the Thirteen numbered Jordan to produce the 12.5. As of today, the 11/12 countdown package (retro) retails for –, well above the starting price of . The Air Jordan XII has been subject to many highly limited colorways recently such as the Air Jordan 12 x PSNY collaboration, the Wings colorway that was limited to 12,000 pairs, and the OVO collaboration. The Air Jordan XII was originally released from 1996 to 1997. It was retro-ed in 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011–2013, and 2015–2018. AJ XIII: In 1997, Air Jordan XIIIs were released to the public. This model was known for its cushioning along the feet, designed by Hatfield. The Black Panther was the inspiration for the Air Jordan XIII, the sole resembles the pads on a panther's paw. But also the panther is the hologram on the back of the shoe which imitates a panther's eyes in the dark when light is shined at them. They were re-released in 2005, which coincided with the release of the Air Jordan 8s shoe. In the movie He Got Game, the Air Jordan XIII was worn by Jake Shuttlesworth (Denzel Washington). Ray Allen, who played Jake's son Jesus in the film, wore them when he broke Reggie Miller's all-time record for made three-point shots during a game against the Lakers in Boston during the 2011 season. The Jordan Brand re-released the Air Jordan XIII at the end of 2010, which included the French Blue/Flint Grey, White/Red-Black, "Playoff" color way and the Black/Altitude Green color way. In 2017, Jordan Brand released the "History of Flight" colorway. This colorway is from the 2009 World Basketball Festival, where the "History of Flight" collection was revealed to celebrate Jordan's 25th anniversary. The shoe was retro-ed in 2004, 2005, 2008, and 2010–2018. AJ XIV: Inspired by the Ferrari 550 M which Michael Jordan owned, the Air Jordan XIV was originally released from 1997 to 1999. It was re-released in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2012 and 2014–2018. The Air Jordan XIV co-styled by Hatfield and Mark Smith was made race ready and equipped with the Jordan Jumpman insignia on a Ferrari shaped badge. In addition, these shoes include breathable air ducts on the outer sole. The color scheme of predominant black accentuated with red was nicknamed "The Last Shot" because Michael Jordan wore them as he hit the game winning shot over Bryon Russell, of the Utah Jazz, in his final game with the Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA Finals. There are 14 Jumpman logos on Air Jordan XIV's—7 on each shoe—corresponding the shoes' number in the series. They can be found in the following places: 1. Near the toebox x 1 2. Shield Logo near the achilles heel x 1 3. Above the number "23" at the heel x 1 4. At the bottom sole (middle part) x 1 5. Steel Lacetips x 2 6. Insoles x 1 AJ XV: The Air Jordan XVs were released in 1999–2000. Reggie Miller wore it during the 2000 NBA Finals. This was the first shoe after Jordan's retirement. The design of the XV's originated from the aircraft prototype X-15, which was developed by NASA during the 1950s. The sides of the XV were made from woven kevlar fibre. The Jordan XV's were the first Air Jordans to be negatively received in a while (the last being the Air Jordan 2's), because the quality on the Jordan shoes was bad. The shoe was retro-ed in 2007, 2008, and 2016–2017. AJ XVI: Air Jordan XVIs, designed by Nike's Senior Footwear Designer Wilson Smith, were released in 2001. This meaning it was the first design since the II's that Hatfield was not behind. Smith decided to bring in a few design elements/fabrics from earlier releases. The shoe featured the return of the clear rubber sole (V, VI, XI) and patent leather (XI). Unique to the Air Jordan XVI was a gaiter/shroud that covered the shoe and could be removed to give the shoe a new look. Not only was this for fashion purposes, it also had a thermal functionality. The shoe was said to be stiff and that the shroud/gaiter could easily fall off when playing basketball. The black/red and white/midnight navy versions of the shoe both featured patent leather which very easily creased and cracked. The shoe was retro-ed in 2008, 2014, and 2016. AJ XVII: This pair of Jordans come equipped with Keefer, which held the shoes and a compact disc containing the Air Jordan XVII song. The retail price of the shoe was . The defining functional design element of the Air Jordan XVII model, which was later replicated on the Air Jordan XXIII model, was the reinforced mid-sole which provided a sturdy and stable chassis for the shoe. They were made in four mid top colors and three low-top colors. Some of the original colorways are: Original Black / Metallic Silver Original White / College Blue - Black Original White / Varsity Red - Charcoal Original white / Black Metallic Copper - Sport Royal The shoe was retro-ed in 2008 and 2016. One of the retro-ed colorways is: Retro Black / Metallic Siver Countdown pack. AJ XVIII: The Air Jordan XVIII shoe was released in 2003, and was the shoe for Jordan's last season, in which he played for the Washington Wizards. The shoe was designed by Air Jordan Senior Footwear Designer, Tate Kuerbis, a person that had been part of the Jordan footwear design team since 1999 and with Nike since 1995. The inspiration for the design came from a number of things; sleek racing lines of the auto world, carbon fibre-based monocoque of F1 race cars, race car driving shoes (rubber heel wrap) and Fine Italian dress shoes (bold stitching on the soles). The shoe was retro-ed in 2008. AJ XIX: Released in 2004, this is the first Jordan release after his third, and final, retirement which came after the 2002–03 NBA season. The design was inspired by the black mamba snake, and two original colorways where released: white/flint grey and black/red. Three regional colorways and three special edition colorways were released. They consisted of the East, West, and Midwest edition for regular and West, East, and Olympic for the SE (special edition). The Air Jordan XIX used innovative materials. The upper section of shoe was developed in collaboration with the global materials consultancy Material ConneXion, who sourced Nike a sleeving normally used in architectural applications for protecting PVC pipes from bursting. In theory, this allowed for a shoe without laces, because the sleeving does not stretch. Nonetheless, the Air Jordan XIX model did include a set of laces behind the sleeve to better secure the shoe. They are the lightest Air Jordans ever made. The shoe was retro-ed in 2008. AJ XX: The Air Jordan XX was also inspired by bicycling shoes. The strap was placed in the center of the shoe over the laces. It also helped to create a tighter fit and increased support. The shoe was retro-ed in 2008 and 2015. AJ XXI: The Air Jordan XXI model of shoes was designed by D'Wayne Edwards and inspired by sport touring vehicles. The shoe features lower-foot air grilles, double- overlasted Phylon midsole, a carbon fibre shank plate and a seamless diamond- quilted booty. It also has a tenable I.P.S. suspension system that lets the wearer choose between Zoom and Encapsulated air. The Air Jordan XXI was introduced on television by the "Second Generation" advertisement. The Air Jordan XXI was originally released in 2006. It was retro-ed in 2008. AJ XX2: The Air Jordan XX2/XXII shoe model, designed by D'Wayne Edwards, was released on March 24, 2007. The original retail price of the model was . The aggressive and sharp design was inspired by the F-22 Raptor fighter jet. Some technical features of the shoe include an updated visible and interchangeable I.P.S. suspension system, a new metallic mesh for ventilation, the Air Jordan camouflage pattern printed in reflective 3M material, and an updated traction system, based on an army general's stripes. Two special editions of the Air Jordan XX2 model were released. The first edition was released for Jordan's birthday on February 17. This edition featured authentic Jordan Brand basketball leather. The second edition was the Omega model, part of the Alpha- Omega package. This model featured a laser-etched image of Jordan after he won his sixth NBA championship in 1998. An entirely new line of Air Jordan XX2/XXII shoes called the released, with these shoes worn by NBA players from the Atlanta Hawks, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, and Dallas Mavericks. This Air Jordan model featured a new strap around the heel and ankle. The promo commercial for the XX2 was directed by Mark Romanek. The shoe was retro-ed in 2008. AJ XX3: The Air Jordan XX3 was designed by Tinker Hatfield. It was a unique model, being the first basketball shoe to be included in the "Nike Considered" category, for using materials from not more than 200 miles from a Nike Factory. It features a hand-stitched exterior, full-length bootie, carbon fiber shank plate, the last to feature interchangeable IPS pillars, and an articulated chassis. The shoe was released on January 25, 2008, and was the last Air Jordan until the XX8 to have Roman numeral identification. The shoe was retro-ed in 2015–2016. AJ 2009: The Air Jordan 2009 was designed by Jason Mayden and was the first Air Jordan model named after the year of its release rather than its numbered system. Inspired by Jordan's defensive focus, the shoe incorporates Articulated Propulsion Technology used by Paralympian runners. It also features a durable pleated silk upper, protective TPU chassis, carbon fiber arch plate and Zoom Air structure. The shoe was released on January 31, 2009. The shoe has not been retro-ed. AJ 2010: This is the 25th anniversary of the Air Jordan brand, and although commonly called the Jordan 2010s, is also referred to as Air Jordan XX5/XXV. This model of shoe was announced on November 12, 2009, for a release date of February 13, 2010, retailing for . Dwyane Wade is endorsing the AJ 2010. The base of the each mid-sole has stylized text that when combined reads: "I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." This quote was originally attributed to Michael Jordan, and is a reference to an advertising campaign that aired in 1997 with Jordan detailing his failures that led to his success in his career. The shoe has not been retro-ed. AJ 2011: The Air Jordan 2011 was endorsed by Dwyane Wade in 2011, Jordan Brand decided to keep the fans happy with the release of the Air Jordan 2011. The shoe has inter-changeable insoles- The Red, "Explosive" one is claimed to symbolize power, and a Blue, "Quick" one, supposedly for quickness. Four colorways of the shoe were released on February 19, 2011 in correspondence with the 2011 All Star Game. The first colorway was White/Black. There were also White/Red and White/Blue colorways that coincided with the East/West Jersey Colors. The "Year of the Rabbit" colorway was a limited release that celebrated of Michael Jordan's Chinese zodiac sign, coinciding with the current zodiac sign, the Year of the Rabbit. The 2011 has a unique design along both sides of the shoe. It is a star-constellation pattern that also serves as breathing holes for the shoe to keep it well ventilated. It uses patent leather wrapped around the shoe. The shoes are hand burnished and crafted. A dress shoe that feels similar to the XI was reported to be the goal. The shoe has not been retro-ed. AJ 2012: Air Jordan 2012 offers six customization configurations. Two interchangeable sleeves and three insoles adapt to different playing styles. The Deluxe model was launched on February 8, while the customization Flight models were released on February 25, 2012. It was the final Air Jordan model to be named after the year it was released as the numbered system returned in 2013 with the Air Jordan XX8. The Air Jordan 2012 was originally released in 2012. It has not been retro-ed. AJ XX8: The Air Jordan XX8, designed by Tinker Hatfield, was released on February 16, 2013. This premiere model featuring a mostly black upper and volt Dynamic Fit bootie. A heel and forefoot Nike Zoom unit in combination with the new Jordan Flight Plate, Dynamic Fit straps for increased support, a carbon fiber heel counter for additional support, and its most notable feature, the mesh upper for flexibility and ventilation. Jordan Brand has decided for 2013 to returning to the Air Jordan numbered order after having stopped at XX3. The Air Jordan 2012 featured different technology which including interchangeable insoles for various styles of play, a concept introduced with the Kobe System. The exterior shroud gives the shoe a sleeker look than any other and is 8 inches high on the ankle but unzips and folds down revealing the bright volt green interior. The Air Jordan XX9, also designed by Hatfield, released in September 2014 in both an elephant print and a knit edition. The shoe has already been debuted in the NBA by Russell Westbrook and Kawhi Leonard. The shoe has Flight Web for superior lockdown, a performance woven upper for comfort, support, strength, and protection, and a re-engineered Flight Plate. The XX9 also released in a pack alongside the iconic Air Jordan XI on December 23, 2014 called the "Ultimate Gift of Flight" pack." Jordan released two versions of this shoes. The regular cut and the low version. Some of the colorways released in low version are buckets, Chicago bulls, UNC, and infrared. AJ XXX: The Air Jordan XXX (30) debuted on January 14, 2016 at an exclusive media event in Chicago. It was again designed by Tinker Hatfield. The first colorway of the shoe released on February 16. The shoe consists of an upper and outsole very similar to that of the XX9 of the previous year. The upper is a combination of performance woven and flyknit that is new for the brand in 2016, and also has a flyknit-constructed ankle collar that extends slightly past where the collar of the shoe would normally be. Jordan brand has also brought back functional Dynamic Fit in the lacing system. The outsole/midsole is almost identical to the XX9, with very minor technical tweaks. The outsole boasts a more noticeable change, with a different traction pattern unique to this shoe, while the midsole remains almost entirely the same. The only difference in the midlsole cushioning setup from the Jordan XX9 is a material change in the FlightPlate setup, which is now named FlightSpeed and is constructed of a plastic rather than carbon fiber for more flexibility while remaining structural integrity. AJ XXXI The Air Jordan XXXI (31) was unveiled on July 20, 2016. The sneaker is heavily influenced by the Air Jordan 1's having a leather upper and both a Nike swoosh and a Jumpman plus a Jordan "Wings" logo. Its first retail debut was on September 3, 2016 in the "banned" colorway for $185 alongside its air Jordan 1 counterpart. Notable appearances of the AJ 31 include the "USA" colorway worn during the 2016 Olympic basketball tournament by members of team USA.Basketball at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters. Some of the colorways released are Camo, QUAI 54, Black/Gold, Chicago Away, Chicago Home, Black/White, Midnight Navy, Jordan Brand Classic, and WHY NOT that celebrates Russell Westbrook's fashion sense. AJ XXXII The Air Jordan XXXII (32) was first released on September 23, 2017. This model is heavily influenced by the Air Jordan 2. It also included a Jordan "Wings" logo. It first came out in the "Rossa Corsa" colorway. A special "Banned" colorway was released on October 18, 2017 to coincide with the 31st anniversary for when the NBA banned the original AJ I black and red colorway. Another special edition called the "Russ" colorway was released to celebrate Russell Westbrook's sponsorship with the Jordan brand. Jordan brand released 2 types of this shoe, the original mid length cut and low cut. Some of the colorways they released for low version are freethrow line, camo, like mike, wheat, wing it, and last shot. AJ XXXIII The Air Jordan XXXIII (33) was released on October 18, 2018. This is the first Air Jordan model to go laceless. Michael Jordan and Spike Lee released the Jordan Spiz'ike shoes on October 21, 2006, as a tribute to their historic relationship. The relationship began when Mars Blackmon (a character from Spike Lee's film, She's Gotta Have It) became the primary pitchman in Nike commercials for Air Jordans. The Spiz'ike is a mash-up of the Jordan III, IV, V, VI, Air Jordan IX and XX shoes. Only 4,567 pairs were made of the original release, with all of the proceeds going to Morehouse College. The number 40 represents Spike Lee's film company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, and the number 23 represents Michael Jordan's jersey number. Each future release of the shoes varied the colors used. "Defining Moments" Released in 2006 retailing at $295 containing the sneakers Michael Jordan wore during his first championship of his two three-peats. The retro 11 concord contains a gold Jumpman on the side, but originally was meant to also have gold eyelets spelling out Jordan was changed because of color bleeding. The retro 6 black infrared replaces its infrared for gold as well. Both shoes contained dog tags to reference the title won and a booklet showcasing a slam dunk highlight of the game and concept art of the shoe. Some of the original DMP retro 11 concords have surfaced and are considered some of the rarest air Jordans. "Defining Moments II" The "raging bull pack" retailed for $310 and drew inspiration from the running of the bull that takes place every year in Spain. The pack contains two Air Jordan 5s; the Toro Bravo and the 3m. The Toro Bravo is a red suede sneaker, one of the first of its kind, and it takes inspiration from the red bandanas worn by the runners. The second pair, the 3m, is named after its reflective coating. Both shoes come in a wood gate exterior graphic box with double sided slide out, originally released in 2009. The Jordan Brand released a third "Defining Moments" package on July 11, 2009. The 60+ Air Jordan Retro 1 Package is inspired by Jordan scoring 63 points on the Celtics in a double overtime playoff game during his second year. The Air Jordan Retro 1 60+ Package features a re-release of the sneakers that Jordan wore during that game, and a Retro Air Jordan 1 inspired by the Celtics colors and the parquet floors from the old Boston Garden. The Jordan 6 white/infrared and black/infrared was released February 14, 2013, at a retail price of . This is the second of the same colorway retro in Jordan Brand history. The first time retro on both colorways were in 2000, they were retro separately. This time, the retro distinguished with the previous release. The heel logo are using Jumpman logo instead of Nike Air logo, this is the most significant difference between these two re-releases. Jordan Brand started using Jumpman logo The Jordan Brand released their second two-pair package named the "Old Love New Love" (OLNL), which consisted of the Air Jordan I Retro model in Mid White/Black-Varsity Red (Black Toes) and Black/Varsity-Maize/White. It was released on April 21, 2007. The Old Love New Love package was sold for $200.00. The pack represented Jordan's passions, the old love being basketball the new love being motorcycle racing. Air Jordan Brand released 5 new colorways including one that is themed after another Spike Lee's "Do The Right Thing." There will be more colors of the Air Jordan Spizikes released than of the recent Air Jordan 3 retro re-release. The Air Jordan "Spiz'ikes" take pieces from the following Air Jordans: Air Jordan 3 – sole, midsole, and "Spike"/elephant print, Air Jordan 4 – "wings" on the sides of the shoes that hold lace loops to place "Commander Drew" first found out that Air Force 1's look different online. It is no longer confused, yet you have to get the fusions now that are not a copy because Jordan and Air Force 1 evolved. The first Jordan Sixty Plus was released in August 2009. The Jordan 6ixty Plus (60+) is a hybrid sneaker from Jordan Brand that combines the various sneakers Michael Jordan wore when he scored 60 or more points in an NBA Game. In these games, MJ was wearing the Jordan I, II, V and VII. Inspiration came from the Air Jordan 5 because he was wearing those when he scored his career high of 69 points. Air Jordan 1 – Toebox shape and perforations, Air Jordan 2 – Snakeskin accents, rear TPU, lower Eyelets, Jordan "Wings" logo on tongue, Air Jordan 5 – Midsole/Outsole, shape of tongue, Lacelock, mold of upper near ankle, higher eyelets, "Air Jordan" tag inside of tongue, Air Jordan 7 – Perforations on side panel, "gap" between ankle area and body of shoe, graphics on tongue, heel tab, 23 on rear TPU The "Jordan Son of Mars" is an Air Jordan hybrid shoe, that released in the Summer of 2012. It borrows prominent design elements from the Air Jordan III, IV, V, VI, and XX. It also retains a strap across the shoe laces, that is a custom modification with a design that seems to be elephant print but is instead a series of relevant icons, etc. The Jordan Son of Mars was birthed from the Spizike, which was originally inspired by all the Jordan shoes made in collaboration with famous urban director Spike Lee. Son of Mars is a sneaker directly influenced by Spike Lee's longtime involvement with the brand, as the shoe pieces together models in which Spike (or Mars Blackmon rather) had a hand in launching. The shoe breakdown begins with elements from the first Tinker Hatfield years, Mars Blackmon; Lee's loudmouthed character first appeared alongside Michael Jordan for the release of the Air Jordan III, a sneaker whose immediately recognizable elephant print bookends the Jordan Son of Mars, with sectioning on the back end and towards the toe. Next the Air Jordan IV, which is pretty conspicuous in this hybrid release, shows up only in the form of the netting running below the laces. The sole construction is all Air Jordan V, as the coveted icy treatment splashes across the bottom and the angular 'teeth' of the midsole rear up towards the toe. The V actually extends its reach to the top end too, with the textured Jumpman tongue bursting out from the familiar see-through lacelocks. Building up the ankle area is the higher-hitting support of the Air Jordan VI, complete with the attached loop on back and the perforated paneling reaching up the side of the shoe. The midsection which completes the sneaker is a major fast-forward, leaping ahead to the Air Jordan XX in the form of the lasered strap. The Jordan Son of Mars takes on one of the favorite color schemes in the Jordan Brand line. This package consisted of two variations of Retro Air Jordan, in which each model number equaled 23. So the Retro I was released in a package with the Retro XXII, the Retro II with the Retro XXI, etc. The first Countdown package consisted of the reintroduced Air Jordan XIII model in white/black-true red. The package also included a pair of the shadow grey Air Jordan X model with the number 23 stitched on the side of the shoes. The package cost The second Countdown package consisted of the Air Jordan Retro XIV model in Black/Varsity Red which was similar to the Air Jordan "Last Shot" XIV model though it consisted of a white stitching on the sides, a different color outer arch, and a different colored Jumpman logo on the side. The other Air Jordan was the Air Jordan Retro IX model in a White/Black/True Red colorway. The package retailed for and was released March 15, 2008. The third Countdown package consisted of the Air Jordan Retro II model in White/Varsity Red. The other Air Jordan in this package was the Air Jordan Retro XXI model in Black/Varsity Red. The package retailed and was released April 26, 2009. The fourth Countdown package consisted of the Air Jordan Retro VI model in White/Carmine. The other Air Jordan in this package would be Air Jordan Retro XVII model in Black/Metallic Silver. The package cost and was released May 24, 2008. The final Countdown package consisted of the Air Jordan Retro XI model in Varsity Red/Black. The other Air Jordan in this package was the Air Jordan Retro XII model in Black/White. This line of sneakers consist of a fusion of several Air Jordan and Air Force One Models. A fusion between the Air Jordan XII model and the Midtop Air Force One model. "Commander Drew" aka Andrew Lam had the first Jordan Air Force 1 Fusion. A fusion between the Air Jordan III model and the Air Force One model. This package is the only original colorway of the Air Jordan V model that was not released in the last round of re-releases. Like the Air Jordan V model, the outsole is a mix of black and clear rubber; there is no visible air sole unit in these shoes. The shoe a rubber loop in the back, middle upright cotton jumpman, rubber tongue, and the lace lock first was brought in an infrared colorway. It is said Michael Jordan wears these shoes in his practice games. A fusion between the Air Jordan VI and the Air Force One model. A fusion between the Air Jordan XX and the Air Force One model. These feature the same laser upper as the original XX but replace the ankle strap and sole with that of the Air Force One. Has the numbers one through till six on the heel to represent Jordan's 6 championships ever. A fusion bet A fusion between the Air Jordan VIII and the Midtop Air Force One model. A fusion between the Air Jordan IX and the Air Force One model. A fusion between the Air Jordan X and the Midtop Air Force One model. A fusion between the Air Jordan XIII and the Midtop Air Force One model. The Jordan 6 Rings (aka Jordan Six Rings) is a combination of the seven Air Jordan shoes that Michael Jordan wore during his 6 Championship seasons. That includes the Air Jordan 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13 and 14. The Jordan Brand company released the "6 Rings" shoes starting in September 2008. The Jordan Brand released colorways representative of each team that the Chicago Bulls defeated in each of their six championship seasons during the 1990s. The colorways include colors borrowed from the following teams: the L.A. Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns, the former Seattle SuperSonics, and Utah Jazz, each shoe of which includes laser-etched graphics detailing specific aspects about that particular championship series, the city of the competing team and so forth. Many other colorways exist and Jordan Brand continues to release additional colors that pay tribute to different Jordan and Nike shoes along with new colorways specific to 6 Rings shoes. There even exists a "winterized 6 rings" which are a modified 6 Rings shoe turned into a durable boot designed for the outdoors which changes some of the design and placement of the inspired pieces and parts from the Air Jordans the shoe pays tribute. Of particular note, there is an Olympic colorway, a Nelly version apparently inspired by the rap artist Nelly and a shoe that combines the colors of all the teams that the Bulls defeated in the NBA Finals, acting as the 'sixth shoe' since only five separate teams were defeated for the Bulls to win six championships; the Utah Jazz was defeated twice, in 1997 and 1998. Air Jordan 6: Heel tab "spoiler", Jumpman on heel from retro 6 models, and lace locks, Air Jordan 7: Nike Huarache style inner sock and perforated air holes in the mudguard of the upper, Air Jordan 8: Chenille carpet-style sections on the tongue surrounding the Jumpman logo, dual velcro straps, the shape of the "23" printed on the lace locks and the colors on the midfoot arch plate on the sole, Air Jordan 11: Silhouette of upper, lace eyestays on certain models and patent leather mudguard, Air Jordan 12: TWO 3 embroidered on the tongue and metal lace loops at top of the ankle, Air Jordan 13: Midsole "pods" and panther paw-shaped outsole, Air Jordan 14: Small Jumpman logo embroidered at the top, Air Jordan 15: insole The Air Jordan line has been associated with many riots, assaults, robberies, and murders, such as the murder of a 15-year-old high school student named Michael Eugene Thomas who was choked to death by one of his peers for a pair of Air Jordan sneakers in 1989. In 1988, the then-principal of Mumford High School in Detroit mentioned that clothing-related violence had reached a point where he felt it was necessary to ban certain items of clothing, including the Air Jordan sneaker, from the school grounds. This ban was the first of many dress codes implemented in schools after the wave of robberies, beatings, and shootings over possession of Air Jordan sneakers and other items of clothing. Nike owns none of the factories where Air Jordans are produced and contracts the work to various factory owners. Company officials say that they only design and market the shoes. However, Nike dictates production terms and standards to the contractor, often without questioning labor or safety practices. In April 1997, 10,000 Indonesian workers went on strike over wage violations at an Air Jordan factory. The same month in Vietnam 1,300 workers went on strike demanding a 1-cent-per-hour raise, and a year later in 1998, 3,000 workers in China went on strike to protest hazardous working conditions and low wages cause. Starting in 2016, Air Jordan became the sole equipment provider for the University of Michigan football team. This marked the brand's first venture into a sport besides basketball. As of 2018, Air Jordan is also the equipment provider for the University of North Carolina, University of Oklahoma, and University of Florida football programs. Paris Saint-Germain F.C. soccer football players wore the basketball brand logo during the 2018 Champions League. (Since July 2019) Charlotte Hornets LaMarcus Aldridge, Carmelo Anthony, Dwayne Bacon, Bismack Biyombo, Jimmy Butler, Mike Conley Jr., Luka Dončić, Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin, Rui Hachimura, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Victor Oladipo, Jabari Parker, Chris Paul, Otto Porter Jr., Jayson Tatum, Moe Wagner, Kemba Walker, Russell Westbrook, Zion Williamson, Cody Zeller Maya Moore, Kia Nurse, Asia Durr Guo Ailun Dellin Betances, Mookie Betts, Dexter Fowler, Gio González, Aaron Hicks, Kenley Jansen, Kyle Lewis, Manny Machado, Yadier Molina, David Price, Corey Ray, CC Sabathia, Taijuan Walker Jamal Adams, Earl Thomas, Joe Haden, Jordan Reed, Melvin Ingram, Thomas Davis, Alshon Jeffery, Malik Hooker, DeShone Kizer, Dwayne Haskins, Le'Veon Bell, Jimmy Garoppolo, Sterling Shepard, Jordan Howard, Cameron Jordan, Dont'a Hightower, Bobby Wagner, Tyrann Mathieu, Michael Thomas, Dez Bryant, Michael Crabtree Harold Varner III Sloane Stephens, Roger Federer Nigel Sylvester Denny Hamlin The Jordan Brand partners with UNCF to fund the higher education of underprivileged youth. Air Jordan is well known for reaching out to popular music artists and having them help create a unique Air Jordan to call their own. These include artists like Travis Scott, Eminem and Drake. Air Jordan is popular among the streetwear companies and designers to collaborate with. Jasper Lutwama and Aidan Vryenhoek are known to have signed a 10 million dollar deal which will span over 3 years. Together they create several unique Jordans that greatly impact both companies. Some of the most popular collaborations to date include Virgil Abloh and his brand Off White, and Supreme. Jordan Brand website, "History of the Air Jordan franchise" at SneakerNews.com, "Every Jordan Ever Made" at Nike

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"The Chain" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their critically acclaimed, best-selling album Rumours. It is the only song from the album credited to all five members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood). "The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including solo work by Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie. It was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with hired engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. Following the critical and commercial success of Rumours, "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. It was featured as the opening track on The Dance, a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several greatest hits compilations. It has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television coverage of Formula One. According to interviews on the writing of Rumours, the final section of "The Chain"—beginning with a bass progression—was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately and thought they would be a good match; she and Christine McVie did some reworking to create the first section of the tune. Other elements were worked in from an early project of Christine's called "Keep Me There", which removed the blues-style motif, but retained the chord progression. To complete the song, Buckingham recycled the intro from an earlier song from a duet with Nicks, "Lola (My Love)", originally released on their self-titled 1973 album, which was attached manually using a razor blade to cut and splice the tapes. Due to the spliced nature of the record (the drums and guitar were the only instruments recorded in each other's company) and its sporadic composition and assembly from different rejected songs, "The Chain" is one of only a few Fleetwood Mac songs whose authorship is credited to all members of the band at the time. The finished song itself has a basic rock structure, although it has two distinct portions: the main verse and chorus, and the outro. Influences of hard rock, folk, and country are also present. The Dobro, a type of resonator guitar, supplies the verse riff. The guitar uses double drop D tuning: D A D G B D with a capo on the second fret and Travis picking. It is in E minor, which is the relative minor key for G. Rumours garnered widespread critical acclaim upon its release. Subsequent analysis of "The Chain" has also led many to cite it as one of the most evocative expressions of the internal fracture among various band members at the time. Buckingham and Nicks were ending their relationship at the same time that John and Christine McVie's marriage broke down, as did that of Fleetwood and his wife Jenny Boyd. In 1997, Fleetwood Mac released a live concert CD/DVD package called The Dance, which featured the reunion of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac members. The rendition of "The Chain" reached number 30 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. It has also appeared on 25 Years - The Chain and The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. The vocal range is G3 to C#5. Lindsey Buckingham – electric guitars, Dobro, lead vocals, Stevie Nicks – lead and harmony vocals • tambourine (just in live versions), Christine McVie – Harmonium, Hammond organ, harmony vocals, John McVie – fretless bass guitar, Mick Fleetwood – drums, tambourine The song was recorded by the American rock band Tantric, released as the second single off their 2004 second album After We Go. Though being released as a single the song lacked much promotion, debuting at number 36 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Tantric's cover of the song was used as the theme song for the HBO Documentary series Family Bonds. The BBC's Formula One coverage used the ending bass line as a theme tune from 1978 until 1996 and again from 2009 to 2015, thus making the song highly recognisable in the United Kingdom. On 29 March 2009 the song re-entered the UK Chart at #94 through downloads, following confirmation from the BBC that it would be reintroduced, the BBC having regained broadcasting rights from ITV. On 20 March 2011, "The Chain" peaked higher at #81 in the UK chart following a campaign on Facebook to try to get the song to number 1 for the start of the 2011 Formula One season. By April 2018, the song had been certified Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry based on download sales alone. Tusk is the 12th studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released as a double album on 12 October 1979. It is considered more experimental than their previous albums: partly a consequence of Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of post-punk. The production costs were estimated to be over $1 million (equivalent to $ in ), making it the most expensive rock album recorded to that date. The band embarked on a nine-month tour to promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. In Germany, they shared the bill with Bob Marley. On this world tour, the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live album released in 1980. Compared to 1977's Rumours, which sold 10 million copies by February 1978, Tusk was regarded as a commercial failure by the label, selling four million copies. In 2013, NME ranked Tusk at number 445 in their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In 2000 it was voted number 853 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. Going into Tusk, Lindsey Buckingham was adamant about creating an album that sounded nothing like Rumours: "For me, being sort of the culprit behind that particular album, it was done in a way to undermine just sort of following the formula of doing Rumours 2 and Rumours 3, which is kind of the business model Warner Bros. would have liked us to follow." Mick Fleetwood decided early on that Tusk was to be a double album. After their label turned down Fleetwood's offer of buying a new studio to make the record, the band used some of their royalties to construct their own Studio D. Even with the custom studio, Warner Brothers still charged the band for the recording sessions. Production costs rose beyond a million dollars, far more than Rumours. "During the making of Tusk, we were in the studio for about 10 months and we got 20 songs out of it. Rumours took the same amount of time. It (Rumours) didn't cost so much because we were in a cheaper studio. There's no denying what it cost, but I think it's been taken out of context." After the studio was built, Buckingham queried Fleetwood about recording some songs at his home studio. Fleetwood acquiesced, but told Buckingham that the other members needed to be integrated at some point. Most of Buckingham's demos were augmented with contributions from other members. Fleetwood overdubbed his drums over Buckingham's snare-drum track, which he sometimes played on a Kleenex box. Despite this, three tracks were recorded solely by Buckingham: "The Ledge", "Save Me a Place", and "That's Enough For Me". Producer Ken Caillat commented on Buckingham's obsessive nature in the studio: "He was a maniac. The first day, I set the studio up as usual. Then he said, 'Turn every knob 180 degrees from where it is now and see what happens.' He'd tape microphones to the studio floor and get into a sort of push-up position to sing. Early on, he came in and he'd freaked out in the shower and cut off all his hair with nail scissors. He was stressed." Buckingham – infatuated with bands such as Talking Heads – was "desperate to make Mac relevant to a post-punk world", according to music journalist Bob Stanley, who commented that, compared to Rumours, Tusk was "unleavened weirdness, as close to its predecessor as the Beach Boys' lo-fi Smiley Smile had been to Pet Sounds. Much of it sounded clattery, half-formed, with strange rhythmic leaps and offbeat tics." Journalist Adam Webb described the Tusk recording sessions as a "cocaine blizzard" that Christine McVie's then- boyfriend, Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson, "never really came out [from]." Music historian Domenic Priore claimed that, for research purposes during the album's recording, Buckingham accessed the master tapes for the Beach Boys' unreleased album Smile, and that the tracks "That's All For Everyone" and "Beautiful Child" most strongly exemplify its influence. Bassist John McVie commented that the album "sounds like the work of three solo artists", while Fleetwood said it was his second favourite Fleetwood Mac studio album behind Then Play On. "You got that sweetness [from Nicks and McVie] and me as the complete nutcase," Buckingham observed. "That's what makes us Fleetwood Mac." Tusk peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 album chart in the U.S., but spent less than 9 months on the chart. It was certified double platinum for shipping two million copies. It peaked at number one in the UK and achieved a platinum award for shipments in excess of 300,000 copies. The album gave the group two U.S. top-10 hit singles, with the Buckingham-penned title track (US number eight/UK number six), and the Stevie Nicks composition "Sara" (US number seven/UK number 37). In his review for Rolling Stone, Stephen Holden emphasized the experimental nature of the album, with comparisons to the Beatles' White Album: "Like The White Album, Tusk is less a collection of finished songs than a mosaic of pop-rock fragments by individual performers." Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was more ambivalent, lauding Buckingham's production and experimentation, while dismissing Christine McVie's and Stevie Nicks's contributions. Retrospectively, AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found the album to be timeless, calling it "a peerless piece of pop art" that rivals the more accessible Rumours album in terms of quality. Amanda Petrusich of Pitchfork found the album to be "self indulgent" and "terrifically strange". Contemporary and retrospective reviewers alike have noted the stark contrast between the album's lush opening track, "Over and Over", and jarring production of the following track, "The Ledge". Though the album sold four million copies worldwide, and earned a Grammy nomination in 1981 for its art design in the category "Best Album Package", the band's record label deemed the project a failure, laying the blame squarely with Buckingham (considering the comparatively huge sales of Rumours and the album's unprecedented recording expense). Fleetwood, however, blames the album's relative failure on the RKO radio chain playing the album in its entirety prior to release, thus allowing mass home recording. In addition, Tusk was a double album, with a high list price of US$16.00, or $56.00 in 2019 terms. Further releases from the album, "Not That Funny" (UK-only single release), "Think About Me", and "Sisters of the Moon" were slightly remixed for radio, and were less successful. The latter two appear in their 'single versions' on the 2002 compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, while "Sara", which was cut to 4½ minutes for both the single and the first CD release of the album, appear on the 1988 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2004 reissue of Tusk, as well as Fleetwood Mac's 2002 release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac in its unedited form. A 2-disc remastered version of the album was released in 2004, featuring the entire, unedited version of the original album on the first disc and various demos, outtakes and alternative versions on the second disc. A 5-CD deluxe edition featuring many unreleased demos, live tracks and an Alternate Tusk was released on December 4, 2015. Tusk remastered, An alternate version of the complete album consisting of session outtakes, most of which have never been released, A selection of singles, demos and remixes, Unreleased performances from the band’s 1979–1980 Tusk tour with selections from concerts in London, Tucson, St. Louis, and one song in Omaha., A DVD with both a 24 bit/96 kHz stereo mix and a 5.1 surround mix of the original album Tusk was also issued as a 180-gram 2-LP set. Another alternative version of Tusk was released on Record Store Day 2016. In addition to the above outtakes, several other Nicks songs were demoed for Tusk: "Love You Enough" (unreleased), "Beauty And The Beast" (The Wild Heart), "Smile At You" (Say You Will), "Secret Love" (In Your Dreams), "The Dealer" and "Watch Chain" (). Note , = Previously unreleased; all live tracks are previously unreleased. Fleetwood Mac Lindsey Buckingham – vocals, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, percussion, Stevie Nicks – vocals, Christine McVie – vocals, keyboards, piano, organ, John McVie – bass guitar, Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion Additional musicians Peter Green – guitar, USC Trojan Marching Band – horns and percussion Production and design Fleetwood Mac – producers, Richard Dashut – producer, engineer, Ken Caillat – producer, engineer, remastering, Rich Feldman – assistant engineer, Hernan Rojas – assistant engineer, Ken Perry – mastering, Peter Beard – photography, Jayme Odgers – photography, Norman Seeff – photography, Vigon Nahas Vigon – art direction, design Weekly charts Year-end charts In 1981, Mick Fleetwood covered "Walk a Thin Line" on his solo album The Visitor., In 2002, Camper Van Beethoven released a full cover of the original Tusk album in its entirety. The cover art and track listings are almost identical., In 2004, The Twilight Singers covered "What Makes You Think You're The One" on their covers album She Loves You., In 2007, Mossyrock covered "I Know I'm Not Wrong" for their debut EP which was also called I Know I'm Not Wrong; it was later rereleased on the compilation album The Three EPs., In 2012, The Flowers of Hell included a cover of "Over & Over" featuring Neil Wilkinson and Abi Fry of British Sea Power on their Odes album., In 2012, Tame Impala covered "That's All for Everyone" for the Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Want Me., In 2012, Craig Wedren and St. Vincent covered "Sisters of the Moon" for the Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Want Me., In 2012, Bonnie "Prince" Billy and Matt Sweeney covered "Storms" for the Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Want Me., In 2012, Marianne Faithfull covered "Angel" for the Fleetwood Mac tribute compilation Just Tell Me That You Want Me., In 2012, Best Coast covered "Storms" for the B-side of the title track of their second album The Only Place. Tusk (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed) "Love Shines" is a song by British-American band Fleetwood Mac. The song was released as a single in 1992 to support the compilation album 25 Years – The Chain. This was the first single released after the departure of vocalist Stevie Nicks and guitarist Rick Vito. The song was released as a single in Europe, but in North America "Paper Doll" was released instead. The official music video features the four remaining members playing the song on top of a building in Hollywood. Christine McVie – keyboards, lead vocals, Billy Burnette – electric guitar, Dobro, backing vocals, John McVie – bass guitar, Mick Fleetwood – drums, tambourine, maracas

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Logan Alexander Paul (born April 1, 1995) is an American YouTuber, internet personality and actor known for his YouTube video content. As well as posting on his own YouTube channel, Paul has run the Impaulsive podcast since November 2018, which currently has over 1.8 million followers. Paul gained a following in 2013, posting sketches on the video-sharing application Vine. He registered his YouTube channel, TheOfficialLoganPaul, on October 18, 2013, where he started posting regularly following the closure of the Vine app. He later created the Logan Paul Vlogs channel on August 29, 2015, which has since become his most subscribed YouTube channel. As of January 2020, the channel has received over 20 million subscribers and 4.8 billion views, ranking as the 54th subscribed in the United States, and placing Paul among the top 140 subscribed channels on the platform. As an actor, Paul's television and film work includes guest appearances on and Weird Loners, and roles in films The Thinning (2016) and The Space Between Us (2017). Paul has also expanded his content into other avenues; he released his debut single, "Help Me Help You" in 2017, and in 2018, fought British YouTuber KSI in an amateur white-collar boxing match. The fight ended in a majority draw and has been labelled 'the largest event in YouTube history'. In the subsequent rematch, which was a professional bout, Paul lost to KSI by split decision. Paul has been involved in several controversies, most notably in relation to a visit to Japan, during which he who had hanged himself and posted the footage on his YouTube channel. He has English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Jewish ancestry. Growing up in Ohio with younger brother Jake, he began creating internet videos for a YouTube channel called Zoosh when he was 10 years old. Paul attended Westlake High School, achieving the ranks of the Plain Dealer's All-Star linebacker on the football team in 2012, and qualifying for the state-level Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) 2013 Division I Wrestling Individual Championships. By the time he attended college, his YouTube channel had attained a modest following via the platform Vine. He majored in Industrial Engineering at Ohio University before dropping out in 2014 to pursue a career as a full-time social media entertainer in Los Angeles, moving into an apartment complex in Los Angeles with other Vine stars. Paul rose to fame as a member on the Internet video sharing service Vine. In February 2014, he had over 3.1 million followers on various social media platforms. By April 2014 he had attained 105,000 Twitter followers, 361,000 Instagram followers, 31,000 likes on his Facebook page and about 150,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. A YouTube compilation video of his Vine work garnered more than four million views the first week it was posted. In 2015 he was ranked as the 10th most influential figure on Vine, with his six-second videos earning him hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising revenue. By that October, his Facebook videos alone had more than 300 million views. In early 2015, Paul appeared on . He also appeared on the Fox TV series Weird Loners, where he appeared in the role of the Paul Twins. He starred in two episodes of the Freeform series Stitchers. In 2016, Paul starred in the YouTube Red movie The Thinning opposite Peyton List. In early 2016, Paul trained with drama coaches and the comedy troupes The Groundlings and Upright Citizens Brigade. Paul wrote the screenplay for an adult comedy, Airplane Mode, which has been described as "American Pie for Gen Z", and by Paul himself as "Expendables with Internet stars." The film was originally planned to be released in 2017, but was eventually released on August 2, 2019 after being delayed. Paul was also involved in a number of advertising campaigns, including for Hanes, PepsiCo, and HBO. In 2016, Comcast purchased a short form digital TV series from Paul called Logan Paul VS. In February 2017, Dwayne Johnson released on his own YouTube channel, "Logan Paul has been cut from, like, all of The Rock's movies", a video starring himself and Paul, in which Johnson informs Paul that he has been cut from all of Johnson's films, and consoles Paul by making him the "ambassador" to his upcoming Baywatch feature film. On November 23, 2017, Paul released his new single, "No Handlebars", a track based heavily around an interpolated sample of the song "Handlebars" by the American alternative hip hop group Flobots. The song was heavily criticized for its perceived sexual objectification of women, including a scene in its music video where Paul rides several women like a bicycle. Flobots frontman Jamie Laurie lambasted Paul for both the "sexist" lyrical content of the song and for unauthorized use of the sample, calling him the face of "douchebag entitlement." Laurie would later go on to release a track with lyrics deriding Paul, titled "Handle Your Bars". Paul did not respond to Laurie's comments nor the backlash towards "No Handlebars", however, he has since deleted the song from YouTube. On December 31, 2017, Paul uploaded a vlog to his YouTube channel depicting the recently deceased corpse of a man who had died by hanging himself in Aokigahara at the base of Mount Fuji in Japan, known as the "suicide forest" due to its infamy as a suicide site. Initially intended to be part three of his "Tokyo Adventures" series, Paul and his group had planned to camp in the woods, but in response to finding the corpse, decided to notify the authorities and cancel their plans. The video gained 6.3 million views within 24 hours of being uploaded. Logan was also criticized for other misbehavior he was captured taking part in during the trip, including climbing onto a moving forklift at the Tsukiji fish market, removing his clothing on a crowded street, then proceeding to 'fight' with one of the people he was travelling with, and throwing a giant Poké Ball at passing citizens, including an officer of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Paul's video depicting the corpse and his group's reactions to it was criticized by celebrities and politicians. In addition, Paul was accused by other members of the YouTube community of being insensitive to suicide victims. Several petitions were made to Change.org urging YouTube to delete Paul's channel, the largest of which received more than 500,000 signatures as of January 12, 2018. As a result of the backlash, Paul removed the video from his YouTube channel, following up with a written apology on Twitter on January 1, 2018. On January 2, 2018, a subsequent video apology was released to YouTube in which Paul describes his behavior as a "coping mechanism", asking his fans to stop defending his actions in the process. On January 9, YouTube issued a statement via their Twitter account condemning Paul's video. In the series of tweets they said, "It's taken us a long time to respond, but we've been listening to everything you've been saying. We know that the actions of one creator can affect the entire community, so we'll have more to share soon on steps we're taking to ensure a video like this is never circulated again." On January 10, YouTube announced it was removing Paul's channels from Google Preferred, its preferred ad program, and , the sequel to his YouTube film The Thinning, was placed on hold, with the airing of Logan Paul VS. being halted as well. Paul was also cut from season 4 of the YouTube Red series Foursome and the role of Alec Fixler was terminated. On January 15, Paul was seen at LAX by reporters from TMZ. Paul said that he has learned a lot from his mistakes and believes he has been treated "fairly". When asked whether or not he deserves a second chance, Paul replied, "Everyone deserves second chances, bro." In response, Paul donated $1 million to suicide prevention agencies, a quarter of which is going to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. On February 4, Paul officially returned to his daily vlogs on YouTube, after taking a month-long hiatus. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki said on February 12 that Paul did not violate YouTube's three-strike policy and did not meet the criteria for being banned from the platform. In wake of the controversy regarding the suicide video, Maverick Apparel, a brand for juniors and children, threatened Paul with legal action for giving his clothing line a similar name ("Maverick by Logan Paul"), believing shoppers are confusing their line with Paul's, resulting in a deep decline in sales. On February 9, 2018, YouTube suspended all advertising on Paul's channels due to his "pattern of behavior", referring to his participation in the Tide Pod challenge, removing a fish from his pond to "jokingly give it CPR", and tasering two dead rats. His revenue was temporarily halted as a result, and the suspension Paul posted on the streaming service, Twitch. Two weeks later, on February 26, youtube restored ads on Logan's channel, however his channel was still on a 90-day “probation period” during which time content from his channel won't be eligible to be on YouTube trending tab. In January 2019, Paul remarked on his Impaulsive podcast, "What is it, male-only March? ... We're gonna attempt to go gay for just one month." Paul received widespread criticism for implying that being homosexual is a choice, with LGBT+ organization GLAAD responding to Paul's statement on Twitter, writing, "That's not how it works, Logan Paul." In March 2019, Paul released what has been described as a Flat Earth mockumentary, exploring the Flat Earth Theory. In the video, Paul interviewed many self-proclaimed "Flat Earthers", and spoke at the 2018 Flat Earth International Conference, which took place in Denver, Colorado. On February 3, 2018, following his white collar amateur boxing match with Joe Weller, British YouTuber KSI challenged Paul to a boxing match. On February 24, 2018, it was announced that Paul and his brother would be fighting KSI and his younger brother, Deji, in two white-collar boxing matches. The fight ended as a majority draw, with two judges scoring the fight even at 57–57 and a third judge scoring 58–57 in favor of KSI. On September 4, 2019, it was announced that Paul would be making his professional boxing debut in a rematch against KSI, which would shown exclusively on DAZN. The fight was scheduled to take place on November 9 at the Staples Center. At the UK press conference for the rematch, Paul again stirred controversy as he accused KSI of having five abortions, before remarking "Five babies dead. I might return the favour and kill you". He received criticism from pro-choice abortion activists, who described his comment as 'horrific'; Paul responded saying "I said something distasteful and insensitive" but did not apologise for the incident. The rematch, which consisted of six three minute rounds, resulted in a win for KSI via split decision, with two judges scoring the fight 57–54 and 56–55 for KSI, and one judging scoring it 56–55 in favor of Paul. In October 2015, Paul lived in the same apartment complex on Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood, California as other social media celebrities including Amanda Cerny, Juanpa Zurita and Andrew Bachelor, with his roommates Mark Dohner and Evan Eckenrode. This proximity facilitated various collaborations on their respective videos. In October 2017, Paul and Eckenrode relocated to an estate in Encino, California. In July 2018, Paul and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D actress Chloe Bennet confirmed that they were dating, having been close since July 2017 after having met on the set of Valley Girl. They split in September 2018. Paul is red-green colorblind. However, he has been parodied and criticized by YouTube personalities such as Ethan Klein and iDubbbz for faking his reactions in a video in which he used color-corrective glasses for the first time. Paul himself admits that he "embellished" and "exaggerated [his] reactions" to the glasses, but added that he "did not lie" about his impairment. In February 2019, Paul claimed that he has brain damage, which he sustained from playing high school football. Paul claims it affects his ability to have empathy and a human connection with others. When filming a video for his Vine channel, Paul attempted a stunt during which he landed onto a chair and damaged part of his right testicle. List of diss tracks § YouTube Lia Marie Johnson (born November 23, 1996) is an American actress, singer, and Internet personality known for appearing in various web series, including the Emmy-winning web series Kids React (created by the Fine Brothers), and for her own vlogging and social media output. She is also known for her starring role in the Nickelodeon movie Terry the Tomboy and for recurring roles in AwesomenessTV's Side Effects TV Series and My Music. In 2012 her personal YouTube channel, "Lia Marie Johnson", was reported to have received 16 million views. As of 2017, Lia's YouTube channel is reported to have surpassed 117 million views and currently maintains over 1.7 million subscribers, while her Instagram account was followed by 1.5 million followers. In a 2014 Adweek profile she was referred to as one of "10 of the biggest young stars on YouTube". In 2015 she was named one of the Top 100 YouTubers in the world. Johnson was born in Wahiawa, Hawaii. Her family eventually settled in California. In 2012, in a combined episode of Teens React and Elders React about the 2012 United States presidential election, Johnson stated that she is a Democrat. Johnson's YouTube account was created in 2007, with videos uploaded by her mother which featured her performances at talent shows, and church recitals. After two years, Johnson began to control the output of the channel, creating content that has come to include personal commentary, sketch comedy, and musical performances. In 2010, Johnson began to work with the Fine Brothers as a recurring guest on their Kids React series. This exposure increased the traffic to her own channel and became an early source of her online fame. In the aftermath of the initial series episodes, she was surprised by the phenomenon of strangers knowing her and approaching her as fans, and remarked "I think Kids React was my very first viral video, 'cus everyone knew my name after that." In 2011, Johnson was added to the recurring cast of the spin-off series Teens React, and in 2014 was moved again to the newly established YouTubers React, which featured herself and various well known YouTube personalities. In 2014, Johnson appeared at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and starred in Terry the Tomboy: The Movie, a spin-off film based on the eponymous character she portrays on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series, AwesomenessTV. In 2015 she covered the single "Latch" by Disclosure, singing with Alejandro Luis Manzano of Boyce Avenue, and released it on YouTube. The song was originally performed by singer Sam Smith. Johnson has also been featured on the covers of Adweek and BYou Magazine. On January 9, 2015, Johnson released her first single, "Moment Like You", along with a music video which can be found on her YouTube channel. She appeared in the music video for Post Malone's single "Go Flex", which was released on April 28, 2016. On September 28, she explained to her fans that she had signed to Capitol Records, and was continuing to work on the music album she had been recording for the previous two years. The following month she released her first single produced by Howard Benson through Capitol Records titled "DNA" which surpassed 29 million Spotify streams. On February 17, 2017 Johnson released her second single "Cold Heart Killer". The music video for the song was released on March 10, 2017. A year later, Johnson debuted her third single “Champagne” on May 17, 2018. Starting mid November of 2019, Lia teased a new project on her Instagram page, with one promotional photo being posted everyday . Seven days later, Lia announced her fourth single titled, "Moonflower," on November 23, 2019. As much as her career has soared through the film and music industry, her Instagram presence has been publicly concerning as she has been accused of live streaming under the influence of alcohol several times. Concerns have also been raised regarding the relationship between Johnson and her producer Steven Weatherbee, who has been accused of inappropriately touching Johnson without her consent. On January 2nd, 2020, Steven Weatherbee appeared on Lia's instagram Stream groping an intoxicated Lia off camera before Weatherbee became alarmed of her audience observing this live. Johnson later stated that police had visited her. Steven was then seen to take her phone and shut her stream. In response to the situation, Lia's fanbase has responded with #SaveLiaMarieJohnson in an attempt to push actions against Steven Weatherbee. Internet celebrity, List of YouTubers, Social impact of YouTube The Thinning is a 2016 American social science fiction thriller web film directed by Michael Gallagher and starring Logan Paul, Peyton List, Lia Marie Johnson, Calum Worthy, Matthew Glave, Michael Traynor, and Stacey Dash. It is set in a dystopian future in which population control is enforced through a school aptitude test. Those who fail it will be executed. Two high school students learn, to their horror, that the tests are rigged. In the year 2039, Earth's resources are nearly depleted by overpopulation, and global warming leaves less land for the world population to live. The United Nations declares that all nations must cut their population by 5% each year. While some countries kill their elderly and others enforce a one-child policy, the United States implements a policy known as 10-241 or the "Thinning", a standardized test taken from first grade to twelfth grade. Those who pass continue to the next grade, while those who fail are executed. The story is set in Austin, Texas where Laina Michaels (Peyton List) helps Simon (Miles Elliot) study for the Thinning. When he is unable to understand the content, Laina reluctantly sells Simon a small contact lens that will solve the questions on the test for him, and uses the money earned to pay for treatments for her sick mother. On their way to the Thinning exam, Simon is nudged and his contact falls out. A guard ushers him into the building, and without the lens, he fails his exam and is ultimately executed. Before the test, Laina meets up with her friend Kellan Wood (Calum Worthy) whose father is a teacher at their high school. Blake Redding (Logan Paul) is the son of the Texas governor Dean Redding (Matthew Glave). Although he lives the high life, he is dating a wild girl named Ellie Harper (Lia Marie Johnson). Blake sneaks out of his house to hang out with Ellie one last time before the Thinning and they sneak off to a hilltop pool. While they are kissing in the car, one of Governor Redding's agents discovers them and Blake is taken home to be lectured by his father. On the day of the Thinning, Ellie fails the exam. Blake calls his father in an attempt to free Ellie, but he refuses. Blake causes a diversion and screams at Ellie to run, but she is blocked by students in the hallway and is recaptured. Ellie is executed in the Thinning. One year later, Laina's mother has died of her illness, and Laina is helping her younger sister Corrine (Aria Lyric Leabu) study for her first Thinning test. Blake has become cold and distant towards his father since Ellie's death. He makes a video explaining that he will purposefully fail his Thinning exam in order to punish his father for what happened to Ellie and to try to get his father to stop supporting the Thinning. Blake drops his tape in the mail, but his father's agents remove it and have it delivered to him personally. The manager of the test, Mason King, is ordered by Redding to pass Blake regardless of his score. Because Blake and Laina finish the test at the same time, Mason switches their scores. Laina fails as a result and Blake passes. Another student, Sarah Foster (Ryan Newman), had sex with her teacher Mr. Glass the day before the test as motivation for him to alter the test. However, he betrays her and ensures she fails so to hide what he did. Sarah fails the test and is led away with Laina and the other students to be Thinned. The students that pass go to the Recreation Room, having a party while the failing students are being Thinned. Ms. Birch, Laina's teacher, sees Laina in the hall, walking with other students towards a room where they will be executed, and she tries to convince the guard that Laina is too smart to fail the test, but the guard is told by King that Laina failed the test and must be executed. As Laina is being led away, Ms. Birch presses a key card into Laina's hand so she can unlock the doors and escape. Later, Ms. Birch watches Mr. Glass lure another girl into having sex with him. Blake causes a power outage in the school, allowing Laina to escape using Ms. Birch's key card while the school goes under lockdown. News about the events spreads that parents have no information about what has happened to their students. Because of this, Redding is forced to reassure to the parents that their students are safe. After using the key card, Laina meets up with Blake and they explore through the vents to avoid the guards. Meanwhile, all of the teachers are taken to a holding room to be investigated. Ms. Birch flirts with Mr. Glass and steals his key card. She shows it to King and is allowed to leave, while Mr. Glass is kept behind and beaten when he cannot reveal Laina's whereabouts to King. Blake, disguised as a guard, leaves Laina to go to the Thinning, while Laina goes to the server room to check the scores. To her horror, she finds out that test procedures are rigged and have resulted in the wrongful deaths of many students with passing scores, including Ellie, who failed with an 88%. Blake passed with a 15%, and Laina failed with a 98%, and another student named Wade Freeman passed with a 42%. Laina sends this information to Kellan. King and the DPC track Laina down to the server room using security cameras, apprehend her, and return her to the Thinning, where she finds Blake, who tried and failed to free the students in the Thinning room and is tied up in the corner. Mr. Glass is also executed for giving Laina his keycard, even though he didn't. After photos of the Thinning results are leaked to the media by Kellan, Governor Redding has no choice but to review the results and execute all those who actually failed, including Blake. He also frees all the students who passed. After sharing a kiss with Blake, he is taken by guards to be Thinned while Laina is dragged outside. Blake and the other failing students are then executed. After the school finally lifts the lockdown, Laina is reunited with Corrine and Ms. Birch outside the school. Blake and the other supposedly executed students, including Sarah and Wade, are shown in a large elevator deep underground, where they see many people working for the company that makes the tablets for the test. As Blake slowly wakes up from the drug that actually put him and the others to sleep instead of killing them, he sees a blonde girl taking off a white mask. The girl is Ellie. Logan Paul as Blake Redding, Peyton List as Laina Michaels, Calum Worthy as Kellan Woods, Lia Marie Johnson as Ellie Harper, Matthew Glave as Gov. Dean Redding, Michael Traynor as Mason King, Aria Lyric Leabu as Corrine Michaels Adi Robertson of The Verge wrote negatively of the film, describing its plot as "a mess" and that it was a bad take on the dystopian formula, comparing it to the Netflix series 3% as the lower quality of the two dystopian meritocracy premises released that year. On November 17, 2017, Logan Paul announced on his YouTube channel that a sequel, titled The Thinning: New World Order was starting production. On January 10, 2018, YouTube announced that production of New World Order was put on hold, as part of repercussions instated upon Paul for posting a controversial video in which he visited Aokigahara, a Japanese forest known for being a common place for suicides to occur, and filmed a dead body. This sparked outrage across social media against Paul, forcing an apology from himself and repercussions from YouTube, including delaying The Thinning - New World Order and his appearance in the upcoming season of YouTube Red series Foursome, but the criticism still continues. On October 16, 2018, Logan Paul released the trailer for The Thinning - New World Order. On October 17, Logan Paul premiered The Thinning - New World Order to the public.

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Wizards of Waverly Place is an American fantasy teen sitcom which ran from October 12, 2007 to January 6, 2012 on Disney Channel. The series was created by Todd J. Greenwald, and stars Selena Gomez, David Henrie and Jake T. Austin as three wizard siblings with magical abilities competing to win sole custody of the family powers. Further main cast includes Jennifer Stone, Maria Canals Barrera, and David DeLuise. The series won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards in 2009. A film adaptation of the series, , premiered as a Disney Channel Original Movie on August 28, 2009. The film adaptation won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards earning the series its second consecutive Emmy. The farewell season won "Outstanding Children's Program" at the 64th Primetime Emmy Awards bringing the franchise's total to three Emmy awards. Wizards of Waverly Place ended with 106 episodes over four seasons, surpassing That's So Raven. Its series finale averaged nearly 10 million viewers (live and total views on same day), which made that episode the most-watched series finale in Disney Channel's history. On March 15, 2013, premiered as a one-hour television special. Wizards of Waverly Place chronicles the adventures of the Russo Family. The Russos live on Waverly Place in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, above a sandwich shop which they own and run. The family consists of siblings Alex (Selena Gomez), Justin (David Henrie), and Max (Jake T. Austin). The three teenagers are wizards and live with their Italian father, Jerry (David DeLuise), a former family wizard, and their mortal Mexican mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera). When the Russo siblings complete their wizard training, they have to participate in a competition to decide who will become the Family Wizard (the one to keep his/her magical powers forever) of their generation, while the others lose their powers and become mortals. Because of this, Jerry tries to teach his children to not become dependent on magic. Since one of them gets to keep their powers, though, Jerry also gives his children wizard lessons (the lessons end mid Season four). The storage room of the Russo family's sub station is a wizard's lair. In the lair is a Portal which allows them to visit the wizard world, and other creatures to visit them. The headmaster of the wizard council, Professor Crumbs (Ian Abercrombie), regularly pays visits to the Russo home. The Russo siblings attend Tribeca Preparatory School with Harper Finkle and constantly encounter their Old West style principal, Mr. Laritate (Bill Chott). Because they live in the mortal world, the Russos are required to keep the existence of wizardry a secret. Even so, Alex's best friend, Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone), discovers the secret in Season 2's episode "Harper Knows". Justin's best friend, Zeke Beakerman (Dan Benson), also finds out in Season 4's episode "Zeke Finds Out", along with Alex's boyfriend, Mason Greyback (Gregg Sulkin), who is a werewolf, and Justin's girlfriend, Juliet van Heusen (Bridgit Mendler), who is a vampire. Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, David Henrie as Justin Russo, Jake T. Austin as Max Russo, Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle, Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo, David DeLuise as Jerry Russo Dan Benson as Ezekiel "Zeke" Beakerman, Ian Abercrombie as Professor Crumbs, Bill Chott as Mr. Laritate, Jeff Garlin as Uncle Kelbo, Paulie Litt as Frankie/Joey, Josh Sussman as Hugh Normous, Amanda Tepe as security guard, information desk lady, museum security guard and hot dog vendor, Skyler Samuels as Gertrude "Gigi" Hollingsworth, Lucy Hale as Miranda Hampson, Bridgit Mendler as Juliet van Heusen, Daniel Samonas as Dean Moriarty, Andy Kindler as Chancellor Rudy Tootietootie, Gregg Sulkin as Mason Greyback, Moisés Arias as Conscience, Hayley Kiyoko as Stevie Nichols, Kari Wahlgren as Helen, Bailee Madison as Maxine Russo, Frank Pacheco as Felix, Leven Rambin as Rosie, John Rubinstein as Gorog, Fred Stoller as Dexter, Cameron Sanders as Nelvis, McKaley Miller as Talia Robinson The episode "Cast-Away (To Another Show)" is the first part of a three-way crossover that continues on The Suite Life on Deck and concludes on Hannah Montana. Justin takes Alex and Max on a cruise to Hawaii aboard the SS Tipton when he wins tickets. He pretends to be a doctor to impress London Tipton while Alex uses magic to bring Harper on the ship. During the cruise, Alex pulls a prank on Justin that turns him blue while Hannah Montana boards the ship to attend a concert in Hawaii, leading Cody to try to get tickets for himself and Bailey. The Disney Channel Original Movie, based on the series, premiered on August 28, 2009 on Disney Channel. Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie was filmed in Puerto Rico in the caribe Hilton hotel, Los Angeles, and New York City from February 16 to March 27, 2009. The movie received 11.4 million viewers on its premiere, making it the second-most-viewed DCOM premiere in the US after High School Musical 2. It was the seventh-most-watched basic cable telecast in 2009. It won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2010 for "Outstanding Children's Program". On Friday, January 6, 2012, Wizards of Waverly Place aired its one-hour series finale, "Who Will Be The Family Wizard?", which drew 11.3 million. Although it was not the series' most-watched special, being behind Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, and Cast Away (To Another Show), it was the most-watched finale for a Disney Channel Original Series. Excluding the crossover programming special, it was the franchise's most-watched episode. The closer also set series best among kids 6–11 (4.2 million) and teens 9–14 (3.8 million). It also obtained a solid 1.9 rating with adults 18–49. Notably, the finale is the current TV season's most-watched cable telecast among scripted programs. The show ended with Alex becoming the family wizard, Justin being declared new Headmaster of WizTech (also keeping his wizard powers), and Max getting to run the sub shop. On September 27, 2012, Disney Channel announced that Wizards of Waverly Place would return for an hour-long special, that began production on October 22, 2012, and ended production on November 10, 2012, for a premiere telecast on the cable channel in early 2013. The special, executive-produced by Selena Gomez, alongside series executive producers Vince Cheung and Ben Montanio (who also co-wrote the special with Dan Berendsen), centers on the Russos', Mason, and Harper's visit to Italy to meet long-lost relatives from Jerry's side of the family. In an attempt to prove to her family that she's not merely a carefree wizard, Alex inadvertently casts a spell that creates two versions of her with differing personalities: an evil version of Alex that ends up involved in another wizard's (Dominic) plan for world domination, and a good version who upon discovering the wizard's plan, tries to find a way to save her family and mankind, leading to a literal battle between good and evil atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The film is titled The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex and premiered on March 15, 2013. This series was created and as produced by Todd J. Greenwald, who began developing the show after working as a writer and consulting producer during the first season of Hannah Montana. The show is produced by It's a Laugh Productions and Disney Channel Original Productions. The theme song, "Everything Is Not What It Seems", written by John Adair and Steve Hampton, is of techno-pop style and is performed by Selena Gomez. The series was filmed at Hollywood Center Studios in Hollywood, California. For the first three seasons the show used the same title sequence which is set to Selena Gomez's rendition of "Everything Is Not What It Seems"; it shows Alex, Justin, Max and Harper engaging in magical antics while preparing for school in the morning. The fourth season began using a slightly altered version of the song, and a different sequence involving the cast, who all appear in Times Square at the end of the sequence with Alex waving her wand. The show debuted on Disney Channel on October 12, 2007 after the premiere of Twitches Too, gathering 5.9 million viewers. In January 2010, "Wizards vs. Werewolves" one-hour special episode became the series' most-watched (non- crossover) episode with 6.2 million viewers, surpassing the 6 million viewers of "Paint By Committee" episode The series' most watched episode, including crossovers, was "Cast-Away (To Another Show)" episode, which was included in the special trilogy of crossover episodes between three Disney Channel original sitcoms, Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana. The broadcast was watched by 10.6 million viewers. In 2009, the series was the top scripted telecast for teens between the age of 9–14 (1.63 million/6.7 rating) and second in kids 6–11 (1.81 million/7.4 rating), which was only slightly behind The Suite Life on Deck (1.82 million/7.4 rating.) The show aired worldwide on Disney Channel. It premiered on October 12, 2007 in Pakistan. In Australia it premiered on October 19, 2007 and it also aired on Seven Network starting on October 4, 2008. It premiered on the same date in New Zealand and first aired on FOUR on February 4, 2009. It premiered on October 26, 2007 on Family in Canada. In the United Kingdom, it started airing on November 4, 2007 and it also airs on Channel 5. It premiered on November 3, 2007 in Ireland and also aired on TRTÉ. It premiered in Southeast Asia on March 9, 2008. It first aired in India and Bangladesh on May 5, 2008. In South Africa it premiered on June 22, 2008. The soundtrack album for the hit Disney Channel Original Series of the same name. The album was released as a physical CD, enhanced CD and digital on August 4, 2009, under Walt Disney Records. The album includes songs from and inspired by the TV series and . In response to the soundtrack, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic recognized Wizards for its "teen revamps of boomer classics that parents can enjoy too". He also stated that the album is "agreeable" and that Selena Gomez "inevitably stands out from the pack". However, Erlewine said: "the dang-awful version of America's "You Can Do Magic" by Drew Seeley is sunk by its hyper-claustrophobic rhythms, the biggest rearrangement of a tune here and easily the worst cut." A video game based on the series was released in August 2009. The show's complete first season was released on September 10, 2009 in Germany, on October 1, 2009 in Spain, on March 3, 2010 in France and on March 12, 2010 in Poland. On August 2019, Disney Channel Asia announced a Malaysian version of the show, titled Wizards of Warna Walk. The show premiered on August 30, 2019. Official website The following is the list of characters of Disney Channel original series Wizards of Waverly Place. The series centers on the fictional characters of the Russo family, which includes Alex (Selena Gomez), her older brother Justin (David Henrie) and their younger brother Max (Jake T. Austin). The three Russo siblings are wizards in training and live with their Italian-American father Jerry (David DeLuise), a former wizard, and their Mexican-American mother, Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) who is a mortal. Alex's best friend Harper (Jennifer Stone) also found out about the Russos' wizard powers in season 2. The siblings have to keep their secret safe while living in the mortal world. When they become adults, the three siblings will have a wizard competition to decide who will become the family wizard of their generation and keep his or her wizard powers. Harper used to have a crush on Justin, but now is in love with Justin's best friend, Zeke, who finds out about the Russo's wizard powers in season 4. Alex Russo (Selena Gomez) and Justin Russo (David Henrie) are the only characters to appear in every episode of the series. Alexandra Margarita Russo (Selena Gomez) is the only female out of the three Russo siblings, and the middle child. She is sly, rebellious, outgoing, and usually underachieves when it comes to school. She often gets into trouble because of her constant schemes (usually involving magic). She is part Latina and part Italian. Even though she is infamously known for doing the worst in wizard studies and school, and relentlessly torments her older brother Justin, Alex becomes much more mature throughout the series. Although she's somewhat lazy, Alex is smart, loyal, and caring. She goes through a long term relationship with Mason Greyback, a purebred werewolf. She becomes the Russo family wizard at the end of the series. Usually, her mom calls her "m'ija", which is Spanish for "my daughter". Justin Vincenzo Pepé Russo (David Henrie) is Alex's and Max's brother, and the oldest of the three Russo siblings. He is very smart, and is often considered a nerd. He is in numerous clubs and has learned over 5000 spells. He continues his wizard studies in a Monster Hunting course. For his knowledge in wizardry, he takes after his father Jerry, who originally won the Wizard Family Competition against Kelbo and Megan. Unlike Alex, he is an overachiever when it comes to school. He is fairly athletic, and very respectful to his parents and other adults. Justin is responsible, sensible, kindhearted and hardworking, but can be a little sarcastic to Alex and Max. He revealed to Alex that he is jealous of her because he felt she is blessed with magic skills that he can't live up to, and it's reinforced when he refers to Alex as "daddy's little princess" (a unique, and often favoring, bond between a father and daughter). This is what drives him to be a better wizard. Alex consoles him by stating that he is her rock and foundation, and that she is actually jealous of his academic achievements, even though she openly admits to not caring about school. He has a long-term relationship with Juliet Van Heusen, a teenage vampire whose family runs the "Late Night Bite" (local competition for the Waverly Sub Station), which prompted a feud between the Russos and the Van Heusens. At first, their love is a forbidden romance, which Alex points out by referencing William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, but then they eventually start dating openly. Justin reveals to Alex that Juliet is his true love, after he felt heartbroken about being unable to see her due to the feuding families. Justin gets heartbroken again when Juliet was forced to break up with him due to her getting scratched by Mason the werewolf, as she stated that when that happens a vampire's appearance will revert to their true age. Later in the series, Alex tells the world that they are wizards and her and Justin's levels move down, so he makes a class with students who got kicked out of WizTech and later falls in love with an angel named Rosie. At first, it seems that Justin won the Wizard Competition after being the first to cross the finish line, and he was about to be granted his full powers, when he says that he can't accept it because he didn't really win; Alex would have won if she hadn't come to back to help him, and he says that she deserves to be the Russo family wizard. Because of his honesty, Professor Crumbs allows both Justin and Alex to keep their powers and for Justin to take over as Headmaster of Wiz Tech. Later in the series he reconciles with Juliet after she regains her youthful appearance. Maximilian Alonzo Ernesto "Max" Russo (Jake T. Austin) is the youngest of the three Russo siblings. Alex and Justin's magic are more advanced than Max's (as shown by the wands). Although he is an underachiever in the beginning, he advances more during the series. At first, he does not seem to be very bright, but this is later revealed to be due to a lack of focus and a short attention span, as he becomes an A+ model student when their school introduces uniforms, claiming it helps him focus. Alex and Justin are embarrassed and annoyed by his lack of intelligence, but they do occasionally take advantage of it, for example: When they tried to lure in a Genie back to her lamp, Alex suggested that after the Genie outsmarted them, they might be able to out-dumb her, and immediately asked Max what he'd do to get her back to grant him a wish. The Genie eventually allows him a wish, to which he responded with describing his appearance, which prompted the Genie to unintentionally reveal that there is a reset-button. He once revealed to Juliet, that he uses "randomness" to allow others to inadvertently reveal their true thoughts and feelings to him, though he later admitted that he still has no idea what is going on around him. He is very fond of skateboards. In the episode "Three Maxes and a Little Lady", Justin and Alex fall behind in the Wizard Competition, and Max gets a wish, which he uses to wish for the Wizard Competition to begin that day. However, both Alex and Justin use magic to turn into Max and reverse The Wish, to no avail. Max eventually decides to bump back the Wizard Competition; however, Alex and Justin cross spells and turn Max into Maxine, a girl version of him. In "Who Will be the Family Wizard", Max's powers are taken away, but Jerry and Teresa decide to give him The Sub Station, much to his happiness. Personality wise, Max takes after his Uncle Kelbo. Max is played by Jake T. Austin (also Bailee Madison as Maxine in season four). Harper Rosanne Evans Finkle (Jennifer Stone) is best friends with Alex Russo, and always used to have a crush on her brother, Justin Russo, but now is in a relationship with Zeke Beakerman, Justin's nerdy best friend. Harper is a typical teenager, being self-expressive, but a little insecure at times. Unlike Alex, she is a hard-working student and a fairly positive person, but still connects well with Alex. Jennifer Stone does not appear as Harper in "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" (which was actually the first episode produced, but the sixth episode broadcast—the episode was aired out of production order). Harper is known for her outrageous fashion ensembles that she designs herself, most of which are "food-themed", such as one outfit seen in the season one episode "Credit Check" which resembled a cupcake. No one ever tells her that her fashion designs are (for the most part) ridiculous, but it is implied that everyone else thinks it. Not only does she create her own clothes, but she also makes her own jewelry as seen in the episode "Art Museum Piece", when she starts a booth selling her necklaces made of macaroni, glitter, and knobs from Alex's room. Despite her unseemly fashion choices, she believes it is better to stand out as an individual, and is confident that she will excel at whatever she tries, no matter what people think, and has a habit of laughing out loud when the atmosphere gets tense. She was oblivious of the fact that Alex, Max and Justin are wizards until the episode "Harper Knows" when Alex finally told her because she felt guilty for not telling the truth to her best friend. This was also the first time Harper experienced the use of magic when Alex gave her a charmed costume with super powers. She is often paranoid of Alex's schemes, especially after she finds out about magic, but reluctantly gets involved anyway. Despite Alex's controlling and manipulative behavior, Harper always sees the good side in Alex and is willing to be accepting of her due to their friendship, to the point where she was the only person who believed that Alex wouldn't participate in a plot that, if successful, would prevent young wizards losing their powers in the Competition. She has known Alex since kindergarten and is always there when Alex needs support. In season three it is revealed that Harper is a cheerleader, which is the only secret Harper has ever kept from Alex, largely due to Alex's typical disdain and mocking attitude towards cheerleaders. Harper's parents are featured in "Wizards vs Finkles" as traveling showpeople from Romania. They ask Harper to rejoin them for shows but Harper refuses, happy with her life with the Russos while Alex, fascinated with their lifestyle, accept in Harper's place. In the end the commitment and hard work drives Alex away, with Harper's parents leaving for Youngstown, Ohio, for a new gig on good terms with Harper and the rest of the Russos. In "Meet the Werewolves" it is revealed that Harper was born in Nebraska, backstage in a night club, most likely at one of her parent's shows. In "Wizards vs. Vampires: Tasty Bites", when Alex is so fed up with her family's new healthy living, she says, "I'm so desperate, I'm thinking about going to Harper's house", meaning that Harper's house is wild. In "Alex Does Good", Harper blurts out, "It's about time I got some appreciation, Mom!", claiming that her mom doesn't appreciate her. Harper moves in with Alex and the Russos in season three, most likely because of her home. (Although it was also motivated by her father's recent transfer to Pittsburgh and her unwillingness to leave Alex). In the episode "Future Harper", it's revealed that Harper becomes a famous author, who writes books based on the Russos' wizard adventures, and writes under the name "H.J. Darling" (parody of J. K. Rowling). Alex, Justin, and Max find this out when they go to confront the author of the books (seven books in the series Charmed and Dangerous) that mysteriously mimic their lives. As the older Harper (Rachel Dratch) tells them, she writes her books in the present day because in the future, wizards and magic in general have been outed, and books about magic are no longer so interesting. She doesn't tell the Russo kids who it was that revealed the existence of wizards, other than it happens to be one of the three; the Alex and Justin suspect it to be Max, to which he is first appalled but then agrees (though in a later episode the Russos are questioned by the government and they trick Justin into revealing that wizards exist, though this turned out to be a false exposure); and that she came back in time with the aid of one of the most powerful wizards of all time. It is unknown if she ever marries someone with the last name Darling, or if she just uses the name H.J. Darling as a way to keep her identity safe in the present day. In the episode "Third Wheel", after it is discovered Stevie is a wizard, Alex starts hanging out with her more, neglecting Harper. Later in the episode, Harper confronts Alex on how she has been feeling left out. This leads to a heated argument, where Harper reveals her insecurities about how Alex is always taking her for granted and yet she never holds it against her. During this argument, they end up destroying the Homecoming float, which Justin tricked Harper into helping him build by disguising himself as Alex. Mr. Laritate witnesses this and threatens to have Alex expelled. For the sake of their friendship, Harper takes all the blame. Mr. Laritate believes her, considering that Alex never tells the truth, and punishes Harper with one week of detention. Later, Alex somehow sneaks into the detention room and apologizes for what happened. Forgiving her, Harper explains that she only did it because even if Stevie is Alex's new best friend, it's not going to keep her from being a friend to Alex. Alex compassionately says that her relationship with Harper is much stronger than it is with Stevie, by saying that Stevie is her friend, but Harper is her sister. When Stevie later appears to recruit Alex to aid her in a plot to destroy the power transference technology and thus prevent any younger wizards from losing their powers in the competition, Harper continues to believe that Alex will come through and do the right thing even when Justin is convinced that Alex has gone evil. Alex warmly thanks Harper for her faith in her after her true agenda is revealed when she freezes Stevie and allows Stevie's brother Warren to inherit his full powers. At times, Jerry and Theresa like to take credit for Harper being their daughter, as in the episode "Marathoner Helper". Justin then says, "C'mon, she's not your daughter." And as Alex walks in eating a hot dog with cereal he says, "That's your daughter." She usually shouts "See ya in PE" and screams when she is scared or nervous. In "Helping Hand", she screams while laughing stating she is scared and happy. Theresa Magdalena Margarita Russo (née Larkin), played by Maria Canals Barrera, is the mother of Alex, Justin and Max Russo and co-owner of the Waverly Sub Station, with her husband Jerry; and is also the slightly more serious one of the couple. Theresa is Mexican American (as a Latina, Canals Barrera has Spanish ancestry through her Cuban parents). Theresa Russo is a typical mother. She's fussy, caring and can be pretty embarrassing. Unlike her children, she is a mortal. She dislikes magic, probably because she was once possessed by a wizard's love spell for twelve years. Theresa lives on Waverly Place in Manhattan with her husband (and former wizard) Jerry Russo (David DeLuise) and her children: middle daughter Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), eldest son Justin Russo (David Henrie), and youngest child Max Russo (Jake T. Austin). She owns a sandwich shop called the Waverly Sub Station with her husband in which her children work. She is overprotective of Justin and Max, but Max especially. She tries to relate with her kids but it doesn't always work. Theresa stated that she is a "Proud Latina" and tries to get her children to learn about her and their Mexican heritage. In season one's "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet", Theresa states that she once played guitar in an all-girl mariachi band — though when Justin says "I didn't know you played the guitar", Jerry says "she doesn't" – implying that Theresa is not a very good guitar player. This is shown in season 3. At times, Theresa can be controlling of her kids and their lives; for example, in "Quinceañera", she completely takes control of the plans for Alex's Quinceañera fifteenth birthday party and turns it into the party that she wants, attempting to manipulate Alex into letting her. She refuses to listen to Alex's objections all because she herself never got to have a Quinceañera of her own. This eventually gets so irritating to Alex that she casts a spell to switch bodies with her mother, partially so Theresa would be able to have the Quinceañera that she never got to have. Theresa is the reason why Jerry could not keep his wizard powers. Since wizards are not allowed to marry non-wizards, Jerry chose to give up his powers to his younger brother Kelbo in order to marry Theresa, as was revealed in season one's "Alex in the Middle" – previously unbeknownst to Justin, Alex and Max. However, Jerry says he does not regret marrying her. It has been mentioned several times that Theresa doesn't like magic, and that she feels left out due to the rest of her family all being wizards at some point. She also finds it difficult to live in a house full of wizards, especially when her children (and sometimes, Jerry) misuse magic in the house, most notably when the boys of the family want to play indoors and either directly or indirectly end up destroying a prized lamp she owns. An example of this is in season one's "Art Museum Piece", when a spell which causes Theresa to go through objects wears off—and she accidentally walks into the front door and she exclaims "I hate living with wizards!". She has also been shown to have very little concern for major issues in the magical world, which don't concern her. She also can be annoyed by the magic futility, was visible in "All bout You-niverse", when Alex broken a magical mirror (and thus trapping herself in a parallel universe), Theresa find out that fixing a magical mirror is no different from fixing a normal mirror, and she remarks "Magic is lame". Despite this, when Alex and Justin's antics cause Max to fail the wand quiz in "My Tutor, Tutor", Theresa lends a sympathetic ear to his problem (even supporting his plans to get revenge), and even told Alex to use her magic to make their haunted house scarier in "Halloween". In "Positive Alex", Theresa and Jerry realized that Alex had put a spell on herself to become positive, and they agree to do nothing against it, because they believe that there's nothing wrong in being positive, though they quickly change their minds when the newly optimistic Alex turns out to be unbearably annoying. Though normally, Theresa is a kind and caring mother, but she has a prevalent selfish side. For example, in "Retest", when Alex, Max, and Justin were upset over the possibility of losing their powers, Theresa relished the thought of having a normal family, going so far as to suggest turning the wizard lair into a den and, although she has no intention in hurting them, Theresa often hints this fact in a very unkind form. Similarly, in "Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place", she openly refused to let Justin date Juliet at first and freely stated she cared more about her business than her children's happiness, which even Alex was appalled and disgusted by. Alex then cut into the argument as Justin was losing it badly against their parents and fixed everything up, ending with Justin able to date Juliet and their parents happy. In "Marathon Helper", Theresa was too shamed and upset with her family's lack of physical attributes that she said none of her own children are members of her family, openly added Harper is her only daughter, since Harper had taken it on herself to be involved in healthy activities, and later, she goes farther, hurting Justin's feelings by her saying she was not proud of his academic success. Both in "Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place 2" and in "Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie," she openly remarks since she is the Russos' mother, she doesn't need to care about their opinions and in more than one occasion, she arrogantly expressed the belief that she is immune to the Wizard Rules, since that she isn't (unfortunately, the "Wizard" Rules apply to all normal and supernatural beings that is aware of the Wizard World.). In the episode "Alex's Logo", she was referred to as popular in school, though it turns out she was the first girl admitted to a formerly all-boys school. In "Uncle Ernesto," Alex encourages her to invite her brother on her birthday, however, it goes wrong and she ends up with a crashed birthday party. Geraldo Pepé "Jerry" Russo is the father of Alex, Justin and Max Russo and co- owner of the Waverly Sub Station, with his wife Theresa (whom he accidentally insults on occasion). He is also a former wizard, who chose to give up his powers to marry his wife Theresa, a mortal, due to a rule forbidding wizards to marry mortals. Jerry is Italian American (DeLuise also has Italian ancestry). Jerry Russo is the average father. He is stern, protective and is annoyed by Alex and Max constantly, and even by Justin occasionally. Unlike his children, he does not have powers any more; nonetheless, his children inherited their powers from him, with Max having a fascination of the magic normal humans can do such as microwave popcorn, Alex being a natural at magic yet using it recklessly, and Justin continually trying to improve his magic through knowledge. Jerry lives on Waverly Place, a street in downtown Manhattan with his mortal wife Theresa Russo (Maria Canals Barrera) and his children: middle daughter Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), eldest son Justin Russo (David Henrie), and youngest child Max Russo (Jake T. Austin). He owns a sandwich shop called the Waverly Sub Station with Theresa, where his children work, and, in the season one episode "New Employee" so did Alex's best friend Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone), although they only did it so they could be together more often. It is mentioned in the season two episode "Make It Happen", that Jerry's original career plan was to be a bull rider. His most popular catchphrase is "But-he-you-she-ALEX!" Jerry is the typical over- protective father towards his daughter. It was first shown in season one's "First Kiss" when Alex claimed to have had her first kiss. He said "No! She's my little girl! What's his name? I'll make him cry!" (it is almost immediately revealed that Alex lied about having had her first kiss, and when Justin teased her for it, she kissed the first random boy she deemed good enough to kiss in school the next day, who was Matt, giving him a kiss that lasted a few seconds long and catching him off guard by her blunt, surprising way – she had slammed his locker shut when he was using it, right before pulling him by the shirt to direct his face towards hers to be able to kiss – and when he finally recovered from it, he turned around and ran in the direction of Alex, calling out her name to presumably ask her on a date), and continued in "You Can't Always Get What You Carpet" from that same season, when he didn't want to teach her how to ride the carpet because he was afraid she would grow up and leave home. He also was seen putting babyish wallpaper on her walls. When Max is accidentally transformed into a little girl in "Daddy's Little Girl," Jerry calls the new Max "Maxine" and dotes on her, which does not go unnoticed by a jealous Alex, who tries to get her father's attention to no avail. However, when he becomes aware of Alex's jealousy and sadness, Jerry apologizes to her, explaining that he only did so because Maxine reminds him of Alex when she was little and reassuring her that she will always be his little girl. He normally isn't okay with her dating, such as in the first-season episode "Potion Commotion" when Alex said "That's my new boyfriend!" about her crush Brad Sherwood (Shane Lyons), he said "I'll pick your new boyfriend!" But later on when Brad complimented Jerry, he said "I like your new boyfriend!" When Alex began dating Dean (Daniel Samonas), he liked him at first until Alex revealed Dean wanted to kiss her in season two's "Alex's Brother, Maximan". Jerry said "I never cared for that boy!," when he had just said the other day he liked Dean. When Alex pointed that out he said "That's before I knew he wanted to kiss you! He was using me to get to you! And I fell for it!" In "Alex Charms a Boy" Jerry is no longer overprotective because when he saw Alex and Mason kiss he smiled instead of freaking out, because he knew it was an honest and true relationship. He can be somewhat of a cheapskate; for example, in "Taxi Dance", he is unable to remember the number of the hospital room where Justin was born when he remembers his own lottery ticket number from that same day, and being so cheap that his antics resulted in Theresa giving birth to Alex in a taxicab instead of in a hospital. Notably, before this, Theresa told the kids that Jerry had tried to make her walk to the hospital while she was in labor, to which Jerry replied, "I offered to push you in a shopping cart!". More notable, in "Western Show", when Max's increase of intelligence and maturity make him apply for various colleges, instead of showing happiness for the success of his son, he was upset with the possibility of having to pay for his learning. Additionally, in "Quinceañera," he is reduced to tears when Alex offers to tell him how much her Quinceañera cost. Jerry is proud of his magical ancestry and teaches his children about the proper uses of magic in "Wizard Training Class" on Tuesdays and Thursdays, in the lair magically disguised as a food locker in the restaurant. However, his children often disobey his magic rules (Alex, most often being the case), and he has to punish them. He wants his kids to be great wizards, but also wants them to be able to live a life without using their powers since they may not have them in the future, as only one of them will get to keep his/her powers as an adult. Jerry has an younger brother named Kelbo (Jeff Garlin), who is seen in the season one episode "Alex in the Middle", who is the wizard in Jerry's family because Jerry had to give him the powers to marry Theresa. Jerry's children consider Kelbo to be more fun than Jerry, and Alex even decides to have Kelbo be her magic teacher, and is revealed to be irresponsible with magic (almost as much as Alex is sometimes) as is shown when Kelbo fails to stop a package of sea chimps that spouts a huge gush of water eventually flooding the wizard lair and turning Kelbo and Alex into sea chimps. Jerry ends up being the one who saves them both, and he reveals a secret that he has kept from Alex, Max and Justin: that he gave up his powers in order to marry Theresa, due to a rule forbidding wizards and mortals from marrying, thus relinquishing his powers to Kelbo in order to marry her. In "Retest" it is revealed that Jerry and Kelbo have a sister, Megan. Megan holds a grudge against Jerry for giving Kelbo his powers instead of her. She lives in an art studio in Paris where she paints pictures. She is similar to Alex because she, like Alex, loves Art and hates hard work, though, unlike Alex, she is unwilling or unable to apologize for her actions. It is most likely their parents are still alive because of references from Alex and Max. Such as in "Future Harper", when Alex is telling Harper about a wizard adventure about her and her brothers, Harper already knows the ending and tells Alex she already told her the story. Alex replies "Oh my gosh I'm starting to sound like Grandma". Jerry also is a fan of the New York Mets and New York Jets, he and Theresa accidentally made fools of themselves in front of Max's date's parents, because Max got confused between the New York Mets and the New York Metropolitan Opera (The Met) while trying to find common interest between them and his date's parents, not realizing that they keep forgetting about the Intermission they usually believed the stories to "end abruptly in the middle". In several episodes of the series (more so in season one, than in other seasons), Jerry often makes a remark that accidentally insults Theresa, and quickly tries to correct his statement. Such an example is in season one's "Movies", in which Theresa tells Alex that no matter how old she gets that she is not too old to spend time with her family, Jerry responds "Exactly, just look at your mother". Alex then points out that Jerry accidentally called Theresa "old", and he attempts and fails to change the subject. In Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie, Jerry gives Justin the family wand and the spell book which Alex steals accidentally wishing her parents never met or fell in love, but it was resolved – ironically by Alex herself, the reckless one out of his three children, who also surprisingly won the Premature Family Wizard competition against Justin, as Justin was the favorite out of the three to win it but lost to Alex, who then gives up her powers so they could compete for their powers when they are old enough. Jerry has made more than one mention of past friends of his youth, including "Ponyboy" and John Bender; both names of rebellious teen characters in classic 80's pop-culture films, The Outsiders and The Breakfast Club, respectively. Aside from the names, no other specific connections or further implications seem to have been made connecting Jerry's youth and the events in these stories. It is revealed in "Wizard for a Day", that he does not need his magic powers anymore, because when Alex gave him Merlin's hat for his birthday, granting the wearer magic powers for 24 hours, all he wished for was a sandwich, whereas he could've just as easily went downstairs to make a sandwich himself in the Sub Station. Feeling underwhelmed, Alex used the hat to convert the Sub Station into a milkshake bar from Jerry's youth. After seeing this, he reminisced about it for a few moments before asking Alex to change it back, though he changed his mind when he saw how many customers it attracted. He later told Alex that he doesn't need big exciting gifts, as he his satisfied enough with small and simple ones (referring to Justin's gift, a magic pencil sharpener made from a soup-can). The following is a list of recurring characters in the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place. Ezekiel 'Zeke' Beakerman (Dan Benson) is Justin's best friend. Zeke is in the same grade as Justin. He attends Tribeca Prep and is in advanced chemistry along with Justin. He is also part of an Alien Language League; he and Justin often "speak alien" to each other. Zeke's first appearance was in "Movies", but strangely he was known as Zack Rosenblack. They later changed his name to Zeke. He is very impulsive and easygoing. He and Justin are also on the same Quiz Bowl team in "Smarty Pants". Zeke and Justin have tried out for several sports teams, but have apparently failed at all of them. In "Fashion Week", they somehow succeed at talking to models. Zeke got the role of Peter Pan in the school play in "Fairy Tale". In the episode "Wizard For a Day", he is upset when the real aliens do not understand his "alien speak". Zeke and Harper go to "Zombie Prom" together. He is also on the cheer squad, as revealed in "Positive Alex". He runs against Justin in the campaign for Student Body President in "Detention Election", but later he votes for Justin. He continues to assist Justin as student body president. Zeke continues his relationship with Harper in "Alex Russo, Matchmaker?" In "Wizards Unleashed", Zeke and Harper take care of the sub station and share their first kiss. In "Alex Russo, Matchmaker", Zeke is revealed to have hydrophobia and in season 4 he finds out the Russos are wizards. He assists the Russos when possible, though his assistance usually turns more troublesome than helpful. He is present during the Russo siblings' competition and ceremony at the series finale. Mr. Herschel Laritate (Bill Chott) is the principal of Tribeca Prep High School, which is mentioned when he calls Alex Russo into the principal's office in "Alex Does Good". Humorously, it is shown in the same episode that Alex has been sent to the principal's office way too often (implying Alex is a delinquent student) to the point that the two have somewhat of regular routines down, such as serving drink and snacks to each other and complementing the office's new mural of horses. His last name, Laritate, is a pun of Larry Tate from Bewitched. He loves anything related to the Old West, as seen in his daily life, such as wears cowboy hat and bolo tie, uses terms from that era when speaking, and even decorates his office in that theme. When he was relieved from his position as principal in "Western Show", he choose to work as part-time employee in 'Wild Billy's Western Roundup'. He teaches History class, Marriage and Family class, and taught the Art class once as temporary teacher. Mr. Laritate also acts as the adviser of several activities at the school including the World School Summit at the U.N., Happy Helpers Club, Quiz Bowl, sport activities, and school plays. His alma mater is Clementine College as mentioned in "Fairy Tale", but later on he confessed that he does not have a college degree in "Franken-Girl". Nevertheless, he claimed to be able to provide a strong recommendation letter for Justin Russo to the said college. Mr. Laritate considers Justin as a model student. On the contrary, he has an on-and-off relationship with Justin's sister, Alex, in that he is often disappointed in Alex's lack of work ethic and unwillingness to do well in school. In season two's "Don't Rain on Justin's Parade", Mr. Laritate calls Alex an evil genius, much to Alex's pleasure. However, it is evident that he cares about her through his many efforts to reach out to her. In "Alex's Logo", he is basically Alex's only friend because everybody became mad at Alex after she said what she really thought of them while giving a speech under truth spell. After Alex complains about everybody still being mad at her, even though it has been a week since the speech, Mr. Laritate then tries to help Alex by doing more embarrassing acts in the hope that everybody will turn their attention to him and forget what Alex has done. Unfortunately, he also incidentally embarrasses Alex on the microphone while doing so, resulting other students calling her the principal's BFF (Best Friend Forever). He gives all the students that then threw T-shirts at him detention. He also gave Alex, who did not throw a T-shirt, detention, in order to justify his "student to principal" relationship. However, she smiles at Mr. Laritate's and says "thank you", because she knows its just his another attempt to defuse tension between her and other students. It was also revealed in this episode that Mr. Laritate has somewhat a difficult relationship with his mother. In season 4, Alex crashes Mr. Laritate's car during her driving lesson and he sees how grown up she has become when she confesses the truth to him. Mr. Laritate personally hands high school diploma to Alex and Harper Finkle during a makeshift graduation ceremony of Tribeca Prep class of 2011 in "Wizards vs Asteroids". He appeared last time in "Get along Little Zombie" in which he was temporarily turned into a zombie after he got bitten by one during his visit to Alex and Harper's apartment. Alex and Mason Greyback turned him back into human again using 'Zombie bites treatment' lotion. It is shown at the end of the episode that he is, apparently, willing to keep a close relationship to the Russo family. Mason Greyback (Gregg Sulkin; seasons 3-4) is first mentioned in Season 2 episode Future Harper when Future Harper tells Alex that she seems irritable and asks if she broke up with Mason yet, implying that she will date a boy named Mason in the future. Mason is first fully introduced as a student in Alex's art class, and as an English boy who has a crush on Alex. They later begin to date. Mason loves to paint. He gives Alex a necklace that lights up when the person who wears it is in love with the person who put it on them. It is revealed that he in fact is a werewolf but doesn't turn Alex into a werewolf when they kiss, because he is a purebred and only mutts turn people into werewolves when they kiss, referencing Justin's werewolf Wizface-date from the season 2 episode "Beware Wolf". He helps in the search for Juliet after picking up her scent from her dental floss. It is revealed that he and Juliet used to date (which also reveals Mason doesn't age) and he admits impulsively that he never stopped loving her, which breaks Alex's heart. She throws away the magic necklace he gave her (which lights up if the wearer is in love with the person who put it on them). He later tells Max that, like dogs, werewolves are incredibly loyal and impulsive, which explains why he couldn't contain himself when he saw Juliet, though his feelings for Alex are still present. He tries to prove his love for Alex by going back to the mummy's tomb to find the necklace. Justin, Max, and Juliet come to rescue Alex, even though Alex volunteered to go and wasn't in any real danger. Max likes Mason, but Justin hates him for breaking Alex's heart. When Justin tries to make Alex forcedly leave the tomb, Mason, being fiercely protective, turns into a werewolf, and starts fighting Justin and Juliet. He is attacking Justin when Juliet bites him, causing him to turn into a wolf permanently. Before his transformation, Alex puts the necklace on him and it lights up. Alex knows now that he truly loves her, but he leaves because as a wolf, he has no control. He leaves the mummy's tomb as he transforms into a wolf. In Wizards Unleashed, it is discovered that Mason has been captured by wizards and is being used in TV advertisements. Upon discovering this, Alex manages to retrieve him, and uses magic to revert the transformation, but only succeeds in leaving him with pointy ears, claws, and mass abounds of fur. Though Alex initially has trouble accepting Mason in this new state, she eventually gets over it and Justin manages to fully restore his humanity by playing a magical jawharp at the end of the episode. In "Wizards Exposed," the wizards get caught, and Mason gets caught while he was "admiring his hat." In "Alex Gives Up," they are forced to break up due to a rule that says that werewolves and non-wizards cannot date because the werewolf always ends up eating the human due to their anger management issues. At first, Chancellor Rootie Tootie Tootie appealed the rule, but then Alex, jealous of Lisa Cucuy, who was hitting on Mason, and makes Mason extremely angry by embarrassing him in front of her brother, her parents, and the Cucuy's. Mason then transforms into his half-werewolf form and Chancellor Tootie Tootie, seeing he is incapable of controlling his anger, takes back his appeal, therefore forcing Alex and Mason to break up. In "Journey to the Center of Mason", Mason eats Dean Moriarty (Alex's ex- boyfriend; they broke up when Dean had to move to Ohio) because he is jealous that Alex is spending time with Dean and not him. Alex, Justin, and Max go inside of Mason. While in Mason, Alex, Justin, and Max go into his brain. Alex sees that all Mason does is think about her. When Alex, Justin, and Max come out of him with Dean, Dean leaves because Alex doesn't want him back. After he leaves, Alex and Mason get back together because Alex decided to rejoin the Wizard Competition so she and Mason could be together. In the episode, Dean only refers to Mason as "London Bridges". Mason has the deepest love for Alex and has nicknamed her 'Brown Eyes', 'Little Meatball', and 'Love'. In "Wizard of the Year", Alex breaks up with him for the third time because of his mistrust of her and a monster tamer named Chase. In the episodes of "Wizards of Apartment 13B", Alex and Harper move into an apartment on the thirteenth floor where coincidentally Mason is living at. Mason stops at nothing to win Alex back; using Harper's training wand to open Alex's heart to him. Though this turns out for the worse as Alex begins to flirt with an ugly ogre and Felix. In "Ghost Roommate", Mason goes on a date with Lucy, a ghost who is living with Alex and Harper. Alex is jealous that Mason and Lucy went on a date and proceed to find Lucy's long lost true love. Alex is then stuck on the Bermuda Triangle, where magic can't be used. Mason comes to her rescue using Justin's hideous Bermuda shorts. In "Get Along, Little Zombie", Mason is still determined to ask Alex out on a date and even breaking the elevator to spend some time with Alex; exposing the magical thirteenth floor to non-magical residents. Soon, Mr. Laritate discovers the thirteenth floor and gets bitten by a zombie; subsequently gets turned into a zombie. Mason and Alex go on a wild goose chase trying to find Mr. Laritate and end up in a square dance. Alex then realizes that she wants Mason back while Mason was trying to say that maybe he and Alex should just be friends. At the end of the episode, it is shown that Mason and Alex do get back together. In "Who Will be the Family Wizard", Mason comes to the wizard competition to cheer on Alex. He and Juliet meet once again and tell each other no hard feelings from the events that took place in "Wizards vs. Werewolves". Also when Alex loses the competition, he and Alex look deeply saddened due to her losing and ponder breaking up. However, Justin realizes how much Alex needs to win to be happy, and so reveals she would have won if she hadn't gone back for him and he didn't really win like everyone thought he did. Alex becomes the Russo family wizard and is able to stay with Mason. In "The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex", Mason gets jealous over the evil wizard, Dominic, who flirts with Alex. Mason breaks Alex out of jail before she can be exiled, and he throws Dominic off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Juliet van Heusen (Bridgit Mendler; seasons 2-4) is a teenage vampire who is Justin Russo's main love interest. When she was born, her parents let her have a soul so she could socialize in the human world. This also makes her more compassionate than most vampires, who are usually heartless and cunning. She is characterized as a beautiful girl with blonde hair and rather pale skin. She wears vanilla-scented perfume to hide her true vampire scent of death and decay in an attempt to avoid detection by monster hunters. She is also a health-conscious girl who has certain diet on her menu. Juliet's development as a vampire is very slow, as her fangs have just started to grow at a late age for a vampire. She is also shown to not want to drink blood, and even tries to persuade her parents to abstain from drinking blood. As a very unusual character for a vampire, this trait is used for comic effect, especially when she empties a berliner with her fangs. At first, Juliet and Justin were not allowed to date by their respective parents due to their restaurants' rivalry. However, the two fight for their love and soon are allowed to date. In "Night at the Lazerama", Juliet accompanies Justin on his monster-hunt for a mummy. Unfortunately, they become trapped in a glass display near a glass roof, which would cause Juliet to burn up in the morning. Since the mummy is the only one that able to take Juliet out from the glass display, Justin decides that the only way to save Juliet's life is to turn her into the mummy's slave. Nevertheless, he promises to save her one day. The mummy then takes Juliet to Transylvania, where she is forcibly imprisoned in suspended animation behind Hieroglyphics, though she never gives up hope that Justin will save her. In "Wizards vs. Werewolves", Justin indeed saves her, and then it is revealed that she once dated Mason Greyback, Alex's werewolf boyfriend, 300 years ago. This fact makes Justin rather jealous towards Mason, leads to a fight between the two. Juliet intervenes when Justin and Mason fight, and Mason scratches Juliet and, in turn, Juliet bites Mason, resulting in Mason turning into a wolf and Juliet is stripped of her vampire powers. This causes her to rapidly age into an old woman, since she is truly 2,193 years old. Because of this, Justin and Juliet are forced to end their relationship, both of them heartbroken. In "Moving On", Juliet appears again, happy to witness that Justin apparently has forgotten her and moved on. However, Justin and Juliet reunite towards the end of season 4, since, actually, none of them has stopped loving each other. Juliet gets her vampire powers and youth back when Gorog (the leader of dark angels) gives them to her in an effort to tempt Justin to join the Dark Side. However, the Russos defeat Gorog, releasing Juliet from his influence. Juliet comes to support Justin at the Russo family's wizard competition, where she and Mason meet and both acknowledge that no hard feelings left from the events that took place in "Wizards vs. Werewolves". When Justin takes Professor Crumbs' place as headmaster of WizTech, Juliet says she's even happier about that. Dean Moriarty (Daniel Samonas; seasons 2 and 4) is Alex's boyfriend in the second season. He makes temporary tattoos in the boys bathroom and is interested in cars. In episode "Racing" he charmed Alex's parents with his car skills, though he revealed to Alex that he only did it to make a good first impression by being polite. It is also revealed in that episode, that he was raised by his Uncle, as he exclaimed proudly "my Uncle raised me with manners". Harper and Justin aren't too fond of him and Jerry seems the same way later on, though this is partly due to Jerry being an overprotective father after learning that he is dating Alex. He can never remember Harper's name. In the episode "Alex's Brother Maximan" it was shown he likes roller skating and playing with the claw game and winning stuffed animals. The only thing Alex doesn't like about him is that he's horrible at showing his feelings, as shown in "Saving Wiz Tech Part 1", but it changed in "Saving Wiz Tech Part 2". He does not appear to be academically inclined, as Alex noticed a false good grade on his wooden assignment/gift for her (it was a D changed to a B), and he also stated that he does not "test well", meaning he doesn't see himself as book-smart. He moved away sometime after that, so Alex visited him in his dreams in "Wizards vs Vampires: Dream Date"; she then saw how they were growing apart, so they broke up. But he returned in Season 4 "Journey to the Center of Mason" because he wanted to get back together, though she denied it because she likes Mason, and Mason eats him out of jealousy. Dean is later rescued by Alex, Justin, and Max, and learns that Alex has chosen Mason and agrees to back off. Professor Crumbs (Ian Abercrombie) is the headmaster of WizTech (a reference to Albus Dumbledore). In "Wizard School", he is often seen holding a muffin. (The muffin's crumbs fall into his beard, hence the name "Crumbs".) Professor Crumbs is never seen without his incredibly long beard, even when he was turned into a guinea pig in the episode "Report Card". The only episode where he has been seen without his beard is in part two of season two's "Saving WizTech" when Ronald Longcape, Jr. (Chad Duell) took the beard from him, revealing that it was a fake beard all this time. After he was defeated, Crumbs took his beard back. Crumbs is shown how to socialize by Max in "Saving WizTech" and has done some childish things, such as spitting over the edge of the Tower of Evil. In season two's "Saving WizTech", he states that he is 850 years old. He speaks with a British accent, which Alex sometimes makes fun of. Another thing that Alex makes fun of is the fact that he has a smelly beard revealed in Wizards Exposed. In the season 3 finale, he appears to be captured by a government agency with the rest of the wizard elite. However, the season 4 premiere reveals it was all an illusion Crumbs created to "test" Justin and Alex. As each broke it by revealing to government agents and reporters (all also illusions), Crumbs forces them both to start at level 1 of their wizard lessons; however, after seeing how remarkably unintelligent Max was, he regretted his choice. When Justin and Max change him back into a kid, in their attempt to trick him into revealing how to undo a mutant spell they cast on Max that turned him into a little girl, it's revealed that everyone in Crumbs' family has a beard even as a kid. In the four-part episode revolving around Floor 13B, Professor Crumbs was surprised about a wizard floor that he did not know of and ended up discovering that Gorog was behind it. Professor Crumbs was captured by Gorog alongside the other inhabitants and was later rescued by the Russos upon Gorog's defeat. In the end of the series finale, Crumbs announces Alex as the Family Wizard and that he is retiring, and makes Justin Russo (David Henrie) the new headmaster of WizTech, thus also granting Justin his full magic powers. Hugh Normous (Josh Sussman; seasons 1-2 and 4) was Alex's Wiz Tech friend he first appeared in "Wizard School." His name is a pun of the word "enormous", it is also an irony considering that he isn't a real giant, as pointed out by Alex when he introduced himself and she responded with "Not Really". At first, he believed himself to be a giant, since his parents are giants, but that he's the runt of the litter, so he carries around miniature everyday objects to boost his self-esteem; humorously, he also wears underpants and glasses too small for himself. He later appeared in season 2 episode Saving Wiz Tech where he showed Alex his friend Ronald Longcape Jr he later appears in Harper Knows and Hugh's not Normous where he discovers that he is adopted and that he is not a real giant. He eventually meets his birth parents and goes to live with them, but he doesn't resent his adoptive parents. Hugh is a giant in the sense of, when he met his birth parents, he was markedly taller than both of them, with both of them commenting on his larger size. Presumably, after discovering this, he stopped his habit of carrying miniature objects and started wearing regular-sized clothes. He does not appear in season 3 or the movie. He returned in Ghost Roommate, still thinking he is a giant. Kelbo Russo (Jeff Garlin; seasons 1-3) is the uncle of Alex, Justin and Max, brother of Jerry and Megan and brother-in-law of Theresa. Unlike Jerry, he is very fun and carefree. Kelbo is a full wizard (Jerry had originally won the competition, but gave up his powers to marry a mortal) who often uses his powers very childishly, and often seems just as irresponsible with them as Alex is with her own. As a recurring gag, in every episode he appears in during the post credits scenes, he makes a prank call to someone. He first appears in "Alex In the Middle", and temporarily becomes Alex's wizard tutor. He reappears in "Retest", it is requested that he, Jerry and their sister Megan re-do their wizard competition, but when Megan refuses, Kelbo hires a magical fish-lawyer to help them, but after he informs that there is nothing that he can do, Kelbo decides to move to Atlantis for good. He appears once again in "Dude Looks Like Shakira", and reveals that he is Shakira, but also added that what he has been doing is against the wizard rules, and can no longer control his transformations. The Russos eventually cure him of his illness (though Shakira's career-end isn't mentioned afterwards). Despite his immaturity, naivety and clueless behavior, Kelbo proves to be a very loving and caring uncle, which was visible in his second appearing, and he, unlike Jerry, has no hard feelings for Megan, in fact, he was genuinely happy to see her again. Also in "Dude Looks Like Shakira", Kelbo, in a rare moment of maturity, attempts to confess his crime to the wizard council, even knowing the consequences, in order to free his family from legal issues. Prank calls include: Is your refrigerator running (to Theresa in "Alex in the Middle"), Is your refrigerator running (to Megan in "Retest"), This is the wizards council. We'll be over to break you hands for breaking wizard rules, etc. (to Justin in "Dude looks like Shakira"). It's also shown that he really hates the taste of cinnamon. He did not appear in season 4. Monotone Woman (Amanda Tepe; seasons 1-2) has played numerous characters during the show's first season, as well as one guest appearance in season two. She appears as a random character who speaks with a monotone. Jobs she has held include department store manager, waitress, frozen yogurt store manager, hotel maitre'd, dog show security guard, the information desk lady at Volcano Land (only job in the magic world), art museum security guard, and hot dog vendor. Tepe's only appearance on the show during the second season is in the episode "Wizards vs. Vampires: Dream Date" as the hot dog vendor person. Her name in "New Employee" is Amanda, according to her name tag, but in "Art Museum Piece", her name is Elaine according to Blue Boy. She does not appear in the third and fourth season. (Hayley Kiyoko; season 3) – Stevie is the new trouble maker at school. She was first seen in episode Detention Election where she competes with Alex to see who is the baddest girl in school when it turns out to be her Alex and Stevie form a close friendship. In Eat to the Beat it turns out that Stevie's a wizard. Harper was first to find out, but Stevie makes Harper forget in the episode Third Wheel (not knowing that Harper already knows about magic). Then Alex then uses the jog your memory spell on Harper (seeing that Harper is trying to tell her something important) and she finds out, which brings Stevie and Alex's friendship closer. It is revealed in "The Good the Bad and the Alex" that Stevie was forming a wizard revolution that prevents the other siblings of a wizard competition from losing their powers. She recruits Alex and Max, to the dismay of Harper, Justin, and Stevie's brother, Warren. As Max takes a picture of Alex and Stevie, Alex freezes Stevie, enabling Warren to get his full powers. However, Max accidentally taps Stevie and shattered her to pieces, although she didn't die and was mysteriously sent away to an island in the Wizard World., (Leven Rambin; season 4) – Rosie is Justin' angel girlfriend throughout the Wizards vs. Angels trilogy. In the first part, she pretends to be a wizard so she can join Justin's delinquent wizard class, but does terrible. A wizarding test for the class is coming up, and the class (besides Rosie) is doing exceptionally well, so Justin has to kick Rosie out because of her poor magical skills. Justin has an obvious crush on her, as he barely notices the rest of the class. She later reveals to Alex that she really likes Justin, so Alex puts the copycat spell on Rosie so she'll do everything Alex does. Her wizard robe comes off, revealing her wings, and everyone realizes she is an angel. In the second part, Rosie and Justin have their first date, but Jerry, Theresa, Alex, Harper and Max ruin it, so Rosie takes Justin, Alex and Harper to an angel dance club, for a second chance at their first date. During the angel slide, the club manager, Zeedrik, realizes that Alex and Harper aren't real angels. The foursome flee the club after Justin, Alex and Harper (barely) convince everyone they're real angels. At the end, Rosie's wings turn black, revealing that she is an angel of darkness. In the third part, Justin starts doing bad stuff, because Rosie, who's a dark angel, is influencing him without anyone (except for her) realizing it. Alex gets worried, so she goes to the guardian angel headquarters. There she meets Tina (China Anne McClain), a guardian angel in training, who desperately wants her wings, so she is always trying to help Alex. Alex gets a guardian angel for Justin, and goes back to Waverly Place with Tina. Tina recognizes Rosie, and reveals that she used to be her guardian angel teacher, but is now an angel of darkness. Alex tells Justin this, and Rosie admits it, but also says that she still cares about him and hopes he'll still care about her. Justin decides to stay with Rosie, infuriating Alex. Alex and Tina find Justin's guardian angel, Monti, tied up by Rosie, and they find her to-do-list. The list reveals that she is using Justin to steal the moral compass, which controls the morality of the world, from the guardian angels for the angels of darkness. Justin successfully steals the compass and Gorog (the leader of dark angels) rewards Justin with dark angel wings. The dark angels use the moral compass to turn everyone good to evil (with the exception of angels). Rosie realizes that Gorog plans on destroying Justin and tries to warn him, but he refuses to listen. Rosie realizes how much she really loves Justin, and goes to the Russos house to convince Alex to save her brother. Her sheer honesty convinces Alex to agree, and Alex and Tina go to the dark world, trying to get the moral compass back. However, Justin tries to prove his loyalty to Gorog by fighting Alex and Tina. Rosie professes her love to Justin, and with that love persuades Justin to fight evil and return to good. They escape, along with Alex and Tina, and they return the compass to the guardian angels. Rosie's good deed and love for Justin make her a guardian angel again. They both want to continue dating, but Justin decides against it because the world needs as many guardian angels as possible, so they go their separate ways. In the end, Rosie promotes Tina to full guardian angel. Also, Rosie tells Justin to do some bad things sometimes so that she can visit him in the future, but it has never been revealed whether she has visited him. (John Rubinstein; season 4) was an Angel of Darkness. He was the leader of the Dark Angels, who debuts in the episode "Wizards vs. Angels." His pawn, Rosie, tried to get Justin on his side in order to obtain the Moral Compass from the Guardian Angels, only to learn that Gorog tricked her. Alex managed to rescue Justin and they got away from Gorog. In "Wizards of 13B," Gorog set up a secret Wizard Floor in an apartment building while disguised as the floor's manager Dexter (Fred Stoller). In "Wizards vs. Everything," Gorog's ruse was revealed when Professor Crumbs investigated the Wizard Floor that he never knew existed. Gorog revealed that he was plotting to gather inhabitants of Floor 13 in order to rebuild his army. Under the control of Gorog, Felix used a spell that made the whole floor go with them to the basement, where they will dig a hole into the Wizard World. Gorog and his brainwashed servants left the floor while Alex, Harper, and Justin were left trapped in the floor. Gorog takes the kidnapped wizards to his evil lair, where he plans to make them evil. He tricks Hugh Normous into becoming one of the evil wizards in his army. Professor Crumbs fakes becoming evil when Gorog plans on making him evil. Gorog then makes the wizard army dig a hole to the atmosphere to the wizard world, so they can take over it. Gorog also tries to trick Mason into being one of the members in his army, but Mason refuses. Gorog tricks him into joining however. Gorog then makes Felix send a black hole to suck Alex and Justin in it. Gorog gives the kidnapped wizards their wands so they can take over the wizard world, but Crumbs refuses to let them. On Gorog's order, Felix then gets rid of Crumbs. When Alex, Justin, and Max arrive at Gorog's lair and attempt to destroy him, Mason tries to convince Alex to join them. Gorog also reveals Justin's ex- girlfriend Juliet (who is young again thanks to Gorog restoring her powers) and she convinces Justin to join. Alex also surrenders and Max is forced to as well. The three then use their magics to get rid of Gorog freeing those Gorog has brainwashed. In "The Wizards Return: Alex vs. Alex", Dominic reveals to Alex that Gorog is his uncle. This could mean that Gorog may have had a wizard brother or sister. He appears to be based on Satan. (JD Cullum and Anne Ramsay; season 2) – Alucard and Cindy are Juliet's full vampire parents and the owners of the competing sandwich shop on Waverly Place, the Late Nite Bite, appearing in the four-part "Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place" story arc at the end of season two. At first, they are opposed to the relationship between Juliet and Justin, but they eventually allow them to date each other. They didn't appear in the last 2 four-part episodes. They also called Alex "Oprah" in "Wizards vs. vampires on Waverly place" making every customer at "The late night bite" turn their heads to only see her. Alucard loves to scare people, although he is not very good at it. He often "unleashes his wrath," and, as Cindy puts it, if his victims don't appear scared, she "has to hear about it all night." Although they have been mentioned numerous times throughout the series (especially when Juliet is around) they are never seen in more than those two episodes. It is unknown if they will appear again, or if they know of their daughter's recent enslavement at the hands of a mummy. Also it is unknown if they know that Juliet loses her immortality in Wizards Vs. Werewolves. Running Gag: Alucard acts very mysterious like a stereotypical vampire while Cindy acts like a normal woman. Also of note the name Alucard is the reverse spelling of Dracula., (Brian Kubach; season 1) – Riley is Alex's crush in "I Almost Drowned in a Chocolate Fountain" and "The Supernatural", and her boyfriend in "Alex's Spring Fling". He is on the baseball team, and obviously likes Alex just as much as she does him. He appears to be at Alex's level in most school subjects, such as Spanish. He also appears to be one of Justin's friends, and is on the baseball team with him. His hair styles such as curly and straight differ between episodes. In "Alex's Spring Fling", Alex breaks up with Riley for a short time and starts to date "Manny Kin", who is a mannequin that she has brought to life just to make Riley jealous. Then Riley soon tells Alex that he is jealous and they continue to date. But, he is not mentioned at all in any other episodes (besides "I Almost Drowned in a Chocolate Fountain" and "The Supernatural")., (McKaley Miller; season 4) – Talia is Max's girlfriend. Her first appearance is in "Back to Max". She obviously likes Max. Max (as Maxine) first met Talia during the rehearsals for Tribeca Prep's "The Spirit of America Play". Maxine said that if she'll change back to Max, Talia will like him. After Maxine changed back to Max, he asks Talia to go out and she agrees, so she became Max's girlfriend. In the episode "Magic Unmasked", Max pretends to like Talia's hobbies. Then, Max tells Talia that they don't have anything in common and breaks up with her. Later, when Max is at Lucho wrestling match, Talia comes and she and Max get back together. Talia returned in "Alex, the Puppermaster", where her parents were introduced. Her parents do not like the Russo family, so Max put a spell on them, so they can meet all over again and end up liking each other., (Skyler Samuels; seasons 1-2) – Gertrude is Alex's rival. She has tried to embarrass Alex ever since they were in kindergarten when Gigi spilled juice on Alex's mat during naptime and said Alex had an "accident", and will often go entirely out of her way to do so. Another one of Gigi's targets is Alex's best friend, Harper. Gigi invited Harper to her annual tea party with the purpose of crowning her as the biggest loser at the tea party. Gigi seems to have complete control over most of the student body: in one episode, all of the other kids immediately cleared the halls at her command. Gigi hangs out with two girls who Alex and Harper refer to as the "Wannabes". The girls dress similar to Gigi and underwent plastic surgery of their noses to look more like her. Typical episodes involving Gigi depict her trying to humiliate Alex and/or Harper, and receiving poetic justice. So far Gigi has appeared in the episodes "Crazy Ten Minute Sale" and "Alex's Choice" from season one and "Graphic Novel" from season two. She doesn't appear in Seasons 3 and 4 because she was possibly expelled for bullying Alex and Harper. It is also implied that Gigi is wealthy, as mentioned by one of the girls at "Alex's Choice", where she said she "would be prettier if she could afford the same dermatologist as Gigi."., (Kelsey Sanders and Heather Trzyna; seasons 1-2) – The Wannabes are called "the wannabes" because they want to be as pretty as Gigi. They usually have strange looks, but that is only because it is part of a process to make them look prettier, and to make them look more like Gigi. They appear as Gigi's posse. They are also not very bright and rely on Gigi so often, they have no will of their own. They have appeared in every episode Gigi is in. They are also Alex's worst enemies in school., (Frank Pacheco; season 4) – He appears as recurring throughout season 4. His first appearance is in the subplot of "Alex Gives Up", a student in Justin's class of delinquents, who shows up late to class and doesn't hesitate to insult him repeatedly, rip the sleeves off Justin's shirt twice, and to dismiss the class by drawing a bell on the AbracaDoodler, which materials and then rings. When Alex joins Justin's class, he may have a crush on her, as he calls her pretty, etc. on more than one occasion. It is also revealed that Felix is a descendant of a very powerful wizard and is the only one who can pull out the most powerful wand in the Wizard World. Felix also lived on the secret wizard floor in Apt. 13B. He ends up brainwashed into serving Gorog until Alex, Justin, and Max defeat Gorog. He is last seen flashing himself, Hugh and Abercrombie Zombie back to the Wizard World., (Andy Kindler; seasons 3-4) – He is the head of the monster hunting council. He first appeared in "Three Monsters" when Justin reported Juliet and her parents as three monsters. Then he appears in "Night at the Lazerama" and again in "Wizards Exposed" when him, Professor Crumbs, and all the other wizards are kept captive in the secret government. He has also appeared in "Alex Gives Up" when he told Alex and Mason they have to break up because the werewolf always end up eating the mortal. His final appearance was the host of Alex, Justin, and Max's game-show style wizard competition in the series finale, "Who Will Be the Family Wizard"., (Moises Arias; season 3) – The Conscience is Max's inner thoughts of right and wrong. He appeared in "The Chronicles of Moises Voice of Reason". Theresa and Harper were big fans of him but Alex wanted him gone. He always wore what Max wore accept he wore a tie and was smarter. He explained to Max that he was supposed to do the spell in front of a mirror, so that his mirror reflection becomes his conscience. He really helped Max out with his magic and school work. In part 3 of the saga Alex turned Conscience into a pair of socks and Max into a wash tub so now Conscience is in Max again. Also, when Conscience was separated from Max, his own "conscience" appeared for a short time. Max called him Roy, cause he didn't want anyone to know that he's his conscience, however, confusingly he gave him another alias to live under., (Paulie Litt; seasons 1 and 3) – Frankie/Joey is Justin's enemy in the first season. He is shown to like Alex. He once hated Justin so much that he hired a kid to beat him up but Justin got revenge. He once nearly found out about magic when he saw Dragon (their magical dog ) that they had for sometime. He returned in season 3 with his name changed to Joey. So Justin hired him to serve crepes at a party except he quit when he saw Jerry as a bug. (Lucy Hale) – She is Justin's goth girlfriend in two episodes of season one. She is a new kid in school "Pop Me and We Both Go Down" and starts dating Justin in that episode but in "First Kiss" which was aired before "Pop Me and We Both Go Down" she isn't new and is already dating Justin (this is due to episodes being broadcast out of order, as based on the production codes for both episodes, "First Kiss" comes immediately after "Pop Me and We Both Go Down"). She is hated by Harper (due to her crush on Justin) and dresses in a goth fashion. She likes the color black and hates corporate America and "cool guys". It is said once that she's the new girl, but it is also said that in fifth grade she passed a note to Matt saying she liked him. She was also mentioned in the second season. In "First Kiss", Alex gets into a lot of trouble with her dad for trying to make Justin and Miranda's first kiss perfect because she overused a time-rewinding spell that is only supposed to be used for emergencies. Her last name is revealed to be Hampson in "Pop Me and We Both Go Down"., Mr. Stuffleby (Fred Willard) – The character first appears in the episode "Make it Happen". His job is to make sure that the Russo children who do not win the family wizard competition know how to earn a living after the loss of their powers, i.e. he ensures they have a career-plan. He has an unusually large mouth. When asked, he reveals that his mother is one quarter gargoyle. As a result of this facial feature, he frequently swallows many bugs (which he does not mind, as he finds them tasty). The second time he appears is in the episode "Monster Hunter" after Justin casts his five thousandth spell, marking the end of his wizard training., T.J. Taylor (Daryl Sabara) – T.J. is another teenage wizard that attends Tribeca Prep with Alex, Justin, and Max. He was once friends with Alex until she took a charm off of his parents, which ended their friendship. He returned in season 2 when Alex takes another spell he cast off his ex-girlfriend Jenny Majorheely, who of which he turned into a 40-year-old woman. He does not appear in Season 3, possibly because he could have gotten expelled for what he did to the principal in Season 2 episode "Art Teacher", or it's possible he just left. His catchphrase is "I'll show you..." followed by a challenge he brags about, which usually backfires on him., Officer Lamp (Michael A. Shepperd) – Officer Lamp is a wizard police officer who partners with Officer Goblin. He says Max is a cute kid and that nobody can pronounce Goblin's name., Officer Goblin (Brian Scolaro) – Officer Goblin is a goblin/wizard police officer. He is married, but it is unknown if he has kids. His actual name is unknown as Officer Lamp says, "Nobody can pronounce that." He filed a complaint that puffing in with smoke causes health problems. In the season two episode "Harper Knows (A Wizard Outing)", he says he'll put a gold star in Alex's community service file if Alex helped at PopCon. He is once seen by Harper in that episode, so he pretends to be "Jeremy from Science". He is first seen to have 4 legs in the Season 1 episode "Alex's Choice", but in the subsequent episodes, he has 2 legs., The Mummy (John Eric Bentley) – A mummy who kidnapped and bewitched Juliet to be his servant. He has an immense supernatural power, being able to hypnotize, levitate and make others intangible with his eye-beams, even if this person is behind a plasticine structure (and thus showing that all the supernatural beings has their own kind of magic that is distinct of human wizardry). When Justin, Alex, Max, and Mason track down Juliet, the Russos unwrap the Mummy's cloth and he turns into dust, leaving only his red glowing eyes (that no longer work)., Conscience's Conscience (Adam Irigoyen) – He is Conscience's conscience when Conscience and Max get separated in Season 3 episode "Night at the Lazerama" and Conscience begins to develop his own conscience., Joey (Zack Shada) – Joey is in Dean's posse. He is the only who talks in the posse besides Dean. He seems to be Dean's right-hand man. He has all of Dean's (temporary) tattoos on his arm for inventory, except he doesn't have the unicorn. He complained when Dean gave Harper the unicorn first. He sometimes repeats what Dean says. In one episode, Alex reads Dean's mind and he says that he has to get Joey a date., Ronald Longcape Jr. (Chad Duell) – Ronald is an evil kid at WizTech. He was a love interest for Alex in season two's "Saving WizTech", while Alex was still in a relationship with Dean. Ronald shape-shifted into Dean and broke up with Alex so he could convince Alex into coming to WizTech with him; he froze the real Dean inside gelatin. Ronald then used Alex as part of his evil plan, to become the most powerful evil wizard at WizTech. His plan was foiled by Alex's love for Dean., Ronald Longcape Sr. (Maurice Godin) – Ronald Longcape Sr. is Ronald Longcape Jr.'s father. He only pretends to be evil. Justin tricks him into revealing who his evil son is, by asking his name, to which he stupidly answers by giving his name, not realizing how obvious his name is., Dr. Mary-Beth Evilini (Octavia Spencer) – Dr. Evilini was an evil teacher at WizTech. She got Justin to participate in the 12-Ball tournament (a wizard's version of ping pong), which could tell who is the most powerful young wizard. Her plan was to suck Justin's powers away at Volcano Land and take them for herself. Alex then found out about the plan from Evilini's messenger fish. Evilini's plan was later revealed after Alex used a truth spell on her., Frankengirl/Frankie Stein (Perry Mattfeld) -Frankengirl is a female monster Justin created to guard his room from Alex in the season 3 episode "Franken Girl". Her brain is the motherboard from Justin's laptop, which Alex then shuts down. Justin later uses magic on Frankie into wanting to be Alex's friend, and Frankie gets Alex to join the cheer leading squad with her. She is based on Frankenstein's monster. She reappears in "Three Monsters", and was accidentally sent to monster prison along with one of Justin's robots., Megan Russo (Carrie Genzel) – Megan is the embittered aunt of Alex, Justin and Max, and sister of Jerry and Kelbo and sister-in-law of Theresa. She despises Jerry, because he opted to give his powers to Kelbo instead of her. She was introduced in "Retest" where the Russo's try to convince her to re-enter the wizard competition against her brothers; but her grudge against Jerry is ongoing and as a result she refuses to compete. Her personality is similar to Alex, as she is characterized as lazy, sarcastic, artistic and selfish. As punishment for her behavior, she is no longer considered a member of the Russo family. She lives in Paris, France and earns a living as an artist. Max thought she lived in Paris, Texas, so he teleported him, Alex and Justin there., Susan (Tiffany Thornton) – Susan is another one of Justin's academic friends. Alex grows fond of Zach (his name changed to Zeke later on)and Susan and tries to be their friend, making Justin jealous because he was friends with them first. When Susan invites Alex to watch a movie with them, Alex finds out that she is under the age restriction and uses magic to get into the movie, literally. Though she is Justin's friend, she doesn't seem to be very bright, as she told Alex she's gonna follow in a celebrity's footsteps of growing up on a farm, not realizing she is a little too late for that (as she's already a teenager). She also failed to realize Alex was physically in the movie, as she and Zeke (then known as Zack) came out of the movie telling Justin, weirded out, that there's a girl in the movie who looks and sounds just like Alex and was even wearing the same clothes as her., MacGruder (Michael Monken) – MacGruder is a popular kid at Tribeca Prep who gets everyone to do what he does. He appeared in the episodes "Dude Looks like Shakira" and "Dad's Buggin' Out". And, he is famous for his catchphrases "MacGruder in!" and "MacGruder out.", Nancy Lukey (Bella Thorne) – Nancy was Max's girlfriend for a short period of time, but she broke up with him when he had to tell her he was lying about him being a wizard (even though he wasn't, he just had to protect his secret.), and she thought he was making a fool of her on purpose in front of the Russo's., Warren Nichols (Richard Chiu) – Warren is Stevie's brother whom she left in the middle of the power-transfer ceremony after he'd won their family wizard competition. Stevie mentions how despite their frequent arguments, and pranks she pulled on him, that they genuinely cared about each other. However, Stevie also tells Alex this is what led to them never talking again, as in concern about Alex having a similar relationship with Justin, hoping the same thing doesn't happen to them. Warren also appears to have a fainting problem, as he is often seen passing out in "The Good, The Bad, and the Alex," where he later got his full powers from Stevie after Alex froze her into a gray colored ice., Alfred (Andy Pessoa) – Alfred is Max's best friend. He was only in two episodes of season 2 and that was Smarty Pants and Beware Wolf. He is shown to be much smarter than Max, and is also similar to the character William in That's So Raven., Tutor Hatchback (Paulina Olszynski) - As her name describes, she is Max's magical tutor. Justin and Alex immediately take a liking to her, while Justin asks her out on a date, Alex starts hanging out with her as a new friend. Weirded out by realizing they both like the same person, who also likes them back, Justin and Alex start fighting for Tutor's attention and intentionally sabotaged Max's test after finding out that Tutor will have to leave if Max passes the test. Tutor eventually reveals that she is part-Elf, which explains why both Justin and Alex liked her so much, cause "Everybody loves Elves, you can't help it", Justin further explains that Elves have that magical quality that makes you love them. Characters only appear in . Archie (Steve Valentine) – Archie is a skilled, but unlucky and sardonic illusionist and con artist, and serves as the comical foil and anti-hero of the movie. He was a wizard until his brother defeated him in a wizard contest. He and Giselle constantly get in trouble with local authorities and try to convince the Russos in the search for "The Stone of Dreams", but fail due to Jerry and Theresa's distrust of them. However, after a time paradox caused by Alex that could destroy the entire family, she and Justin have no choice other than to find the object. During the movie, Archie serves as an assistant of Giselle, helping her due both to his crush on her and his own personal desire to get the Stone. Archie is shown to feel remorseful, however, when he secures the Stone from Giselle and gives it to Theresa – after having used his wish to undo Giselle's. Despite his antagonistic nature for half of the course of the movie, he has shown a much kind and caring side, as he worried about Alex and Justin could possibly fall down and how he gave back the Stone of Dreams back to Theresa., Giselle (Jennifer Alden) – Giselle is a female wizard. She was turned into a parrot and is the driving force for the search of The Stone of Dreams through the manipulation of Archie and the Russos. When the Russos have secured the Stone, Giselle steals it in order to return to her human form. Throughout the movie, Archie is not aware of her cruelty, despite all her physical and emotional abuse, until she informs him that she is only using him. Unfortunately for her, Archie turns the tables by stealing the Stone from her and wishing her into a parrot again. It remains a mystery why she was originally turned into a parrot but it is suggested that this was a punishment for abusing her magic. Giselle is highly selfish, only caring for her own well being, not concerned with other people's problems., Javier (Xavier Enrique Torres) – seen in Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. He was a host at the hotel the Russos were staying at in the Caribbean. Alex had a small crush on him, but soon turned him down once she realized how she would rather spend time with her family, and how little he really cares for her. Characters only appear in . Dominic (Beau Mirchoff) - Dominic is an evil, manipulative, self-absorbed wizard. Dominic was one of Justin's assistants at WizTech and delivers a message for the Russo family. Dominic constantly flirts with Alex, which makes her werewolf boyfriend, Mason jealous. Dominic comforts Alex when she's depressed over her parents thinking she's not mature enough to be the family wizard. Dominic gives Alex a friendship bracelet, which is later revealed to be an enchanted bracelet which is used to hold Max, Theresa, Jerry, Harper, and Mason captive. When Alex divides herself into a Good Alex and Evil Alex, Dominic joins forces with Evil Alex to take over the world. After Alex destroys the Evil Alex (so she thinks), Dominic tries to flirt with Alex one last time in order to get her to join forces with him. Mason is furious and pushes Dominic over the Leaning Tower of Pisa, sending him to his death. Dominic reveals to Alex that he is the nephew of her former enemy, the Angel of Darkness, Gorog, because of this, he may not be a full wizard and may be an angel of darkness himself, or Gorog may have had a wizard brother or sister., Carmela (Natalia Nogulich) - Carmela is an Italian cousin of Jerry Russo, and was a wizard in training with him. Carmela is the mother of two wizard in training kids, Bianca and Gino. A running gag throughout the film is that Carmela tickles Jerry every time she wants him to do something. Carmela and her family are rich and live in a huge villa in Italy with many servants and house workers. Carmela and the other Russo's are big fans of Jerry's daughter Alex, the family wizard and most powerful wizard of her generation. Carmela has the Russo's over for a family reunion so the family can catch up., Francesca (Antonella Lentini) - Francesca is an Italian cousin of the Russo family. When Max first sees her, he tries to pursue her, but when he tries to kiss her, she smacks him. Francesca tries to tell Max that they're cousins, but since she only speaks Italian, he doesn't understand her. At the end of the film, Max tells Francesca that he hopes to see her again and hopes she'll wait for him to return, Francesca tries to tell him that they're cousins and he's stupid, but Max just thinks he's wearing her down. Heidi Swedberg as Miss Majorheely ("Art Teacher") 2.15 (2009), Austin Butler as George ("Positive Alex") 3.10 (2010), Cindy Crawford as Bebe Rockford ("Fashion Week") 2.13 (2009), Rachel Dratch as Future Harper/"H.J. Darling" ("Future Harper") 2.16 (2009), Julia Duffy as Ms. Angela ("Credit Check") 1.18 (2008), Willie Garson as Mr. Frenchy ("Fashion Week") 2.13 (2009), Dwayne Johnson as Himself ("Art Teacher") 2.15 (2009), Lee Meriweather as "Battle Diva" ("Harper Knows") 2.08 (2008), Belita Moreno as Magdalena Larkin ("Quinceanera") 1.20 (2008), Sara Paxton as Millie ("Credit Check") 1.18 (2008), Rob Reiner as Himself ("Future Harper") – Reiner is seen in the episode's tag scene, Adam Irigoyen as Conscience's Conscience ("Night at the Lazerama") 3.05 (2009), Phill Lewis as Marion Moseby ("Cast Away (to Another Show)"), 2.25 (2009) part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover), Debby Ryan as Bailey Pickett ("Cast Away (to Another Show)", 2.25 (2009) part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover), Brenda Song as London Tipton ("Cast Away (to Another Show)", part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover), Cole Sprouse as Cody Martin ("Cast Away (to Another Show)", part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover), Dylan Sprouse as Zack Martin ("Cast Away (to Another Show)", part of the "Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" crossover), Chelsea Staub as Kari Landsdorf ("The Supernatural") 1.15 (2008), Malese Jow as Ruby Donahue ("Movies") 1.09 (2007), Tiffany Thornton as Susan ("Movies") 1.09 (2007), Misty May-Treanor as Herself ("Art Teacher") 2.15 (2008), Eric Allan Kramer as Coach Gunderson ("Alex in the Middle") 1.15 (2007), Jo Anne Worley as Maggie ("Alex Does Good") 2.17 (2009), Bella Thorne as Nancy Lukey ("Max's Secret Girlfriend") 3.19 (2010), Laura Ashley Samuels as Sara ("Moving On") 3.26 (2010), Shakira as Herself ("Dude, Looks Like Shakira") 3.12 (2010), Kate Flannery as Elaine Finkle ("Wizards vs. Finkles") 3.23 (2010), Scot Robinson as Marty Finkle ("Wizards vs. Finkles") 3.23 (2010), Wilmer Valderrama as Uncle Ernesto (""Uncle Ernesto") 3.25 (2010), John O'Hurley as Captain Jim Sherwood ("Captain Jim Bob Sherwood") 3.22 (2010), Bailee Madison as Maxine Russo ("Three Maxes and a Little Lady – Back to Max") 4.5 – 4.10 (2011), Shane Harper as Fidel ("Three Maxes and a Little Lady") 4.5 (2011), China Anne McClain as Tina ("Wizards vs. Angels") 4.09 (2011), Jackie Evancho as Choir Girl/Herself ("Back to Max") 4.10 (2011), Valente Rodriguez as Bob "Muy Macho" ("Magic Unmasked") 4.12 (2011), Bridgit Mendler as Juliet ("Wizards vs. Vampires on Waverly Place – Who Will be the Family Wizard?") 5.0 – 9.8 (2011), Tim Conway as Cragmont ("Justin's Back In") 4.18 (2011), Joely Fisher as Meg Robinson ("Alex the Puppetmaster") 4.19 (2011), James Urbaniak as Rob Robinson ("Alex the Puppetmaster") 4.19 (2011), Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana ("Cast Away )(To Another Show)", 2.25 (2009) part of the "Wizards on Deck With Hannah Montana" crossover) The fourth and final season of Wizards of Waverly Place aired on Disney Channel from November 12, 2010 to January 6, 2012. The Russo children, Alex (Selena Gomez), Justin (David Henrie), and Max Russo (Jake T. Austin) continue to compete to become the leading wizard in their magical family and begin to make difficult decisions about their futures. Maria Canals Barrera and David DeLuise co-star as their parents and Jennifer Stone co-stars as Alex's best friend, Harper Finkle. This is the second season of the series to be broadcast in high-definition. Season 4 of the series features a revamped opening sequence with clips from past seasons. The opening sequence takes place in the wizard lair at the Russo home. Footage of Alex (Selena Gomez) and Justin Russo (David Henrie) is shown in the Crystal replay ball from the season premiere "Alex Tells the World". Then, a spell book opens and footage of Max Russo (Jake T. Austin) and Harper Finkle (Jennifer Stone) appear. After that, footage of Theresa (Maria Canals Barrera) and Jerry Russo (David DeLuise) are shown in a cauldron. After the footage is played, Alex transports them to Times Square, with Alex waving her wand to reveal the title logo and the name of the creator. The theme song Everything Is Not What It Seems has also been remixed and sung by Selena Gomez for the fourth season of the show. Alex and Justin are sent back to level one in the wizard competition after "exposing" wizardry in "Alex Tells the World", leaving Max as the most expected to become the family wizard. In "Alex Gives Up", Alex quits the competition, but eventually decides to stay in the competition in "Journey to the Center of Mason" to be with Mason. Before then, Harper tries to get Alex to enjoy life without wizardry. Meanwhile, Justin tries to tutor a class of delinquent wizards. In the episode, "Three Maxes and a Little Lady", Alex and Justin accidentally turn Max into a little girl, Maxine, portrayed by Bailee Madison. She ends up making Alex jealous when their father prefers Maxine over Alex. Maxine remains until "Back to Max". In the episode "Everything's Rosie for Justin", Justin falls in love with Rosie, a guardian angel, but at the end of "Dancing with Angels" she becomes an Angel of Darkness. In "Zeke Finds Out", the Russos finally reveal to Zeke that they are wizards. In "Wizard of the Year", Alex is crowned Wizard of the Year for saving the world from the angels of darkness, and is reinstated in the Wizards Competition. In "Justin's Back In", Justin is reinstated in the Wizard Competition, after his class of delinquent wizards passes. Meanwhile, Alex's relationship with Mason is jeopardized again when a beast tamer, Chase Riprock, falls in love with Alex and Mason gets jealous. This results in Alex breaking up with Mason. Alex, Justin and Max then save the world from being destroyed by an asteroid. Later, Alex and Harper move into an apartment building with a secret 13th floor for wizards and other creatures in the wizard world. However, it turns out to be a trap made by Gorog to capture the wizards who live in the same floor to make them join the dark side and rule the wizard world. He is defeated and destroyed by Alex, Justin and Max who were using the Power of Three. During this, Alex and Mason get back together and, after a long time, Justin finally gets back together with Juliet. Finally, in the hour-long series finale, Alex, Justin, and Max compete in the family wizard competition. Alex wins and gains full wizardry; Justin becomes a full wizard as well when Professor Crumbs reveals he is retiring as headmaster of WizTech and passes the position to Justin. Jerry also decides to pass down the Waverly Sub Station to Max one day since he is the only child who is not a wizard anymore. The series ends with hugging and Alex saying that they are all happy. Guest stars and recurring cast include: Gregg Sulkin as Mason Greybeck, Ian Abercrombie as Professor Crumbs, David Barrera as Carlos Cucuy, Samantha Boscarino as Lisa Cucuy, Bill Chott as Mr. Laritate, Frank Pacheco as Felix, Bridgit Mendler as Juliet van Heusen, Daniel Samonas as Dean Moriarty, Bailee Madison as Maxine Russo, Shane Harper as Fidel, Dan Benson as Zeke Beakerman, John Rubinstein as Gorog, Andy Kindler as Chancellor Tootietootie, Fred Stoller as Dexter, Leven Rambin as Rosie, China McClain as Tina, Kari Wahlgren as Helen, Cameron Sanders as Nelvis, Josh Sussman as Hugh Normous, Jackie Evancho as Herself, McKaley Miller as Talia, Valente Rodriguez as Muy Macho, and Nick Roux as Chase Riprock. Selena Gomez as Alex Russo, David Henrie as Justin Russo, Jake T. Austin as Max Russo, Jennifer Stone as Harper Finkle, Maria Canals Barrera as Theresa Russo, David DeLuise as Jerry Russo This season consists of 27 episodes. General references

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The 2009 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2009 season. As the 105th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of- seven playoff contested between the Philadelphia Phillies, champions of the National League (NL) and defending World Series champions, and the New York Yankees, champions of the American League (AL). The Yankees defeated the Phillies, 4 games to 2, winning their 27th World Series championship. The series was played between October 28 and November 4, broadcast on Fox, and watched by an average of roughly 19 million viewers. Due to the start of the season being pushed back by the 2009 World Baseball Classic in March, this was the first World Series regularly scheduled to be played into the month of November. This series was a rematch of the 1950 World Series. Home field advantage for the Series went to the AL for the eighth straight year as a result of its 4–3 win in the All-Star Game. The Phillies earned their berth into the playoffs by winning the National League East. The Yankees won the American League East to earn their berth, posting the best record in the Major Leagues. The Phillies reached the World Series by defeating the Colorado Rockies in the best-of-five National League Division Series, and the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven NL Championship Series (NLCS). The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins in the American League Division Series and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the AL Championship Series (ALCS) to advance to their first World Series since 2003. As a result of their loss, the Phillies became the first team since the Yankees to lose the World Series after winning it the previous year. Cliff Lee pitched a complete game in the Phillies' Game 1 victory, allowing only one unearned run, while Chase Utley hit two home runs. In Game 2, solo home runs by Mark Teixeira and Hideki Matsui helped the Yankees win by a score of 3–1. After a rain delayed start, Game 3 featured more offense, with a combined six home runs and thirteen total runs en route to a Yankee victory. The Yankees won Game 4 by scoring the decisive three runs in the ninth inning after an alert base running play by Johnny Damon. The Phillies avoided elimination with a win in Game 5, aided by Utley's second two–home run game of the series. The Yankees secured their World Series championship with a Game 6 victory in which Matsui hit his third home run of the series. He was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the series, making him the first Japanese-born player and the first full-time designated hitter to win the award. Matsui was the series' MVP despite starting only the three games that were played at Yankee Stadium, since the designated hitter position is not used in NL ballparks. Several records were tied, extended, or broken during this World Series, including team championships (Yankees with 27), career postseason wins (Andy Pettitte with 18), career World Series saves (Mariano Rivera with 11), home runs in a World Series (Utley with five), strikeouts by a hitter in a World Series (Ryan Howard with 13), and runs batted in in a single World Series game (Matsui with six). During the off-season, the Phillies promoted assistant general manager Rubén Amaro Jr. to general manager, succeeding Pat Gillick who retired at the end of a three-year contract. Their most notable offseason player change was in left field, as Pat Burrell departed due to free agency and was replaced by free agent Raúl Ibañez. Another notable acquisition was free agent pitcher Chan Ho Park. Park was originally signed as a backup option for the bullpen, as reliever J. C. Romero was assigned a 50-game suspension after violating the Major League Baseball drug policy, but Park won the fifth starter's job in Spring Training. In July 2009, Phillies scouts evaluated pitcher Pedro Martínez in two simulated games against the Phillies DSL team, leading to a one-year, $1-million contract. Replacing Jamie Moyer as a starter in the Phillies rotation on August 12, 2009, Philadelphia won each of Martínez's first seven starts, the first time in franchise history that this had occurred with any debuting Phillies pitcher. The Phillies made one large acquisition at the trade deadline, trading four minor league players to the Cleveland Indians for pitcher Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco. Lee won seven of his twelve regular season starts for Philadelphia in 2009. During the regular season, the Phillies led the National League East for most of the year, taking first place for good on May 30. Ibáñez had started the year strongly, batting well over .300 with 17 home runs and 46 runs batted in (RBI) in the first two months of the season, which led the New York Post to call him an "early MVP candidate". He was placed on the disabled list in mid-June for a groin injury, however, and though he returned he did not bat above .260 for any other month that season. Although Ibáñez did not receive MVP votes his teammates Ryan Howard and Chase Utley had successful years, finishing 3rd and 8th in the balloting respectively. The Phillies finished the season with a record of 93–69 (.574), six games above the second-place Florida Marlins in their division. The Phillies defeated the wild card Colorado Rockies in the National League Division Series (NLDS), three games to one, advancing to the National League Championship Series (NLCS). Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Phillies won the NLCS, four games to one, becoming the first team to repeat as National League champions since the 1995–96 Atlanta Braves. Ryan Howard won the NLCS MVP for his strong offensive performance during the series. Howard tied Lou Gehrig's postseason record by having at least one RBI in eight straight games across the NLDS and NLCS. They became the first World Series champion to return to the World Series the following year since the 2000–01 New York Yankees. The Yankees' offseason began in November 2008 with control over their organization shifting from long-time owner George Steinbrenner to his son Hal Steinbrenner. Notable player departures included Mike Mussina—who announced his retirement on November 20, 2008—as well as Bobby Abreu, Jason Giambi, and Carl Pavano, who all left as free agents. Notable free agent acquisitions included starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A. J. Burnett, and first baseman Mark Teixeira. Another major addition was outfielder Nick Swisher, acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox. The Yankees played the 2009 season in Yankee Stadium, their first year in that park after playing for 84 years in "Old" Yankee Stadium. They won the American League East with an eight-game lead over their rivals, the Boston Red Sox, compiling a record of 103–59. Sabathia won 19 games and position players Alex Rodriguez and Teixeira both had strong seasons offensively, Rodriguez with 30 home runs and 100 RBI and Teixeira with 39 and 122 respectively. Closing pitcher Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save against the Yankees' cross-town rival New York Mets, becoming the second pitcher in history to do so. On September 11, 2009, shortstop Derek Jeter recorded his 2,722nd career hit, passing Lou Gehrig to become the all- time leader in career hits recorded as a Yankee. The Yankees defeated the Minnesota Twins in three games in the American League Division Series and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in six games in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) to win their first American League pennant since 2003. Sabathia was named MVP of the ALCS with two wins in the series. The Yankees' victory in the ALCS earned them their 40th World Series appearance in franchise history, and their first since losing to the Florida Marlins in . The two teams played a three-game interleague series at Yankee Stadium in May 2009, with the Phillies winning two of the three games. The series included two blown saves by Phillies' closer Brad Lidge in games 2 and 3, although the Phillies came back to win the final game in extra innings. The Yankees had home field advantage for the Series as the American League had won that year's All-Star Game. The team match-up was heavily discussed and analyzed in the media, per the east coast bias, prior to the beginning of the series. Both teams' offensive lineups were heavily touted, with the Yankees and Phillies leading their respective leagues in runs scored per game. Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez drew particular focus in the media for his success in earlier rounds of the 2009 playoffs in contrast to past postseason performances. The two lineups featured twenty former All-Stars and three former MVP award winners. Only one regular starter between both teams, Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz, did not have at least ten home runs during the 2009 regular season. The two teams combined for 468 home runs during the season, more than any pair of opponents in World Series history. The pitching staffs were also the subject of significant discussion prior to the series. The starting pitchers for Game 1, CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, were regarded as aces who dominated the 2009 postseason with a 0.96 earned run average (ERA) between them. This matchup was of particular note, as Sabathia and Lee were former teammates from the Cleveland Indians and each had won a Cy Young Award with that franchise. Yankees manager Joe Girardi had been using a three-man starting rotation during the playoffs, in contrast to the four-pitcher rotation used by the Phillies. This difference led USA Today to give the Phillies' starting rotation the "edge" in the series, as the World Series had one fewer day off than previous rounds of the playoffs, making the series less conducive to using a three-man rotation. Gene Wojciechowski of ESPN criticized Girardi's strategy, arguing that Chad Gaudin should have pitched in Game 5 or 6, instead of A. J. Burnett or Andy Pettitte on reduced, three days' rest. Wojciechowski argued that while Sabathia had proven his ability to pitch on shorter rest, Burnett and Pettitte should have been given their regular time between starts. Burnett had drawn some criticism, as he performed poorly in his last appearance before the World Series, a start in Game 5 of the ALCS in which he allowed six runs over six innings. However, Burnett had previously been successful on short rest, going 4–0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest before this game. Some believed Girardi settled on a three-man rotation because he had limited options for a fourth starting pitcher, either Gaudin or Joba Chamberlain, who had been inconsistent as starters in the regular season and had been shifted into the bullpen for the postseason. The matchup of closers, Mariano Rivera and Brad Lidge, also drew attention. Rivera and Lidge were the only closers who had not blown a save during the 2009 postseason, whereas closers on other postseason teams blew 11 saves in the 24 postseason games before the World Series in 2009. Both had performed well during the postseason, but Lidge had posted a 7.21 ERA during the 2009 regular season, in contrast to Rivera's 1.76. Lidge's 2009 numbers were in stark contrast to the previous season (41 out of 41 save opportunities, a 1.95 ERA, and 92 strikeouts in 62 games). As a result, USA Today gave the Yankees the edge, noting that Lidge had blown two saves against the Yankees during their regular season series earlier that year. The Series started on October 28, 2009, which was the latest start in World Series history, beating the previous record held by the 2001 World Series (October 27). Game 4 was played on Sunday, November 1 and the series-winning Game 6 took place on November 4. The Series was only the third to end in a month other than October. The first came in , which was played entirely in September after the regular season was cut short due to World War I. The other such series was in when the September 11 attacks caused a delay in the baseball season that eventually forced the end of the World Series into November. Earlier in the season Commissioner Bud Selig expressed interest in scheduling a World Series game during daylight hours instead of the evening. The starting times were ultimately moved before 8 p.m. ET for the first time in 30 years, but no day games were played. The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) played across the street from Citizens Bank Park at Lincoln Financial Field on the day of Game 4\. The NFL moved that game's kickoff time to 1 p.m. to avoid it ending too close to the start of Game 4\. Similarly, Game 5 was played at Citizens Bank Park on the same day as the Philadelphia Flyers hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL) at the Wachovia Center. The opening faceoff of the hockey game was scheduled for 7 p.m. but the NHL moved it to 5 p.m. to avoid conflict. The umpires for the series were Joe West, Dana DeMuth, Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, Jeff Nelson, and Mike Everitt. The World Series crew had included at least 1 umpire who had never worked the World Series in 24 of the past 25 series; however, following several mistakes by umpires in earlier rounds of the playoffs, this crew did not. The Phillies had won the previous season's World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays for the franchise's second championship. The Yankees had lost their previous World Series appearance to the Florida Marlins in and had not won since against the New York Mets. This was the fifth Series played between teams from New York and Philadelphia, and was the first Yankees–Phillies matchup since . The series also was the fourth consecutive time that the Phillies would have faced a team from the current AL East in the World Series, while the Yankees had faced a NL East opponent in four of their five most recent World Series appearances. This Series had two unofficial nicknames: "Turnpike Series", for the New Jersey Turnpike, which connects New York to Philadelphia through the state of New Jersey, and "Liberty Series", based on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Statue of Liberty in New York. First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden escorted former Yankees catcher and World War II veteran Yogi Berra to the mound, where the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by a veteran of the Iraq War. The Phillies' Ryan Howard got the first hit of the 2009 World Series by doubling in the first inning. Howard was stranded in the first and the game was scoreless after two innings. The Phillies scored first with a two-out home run by Chase Utley in the top of the third inning. Through the first five innings, Philadelphia starting pitcher Cliff Lee allowed no runs and three hits, striking out seven Yankees batters. In the top of the sixth, Utley hit another home run to give the Phillies a 2–0 lead. The starting pitchers Lee and CC Sabathia continued to pitch until the top of the eighth when Sabathia was replaced by Phil Hughes. Hughes walked the first two batters and was replaced by Dámaso Marte. Marte got two quick outs and was relieved by David Robertson, who walked Jayson Werth and gave up a two-run single to Raúl Ibañez. The Phillies added two more runs in the ninth with an RBI single by Shane Victorino and an RBI double by Howard. Lee finished with a complete game allowing one unearned run on six hits and striking out ten batters, not walking any of the hitters he faced. Lee's pitching performance made history in several ways: This was the fourth postseason start of Lee's career. In all four starts, he went at least seven innings and gave up no more than one earned run. The only other starting pitcher ever to begin his postseason career with four such starts was Christy Mathewson., He was also the first left-handed starter to beat the Yankees in The Bronx to open a World Series since Sandy Koufax in ., He was the first starting pitcher to throw a complete game without giving up an earned run against the Yankees in Game 1 of a postseason series., Lee was the first pitcher ever to strike out at least ten, walk no one, and give up no earned runs in a World Series start. Prior to the game, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys performed the song "Empire State of Mind" for the Yankee Stadium crowd. This game marked the first postseason appearance of Pedro Martínez against the Yankees since the 2004 American League Championship Series, when he was with the Boston Red Sox and a part of the two teams' long standing rivalry; it was also the second-ever World Series start that Martínez made. There was much media interest in Martínez's "return to Yankee Stadium" for Game 2, as he told reporters at a pre-game press conference "When you have 60,000 people chanting your name, waiting for you to throw the ball, you have to consider yourself someone special, someone that really has a purpose out there." The Phillies scored first for the second game in a row, with Raúl Ibañez hitting a ground rule double and then scoring on a Matt Stairs RBI single off A. J. Burnett in the second inning. Mark Teixeira tied the game with a home run in the fourth inning, and Hideki Matsui broke the tie in the sixth with another homer. Martínez departed the game after giving up consecutive hits to Jerry Hairston Jr. and Melky Cabrera to start the seventh inning, and reliever Chan Ho Park gave up an RBI single to Jorge Posada. With Cabrera at second base and Posada at first, Johnny Damon hit a low line drive at Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. Howard grabbed the ball and threw to second where Posada was tagged and called out while standing on the base. First-base umpire Brian Gorman ruled that Howard had caught the ball in the air; thus, the result was an inning-ending double play. Both Posada and Joe Girardi vehemently protested the call, claiming that the batted ball had hit the ground before being caught; however, the umpires did not reverse the call. ESPN reported that Gorman blew the call. This was the first of two calls made by Gorman in Game Two that were heavily criticized. Burnett left the game after seven innings, having given up one run. He was replaced by Mariano Rivera in the eighth inning. With one out in the eighth, the Phillies put two runners on with a walk to Jimmy Rollins and a single by Shane Victorino. However, Chase Utley grounded into an inning-ending double play ending on a close play at first base. The play was the second disputed call made by umpire Brian Gorman in Game Two. Gorman himself later admitted he missed this call, saying, "on a freeze frame, it looks like there's a little bit of a ball outside [Teixeira's] glove when [Utley] hits the bag." Ultimately, Rivera threw 39 pitches and got six outs for his 38th postseason save, his tenth in World Series play. The start of the game was postponed 80 minutes due to a rain delay, pushing the start time to 9:17 p.m. The cast of the television series Glee (with Amber Riley singing lead) performed the national anthem as part of a ceremony featuring a large American flag and several members of the armed services. The Phillies scored first with Jayson Werth's lead-off home run, which was followed by a bases-loaded walk and a sacrifice fly to make the score 3–0 in the bottom of the second inning. Following Mark Teixeira's walk in the top of the fourth inning, Alex Rodriguez hit a deep ball down the right field line. It was originally ruled a double so Teixeira held at third base. The play was reviewed using MLB instant replay, which revealed that the ball had struck a camera sticking over the top of the wall, so the ball was ruled a two-run home run, giving Rodriguez his first World Series hit. This was the first home run reviewed by instant replay in postseason play. Specifically, the ball hit a camera owned by Fox and MLB which extended slightly over the right field wall. The camera was moved back for Game 4 such that its lens was in line with the wall. Coincidentally, Alex Rodriguez also had the first regular season home run reviewed by replay. Nick Swisher opened the top of the fifth inning with a double and scored on a single to center field by Andy Pettitte. This was Pettitte's first career postseason RBI and the first RBI by a Yankees pitcher in a World Series since Jim Bouton in 1964. Derek Jeter followed Pettitte with another single, and both runners scored on a two-run double by Johnny Damon. Cole Hamels then walked Teixeira and was relieved by J. A. Happ. Happ closed out the fifth without allowing further scoring, but Nick Swisher added to the Yankees lead with a home run off of him in the sixth. Werth hit his second home run of the game leading off the bottom of the sixth to close the Yankees lead to 6–4, becoming the second Phillies player to hit multiple home runs in this World Series. Chad Durbin relieved Happ in the top of the seventh. He walked Johnny Damon, who then stole second base. Rodriguez was then hit by a pitch, and Damon scored on a single by Jorge Posada. Joba Chamberlain relieved Pettitte in the bottom of the seventh and retired the side in order. Brett Myers retired the first two batters in the top of the eighth, but Hideki Matsui then hit a home run pinch hitting for Chamberlain. Phil Hughes pitched a third of an inning in the bottom of the ninth and allowed a solo home run to Carlos Ruiz before being relieved by Mariano Rivera. Rivera closed out the game, throwing just five pitches to record the final two outs. This game was Pettitte's 17th career postseason win, extending his MLB record. Prior to the start of the game, Derek Jeter and Albert Pujols were named winners of the Hank Aaron Award for their offensive performances in 2009. This was the first game to test manager Joe Girardi's decision to use a three-man starting rotation, as CC Sabathia started the game on three days rest, a shorter period than he normally got during the regular season. Jeter led the game off with a single and advanced to third base on a double by Johnny Damon. Jeter scored via a Mark Teixeira ground out and Alex Rodriguez was hit by a pitch. Rodriguez was hit twice the night before and the umpires issued warnings to both benches. Jorge Posada then added to the Yankees lead that inning with a sacrifice fly. The Phillies answered quickly, scoring a run on successive doubles by Shane Victorino and Chase Utley in the bottom of the first. Sabathia intentionally walked Jayson Werth, but escaped the inning without further scoring. The Phillies tied the game in the bottom of the fourth as Ryan Howard singled, stole second, and scored on a single by Pedro Feliz. Although the run counted, instant replay of Howard's slide showed that he did not touch home plate. As Sabathia threw to second base, Mike Everitt signaled that Howard was safe due to the attempted play on Feliz. Sabathia then pitched to Carlos Ruiz as part of an intentional walk, therefore losing the right to appeal that Howard missed home. Nick Swisher walked to lead off the fifth inning and advanced to second on a Melky Cabrera single. Swisher restored the Yankees' lead, scoring on a single by Jeter, and Cabrera added to it by scoring a run on a Damon single. Brett Gardner replaced Cabrera in center field as a defensive substitution in the bottom of the sixth inning after Cabrera left the game due to a hamstring injury. Chan Ho Park relieved Phillies starter Joe Blanton in the seventh and held the Yankees scoreless in that inning. Chase Utley hit his third home run of the series in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, bringing the game to 4–3. Dámaso Marte relieved Sabathia and got the final out of the seventh without further scoring. Ryan Madson relieved Park in the eighth and allowed a walk and a single but held the Yankees scoreless. Joba Chamberlain replaced Marte in the bottom of the inning. He struck out the first two batters he faced but allowed a game-tying home run to Feliz before closing the inning. Brad Lidge came into the game for the ninth inning, popping out Matsui and striking out Jeter before surrendering a two-out single to Damon—after a nine-pitch at bat with two strikes and four foul balls. Then, with Teixeira batting, Damon stole second and, on the same play, also stole third as the base was uncovered due to a defensive shift against Teixeira. Several news outlets referred to this as a "mad dash", which Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post compared to Enos Slaughter's "Mad Dash" in the 1946 World Series. Some believed that Damon's play caused Lidge to avoid throwing his best pitch—a slider with sharp downward movement—for the rest of the inning, as it risked a wild pitch that would have allowed Damon to score from third base. Teixeira was then hit by a pitch and Rodriguez put the Yankees ahead with a double, scoring Damon. Posada added to that lead with a single that scored Teixeira and Rodriguez, but was thrown out at second to end the inning. Mariano Rivera entered in the bottom of the ninth and saved the game for the Yankees on eight pitches for his second save of the series. The Yankees replaced Melky Cabrera on their postseason roster with Ramiro Peña due to his injury in Game 4, while Brett Gardner took Cabrera's place in center field. A. J. Burnett, the Yankees' Game 2 starter, started Game 5 on three days rest, one less than the Phillies' Cliff Lee. The Yankees scored first in the first inning, with Johnny Damon reaching base with a single and then scoring on a two-out double by Alex Rodriguez. The Phillies responded in the bottom of the inning with a single by Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino reaching after being hit by a pitch, and finally a three-run home run by Chase Utley to take the lead. The Phillies added to their lead in the third inning with Utley and Ryan Howard drawing walks followed by RBI singles by Jayson Werth and Raúl Ibañez. With no outs in the inning, Burnett was relieved by David Robertson, who allowed another run to score on a Carlos Ruiz ground out. Robertson held the Phillies scoreless for a second inning in the fourth. Jorge Posada entered as a pinch hitter in the fifth inning for José Molina and grounded out. Eric Hinske then pinch hit for Robertson and walked, advanced to third on a Derek Jeter single, and scored on a ground out by Damon. Alfredo Aceves entered as the new Yankee pitcher in the bottom of the fifth. The first batter he faced, Jayson Werth, hit a deep drive to center field but it was caught for an out by Gardner, who collided with the outfield wall to complete the play. Aceves completed the inning without a run scoring, inducing ground outs from Ibáñez and Ruiz. Phil Coke relieved Aceves in the seventh inning and allowed two Phillies players to tie World Series records. First, Utley tied Reggie Jackson's record for most home runs in a World Series with a home run, his fifth of the series. Coke then struck out Howard, Howard's 12th strikeout in the series, tying Willie Wilson's record for most strikeouts in a World Series. Finally, Coke was driven from the game after allowing another home run, this time to Ibáñez, and was relieved by Phil Hughes. Victorino was replaced defensively in the eighth inning by Ben Francisco. Lee was driven from the game after allowing a single to Damon, followed by a double by Mark Teixeira, and then a double by Rodriguez that scored both runners. Chan Ho Park relieved Lee and induced a ground out from Nick Swisher, which advanced Rodriguez to third base. Rodriguez scored on a sacrifice fly by Robinson Canó. Ryan Madson entered in the ninth to close the game, allowing a double to Posada and a single to Hideki Matsui without recording an out. Batting with men on first and third base, Jeter grounded into a double play, allowing Posada to score but emptying the bases. Damon singled to bring Teixeira to bat as the potential tying run, but Madson struck him out to record his first World Series save. Members of the news media, such as Gene Wojciechowski, were critical of the three-man starting rotation strategy following Game 3, and contended that Burnett's poor performance was caused by insufficient rest in between starts. However, Burnett had been successful up to this point in such situations, going 4–0 with a 2.33 ERA in four career starts on short rest (less than the normal four days between starts) before this game. This game was the first Game 6 in a World Series since the 2003 World Series six years earlier, the longest such gap in the history of the World Series. Mary J. Blige, a Bronx native, performed "The Star-Spangled Banner". Andy Pettitte started on three days rest, the third straight game in which the Yankees fielded a pitcher on short rest. The Phillies started Pedro Martínez, who called himself and opposing pitcher Andy Pettitte "old goats" and acknowledged that Red Sox fans were rooting for him: "I know that they don't like the Yankees to win, not even in Nintendo games." The Yankees scored first with an Alex Rodriguez walk opening the bottom of the second inning followed by a two-run home run by designated hitter Hideki Matsui. The Phillies quickly responded with a triple by Carlos Ruiz who then scored on a sacrifice fly from Jimmy Rollins in the top of the third. Matsui answered back, adding to the Yankees lead again with a single with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, scoring Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. Damon, injured running the bases while scoring, was replaced defensively in the top of the fourth by Jerry Hairston Jr. Phillies starter Pedro Martínez was removed after allowing four runs in four innings, relieved in the fifth by Chad Durbin. Durbin allowed a ground rule double to Jeter, who advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Hairston and scored on a single by Mark Teixeira. Durbin then hit Rodriguez with a pitch and was relieved by J. A. Happ after recording just one out. Happ allowed a two-run double to Matsui, his fifth and sixth RBI of the game, which tied a World Series record for most RBI in a single game set by Bobby Richardson in the 1960 World Series. The Phillies made the game closer in the top of the sixth inning, as Chase Utley drew a walk and Ryan Howard followed him with a two-run home run, bringing the score to 7–3. After Raúl Ibañez hit a double into right field, Joba Chamberlain relieved Andy Pettitte and closed the sixth without allowing the Phillies to score. Chan Ho Park came in for Happ, ending any Yankees threat that inning. Chamberlain was relieved by Dámaso Marte in the top of the seventh after allowing two baserunners, but Marte struck out Utley to end the inning scoreless. After Park allowed a single to Rodriguez, Scott Eyre replaced him. Eyre allowed Rodriguez to steal second and intentionally walked Jorge Posada but escaped the inning without allowing a run. Marte recorded one out, a strikeout of Howard, in the top of the eighth inning. With it Howard set a new World Series record for most strikeouts by a hitter in a single series with a total of 13. After the out, Marte was relieved by Yankees closer Mariano Rivera in a non-save situation. Rivera allowed a double to Ibáñez, but no runs, in the eighth. After retiring the first two batters in the eighth, Eyre gave way to Ryan Madson, who allowed a single to Jeter before ending the bottom of the eighth inning. Matt Stairs led off the ninth as a pinch hitter, but lined out. Ruiz worked a walk from Rivera, but successive outs by Rollins and Victorino ended the game 7–3 to clinch the World Series for the Yankees. Pettitte added to his own record for most playoff wins, bringing his career total to 18. 2009 World Series (4–2): New York Yankees (AL) beat Philadelphia Phillies (NL). For the tenth consecutive year in the United States, Fox Sports televised the Series. Joe Buck called play-by-play and Tim McCarver provided analysis. The Series was also broadcast on ESPN Radio, with Jon Miller and Joe Morgan calling the action. Fox Sports en Español also broadcast the Series for the US Spanish-speaking audience. The flagship radio stations of the respective teams broadcast all Series games with their local announcers. In Philadelphia, WPHT carried the Phillies' English-language broadcasts, with Scott Franzke, Larry Andersen, Tom McCarthy, Gary Matthews, and Chris Wheeler announcing, while WUBA aired the team's Spanish broadcasts. In New York, WCBS-AM carried the Yankees' English broadcasts with John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman announcing. This broadcast made Waldman the first woman to announce a World Series game on radio. XM Satellite Radio offered multiple feeds of each game to its subscribers. Television ratings for the 2009 World Series were excellent. Game 1 attracted 19.5 million viewers, second only to the opening of the 2004 World Series for a series opener since 2000 and 29% higher than 2008's opening game. Game 4 produced the highest total viewership of the series with 22.8 million viewers, the highest for any World Series game since 2004 and the highest for a "non- decisive Game 4" since 2001. At 11.7 overall, the 2009 World Series was at the time the highest rated World Series since 2004 and the one of the only World Series to average double digits since 2007, the other being the 2016 World Series. Many players with both teams won awards for their performances during the 2009 season. Teixeira and Jeter each won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award; Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino won Gold Gloves, as well; and Chase Utley won a Silver Slugger Award. Rivera was named the 2009 DHL Delivery Man of the Year, as well as Sporting News Pro Athlete of the Year. Along with the Hank Aaron Award announced before Game 4, Jeter won the Roberto Clemente Award and was named Sports Illustrateds Sportsman of the Year for 2009. Matsui won the World Series MVP for his play, becoming the first Japanese player and first full-time designated hitter to win the award. Several items related to the series were sent to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum including bats from Jeter and Matsui; caps from Rivera, Lee, and Pettitte; and Johnny Damon's cleats. Matsui also joined Minnesota Twins radio analyst Dan Gladden as members from the 1994 world championship Yomiuri Giants team as players who have won championships in North America and Japan. This World Series title for the Yankees was their second one during the 2000's decade. Even though the Boston Red Sox had also won the World Series twice in this decade, the Yankees were the only team to have appeared in the World Series four (4) times during the 2000's. Therefore, the Yankees can be referred to as the "Team of 2000's". The series win brought the Yankees' franchise championship total to 27, more than any other North American professional sports franchise. This championship came in the Yankees' first year in their new stadium. They had also won the 1923 World Series, the opening year of the previous Yankee Stadium. The victory was noted by some sportswriters as a personal success for Alex Rodriguez, winning his first championship and succeeding in the playoffs where some had previously claimed he was a "choker and a loser". Prior to this series, Rodriguez had appeared in 2,166 regular season games without a World Series appearance, then the second-most among active players to Ken Griffey Jr. The Yankees' victory was credited to a number of different sources. Many players drew praise for their performances, including Series MVP Hideki Matsui; free agents signed the previous offseason including Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and A. J. Burnett; and the so-called "Core Four" of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada, who had all played a large role in the Yankees' past success in the 1990s. Manager Joe Girardi was also credited for his management of the team, particularly in his decision to use only three starting pitchers in the Yankees postseason starting rotation. The Yankees were the first team to use only three starters in a World Series since the San Diego Padres in the 1998 Series. Several members of the Yankees franchise dedicated the World Series in part to team owner George Steinbrenner, who had recently stepped back from his once prominent position with the team. Steinbrenner died on the day of the All-Star Game the following season at the age of 80. On November 6, a victory parade took place for the Yankees in the "Canyon of Heroes" in Manhattan, New York City. The Yankees sent a group of players, coach Tony Peña, and team Senior Vice President Felix Lopez with the Commissioner's Trophy to the Dominican Republic in early January 2010 to meet with President Leonel Fernández. Most of the 2009 Yankees received their championship rings on Opening Day the next season. Matsui was on the Angels in 2010 and when the Angels played their first series of the season in the Bronx, the Yankees home opener, they presented him with his ring. They also visited U.S. President Barack Obama in the White House in April 2010, presenting him with a signed jersey. The Yankees returned to the playoffs the following season, as the wild card. They lost to the Texas Rangers in the 2010 ALCS; which included an 8-0 shutout in Yankee Stadium by former Phillie ace Cliff Lee; it was Lee's seventh straight postseason win which included three victories against the Yankees (two as a Phillie in the 2009 World Series, and in 2010 during the ALCS). Following Game 4, after the Yankees took a 3–1 series lead, The Philadelphia Inquirer accidentally printed a three-quarters-page Macy's advertisement congratulating the Phillies for winning the World Series, along with a picture of a Phillies championship T-shirt. The newspaper subsequently apologized for the mistake. Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated attributed Philadelphia's loss to a lack of pitching depth, noting that three different Yankees starters managed to win games in the series, while only Cliff Lee won games for the Phillies. The Phillies' 2008 postseason star pitchers, starter Cole Hamels and closer Brad Lidge, struggled in their only appearances of the 2009 World Series. The Phillies bullpen which did well in the NLCS performed poorly in the World Series, allowing seven runs in just 11 2/3 innings with a 5.40 ERA. Jorge Arangure Jr. of ESPN partially attributed the Phillies' loss to their lack of offensive production, citing the team's .227 batting average in the World Series. Only Chase Utley performed well with 5 home runs and 22 of the Phillies' 90 bases, while Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins struggled at the plate, and Ryan Howard struck out a record 13 times in the World Series after his NLCS MVP performance. Before the start of the 2010 season, the Phillies traded away their 2009 postseason ace pitcher Cliff Lee. The Phillies posted the league's best record in 2010, and returned to the playoffs where they lost to the eventual champions the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS. Among those in attendance during Game 1 was New York Governor David Paterson, whose party had five tickets behind home plate. On March 3, 2010, the New York Commission on Public Integrity found that Paterson had violated state laws concerning gifts to public officials, and that he lied under oath to the commission about his intent to pay for the tickets. The commission further found that Paterson used his position to solicit and receive the five tickets—valued at US$425 each—free of charge from the Yankees, that he had never intended to pay for the tickets despite testimony to the contrary, and that he or a person acting on his behalf wrote a backdated check to pay for them only after scrutiny in the case arose. The Commission ultimately fined Paterson $62,125 for his actions. 2009 Asia Series, 2009 Japan Series, 2009 Korean Series , 2009 World Series at ESPN.com, New York Yankees championship page The 1995 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1995 season. The 91st edition of the World Series, it was a best-of- seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Atlanta Braves and the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians. The Braves won in six games to capture their third World Series championship in franchise history (along with 1914 in Boston and 1957 in Milwaukee), making them the first team to win at least one crown in three different cities. This was also Cleveland's first Series appearance in 41 years and marked the resumption of the Fall Classic after the previous year's Series was canceled due to a players' strike. The Series was also remarkable in that five of the six games were won by one run, including the clinching sixth game, a 1–0 combined one-hitter by Tom Glavine and Mark Wohlers. This was the first time since the LCS changed to a best-of-seven format that a winner of a LCS via a sweep has gone on to win the World Series. It has since been repeated in 2019 by the Washington Nationals. After losing the World Series in 1991 to the Minnesota Twins and in 1992 to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Atlanta Braves were trying to capture a title for the third time in four years. This World Series, despite being in an odd- numbered year, opened in the NL home because of the omission of the 1994 World Series. Until 2003, the World Series would begin in the AL home in even- numbered (not odd-numbered) years. The Braves overcame some early inconsistency to win their division by 21 games. In the playoffs, which featured a new first round, the Braves overwhelmed the third-year Colorado Rockies, then swept the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS (spoiling an all-Ohio World Series in the process; notably, prior to their World Series appearance in 1948, the Indians had spoiled an all-Boston World Series by beating the Red Sox in a one-game playoff). The team relied on clutch hitting and its powerful pitching rotation, which was made up of perennial Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery. After decades of futility, the city of Cleveland finally had a winner in town. The Indians dominated the American League in 1995, winning 100 of their 144 games (their 100–44 record yielded a very high 0.694 winning percentage, which was, at the time, the highest regular season winning percentage in Major League Baseball since 1954, and is, as of 2015, the 12th highest regular season winning percentage in Major League Baseball history since 1900). Furthermore, in just 144 games, they won the AL Central by 30 games, and they performed the difficult feat of leading their league in both team batting average (0.291) and ERA (3.81). Thanks to their hitting and bullpen, this Indians team became known around the league for their ability to come back from many deficits, often in dramatic fashion; of their 100 regular season victories, 48 were come-back victories, 27 came in their last at-bat, eight came by way of "walk off" home runs, and 13 were extra-inning victories (they were 13–0 in extra-inning games). After this dominance of the AL in the regular season, the Indians, in the playoffs, swept the Boston Red Sox in the opening round, then held off Ken Griffey, Jr. and the red hot Seattle Mariners in the ALCS, before heading into the Series against the Braves. The 1995 Cleveland Indians featured a very impressive batting line-up; one that hit for high average, good power, and had good speed. In addition to leading the AL in batting average (0.291), the Indians in 1995 also led the American League in runs scored (840; 5.83 runs per game), home runs (207), and stolen bases (132). Led by speedsters Kenny Lofton and Omar Vizquel, along with Carlos Baerga at the top of the order, the Indians offense was powered in the middle of the order by Albert Belle, Eddie Murray, Manny Ramírez, and Jim Thome; at the bottom of the line-up could be found Paul Sorrento (or Herbert Perry) and Sandy Alomar, Jr. (or Tony Peña). Thus, this Indians line-up had six everyday players who finished the season with a batting average of at least 0.300; and, with Herbert Perry and Tony Peña frequently filling in for Paul Sorrento and Sandy Alomar, Jr., respectively, it was not uncommon for the Tribe to field a line-up with as many as eight players who finished the season with a batting average of at least 0.300. In terms of power, though the '95 season was shortened, nevertheless, the Indians' line-up still featured two players with at least 30 HR, five players with at least 20 HR, and seven with at least 10 HR. While this line-up was filled with star players (four, in fact, were named to the 1995 AL All-Star team, namely, Lofton, Baerga, Belle, and Ramirez), Albert Belle stood out among all of them in 1995. Powered by a very strong second half of the season, Belle, the Indians' clean-up hitter in 1995, finished 1995 with a 0.317 batting average, 126 RBI, and 50 home runs. Further to be noted is the fact that, in hitting 50 HR and 52 doubles in 1995, Belle became the first Major League player to hit at least 50 home runs and at least 50 doubles in the same season (an accomplishment which, again, is even more remarkable considering that he did this in a shortened, 144-game season). The Indians also led the 1995 AL in ERA (3.81). While their starting pitching—led by veterans Dennis Martínez and Orel Hershiser—was respectable, it was their bullpen which gave real strength to their pitching staff. Key members of their bullpen staff included veteran right-hander Eric Plunk (6–2, 2.67 ERA), veteran left-hander Paul Assenmacher (6–2, 2.82), the young right-handed set- up man, Julián Tavárez (10–1, 2.44 ERA), and right-handed closer, José Mesa (3–0, 1.12 ERA, 46 SV). Mesa, in his first year as closer, posted a league- leading 46 saves in 1995, and set a then-Major League record of 38 consecutive saves without a blown save. Two of the members of the 1995 Indians' pitching staff—Dennis Martínez (the team's ace) and José Mesa—were named to the 1995 AL All-Star team. Thus it was that this Series presented an entertaining match-up of baseball's two best teams, each with reasons to be confident going into the Series. The Atlanta Braves were veterans to the post-season in the 1990s, having won both the 1991 and 1992 NL pennants (not to mention the 1993 NL Western Division title, having won 104 games in 1993), and they were the best team in the NL in the 1995 regular season (having posted a very solid 90–54 record). The Cleveland Indians, on the other hand, newcomers to the post-season (having not been in the post-season since 1954), in posting their 100–44 regular season mark, were the team which had posted not only the best regular season record in the AL, but had completed one of the best regular seasons in all of Major League Baseball history. Further, though the Braves' line-up was not very threatening in 1995 (their .250 team batting average was the second lowest in the NL), still, the Braves could be confident with their star-studded pitching staff—especially their starting staff—headed by the likes of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery. On the other hand, though the Indians could not boast of having as nearly a strong starting rotation as the Braves, nevertheless, they could lay claim to a very solid bullpen and one of the greatest batting line-ups that baseball has ever seen. It might also be noted that, though this was the first time that a team from Cleveland and one from Atlanta faced each other in the World Series, there were years, prior to the Braves being in Atlanta, in which the Braves faced a Cleveland team for baseball's crown. In 1948, the Boston Braves faced the Cleveland Indians (with the Indians winning that Series in 6 games). Even before that, in 1892, the Boston Beaneaters, a forerunner of the Braves, were also National League Champions in 1892, and faced the Cleveland Spiders for the championship. The Beaneaters beat the Spiders that year to win that baseball championship. The 1995 World Series was also noted for large-scale protests by Native American activists in response to the controversy surrounding both clubs' usage of Native American-themed nicknames, logos and mascots. NBC was originally scheduled to televise the entire Series; however, due to the cancellation of the 1994 Series (which had been slated for ABC, who last televised a World Series in 1989), coverage ended up being split between the two networks. Game 5 is, to date, the last Major League Baseball game to be telecast by ABC (had there been a Game 7, ABC would have televised it). This was the only World Series to be produced under The Baseball Network umbrella (a revenue sharing joint venture between Major League Baseball, ABC and NBC). In July 1995, both networks announced that they would be pulling out of what was supposed to be a six-year-long venture. NBC would next cover the 1997 (NBC's first entirely since 1988) and 1999 World Series over the course of a five-year-long contract, in which Fox would cover the World Series in even numbered years (1996, 1998 and 2000, and all subsequent editions beyond that). Also during the World Series in 1995, NBC's Hannah Storm not only became the first woman to serve as solo pre-game host of a World Series (CBS' Andrea Joyce co-hosted with Pat O'Brien in 1993) but also became the first woman to preside over a World Series Trophy presentation. Storm was infamously the recipient of a profane outburst from Albert Belle in his team's dugout. Later, Belle was unrepentant: "The Indians wanted me to issue a statement of regret when the fine was announced, but I told them to take it out. I apologize for nothing." John Saunders served as pre-game host for ABC's coverage. Serving as field reporters for the series were Lesley Visser (ABC) and Jim Gray (NBC). The six games averaged a national Nielsen rating of 19.5 and a share of 33. Through 2016, this remains the highest-rated World Series of the post-strike era. On the radio side, CBS was the national broadcaster with Vin Scully and Jeff Torborg on the call. Locally, WKNR aired the series in Cleveland with Herb Score and Tom Hamilton announcing, while WSB broadcast the series in Atlanta with Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton, and Joe Simpson announcing. Atlanta ace Greg Maddux pitched a two-hit complete game victory in his first World Series appearance (and just the fifteenth two-hitter in Series history). The Indians scored in the first inning when Kenny Lofton reached on an error, stole second and third, and scored on an RBI groundout by Carlos Baerga. In the bottom of the second, Fred McGriff launched a tape measure home run on his first ever World Series pitch off Cleveland starter Orel Hershiser to even the score at 1–1. Both starters settled down until the seventh, when Hershiser and the Cleveland bullpen walked the first three Braves to open the inning. The Braves would take a 3–1 lead after Luis Polonia hit into a run-scoring force play and Rafael Belliard bunted a perfect suicide squeeze. Lofton scored the Indians another run in the ninth to cut the Braves lead to a single run, but Baerga lifted a pop fly that third baseman Chipper Jones grabbed near the visiting dugout to end the game. Atlanta No. 2 starter Tom Glavine got the win in Game 2, aided by a big sixth- inning home run by catcher Javy López, who also picked Manny Ramirez off first base at a crucial moment in the eighth inning to erase a potential game-tying baserunner. The Indians had taken an early 2–0 lead on an Eddie Murray two-run home run after Albert Belle got on base, but the Braves evened the score in the third with a sac fly by Chipper Jones and an RBI single by David Justice. Lopez launched his home run in the sixth inning from Cleveland starter Dennis Martínez. The Atlanta bullpen held off the Indians in the later innings despite allowing a run in the seventh, and Mark Wohlers earned the save, giving the Braves a 2–0 series lead. With the World Series moving to raucous Jacobs Field in Cleveland, the Indians got their first win. The Indians offense got back on track off Atlanta starter John Smoltz. With the Tribe already down 1–0 in the bottom of the first, Kenny Lofton singled to center and scored on Omar Vizquel's triple into the right field corner. Omar then scored the go-ahead run when Carlos Baerga grounded out. In the third, the Tribe were back at it again when Lofton opened the inning by ripping a double into the right-center field gap. Omar then got a bunt single and Baerga singled to left to drive in Lofton. Albert Belle then rolled a grounder up the middle to score Vizquel to make it 4–1. The Braves got a boost, however, when reliever Brad Clontz induced a double play groundout by Manny Ramírez to escape further damage. Home runs by Fred McGriff and Ryan Klesko brought the Braves closer at 4–3. Cleveland added a run in the seventh on another RBI hit by Baerga scoring Lofton (who would reach base in all six of his plate appearances). With a 5–3 lead going into the eighth, trouble brewed for Cleveland when Charles Nagy and the bullpen gave up the lead. Marquis Grissom led off with a double off the wall. Polonia singled through the right side to drive in Grissom, sending Nagy to the showers. Chipper Jones walked, McGriff hit a deep fly moving the runners up a base, and David Justice reached when Baerga booted his groundball, subsequently allowing Polonia to score the tying run. The inning was capped off by Mike Devereaux's RBI single giving the Braves a 6–5 lead. The Braves couldn't hold on to their slim lead either as Sandy Alomar, Jr. laced a game-tying double inside the line at first in the bottom of the eighth. The two closers, Mark Wohlers and José Mesa then matched zeros for the next two innings. In the eleventh, the Braves went to Alejandro Peña. Baerga immediately smashed a double and after an intentional walk to Belle, veteran Eddie Murray singled to center, scoring pinch runner Álvaro Espinoza and cutting Atlanta's World Series lead in half. A record eighteen pitchers were used between the Braves and Indians in Games 2 and 3. Braves manager Bobby Cox controversially decided to start beleaguered left- hander Steve Avery in the critical Game 4 instead of coming back with Greg Maddux. Young Braves outfielder Ryan Klesko hit a sixth-inning home run to give Atlanta the lead. Avery was able to deliver six effective innings, only giving up a sixth-inning home run to Cleveland slugger Albert Belle. A controversial play happened when Eddie Murray hit a pitch over third base, left-field umpire Jim McKean called it foul while third-base umpire Harry Wendelstedt looked at Jim McKean to make the call. Murray eventually walked and reached second on a balk by Avery, but Herbert Perry struck out to end the inning. The Braves promptly broke the tie with a three-run seventh, with David Justice plating two of the runs with a single. An RBI double by Javy López gave the Braves an insurance run, making it 5–1. Reliever Pedro Borbón, Jr. saved the 5–2 win after Mark Wohlers ran into trouble, and the Braves were one victory away from a title. It seemed the perfect situation for Atlanta with Greg Maddux pitching Game 5 with a chance to clinch the title, but Albert Belle slugged a two-run homer in the first inning, and the Braves lineup was held in check by Cleveland veteran Orel Hershiser who went eight innings, only surrendering two runs. Luis Polonia hit a solo home run into the fourth and Atlanta actually tied the game at 2–2 with a run-scoring infield single by Marquis Grissom in the fifth, but Cleveland got two more runs from Maddux making it 4–2. Jim Thome hit an insurance home run in the eighth, which proved necessary as Ryan Klesko homered in his third consecutive game, reducing the gap to 5–4. Klesko became the first person ever to homer in three consecutive World Series road games, by belting homers in Games 3, 4, and 5. The win gave Cleveland the hope of perhaps another Braves World Series collapse and sent the Series back to Atlanta. As previously mentioned, this game is also the most recent baseball game that ABC televised. Controversy struck on the morning of Game 6 when Atlanta newspapers printed stories that right fielder David Justice had ripped the city's fans for not matching their motivation of past seasons. Justice, who had been struggling in the postseason, was vilified before the game, but when his sixth-inning home run off a 1–1 pitch by Jim Poole broke a scoreless tie, he became a hero. Tom Glavine pitched eight innings of one-hit ball and allowed just three walks (two to Albert Belle, who was caught stealing second in the second inning to keep a runner from advancing into scoring position) to help earn him the Series MVP. Only one Indian advanced into scoring position in the entire game when Kenny Lofton stole second, but no one could get him in. Cleveland starter Dennis Martínez lasted just 4 innings due to allowing four hits and five walks, but no Braves scored. After Justice's home run, the Braves managed just one hit. The lone hit for the Indians was a bloop-single by catcher Tony Peña in the sixth. Closer Mark Wohlers pitched the ninth inning, preserving the 1–0 shutout and Atlanta's coveted title when Carlos Baerga's fly ball landed in center fielder Marquis Grissom's glove. Carlos Baerga was responsible for making the last out in three of the four Cleveland losses; Games 1, 2 and 6. As of 2017, this is the last 1–0 game won by the home team. In 1995, the Cleveland Indians batted .291 as a team, led the league in runs scored, hits, and stolen bases, and had eight .300 hitters in their starting lineup. However, the Tribe was held to a .179 batting average in the World Series. Then-Executive Committee Chairman Bud Selig presided over the Commissioner's Trophy presentation for the first time. In the previous two World Series (1992 and 1993), American League president Dr. Bobby Brown presided over the trophy presentation. Selig would become Commissioner of Baseball in 1998. The Braves' victory marked the only time that the city of Atlanta won a world championship in any of the four major professional sports. The NFL's Atlanta Falcons came close twice, but lost to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII during the 1998 season and again to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI during the 2016 season. (Coincidentally, the NBA's Hawks won the championship in 1958 when the franchise was based in St. Louis, months after the Milwaukee Braves won the 1957 World Series.) Game 6 is also the Braves' most recent home victory in the Fall Classic - the Braves would lose to the New York Yankees in all three Series games played in Atlanta the following year, be swept by the Yankees in 1999 and have not appeared in a World Series since. As for Cleveland, the Indians would return to the World Series in , where they lost to the Florida Marlins in seven games; they would also lose to the Chicago Cubs in , and once again, in seven games. The NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers have been to four NBA Finals, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in a four-game sweep in 2007 and to the Golden State Warriors in a six-game 2015 Finals, and then defeating the same Warriors in the rematch (however, in 2017 the Warriors defeated the Cavaliers again in their third consecutive Finals matchup, which lasted five games). The NFL's Cleveland Browns, who within a few months after this World Series would make a controversial move to Baltimore (where they currently play as the Ravens, winners of Super Bowls XXXV and XLVII) and be revived in 1999, are one of four franchises to have never been to a Super Bowl. A Cleveland team would not win a major professional sports championship until the Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors in the full seven games in the 2016 NBA Finals. 1995 World Series (4–2): Atlanta Braves (N.L.) over Cleveland Indians (A.L.) 1995 Japan Series 1995 Atlanta Braves, 1995 Cleveland Indians, Brave Hearts, Tavarez relishes postseason The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of- seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the American League (AL) champion Houston Astros. It was sponsored by the Internet television service YouTube TV and officially known as the 2017 World Series presented by YouTube TV. The series was played between October 24 and November 1. The Astros defeated the Dodgers, four games to three, to win their first World Series in franchise history, also becoming the first team from Texas to do so. It was the first time since 2001-2002 when two consecutive World Series went to seven games. Both teams set a World Series record with a combined total of 25 home runs throughout the entire series, including a team record 15 home runs by the Astros, and hit a combined total of eight home runs in Game 2 to set the single game World Series mark. Houston outfielder George Springer was named as the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) after hitting five home runs in the series to tie a World Series record with Reggie Jackson in 1977 and Chase Utley in 2009. This was the first World Series in which home-field advantage was decided by the regular season record of the two pennant winners. From 1903 to 2002, home-field advantage had been determined by coin flips and by alternating between the AL and NL. From 2003 to 2016, it was determined by results from that season's All-Star Game, when it was awarded to the team from the winning league. The Dodgers earned home- field advantage over the Astros. The series was played in a 2–3–2 format, with the Dodgers hosting Games 1, 2, 6, and 7; and the Astros hosting Games 3, 4, and 5. This was the first World Series matchup, and second postseason meeting overall, between the Astros and Dodgers. Los Angeles defeated Houston in the 1981 National League Division Series in five games en route to its World Series championship that year. The teams also met in the 1980 National League West tie-breaker game, won by the Astros at Dodger Stadium. This was the first Fall Classic since , and the eighth overall, in which both participants had 100 or more wins during the regular season. The two teams did not meet in interleague play during the regular season. The Dodgers held a 91–36 record through August 25 and ended the season with a 104–58 record. They won their fifth consecutive National League West title and home field advantage throughout the playoffs as the overall #1 seed. In the postseason, the Dodgers swept the 4th-seeded Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series and then defeated the number 3 seed and defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs in the previous year's rematch of the National League Championship Series in five games. This was the first appearance in the Fall Classic for the Dodgers since 1988, the tenth since the franchise moved from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1958, and the 19th overall. Entering the 2017 World Series, the Dodgers bullpen had thrown 23 consecutive scoreless innings, a postseason record for a bullpen. Additionally, by outscoring the Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago Cubs by a combined 48–19 margin, the Dodgers entered the World Series with the third-best run differential of any pennant winner since the playoff structure was expanded in 1995. All-Star shortstop Corey Seager, who was out for the entire National League Championship Series with a back injury, was included on the Dodgers' World Series roster. Manager Dave Roberts became first manager of Asian heritage ever in the World Series, as well as the fourth African-American manager. The Dodgers had their second consecutive Rookie of the Year, Cody Bellinger, who hit 39 home runs in 2017. Clayton Kershaw finished second in Cy Young award voting, and closer Kenley Jansen finished fifth. The Dodgers had six NL All-Stars in Bellinger, Seager, Justin Turner, Kershaw, Alex Wood, and Jansen. With a 101–61 regular season record, the team won its first American League West title, their first division title since 2001, and the #2 seed in the AL. In the American League Division Series, they defeated the 3rd-seeded Boston Red Sox in four games and then defeated the 4th-seeded New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series (ALCS) in seven games. This was their second World Series appearance and first since 2005, when they were swept in four games by the Chicago White Sox. They became the first team in history to make it to the World Series as members of both the National League and the American League. The city of Houston in August 2017 suffered record flooding from Hurricane Harvey. The team began to wear patches which had the logo of the team with the word "Strong" on the bottom of the patch, as well as promoting the hashtag Houston Strong. Manager A. J. Hinch has stated in an interview that the team wasn't just playing for a title, but to help boost moral support for the city. On August 31, just seconds before the midnight deadline, the Astros traded for Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander. Following the trade, including the regular season and postseason to this point, Verlander had posted a 9–0 win–loss record with a 1.23 earned run average. He was named the ALCS MVP. Game 1: The ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by members of former Dodger Jackie Robinson's family, including his widow Rachel. The game marked the 45th anniversary of Robinson's death, and the 2017 season was the 70th anniversary of his breaking of the baseball color line. Keith Williams Jr., a gospel singer, performed "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem., Game 2: Fernando Valenzuela threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Steve Yeager; both were introduced by retired Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully. Country music's Brad Paisley performed the national anthem., Game 3: Houston Texans defensive end J. J. Watt, who had raised $37 million for Hurricane Harvey victims, threw out the first pitch. The ball was given to him by Astros' Hall of Famer Craig Biggio. The national anthem was performed by Texas Air National Guard Master Sergeant Promise Harris., Game 4: Hailey Dawson, a seven-year-old girl from Nevada, threw out the ceremonial first pitch using a 3D printed hand. The national anthem was performed by the Houston Police Department Quartet., Game 5: Former President of the United States George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch. His father, former President George H. W. Bush handed him the ball. Justin Verlander caught the pitch. Country singer Clay Walker performed the national anthem., Game 6: Orel Hershiser and Tommy Lasorda, celebrating the Dodgers' 1988 World Series title, each threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer Rosalind Curry performed the national anthem., Game 7: The LAPD Quartet sang the National Anthem. The first pitch was thrown out by Sandy Koufax. Rick Monday, Steve Garvey and Don Newcombe participated as well. The temperature at the start of the game was , which made this the hottest World Series game ever recorded. Clayton Kershaw started Game 1 for the Dodgers, while Dallas Keuchel started for the Astros. Chris Taylor hit a home run for the Dodgers on Keuchel's first pitch of the game. It was the third home run to leadoff a game in Dodgers postseason history (following Davey Lopes in 1978 World Series and Carl Crawford in 2013 NLDS). Alex Bregman hit a tying home run for the Astros in the fourth inning. In the sixth inning, Justin Turner hit a go-ahead two-run home run for the Dodgers. Turner tied Duke Snider for most career runs batted in (RBIs) in Dodgers postseason history with 26. Kershaw struck out 11 in seven innings pitched with no walks and only three hits allowed while Keuchel allowed three runs on six hits in innings. Brandon Morrow pitched a scoreless eighth and Kenley Jansen earned the save. The two-hour, 28-minute game was the shortest World Series contest since Game 4 in . The starting pitchers for Game 2 were Rich Hill for the Dodgers and Justin Verlander for the Astros. The Astros scored first when Bregman drove in Josh Reddick with a hit in the third inning. Hill struck out seven in four innings but was replaced by Kenta Maeda in the fifth. Joc Pederson tied the game with a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning, and the Dodgers took the lead when Corey Seager hit a two-run home run after Taylor walked in the bottom of the sixth inning. Verlander allowed two hits, both home runs, in his six innings pitched. Carlos Correa drove in the Astros' second run of the game on a single in the eighth, ending the Dodgers bullpen's streak of 28 consecutive scoreless innings in the postseason. Marwin González hit a home run off Jansen in the ninth to tie the game. This was only Jansen's second blown save all season and snapped his streak of converting his first 12 postseason save opportunities, a major league record. The game went into extra innings. José Altuve and Correa hit back-to-back home runs off Josh Fields in the tenth inning to put the Astros in the lead. Yuli Gurriel doubled after the home run, but Fields was replaced by Tony Cingrani and Gurriel was stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Yasiel Puig hit a solo home run off of Ken Giles and Enrique Hernández drove in Logan Forsythe, who had walked and advanced on a wild pitch, to tie the game, with the latter being the Dodgers' first run that was not driven in by a home run. In the next inning, pinch-hitter Cameron Maybin singled and stole second. George Springer hit a two-run home run for the Astros off of Brandon McCarthy to retake the lead. In the bottom of the 11th inning, Charlie Culberson homered off of Chris Devenski, who later struck out Puig to end the game. This was the first ever World Series game in which a team hit home runs in the ninth, tenth and eleventh inning. The teams set a new record for combined home runs in a single World Series game with eight and this was the first time in MLB history, regular season or postseason, that five home runs were hit in extra innings. The Astros won their first World Series game in franchise history as they had been swept in their previous appearance in 2005. The starting pitchers for Game 3 were Yu Darvish for the Dodgers and Lance McCullers Jr. for the Astros. The Astros scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning on a home run by Yuli Gurriel and RBIs by González, Brian McCann, and Bregman. Darvish left the game after innings, which was the shortest outing of his career. The Dodgers scored one run in the top of the third inning as Seager grounded into a double play after McCullers loaded the bases with three consecutive walks. The Astros added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Evan Gattis and the Dodgers added two in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Puig and a wild pitch. McCullers wound up pitching 5 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Brad Peacock replaced McCullers, completing the final innings with no hits allowed and four strikeouts to earn his first major league save. It was the longest hitless World Series relief outing since Ron Taylor's four innings in Game 4 of the 1964 Series, and tied Ken Clay for the longest hitless postseason save, first accomplished in the 1978 ALCS. Gurriel made a racially insensitive gesture in the dugout after his home run. He stretched the sides of his eyes and mouthing the Spanish word chinito, which translates to "little Chinese Boy"; Darvish is from Japan. Gurriel apologized, and said that anyone from Asia is called a chino in Cuba, although he acknowledged knowing that the term was offensive in Japan from having played there. As a result, Rob Manfred, the Commissioner of Baseball, suspended Gurriel for the first five games of the 2018 MLB season without pay, but allowed him to continue playing in the World Series. The starting pitchers for Game 4 were Alex Wood for the Dodgers and Charlie Morton for the Astros. Springer homered off Wood in the bottom of the sixth for the first run of the ballgame. It was the only hit Wood allowed in innings pitched in the game. Forsythe drove in Cody Bellinger to tie the game in the top of the seventh. Morton struck out seven and only allowed three hits and one run in 6 innings. Bellinger then drove in the go-ahead run with a double in the top of the ninth off of Giles and the Dodgers added four more runs on a sacrifice fly by Austin Barnes and a three-run homer by Pederson. Bregman hit a home run off of Jansen in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the Dodgers won the game to even up the series. The Astros had two hits in the game; both were home runs. This was the first game in World Series history where both starting pitchers allowed four or fewer baserunners. After Game 4, both teams' pitching coaches, Rick Honeycutt for the Dodgers and Brent Strom for the Astros, commented on how the baseball being used for the World Series is slicker than the baseball used during the regular season. Pitchers on both teams noted that this difference has made it more difficult for them to throw their sliders. Kershaw and Keuchel started Game 5, in a rematch of the opening game of the series. Forsythe singled in two runs off of Keuchel in the first inning to put the Dodgers up early. A third run scored on a throwing error by Gurriel. Barnes singled in the fourth to score Forsythe. Keuchel pitched innings for the Astros, allowing five hits and four runs (three earned). The Astros scored their first run with an RBI double by Correa in the bottom of the fourth inning, followed by a three-run home run by Gurriel to tie the game. Bellinger hit a three-run home run off of Collin McHugh in the top of the fifth to put the Dodgers back on top only for Altuve to hit his own three-run home run in the bottom of the inning off Maeda to tie it back up. Kershaw pitched 4 innings and allowed six runs on four hits and three walks. A triple by Bellinger on a line drive that Springer missed on a dive in the seventh inning off of Peacock scored Hernández from first base. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Springer hit a home run off the first pitch he saw off of Morrow, who was pitching for the third consecutive day, to tie the game. Bregman scored on a double by Altuve to put the Astros ahead for the first time in the game, and then Correa hit a two-run home run to extend the lead. Seager doubled in a run in the top of the eighth inning, but McCann hit a home run in the bottom of the inning. That was the 21st home run of the series, tying the record set in the 2002 World Series. Puig broke the record with a two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning. Down to their last strike, Chris Taylor drove in Barnes to tie the game with a single. In the tenth inning, McCann was hit by a pitch to put him on base with two outs. Subsequently, Springer walked on five pitches to move McCann to second base. McCann was then replaced by pinch runner Derek Fisher. On the next pitch, Bregman hit a walk-off single, scoring Fisher with the winning run. The Astros became only the second team to come back twice from three runs down in a World Series game, the other was the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15–14 win during Game 4 of the 1993 World Series. The six game-tying home runs in the series to this point is the most for any World Series on record. This World Series set a new record for most players to hit a home run (14 to date in the World Series). With the teams combining to score 25 runs throughout the game, this was the highest scoring World Series game since the Florida Marlins defeated the Cleveland Indians 14–11 in Game 3 of the 1997 World Series. Game 5 lasted five hours and seventeen minutes, making it the second longest World Series game in history by time. Game 6 featured the same starting pitchers as the second game: Verlander and Hill. Springer hit a home run off of Hill in the top of the third for the first run of the night. It was Springer's fourth homer of the series, tied for third all-time in a single series and joining Gene Tenace, in 1972, as the only players with four game-tying or go-ahead home runs in a World Series. Springer also joined Hank Bauer in the 1958 World Series and Barry Bonds in the 2002 World Series with four home runs in a series. The Astros loaded the bases in the fifth inning, but did not score. Hill pitched innings, struck out five and allowed four hits and one run. In the sixth inning, Taylor tied the game with an RBI double and Seager hit a sacrifice fly to give the Dodgers the lead. Verlander pitched six innings with nine strikeouts and only three hits allowed. Pederson hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning and Jansen pitched two scoreless innings for the save, forcing a winner-take-all game seven. Pederson tied a World Series record with his fifth consecutive game with an extra base hit. Andre Ethier, who appeared in the game as a pinch hitter, set a new Dodgers franchise record with his 50th career postseason game. This was the first World Series Game 7 to be played at Dodger Stadium (and the first postseason Game 7 of any postseason series at the stadium since the 1988 NLCS, and the Dodgers' first World Series Game 7 since 1965 against the Minnesota Twins). It was also the first time since the 1931 World Series that a Game 7 occurred in a Series with both teams having won at least 100 games during the season. Besides, this was the first time since the 2001 World Series and 2002 World Series that back-to-back Fall Classics had a Game 7. The starting pitchers for this game were the same as in the third game: McCullers and Darvish. Springer doubled to open the game and scored the first run on an error by Bellinger, which allowed Bregman to reach second base. Bregman stole third base and scored on an Altuve groundout. McCann scored the next inning on a groundout hit by the pitcher McCullers. Springer hit a two-run home run, his fifth of the series, tying Reggie Jackson and Chase Utley for most home runs in a single World Series and setting a new record with 29 total bases in any postseason series. As in Game 3, Darvish lasted only innings (tying the shortest outing of his career) and became the third pitcher with two starts of less than two innings in a World Series, and the first since Art Ditmar in the World Series. Morrow relieved Darvish and in the process became only the second pitcher to pitch in all seven games of a single World Series, joining Darold Knowles in the World Series. McCullers lasted only 2 innings himself; he allowed three hits and hit a World Series record four batters. This was the first Game 7 in World Series history where neither starting pitcher got past the third inning. The Dodgers failed to score a run and left eight men on base through five innings. Andre Ethier hit a pinch-hit RBI single that scored Pederson in the sixth inning for the Dodgers' only run. They only had one hit in 13 chances with runners in scoring position in the game. Kershaw pitched four scoreless innings of relief in the game, and in the process, he broke Orel Hershiser's Dodgers postseason record with his 33rd strikeout. Morton pitched four innings of relief to earn the win, as Corey Seager grounded out to José Altuve, who threw to Yuli Gurriel to end the game, with the Astros winning their first championship in franchise history, and ending their 56-year drought. Springer won the World Series MVP Award. With the Astros' win, for the first time since 2002, when the Angels beat the Giants in seven games, a franchise won its first World Series title. It was also the first time since 1972 that an American League team won a World Series Game 7 on the road. After Game 7, the trophy presention, usually taking place in the locker room whenever the visiting team clinches the series, took place on the losing team's field for the first time ever before a small crowd of mostly Astros fans that remained as most Dodgers fans left the stadium. Correa proposed to his girlfriend, 2016 Miss Texas USA winner Daniella Rodríguez, on live television during a postgame interview conducted by Rosenthal. She accepted. More than a month later, a Sports Illustrated article revealed that the Astros had figured out how Darvish was tipping his pitches: "Darvish holds the ball at his side when he gets the sign from the catcher. Whether he re-grips or not as he brings the ball into his glove was the tip-off whether he was going to throw a slider/cutter or a fastball." This unnamed Astros player said the Astros had known about this going into Game 3 which they also won, but that they had an even better game plan for Game 7. 2017 World Series (4–3): Houston Astros (AL) beat Los Angeles Dodgers (NL). Fox broadcast the series in the United States, with Joe Buck serving as the play-by-play announcer, along with John Smoltz as color commentator and Ken Rosenthal and Tom Verducci as field reporters. For Fox Deportes, Rolando Nichols provided play-by-play while Carlos Álvarez and Edgar Gonzalez provided color commentary. Kevin Burkhardt hosted the pregame shows, joined by analysts Keith Hernandez, David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, and Frank Thomas. Outside the United States, MLB International televised the series, with Matt Vasgersian on play-by-play and Buck Martinez doing color commentary. In September 2017, American Spirit Media removed the signals of their Fox affiliates from DirecTV and U-verse systems. As a result, some DirecTV subscribers in portions of the Southeastern United States (as well as those in the Toledo market) were unable to watch the World Series. This dispute would eventually be resolved in January 2018. According to Nielsen ratings, this series was the third highest rated since 2005, trailing only the 2009 World Series and the 2016 World Series. For the second straight year, a World Series game, Game 5, beat out NBC Sunday Night Football in ratings. ESPN Radio broadcast the series nationally in English, with Dan Shulman providing the play-by-play and Aaron Boone serving as color analyst. Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney served as reporters for the network, while Marc Kestecher hosted the pre-game and post-game coverage along with analyst Chris Singleton. The ESPN Radio coverage was carried on affiliated stations throughout the United States and Canada, as well as online at ESPN.com and via the ESPN mobile app. Spanish-language coverage was provided by ESPN Deportes Radio, with Eduardo Ortega, Renato Bermúdez, José Francisco Rivera, and Orlando Hernández announcing. Locally, both teams' flagship radio stations broadcast the series with their regular announcers. Sportstalk 790 aired the English-language broadcast for the Houston area, with Robert Ford and Steve Sparks calling the games. In Los Angeles, AM 570 LA Sports aired the English- language broadcast, with Charley Steiner and Rick Monday announcing. In Spanish, Univision America 1020 carried the broadcast, with Jaime Jarrín and Jorge Jarrín on the call. In Korean, Radio Korea 1540 aired the series, with Richard Choi and Chong Ho Yim in the booth. For the first time, MLB sold presenting sponsorships to all of its postseason series; the internet television service YouTube TV is the first-ever presenting sponsor of the World Series. The series is officially known as the 2017 World Series Presented by YouTube TV. This sponsorship includes logo branding in-stadium and on official digital properties, as well as commercial inventory during Fox's telecasts of the games. This was Houston's first professional sports championship since the Houston Dynamo won the MLS Cup in 2007, and the first in one of the traditional "Big Four" American sports leagues since the Houston Rockets won back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. The Astros earned $30,420,155.57 from postseason pool money to split among team personnel; each share was worth $438,901.57. The Dodgers received $20,280,103.72, with shares of $259,722.14 The sportsbooks in Nevada lost $11.4 million in November 2017, a record for baseball-related betting. The city of Houston held a parade for the Astros on November 3, 2017, which Mayor Sylvester Turner proclaimed was "Houston Astros' Day". An estimated 750,000 to one million attended the parade. Springer and Altuve appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated November 13, 2017, issue, with Altuve holding the Commissioner's Trophy and Springer holding a copy of a Sports Illustrated from 2014 that predicted the Astros would win the 2017 World Series. The Astros' win has been seen as a morale boost for the city of Houston, which 9 weeks earlier had suffered tremendous damage due to Hurricane Harvey. According to Manny Fernandez and Paul Debenedetto of the New York Times, "Every city wants a World Series victory. Houston, post-Harvey, needed one." The Dodgers would make another World Series appearance the following year in 2018, but lost to the Boston Red Sox in five games, marking the first time the Dodgers lost back-to-back World Series since 1977 and 1978, where they lost both World Series to the New York Yankees. The Astros appeared in the World Series again in 2019, where they lost to the Washington Nationals in seven games. After the 2019 season, Mike Fiers alleged that the 2017 Astros used technology to illicitly steal their opponents' signs and relay it to their hitters. MLB and the Astros opened an investigation into this sign stealing allegation. MLB found the Astros used technology to cheat during their 2017 season and suspended Hinch and Astros' general manager Jeff Luhnow for one year; Luhnow and Hinch were also fired by the team the same day. 2017 Astros bench coach Alex Cora, who would move onto the managership of the Red Sox in 2018 and guide them to a title, is also expected to face sanctioning in a separate investigation of that team, and parted ways with that team a day after the Astros sanctions were announced. 2017 Korean Series, 2017 Japan Series 2017 World Series at Baseball Reference

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"Get It On" is a song by the British glam rock group T. Rex, featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by frontman Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart-topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by the group Chase. Following the success of T. Rex's single, "Hot Love", the band went on a United States tour. While in New York in March of 1971, Bolan asked drummer Bill Legend to help him brainstorm drum patterns for a song idea that would later become "Get It On". Bolan claimed to have written the song out of his desire to record Chuck Berry's "Little Queenie", and said that the riff was taken from the Berry tune. In fact, a slightly edited line (And meanwhile, I'm still thinking) from "Little Queenie" is said at the fade of "Get It On". According to producer Tony Visconti, this line was an unscripted ad-lib by Bolan during recording. This was the song that virtually ended the once-solid friendship between Bolan and John Peel, after Peel made clear his lack of enthusiasm for it on air after playing his advance white label copy. Bolan and Peel only spoke once more before the former's death in 1977. The track was recorded at Trident Studios, London, and the piano on the record was performed by either Rick Wakeman or Blue Weaver. Mark Paytress notes that both pianists may have played separate parts on the song, with Wakeman contributing only the piano glissandos that feature several times throughout the song. Wakeman, who was desperate for work at the time to pay his rent, had bumped into Bolan in Oxford Street, who offered him the session. Wakeman pointed out to Tony Visconti that the record did not actually need a piano player. Visconti suggested that he could add a gliss. Wakeman said that Visconti could do that, to which Bolan replied, "You want your rent, don't you?" Wakeman did, and earned £9 for his efforts. Saxophones were played by Ian McDonald of King Crimson. Producer Visconti later recalled: "He played all the saxes, one baritone and two altos. I kept the baritone separate but bounced the altos to one track. I bounced the backup vocals to two tracks, making an interesting stereo image." Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan (formerly The Turtles) provided back up vocals. During a December 1971 Top of the Pops performance, Elton John mimed a piano on the song. This performance is usually the video clip for the song which has aired on various music-video outlets such as VH1 Classic. US: Reprise / 1032, UK: Fly Records / BUG 10, Germany: Ariola / 10 327 AT, Denmark: Stateside / 6E 006-92700, France: Columbia / CBS 7393 (without "There Was a Time") 1. "Get It On" (Marc Bolan) – 4:25 2. "There Was a Time" (Marc Bolan) – 1:00 3. "Raw Ramp" (Marc Bolan) – 4:14 Marc Bolan: lead vocals, guitar, Rick Wakeman: piano and Hammond organ, Ian McDonald: baritone and alto saxophone, Steve Currie: bass guitar, Bill Legend: drums, tambourine, Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan: backing vocals It spent four weeks at the top in the UK, starting 24 July 1971 ("Hot Love" was number one for six weeks from March to May), and it was the group's biggest hit overall, with Bolan claiming that it sold a million. It peaked on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at number ten and at #12 in the Cash Box Top 100 in March 1972, becoming the band's only major US hit. The song reached No. 12 in Canada in March 1972. "Get It On" was covered by The Power Station in 1985. Their version – referred to as "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" in the US – was released as their second single from their debut album. The track was a strong hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, where the single peaked at number nine (one place higher than the original) in the summer of 1985. Meanwhile, in the UK, the song reached number 22 on the UK Singles Chart. When Robert Palmer heard that the other Power Station members had recorded demos of the song, he asked to try out vocals for it. Before long, the band had decided to record the entire album with Palmer. This single, along with "Some Like It Hot", became The Power Station's signature songs. On 13 July 1985, The Power Station (as well as Duran Duran), had a participation at Live Aid, on the Philadelphia concert, in which the band performed the song, this time, with the British singer Michael Des Barres on vocals. The female dancer featured in the video is American dancer/singer-songwriter Sara Carlson. The song also was performed live on the Miami Vice episode "Whatever Works", with Michael Des Barres on vocals, where all of the then-touring group had cameos. US: Capitol Records / B-5479, UK: Parlophone / R 6096, Australia: EMI / A1510, Europe: EMI / 20 0632 7 US: Capitol Records / V8646, UK: Parlophone / 12R 6096, Europe: Parlophone / 1C K 060 20 0631 6, Canada: Capitol Records / V 75107 Blondie recorded a live version of the song on 4 November 1978 at The Paradise Ballroom in Boston, MA, which can be found on their 1978 live album, Headlines, and also on the 2001 reissue of Parallel Lines., In 1979, studio disco group Witch Queen released a disco version of the song, simply titled, "Bang A Gong". It peaked at number eight on the disco charts. British dance act Bus Stop (known in the US as "London Bus Stop") sampled the vocals from the T. Rex original in their 2000 pseudo-cover of the song, which charted at No. 59 in the UK. Need Your Love is a song written by Rick Nielsen and Tom Petersson that was originally performed by American rock band Cheap Trick. The song appeared on Cheap Trick's 1979 album Dream Police. A live version was included on the 1978 album Cheap Trick at Budokan, which initially appeared only in Japan but eventually was in the United States in early 1979. Because Cheap Trick was immensely popular in Japan, the band's Japanese label demanded that At Budokan include three new songs. The three songs were "Ain't That a Shame", "Goodnight Now", and "Need Your Love." The song uses a traditional hard rock formula, and does not use synthesized strings as were used on other songs on Dream Police. The musical backing to the song on Dream Police is basically a mid-tempo jam consisting of Nielsen's fancy guitar playing and Petersson's driving bass. Singer Robin Zander sings in a falsetto voice and incorporates a tremolo warble at the end of each line. Nielsen has commented that "I think it is a desperate type of tune that Robin does a great job of singing." This arrangement is put through several changes, incorporating a heavy guitar break, which stretches the length of the song more than seven and a half minutes. Ira Robbins of Trouser Press notes that the song "starts out slow and restrained, but builds to an intense boogie-based climax." Ultimate Classic Rock critic Dave Swanson describes "Need Your Love" as "a slow-building groove [which] builds into a full-on monster as big chords, big vocals, powerhouse bass and absolutely rock-solid drumming come together to make for a song that still sends chills. He also praises the way the band provides weight, particularly Zander's vocals and Nielsen's guitars, describing the song as sounding like "the Beatles' 'I Want You (She's So Heavy)' as played by the Yardbirds." Music critic Dave Marsh of Rolling Stone described the song as "a better version of the Who meets Free than Bad Company has ever managed — but that's about all it is." Mojo noted that "Need Your Love" and "Gonna Raise Hell", another song from Dream Police, "proved the Trick could do heavy, freaky rock jams as well as any of their peers." The instrumental segments lift bits from "Emergency" off 1 , "T.N.T.", and "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" while the lyrics quote "Eight Days a Week", "" and "Long Time Gone" by the Everly Brothers . The live version of the song on Cheap Trick at Budokan is similar to the version on Dream Police. It begins with Zander proclaiming "I need your love" to the screaming female fans. This is followed by Bun E. Carlos' pounding drumming that leads into Nielsen's and Petersson's guitar and bass work. The song builds to a steady climax and then transforms itself into a supercharged boogie. Carlos has stated that the band originally learned the song for their 1978 album Heaven Tonight but it was only when producer Tom Werman heard the band play live that he realized how good the song was and regretted excluding it from the earlier album. Subsequent to its initial releases, the song was released on Cheap Trick compilation albums Hits of Cheap Trick, The Music of Cheap Trick and Setlist: The Very Best of Cheap Trick Live. "Need Your Love" has been covered by several other artists, including Tony Rebel and Shadow Reef. Ian McDonald (born 25 June 1946 from Osterley, Middlesex) is an English multi- instrumental musician, best known as a founding member of progressive rock band King Crimson, formed in 1969, and of the hard rock band Foreigner in 1976. He is well known as a rock session musician, predominantly as a saxophonist. He also plays keyboards, flute, vibraphone and guitar. Born in Osterley, Middlesex, McDonald served five years in the British Army as a bandsman. His music talent ranged from classical orchestra to dance bands to rock. In 1969, he was in King Crimson's initial line up, which recorded their first album In the Court of the Crimson King. McDonald and drummer Michael Giles departed and formed a spin-off group that released one album titled McDonald and Giles. He reappeared in King Crimson in 1974 and intended to rejoin the band as a full member but did not get the opportunity to do so given Fripp's decision to split the band. He became a founding member of the band Foreigner in 1976, for whom he played guitar as well as his woodwinds and keyboards. He has been a session musician and appeared in the recording of the hit single "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" by T. Rex, and recordings by Linda Lewis, Christine Harwood amongst others. He also has some production credits to his name, including albums by Fruupp, Darryl Way's Wolf and Fireballet. In 1999, he released a solo album, Drivers Eyes. In 1997, the release of the King Crimson four CD set Epitaph, consisting of rare live recordings of the 1969 version of King Crimson, renewed interest in the early Crimson material. Out of that interest, the 21st Century Schizoid Band was formed in 2002 and several tours and live albums have followed. The band included former King Crimson members Michael Giles (drums and percussion), Peter Giles (bass), McDonald (sax, flute, keyboards), Mel Collins (alto/tenor sax, flute, keyboards) and also Jakko Jakszyk, who later joined King Crimson, on guitar and lead vocals. After the first tour Michael Giles was replaced with another former King Crimson drummer Ian Wallace, who has since died. McDonald has contributed saxophone and flute to several tracks on Judy Dyble's 2009 release, Talking With Strangers. The album sees McDonald reunited with former King Crimson bandmate Robert Fripp on the 20-minute "Harpsong". On 28 July 2009, McDonald made a guest appearance with Asia during their opening set for Yes at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia. McDonald played flute, clarinet, saxophone and sang backing vocals for "In the Court of the Crimson King" and also returned for the encore to sing backing vocals for "Heat of the Moment". His guest appearance on "In the Court of the Crimson King" is featured as a bonus track on Asia's 2011 DVD release, "Spirit of the Night: Live". On 14 May 2010 (Sherman Theatre, Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) and 15 May 2010 (Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, Atlantic City, New Jersey), Ian made guest appearances during "An Intimate Evening with Keith Emerson and Greg Lake". Played flute and shared lead vocals/vocal harmonies with Greg Lake on "I Talk to the Wind" while playing solo flute on "Lucky Man". For these two songs, it was "Emerson, Lake & McDonald". In 2010, Ian provided alto sax, flute and percussion textures to Beautiful Accident, the debut album by progressive blues band, Third International. One track, "Penitentiary" was co-written by Ian with Third International frontman, Andrew Pearson. In 2011, McDonald began working with long-time neighbour Lynnea Benson and her husband Ted Zurkowski, directors of New York City's Frog and Peach Theatre Company, which specialises in off- Broadway productions and readings of Shakespearean plays. In collaboration with Zurkowski, McDonald composed and performed guitar and piano music to accompany select Frog and Peach Shakespearean productions and readings: Julius Caesar, Two Gentleman of Verona, Hamlet, A Midsummer Nights Dream, King Lear, The Taming of the Shrew and Measure for Measure. In addition, Ian became involved with Zurkowski' band, Honey West, the self-described "US/UK Indie Rock Country Fusion Invasion" band where he is providing lead guitar, flute, sax, keyboards and background vocals to their current NYC live performances and to their second album, "Bad Old World," released in May 2017. The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles and Fripp (1968) (1992 CD reissue has bonus track, "Under The Sky," which Ian McDonald played acoustic guitar/flute, sang vocals and co-wrote with Peter Sinfield), The Brondesbury Tapes (1968 demo recordings, released 2001) (Ian McDonald contributed clarinet, flute, guitar, saxophone and vocals), Metamorphosis (2001) (Edited in vinyl only) In the Court of the Crimson King (#28 US, #5 UK) (1969), Red (#66 US, #45 UK) (1974) (Ian McDonald played alto saxophone as a guest instrumentalist), A Young Person's Guide to King Crimson (1976), The Compact King Crimson (1986), (1991), (1991), (1993), Epitaph (1969 live recording) (1997), Live at the Marquee (1969 live recording) (1998), (1999), The Beginners' Guide to the King Crimson Collectors' Club (2000), Live in Hyde Park (1969 live recording) (2000), Live at Fillmore East (1969 live recording) (2004), The 21st Century Guide to King Crimson - Volume One - 1969–1974 (2004), The Condensed 21st Century Guide to King Crimson (2006), 40th Anniversary Tour Box (2008), The Elements of King Crimson (2014) Additionally, McDonald is credited as co-composer of "Cat Food" and "The Devil's Triangle" from In the Wake of Poseidon, even though he didn't play on the album. McDonald and Giles (1971) Foreigner (#4 US) (1977), Double Vision (#3 US, #32 UK) (1978), Head Games (#5 US) (1979), Records (#10 US, #58 UK) (1982), The Very Best ... and Beyond (#123 US, #19 UK) (1992), Classic Hits Live/Best Of Live (1993), JukeBox Heroes: The Best Of (1994), The Best of Ballads– I Want to Know What Love Is (1998), The Platinum Collection (1999), Hot Blooded And Other Hits (2000), Jukebox Heroes: The Foreigner Anthology (2000), Complete Greatest Hits (#80 US) (2002), The Definitive (#33 UK) (2002), Hot Blooded And Other Hits (2004), The Essentials (2005), The Definitive Collection (2006), The Very Best of Toto & Foreigner (2007), (#132 US) (2008), Can't Slow Down (#29 US) (2009), The Complete Atlantic Studio Albums 1977-1991 (2014) Ian Lloyd (1976), 3WC (Third Wave Civilization) (1980) (co-producer for one song, "Trouble") Genesis Revisited (1997), The Tokyo Tapes (1998), Darktown (1999), To Watch The Storms (2003) Hazy Monet Live In New York City May 27, 1997 (1999), Welcome to Heaven / Sinister (2000) Drivers Eyes (1999) Official Bootleg V.1 (2002), Live in Japan (2003), Live in Japan (2003) (DVD), Live in Italy (2003), Pictures of a City – Live in New York (2006) Bad Old World (released on 19 May 2017) Christine Harwood Nice To Meet Miss Christine (1970) (guest instrumentalist), Centipede Septober Energy (1971) (guest instrumentalist), Linda Lewis Say No More (1971) (guest instrumentalist), T. Rex Electric Warrior (#32 US, #1 UK) (1971) (guest instrumentalist), Silverhead Sixteen and Savaged (1973) (guest instrumentalist), Herbie Mann London Underground (1973) (guest instrumentalist), Darryl Way's Wolf Canis Lupus (1973) (producer and guest instrumentalist), Keith Christmas Brighter Day (1974) (guest instrumentalist), Fruupp Modern Masquerades (1975) (producer and guest instrumentalist), Fireballet Night on Bald Mountain (1975) (producer and guest instrumentalist), Ian Lloyd Ian Lloyd (1976) (guest instrumentalist), Steve Taylor On the Fritz (1985) (co-producer and guest instrumentalist), Jesse Taylor Is Dead Jesse Taylor Is Dead (1996) (guest instrumentalist), Various Artists To Cry You a Song: A Collection of Tull Tales (1996) (Jethro Tull tribute album) (guest instrumentalist), Nari Matsuura Pianist (1997) (co-producer), The Wallace/Trainor Conspiracy Take A Train (1998) (guest instrumentalist), Park Stickney Action Harp Play Set (2000) (producer and guest instrumentalist), Waking in the Blue Isn't It Pretty to Think So (2003) (guest instrumentalist), Ian Wallace Happiness With Minimal Side Effects (2003) (guest instrumentalist), Unu Pangaea (2004) (guest instrumentalist), Wetton/Downes Icon (2006) (guest instrumentalist), Jakko Jakszyk The Bruised Romantic Glee Club (2006) (guest instrumentalist), Judy Dyble Talking With Strangers (2009) (guest instrumentalist), Vince Martell Endless High (2009) (guest instrumentalist), Third International Beautiful Accident (2010) (guest instrumentalist), Asia Spirit of the Night: Live (2011) (guest instrumentalist) Success Stories with Bruce Jenner (1987) (Nationally Syndicated CBS Television Show), Wachenröder (1998) (Sega Saturn video game) King Crimson Biography, Gramy Records – Ian McDonald Every Day Is Father's Day For Rock Icon Ian McDonald, Dad Who Literally Rock: Ian And Maxwell McDonald Share The Stage, Chuck Darrow Radio Interview With Ian McDonald, 23 May 2017, Legends Land In Honey West, Ian McDonald Dementia Honey West Exclusive, The Ian McDonald Interview (2012), The Official Frog and Peach Theatre Company Website, The Official Third International Website, Interview with Ian McDonald in Big Bang Magazine, The Artist Shop IRC Chat with Ian McDonald on Wednesday, 27 October 1999, The Artist Shop/Talk City chat with King Crimson founding member Ian McDonald on Sunday, 3 May 1998

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Subnautica is an open-world survival action-adventure video game developed and published by Unknown Worlds Entertainment. It allows the player to freely explore the ocean on an alien planet, known as planet 4546B, after their spaceship crashes on the planet's surface. The player must collect resources and face creatures to survive. Subnautica was first released in early access for Microsoft Windows in December 2014, Mac OS X in June 2015, and for Xbox One in May 2016. The full release out of early access was in January 2018, exclusively for Microsoft Windows on Steam, and later on the Discord and Epic Games stores, with the versions for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 on December 4, 2018. By January 2020, the title surpassed more than five million copies sold. Unknown Worlds is currently developing a sequel to Subnautica, called Subnautica: Below Zero, which was released into early access on January 30, 2019. Subnautica is a survival, adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a first-person perspective. The player controls the lone survivor of a waylaid spacecraft called the Aurora, now stranded on a remote ocean planet named simply '4546B'. The main objective of the player is to explore the ocean and survive its dangers, while at the same time completing tasks that function to advance the plot. Subnautica allows the player to collect resources, construct tools, bases, and submersibles, and interact with the planet's wildlife. The majority of the game is set underwater, with two explorable islands, and a simulated day-and-night cycle that affects visibility. Upon beginning a new game, players must select a difficulty mode from the following four: "Survival", the player will have to maintain nutrition, hydration, and oxygen. If the player dies, certain items are lost from their inventory., "Freedom mode", a mode similar in concept to Survival mode, but with hunger and thirst being disabled., "Hardcore mode", which is the same as Survival, except that if the player dies, the player will no longer be able to respawn and the save file is permanently deleted., "Creative Mode", in which the hunger, thirst, health, and oxygen features are all disabled, all the crafting blueprints are acquired, where no resources are needed to craft and the submersibles do not need energy and cannot be damaged. The game officially supports VR headsets such as the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift with the additional input of a keyboard and mouse or game controller according to the Steam sale page of the game. Subnautica takes place in the late 22nd century, when humanity begins to colonize other star systems. A deep-space vessel constructed by the trans-gov Alterra, known as the Aurora, has been sent to a system at the outer reaches of known space on its maiden voyage. Its goals are to build a section of high- speed space travel infrastructure known as a Phasegate, and to search for a lost ship, called the Degasi, which crashed on planet 4546B ten years ago. After the Aurora enters its orbit, it is physically waylaid by a mysterious force and crash-lands on the planet. Several crew members climb into lifepods and jettison from the Aurora during the descent, one of whom is the player character. The other lifepods' inhabitants perish through various means, leaving the player as the only survivor. The player finds records of the Degasi crew stating that two are confirmed dead and one is presumed dead. The player also learns of the existence of the "Precursors", an alien species that came to this planet long ago to research a bacteria called the "Kharaa Bacterium.” The Precursors officially quarantined 4546B years ago due to the bacterium escaping in a research accident. The cause of the Aurora's crash was the planet's automated Quarantine Enforcement Platform, which shoots down ships that attempt to leave, land or enter orbit in order to stop the bacterium from spreading to other worlds. The Aurora crashed due to the fact that the platform mistakenly thought the ship was going to land. The player witnesses this happen when another ship, the Sunbeam, detects the Aurora distress signal and gets shot down. When the player attempts to deactivate the installation, it fails due to the player being "infected". In order to leave the planet, the player must locate the Precursors' base deep underground to find the Sea Emperor Leviathan. It has been keeping the life in the area alive by using small creatures known as "Peepers" to distribute small amounts of a degraded form of the cure, known as “Enzyme 42.” This keeps the planet's flora and fauna alive but it is insufficient to eradicate the plague. It asks the player to help it hatch its eggs because its young produce the cure in a purer form. Once the player hatches the eggs using a hatching enzyme received from the Sea Emperor Leviathan, the player is cured of the infection. The young leave the base, curing the rest of the planet. The player is then free to disable the Quarantine Enforcement Platform and construct a rocket to leave the planet, ending the game. Subnautica was announced by Unknown Worlds Entertainment on December 17, 2013, with Charlie Cleveland as the game director and lead gameplay programmer, and Hugh Jeremy as the producer. The development team opted to use the Unity engine rather than Spark, the engine used for the company's previous game, Natural Selection 2. Subnautica producer Hugh Jeremy justified this decision because of the different demands that the game places on the engine, and "because [the team] does not include people working on Spark, it's not appropriate for Subnautica to use Spark. By using Unity for Subnautica, Spark can continue to develop in certain directions, while Subnautica develops in others. To use Spark for Subnautica would be like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole." The development team opted against the inclusion of firearms in the game. Charlie Cleveland, the game's director, described Subnautica as "one vote towards a world with less guns", and had felt inspired by real life gun violence, including the Sandy Hook shooting, to encourage players to think about "non-violent and more creative solutions to solve our problems". Subnautica was released on Steam Early Access on December 16, 2014, and was in early access development until January 23, 2018. It was released on Xbox One Preview on May 17, 2016. The complete version of Subnautica was released on January 23, 2018 for Steam. Subnautica received a positive pre-release reception. Ian Birnbaum of PC Gamer described Subnautica as an "underwater Minecraft", remarking that "with an experienced developer at the helm and a limitless variety of the oceans to play with, it's going to take a lot for Subnautica to go badly wrong. As the toolbox gets deeper and the shape of the end-game gets set, Subnautica will be a unique example of the ways survival can be tense, rewarding, and fun." Marsh Davies of Rock, Paper, Shotgun praised the rewarding nature of exploring the world of Subnautica, but criticized the "arbitrariness" and lack of intuition in some of the in-game recipes. At launch, the game received "generally positive reviews" on all platforms according to review aggregator Metacritic. Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw on The Escapist's Zero Punctuation series gave it a generally positive review, stating, "Underwater exploration is an inherently appealing concept: this whole new world rolling away before you, made all the more beautiful by its utter hostility." He did criticize that it was "a little unintuitive and not a little buggy". However, he would later go on to list it as his 2nd favourite game of 2018 in his year-end video. By January 2020, the game has sold more than 5.23 million copies across all platforms, not including free copies given as part of promotions. Unknown Worlds Entertainment is an independent American game-development company whose goal is to "unite the world through play". Based in San Francisco, California, the studio is best known for the Natural Selection series and Subnautica. Unknown Worlds was formed in May 2001 by Charlie Cleveland and began life as a group of developers responsible for the development of the high-profile free mod for Half-Life, Natural Selection. The success of Natural Selection convinced Cleveland to start work on a commercial sequel to the game: Natural Selection 2. Soon after Cleveland founded Unknown Worlds Entertainment as a commercial computer games studio. Although the casual games market is not the intended direction of Unknown Worlds, Zen of Sudoku, a casual puzzle computer game based on the popular logic puzzle Sudoku, was created in November 2006 in order to generate revenue towards funding the development of Natural Selection 2. Charlie Cleveland, one of the developers of Unknown Worlds Entertainment, cited casual games development as a "last option" for funding this sequel, having been unwilling to sacrifice control of the company to external investors. In October 2006, Max McGuire became the studio's co-founder, having previously worked at Iron Lore Entertainment as Lead Engine Programmer. McGuire became the Technical Director of UWE and development of Natural Selection 2 began in earnest. Max and Charlie then attracted a group of angel investors including Richard Kain, Matthew Le Merle, Ira Rothken and Colin Wiel to back the company after a meeting at GDC in San Francisco. A year later, Unknown Worlds released Decoda as a commercial debugger for the Lua programming language. This application was created to aid with development of Natural Selection 2, whose game code was largely being written in Lua. Later on in development of Natural Selection 2, the studio announced it had changed engine from the Source engine to their own proprietary engine developed in- house. After consulting their fanbase on a possible name for their new engine, it was finally named the Evolution engine. Later, it transpired that the name Evolution was already taken and Spark was chosen as the name for the engine. In June 2008, Cory Strader was hired as art director. Strader had been a previous key member of the development team for Natural Selection. In May 2009, Unknown Worlds began taking pre-orders for standard and special edition versions of Natural Selection 2. Natural Selection 2 was released on 31 October 2012. In February 2013, Unknown Worlds released the source code for Decoda onto GitHub. In early 2019 Perfect World Entertainment sold their majority interest and the company has become independent again. Natural Selection (2002), Zen of Sudoku (2006), Natural Selection 2 (2012), Subnautica (2018), Subnautica: Below Zero (2019), Future Perfect (TBA) Grip Digital (also known as Grip Games) is a developer and publisher of video games based in Prague, Czech Republic. It focuses on developing an publishing video games. Its main focus are consoles. The studio was established by Jakub Mikyska and Jan Cabuk. Studio focused to PlayStation Portable consoles but eventually moved to PlayStation 3 and Vita. Employees of Grip Digital were recruited in Studios such as 2K Czech or Disney Mobile. Grip Digital later got in touch with Teotl Studios, authors of Unmechanical. Grip Digital developed the Extended version of the game. Teotl Studios then decided to keep the cooperation and both studios started to work together on The Solus Project.

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Shiva (; , ISO: , ) also known as Mahadeva () is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Shaivism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Shiva is known as "The Destroyer" within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. In Shaivism tradition, Shiva is one of the supreme beings who creates, protects and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Devi, is described as one of the supreme, yet Shiva is revered along with Vishnu and Brahma. A goddess is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Parvati (Sati) the equal complementary partner of Shiva. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to the Shaivism sect, the highest form of Ishvar is formless, limitless, transcendent and unchanging absolute Brahman, and the primal Atman (soul, self) of the universe. There are many both benevolent and fearsome depictions of Shiva. In benevolent aspects, he is depicted as an omniscient Yogi who lives an ascetic life on Mount Kailash as well as a householder with wife Parvati and his two children, Ganesha and Kartikeya. In his fierce aspects, he is often depicted slaying demons. Shiva is also known as Adiyogi Shiva, regarded as the patron god of yoga, meditation and arts. The iconographical attributes of Shiva are the serpent around his neck, the adorning crescent moon, the holy river Ganga flowing from his matted hair, the third eye on his forehead, the trishula or trident, as his weapon, and the damaru drum. He is usually worshipped in the aniconic form of lingam. Shiva is a pan-Hindu deity, revered widely by Hindus, in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Shiva is also called as Bhrahman which can also be said as Parabhrahman. Shiva means nothingness. The word shivoham means the consciousness of one individual, the lord says that he is omnipotent, omnipresent, as he is present in the form of one's consciousness. In Tamil, he was called by different names other than Sivan. Nataraja (Dancing form of Shiva), Rudra (Enraged form of Shiva), and Dhakshinamoorthy (Yoga form of Shiva). Nataraja is the only form of Shiva worshipped in a human figure format. Elsewhere he is worshipped in Lingam figure. Pancha Bootha temples are located in south India. Pancha Bhoota Stalam refers to five temples dedicated to Shiva. Tamil literature is enriched by Shiva devotees called 63 Nayanmars (Nayanars). The Sanskrit word "" (, also transliterated as shiva) means, states Monier Monier-Williams, "auspicious, propitious, gracious, benign, kind, benevolent, friendly". The roots of in folk etymology are śī which means "in whom all things lie, pervasiveness" and va which means "embodiment of grace". The word Shiva is used as an adjective in the Rig Veda (approximately 1700–1100 BC), as an epithet for several Rigvedic deities, including Rudra. The term Shiva also connotes "liberation, final emancipation" and "the auspicious one", this adjective sense of usage is addressed to many deities in Vedic layers of literature. The term evolved from the Vedic Rudra-Shiva to the noun Shiva in the Epics and the Puranas, as an auspicious deity who is the "creator, reproducer and dissolver". Sharva, sharabha presents another etymology with the Sanskrit root -, which means "to injure" or "to kill", interprets the name to connote "one who can kill the forces of darkness". The Sanskrit word ' means "relating to the god Shiva", and this term is the Sanskrit name both for one of the principal sects of Hinduism and for a member of that sect. It is used as an adjective to characterize certain beliefs and practices, such as Shaivism. Some authors associate the name with the Tamil word ' meaning "red", noting that Shiva is linked to the Sun (', "the Red one", in Tamil) and that Rudra is also called Babhru (brown, or red) in the Rigveda. The Vishnu sahasranama interprets Shiva to have multiple meanings: "The Pure One", and "the One who is not affected by three Guṇas of Prakṛti (Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas)". Shiva is known by many names such as Viswanatha (lord of the universe), Mahadeva, Mahandeo, Mahasu, Mahesha, Maheshvara, Shankara, Shambhu, Rudra, Hara, Trilochana, Devendra (chief of the gods), Neelakanta, Subhankara, Trilokinatha (lord of the three realms), and Ghrneshwar (lord of compassion). The highest reverence for Shiva in Shaivism is reflected in his epithets ' ("Great god"; ' "Great" and deva "god"), ' ("Great Lord"; ' "great" and "lord"), and ("Supreme Lord"). Sahasranama are medieval Indian texts that list a thousand names derived from aspects and epithets of a deity. There are at least eight different versions of the Shiva Sahasranama, devotional hymns (stotras) listing many names of Shiva. The version appearing in Book 13 () of the Mahabharata provides one such list. Shiva also has Dasha-Sahasranamas (10,000 names) that are found in the Mahanyasa. The Shri Rudram Chamakam, also known as the Śatarudriya, is a devotional hymn to Shiva hailing him by many names. The Shiva-related tradition is a major part of Hinduism, found all over the Indian subcontinent, such as India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia, such as Bali, Indonesia. Scholars have interpreted early prehistoric paintings at the Bhimbetka rock shelters, carbon dated to be from pre-10,000 BCE period, as Shiva dancing, Shiva's trident, and his mount Nandi. Rock paintings from Bhimbetka, depicting a figure with a trishul, have been described as Nataraja by Erwin Neumayer, who dates them to the mesolithic. Of several Indus valley seals that show animals, one seal that has attracted attention shows a large central figure, either horned or wearing a horned headdress and possibly ithyphallic, seated in a posture reminiscent of the Lotus position, surrounded by animals. This figure was named by early excavators of Mohenjo-daro as Pashupati (Lord of Animals, Sanskrit '), an epithet of the later Hindu deities Shiva and Rudra. Sir John Marshall and others suggested that this figure is a prototype of Shiva, with three faces, seated in a "yoga posture" with the knees out and feet joined. Semi-circular shapes on the head were interpreted as two horns. Scholars such as Gavin Flood, John Keay and Doris Meth Srinivasan have expressed doubts about this suggestion. Gavin Flood states that it is not clear from the seal that the figure has three faces, is seated in a yoga posture, or even that the shape is intended to represent a human figure. He characterizes these views as "speculative", but adds that it is nevertheless possible that there are echoes of Shaiva iconographic themes, such as half-moon shapes resembling the horns of a bull. John Keay writes that "he may indeed be an early manifestation of Lord Shiva as Pashu-pati", but a couple of his specialties of this figure does not match with Rudra. Writing in 1997, Srinivasan interprets what John Marshall interpreted as facial as not human but more bovine, possibly a divine buffalo-man. The interpretation of the seal continues to be disputed. McEvilley, for example, states that it is not possible to "account for this posture outside the yogic account". Asko Parpola states that other archaeological finds such as the early Elamite seals dated to 3000-2750 BCE show similar figures and these have been interpreted as "seated bull" and not a yogi, and the bovine interpretation is likely more accurate. Gregory L. Possehl in 2002, associated it with the water buffalo, and concluded that while it would be appropriate to recognize the figure as a deity, and its posture as one of ritual discipline, regarding it as a proto-Shiva would "go too far". The Vedic literature refers to a minor atmospheric deity, with fearsome powers called Rudra. The Rigveda, for example, has 3 out of 1,028 hymns dedicated to Rudra, and he finds occasional mention in other hymns of the same text. The term Shiva also appears in the Rigveda, but simply as an epithet, that means "kind, auspicious", one of the adjectives used to describe many different Vedic deities. While fierce ruthless natural phenomenon and storm-related Rudra is feared in the hymns of the Rigveda, the beneficial rains he brings are welcomed as Shiva aspect of him. This healing, nurturing, life-enabling aspect emerges in the Vedas as Rudra-Shiva, and in post-Vedic literature ultimately as Shiva who combines the destructive and constructive powers, the terrific and the gentle, as the ultimate recycler and rejuvenator of all existence. The similarities between the iconography and theologies of Shiva with Greek and European deities have led to proposals for an Indo-European link for Shiva, or lateral exchanges with ancient central Asian cultures. His contrasting aspects such as being terrifying or blissful depending on the situation, are similar to those of the Greek god Dionysus, as are their iconic associations with bull, snakes, anger, bravery, dancing and carefree life. The ancient Greek texts of the time of Alexander the Great call Shiva as "Indian Dionysus", or alternatively call Dionysus as "god of the Orient". Similarly, the use of phallic symbol as an icon for Shiva is also found for Irish, Nordic, Greek (Dionysus) and Roman deities, as was the idea of this aniconic column linking heaven and earth among early Indo-Aryans, states Roger Woodward. Others contest such proposals, and suggest Shiva to have emerged from indigenous pre-Aryan tribal origins. Shiva as we know him today shares many features with the Vedic god Rudra, and both Shiva and Rudra are viewed as the same personality in Hindu scriptures. The two names are used synonymously. Rudra, the god of the roaring storm, is usually portrayed in accordance with the element he represents as a fierce, destructive deity. The oldest surviving text of Hinduism is the Rig Veda, which is dated to between 1700 and 1100 BC based on linguistic and philological evidence. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rig Veda. The name Rudra is still used as a name for Shiva. In RV 2.33, he is described as the "Father of the Rudras", a group of storm gods. The hymn 10.92 of the Rigveda states that deity Rudra has two natures, one wild and cruel (Rudra), another that is kind and tranquil (Shiva). The Vedic texts do not mention bull or any animal as the transport vehicle (vahana) of Rudra or other deities. However, post-Vedic texts such as the Mahabharata and the Puranas state the Nandi bull, the Indian zebu, in particular, as the vehicle of Rudra and of Shiva, thereby unmistakably linking them as same. Rudra and Agni have a close relationship. The identification between Agni and Rudra in the Vedic literature was an important factor in the process of Rudra's gradual development into the later character as Rudra-Shiva. The identification of Agni with Rudra is explicitly noted in the Nirukta, an important early text on etymology, which says, "Agni is also called Rudra." The interconnections between the two deities are complex, and according to Stella Kramrisch: In the Śatarudrīya, some epithets of Rudra, such as ("Of golden red hue as of flame") and ("Flaming bright"), suggest a fusing of the two deities. Agni is said to be a bull, and Lord Shiva possesses a bull as his vehicle, Nandi. The horns of Agni, who is sometimes characterized as a bull, are mentioned. In medieval sculpture, both Agni and the form of Shiva known as Bhairava have flaming hair as a special feature. According to Wendy Doniger, the Puranic Shiva is a continuation of the Vedic Indra. Doniger gives several reasons for her hypothesis. Both are associated with mountains, rivers, male fertility, fierceness, fearlessness, warfare, the transgression of established mores, the Aum sound, the Supreme Self. In the Rig Veda the term is used to refer to Indra. (2.20.3, 6.45.17, and 8.93.3.) Indra, like Shiva, is likened to a bull. In the Rig Veda, Rudra is the father of the Maruts, but he is never associated with their warlike exploits as is Indra. The Vedic beliefs and practices of the pre-classical era were closely related to the hypothesised Proto-Indo-European religion, and the pre-Islamic Indo-Iranian religion. The earliest iconic artworks of Shiva may be from Gandhara and northwest parts of ancient India. There is some uncertainty as the artwork that has survived is damaged and they show some overlap with meditative Buddha-related artwork, but the presence of Shiva's trident and phallic symbolism in this art suggests it was likely Shiva. Numismatics research suggests that numerous coins of the ancient Kushan Empire that have survived, were images of a god who is probably Shiva. The Shiva in Kushan coins is referred to as Oesho of unclear etymology and origins, but the simultaneous presence of Indra and Shiva in the Kushan era artwork suggest that they were revered deities by the start of the Kushan Empire. The texts and artwork of Jainism show Indra as a dancer, although not identical generally resembling the dancing Shiva artwork found in Hinduism, particularly in their respective mudras. For example, in the Jain caves at Ellora, extensive carvings show dancing Indra next to the images of Tirthankaras in a manner similar to Shiva Nataraja. The similarities in the dance iconography suggests that there may be a link between ancient Indra and Shiva. Rudra's evolution from a minor Vedic deity to a supreme being is first evidenced in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad (400–200 BC), according to Gavin Flood. Prior to it, the Upanishadic literature is monistic, and the Shvetashvatara text presents the earliest seeds of theistic devotion to Rudra- Shiva. Here Rudra-Shiva is identified as the creator of the cosmos and liberator of souls from the birth-rebirth cycle. The period of 200 BC to 100 AD also marks the beginning of the Shaiva tradition focused on the worship of Shiva as evidenced in other literature of this period. Shaiva devotees and ascetics are mentioned in Patanjali's Mahābhāṣya (2nd-century BC) and in the Mahabharata. Other scholars such as Robert Hume and Doris Srinivasan state that the Shvetashvatara Upanishad presents pluralism, pantheism, or henotheism, rather than being a text just on Shiva theism. The Shaiva Upanishads are a group of 14 minor Upanishads of Hinduism variously dated from the last centuries of the 1st millennium BCE through the 17th century. These extol Shiva as the metaphysical unchanging reality Brahman and the Atman (soul, self), and include sections about rites and symbolisms related to Shiva. A few texts such as Atharvashiras Upanishad mention Rudra, and assert all gods are Rudra, everyone and everything is Rudra, and Rudra is the principle found in all things, their highest goal, the innermost essence of all reality that is visible or invisible. The Kaivalya Upanishad similarly, states Paul Deussen – a German Indologist and professor of Philosophy, describes the self-realized man as who "feels himself only as the one divine essence that lives in all", who feels identity of his and everyone's consciousness with Shiva (highest Atman), who has found this highest Atman within, in the depths of his heart. The Shaiva Puranas, particularly the Shiva Purana and the Linga Purana, present the various aspects of Shiva, mythologies, cosmology and pilgrimage (Tirtha) associated with him. The Shiva- related Tantra literature, composed between the 8th and 11th centuries, are regarded in devotional dualistic Shaivism as Sruti. Dualistic Shaiva Agamas which consider soul within each living being and Shiva as two separate realities (dualism, dvaita), are the foundational texts for Shaiva Siddhanta. Other Shaiva Agamas teach that these are one reality (monism, advaita), and that Shiva is the soul, the perfection and truth within each living being. In Shiva related sub-traditions, there are ten dualistic Agama texts, eighteen qualified monism-cum-dualism Agama texts and sixty-four monism Agama texts. Shiva-related literature developed extensively across India in the 1st millennium CE and through the 13th century, particularly in Kashmir and Tamil Shaiva traditions. The monist Shiva literature posit absolute oneness, that is Shiva is within every man and woman, Shiva is within every living being, Shiva is present everywhere in the world including all non-living being, and there is no spiritual difference between life, matter, man and Shiva. The various dualistic and monist Shiva-related ideas were welcomed in medieval southeast Asia, inspiring numerous Shiva-related temples, artwork and texts in Indonesia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Malaysia, with syncretic integration of local pre-existing theologies. The figure of Shiva as we know him today may be an amalgamation of various older deities into a single figure. How the persona of Shiva converged as a composite deity is not understood, a challenge to trace and has attracted much speculation. According to Vijay Nath, for example: An example of assimilation took place in Maharashtra, where a regional deity named Khandoba is a patron deity of farming and herding castes. The foremost center of worship of Khandoba in Maharashtra is in Jejuri. Khandoba has been assimilated as a form of Shiva himself, in which case he is worshipped in the form of a lingam. Khandoba's varied associations also include an identification with Surya and Karttikeya. Shaivism is one of the four major sects of Hinduism, the others being Vaishnavism, Shaktism and the Smarta Tradition. Followers of Shaivism, called "Shaivas", revere Shiva as the Supreme Being. Shaivas believe that Shiva is All and in all, the creator, preserver, destroyer, revealer and concealer of all that is. He is not only the creator in Shaivism, but he is also the creation that results from him, he is everything and everywhere. Shiva is the primal soul, the pure consciousness and Absolute Reality in the Shaiva traditions. The Shaivism theology is broadly grouped into two: the popular theology influenced by Shiva-Rudra in the Vedas, Epics and the Puranas; and the esoteric theology influenced by the Shiva and Shakti-related Tantra texts. The Vedic-Brahmanic Shiva theology includes both monist (Advaita) and devotional traditions (Dvaita) such as Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta and Lingayatism with temples featuring items such as linga, Shiva-Parvati iconography, bull Nandi within the premises, relief artwork showing mythologies and aspects of Shiva. The Tantric Shiva tradition ignored the mythologies and Puranas related to Shiva, and depending on the sub-school developed a spectrum of practices. For example, historical records suggest the tantric Kapalikas (literally, the 'skull-men') co-existed with and shared many Vajrayana Buddhist rituals, engaged in esoteric practices that revered Shiva and Shakti wearing skulls, begged with empty skulls, used meat, alcohol, and sexuality as a part of ritual. In contrast, the esoteric tradition within Kashmir Shaivism has featured the Krama and Trika sub-traditions. The Krama sub-tradition focussed on esoteric rituals around Shiva-Kali pair. The Trika sub-tradition developed a theology of triads involving Shiva, combined it with an ascetic lifestyle focusing on personal Shiva in the pursuit of monistic self liberation. The Vaishnava (Vishnu-oriented) literature acknowledges and discusses Shiva. Like Shaiva literature that presents Shiva as supreme, the Vaishnava literature presents Vishnu as supreme. However, both traditions are pluralistic and revere both Shiva and Vishnu (along with Devi), their texts do not show exclusivism, and Vaishnava texts such as the Bhagavata Purana while praising Krishna as the Ultimate Reality, also present Shiva and Shakti as a personalized form an equivalent to the same Ultimate Reality. The texts of Shaivism tradition similarly praise Vishnu. The Skanda Purana, for example, states: Mythologies of both traditions include legends about who is superior, about Shiva paying homage to Vishnu, and Vishnu paying homage to Shiva. However, in texts and artwork of either tradition, the mutual salutes are symbolism for complementarity. The Mahabharata declares the unchanging Ultimate Reality (Brahman) to be identical to Shiva and to Vishnu, that Vishnu is the highest manifestation of Shiva, and Shiva is the highest manifestation of Vishnu. The goddess-oriented Shakti tradition of Hinduism is based on the premise that the Supreme Principle and the Ultimate Reality called Brahman is female (Devi), but it treats the male as her equal and complementary partner. This partner is Shiva. The earliest evidence of the tradition of reverence for the feminine with Rudra-Shiva context, is found in the Hindu scripture Rigveda, in a hymn called the Devi Sukta: The Devi Upanishad in its explanation of the theology of Shaktism, mentions and praises Shiva such as in its verse 19. Shiva, along with Vishnu, is a revered god in the Devi Mahatmya, a text of Shaktism considered by the tradition to be as important as the Bhagavad Gita. The Ardhanarisvara concept co-mingles god Shiva and goddess Shakti by presenting an icon that is half man and half woman, a representation and theme of union found in many Hindu texts and temples. In the Smarta tradition of Hinduism, Shiva is a part of its Panchayatana puja. This practice consists of the use of icons or anicons of five deities considered equivalent, set in a quincunx pattern. Shiva is one of the five deities, others being Vishnu, Devi (such as Parvati), Surya and Ganesha or Skanda or any personal god of devotee's preference (Ishta Devata). Philosophically, the Smarta tradition emphasizes that all idols (murti) are icons to help focus on and visualize aspects of Brahman, rather than distinct beings. The ultimate goal in this practice is to transition past the use of icons, recognize the Absolute symbolized by the icons, on the path to realizing the nondual identity of one's Atman (soul, self) and the Brahman. Popularized by Adi Shankara, many Panchayatana mandalas and temples have been uncovered that are from the Gupta Empire period, and one Panchayatana set from the village of Nand (about 24 kilometers from Ajmer) has been dated to belong to the Kushan Empire era (pre-300 CE). The Kushan period set includes Shiva, Vishnu, Surya, Brahma and one deity whose identity is unclear. Shiva is considered the Great Yogi who is totally absorbed in himself – the transcendental reality. He is the Lord of Yogis, and the teacher of Yoga to sages. As Shiva Dakshinamurthi, states Stella Kramrisch, he is the supreme guru who "teaches in silence the oneness of one's innermost self (atman) with the ultimate reality (brahman)." The theory and practice of Yoga, in different styles, has been a part of all major traditions of Hinduism, and Shiva has been the patron or spokesperson in numerous Hindu Yoga texts. These contain the philosophy and techniques for Yoga. These ideas are estimated to be from or after the late centuries of the 1st millennium CE, and have survived as Yoga texts such as the Isvara Gita (literally, 'Shiva's song'), which Andrew Nicholson – a professor of Hinduism and Indian Intellectual History – states have had "a profound and lasting influence on the development of Hinduism". Other famed Shiva-related texts influenced Hatha Yoga, integrated monistic (Advaita Vedanta) ideas with Yoga philosophy and inspired the theoretical development of Indian classical dance. These include the Shiva Sutras, the Shiva Samhita, and those by the scholars of Kashmir Shaivism such as the 10th- century scholar Abhinavagupta. Abhinavagupta writes in his notes on the relevance of ideas related to Shiva and Yoga, by stating that "people, occupied as they are with their own affairs, normally do nothing for others", and Shiva and Yoga spirituality helps one look beyond, understand interconnectedness, and thus benefit both the individual and the world towards a more blissful state of existence. The Trimurti is a concept in Hinduism in which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified by the forms of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver and Shiva the destroyer or transformer. These three deities have been called "the Hindu triad" or the "Great Trinity". However, the ancient and medieval texts of Hinduism feature many triads of gods and goddesses, some of which do not include Shiva. Third eye: Shiva is often depicted with a third eye, with which he burned Desire () to ashes, called "Tryambakam" (Sanskrit: त्र्यम्बकम् ), which occurs in many scriptural sources. In classical Sanskrit, the word ambaka denotes "an eye", and in the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as three-eyed, so this name is sometimes translated as "having three eyes". However, in Vedic Sanskrit, the word ' or ' means "mother", and this early meaning of the word is the basis for the translation "three mothers". These three mother-goddesses who are collectively called the . Other related translations have been based on the idea that the name actually refers to the oblations given to Rudra, which according to some traditions were shared with the goddess ., Crescent moon: Shiva bears on his head the crescent moon. The epithet (Sanskrit: "Having the moon as his crest" – = "moon"; ' = "crest, crown") refers to this feature. The placement of the moon on his head as a standard iconographic feature dates to the period when Rudra rose to prominence and became the major deity Rudra-Shiva. The origin of this linkage may be due to the identification of the moon with Soma, and there is a hymn in the Rig Veda where Soma and Rudra are jointly implored, and in later literature, Soma and Rudra came to be identified with one another, as were Soma and the moon., Ashes: Shiva iconography shows his body covered with ashes (bhasma, vibhuti). The ashes represent a reminder that all of material existence is impermanent, comes to an end becoming ash, and the pursuit of eternal soul and spiritual liberation is important., Matted hair: Shiva's distinctive hair style is noted in the epithets , "the one with matted hair", and Kapardin, "endowed with matted hair" or "wearing his hair wound in a braid in a shell-like (kaparda) fashion". A kaparda is a cowrie shell, or a braid of hair in the form of a shell, or, more generally, hair that is shaggy or curly., Blue throat: The epithet (Sanskrit ; nīla = "blue", = "throat"). Since Shiva drank the Halahala poison churned up from the Samudra Manthan to eliminate its destructive capacity. Shocked by his act, Parvati squeezed his neck and stopped it in his neck to prevent it from spreading all over the universe, supposed to be in Shiva's stomach. However the poison was so potent that it changed the color of his neck to blue., Meditating yogi: his iconography often shows him in a Yoga pose, meditating, sometimes on a symbolic Himalayan Mount Kailasha as the Lord of Yoga., Sacred Ganga: The epithet Gangadhara, "Bearer of the river Ganga" (Ganges). The Ganga flows from the matted hair of Shiva. The (Ganga), one of the major rivers of the country, is said to have made her abode in Shiva's hair., Tiger skin: Shiva is often shown seated upon a tiger skin., Serpents: Shiva is often shown garlanded with a snake., Trident: Shiva typically carries a trident called Trishula. The trident is a weapon or a symbol in different Hindu texts. As a symbol, the Trishul represents Shiva's three aspects of "creator, preserver and destroyer", or alternatively it represents the equilibrium of three Gunas of "sattva, rajas and tamas"., Drum: A small drum shaped like an hourglass is known as a damaru. This is one of the attributes of Shiva in his famous dancing representation known as Nataraja. A specific hand gesture (mudra) called (Sanskrit for "-hand") is used to hold the drum. This drum is particularly used as an emblem by members of the sect., Axe (Parashu) and Deer are held in Shiva's hands in Odisha & south Indian icons., Rosary beads: he is garlanded with or carries a string of rosary beads in his right hand, typically made of Rudraksha. This symbolises grace, mendicant life and meditation., : Nandī, also known as "Nandin", is the name of the bull that serves as Shiva's mount (Sanskrit: ). Shiva's association with cattle is reflected in his name , or Pashupati (Sanskrit: पशुपति), translated by Sharma as "lord of cattle" and by Kramrisch as "lord of animals", who notes that it is particularly used as an epithet of Rudra., Mount : Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is his traditional abode. In Hindu mythology, Mount is conceived as resembling a Linga, representing the center of the universe., : The s are attendants of Shiva and live in Kailash. They are often referred to as the bhutaganas, or ghostly hosts, on account of their nature. Generally benign, except when their lord is transgressed against, they are often invoked to intercede with the lord on behalf of the devotee. His son Ganesha was chosen as their leader by Shiva, hence Ganesha's title ' or ', "lord of the "., Varanasi: Varanasi (Benares) is considered to be the city specially loved by Shiva, and is one of the holiest places of pilgrimage in India. It is referred to, in religious contexts, as Kashi. According to Gavin Flood, "Shiva is a god of ambiguity and paradox," whose attributes include opposing themes. The ambivalent nature of this deity is apparent in some of his names and the stories told about him. In Yajurveda, two contrary sets of attributes for both malignant or terrifying (Sanskrit: ') and benign or auspicious (Sanskrit: ') forms can be found, leading Chakravarti to conclude that "all the basic elements which created the complex Rudra-Śiva sect of later ages are to be found here". In the Mahabharata, Shiva is depicted as "the standard of invincibility, might, and terror", as well as a figure of honor, delight, and brilliance. The duality of Shiva's fearful and auspicious attributes appears in contrasted names. The name Rudra reflects Shiva's fearsome aspects. According to traditional etymologies, the Sanskrit name Rudra is derived from the root rud-, which means "to cry, howl". Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form raudra, which means "wild, of rudra nature", and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Sharma follows this alternate etymology and translates the name as "terrible". Hara is an important name that occurs three times in the Anushasanaparvan version of the Shiva sahasranama, where it is translated in different ways each time it occurs, following a commentorial tradition of not repeating an interpretation. Sharma translates the three as "one who captivates", "one who consolidates", and "one who destroys". Kramrisch translates it as "the ravisher". Another of Shiva's fearsome forms is as "time" and "great time", which ultimately destroys all things. The name appears in the Shiva Sahasranama, where it is translated by Ram Karan Sharma as "(the Supreme Lord of) Time". Bhairava "terrible" or "frightful" is a fierce form associated with annihilation. In contrast, the name , "beneficent" or "conferring happiness" reflects his benign form. This name was adopted by the great Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara (c. 788–820), who is also known as Shankaracharya. The name (Sanskrit: swam-on its own; bhu-burn/shine) "self-shining/ shining on its own", also reflects this benign aspect. Shiva is depicted as both an ascetic yogi and as a householder (grihasta), roles which have been traditionally mutually exclusive in Hindu society. When depicted as a yogi, he may be shown sitting and meditating. His epithet Mahāyogi ("the great Yogi: = "great", Yogi = "one who practices Yoga") refers to his association with yoga. While Vedic religion was conceived mainly in terms of sacrifice, it was during the Epic period that the concepts of tapas, yoga, and asceticism became more important, and the depiction of Shiva as an ascetic sitting in philosophical isolation reflects these later concepts. As a family man and householder, he has a wife, Parvati and two sons, Ganesha and Kartikeya. His epithet ("The husband of ") refers to this idea, and Sharma notes that two other variants of this name that mean the same thing, and , also appear in the sahasranama. in epic literature is known by many names, including the benign . She is identified with Devi, the Divine Mother; Shakti (divine energy) as well as goddesses like Tripura Sundari, Durga, Kali, Kamakshi and Minakshi. The consorts of Shiva are the source of his creative energy. They represent the dynamic extension of Shiva onto this universe. His son Ganesha is worshipped throughout India and Nepal as the Remover of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles. Kartikeya is worshipped in South India (especially in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka) by the names Subrahmanya, Subrahmanyan, Shanmughan, Swaminathan and Murugan, and in Northern India by the names Skanda, Kumara, or Karttikeya. Some regional deities are also identified as Shiva's children. As one story goes, Shiva is enticed by the beauty and charm of Mohini, Vishnu's female avatar, and procreates with her. As a result of this union, Shasta – identified with regional deities Ayyappan and Aiyanar – is born. In outskirts of Ernakulam in Kerala, a deity named Vishnumaya is stated to be offspring of Shiva and invoked in local exorcism rites, but this deity is not traceable in Hindu pantheon and is possibly a local tradition with "vaguely Chinese" style rituals, states Saletore. In some traditions, Shiva has daughters like the serpent-goddess Manasa and Ashokasundari. According to Doniger, two regional stories depict demons Andhaka and Jalandhara as the children of Shiva who war with him, and are later destroyed by Shiva. The depiction of Shiva as Nataraja (Sanskrit: ', "Lord of Dance") is popular. The names Nartaka ("dancer") and Nityanarta ("eternal dancer") appear in the Shiva Sahasranama. His association with dance and also with music is prominent in the Puranic period. In addition to the specific iconographic form known as Nataraja, various other types of dancing forms (Sanskrit: ') are found in all parts of India, with many well-defined varieties in Tamil Nadu in particular. The two most common forms of the dance are the Tandava, which later came to denote the powerful and masculine dance as Kala-Mahakala associated with the destruction of the world. When it requires the world or universe to be destroyed, Shiva does it by the Tandava, and Lasya, which is graceful and delicate and expresses emotions on a gentle level and is considered the feminine dance attributed to the goddess Parvati. Lasya is regarded as the female counterpart of Tandava. The Tandava-Lasya dances are associated with the destruction-creation of the world. Dakshinamurthy () literally describes a form (') of Shiva facing south ('). This form represents Shiva in his aspect as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom and giving exposition on the shastras. This iconographic form for depicting Shiva in Indian art is mostly from Tamil Nadu. Elements of this motif can include Shiva seated upon a deer-throne and surrounded by sages who are receiving his instruction. An iconographic representation of Shiva called Ardhanarishvara () shows him with one half of the body as male and the other half as female. According to Ellen Goldberg, the traditional Sanskrit name for this form is best translated as "the lord who is half woman", not as "half-man, half-woman". Shiva is often depicted as an archer in the act of destroying the triple fortresses, Tripura, of the Asuras. Shiva's name Tripurantaka ( ), "ender of Tripura", refers to this important story. Apart from anthropomorphic images of Shiva, he is also represented in aniconic form of a lingam. These are depicted in various designs. One common form is the shape of a vertical rounded column in the centre of a lipped, disk-shaped object, the yoni, symbolism for the goddess Shakti. In Shiva temples, the linga is typically present in its sanctum sanctorum and is the focus of votary offerings such as milk, water, flower petals, fruit, fresh leaves, and rice. According to Monier Williams and Yudit Greenberg, linga literally means 'mark, sign or emblem', and also refers to a "mark or sign from which the existence of something else can be reliably inferred". It implies the regenerative divine energy innate in nature, symbolized by Shiva. Some scholars, such as Wendy Doniger, view linga merely as an erotic phallic symbol, although this interpretation is criticized by others, including Swami Vivekananda, Sivananda Saraswati, and S. N. Balagangadhara. According to Moriz Winternitz, the linga in the Shiva tradition is "only a symbol of the productive and creative principle of nature as embodied in Shiva", and it has no historical trace in any obscene phallic cult. The worship of the lingam originated from the famous hymn in the Atharva-Veda Samhitâ sung in praise of the Yupa-Stambha, the sacrificial post. In that hymn, a description is found of the beginningless and endless Stambha or Skambha, and it is shown that the said Skambha is put in place of the eternal Brahman. Just as the Yajna (sacrificial) fire, its smoke, ashes, and flames, the Soma plant, and the ox that used to carry on its back the wood for the Vedic sacrifice gave place to the conceptions of the brightness of Shiva's body, his tawny matted hair, his blue throat, and the riding on the bull of the Shiva, the Yupa-Skambha gave place in time to the Shiva-Linga. In the text Linga Purana, the same hymn is expanded in the shape of stories, meant to establish the glory of the great Stambha and the superiority of Shiva as Mahadeva. The oldest known archaeological linga as an icon of Shiva is the Gudimallam lingam from 3rd-century BCE. In Shaivism pilgrimage tradition, twelve major temples of Shiva are called Jyotirlinga, which means "linga of light", and these are located across India. Five is a sacred number for Shiva. One of his most important mantras has five syllables (). Shiva's body is said to consist of five mantras, called the . As forms of God, each of these have their own names and distinct iconography: These are represented as the five faces of Shiva and are associated in various texts with the five elements, the five senses, the five organs of perception, and the five organs of action. Doctrinal differences and, possibly, errors in transmission, have resulted in some differences between texts in details of how these five forms are linked with various attributes. The overall meaning of these associations is summarized by Stella Kramrisch: According to the Pañcabrahma Upanishad: Puranic scriptures contain occasional references to "ansh" – literally 'portion, or avatars of Shiva', but the idea of Shiva avatars is not universally accepted in Saivism. The Linga Purana mentions twenty-eight forms of Shiva which are sometimes seen as avatars, however such mention is unusual and the avatars of Shiva is relatively rare in Shaivism compared to the well emphasized concept of Vishnu avatars in Vaishnavism. Some Vaishnava literature reverentially link Shiva to characters in its mythologies. For example, in the Hanuman Chalisa, Hanuman is identified as the eleventh avatar of Shiva. The Bhagavata Purana and the Vishnu Purana claim sage Durvasa to be a portion of Shiva. Some medieval era writers have called the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Adi Shankara an incarnation of Shiva. There is a Shivaratri in every lunar month on its 13th night/14th day, but once a year in late winter (February/March) and before the arrival of spring, marks Maha Shivaratri which means "the Great Night of Shiva". Maha Shivaratri is a major Hindu festival, but one that is solemn and theologically marks a remembrance of "overcoming darkness and ignorance" in life and the world, and meditation about the polarities of existence, of Shiva and a devotion to humankind. It is observed by reciting Shiva-related poems, chanting prayers, remembering Shiva, fasting, doing Yoga and meditating on ethics and virtues such as self-restraint, honesty, noninjury to others, forgiveness, introspection, self-repentance and the discovery of Shiva. The ardent devotees keep awake all night. Others visit one of the Shiva temples or go on pilgrimage to Jyotirlingam shrines. Those who visit temples, offer milk, fruits, flowers, fresh leaves and sweets to the lingam. Some communities organize special dance events, to mark Shiva as the lord of dance, with individual and group performances. According to Jones and Ryan, Maha Sivaratri is an ancient Hindu festival which probably originated around the 5th-century. Another major festival involving Shiva worship is Kartik Purnima, commemorating Shiva's victory on the demons Tripurasura. Across India, various Shiva temples are illuminated throughout the night. Shiva icons are carried in procession in some places. Regional festivals dedicated to Shiva include the Chittirai festival in Madurai around April/May, one of the largest festivals in South India, celebrating the wedding of Minakshi (Parvati) and Shiva. The festival is one where both the Vaishnava and Shaiva communities join the celebrations, because Vishnu gives away his sister Minakshi in marriage to Shiva. Some Shaktism-related festivals revere Shiva along with the goddess considered primary and Supreme. These include festivals dedicated to Annapurna such as Annakuta and those related to Durga. In Himalayan regions such as Nepal, as well as in northern, central and western India, the festival of Teej is celebrated by girls and women in the monsoon season, in honor of goddess Parvati, with group singing, dancing and by offering prayers in Parvati-Shiva temples. The ascetic, Vedic and Tantric sub-traditions related to Shiva, such as those that became ascetic warriors during the Islamic rule period of India, celebrate the Kumbha Mela festival. This festival cycles every 12 years, in four pilgrimage sites within India, with the event moving to the next site after a gap of three years. The biggest is in Prayaga (renamed Allahabad during the Mughal rule era), where millions of Hindus of different traditions gather at the confluence of rivers Ganges and Yamuna. In the Hindu tradition, the Shiva-linked ascetic warriors (Nagas) get the honor of starting the event by entering the Sangam first for bathing and prayers. In Shaivism of Indonesia, the popular name for Shiva has been Batara Guru, which is derived from Sanskrit Bhattaraka which means “noble lord". He is conceptualized as a kind spiritual teacher, the first of all Gurus in Indonesian Hindu texts, mirroring the Dakshinamurti aspect of Shiva in the Indian subcontinent. However, the Batara Guru has more aspects than the Indian Shiva, as the Indonesian Hindus blended their spirits and heroes with him. Batara Guru's wife in southeast Asia is the same Hindu deity Durga, who has been popular since ancient times, and she too has a complex character with benevolent and fierce manifestations, each visualized with different names such as Uma, Sri, Kali and others. Shiva has been called Sadasiva, Paramasiva, Mahadeva in benevolent forms, and Kala, Bhairava, Mahakala in his fierce forms. The Indonesian Hindu texts present the same philosophical diversity of Shaivism traditions found on the subcontinent. However, among the texts that have survived into the contemporary era, the more common are of those of Shaiva Siddhanta (locally also called Siwa Siddhanta, Sridanta). In the pre- Islamic period on the island of Java, Shaivism and Buddhism were considered very close and allied religions, though not identical religions. The medieval era Indonesian literature equates Buddha with Siwa (Shiva) and Janardana (Vishnu). This tradition continues in predominantly Hindu Bali Indonesia in the modern era, where Buddha is considered the younger brother of Shiva. The worship of Shiva became popular in Central Asia through the Hephthalite Empire, and Kushan Empire. Shaivism was also popular in Sogdia and the Kingdom of Yutian as found from the wall painting from Penjikent on the river Zervashan. In this depiction, Shiva is portrayed with a sacred halo and a sacred thread ("Yajnopavita"). He is clad in tiger skin while his attendants are wearing Sogdian dress. A panel from Dandan Oilik shows Shiva in His Trimurti form with Shakti kneeling on her right thigh. Another site in the Taklamakan Desert depicts him with four legs, seated cross-legged on a cushioned seat supported by two bulls. It is also noted that Zoroastrian wind god Vayu-Vata took on the iconographic appearance of Shiva. Daikokuten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods in Japan, is considered to be evolved from Shiva. The god enjoys an exalted position as a household deity in Japan and is worshipped as the god of wealth and fortune. The name is the Japanese equivalent of Mahākāla, the Buddhist name for Shiva. Shiva is also mentioned in Buddhist Tantra. Shiva as Upaya and Shakti as Prajna. In cosmologies of Buddhist tantra, Shiva is depicted as passive, with Shakti being his active counterpart. In Mahayana Buddhist cosmology, Shiva resides in Akaniṣṭha, highest of Śuddhāvāsa (Pure Abodes) where Anāgāmi ("Non-returners") who are already on the path to Arhat-hood and who will attain enlightenment are born in. The Japuji Sahib of the Guru Granth Sahib says, "The Guru is Shiva, the Guru is Vishnu and Brahma; the Guru is Paarvati and Lakhshmi." In the same chapter, it also says, "Shiva speaks, and the Siddhas listen." In Dasam Granth, Guru Gobind Singh has mentioned two avtars of Rudra: Dattatreya Avtar and Parasnath Avtar. In contemporary culture, Shiva is depicted in films, books, tattoos and art. He has been referred to as "the god of cool things" and a "bonafide rock hero". Popular films include the Gujarati language movie Har Har Mahadev, the Kannada movie Gange Gowri and well-known books include Amish Tripathi's Shiva Trilogy, which has sold over a million copies. On television, Devon Ke Dev...Mahadev, a television serial about Lord Shiva on the Life OK channel was among the most watched shows at its peak popularity. In the Final Fantasy videogame series, Shiva is often depicted as a benevolent ancient being of Ice Element who frequently aids the heroes against mighty foes (via summoning). Shiva is also a character in the video game Dark Souls, with the name Shiva of the East. Jangam Arya, Ravi Prakash & K. L. Joshi. : Sanskrit Text, English Translation. Parimal Publications, Delhi, 2001, (Set of four volumes). Parimal Sanskrit Series No. 45; 2003 reprint: 81–7020-070-9., (Third edition). The version provided by Chidbhavananda is from chapter 17 of the Anuśāsana Parva of the Mahābharata., Frawley, David. 2015. Shiva: the lord of yoga. Twin Lakes, WI : Lotus Press., Originally published in 1915., This work compares eight versions of the Śivasahasranāmāstotra with comparative analysis and Śivasahasranāmākoṣa (A Dictionary of Names). The text of the eight versions is given in Sanskrit., First Indian Edition: Munshiram Manoharlal, 2003, ., First revised edition., First Princeton-Bollingen printing, 1972. Shiva at Encyclopædia Britannica, Shaivism, Peter Bisschop, Oxford Bibliographies, Shaivism literature, Karl Potter, University of Washington Over the millennia of its development Hinduism has adopted several iconic symbols, forming part of Hindu iconography, that are imbued with spiritual meaning based on either the scriptures or cultural traditions. The exact significance accorded to any of the icons varies with region, period and denomination of the followers. Over time some of the symbols, for instance the Swastika has come to have wider association while others like Aum are recognized as unique representations of Hinduism. Other aspects of Hindu iconography are covered by the terms murti, for icons and mudra for gestures and positions of the hands and body. Hindu sacraments are physical pieces of that help objects or markings that are considered sacred and used as a sign of devotion by the followers of Sanathana dharma (Hinduism). These are often objects associated with a puja (prayer) or religious ceremony. The tilaka (or tilak) is a mark worn on the forehead or other parts of the body as a sign of spiritual devotion. Hindus may wear a tilaka regularly or especially on religious occasions. The shape of the tilaka is often an indicator of devotion to a certain deity. For example, a 'U' shape tilaka usually denotes devotion to Vishnu, while Shiva devotees often wear it in the form of three horizontal lines. It may be made of saffron, vermilion, turmeric, clay or simply ash. To denote marriage and auspiciousness, married Hindu women commonly wear a decorative vermilion dot or bindu, or bindī on the forehead. This is analogous to a wedding ring worn in western countries. In southern India, the mark is called pottu (or bottu). The exact shape, size and location of the bindi or pottu shows regional variation; for instance, in northern India the bindi is often worn just below the hairline, while in southern India it is more common to wear it between the eyebrows. In east India, especially in West Bengal, traditionally larger bindis are worn as mark of devotion towards Goddess Durga. Vibhuti is the holy ash obtained from sacred puja rites involving fire. Also a variant called Basma used as Vibhuti is prepared from the purified ashes of cow dung. Ash as the product of fire is considered intrinsically pure. It is used on the forehead, normally as three horizontal lines representing Shiva. Some Hindus meld both the three horizontal vibhuti lines of Shiva and the 'U' shape thilaka of Vishnu in an amalgam marker signifying Hari-Hara (Vishnu- Shiva). In addition, sacred ash signifies that the body's origin is from dust and ash and to dust and ash it shall return. The ash is a marker of impermanence. Everything in the interim is but an illusion (maya). Vibhuti, when applied to the forehead, also symbolizes the willingness to destroy negative thoughts and qualities (jealousy, envy, anger, greed, etc.), as these negative qualities, if not destroyed, will bring all kinds of pains in life. Rudraksha are seeds of the rudraksha tree that, in Hinduism, represent the tears of Lord Shiva (also known as, Rudra). They are often threaded into a necklace and used as a rosary to accompany prayer and meditation. Among the most revered symbols in Hinduism, three are a quintessential part of its culture, and are most representative of its general ethos: Om (or Aum, ॐ) is the sacred sound symbol that represents Universe; the ultimate reality (Brahman). It is prefixed and sometimes suffixed to all Vedic mantras and prayers. Aum is often said to represent God in the three aspects of Brahman (A), Vishnu (U) and Shiva (M). As the Divine primordial vibration, it represents the one ultimate reality , underlying and encompassing all of nature and all of existence. The written syllable ॐ called omkara serves as a deeply significant and distinctly recognizable symbol for Hindu dharma. The pronunciation of Aum moves through all possible human linguistic vowel sounds and is different from the pronunciation of Om. Both are often symbolically equated, although they are sonically distinct. is a symbol connoting general auspiciousness. It may represent purity of soul, truth, and stability or, alternatively, Surya, the sun. Its rotation in four directions has been used to represent many ideas, but primarily describes the four directions, the four Vedas and their harmonious whole. Its use in Hinduism dates back to ancient times. Sri Chakra Yantra of Tripura Sundari (commonly referred to as Sri Yantra) is a mandala formed by nine interlocking triangles. Four of these triangles are oriented upright, representing Shiva or the Masculine. Five of these triangles are inverted triangles representing Shakti, or the Feminine. Together, the nine triangles form a web symbolic of the entire cosmos, a womb symbolic of creation, and together express Advaita Vedanta or non-duality. All other yantras are derivatives of this supreme yantra. Several symbols (animals, flora, instruments, weapons, or even color) in Hindu iconography are associated with particular devas, and vice versa. In certain cases the deities themselves are personifications of natural forces, for instance Agni (fire), Vayu (wind), Surya (Sun) and Prithvi (Earth). In other instances, the associations arise from specific incidents or characteristics related in Hindu theology. The iconography serve to identify the particular deity in their pictorial or sculptural representations. The symbolism also often links the deities with a particular natural or human attribute, or profession. It is important to understand the symbolism, in order to appreciate the allegorical references in not only Hindu scriptures (for instance, Puranic tales), but also in both ancient and modern secular works of authors from the Indian subcontinent. The art and science of designing temples includes the study of sculpture and the ornamentation of religious significance as described in sacred texts (shilpa shaastra aagamas). In Ancient India twelve years of theoretical and practical training used to be given to the student by an able experienced teacher. The Shiva Lingam represents the divine being Shiva, and is used as a symbol of the power of fertility and strength . Shivalinga (Sivalinga) is the most important and a popular symbolic representation of Lord Shiva (Siva) in Hinduism. It represents God Himself in His all the three aspects – Creator, Sustainer or Protector and Destroyer (Dissolutor). The word ‘Shivalinga’ is a combination of the words ‘Shiva’ (auspiciousness) and linga (sign or symbol). Thus ‘Shivalinga’ is a representation of God in His all-auspicious aspect. Again ‘Shiva’ also means ‘One in Whom all creation sleeps after dissolution’. ‘Linga’ also means the place of dissolution of the disintegrated universe. The Shiva linga represents the supreme creator, the cause behind the creation, protection, and destruction of everything visible and invisible and the god shiva. Based on the mobility of the object of worship, Shivalingas are broadly divided into two categories – ‘Cala’ and ‘Acala’ These are made of stone, crystal, metals, clay, rice, dough, etc. These can be moved from one place to another. The sacred texts describe many types of shiva linga based on variations in the proportions. The following is the description of sarvatobhadra shiva lingam preferably constructed in black spotless hard stone which can be worshiped by every living being. These Shivlingas are installed in temples and are fixed to ground or a base. They are usually made of stones or metals. The sacred texts suggest that the shiva linga must have three parts. A bottom most 1/3rd part that is in the earth - Brahma bhaagam (represents Brahma, the Creator of the World) it is rectangular in cross section. A middle 1/3rd part is called Vishnu Bhaagam or Vishnu Bhaga (it represents Vishnu, the Protector and sustainer of the world ); it is octagonal in cross section. Both the Brahma bhaagam and Vishnu Bhaagam are embedded in peetham (the ornamental pedestal). A visible 1/3rd Shiva Pooja bhaagam or Pooja bhaga( also known as Rudra bhaagam or Rudra bhaga) which is top most part which is worshiped. It is circular in cross section and cylindrical in shape. It represents Rudra (Shiva), the Dissoluter or Destroyer of the World. It is known as Pooja bhaagam because this part is worshipped. Brahmasutras: These are certain essential lines present on the Rudra bhaagam (Rudra bhaga). Without them a Shivlinga is unfit to be worshipped. The Shiva linga is at the level of ground and easily accessible to the worshipers irrespective of their caste, social or economic status. The Lotus is associated with the creation theology as well as the gods Vishnu, Brahma, and Lakshmi. It is the symbol of beauty and fertility. "In the Bhagavad Gita, a human is adjured to be like the lotus; they should work without attachment, dedicating their actions to God, untouched by sin like water on a lotus leaf, like a beautiful flower standing high above the mud and water." The musical instrument Veena is associated with the Hindu goddess Saraswati and the sage Narada. It represents arts and learning. The conch shell is a major Hindu article of prayer, used as a trumpeting announcement of all sorts. The God of Preservation, Vishnu, is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya, that represents life as it has come out of life- giving waters. In the story of Dhruva the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India would blow conch shells to announce battle, such as is famously represented in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata, a famous Hindu epic. The conch shell is also a deep part of Hindu symbolic and religious tradition. Today most Hindus use the conch as a part of their religious practices, blowing it during worship at specific points, accompanied by ceremonial bells. Shankha also symbolizes the sound that created the universe and stands for knowledge. The Chakra or disc-like weapon of Vishnu is often found mounted on the top of Vaishnava temples or incorporated into architectural designs. Images depicting Vishnu's four-armed Narayana form almost always include the Chakra in one of his hands. It is a general symbol for protection. Chakra is also known to symbolize the need to follow dharma and to condemn adharma. An array of Hindu, Buddhist, and some Jain deities are often depicted with multiple heads, arms, and other body parts, creating what one author refers to as a "multiplicity convention" in religious iconography. Such multiple body parts represent the divine omnipresence and immanence (ability to be in many places at once and simultaneously exist in all places at once), and thereby the ability to influence many things at once. The specific meanings attributed to the multiple body parts of an image are symbolic, not literal in context. In such depictions, the visual effect of an array of multiple arms is to create a kinetic energy showing that ability. Vāhana or vehicle, sometimes called a mount, is an animal or mythical entity closely associated with a particular deity in Hindu theology. Sometimes the deity is iconographically depicted riding and/or mounted on the vahana; other times, the vahana is depicted at the deity's side or symbolically represented as a divine attribute. Vishnu is the Protector-God. Of the three gods of the Hindu Triad, Vishnu, being the Preserver, appears most human. The Rig Vedic Vishnu is conceived as the sun in three stages - rising, zenith and setting. The Vedic Vishnu strides through the heavens in three steps. This is Vishnu's great deed and constitutes his great glory. With these three steps Vishnu, a solar deity, courses through the three divisions of the universe, "the god being manifest in a threefold form, as Agni on earth, Indra or Vayu in the atmosphere and Surya in the sky". He is said to have taken these three steps for the preservation and benefit of mortals. The zenith is appropriately called Vishnu's place. His third step cannot be seen with human eyes. It is here that Indra dwells. It is the tower that was built on the wall of entrance. It was many storied building, up to one storied to sixteen storied. It contains many portico like kudaivarai, prasthra, karnakuta, sala, panchara, kudu. It can be seen mainly in south Indian temples with Dravidian architecture. Ashtamangala Notes Sources Vastu-Silpa Kosha, Encyclopedia of Hindu Temple architecture and Vastu/S.K.Ramachandara Rao, Delhi, Devine Books, (Lala Murari Lal Chharia Oriental series) (Set)., Kaasyapa shilpa shaastra: part-2- department of endowments - andhra pradesh - India., Bhaarathiya mahashilpamu: in 16 parts - swarna subramanya kavi - 1971 TTD Govt of Andhra pradesh supported publication. Rao, T. A. Gopinatha (1998). Elements of Hindu Iconography (in 4 Parts), New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,, Jansen, Eva Rudy (1993). The book of Hindu Imagery: Gods, Manifestations and Their Meaning. Binkey Kok Publications, Havelte, The Netherlands. . The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Recognizing the Gods, Hindu Symbols Ancient Hindu wars are the battles described in the Hindu texts of ancient India. These battles depict great heroes, demons, celestial weapons and beings, and the supernatural. While no Hindu epic or scripture fails to describe the horrors of war and its fallout, major wars are fought with the purpose of upholding the Dharma (righteousness that brings prosperity to humanity) over Adharma (wickedness that causes humanity to suffer). The purpose of the wars is often to eliminate demonic beings or lords and rulers who pursue war want only for ambition (wicked wishes) and domination (for worldly pleasures). Hindu teachings prescribe war as the final option, to be employed only after all peaceful methods are exhausted. But when this time comes, war is taught to be a matter of great personal and social importance, where every man who belongs to the warrior caste must do his duty, exemplifying courage, honor, and fearsome prowess against all odds and even at the cost of his life. The major Hindu gods, including Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, often engage in war, either in the form of Avatars or in their true form. They and many Hindu heroes use astra – celestial weapons with fearsome supernatural power – to aid them in battle. The central battle in the Vedas is between Indra and Vrtra, and the defeat of the demon Vrtra leads to the liberation of rivers, cattle and Ushas (dawn/light). While this battle does reinforce the timeless good v/s evil theme, close examination of various hymns and verses in the Rig Veda suggest this might have been an allegorical account of the end of the last ice age in the Himalayan glacial system. Another important battle is the historic Battle of the Ten Kings, alluded to in the Rigveda, in which the Tritsu clan, led by Sudas, defeat the Puru confederation of ten Indo Aryan clans. The perennial battle between the Devas and Asuras is undertaken over the dominion of the three worlds: Svarga, Bhumi and Patala, or Heaven, Earth and the Nether worlds. Both races are technically equal, possessors of great religious and martial powers, but the Devas are committed to the worship of the Supreme Being and the practice of virtue. The Asuras have atheistic and devious tendencies that grow over time. The divide is the greatest in the Kali Yuga, the final age. Shukra: the Preceptor of the Asuras, their high priest and guru, worshiper of the Supreme Lord, but remains supportive of the Asuras., Brhaspati: the Preceptor (Guru) of the Devas. Possessing unparalleled knowledge of the Vedas, scripture, religion, and mysticism, Bṛhaspati's mastery of the military arts is akin to Shukra, his counterpart. He is also known as Guru Brihaspati. Indra: the God of thunder and lightning, King of Heaven, the leader of all the Devas against the demons. The greatest performer of sacrifices, Indra is the most famous and fearsome warrior in the three worlds. When facing opponents like Vritra, Indra seeks the aid of Vishnu., Kartikeya: army commander of Devas. He is also the god of war and victory. He is the son of Shiva and Goddess Parvati., Narakasura: the great Asura opponent of Vishnu., Vritra: the brahmin Asura, who performs a sacrifice to obtain sovereignty of the three worlds. War Sacrifices: Ashvamedha: The famous horse-sacrifice was conducted by allowing a horse to roam freely for a slated period of time, with the king performing the sacrifice laying claim to all the lands it touched. The king whose authority is contested must prove himself in battle or accept the imperial supremacy of the challenging king. When the horse returns safely after the period of time, the main sacrifice is performed, and the king, if successful in obtaining dominance over other kings, is crowned Emperor of the World. The Ashwamedha allows the opportunity to maintain peace if the kings do not choose to contest the sacrificial horse. In Mahabharat era, Arjuna alone had conquered whole world for the sake of Ashwamedha Yagya of his brother., Rajasuya: Considered the ultimate sacrifice, the king performing the sacrifice must openly challenge every king in the world to accept his supremacy or defeat him in battle. If and when the king returns successfully, having beaten all other known rulers, the performance of the sacrifice will send him to the abode of Indra. It was performed by the Pandava hero Yudhishthira in the Mahabharata epic. Arjuna had conquered many kingdoms for the sake of Yudhisthira's Rajasuya., Vishwajeet Yagna, Gomedh Yagna, Yajna: Akin to the conduct of the Rajasuya, save only that the entire sacrifice is to please Vishnu. Padma Vyuha or the Chakravyuha: A winding, ever-rotating circular formation; considered impenetrable during the Mahabharata age by all warriors except for the Krishna, Arjuna, Drona, Pradyumna and Abhimanyu. Abhimanyu had learnt how to break into the formation (in the womb of Subhadra) but not how to break out of it and is trapped inside during the Mahabharata war., Krauncha Vyuha: The crane-shaped formation of an army; forces are distributed to form spanning wing-sides, with a formidable, penetrating centre depicting the crane's head and beak., Sarpa Vyuha: Winding Snake Formation, Makara Vyuha: Crocodile Formation, Sakata Vyuha: Cart Formation, Shukar Vyuha: Pig Formation, Vajra Vyuha: Thunderbolt formation, the toughest after chakravyuha., Kurma Vyuha: Turtle formation The end of the world and illusions is prophesied to happen at the end of the Kali Yuga. Kalki, the final Avatar of Vishnu is also prophesied to appear the end of the Kali Yuga, to wage the final battle between good and evil., Then Shiva Nataraja, the Destroyer, kills the paramount demon of the time and performs the Tandava Nritya (The Dance of Tandava) on his back, ending with the destruction of the universe., In Shaktism, the mystical dance by Goddess Kali (the terrifying form of Parvathi, Shiva's consort) i.e. Dark Energy for destroying all forms of matter, materials, beings, and illusions, which are absorbed within herself i.e. the Supreme Brahman. Vishvamitra : He was the preceptor of Rama and Lakshmana, a powerful tapasvi and Brahmarishi. He bestows the knowledge of all divine weaponry to Rama and Lakshmana, leads them to kill powerful demons, and instructs them in religion and military arts., Rama : He was Seventh Avatar of Vishnu. Rama was extremely powerful warrior & had knowledge of usage of many celestial astras. Rama single-handedly slayed the 14,000 demon hordes of Khara (in one hour, according to the Ramayana), the demons Maricha and Subahu, Ravana's chief commander Prahasta and is responsible for the ultimate killing of Ravana himself., Lakshmana : He was also very powerful like his brother. He was incarnation of Sheshnag. He controlled his sleep for 14 continuous years and slayed extremely powerful demons including Atikaya and Indrajit., Hanuman : He was son of Kesari & Anjana. He was one of the Rudras of Shiva. He was first trained by Sun god Surya & later Shiva himself mentored him. Later he became Vanara minister of Sugriva. He is the greatest devotee of Rama, famous for his unerring service, absolute loyalty and great feats of courage. Hanuman is responsible for killing many demons, as well as burning the city of Lanka. His strength is given by his father Vayu, and by virtue of the boons bestowed on him by various Gods, no astra & weapon could harm him. He can transform into any size & shape as he desired. He was also well expert in using celestial astras. He also possessed Mohini astra, Raudra astra etc., Ravana: blessed by his fearsome 10,000 year tapasya to be the most powerful being on earth, invulnerable to every God, demon and living being, save man. Although an expert on the Vedas, a great king, and a great devotee of Shiva, he is the Emperor of evil due to his patronage of demons, murder of kings and humiliation of the Gods headed by Indra., Indrajit : He was first-born son of mighty Ravana. Originally his name was Meghanada. He was master of illusion war techniques. He became the possessor of several supreme celestial weapons. Through penance, he obtained a boon from Brahma : he could be killed by a common man who could control his sleep for 12 years continuously. He defeated Indra & arrested him. Then Brahma appeared and asked him to free Indra. Meghanada did as Brahma directed & was then granted boon : he would never be killed in any battle, until his Yagna (fire-worship) of his native goddess Nikumbala was disturbed and destroyed. On the completion of the Yagna, a supreme celestial chariot would appear, boarding which, Indrajit would become unkilled in any battle. But Brahma also cautioned him that whosoever would destroy this yagna, would also kill him. He was killed by Lakshmana., Kumbhakarna: the gigantic brother of Ravana is a fearsome monster-demon who sleeps for six months at a stretch, rising for only one day and then returning to his slumber. Kumbhakarna can slay hundreds of warriors by the sweep of his hand or step of his foot. He is slain by Rama in the war., Prahasta: the chief commander of Lanka's army who was killed on the 1st day of the war of Rama and Ravana., Atikaya: the second son of Ravana, who had an indestructible armor given to him by Brahma that can only be pierce by the Brahmastra. Once he caught Shiva trident in Mount Kailash when Shiva was angry with him. Both Atikaya and his cousin Trishira were the reincarnations of Madhu and Kaitabha, who were defeated by Mahavishnu., Akshayakumara: the youngest son of Ravana who died, fighting Hanuman in Ashok Vatika, who later set Lanka on fire., Shatrughna: Brother of Rama who killed Lavana, son of Madhu and Kumbhini (a sister of Ravana) and became the King of Mathura., Bharata: Brother of Rama who along with his maternal uncle Yudhajit, conquered Gandhara and created his kingdom of Takshasila and Pushkalavati by defeating Gandharvas inhabiting that kingdom. Atirathis: Akampana, Kampana, Devanataka, Narantaka, Akshayakumara, Ahiravana, Kumbha, Nikumbha, The Younger Sons of Ravana Maharathis: Laxmana, Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Atikaya, Jambavan, Sugriva, Angada, Bharata, Shatrugna Atimaharathis: Rama, Hanuman, Indrajit Kuru Army: of 11 Akshauhinis is formed by the kingdom of Hastinapura in alliance with races like the Samshaptakas, Trigartas, the Narayana army, the Sindhu army and Madra., Commanders in Chief: Bhishma, Drona, Karna and Ashwathama., Rathis: Duryodhana (8 Rathi), Somadatta, Sudakshina, Shakuni, Jayadratha, Dussasana, Vikarna, 97 Kauravas, Duryodhana's son Lakshmana and the son of Dussasana were Rathi warriors., Atirathis: Kritavarma, Kripacharya, Shalya, Bhurisravas, Brihadbala, Susharma., Maharathis: Bhishma, Drona, Ashwathama, Bhagadatta, Karna., Pandava Army: is a coalition of 7 Akshauhinis, primarily the Panchala and Matsya forces, the Rakshasa forces of Bhima's son, and Vrishni-Yadava heroes., Commander in Chief: Dhristadyumna, Rathis: Uttamaujas, Shikhandi, Yuyutsu, Uttar and Upapandavas, Atirathis: Yudhishthira, Bhima, Nakula, Sahadeva, Kuntibhoja, Satyaki, Drupada Dhristadyumna, Ghatotkacha., Maharathis: Bhima, Abhimanyu., Atimaharathi : Arjuna., Abhimanyu: He was legendary archer and was a super warrior like his father, Arjuna. On the 13th day of war, he entered Chakravyuh and was unfairly killed by multiple Kaurava warriors., Arjuna: He was the son of Indra. He was the best archer & greatest warrior in Mahabharata. He defeated great warriors like Bhishma, Drona, Ashwatthama, Karna, Kripa many times but never got defeated by any of them through out his life. He performed incredible feats like defeating Gandharva King Chitrasena & Nivatakavachas (whom Ravana & Indrajit together failed to defeat and made truce). Arjuna is the only invincible warrior on the Earth. It is said that only Mahadeva had ability to beat Arjuna in battle., Ashwatthama:the son of Drona, one of the eight chiranjeevis . He is a great warrior. Ashwathama and Kripa are believed to be the lone survivors still living who actually fought in the Kurukshetra war. Ashwathama was born with a gem in his forehead which gives him power over all living beings lower than humans. This gem is supposed to protect him from attacks by ghosts, demons, poisonous insects, snakes, animals etc. Dronacharya loved him very dearly., Bhima: The 2nd most powerful (physical strength) after Hanuman. Bhima had phenomenal personal strength, he is also known for killing many powerful kings and demons like Jarasandh, Kirmira, Bakasura, Hidimb, Jatasura, Kichaka, and wrestler Jimut, he was an unsurpassed master of the mace weapon and a consummate wrestler. He slays all of the one hundred Kuru brothers including the chief antagonist of the saga, Duryodhana. There is no greater destroyer's than him to Kuru army., Duryodhana: He was a skilled warrior with mace in the Mahabharata war. The only man on Earth who could beat him in a mace fight was Bhima, Arjuna and Balaram, the elder brother of Krishna., Dussasana: Younger brother of Duryodhana who assaulted Draupadi in the Game of Dice. He was known to be an aggressive warrior who was a major threat to the Pandava army, but was brutally slain by Bhima., Bhishma: the most consummate warrior trained by Parashurama, Bhishma is indestructible by any warrior (except Lord Parshuram, Lord Krishna, Lord Balrama, Arjuna and Abhimanyu) when he lifts his weapons. Having countered all the kings of the earth, he is the Commander in Chief of the Kuru Army., Drona: the preceptor of the Kshatriyas and kings of the age, Drona is a great master of Vedic military arts and almost every celestial weapon. He is invulnerable to any attack (except Arjuna, Abhimanyu, Krishna and Balarama) till he holds a weapon of any sort. He also has great religious knowledge and wisdom. He becomes the second Kuru commander, and Arjuna was his favorite student. In some instances, he loved Arjuna more than his own son Ashwatthama., Karna: The son of Surya and first born of Kunti who shunned him due to her being the mother of the Pandavas. Karna was one of the great archers in Mahabharat. He had multiple defeats at the hands of Arjuna and in final war, he was defeated and fairly killed by Arjuna on 17th day of Kuru war. Karna was taught by Parashurama in warfare., Nakul: the fourth brother of the Pandavas. It is said that he was the most handsome man in the world. He was an expert in the art of sword warfare. He was also greatly associated with horses. During the Kurukshetra war, he was the one who killed most of the offspring of all the Kauravas., Sahadeva: the fifth brother of the Pandavas. He was an expert in the art of axe warfare. He was also greatly associated with sheep, insects. During the Kurukshetra war, he killed Shakuni. Before war, Bhishma ill treated Karna by calling him artharathi because Karna had a very bad habit of flying away from battlefield after being defeated. But Karna was potentially equal to 1 Maharathi warrior From Kaurava side Rathis Sudhakshina-the ruler of the Kamvojas., Shakuni-King of Gandhara and uncle of Kauravas., Duryodhana's son-Lakshmana and the Durjaya-son of Dussasana, Jayadratha-the king of the Sindhu and brother in law of Kauravas is equal to 2 rathas, All 99 brothers of Duryodhana including Dushasana are single Rathis, Duryodhana is classified as a warrior equal to 8 Rathis Atirathis Kritverma- the general of "Narayani Sena" of Krishna., Susharma-the ruler of Trigartas, Shalya- the ruler of Madra, Bhurisravas-the son of Somadatta, Brihadbala-a descendant of Rama, equal to 6 atirathis, Kripa-also known as Kripacharya, the son of Saradwat, equal to 5 atirathis Maharathis Bhagadatta-the ruler of Pragjyotisha & son of Narakasura- equal to 1 maharathi., Ashwathama-the son of Guru Drona, one of the eight chiranjeevis & equal to 2 Maharathis., Bhishma-even though he never classified himself, later it was revealed that Bhishma is equal to 4 Maharathi warriors., Drona-the teacher of Pandavas & Kauravas; equal to 3 maharathi class warriors., Karna-the son of the sun god Surya; king of Anga kingdom; he is equal to 1 Maharathi. From Pandava side Rathis Uttamaujas, Sikhandin-the son of the prince/ess of the Panchalas, All sons of Draupadi (Upapandavas) are single rathis, Dhrishtaketu-the son of Shishupala, the king of the Chedis, Nakul and Sahadeva are single Rathis., Yudhishthira-the son of Pandu and Kunti, is a Ratha., Virata King-King of Matsya Atirathis Bhima-the second of the Pandava prince, is equal to 8 Atirathis., Satyaki-of the Vrishni race-equal to 6 Atirathis, Dhrishtadyumna-the son of Drupada., Kuntibhoja-the maternal uncle of Pandavas., Ghatotkacha-prince of Rakshasas and master of all illusions, son Bhima and Hidimba., Drupada-King of Panchalas. Maharathis Abhimanyu- the son of Arjuna is equal to 4 Maharathis. Atimaharathis Arjuna- the son of mighty Indra is equal to 12 Maharathis. According to Bhishma, only Arjuna was the Atimaharathi at time of Mahabharata war. Mahamaharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 24 Atimaharathi class warriors or 207,360,000 warriors simultaneously. They are supreme warriors & almost invincible. This includes Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Shakti, Manikanta, Kartikeya, Ganesha. Atimaharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 12 Maharathi class warriors or 8,640,000 warriors simultaneously; circumspect in his mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills; expert in designing & destroying all strategies (vyuhas); able to fight against all illusions & win against opponents in such situations. Hanuman, Rama, Krishna, Arjuna and Meghanada are considered as Atimaharathis. Different forms of Lord Shiva are also Atimaharthis. Veerabhadra, Bhairava etc. fall under this category. Incarnations and avatars of Lord Vishnu are generally considered as Atimaharathis. Maharathi: A warrior capable of fighting 12 Atirathi class warriors or 720,000 warriors simultaneously, circumspect in his mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills Parashurama, Abhimanyu, Vali, Alambusha, Angada, Ashwatthama, Atikaya, Bhishma, Drona, Kumbhakarna, Sugriva, Ravana, Bhagadatta, Narakasura, Ghatotkacha, Iravan, Lakshmana, Balarama, Trishira, Prahasta, Bharata, Shatrughna etc. were Maharathis. Atirathi: A warrior capable of contending with 12 Rathi class warriors or 60,000 warriors simultaneously, circumspect in his mastery of all forms of weapons and combat skills. Lava, Jarasandha, Kusha, Kritavarma, Bhima, Shalya, Kripacharya, Bhurisravas, Drupada, Akampana, Vibheeshana, Jambavan, Satyaki, Kuntibhoja, Devantaka, Narantaka, Mahi Ravana, Keechaka, Rukmi, Susharma, Bahlika, Brihadbala, Pushkal, Samba and Pradyumna etc. were Atirathis. Rathi : A warrior capable of contending with 5,000 warriors simultaneously. Vishnu, the Inconceivable Supreme, is the Supreme God in Vaishnavism sect of Hinduism. "Vishnu" means "all pervading" supreme being, the source of everything. In the Vishnu Sahasranama he is called Paramatman or Parameshwara(the highest form of God), and is periodically reborn as an Avatar upon earth in order to destroy evil and bring deliverance to the pious. He is also the refuge of the Devas in their battles against Asuras. The most martial Avatars include Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Mohini, Vamana, Parshuram, Rama, Krishna, Kalki. He is also considered to be the first God, 'Adideva'. He is beyond birth, death, time. He is Beyond all. In battle, the Avatars of Vishnu are aided by a variety of astra or celestial weapons. His two human avatars, Parashuram and Rama were fearsome warriors and possessed many celestial weapons that accompany the past times of Vishnu. Sri Krishna also used a few of these weapons in Mahabharata. These include: Kaumodaki: The divine mace weapon of Vishnu; invincible and without parallel, Krishna slayed demon Dantavakra with it., Kodandam: The bow of Rama, 7th avatar of Vishnu., Nandaka: The Sword of Vishnu, Narayanastra: Narayanastra is the most powerful astra in the universe along with the Vaishnavastra. The personal missile weapon of Vishnu in his Narayana (Naraina) form, this astra lets loose a powerful tirade of millions of deadly missiles simultaneously. The intensity of the shower increases with resistance. The only solution is total submission before the missile; only then will it cease. The Narayanastra was first used by Rama in the Ramayana. Then, thousands of years later, this astra was again used by Ashwathama in the Kurukshetra War against the Pandava army., Parashu: The axe of Parashurama, 6th Avatar of Vishnu, given by Shiva., Sharanga: The Celestial bow of Vishnu, Sharkha: The bow of Krishna, 8th avatar of Vishnu., Sudarshana Chakra: The magical Chakra, a spinning disc with sharp outer spears. It is the most powerful Shastra in the universe, and without any parallel. The Chakra was famously designed by Vishwakarma for Vishnu. The Sudarshan flies at the command of Krishna, spinning away to tear off the heads of His opponents, or to perform any function desired by Vishnu. It was most famously used by His Avatar Krishna in the Mahabharata., Vaishnavastra: Vaishnavastra is the most powerful astra in the universe along with the Narayanastra. The personal missile weapon of Krishna, once fired it cannot be thwarted by any means, save by the will of Vishnu Himself. Krishna gave this astra to his cousin Arjuna. Lord Shiva is the greatest Vaishnava(Devotee of Vishnu) - "Vaishnavanam Yatha Shambhu".In this material world, Mahadeva literally means "Highest of all gods". He is the Supreme God in Shaivism sect of Hinduism. Shiva is also known as Maheshwar, "the great Lord", Mahadeva, the great God, Shambhu, Hara, Pinakadhrik, "bearer of the Pinaka" and Mrityunjaya, "conqueror of death". He is the spouse of Shakti. He also is represented by Mahakala and Bhairava. Shiva is often pictured holding the damaru, an hourglass-shaped drum, along with his trishula, a trident-staff. His usual mantra is Om Namah Shivaya. Shiva is also considered as the God Of Gods. The existence which represents infinity itself. He is the supreme masculine divinity in this universe and is lord of the three worlds (Vishwanath) and is second to none in wrath and power. The Lord Destroyer, Sarvaripati Shiva is one of the most fearsome manifestation of the Supreme God. Assigned with destroying all of the universe at the end of time, Shiva is one of the most fearsome warriors and unconquerable. Tandava is the dance of the Destroyer, which He performs over the body of a demon. Shiva employs his power to kill the Asura Tripura, destroying the flying three cities of Tripura. In battle, Shiva and his Avatars deploy formidable weapons controlled by him. Some of these are: Arrow of Shiva: It can destroy creation. Returns to the quiver after being used., Chandrahas: Sword of Ravana granted by Maha Shiva as a boon., Ekasha Gada: The mace of Shiva. A blow from the weapon is the equivalent of being hit by a million elephants., Girish: A special sword of Shiva with unique characteristics., Jayantha Vel: A spear which contains the power of the third eye of Shiva., Khaṭvāṅga: In Hinduism, the god Shiva - Rudra carried the khatvāṅga as a staff weapon and are thus referred to as khatvāṅgīs., Maheshwara Chakra: The Chakra of Shiva., Parashu: The axe of Shiva given to Parashurama (the 6th Avatar of Vishnu)., Pashupatastra: An irresistible and most destructive personal weapon of Shiva, discharged by the mind, the eyes, words, or a bow., Pinaka: The celestial bow of Shiva.(Shiva's bow): A bow given by Shiva to Janaka and broken by Rama during Sita's swayamvara, Vijaya Dhanush:Vijaya (bow): A bow given by Shiva to Parasurama to kill Kshatriyas, Shiva Kaakam: An unconquerable weapon of Shiva., Shiva Parham: A long noose (of Shiva) from which even the Gods can't escape from., Shiva Vajra: A vajra 100 times more powerful than Indra's Vajra, Teen Baan: Shiva gave Barbarika three infallible arrows (Teen Baan). A single arrow was enough to destroy all opponents in any war, and it would then return to Barbarika's quiver., Trishula (Trident): The trident of Shiva, Third eye : The third eye situated in the center of the forehead of Shiva (also the point where the three nadis – Ida, pingala and Suhasmana meet – pituitary gland) is the most destructive weapon/power in the entire universe. It is proved to destruct kaala (time) hence ending all the creation. Once opened for a purpose, its immense energy is so intense that it can burn down the entire universe into ashes. No other weapon can match its powers. Shakti is the Supreme God in Shaktism Sect of Hinduism. Both a Supreme Being and an energy that is considered to be the source of all works of creation, preservation and destruction, Adi Parashakti is the mother of Trimurti, the universe and all of creation. She took many incarnations to fight with demons, including Parvati, wife of Shiva, the complete avatar of Shakti herself, according to the Devi Gita and Durga Saptashati, the main scriptures for Shakti worshipers. As the goddess Parvati, she is considered to be the most powerful of all deities. Sometimes, the gods worship Parvati, who came before them in different avatars: Durga, who killed the demon Durgamasur, Kali, the most ferocious Form of the Goddess, who can not be pacified by anyone after war. No one can stop her because she is the only deity who is omnipotent, free from all rules and regulations., Chandi, the gentle manifestation of Durga or Kali, who killed Mahishasura in the Battle of Alkapuri., Kanyakumari, who killed Banasura, Chamunda, who killed Chanda and Munda, Kaushiki, who killed Shumbha and Nishumbha, Minakshi, who defeated all the demigods and destroyed the arrogance of all demigods. Shakti is usually depicted as having the weapons of all the gods, even the Trimurti. She holds the trident of Shiva, the Chakra of Vishnu, the Vajra of Indra, the Gada of Yamaraj. It indicates that she is the one who actually having all kinds of powers. It is she from whom strength arose. It is she from whom all powers of nondimensional formless GOD is vested. She is all powerful. All in one and one in all too. An astra is a weapon that is to be hurled at an enemy. Examples include arrows from bows. A shastra is a personal weapon, like swords and maces, that must be constantly operated by the warrior. Brahmastra: Embedded with the mystical force of Brahma, this weapon releases millions of missiles, great fires and a destructive potential capable of extinguishing all creation, if not used by and aimed only at a celestial fighter. Modern speculation has equated its destructive nature to be similar to that of a nuclear weapon, it has been used multiple times in Ramayana, Indrajit used it against Hanuman, Lakshmana asked permission to use it against Indrajit, which Rama declined, Lakshmana used it to kill Atikaya, Rama used it as final arrow to kill Ravana. In the epic Mahabharata, it is said that the weapon manifest with the single head of Brahma as its tip. In Mahabharata era Parasurama, Bhishma, Drona, Karna, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Arjuna, Yudhishtir and several Maharathi's possessed the knowledge to invoke this weapon., Brahmashirsha astra: A weapon capable of greater destruction than the Brahmastra. It can burn all creation to ashes once discharged, Arjuna and Ashwathama both used it against each other after the Mahabharata war. Capable of killing even heavens. Was used by Ashwatthama on Parikshit. It is thought that the Brahmashirsha is the evolution of the Brahmastra, 4 times stronger than Brahmastra. "It blazes up with terrible flames within a huge sphere of fire. Numerous peals of thunder were heard, thousands of meteors fell and all living creatures became terrified with great dread. The entire sky seemed to be filled with noise and assumed a terrible aspect with flames of fire. The whole earth with her mountains and waters and trees trembled." When it strikes an area it will cause complete destruction and nothing will ever grow, not even a blade of grass for the next 12 years. It will not rain for 12 years in that area and everything including metal and earth becomes poisoned.In the epic Mahabharata, it is said that the weapon manifest with the four heads of Brahma as its tip.In Mahabharata era sage Agnivesha, Drona, Ashwatthama, Arjuna possessed the knowledge to invoke this weapon., Brahmanda astra: This is the most powerful weapon of Brahma. It was first used by sage Vashishtha against vishwamitra's (who was King Vishwarath at that time) Brahmashirsha, as only Brahmanda astra can stop Brahmashirsha astra, it was also used by sage Piplad against Shani to avenge his father's death.In the epic Mahabharata, it is said that the weapon manifest with the all five heads of Brahma as its tip.Brahma earlier lost his fifth head when he fought with Siva.This weapon is said to possess the power to destroy entire solar system or brahmand, the 14 realms according to Hindu cosmology. In some texts it is called Brahma-dhanda astra, the weapon created by Saptarishi's to counter any weapon ever created, even that of Trimurti's. The rishi of this weapon is Para Brahman. It is said to be the most difficult astra to obtain. Capable of destroying entire universe in a blink of an eye. Vishvamitra used all kinds of divine weapons against sage Vashistha, even Pashupatastra, but the Brahma-dhanda astra of Vashistha neutralized and swallowed all astra (weapon) of Vishwamitra proving that Brahma-dhanda astra is the most powerful of all astras., Pashupatastra: In Hinduism, it is believed that Pashupatastra is the most devastating weapon, as it is the weapon of the consort of the God head Mahadeva, i.e. Mahakali. Mahadeva literally means "Highest of all gods" and Mahakali means "Goddess who is beyond time". This weapon was granted to Arjuna by Shiva. It is the most destructive and foreboding weapon in Mahabharata. It was first used by Shiva for the destruction of tripura. It is capable of destroying entire multiverse. In Ramayana, Vishvamitra possessed this mighty weapon. In Mahabharat era, Apart from Arjuna no one possessed this weapon., Narayanastra: Invincible and painful, this astra is unconquerable except by total submission, this astra was used by Krishna against Shiva, when Shiva was fighting on behalf of the evil Banasura, when shiva charged his personal Pashupatastra on Krishna, Krishna used this to make Shiva fall asleep, allowing him to move past him and cut off Banasura's arms but at the request of Shiva does not kill Banasura., Vaishnavastra : One of the most powerful astras, this cannot be stopped by anyone except its creator, Vishnu. Vaishnavastra is the most powerful astra in the universe along with the Narayanastra. The personal missile weapon of Krishna, once fired it cannot be thwarted by any means, save by the will of Vishnu Himself. Krishna gave this astra to his cousin Arjuna. Rama, Krishna, Arjuna possessed this weapon, Nagastra: The snake weapon used by Indrajit against Rama and Lakshmana, used by Karna against [Arjuna]., Nagapasham: is the celestial weapon equal to "Nagastra"., Garudastra:The eagle weapon to counter against the Nagastra., Anjalikastra: The personal weapon of Indra. This is the astra used by Arjuna to slay Karna in the Mahabharata war., Ramabanam (Ramastra): Created by Sri Ram, and is used to kill the Rakshasa King Ravana in Ramayana.It cannot be countered by any weapon and could not be stopped by anyone except Sri Rama., Bhargavastra: this is the astra created by Parasurama, he gave it to Karna in the Mahabharata., Parvatastra: one of the most dangerous weapon, once it used mountains from sky fall in to the earth., Vasavi Shakti: The magical dart weapon of Indra, unfailing at executing its target. Indra granted it to Karna during the Kurukshetra war, in Mahabharata it was used by karna to kill ghatotkacha., Vajra: The thunderbolt weapon of Indra, who is the God of Thunder and Lightning, akin to Zeus and Jupiter., this weapon was made from the bones of sage dadhichi and it was used by Indra to slay demon called Vritra. Later, Indra gave his Vajra to his son Arjuna. Apart from Indra, only Arjuna possessed it., Agneyastra: The fire weapon, created by Agni, master of the flames, Varunastra: The water weapon, created by Varuna, master of the oceans, Vayavastra: The wind weapon, created by Vayu, Samvarta: Weapon belonging to Yama used by Bharata to annihilate thirty million gandharvas in a moment, tearing them to pieces., Sammohanastra: Would cause entire hosts/armies to collapse in a trance. It was used by Arjuna to collapse the entire army of kuru Maharathis including Duryodhan, Drona, Kripa, Ashwatthama, Dushasan, and Karna., Twashtastra: When used against a group of opponents (such as an army), would cause them to mistake each other for enemies and fight each other., Sooryastra: Created by Suryadev, Create a dazzling light that would dispel any darkness about and dry up water bodies., Sabda vedastra: This weapon prevents an opponent from turning invisible. Used by Arjuna against the Gandharva king Chitrasena., Gandharvastra: Created by Gandharva King Chitrasena (who defeated the combined force of Duryodhan and made karna flee the battlefield). He gave it to his best friend Arjuna., Mayastra: Dispel any form of maya or sorcery in the vicinity. It was possessed by Arjuna., Manavastra: Created by "Manu" father of the human race, Could overcome supernatural protections and carry the target hundreds of miles away. Can inspire humane traits in an evil being. This weapon was used by Sri Rama on the rakshasa(demon) Maricha., Bhaumastra: Created by Goddess Bhumi Devi, The weapon could create tunnels deep into the earth and summon jewels., Indrastra: Created by the God Indra, King of Devas and God of the sky and weather, Would bring about a 'shower' of arrows from the sky. The three potential astras are Vaishnavastra, Pashupatastra and Brahmanda astra. However, these astras cannot harm four principle gods i.e. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Devi as they are the supreme manifestation of the divine. Especially, these astras cannot harm Vishnu, the greatest of all gods, Shiva, the god of gods and the destroyer himself, and Shakti, the original energy behind all astras. With these five gods, the astras also can not harm Hanuman, the son of god vayu, as he obtained vardanas (boons) from several gods.

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"Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)" is a novelty song by Allan Sherman and Lou Busch, based on letters of complaint Allan received from his son Robert while Robert attended Camp Champlain, a summer camp in Westport, New York. The song is a parody that complains about the fictional "Camp Granada" and is set to the tune of Amilcare Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours. The name derives from the first lines: The lyrics go on to describe unpleasant, dangerous, and tragic developments, such as fellow campers going missing or contracting deadly illnesses. He asks how his "precious little brother" is doing, and begs to be taken home, afraid of being left out in the forest and fearing getting eaten by a bear, promising to behave, and even letting his aunt Bertha hug and kiss him. At the end, he notes that the rain has stopped and fun activities have begun (such as swimming, sailing, and baseball), and asks his parents to "kindly disregard this letter". The song scored #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 list for three weeks beginning on August 24, 1963. It was kept from #1 by both: Fingertips by "Little" Stevie Wonder and My Boyfriend's Back by The Angels. Sherman wrote a new 'back at Camp Granada' version, "Hello Mudduh, Hello Fadduh!", for a May 27, 1964, performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Sherman wrote a third version for, and acted in, a 1965 TV commercial for a board game about Camp Granada, a "real rotten camp". The original version also reached #9 on the Pop-Standard Singles chart. The song won the 1964 Grammy Award for Best Comedy Performance. The song was played often on the Dr. Demento Show and is featured on the Rhino Records compilation album, Dr. Demento 20th Anniversary Collection. The song was also featured in the end credits of the 1993 film Indian Summer while also briefly featured in the The Simpsons episode Marge Be Not Proud after Bart Simpson switches the family's answer machine cassette tapes. The song was featured in the final scene of The King of Queens episode "Tube Stakes", during which main character Arthur Spooner performs his morning stretches. Variations of the song include adaptations in Swedish ("Brev från kolonien" by Cornelis Vreeswijk), Finnish ("Terve mutsi, terve fatsi, tässä teidän ihmelapsi") and Norwegian ("Brev fra leier'n" by Birgit Strøm). The Finnish version is included in the Finnish Boy Scouts' songbook. The Swedish version notably does not revolve around the camper hating the camp, but is about the kids running roughshod over it and having run off all the counselors, one of whom has committed suicide after they let a snake into the mess hall, and the organizer of the camp being arrested by police after the kids start a forest fire. The song begins with the boy writing the letter asking his parents to send more money, because he has lost all his pocket money playing dice with the other campers. The song then ends with the boy having to wrap up the letter as he is about to join the others in burning down the neighboring camp lodge. The Dutch version Brief uit la Courtine sung bij Rijk de Gooyer is not about a children's summer camp, but about a soldier in the Dutch army camp at La Courtine, France. The Austrian comedian Paul Pizzera presented a German interpretation with the name “Jungscharlager” in 2013. Camp Runamuck, a sitcom (1965–66) loosely inspired by the song, Camp Granada, a 1965 board game inspired by the song, Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah! (book), a 2004 children's book based on the song, Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! (musical), a musical revue inspired by the song, Sandra Gould, who released a response novelty recording, set to the same music, entitled "Hello Melvin (This Is Mama)"., Perrey and Kingslely did an instrumental version, called Countdown at 6, on The In Sound From Way Out. Like 'Hello Muhhah, Hello Faddah!,' it is based on Amilcare Ponchielli's "Dance of the Hours". Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, Liberace enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordings, television, motion pictures, and endorsements. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with established concert residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, acquiring the nickname "Mr. Showmanship". Władziu Valentino Liberace (known as "Lee" to his friends and "Walter" to family) was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, on May 16, 1919. His father, Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace (December 9, 1885 – April 1, 1977), was an immigrant from Formia in the Lazio region of central Italy. His mother, Frances Zuchowska (August 31, 1892 – November 1, 1980), was Polish. Liberace had an identical twin who died at birth. He had three surviving siblings: a brother George (who was a violinist), a sister Angelina, and younger brother Rudy (Rudolph Valentino Liberace, so named–after the actor–due to his mother's interest in showbusiness). Liberace's father played the French horn in bands and movie theaters but often worked as a factory worker or laborer. While Sam encouraged music in his family, his wife, Frances (despite having been a concert pianist before her marriage), believed music lessons and a record player to be unaffordable luxuries. This caused family disputes. Liberace later stated, "My dad's love and respect for music created in him a deep determination to give as his legacy to the world, a family of musicians dedicated to the advancement of the art." Liberace began playing the piano at age four. While Sam took his children to concerts to further expose them to music, he was also a taskmaster demanding high standards from the children in both practice and performance. Liberace's prodigious talent was evident from his early years. By age seven, he was capable of memorizing difficult pieces. He studied the technique of the Polish pianist Ignacy Paderewski. At age eight, he met Paderewski backstage after a concert at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee. "I was intoxicated by the joy I got from the great virtuoso's playing. My dreams were filled with fantasies of following his footsteps…Inspired and fired with ambition, I began to practice with a fervor that made my previous interest in the piano look like neglect." Paderewski later became a family friend. The Depression was financially hard on the Liberace family. In childhood, Liberace suffered from a speech impediment, and as a teen, from the taunts of neighborhood children, who mocked him for his effeminate personality, his avoidance of sports, and his fondness for cooking, and the piano. Liberace concentrated on his piano playing with the help of music teacher Florence Kelly, who oversaw Liberace's musical development for 10 years. He gained experience playing popular music in theaters, on local radio, for dancing classes, for clubs, and for weddings. In 1934, he played jazz piano with a school group called "The Mixers" and later with other groups. Liberace also performed in cabarets and strip clubs. Though Sam and Frances did not approve, their son was earning a tidy living during hard times. For a while, Liberace adopted the stage name "Walter Busterkeys." He also showed an interest in draftsmanship, design, and painting, and became a fastidious dresser and follower of fashion. By this time, he was already displaying a penchant for turning eccentricities into attention-getting practices, and earned popularity at school, despite some making him an object of ridicule. A participant in a formal classical music competition in 1937, Liberace was praised for his "flair and showmanship." At the end of a traditional classical concert in La Crosse in 1939, Liberace played his first requested encore, the popular comedy song "Three Little Fishies." He later stated that he played the popular tune in the styles of several different classical composers. The 20-year-old played with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on January 15, 1940, at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, performing Liszt's Second Piano Concerto under the baton of Hans Lange, for which he received strong reviews. He also toured in the Midwest. Between 1942 and 1944, Liberace moved away from straight classical performance and reinvented his act to one featuring "pop with a bit of classics" or as he also called it "classical music with the boring parts left out." In the early 1940s, he struggled in New York City, but by the mid- and late-1940s, he was performing in night clubs in major cities around the United States, largely abandoning the classical music altogether. He changed from a classical pianist to an entertainer and showman, unpredictably and whimsically mixing the serious with light fare, e.g., Chopin with "Home on the Range." For a while, he played piano along with a phonograph on stage. The gimmick helped gain him attention. He also added interaction with the audience—taking requests, talking with the patrons, making jokes, giving lessons to chosen audience members. He also began to pay greater attention to such details as staging, lighting, and presentation. The transformation to entertainer was driven by Liberace's desire to connect directly with his audiences, and secondarily from the reality of the difficult competition in the classical piano world. In 1943, he began to appear in Soundies (the 1940s precursor to music videos). He recreated two flashy numbers from his nightclub act, the standards "Tiger Rag" and "Twelfth Street Rag." In these films, he was billed as Walter Liberace. Both "Soundies" were later released to the home-movie market by Castle Films. In 1944, he made his first appearances in Las Vegas, which later became his principal venue. He was playing at the best clubs, finally appearing at the Persian Room in 1945, with Variety proclaiming, "Liberace looks like a cross between Cary Grant and Robert Alda. He has an effective manner, attractive hands which he spotlights properly, and withal, rings the bell in the dramatically lighted, well-presented, showmanly routine. He should snowball into box office." The Chicago Times was similarly impressed: He "made like Chopin one minute and then turns on a Chico Marx bit the next." During this time, Liberace worked to refine his act. He added the candelabrum as his trademark, inspired by a similar prop in the Chopin biopic A Song to Remember (1945). He adopted "Liberace" as his stage name, making a point in press releases that it was pronounced "Liber-Ah-chee." He wore white tie and tails for better visibility in large halls. Besides clubs and occasional work as an accompanist and rehearsal pianist, Liberace played for private parties, including those at the Park Avenue home of millionaire oilman J. Paul Getty. By 1947, he was billing himself as "Liberace—the most amazing piano virtuoso of the present day." He had to have a piano to match his growing presence, so he bought a rare, oversized, gold-leafed Blüthner Grand, which he hyped up in his press kit as a "priceless piano." (Later, he performed with an array of extravagant, custom-decorated pianos, some encrusted with rhinestones and mirrors.) He moved to the Los Angeles neighborhood of North Hollywood in 1947 and was performing at local clubs, such as Ciro's and The Mocambo, for stars such as Rosalind Russell, Clark Gable, Gloria Swanson, and Shirley Temple. He did not always play to packed rooms, and he learned to perform with extra energy to thinner crowds, to maintain his own enthusiasm. Liberace created a publicity machine which helped to make him a star. Despite his success in the supper-club circuit, where he was often an intermission act, his ambition was to reach larger audiences as a headliner and a television, movie, and recording star. Liberace began to expand his act and made it more extravagant, with more costumes and a larger supporting cast. His large-scale Las Vegas act became his hallmark, expanding his fan base, and making him wealthy. His New York City performance at Madison Square Garden in 1954, which earned him a record $138,000 () for one performance, was more successful than the great triumph his idol Paderewski had made 20 years earlier. He was mentioned as a sex symbol in The Chordettes 1954 #1 hit "Mr. Sandman." By 1955, he was making $50,000 per week at the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and had over 200 official fan clubs with a quarter of a million members. He was making over $1 million per year from public appearances, and millions from television. Liberace was frequently covered by the major magazines, and he became a pop-culture superstar, but he also became the butt of jokes by comedians and the public. Liberace appeared on the March 8, 1956, episode of the TV quiz program You Bet Your Life hosted by Groucho Marx. Music critics were generally harsh in their assessment of his piano playing. Critic Lewis Funke wrote after the Carnegie Hall concert, Liberace's music "must be served with all the available tricks, as loud as possible, as soft as possible, and as sentimental as possible. It's almost all showmanship topped by whipped cream and cherries." Even worse was his lack of reverence and fealty to the great composers. "Liberace recreates—if that is the word—each composition in his own image. When it is too difficult, he simplifies it. When it is too simple, he complicates it." His sloppy technique included "slackness of rhythms, wrong tempos, distorted phrasing, an excess of prettification and sentimentality, a failure to stick to what the composer has written." Liberace once stated, "I don't give concerts, I put on a show." Unlike the concerts of classical pianists which normally ended with applause and a retreat off-stage, Liberace's shows ended with the public invited on- stage to touch his clothes, piano, jewelry, and hands. Kisses, handshakes, hugs, and caresses usually followed. A critic summed up his appeal near the end of Liberace's life: "Mr. Showmanship has another more potent, drawing power to his show: the warm and wonderful way he works his audience. Surprisingly enough, behind all the glitz glitter, the corny false modesty, and the shy smile, Liberace exudes a love that is returned to him a thousand- fold." Liberace was a conservative in his politics and faith, eschewing dissidents and rebels. He believed fervently in capitalism and was also fascinated with royalty, ceremony, and luxury. He loved to hobnob with the rich and famous, acting as starstruck with presidents and kings as his fans behaved with him. Yet to his fans, he was still one of them, a Midwesterner who had earned his success through hard work, and who invited them to enjoy it with him. In the next phase of his life, having earned sudden wealth, Liberace spent lavishly, incorporating materialism into his life and his act. He designed and built his first celebrity house in 1953, with a piano theme appearing throughout, including a piano-shaped swimming pool. His dream home, with its lavish furnishings, elaborate bath, and antiques throughout, added to his appeal. He leveraged his fame through hundreds of promotional tie-ins with banks, insurance companies, automobile companies, food companies, and even morticians. Liberace was considered a perfect pitchman, given his folksy connection with his vast audience of housewives. Sponsors sent him complimentary products, including his white Cadillac limousine, and he reciprocated enthusiastically: "If I am selling tuna fish, I believe in tuna fish." The critics had a field day with his gimmicky act, his showy but careful piano playing, his non-stop promotions, and his gaudy display of success, but he remained largely unaffected, as preserved by the famous quotation, first recorded in a letter to a critic, "Thank you for your very amusing review. After reading it, in fact, my brother George and I laughed all the way to the bank." He used a similar response to subsequent poor reviews, famously modifying it to "I cried all the way to the bank." In an appearance on The Tonight Show some years later, Liberace reran the anecdote to Johnny Carson, and finished it by saying, "I don't cry all the way to the bank any more – I the bank!" Liberace mostly bypassed radio before trying a television career, thinking radio unsuitable given his act's dependency on the visual. Despite his enthusiasm about the possibilities of television, Liberace was disappointed after his early guest appearances on CBS's The Kate Smith Show, and DuMont's Cavalcade of Stars, with Jackie Gleason (later The Jackie Gleason Show on CBS). Liberace was particularly displeased with the frenetic camera work and his short appearance time. He soon wanted his own show where he could control his presentation as he did with his club shows. His first show on local television in Los Angeles was a smash hit, earning the highest ratings of any local show, which he parlayed into a sold-out appearance at the Hollywood Bowl. That led to a summer replacement program for Dinah Shore. The 15-minute network television program, The Liberace Show, began on July 1, 1952, but did not lead to a regular network series. Instead, producer Duke Goldstone mounted a filmed version of Liberace's local show performed before a live audience for syndication in 1953 and sold it to scores of local stations. The widespread exposure of the syndicated series made the pianist more popular and prosperous than ever. His first two years' earnings from television netted him $7 million and on future reruns, he earned up to 80% of the profits. Liberace learned early on to add "schmaltz" to his television show and to cater to the tastes of the mass audience by joking and chatting to the camera as if performing in the viewer's own living room. He also used dramatic lighting, split images, costume changes, and exaggerated hand movements to create visual interest. His television performances featured enthusiasm and humor. Liberace also employed "ritualistic domesticity", used by such early TV greats as Jack Benny and Lucille Ball. His brother George often appeared as guest violinist and orchestra director, and his mother was usually in the front row of the audience, with brother Rudy and sister Angelina often mentioned to lend an air of "family." Liberace began each show in the same way, then mixed production numbers with chat, and signed off each broadcast softly singing "I'll Be Seeing You", which he made his theme song. His musical selections were broad, including classics, show tunes, film melodies, Latin rhythms, ethnic songs, and boogie-woogie. The show was so popular with his mostly female television audience, he drew over 30 million viewers at any one time and received 10,000 fan letters per week. His show was also one of the first to be shown on British commercial television in the 1950s, where it was broadcast on Sunday afternoons by Lew Grade's Associated TeleVision. This exposure gave Liberace a dedicated following in the United Kingdom. Homosexual men also found him appealing. According to author Darden Asbury Pyron, "Liberace was the first gay person Elton John had ever seen on television; he became his hero." In 1956, Liberace had his first international engagement, playing successfully in Havana, Cuba. He followed up with a European tour later that year. Always a devout Catholic, Liberace considered his meeting with Pope Pius XII a highlight of his life. In 1960, Liberace performed at the London Palladium with Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis, Jr. (this was the first televised "command performance", now known as the Royal Variety Performance, for Queen Elizabeth II). On July 19, 1957, hours after Liberace gave a deposition in his $25 million libel suit against Confidential magazine, two masked intruders attacked his mother in the garage of Liberace's home in Sherman Oaks. She was beaten and kicked, but her heavy corset may have protected her from being badly injured. Liberace was not informed about the assault until he finished his midnight show at the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Guards were hired to watch over Liberace's house and the houses of his two brothers. Despite successful European tours, his career had in fact been slumping since 1957, but Liberace built it back up by appealing directly to his fan base. Through live appearances in small-town supper clubs, and with television and promotional appearances, he began to regain popularity. On November 22, 1963, he suffered kidney failure, reportedly from accidentally inhaling excessive amounts of dry cleaning fumes from his newly cleaned costumes in a Pittsburgh dressing room, and nearly died. He later said that what saved him from further injury was being woken up by his entourage to the news that John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Told by doctors that his condition was fatal, he began to spend his entire fortune by buying extravagant gifts of furs, jewels, and even a house for friends, but then recovered after a month. Re-energized, Liberace returned to Las Vegas, and upping the glamor and glitz, he took on the sobriquet "Mr. Showmanship." As his act swelled with spectacle, he famously stated, "I'm a one-man Disneyland." The costumes became more exotic (ostrich feathers, mink, capes, and huge rings), entrances and exits more elaborate (chauffeured onstage in a Rolls-Royce or dropped in on a wire like Peter Pan), choreography more complex (involving chorus girls, cars, and animals), and the novelty acts especially talented, with juvenile acts including Australian singer Jamie Redfern and Canadian banjo player Scotty Plummer. Barbra Streisand was the most notable new adult act he introduced, appearing with him early in her career. Liberace's energy and commercial ambitions took him in many directions. He owned an antiques store in Beverly Hills, California, and a restaurant in Las Vegas for many years. He even published cookbooks, the most famous of these being Liberace Cooks, co-authored by cookbook guru Carol Truax, which included "Liberace Lasagna" and "Liberace Sticky Buns." The book features recipes "from his seven dining rooms" (of his Hollywood home). Liberace's live shows during the 1970s–80s remained major box-office attractions at the Las Vegas Hilton and Lake Tahoe, where he earned $300,000 a week. In 1970, Liberace competed against Irish actor Richard Harris for the purchase of the Tower House, in Holland Park, west London. Harris eventually bought the house after discovering that Liberace had agreed to buy it, but had not yet put down a deposit. British entertainer Danny La Rue visited The Tower House with Liberace and later recounted in his autobiography a paranormal experience that he had there with him. Liberace also made significant appearances on other shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, Edward R. Murrow's Person to Person, and on the shows of Jack Benny and Red Skelton, on which he often parodied his own persona. A new Liberace Show premiered on ABC's daytime schedule in 1958, featuring a less flamboyant, less glamorous persona, but it failed in six months, as his popularity began slumping. Liberace received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 for his contributions to the television industry. He continued to appear on television as a frequent and welcomed guest on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar in the 1960s, with memorable exchanges with Zsa Zsa Gabor and Muhammad Ali, and later with Johnny Carson. He was also Red Skelton's 1969 CBS summer replacement with his own variety hour, taped in London. Skelton and Lew Grade's production companies co-produced this program. In a cameo on The Monkees, he appeared at an avant garde art gallery as himself, gleefully smashing a grand piano with a sledgehammer as Mike Nesmith looked on and cringed in mock agony. In the Batman television series in 1966 with Adam West and Burt Ward, Liberace played a dual role as concert pianist Chandell and his gangster-like twin Harry, who was extorting Chandell into a life of crime as "Fingers", in the episodes "The Devil's Fingers" and "The Dead Ringers", both written by Lorenzo Semple Jr., who had developed Batman for television. The episodes of this two-part story were, according to Joel Eisner's The Official Batman Batbook, the highest- rated of all the show's episodes. His subsequent television appearances included episodes of Here's Lucy (1970), Kojak, and The Muppet Show (both 1978), all as himself. His performances in the last of these included a "Concerto for the Birds", "Misty", "Five Foot Two", and a rendition of "Chopsticks." Television specials were made from Liberace's show at the Las Vegas Hilton in 1978-79 which were broadcast on CBS. In the 1980s, he guest- starred on television shows such as Saturday Night Live (on a 10th season episode hosted by Hulk Hogan and Mr. T), and the 1984 film Special People. In 1985, he appeared at the first WrestleMania as the guest timekeeper for the main event. Even before his arrival in Hollywood in 1947, Liberace wanted to add acting to his list of accomplishments. His exposure to the Hollywood crowd through his club performances led to his first movie appearance in Universal's South Sea Sinner (1950), a tropical island drama starring Macdonald Carey and Shelley Winters, in which he was 14th-billed as "a Hoagy Carmichael sort of character with long hair." Liberace also appeared as a guest star in two compilation features for RKO Radio Pictures. Footlight Varieties (1951) is an imitation- vaudeville hour and a little-known sequel, Merry Mirthquakes (1953), featured Liberace as master of ceremonies. In 1955, Liberace was at the height of his career when tapped by Warner Bros. for his first starring motion picture, Sincerely Yours (1955), a remake of The Man Who Played God (1932), as a concert pianist who turns his efforts toward helping others when his career is cut short by deafness. In April 1955, Modern Screen magazine claimed Doris Day had been most often mentioned as Liberace’s leading lady, "but it is doubtful that Doris will play the role. Liberace’s name alone will pack theatres and generous Liberace would like to give a newcomer a break." (Joanne Dru, an established movie actress, was the leading lady.) When Sincerely Yours was released in November, the studio mounted an ad and poster campaign with Liberace’s name in huge, eccentric, building-block letters above and much larger than the title. "Fabulously yours in his first starring motion picture!" was a tag line. The other players and staff were smallish at the bottom. The film was a critical and commercial failure since Liberace proved unable to translate his eccentric on-stage persona to that of a movie leading man. Warner quickly issued a pressbook ad supplement with new "Starring" billing below the title, in equal plain letters: "Liberace, Joanne Dru, Dorothy Malone". TCM's Robert Osborne recalls a more dramatic demotion: When Sincerely Yours played first run at the Orpheum in Seattle, the billing was altered even more: Joanne Dru, Dorothy Malone, and Alex Nicol above the title (with big head shots of all three) and below the title in much smaller letters: "with Liberace at the piano". Originally, Sincerely Yours was meant to be the first of a two-picture movie contract, but it proved a massive box- office flop. The studio then bought back the contract, effectively paying Liberace not to make a second movie. The experience left Liberace so shaken that he largely abandoned his movie aspirations. He made two more big-screen appearances, but only in cameo roles. These were When the Boys Meet the Girls (1965), starring Connie Francis, where Liberace essentially played himself. He received kudos for his brief appearance as a casket salesman in The Loved One (1965), based on Evelyn Waugh's satire of the funeral business and movie industry in Southern California. The massive success of Liberace's syndicated television show was the main impetus behind his record sales. From 1947-51, he recorded 10 discs. By 1954, it jumped to nearly 70. He released several recordings through Columbia Records including Liberace by Candlelight (later on Dot and through direct television advertising) and sold over 400,000 albums by 1954. His most popular single was "Ave Maria", selling over 300,000 copies. His albums included pop standards of the time, such as "Hello, Dolly!", and also included his interpretations of the classical piano repertoire such as Chopin and Liszt, although many fans of classical music widely criticized them (as well as Liberace's skills as a pianist in general) for being "pure fluff with minimal musicianship". In his life, he received six gold records. Liberace's fame in the United States was matched for a time in the United Kingdom. In 1956, an article in the Daily Mirror by columnist Cassandra (William Connor) described Liberace as "…the summit of sex—the pinnacle of masculine, feminine and neuter. Everything that he, she and it can ever want… a deadly, winking, sniggering, snuggling, chromium-plated, scent-impregnated, luminous, quivering, giggling, fruit-flavoured, mincing, ice-covered heap of mother love", a description which strongly implied that he was homosexual. Liberace sent a telegram that read: "What you said hurt me very much. I cried all the way to the bank." He sued the newspaper for libel, testifying in a London court that he was not homosexual and that he had never taken part in homosexual acts. He was represented in court by one of the great barristers of the period, 75-year-old Gilbert Beyfus, QC, who displayed all his old flair despite being unwell. They won the suit, partly on the basis of Connor's use of the derogatory expression "fruit-flavoured". The case partly hinged on whether Connor knew that 'fruit' was American slang implying that an individual is a homosexual. After a three-week civil trial, a jury ruled in Liberace's favor on June 16, 1959, and awarded him £8,000 (around $22,400) in damages (worth about £ or $ today) which led Liberace to repeat the catchphrase to reporters: "I cried all the way to the bank!" Liberace's popularization of the phrase inspired the title of Crying All the Way to the Bank, a detailed report of the trial based on transcripts, court reports, and interviews, by the former Daily Mirror journalist Revel Barker. Liberace fought and settled a similar case in the United States against Confidential. Rumors and gossip magazines frequently implied that Liberace was homosexual throughout his entire career, which he continued to vehemently deny. A typical issue of Confidential in 1957 shouted, "Why Liberace's Theme Song Should Be 'Mad About the Boy!'" In 1982, Scott Thorson, Liberace's 22-year-old former chauffeur and alleged live-in lover of five years, sued the pianist for $113 million in palimony after he was let go by Liberace. Liberace continued to deny that he was homosexual, and during court depositions in 1984, he insisted that Thorson was never his lover. The case was settled out of court in 1986, with Thorson receiving a $75,000 cash settlement, plus three cars and three pet dogs worth another $20,000. Thorson stated after Liberace's death that he settled because he knew that Liberace was dying and that he had intended to sue based on conversion of property rather than palimony. He later attested that Liberace was a "boring guy" in his private life and mostly preferred to spend his free time cooking, decorating, and playing with his dogs, and also that he never played the piano outside of his public performances. According to Thorson: "He (Liberace) had several decorated, ornamental pianos in the various rooms of his house, but he never played them." Thorson also remarked that he was not aware that Liberace had any health issues prior to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and up until one year before his death that: "He was in overall excellent shape for his age; barrel-chested and powerfully built." Because Liberace never publicly acknowledged that he was gay, confusion over his true sexuality was further muddled in the public's mind by his public friendships and his romantic links with women. He further obscured his sexuality in articles like "Mature Women Are Best: TV's Top Pianist Reveals What Kind of Woman He'd Marry." In a 2011 interview, actress and close friend Betty White stated that Liberace was indeed gay and that she was often used as a beard by his managers to counter public rumors of the musician's homosexuality. Liberace's final stage performance was at New York's Radio City Music Hall on November 2, 1986; it was his 18th show in 21 days, and the series grossed $2.5 million. His final television appearance was on Christmas Day that same year on The Oprah Winfrey Show, which had actually been videotaped in Chicago over one month earlier. Liberace was secretly diagnosed HIV positive in August 1985 by his private physician in Las Vegas, 18 months before his death. Cary James Wyman, his alleged lover of seven years, was also infected and died in 1997. Another alleged lover, named Chris Adler, came forward after Liberace's death and claimed that Liberace infected him with HIV; Adler died in 1990 at age 30. Aside from his long-term manager, Seymour Heller, and a few family members and associates, Liberace kept his terminal illness a secret until the day he died and did not seek any medical treatment. In August 1986, during one of his last interviews, which was with the TV news program Good Morning America, Liberace hinted of his failing health when he remarked, "How can you enjoy life if you don't have your health?" He was hospitalized for pneumonia from January 23 to 27, 1987, at the Palm Springs county hospital. Liberace died of pneumonia as a result of AIDS on the late morning of February 4, 1987, at his retreat home in Palm Springs, California, at the age of 67. A devout Roman Catholic to the end, he had a priest administer the last rites to him the day before his death. His death was initially attributed variously to anemia (due to a diet of watermelon), emphysema, and heart disease, the last of which was attested to by Liberace's personal physician, Dr. Ronald Daniels. However, the Riverside County coroner – against the advice of Dr. Daniels – performed an autopsy and later stated that "a deliberate attempt" had been made to hide the actual cause of Liberace's death by his doctors, his manager, and Liberace's entire immediate family. The post mortem discovered that Liberace had emphysema and coronary artery disease from years of chain smoking, but the real cause was pneumonia due to complications from AIDS. Author Darden Asbury Pyron writes that Liberace had been "HIV-positive and symptomatic" from 1985 until his death. Liberace's body is entombed with those of his mother and brother, at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. In 1994, the Palm Springs Walk of Stars dedicated a Golden Palm Star to him. Liberace was recognized during his career with two Emmy Awards, six gold albums, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Liberace released a book on his life and performed 56 sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall which set box-office records a few months before his death in Palm Springs, California, on February 4, 1987. In October 2010, the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas closed after 31 years of being open to the general public. In June 2011, Liberace's Tivoli Gardens Restaurant, then operated by Carluccio's, closed its location next to the museum and relocated elsewhere. According to Liberace Foundation President Jack Rappaport, the museum had been in negotiations with money interests on the Las Vegas strip to relocate the museum but were unsuccessful. The Liberace Foundation, which provides college scholarships to up-and-coming performers, continued to function. In January 2013, the Liberace Foundation announced plans to relocate the museum to downtown Las Vegas, with a targeted opening date of 2014. In 2014, however, Liberace Foundation chairman Jonathan Warren announced that the deal for the new museum had failed. As of April 7, 2016, Liberace's cars are on display, as well as a piano, and several costumes at the "Liberace Garage" also located in Las Vegas. The 1955 Warner Bros. cartoon Hyde and Hare has Bugs Bunny playing piano as a Liberace-like character., In the 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon The Three Little Bops, the piano-playing pig imitates Liberace saying, "I wish my brother George was here.", Also, in 1957, Billy Barty parodied Liberace on an episode of The Spike Jones Show by playing "I'm in the Mood for Love" on a miniature piano bedecked with tiny candelabras that spouted milk., In 1981, Canadian sketch comedy show SCTV aired two skits with Dave Thomas playing Liberace. In the first, Liberace was a guest on The Merv Griffin Show alongside Yasser Arafat and Lou Ferrigno. In the second, a Christmas episode, Liberace performs Good King Wenceslas while Orson Welles (John Candy) repeatedly flubs his narration., On October 2, 1988, a television film titled Liberace aired on ABC, starring Andrew Robinson as Liberace, Rue McClanahan as his mother Frances Liberace, John Rubinstein, Maris Valainis as Scott Thorson, Deborah Goodrich, Louis Giambalvo, and Kario Salem; the film had the distinct advantage of using Liberace's musical arrangements and recordings, and even some of his costumes and jewelry, but was evasive about his sexuality., On October 9, 1988, a Canada-US made-for-TV film biography, , was aired on CBS. Victor Garber played Liberace, while Saul Rubinek played Seymour Heller, his manager (and a major consultant to the film). Maureen Stapleton played his mother Frances and Michael Dolan appeared as Scott Thorson. This film used some of Liberace's stage furnishings and was rather candid about his homosexuality., Liberace: Live from Heaven, a play imagining the entertainer's heavenly "trial" following death, began on stage in early 2010. The show featured the voices of Bobby Crush as Liberace, Stephen Fry as Saint Peter, and Victoria Wood as God., Behind the Candelabra, a film adaptation of Scott Thorson's autobiography, debuted on HBO in May 2013. Michael Douglas stars as Liberace, with Matt Damon playing Thorson, in a story centered on the relationship the two shared and its aftermath. His mother Frances was played by Debbie Reynolds, who knew Liberace as a friend during his lifetime. In the early 2000s, Warren Beatty was interested in directing, writing and producing a movie based on Thorson's autobiography. Beatty initially wanted Robin Williams as Liberace and Justin Timberlake as Thorson. The project never materialized., The Jim Gaffigan Show, in 2016 licensed the likeness of Liberace as well as the use of a costume made for the HBO film Behind the Candelabra, from the Liberace Foundation, for an episode of the show which featured Michael Ian Black as Liberace., Mozart in the Jungle, an Amazon original series licensed the likeness of Liberace as well as the use of a costume made for the HBO film Behind the Candelabra for appearances of Liberace in two episodes of season 4 of the show in 2018, according to Liberace Foundation Chairman Jonathan Warren., Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff, an app-based video game from Tinyco which is produced in cooperation with the writers of Family Guy licensed the likeness and voice of Liberace from the Liberace Foundation for his appearance as a game character in 2017, according to Liberace Foundation Chairman Jonathan Warren., Fred Armisen has portrayed Liberace in several Saturday Night Live sketches, most notably in “Vincent Price’s Holiday Special” sketches alongside Bill Hader as Price., Blade Runner 2049, the 2017 sequel to the 1982 cult classic Blade Runner (both produced by Ridley Scott), licensed the likeness and music of Liberace for an appearance in the film which takes place in a dystopian Las Vegas, alongside fellow icons Elvis, Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. Liberace was said to be worth over $110 million at the time of his death, and to have bequeathed $88 million to the Liberace Foundation at the time of his death. The story was perpetuated by the officers of the Liberace Foundation often and as late as 2013. Only in 2015 did Liberace Foundation Chairman Jonathan Warren reveal in a lecture at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas that these figures were all part of the showmanship of Liberace, and that the real figures were closer to one tenth those amounts. The Liberace Foundation saw the sunset of its in-house endowment fund in 2011. University endowment funds provided by it continue to provide scholarships annually. The original Liberace museum closed its doors in 2010, citing the recession and an outdated, outmoded facility. In November 2013, a dozen of Liberace's famous costumes, together with one of his stage cars and a piano went on display for a six-week period at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas in an exhibition titled "Too Much of a Good Thing Is Wonderful", Liberace's unofficial motto, and an often- used one-liner from his act. During the exhibit, Jonathan Warren took over as Chairman of the Foundation, and negotiated the extension of the exhibit for an additional seven months. The resulting audience response resulted in the new era of brand licensing of Liberace. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Liberace among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. Liberace: An Autobiography, by Liberace. Putnam and Co. Ltd, New York, 1973 (hardcover), The Things I Love, by Liberace with Tony Palmer (editor). Grosset & Dunlap, New York, 1976 (hardcover), The Wonderful Private World of Liberace, by Liberace and Michael Segell. Harper and Row, New York, 1986 (hardcover) Crying All the Way to the Bank, by Revel Barker (Famous Trials) 2009, The Liberace Story, by Chester Whitehorn (editor). Screen Publications Inc, New York, 1955 (softcover – #4 in the Candid Profile series), Liberace: On Stage and Off, by Anthony Monahan. GRT Music Productions, Sunnyvale California, 1976 (hardcover), Liberace: The True Story, by Bob Thomas. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1987 (hardcover), , by Scott Thorson with Alex Thorleifson. E.P. Dutton, New York, 1988 (hardcover), Liberace: A Bio-Bibliography, by Jocelyn Faris. Greenwood Press, Westport CT, 1995, Liberace: An American Boy, by Darden Asbury Pyron. University of Chicago Press, 2000, (hardcover) Read an excerpt., Liberace (Lives of Notable Gay Men and Lesbians), by Ray Mungo and Martin B. Duberman. Chelsea House Publications Liberace Cooks, by Carol Truax. Doubleday, New York, 1970 (hardcover), Cookbook of the Stars, Motion Picture Mothers, Hollywood, 1970. (A collection of recipes by Hollywood stars including Liberace, Bing Crosby, Joan Crawford, Lana Turner, Katharine Ross, Mary Tyler Moore, Don Knotts, and more), Joy of Liberace: Retro Recipes from America's Kitchiest Kitchen, by Michael Feder and Karan Feder. Angel City Press, 2007 (hardcover), Delicious Recipes from Liberace's #1 Cook, by Gladys Luckie The First Time: 28 Celebrities Tell About Their First Sexual Experiences, by Karl Fleming and Anne Taylor Fleming. Descriptions by Liberace, Debbie Reynolds, Art Buchwald, Erica Jong, Jack Lemmon, Loretta Lynn, Dyan Cannon, Joan Rivers, Dr. Spock, Irving Wallace, Mae West, and 17 others. Berkley Medallion, 1976 (paperback), Liberace Christmas Music: A Guide to Cassettes, Compact Discs, Music Scores, Piano Rolls, and Sound Recordings, by Karl B Johnson, John Carlson Press, The Liberace Collection, 263 page Auction Catalogue jointly produced by Butterfield & Butterfield and Christie's, Los Angeles Convention Centre, 1988 Liberace: Your Personal Fashion Consultant, by Michael Feder and Karan Feder. Abrams Image, 2007 (paperback), "Liberace Extravaganza!", by award-winning costume designers Connie Furr Soloman and Jan Jewett is an opulent display of the renowned entertainer’s dazzling and over-the-top costumes. HarperCollins, 2013 (Hard Cover) The Liberace Foundation, Liberace video footage after winning the case against the Daily Mirror, Excerpts from Cassandra's column, Transcript of CNN interview with Scott Thorson about his time with Liberace, Yesterday's News: June 18, 1959: Liberace wins libel suit, Liberace's Greatest Songs DVD review and history of Liberace's syndicated television series., Liberace Museum To Close, Pathe News Liberace Film Collection, FBI Records: The Vault - Liberace at fbi.gov Eleanora Fagan (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), professionally known as Billie Holiday, was an African American jazz singer with a career spanning nearly thirty years. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner Lester Young, Holiday had a seminal influence on jazz music and pop singing. Her vocal style, strongly inspired by jazz instrumentalists, pioneered a new way of manipulating phrasing and tempo. She was known for her vocal delivery and improvisational skills. After a turbulent childhood, Holiday began singing in nightclubs in Harlem, where she was heard by the producer John Hammond, who commended her voice. She signed a recording contract with Brunswick in 1935. Collaborations with Teddy Wilson yielded the hit "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", which became a jazz standard. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Holiday had mainstream success on labels such as Columbia and Decca. By the late 1940s, however, she was beset with legal troubles and drug abuse. After a short prison sentence, she performed at a sold-out concert at Carnegie Hall, but her reputation deteriorated because of her drug and alcohol problems. She was a successful concert performer throughout the 1950s with two further sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall. Due to personal struggles and an altered voice, her final recordings were met with mixed reaction, but were mild commercial successes. Her final album, Lady in Satin, was released in 1958. Holiday died of cirrhosis on July 17, 1959. She won four Grammy Awards, all of them posthumously, for Best Historical Album. She was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1973. Lady Sings the Blues, a film about her life, starring Diana Ross, was released in 1972. She is the primary character in the play (later made into a film) Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill; the role was originated by Reenie Upchurch in 1986, and was played by Audra McDonald on Broadway and in the film. In 2017 Holiday was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame. Eleanora Fagan was born on April 7, 1915, in Philadelphia, the daughter of unwed teenage couple Sarah Julia "Sadie" Fagan and Clarence Holiday. Sarah moved to Philadelphia aged 19, after she was evicted from her parents' home in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland for becoming pregnant. With no support from her parents, she made arrangements with her older, married half-sister Eva Miller for Eleanora to stay with her in Baltimore. Not long after Eleanora was born, Clarence abandoned his family to pursue a career as a jazz banjo player and guitarist. She grew up in Baltimore and had a very difficult childhood. Her mother often took what were then known as "transportation jobs", serving on passenger railroads. Holiday was raised largely by Eva Miller's mother-in-law Martha Miller, and suffered from her mother's absences and being in others' care for her first decade of life. Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, first published in 1956, is sketchy on details of her early life, but much was confirmed by Stuart Nicholson in his 1995 biography of the singer. Some historians have disputed Holiday's paternity, as a copy of her birth certificate in the Baltimore archives lists her father as "Frank DeViese." Other historians consider this an anomaly, probably inserted by a hospital or government worker. DeViese lived in Philadelphia, and Sadie Harris may have known him through her work. Sadie Harris, then known as Sadie Fagan, married Philip Gough, but the marriage ended in two years. Eleanora was left with Martha Miller again while her mother took more transportation jobs. She frequently skipped school, and her truancy resulted in her being brought before the juvenile court on January 5, 1925, when she was nine years old. She was sent to the House of the Good Shepherd, a Catholic reform school, where she was baptized on March 19, 1925. After nine months in care, she was "paroled" on October 3, 1925, to her mother. She had opened a restaurant, the East Side Grill, and mother and daughter worked long hours there. She dropped out of school at age 11. On December 24, 1926, Sadie came home to discover a neighbor, Wilbur Rich, attempting to rape Eleanora. She successfully fought back, and Rich was arrested. Officials placed Eleanora in the House of the Good Shepherd under protective custody as a state witness in the rape case. Holiday was released in February 1927, when she was nearly twelve. She found a job running errands in a brothel, and she scrubbed marble steps and kitchen and bathroom floors of neighborhood homes. Around this time, she first heard the records of Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. By the end of 1928, Holiday's mother moved to Harlem, New York, again leaving Eleanora with Martha Miller. By early 1929, Holiday had joined her mother in Harlem. Their landlady was a sharply-dressed woman named Florence Williams, who ran a brothel at 151 West 140th Street. Holiday's mother became a prostitute, and within a matter of days of arriving in New York, Holiday, not yet 14, became a victim of sexual trafficking at $5 a client. The house was raided on May 2, 1929, and Holiday and her mother were sent to prison. After spending time in a workhouse, her mother was released in July, and Holiday was released in October. As a young teenager, Holiday started singing in nightclubs in Harlem. She took her professional pseudonym from Billie Dove, an actress she admired, and the musician Clarence Holiday, her probable father. At the outset of her career, she spelled her last name "Halliday", her father's birth surname, but eventually changed it to "Holiday", his performing name. The young singer teamed up with a neighbor, tenor saxophone player Kenneth Hollan. They were a team from 1929 to 1931, performing at clubs such as the Grey Dawn, Pod's and Jerry's on 133rd Street, and the Brooklyn Elks' Club. Benny Goodman recalled hearing Holiday in 1931 at the Bright Spot. As her reputation grew, she played in many clubs, including Mexico's and the Alhambra Bar and Grill, where she met Charles Linton, a vocalist who later worked with Chick Webb. It was also during this period that she connected with her father, who was playing in Fletcher Henderson's band. Late in 1932, 17-year-old Holiday replaced the singer Monette Moore at Covan's, a club on West 132nd Street. Producer John Hammond, who loved Moore's singing and had come to hear her, first heard Holiday there in early 1933. Hammond arranged for Holiday to make her recording debut, at age 18, in November 1933, with Benny Goodman. She recorded two songs: "Your Mother's Son-in-Law" and "Riffin' the Scotch", the latter being her first hit. "Son-in-Law" sold 300 copies, but "Riffin' the Scotch", released on November 11, sold 5,000 copies. Hammond was impressed by Holiday's singing style and said of her, "Her singing almost changed my music tastes and my musical life, because she was the first girl singer I'd come across who actually sang like an improvising jazz genius." Hammond compared Holiday favorably to Armstrong and said she had a good sense of lyric content at her young age. In 1935, Holiday had a small role as a woman abused by her lover in Duke Ellington's musical short film Symphony in Black: A Rhapsody of Negro Life. She sang "Saddest Tale" in her scene. In 1935, Holiday was signed to Brunswick by John Hammond to record pop tunes with pianist Teddy Wilson in the swing style for the growing jukebox trade. They were allowed to improvise the material. Holiday's improvisation of melody to fit the emotion was revolutionary. Their first collaboration included "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Miss Brown to You". "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" has been deemed her "claim to fame". Brunswick did not favor the recording session because producers wanted Holiday to sound more like Cleo Brown. However, after "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" was successful, the company began considering Holiday an artist in her own right. She began recording under her own name a year later for Vocalion in sessions produced by Hammond and Bernie Hanighen. Wilson and Holiday took pop tunes such as "Twenty-Four Hours a Day" and "Yankee Doodle Never Went to Town" and turned them into jazz classics. Another frequent accompanist was tenor saxophonist Lester Young, who had been a boarder at her mother's house in 1934 and with whom Holiday had a rapport. Young said, "I think you can hear that on some of the old records, you know. Some time I'd sit down and listen to 'em myself, and it sound like two of the same voices ... or the same mind, or something like that." Young nicknamed her "Lady Day", and she called him "Prez". Hammond said the Wilson-Holiday records from 1935 to 1938 were a great asset to Brunswick. According to Hammond, Brunswick was broke and unable to record many jazz tunes. Wilson, Holiday, Young, and other musicians came into the studio without written arrangements, reducing the recording cost. Brunswick paid Holiday a flat fee rather than royalties, which saved the company money. "I Cried for You" sold 15,000 copies, which Hammond called "a giant hit for Brunswick... Most records that made money sold around three to four thousand." In late 1937, Holiday had a brief stint as a big-band vocalist with Count Basie. The traveling conditions of the band were often poor; they performed many one-nighters in clubs, moving from city to city with little stability. Holiday chose the songs she sang and had a hand in the arrangements, choosing to portray her developing persona of a woman unlucky in love. Her tunes included "I Must Have That Man", "Travelin' All Alone", "I Can't Get Started", and "Summertime", a hit for Holiday in 1936, originating in George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess the year before. Basie became used to Holiday's heavy involvement in the band. He said, "When she rehearsed with the band, it was really just a matter of getting her tunes like she wanted them, because she knew how she wanted to sound and you couldn't tell her what to do." Holiday found herself in direct competition with the popular singer Ella Fitzgerald. The two later became friends. Fitzgerald was the vocalist for the Chick Webb Band, which was in competition with the Basie band. On January 16, 1938, the same day that Benny Goodman performed his legendary Carnegie Hall jazz concert, the Basie and Webb bands had a battle at the Savoy Ballroom. Webb and Fitzgerald were declared winners by Metronome magazine, while DownBeat magazine pronounced Holiday and Basie the winners. Fitzgerald won a straw poll of the audience by a three-to-one margin. Some of the songs Holiday performed with Basie were recorded. "I Can't Get Started", "They Can't Take That Away from Me", and "Swing It Brother Swing" are all commercially available. Holiday was unable to record in the studio with Basie, but she included many of his musicians in her recording sessions with Teddy Wilson. By February of that year, Holiday was no longer singing for Basie. Various reasons have been given for her firing. Jimmy Rushing, Basie's male vocalist, called her unprofessional. According to All Music Guide, Holiday was fired for being "temperamental and unreliable". She complained of low pay and poor working conditions and may have refused to sing the songs requested of her or change her style. Holiday was hired by Artie Shaw a month after being fired from the Count Basie Band. This association placed her among the first black women to work with a white orchestra, an unusual arrangement at that time. This was also the first time a black female singer employed full-time toured the segregated U.S. South with a white bandleader. In situations where there was a lot of racial tension, Shaw was known to stick up for his vocalist. In her autobiography, Holiday describes an incident in which she was not permitted to sit on the bandstand with other vocalists because she was black. Shaw said to her, "I want you on the band stand like Helen Forrest, Tony Pastor and everyone else." When touring the South, Holiday would sometimes be heckled by members of the audience. In Louisville, Kentucky, a man called her a "nigger wench" and requested she sing another song. Holiday lost her temper and had to be escorted off the stage. By March 1938, Shaw and Holiday had been broadcast on New York City's powerful radio station WABC (the original WABC, now WCBS). Because of their success, they were given an extra time slot to broadcast in April, which increased their exposure. The New York Amsterdam News reviewed the broadcasts and reported an improvement in Holiday's performance. Metronome reported that the addition of Holiday to Shaw's band put it in the "top brackets". Holiday could not sing as often during Shaw's shows as she could in Basie's; the repertoire was more instrumental, with fewer vocals. Shaw was also pressured to hire a white singer, Nita Bradley, with whom Holiday did not get along but had to share a bandstand. In May 1938, Shaw won band battles against Tommy Dorsey and Red Norvo with the audience favoring Holiday. Although Shaw admired Holiday's singing in his band, saying she had a "remarkable ear" and a "remarkable sense of time", her tenure with the band was nearing an end. In November 1938, Holiday was asked to use the service elevator at the Lincoln Hotel, instead of the passenger elevator, because white patrons of the hotels complained. This may have been the last straw for her. She left the band shortly after. Holiday spoke about the incident weeks later, saying, "I was never allowed to visit the bar or the dining room as did other members of the band ... [and] I was made to leave and enter through the kitchen." There are no surviving live recordings of Holiday with Shaw's band. Because she was under contract to a different record label and possibly because of her race, Holiday was able to make only one record with Shaw, "Any Old Time". However, Shaw played clarinet on four songs she recorded in New York on July 10, 1936: "Did I Remember?", "No Regrets", "Summertime" and "Billie's Blues". By the late 1930s, Holiday had toured with Count Basie and Artie Shaw, scored a string of radio and retail hits with Teddy Wilson, and became an established artist in the recording industry. Her songs "What a Little Moonlight Can Do" and "Easy Living" were imitated by singers across America and were quickly becoming jazz standards. In 1938, Holiday's single "I'm Gonna Lock My Heart" ranked sixth as the most-played song in September of that year. Her record label, Vocalion, listed the single as its fourth-best seller for the same month, and it peaked at number 2 on the pop charts, according to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories: 1890–1954. Holiday was recording for Columbia in the late 1930s when she was introduced to "Strange Fruit", a song based on a poem about lynching written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx. Meeropol used the pseudonym "Lewis Allan" for the poem, which was set to music and performed at teachers' union meetings. It was eventually heard by Barney Josephson, the proprietor of Café Society, an integrated nightclub in Greenwich Village, who introduced it to Holiday. She performed it at the club in 1939, with some trepidation, fearing possible retaliation. She later said that the imagery of the song reminded her of her father's death and that this played a role in her resistance to performing it. For her performance of "Strange Fruit" at the Café Society, she had waiters silence the crowd when the song began. During the song's long introduction, the lights dimmed and all movement had to cease. As Holiday began singing, only a small spotlight illuminated her face. On the final note, all lights went out, and when they came back on, Holiday was gone. Holiday said her father, Clarence Holiday, was denied medical treatment for a fatal lung disorder because of racial prejudice, and that singing "Strange Fruit" reminded her of the incident. "It reminds me of how Pop died, but I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because twenty years after Pop died the things that killed him are still happening in the South", she wrote in her autobiography. When Holiday's producers at Columbia found the subject matter too sensitive, Milt Gabler agreed to record it for his Commodore Records label on April 20, 1939. "Strange Fruit" remained in her repertoire for twenty years. She recorded it again for Verve. The Commodore release did not get any airplay, but the controversial song sold well, though Gabler attributed that mostly to the record's other side, "Fine and Mellow", which was a jukebox hit. "The version I recorded for Commodore", Holiday said of "Strange Fruit", "became my biggest-selling record." "Strange Fruit" was the equivalent of a top-twenty hit in the 1930s. Holiday's popularity increased after "Strange Fruit". She received a mention in Time magazine. "I open Café Society as an unknown," Holiday said. "I left two years later as a star. I needed the prestige and publicity all right, but you can't pay rent with it." She soon demanded a raise from her manager, Joe Glaser. Holiday returned to Commodore in 1944, recording songs she made with Teddy Wilson in the 1930s, including "I Cover the Waterfront", "I'll Get By", and "He's Funny That Way". She also recorded new songs that were popular at the time, including, "My Old Flame", "How Am I to Know?", "I'm Yours", and "I'll Be Seeing You", a number one hit for Bing Crosby. She also recorded her version of "Embraceable You", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2005. Holiday's mother Sadie, nicknamed "The Duchess", opened a restaurant called Mom Holiday's. She used money from her daughter while playing dice with members of the Count Basie band, with whom she toured in the late 1930s. "It kept Mom busy and happy and stopped her from worrying and watching over me", Holiday said. Fagan began borrowing large amounts from Holiday to support the restaurant. Holiday obliged but soon fell on hard times herself. "I needed some money one night and I knew Mom was sure to have some", she said. "So I walked in the restaurant like a stockholder and asked. Mom turned me down flat. She wouldn't give me a cent." The two argued, and Holiday shouted angrily, "God bless the child that's got his own", and stormed out. With Arthur Herzog, Jr., a pianist, she wrote a song based on the lyric, "God Bless the Child", and added music. "God Bless the Child" became Holiday's most popular and most covered record. It reached number 25 on the charts in 1941 and was third in Billboard's songs of the year, selling over a million records. In 1976, the song was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. Herzog claimed Holiday contributed only a few lines to the lyrics. He said she came up with the line "God bless the child" from a dinner conversation the two had had. On June 24, 1942, Holiday recorded "Trav'lin Light" with Paul Whiteman for a new label, Capitol Records. Because she was under contract to Columbia, she used the pseudonym "Lady Day". The song reached number 23 on the pop charts and number one on the R&B; charts, then called the Harlem Hit Parade. In September 1943, Life magazine wrote, "She has the most distinct style of any popular vocalist and is imitated by other vocalists." Milt Gabler, in addition to owning Commodore Records, became an A&R; man for Decca Records. He signed Holiday to Decca on August 7, 1944, when she was 29. Her first Decca recording was "Lover Man" (number 16 Pop, number 5 R&B;), one of her biggest hits. The success and distribution of the song made Holiday a staple in the pop community, leading to solo concerts, rare for jazz singers in the late 40s. Gabler said, "I made Billie a real pop singer. That was right in her. Billie loved those songs." Jimmy Davis and Roger "Ram" Ramirez, the song's writers, had tried to interest Holiday in the song. In 1943, a flamboyant male torch singer, Willie Dukes, began singing "Lover Man" on 52nd Street. Because of his success, Holiday added it to her shows. The record's flip side was "No More", one of her favorites. Holiday asked Gabler for strings on the recording. Such arrangements were associated with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. "I went on my knees to him," Holiday said. "I didn't want to do it with the ordinary six pieces. I begged Milt and told him I had to have strings behind me." On October 4, 1944, Holiday entered the studio to record "Lover Man", saw the string ensemble and walked out. The musical director, Toots Camarata, said Holiday was overwhelmed with joy. She may also have wanted strings to avoid comparisons between her commercially successful early work with Teddy Wilson and everything produced afterwards. Her 1930s recordings with Wilson used a small jazz combo; recordings for Decca often involved strings. A month later, in November, Holiday returned to Decca to record "That Ole Devil Called Love", "Big Stuff", and "Don't Explain". She wrote "Don't Explain" after she caught her husband, Jimmy Monroe, with lipstick on his collar. Holiday did not make any more records until August 1945, when she recorded "Don't Explain" for a second time, changing the lyrics "I know you raise Cain" to "Just say you'll remain" and changing "You mixed with some dame" to "What is there to gain?" Other songs recorded were "Big Stuff", "What Is This Thing Called Love?", and "You Better Go Now". Ella Fitzgerald named "You Better Go Now" her favorite recording of Holiday's. "Big Stuff" and "Don't Explain" were recorded again but with additional strings and a viola. In 1946, Holiday recorded "Good Morning Heartache". Although the song failed to chart, she sang it in live performances; three live recordings are known. In September 1946, Holiday began her only major film, New Orleans, in which she starred opposite Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman. Plagued by racism and McCarthyism, producer Jules Levey and script writer Herbert Biberman were pressed to lessen Holiday's and Armstrong's roles to avoid the impression that black people created jazz. The attempts failed because in 1947 Biberman was listed as one of the Hollywood Ten and sent to jail. Several scenes were deleted from the film. "They had taken miles of footage of music and scenes," Holiday said, but "none of it was left in the picture. And very damn little of me. I know I wore a white dress for a number I did... and that was cut out of the picture." She recorded "The Blues Are Brewin'" for the film's soundtrack. Other songs included in the movie are "Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?" and "Farewell to Storyville". Holiday's drug addictions were a problem on the set. She earned more than a thousand dollars a week from club ventures but spent most of it on heroin. Her lover, Joe Guy, traveled to Hollywood while Holiday was filming and supplied her with drugs. Guy was banned from the set when he was found there by Holiday's manager, Joe Glaser. By the late 1940s, Holiday had begun recording a number of slow, sentimental ballads. Metronome expressed its concerns in 1946 about "Good Morning Heartache", saying, "there's a danger that Billie's present formula will wear thin, but up to now it's wearing well." The New York Herald Tribune reported of a concert in 1946 that her performance had little variation in melody and no change in tempo. By 1947, Holiday was at her commercial peak, having made $250,000 in the three previous years. She was ranked second in the DownBeat poll for 1946 and 1947, her highest ranking in that poll. She was ranked fifth in Billboard 's annual college poll of "girl singers" on July 6, 1947 (Jo Stafford was first). In 1946, Holiday won the Metronome magazine popularity poll. On May 16, 1947, Holiday was arrested for possession of narcotics in her New York apartment. On May 27 she was in court. "It was called 'The United States of America versus Billie Holiday'. And that's just the way it felt," she recalled. During the trial, she heard that her lawyer would not come to the trial to represent her. "In plain English that meant no one in the world was interested in looking out for me," she said. Dehydrated and unable to hold down food, she pleaded guilty and asked to be sent to the hospital. The district attorney spoke in her defense, saying, "If your honor please, this is a case of a drug addict, but more serious, however, than most of our cases, Miss Holiday is a professional entertainer and among the higher rank as far as income was concerned." She was sentenced to Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia. The drug possession conviction caused her to lose her New York City cabaret card; thereafter, she performed in concert venues and theaters. Holiday was released early (on March 16, 1948), because of good behavior. When she arrived at Newark, her pianist Bobby Tucker and her dog Mister were waiting. The dog leaped at Holiday, knocking off her hat, and tackling her to the ground. "He began lapping me and loving me like crazy," she said. A woman thought the dog was attacking Holiday. She screamed, a crowd gathered, and reporters arrived. "I might just as well have wheeled into Penn Station and had a quiet little get-together with the Associated Press, United Press, and International News Service," she said. Ed Fishman (who fought with Joe Glaser to be Holiday's manager) thought of a comeback concert at Carnegie Hall. Holiday hesitated, unsure audiences would accept her after the arrest. She gave in and agreed to appear. On March 27, 1948, Holiday played Carnegie Hall to a sold-out crowd. 2,700 tickets were sold in advance, a record at the time for the venue. Her popularity was unusual because she didn't have a current hit record. Her last record to reach the charts was "Lover Man" in 1945. Holiday sang 32 songs at the Carnegie concert by her count, including Cole Porter's "Night and Day" and her 1930s hit, "Strange Fruit". During the show, someone sent her a box of gardenias. "My old trademark," Holiday said. "I took them out of box and fastened them smack to the side of my head without even looking twice." There was a hatpin in the gardenias and Holiday unknowingly stuck it into the side of her head. "I didn't feel anything until the blood started rushing down in my eyes and ears," she said. After the third curtain call, she passed out. On April 27, 1948, Bob Sylvester and her promoter Al Wilde arranged a Broadway show for her. Titled Holiday on Broadway, it sold out. "The regular music critics and drama critics came and treated us like we were legit," she said. But it closed after three weeks. Holiday was arrested again on January 22, 1949 in her room at the Hotel Mark Twain in San Francisco. Holiday said she began using hard drugs in the early 1940s. She married trombonist Jimmy Monroe on August 25, 1941. While still married, she became involved with trumpeter Joe Guy, her drug dealer. She divorced Monroe in 1947 and also split with Guy. In October 1949, Holiday recorded "Crazy He Calls Me", which was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2010. Gabler said the hit was her most successful recording for Decca after "Lover Man". The charts of the 1940s did not list songs outside the top 30, making it impossible to recognize minor hits. By the late 1940s, despite her popularity and concert power, her singles were little played on radio, perhaps because of her reputation. Holiday's New York City Cabaret Card was revoked because of her 1947 conviction, preventing her working anywhere that sold alcohol for the remaining 12 years of her life. The cabaret system started in 1940 and was intended to prevent people of "bad character" from working on licensed premises. A performer had to renew the license every two years. The system lasted until 1967. Clubs that sold alcohol in New York were among the highest-paying in the country. Club owners knew blacklisted performers had limited work and could offer a smaller salary. This reduced Holiday's earnings. She had not received proper record royalties until she joined Decca, so her main revenue was club concerts. The problem worsened when Holiday's records went out of print in the 1950s. She seldom received royalties in her later years. In 1958 she received a royalty of only $11. Her lawyer in the late 1950s, Earle Warren Zaidins, registered with BMI only two songs she had written or co-written, costing her revenue. In 1948, Holiday played at the Ebony Club, which, because she lost her cabaret card, was against the law. Her manager, John Levy, was convinced he could get her card back and allowed her to open without one. "I opened scared," Holiday said, "[I was] expecting the cops to come in any chorus and carry me off. But nothing happened. I was a huge success." Holiday recorded Gershwin's "I Loves You, Porgy" in 1948. In 1950, Holiday appeared in the Universal short film Sugar Chile Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet, singing "God Bless the Child" and "Now, Baby or Never". By the 1950s, Holiday's drug abuse, drinking, and relationships with abusive men caused her health to deteriorate. She appeared on the ABC reality series The Comeback Story to discuss attempts to overcome her misfortunes. Her later recordings showed the effects of declining health on her voice, as it grew coarse and no longer projected its former vibrancy. Holiday first toured Europe in 1954 as part of a Leonard Feather package. The Swedish impresario, Nils Hellstrom, initiated the "Jazz Club U.S.A." (after the Leonard Feather radio show) tour starting in Stockholm in January 1954 and then Germany, Netherlands, Paris and Switzerland. The tour party was Holiday, Buddy DeFranco, Red Norvo, Carl Drinkard, Elaine Leighton, Sonny Clark, Berryl Booker, Jimmy Raney, and Red Mitchell. A recording of a live set in Germany was released as Lady Love – Billie Holiday. Holiday's late recordings for Verve constitute about a third of her commercially issued output and are as popular as her earlier records for Columbia, Commodore and Decca. In later years, her voice became more fragile, but it never lost the edge that had always made it distinctive. Holiday's autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues, was ghostwritten by William Dufty and published in 1956. Dufty, a New York Post writer and editor then married to Holiday's close friend Maely Dufty, wrote the book quickly from a series of conversations with the singer in the Duftys' 93rd Street apartment. He also drew on the work of earlier interviewers and intended to let Holiday tell her story in her own way. In his 2015 study, Billie Holiday: The Musician and the Myth, John Szwed argued that Lady Sings the Blues is a generally accurate account of her life, and that co-writer Dufty was forced to water down or suppress material by the threat of legal action. According to the reviewer Richard Brody, "Szwed traces the stories of two important relationships that are missing from the book—with Charles Laughton, in the 1930s, and with Tallulah Bankhead, in the late 1940s—and of one relationship that's sharply diminished in the book, her affair with Orson Welles around the time of Citizen Kane." To accompany her autobiography, Holiday released the LP Lady Sings the Blues in June 1956. The album featured four new tracks, "Lady Sings the Blues", "Too Marvelous for Words", "Willow Weep for Me", and "I Thought About You", and eight new recordings of her biggest hits to date. The re-recordings included "Trav'lin' Light" "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child". A review of the album was published by Billboard magazine on December 22, 1956, calling it a worthy musical complement to her autobiography. "Holiday is in good voice now," wrote the reviewer, "and these new readings will be much appreciated by her following." "Strange Fruit" and "God Bless the Child" were called classics, and "Good Morning Heartache", another reissued track on the LP, was also noted favorably. On November 10, 1956, Holiday performed two concerts before packed audiences at Carnegie Hall. Live recordings of the second Carnegie Hall concert were released on a Verve/HMV album in the UK in late 1961 called . The 13 tracks included on this album featured her own songs "I Love My Man", "Don't Explain" and "Fine and Mellow", together with other songs closely associated with her, including "Body and Soul", "My Man", and "Lady Sings the Blues" (her lyrics accompanied a tune by pianist Herbie Nichols). The liner notes for this album were written partly by Gilbert Millstein of the New York Times, who, according to these notes, served as narrator of the Carnegie Hall concerts. Interspersed among Holiday's songs, Millstein read aloud four lengthy passages from her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues. He later wrote: The critic Nat Hentoff of DownBeat magazine, who attended the Carnegie Hall concert, wrote the remainder of the sleeve notes on the 1961 album. He wrote of Holiday's performance: Her performance of "Fine and Mellow" on CBS's The Sound of Jazz program is memorable for her interplay with her long-time friend Lester Young. Both were less than two years from death. Young died in March 1959. Holiday wanted to sing at his funeral, but her request was denied. When Holiday returned to Europe almost five years later, in 1959, she made one of her last television appearances for Granada's Chelsea at Nine in London. Her final studio recordings were made for MGM Records in 1959, with lush backing from Ray Ellis and his Orchestra, who had also accompanied her on the Columbia album Lady in Satin the previous year (see below). The MGM sessions were released posthumously on a self-titled album, later retitled and re-released as Last Recording. On March 28, 1957, Holiday married Louis McKay, a Mafia enforcer. McKay, like most of the men in her life, was abusive. They were separated at the time of her death, but McKay had plans to start a chain of Billie Holiday vocal studios, on the model of the Arthur Murray dance schools. Holiday was childless, but she had two godchildren: singer Billie Lorraine Feather (the daughter of Leonard Feather) and Bevan Dufty (the son of William Dufty). By early 1959, Holiday was diagnosed with cirrhosis. Although she had initially stopped drinking on her doctor's orders, it was not long before she relapsed. By May of that same year, she had lost 20 pounds (9 kg). Her manager Joe Glaser, jazz critic Leonard Feather, photojournalist Allan Morrison, and the singer's own friends all tried in vain to persuade her to go to a hospital. On May 31, 1959, Holiday was taken to Metropolitan Hospital in New York for treatment of liver disease and heart disease. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics, under the order of Harry J. Anslinger, had been targeting Holiday since at least 1939. She was arrested and handcuffed for drug possession as she lay dying, her hospital room was raided, and she was placed under police guard. On July 15, she received the last rites of the Roman Catholic Church. She died at 3:10 a.m. on July 17, of pulmonary edema and heart failure caused by cirrhosis of the liver. She was 44. In her final years, she had been progressively swindled out of her earnings, and she died with US$0.70 in the bank. She also had $750 ($ in dollars), a fee she received from a tabloid newspaper, on her person. Her funeral Mass was held on July 21, 1959, at the Church of St. Paul the Apostle in Manhattan. She was buried at Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. The story of her burial plot and how it was managed by her estranged husband, Louis McKay, was documented on NPR in 2012. Gilbert Millstein of New York Times, who was the announcer at Holiday's 1956 Carnegie Hall concerts and wrote parts of the sleeve notes for the album The Essential Billie Holiday (see above), described her death in these sleeve notes, dated 1961: Holiday's delivery made her performances recognizable throughout her career. Her improvisation compensated for lack of musical education. Her contralto voice lacked range and was thin, and years of drug use altered its texture and gave it a fragile, raspy sound. Holiday said that she always wanted her voice to sound like an instrument and some of her influences were Louis Armstrong and the singer Bessie Smith. Her last major recording, a 1958 album entitled Lady in Satin, features the backing of a 40-piece orchestra conducted and arranged by Ray Ellis, who said of the album in 1997: Frank Sinatra was influenced by her performances on 52nd Street as a young man. He told Ebony magazine in 1958 about her impact: Billie Holiday recorded extensively for four labels: Columbia Records, which issued her recordings on its subsidiary labels Brunswick Records, Vocalion Records, and OKeh Records, from 1933 through 1942; Commodore Records in 1939 and 1944; Decca Records from 1944 through 1950; briefly for Aladdin Records in 1951; Verve Records and on its earlier imprint Clef Records from 1952 through 1957, then again for Columbia Records from 1957 to 1958 and finally for MGM Records in 1959. Many of Holiday's recordings appeared on 78-rpm records prior to the long-playing vinyl record era, and only Clef, Verve, and Columbia issued albums during her lifetime that were not compilations of previously released material. Many compilations have been issued since her death; as well as comprehensive box sets and live recordings. In 1986, Joel Whitburn's company Record Research compiled information on the popularity of recordings released from the era predating rock and roll and created pop charts dating back to the beginning of the commercial recording industry. The company's findings were published in the book Pop Memories 1890–1954. Several of Holiday's records are listed on the pop charts Whitburn created. Holiday began her recording career on a high note with her first major release, "Riffin' the Scotch", of which 5,000 copies were sold. It was released under the name "Benny Goodman & His Orchestra." Most of Holiday's early successes were released under the name "Teddy Wilson & His Orchestra." During her stay in Wilson's band, Holiday would sing a few bars and then other musicians would have a solo. Wilson, one of the most influential jazz pianists of the swing era, accompanied Holiday more than any other musician. He and Holiday issued 95 recordings together. In July 1936, Holiday began releasing sides under her own name. These songs were released under the band name "Billie Holiday & Her Orchestra." Most noteworthy, the popular jazz standard "Summertime" sold well and was listed on the pop charts of the time at number 12, the first time the jazz standard charted. Only Billy Stewart's R&B; version of "Summertime" reached a higher chart placement than Holiday's, charting at number 10 thirty years later in 1966. Holiday had 16 best selling songs in 1937, making the year her most commercially successful. It was in this year that Holiday scored her sole number one hit as a featured vocalist on the available pop charts of the 1930s, "Carelessly". The hit "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm", was also recorded by Ray Noble, Glen Gray and Fred Astaire whose rendering was a best seller for weeks. Holiday's version ranked 6 on the year-end single chart available for 1937. In 1939, Holiday recorded her biggest selling record, "Strange Fruit" for Commodore, charting at number 16 on the available pop charts for the 1930s. In 1940, Billboard began publishing its modern pop charts, which included the Best Selling Retail Records chart, the precursor to the Hot 100. None of Holiday's songs placed on the modern pop charts, partly because Billboard only published the first ten slots of the charts in some issues. Minor hits and independent releases had no way of being spotlighted. "God Bless the Child", which went on to sell over a million copies, ranked number 3 on Billboards year-end top songs of 1941. On October 24, 1942, Billboard began issuing its R&B; charts. Two of Holiday's songs placed on the chart, "Trav'lin' Light" with Paul Whiteman, which topped the chart, and "Lover Man", which reached number 5. "Trav'lin' Light" also reached 18 on Billboards year-end chart. Billie Holiday Sings (1952), An Evening with Billie Holiday (1952), Billie Holiday (1954), Music for Torching (1955), Velvet Mood (1956), Lady Sings the Blues (1956), Body and Soul (1957), Songs for Distingué Lovers (1957), Stay with Me (1958), All or Nothing at All (1958), Lady in Satin (1958), Last Recording (1959) When Holiday died, The New York Times published a short obituary on page 15 without a byline. She left an estate of $1,000 and her best recordings from the '30s were mostly out of print. Holiday's public stature grew in the following years. In 1961 she was voted to the Down Beat Hall Of Fame and soon after Columbia reissued nearly a hundred of her early records. In 1972 Diana Ross' portrayal of Holiday in Lady Sings The Blues was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe. Holiday would go on to be nominated for 23 posthumous Grammy awards. Billie Holiday received several Esquire Magazine awards during her lifetime. Her posthumous awards also include being inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame. In 1985 Baltimore, Maryland erected a statue of Billie Holiday that was completed in 1993 with additional panels of images inspired by her seminal song Strange Fruit. In 2019, Chirlane McCray announced that New York City would build a statue honoring Holiday near Queens Borough Hall. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Billie Holiday among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire. 1933: The Emperor Jones, appeared as an extra, 1935: Symphony in Black, short (with Duke Ellington), 1947: New Orleans, 1950: 'Sugar Chile' Robinson, Billie Holiday, Count Basie and His Sextet (1) = Available on Audio (2) = Available on DVD List of craters on Venus, List of people on the postage stamps of the United States, List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees ## Further reading Official site, Discography, "Twelve Essential Billie Holiday Recordings" by Stuart Nicholson, Jazz.com, "Billie Holiday: Year of Lady Day" by Alex Henderson, The New York City Jazz Record, "A Short History of Billie Holiday', Billie Holiday at the Playbill Vault, Billie Holiday on Find A Grave, Photo of Billie Holiday burial site

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The Cricket World Cup is a One Day International (ODI) competition in men's cricket. Organised by the International Cricket Council (ICC), the tournament has taken place every four years since it was first held in Cricket World Cup in England. The number of teams and number of matches have increased since then, although the ICC declared an interest in reducing the format, following criticism of the 2007 World Cup. Indian batsman Sachin Tendulkar holds an array of individual records in the World Cup. One of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1997, and "the most followed cricketer in the world", Tendulkar has made more scores over fifty and scored more runs than any other cricketer in World Cup history. Australian Glenn McGrath dominates the individual bowling records, having featured for his country in four World Cups. He has one of the best strike rate and economy rate among any other bowler, having the best individual bowling figures and taken more wickets in the history of the tournament. Australians Ricky Ponting and Adam Gilchrist with Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara lead the individual fielding records. Ponting is the leading fielder in terms of catches taken, in both an individual World Cup tournament and in the competition's history. Wicketkeeper Gilchrist has made the most dismissals in a single match and individual tournament, while Sangakkara has the most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in World Cup history. Australia hold several team records, including those for the most wins, the highest win percentage, the most consecutive wins; they were undefeated in the 2003 and 2007 Cricket World Cup campaigns. Records are also kept of unsuccessful performances. These include Canada's lowest score in the history of the tournament, Zimbabwe's record number of matches lost and Canadian Nicholas De Groot's three consecutive ducks. Team notation (300–3) indicates that a team scored 300 runs for three wickets and the innings was closed, either due to a successful run chase or if no overs remained (or are able) to be bowled., (300) indicates that a team scored 300 runs and was all out, either by losing all ten wickets or by having one or more batsmen unable to bat and losing the remaining wickets. Batting notation (100) indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was out., (100*) indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was not out. Bowling notation (5–100) indicates that a bowler has captured five wickets while giving away 100 runs. Currently playing Record holders who are currently playing ODIs or streaks that are still active and can change have a ^ next to their name. Note : In the 2011 Cricket World Cup, England scored 338–8 in the second innings to tie their game against India. Sachin Tendulkar holds numerous batting records, including those for the most centuries, most fifties and most runs. He also has the most Man of the Match awards. Glenn McGrath dominates the bowling records, and holds all but three of the records. Lasith Malinga became the first player to take four wickets in four balls at an international level in the 2007 World Cup, against South Africa. Chaminda Vaas took four wickets in five balls against Bangladesh in 2003, including wickets with the first three balls of the match. There have also been hat tricks in Cricket World Cups by Chetan Sharma, Saqlain Mushtaq, Brett Lee, Kemar Roach, Steven Finn , JP Duminy and Mohammed Shami. Chetan Sharma was the first bowler to take a hat-trick in a Cricket World Cup. Lasith Malinga was the first bowler to take 2 hat-tricks in Cricket World Cup matches. While records for best fielders have varied through different World Cups, the records for wicketkeepers have been occupied by Kumar Sangakkara who holds the record for most dismissals overall and Adam Gilchrist which holds the record for most dismissals by a wicketkeeper in one tournament and in one match. An extra is a run scored by a means other than a batsman hitting the ball. Other than runs scored off the bat from a no-ball, a batsman is not given credit for extras and the extras are tallied separately on the scorecard and count only towards the team's score. There are certain records other than batting, bowling or fielding. These records include participation records, hosting records etc. The World Cup has been held in England five times. As a result, English grounds have hosted the most World Cup matches. The top 10 list is dominated by players who have appeared in five World Cup tournaments. Anderson Cummins, Kepler Wessels, Ed Joyce and Eoin Morgan are the only four players to have represented two different countries in Cricket World Cup. Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Ricky Ponting share the record of three World Cup titles. Each was a member of Australia's winning teams of 1999, 2003 and 2007. A total of 40 players aged 19 years old or under have made an appearance in the World Cup and 19 players aged more than 40 have played in the competition. List of One Day International cricket records, List of Cricket World Cup Centuries List of Cricket World Cup Records from cricket-records.com, List of Cricket World Cup records from CricketArchive, List of Cricket World Cup records from BBC, All Cricket World Cup records, Martin 237 runs Test cricket is played between international cricket teams who are Full Members of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Unlike One Day Internationals, Test matches consist of two innings per team, with no limit in the number of overs. Test cricket is first-class cricket, so statistics and records set in Test matches are also counted toward first-class records. The duration of Tests, currently limited to five days, has varied through Test history, ranging from three days to timeless matches. The earliest match now recognised as a Test was played between England and Australia in March 1877; since then there have been over 2,000 Tests played by 13 teams. The frequency of Tests has steadily increased partly because of the increase in the number of Test-playing countries, and partly as cricket boards seek to maximise their revenue. Cricket is, by its nature, capable of generating large numbers of records and statistics. This list details the most significant team and individual records in Test cricket. As of January 2020, the most successful team in Test cricket, in terms of both wins and win percentage, is Australia, having won 393 of their 830 Tests (47.34%). Excluding teams who have only played a single Test (the ICC World XI, a rest of world team who played a single Test against Australia in 2005, and recent Test newcomers Ireland and Afghanistan) the least successful team are Bangladesh who have struggled since their introduction to Test cricket in 2000, leading to questioning of their Test status. Australian Donald Bradman, widely considered the greatest batsman of all time, holds several personal and partnership records. He scored the most runs in a series, has the most double centuries and was a part of the record 5th wicket partnership. His most significant record is his batting average of 99.94. One of cricket's most famous statistics, it stands almost 40 runs higher than any other batsman's average. Don Bradman is the only player in the world to have scored 5000 runs against a single opposition: 5028 runs against England. In the Manchester Test of 1956, England spin bowler Jim Laker took 19 wickets for 90 runs (19–90) which set not only the Test record for best match figures but also the first-class one. In taking 10–53 in the second innings he became the first bowler to capture all ten wickets in a Test match innings, and his analysis remains the best innings figures. Indian leg spinner Anil Kumble is the only other bowler to have taken 10 wickets in an innings, claiming 10–74 against Pakistan in 1999. West Indies batsman Brian Lara has the highest individual score in Test cricket: he scored 400 not out against England in 2004 to surpass the innings of 380 by Matthew Hayden six months earlier. Lara had held the record before Hayden, with a score of 375 against England 10 years earlier. Pakistan's Misbah-ul-Haq holds the record of the fastest Test half century, scoring 50 runs from 21 balls. The record for the fastest Test century is held by New Zealand's Brendon McCullum, who scored 100 runs from 54 balls in his final Test match. The trend of countries to increase the number of Test matches they play means that the aggregate lists are dominated by modern players. Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan became the highest Test wicket-taker in December 2007, when he passed Shane Warne's total of 708 wickets. Within a year, the equivalent batting record of highest run-scorer had also changed hands: Sachin Tendulkar surpassed the tally of 11,953 runs by Brian Lara. The record for most dismissals by a wicket-keeper is held by Mark Boucher of South Africa while the record for most catches by a fielder is held by Rahul Dravid. In general the top five are listed in each category (except when there is a tie for the last place among the five, when all the tied record holders are noted). Team notation (300–3) indicates that a team scored 300 runs for three wickets and the innings was closed, either due to a successful run chase or if no playing time remained, (300–3 d) indicates that a team scored 300 runs for three wickets, and declared its innings closed, (300) indicates that a team scored 300 runs and was all out Batting notation (100) indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was out, (100*) indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was not out Bowling notation (5–100) indicates that a bowler has captured 5 wickets while conceding 100 runs Currently playing indicates a current Test cricketer Seasons Domestic cricket seasons in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and the West Indies may span two calendar years, and are by convention said to be played in (e.g.) "2008–09". A cricket season in England is described as a single year. e.g. "2009". An international Test series may be for a much shorter duration, and Cricinfo treats this issue by stating "any series or matches which began between May and September of any given year will appear in the relevant single year season and any that began between October and April will appear in the relevant cross-year season". In the record tables, a two-year span generally indicates that the record was set within a domestic season in one of the above named countries. List of Australia Test cricket records, List of Bangladesh Test cricket records, List of England Test cricket records, List of India Test cricket records, List of Ireland Test cricket records, List of New Zealand Test cricket records, List of Pakistan Test cricket records, List of South Africa Test cricket records, List of Sri Lanka Test cricket records, List of West Indies Test cricket records, List of Zimbabwe Test cricket records, List of Cricket records, List of One Day International cricket records, List of Twenty20 International records Records – Test matches ESPN Cricinfo, HowSTAT!, Test Records Cricket-Records.com, Wisden Records in Test Matches Wisden This list of first-class cricket records itemises some record team and individual performances in first-class cricket. The list is necessarily selective, since it is in cricket's nature to generate copious records and statistics. Both instance records (such as highest team and individual scores, lowest team scores and record margins of victory) and season and career records (such as most runs or wickets in a season, and most runs or wickets in a career) are included. It must be remembered that, officially, there was no "first-class cricket" in Great Britain before 1895 or in the rest of the world before 1947 (see First-class cricket for details of the official rulings). The performances noted in this article include several which occurred in earlier years but it is understood that all were achieved in matches that are retrospectively recognised by most historians or statisticians as first-class (i.e., unofficially so). Some matches have not been universally accepted as first-class for statistical purposes and there are thus variations in published cricket statistics, mainly because of the different proposals that have been made for the starting date of the statistical records, ranging from the 17th century to 1895. Records shown here are quoted by either CricketArchive or Wisden Cricketers' Almanack, unless otherwise stated. Team notation 300–3 indicates that a team scored 300 runs for three wickets and the innings was closed, either due to a successful run chase or if no playing time remained., 300-3d indicates that a team scored 300 runs for three wickets, and declared its innings closed., 300 indicates that a team scored 300 runs and was all out. Batting Notation 100 indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was out., 100, indicates that a batsman scored 100 runs and was not out., 100, against a partnership means that the two batsmen added 100 runs to the team's total, and neither of them was out. Bowling Notation 5–100 indicates that a bowler captured 5 wickets while conceding 100 runs. Qualification: Innings and 550 runs. Qualification: 575 runs. There have been 33 ties in first-class cricket since 1948. Before then, a tie was sometimes declared where the scores were level when scheduled play ended, but the side batting last still had wickets in hand. Matches where this happens are considered a draw today, and a tie is now recognised only where the scores are level and the side batting fourth is dismissed. Qualification: 900. Qualification: 15. Qualification: 510. The highest individual score in first-class cricket is 501* scored by Brian Lara for Warwickshire in 1994. There have been nine other scores of 400 or more, including another by Lara and two by Bill Ponsford. Scorecards began to be kept regularly from the 1772 season which is now seen as the commencement of the statistical first-class record, though historical first-class cricket began a century earlier. There is no certainty of a complete statistical record of any season until well into the 19th century, which is why Roy Webber and others have been reluctant to begin their first-class cricket statistics before the 1864 season, notwithstanding the official commencement of first- class cricket in 1895. The earliest century definitely recorded in a match generally regarded as first-class is the 136 scored by John Small in the 1775 season (see below). There can be little doubt that centuries had been scored before this but the records are either lost or the known details are incomplete. Some of the main instances of high scoring prior to 1772 are as follows: 1744 – John Harris scored 47 for Slindon v. London at the Artillery Ground in the match which has left the oldest known scorecard. This is the earliest match from which individual scores are known. The oldest known team scores date from 1731., 1745 – Richard Newland scored 88 for All-England v. Kent at the Artillery Ground, almost certainly in the second innings of the match, but there is a slight possibility that it was his match total. This is the highest known score recorded prior to the introduction c.1760 of the pitched delivery and the straight bat., 1767 – two Hampshire batsmen (believed to have been Tom Sueter and either George Leer or Edward "Curry" Aburrow) recorded a first-wicket partnership of 192 against Surrey, but there is no record of their individual scores, although at least one of the batsmen probably made a personal century. It is the earliest known century partnership., 1768 – John Small scored "above seven score notches" for Hampshire v Kent, but it is not known if this was his match total or his performance in the second innings. If it was his match total, he could still have made a century in either innings., 1769 – John Minshull (listed as "J. Minchin" on the scorecard) scored the earliest century in all classes of cricket of which there is a definite record: he made 107 for Duke of Dorset's XI v Wrotham at Sevenoaks Vine (although the location is not certain), but the match is generally considered a minor one. The following individual scores in first-class matches from 1772 are progressively the highest definitely recorded on contemporary scorecards: 78 – John Small for Hampshire v All-England at Broadhalfpenny Down in 1772. This was the highest score recorded in the earliest match now designated first-class by some statisticians and remained the highest known score through the 1772 season., 88 – William Yalden for Surrey v Hampshire at Broadhalfpenny Down in 1773., 95 – Joseph Miller for Kent v Hampshire at Sevenoaks Vine in 1774., 136 – John Small for Hampshire v Surrey at Broadhalfpenny Down in 1775. This is the earliest known century in a first-class match. Small's colleague Richard Nyren scored 98 in the same innings so they both beat Miller's score., 167 – James Aylward for Hampshire v All-England at Sevenoaks Vine in 1777., 170 – Lord Frederick Beauclerk for Homerton v Montpelier at Aram's New Ground in 1806. This match is considered a minor one in the opinion of some statisticians but several other matches involving either team are rated first-class. Its inclusion in Scores and Biographies is significant and it is first-class on that basis., 278 – William Ward for Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) v Norfolk at Lord's in 1820. Again, there is some doubt among certain statisticians about the status of Norfolk but the match's inclusion in Scores and Biographies is significant. Ward's record survived for 56 years until W. G. Grace scored the first triple- century in first-class cricket in 1876. The table below shows the progressive world record from 1876. Qualification: 40,000. Qualification: 20,000 runs, average 54. The highest first-class batting career average of all is 207.00, by Norman Callaway, who aged 18 scored 207 in his only first-class innings on his début for New South Wales against Queensland in 1914–15. He died during the Second Battle of Bullecourt in 1917. It is not unusual for a batsman to dominate the scoring while he is at the wicket; it is more unusual for a batsman to dominate his side's completed total if they are all out. The lowest completed first-class innings to include a fifty is Indians' 66 against Yorkshire at Harrogate in 1932, to which Nazir Ali contributed 52 (78.79%) and his partners 9 (there were 5 extras). The lowest completed first-class innings to include a century is Nottinghamshire's 143 against Hampshire at Bournemouth in 1981, to which Clive Rice contributed 105* (73.4%) and his partners 35 (there were 3 extras) and Gujranwala's 143 against Bahawalpur at Bahawalpur in 2001–02, to which Rizwan Malik contributed 100* (69.93%) and his partners 41 (there were 2 extras). The lowest completed first-class innings to include a double-century is Namibia's 282 against Kenya at Sharjah in January 2008, to which Gerrie Snyman contributed 230 (81.56%) and his partners 43 (there were 9 extras). The lowest completed first-class innings to include a triple century is the Rest's 387 against Hindus at Bombay in 1943–44, to which Vijay Hazare contributed 309 (79.84%) and his partners 59 (there were 19 extras). The lowest completed first-class total to include a score of 350 is Otago's 500 against Canterbury at Christchurch in 1952–53, to which opener Bert Sutcliffe contributed 385 (77.0%) and his partners 86 (there were 29 extras). The highest percentage of runs scored in any completed innings is 83.43% by Glenn Turner who scored 141* out of Worcestershire's 169 against Glamorgan at Swansea in 1977. The remaining batsmen scored 27 and there was one extra. In the 2007 English cricket season, Mark Ramprakash scored a record 30.02% of Surrey's runs excluding extras. In 16 matches he scored 2,026 runs at an average of 101.30, while his team mates managed 4,721 between them at an average of 26.08. Qualification: 55 boundaries. Qualification: 3. Includes all scores of 300 or more. Entries in bold are for batsmen still playing first-class cricket. Qualification: 15. Includes all scores of 200 or more. Qualification: 115. Many cricketers with short first-class careers fail to ever score a run, and finish with a batting average of 0.00. Seymour Clark (a wicket-keeper for Somerset in the 1930 season) is believed to hold the record for most innings in a scoreless career with nine innings in his five matches, including seven ducks. The record for most matches in a career without ever scoring is believed to belong to John Howarth (a Nottinghamshire fast-medium bowler in the 1960s), whose thirteen matches included seven innings and four ducks. The longest sequence of consecutive scoreless innings is 12 by Mark Robinson for Northamptonshire in 1990, whose scores that season were 1*, 0*, 1, 0, 0*, 0*, 0*, 0*, 0*, 0, 0, 0, 0*, 0*, 0 and 1*. The most consecutive single-figure innings by a batsman is 71, which has occurred twice. The first occurrence was by Jem Shaw who played chiefly for Nottinghamshire and the All England Eleven between his first-class debut on 26 June 1865 against Surrey with a score of 9, which he did not surpass until scoring 15 in the second innings of his last match of 1870 for “Richard Daft’s XI” against the United North of England Eleven. This was equalled by Eric Hollies of Warwickshire and England between 20 July 1948, when he made 12 not out against Glamorgan, and 16 August 1950, when he made 14 against Nottinghamshire. Hollies also holds the record for most consecutive innings without reaching 20, playing a total of 284 innings between 23 August 1939 when he made 22 against Gloucestershire and 19 May 1954, when he almost doubled his previous highest first-class score in making 47 against Sussex. Billy Bestwick of Derbyshire did not reach 20 in his last 258 first-class innings after making 20 against Warwickshire on 9 August 1906. The lowest career batting average by a player with more than fifty first-class matches is almost certainly 2.63 by Francis McHugh of Yorkshire (three matches) and Gloucestershire (92 matches) between 1949 and 1956. McHugh batted in 111 innings for only 179 runs, with only four double figure scores. No other regular first-class cricketer is known to have had a batting average of under 3.00. Qualification: 2,400. Qualification: 275 wickets. The most wickets possible in an eleven-a-side match is ten, and this has been achieved on a number of occasions. The first to do so was Edmund Hinkly in 1848 for Kent v England at Lord's. Perhaps the most famous early instance was two years later, when John Wisden, playing for the North of England v South of England at Lord's in 1850, clean bowled all ten South batsmen. In these early matches, the number of runs scored off each bowler was not recorded. The only other all-ten analysis not to contain any direct assistance from a fielder was by Eric Hollies, who got seven Nottinghamshire batsman out clean bowled and three leg before wicket in his ten for 49 for Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston, Birmingham in 1946. The cheapest all-ten (and therefore the best innings bowling analysis in first-class cricket) was achieved by Hedley Verity in 1932 at Headingley, when he took ten for 10 for Yorkshire against Nottinghamshire. The most expensive all-ten recorded was ten for 175 by Eddie Hemmings playing for a touring International XI against a West Indies XI at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica in 1982. The only bowlers to take all ten wickets in an innings more than once were Tich Freeman (three times in 1929, 1930 and 1931), John Wisden (twice, in 1850 and 1851), Vyell Walker (1859 and 1865), Hedley Verity (twice, 1931 and 1932), and Jim Laker (twice, both against the 1956 Australians). W. G. Grace achieved a ten-for analysis twice, in 1873 and 1886; on the first occasion he also scored a century, but the second occasion was in a twelve-a-side match. The most wickets ever taken in a first-class match is nineteen, by Jim Laker for England against Australia at Old Trafford, Manchester in 1956, in the fourth Test match of that year's Ashes series. His figures were nine for 37 in Australia's first innings, and ten for 53 in their second. Laker's feat has never been paralleled in first-class cricket. Eighteen wickets in a match was achieved by William Lillywhite for eleven Players against sixteen Gentlemen at Lord's in 1837, and by Henry Arkwright for MCC against Kent in a 12-a-side match at Canterbury in 1861, but seventeen is the most otherwise recorded in an eleven-a-side match. Apart from Laker's, there have only been two instances of seventeen wickets in a match since World War II, by John Davison for Canada against United States of America in an ICC Intercontinental Cup match in 2004, and Kyle Abbott for Hampshire against Somerset in the First Division of the County Championship in 2019. Individual bowlers take great credit if they can capture five or more wickets in an innings. The earliest known instance of this was by William Bullen, who bowled five batsmen out when playing for All-England v Hampshire at Sevenoaks Vine in 1774. Scorecards were still uncommon at the time and bowling analyses were incomplete; bowlers were only credited with "bowled" victims, catches being awarded to the fielder only. Tich Freeman took five wickets in an innings a record 386 times. Wilfred Rhodes achieved it 287 times. It is a notable achievement for a bowler to capture 10 wickets in a match, and the feat is usually highlighted in career statistics. The earliest known instance was by Thomas Brett of Hampshire against Surrey at Laleham Burway in 1775. Brett's victims were "all bowled" as he was not credited with wickets falling to catches. He took seven in the first innings and four in the second (but Surrey still won by 69 runs). Tich Freeman took ten wickets in a match a record 140 times. Charlie Parker achieved it 91 times. A hat-trick is when a bowler takes three wickets from three consecutive deliveries. Doug Wright achieved the most hat-tricks in first-class cricket with seven. Tom Goddard and Charlie Parker each took six. In 1907, Albert Trott of Middlesex took four wickets in four balls, and another hat-trick, in the same Somerset innings. In 1963–64, Joginder Rao playing for Services took two hat-tricks in the same Northern Punjab innings during his second first- class match, after having also taken a hat-trick in his début match. Other instances of two hat-tricks in a match have been achieved by Alfred Shaw (in 1884), Jimmy Matthews (1912 in a Test match), Charlie Parker (1924), Roly Jenkins (1949), Amin Lakhani (1978–79), and Mitchell Starc (2017-18). Four wickets in four balls is a rarer achievement, first done by Joseph Wells (father of science fiction author H. G. Wells) for Kent against Sussex in 1862. Alan Walker, for Nottinghamshire in 1956, uniquely took the last wicket of Leicestershire's first innings, and a hat-trick with the first three balls of their second innings. Bob Crisp is the only player to take four wickets in four balls on two occasions. Five wickets in five balls has never been achieved - one of the closest instances coming in 1925, when CWL Parker struck the stumps with five successive deliveries for Gloucestershire against Yorkshire. The second, however, was called a no-ball, so only four wickets were actually taken, including the hat-trick from the 3rd to 5th deliveries. Five wickets in six balls has been achieved five times, by Bill Copson for Derbyshire against Warwickshire in 1937, by William Henderson for North East Transvaal against Orange Free State at Bloemfontein in 1937–38, by Pat Pocock for Surrey against Sussex at Eastbourne in 1972, by Yasir Arafat for Rawalpindi against Faisalabad at Rawalpindi in 2004–05, and by Neil Wagner for Otago against Wellington in 2010–11. Wagner took five wickets in the over, a world's first. Pocock's spell also included six wickets in nine balls and seven wickets in eleven balls, both records. An all-rounder excels at more than one discipline, usually both batting and bowling. Wicket-keeping all-rounders are effective batsmen and effective wicket-keepers. Qualification: 22,000 runs and 1,100 wickets. Qualification: 20,000 runs and 1,000 dismissals. Qualification: 1,100. Qualification: 300. Qualification: 640 catches. Qualification: 750. Qualification: 480. Linked scorecards are from the Cricket Archive. Matthew Engel (ed.), Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2006, John Wisden & Co.,, Scyld Berry (ed.), Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2008, John Wisden & Co.,, Scyld Berry (ed.), Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2010, John Wisden & Co.,, Scyld Berry (ed.), Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2011, John Wisden & Co., Cricket Archive, ESPNcricinfo first-class records

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The Grand Union Canal was a canal in England from Foxton, Leicestershire on the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal to Norton Junction, close to Long Buckby Wharf on the Grand Junction Canal. It now forms the first of the Leicester Section, a branch of the much bigger modern Grand Union Canal. The original name "Grand Union" derived from the fact that it was in effect an extension of the older Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal (LNU) - or rather a substitute for the southern half of the LNU's originally proposed route. The "Grand Union" name survived until the canal was bought by the Grand Junction in 1894 and became known as the Leicester Line of the Grand Junction. The larger Grand Junction Canal was subsequently bought by the Regent's Canal and from 1 January 1929 the whole network was known as the Grand Union Canal. Where clarity between the two Grand Unions is needed, the original Grand Union Canal is generally referred to as the Old Grand Union. In 1793, an Act was passed for the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal: this was intended to link the Soar Navigation near Leicester to the River Nene near Northampton, and thus to the Grand Junction Canal via the latter's Northampton Arm. The Leicestershire and Northampton union reached the village of Debdale by 1797, but in doing so had used up all of its money. James Barnes, an engineer working on the Grand Junction Canal, was asked in 1799 to find a route for the canal to reach the Grand Junction at Braunston. In 1802, he produced a revised proposal, to route the rest of the canal to Norton on the Grand Junction, with a branch to Market Harborough. Thomas Telford was then asked for his opinion, and he also proposed a change of destination to Norton, but via the town of Market Harborough. This was agreed upon, but by 1809, the canal had reached only Market Harborough, where construction came to an end again. The Grand Junction Canal Company were concerned about these delays to the opening of the important route to the east Midlands, which would bring traffic onto their canal from the River Trent and the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire coalfields. They requested James Barnes and Thomas Telford to revisit the question of route once again, and they developed a plan for a canal to link the part of the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal which had been built with the Grand Junction Canal, which had been fully open since 1805. Experience on the Grand Junction showed that broad boats caused delays as they could not pass in the tunnels, and so the Grand Junction was happy for the new canal to be built with only narrow locks, but with broad tunnels and bridges to allow passing of boats. With the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire route unfinished, a Bill was put to Parliament to authorise a new canal, known as the Grand Union Canal, from the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal at Foxton, to Norton on the Grand Junction Canal. The Act received Royal Assent on 24 May 1810, entitled "An Act for making and maintaining a navigable Canal from the Union Canal, in the parish of Gumley, in the county of Leicester, to join the Grand Junction Canal near Buckby, in the county of Northampton; and for making a collateral Cut from the said intended Canal". The company had an authorised capital of £245,000, and powers to raise a further £50,000 if this proved necessary. Benjamin Bevan was employed as the engineer and construction began at Foxton. The terrain to be crossed was problematic for the canal engineers, as demonstrated by the several proposals made for routes. The core of the problem was the lack of river valleys or other obvious routes to take. The undulating countryside meant that the chosen route needed many twists and turns to maintain a level. However, the route does not keep as strictly to contours as the early canals of James Brindley did; the worst potential diversions were avoided by cuttings, embankments, and two significant tunnels, one of at Crick and another of at Husbands Bosworth, both of which were wide enough for narrowboats to pass. From the junction with the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal, at Foxton, the new canal immediately climbed through the ten Foxton Locks, to its summit level. By late 1812, the Foxton flight was completed, and the canal to the eastern portal of Husbands Bosworth Tunnel was opened. The tunnel was completed by May of the following year, opening up of the main line. In addition, around of the branch to Welford was opened at this time. Further west, problems were encountered at Crick, where the rocks were unsuitable for tunnelling, and quicksands were found. A new route to the east of the village was authorised, and cost an extra £7,000. At Watford, the canal descended through the seven Watford Locks to the same height as the summit of the Grand Junction Canal, allowing a level junction with it at Long Buckby (Norton Junction). To avoid a deep cutting and a short tunnel at Watford, the company eventually agreed to buy the land they needed from a Mrs Bennett, despite the cost of £2,000 plus £125 per acre (£312 per ha). She drove a hard bargain, insisting that she be allowed to keep a pleasure boat on the summit level, and that she should appoint the Watford lock keeper, to ensure that he would always be civil to her and her tenants, and would protect her property from damage by boatmen. The company agreed, providing that the lock keeper was suitably qualified. The main line of the canal was completed in 1814, and opened on 9 August. The Welford Arm, which was essentially a navigable feeder, since it connected to the reservoirs which provided the water supply, was not completed until November. The total cost of the project was around £292,000, which rose by another £13,500 the following year. The main line was long, with a level pound of between the locks at Foxton and those at Watford. The opening of the Grand Union Canal provided an additional source of water for the northern summit level of the Grand Junction Canal. The new canal was not a commercial success, mainly because there was little local traffic, and it relied on traffic passing through from other canals. The company correspondence shows large amounts of effort devoted to negotiations on rates, but it was not in a strong position, and coal was carried at around one third of the rate authorised by the enabling Act of Parliament. Pig iron and other heavy castings only raised d (0.6p) per ton per mile, whereas on the Monmouthshire Canal at the time, such cargoes were charged at 5d (2p) per ton per mile. Despite this, they had managed to repay most of their debts by 1826, and paid the first dividend to shareholders of one per cent. All loans had been repaid by 1836, and the dividend rose to 1.25 per cent in 1840. With the opening of the London and Birmingham Railway in 1838, and the prospect of lower tolls, men who were committee members of the Grand Junction Canal began buying shares in order to obtain financial control of the Grand Union. A close working relationship developed with the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union to help stave off competition from the railways, but toll receipts spiralled downwards, from £7,551 in 1848 to £3,108 in 1858, £1,024 in 1875 and just £742 in 1885. Dividends followed this trend, reaching 0.05 per cent in 1885. Costly repairs were carried out on both of the tunnels, which interrupted traffic while the work was done, and the company managed to build an ice-boat and a dredger, but by 1884, they were almost penniless. In late 1886 or early 1887, the Grand Junction company inspected the Grand Union Canal and the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal, and then wrote to both, about the possibility of measures to improve and increase traffic. Both indicated they were prepared to sell out to the Grand Junction, who then offered £5,000 for the two. The canals replied with a counter offer of £25,000, since they had a large asset in their water supplies, but no agreement was made. In 1893, the company met with Mr Fellows, of the carrying company Fellows Morton and Clayton, who suggested that if the locks at Foxton and Watford were made wider, and the canal was dredged, conditions would be much better, and they would be able to run large steam boats, which would allow them to compete with the railways. After making enquiries, Fellows was offered both of the canals for £20,000, and after further discussion with the Grand Junction company, they asked him to act as their agent and buy both. He negotiated a price of £10,500 for the Grand Union, and £6,500 for the Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union, with £250 to be paid to the clerk who acted for both companies. An Act of Parliament to authorise the takeover was passed in 1894, and the transfer of ownership took place on 29 September. After takeover, the canal became known as the Leicester Line of the Grand Junction Canal. The Grand Junction dredged the canals they had bought, and negotiated with the Leicester, the Loughborough, and the Erewash Canal, to fix tolls for through traffic. They then talked to Fellows Morton and Clayton again, and revived the plans to allow them to work wide-beam barges over the Grand Union route. Plans for an inclined plane at Foxton Locks were approved in July 1897, tenders were received in November, and the contract was given to J & H Gwynne & Co, based in Hammersmith. The design was by G.C. Thomas, the Grand Junction Canal's engineer, who had been assisted by his brother, and Gwynne's price was £14,130. Two counterbalanced caissons could each hold two narrow boats or one wide-beam barge, and could raise or lower them the between the top and bottom of the lock flight in twelve minutes, compared to the seventy that using the locks took. Including land purchase, the total cost was £39,224, which also included the provision of an engine house and steam engine to power the plane. The plane was completed and began operating on 10 July 1900. Thomas did not favour a second inclined plane, and so widening of the locks at Watford was authorised in early 1900, at a cost of £17,000, but was deferred in March, until the work at Foxton was completed and the inclined plane was operational. In August they complained to Fellows Morton and Clayton that through traffic of coal had continued to decline, and they rebuilt the locks at Watford between November 1901 and February 1902. The work cost £5,545, as they were not widened, and wide-beam craft were never able to use the canal. Despite the failure of the scheme, the company recommended to the Royal Commission held in 1906 that a number of other canals should be upgraded to take 80-ton barges, and suggested that several other inclined planes should be built. In November 1908, the locks at Foxton were re-opened for night-time working, and the inclined plane officially stopped working in November 1910, although it is known to have worked intermittently until at least 1912. It was dismantled in 1926 and sold for scrap in 1928. In an attempt to become more competitive, the Grand Junction company talked to the Regent's Canal company, and the idea of a much larger concern began to develop. An Act of Parliament was obtained in August 1928, which allowed the amalgamation of the Regent's Canal, the Grand Junction, the Warwick and Birmingham, the Birmingham and Warwick Junction and the Warwick and Napton Canals. As from 1 January 1929, the new company began operating, and the old Grand Union Canal became part of the (new) Grand Union Canal. Having raised £881,000 to enable the route from Birmingham to London to be widened to take boats with a beam, and received Government grants to cover interest payments on loans of £500,000, the work began in 1931. The company then decided they could get grants for widening the Foxton and Watford locks, and under an Act of Parliament obtained in 1931, bought the Leicester, the Loughborough and the Erewash Canals. The estimated cost of widening the two flights was £144,000, but the Government refused to make a grant later that year, and the work was never carried out. Canals of the United Kingdom, History of the British canal system The Wendover Arm Canal is part of the Grand Union Canal in England, and forms part of the British canal system. It was planned as a feeder to carry water from springs near the town of Wendover in Buckinghamshire to the main line of the Grand Junction Canal at Bulbourne near Star Top End in Hertfordshire, but when it opened in 1799 it was navigable, as the extra cost of making it so was small. Water supplies from Wendover were found to be inadequate, and a series of reservoirs were built. A pumping station at Whitehouses was superseded by the Tringford pumping station in 1817; its steam engines were replaced by diesel engines in 1911 and then by electric pumps. The canal was used for the carriage of coal to three gasworks, and for transport of straw to London and horse manure in the opposite direction. It was also used by the Heygates flour mill, and Bushell's built boats on its banks. Despite several attempts to rectify problems with leakage, including one of the earliest uses of asphalt for this purpose, no satisfactory solution was found, and most of the canal ceased to be used for navigation in 1904. Water levels in the upper section were lowered, and a pipeline was constructed along part of the bed, so that water could still be supplied to Tring summit. The canal became part of the Grand Union Canal in 1929, and responsibility passed to British Waterways in 1963. Initial attempts to reopen the canal following the formation of the Grand Union Canal Society in 1967 were unsuccessful, but interest revived in 1985, and soon after a decision by the Department of Transport in 1988 to build a navigable culvert where the new Aston Clinton bypass would cross the arm, the Wendover Arm Trust was formed. The Trust split the task of reopening the canal into three phases, and phase 1 of the project, the first from the junction at Bulbourne to a winding hole near Little Tring Farm, was completed and reopened in 2005. Using Bentonite matting, they relined the section which leaked so badly and at Easter 2015 the first of phase 2 were filled with water for the first time since 1904. Another section was expected to be rewatered in 2016, and a bid made for Heritage Lottery Funding to speed the completion of phase 2. When James Barnes was planning the route for the Grand Junction Canal, he was faced with the problem of crossing the Chiltern Hills. Since ancient times, roads had passed through the Tring Gap, a low saddle in the hills near Tring, and Barnes opted for this route. The main line of the canal was authorised by an Act of Parliament obtained in 1793. A second Act was obtained on 28 March 1794, which authorised the construction of branches to Buckingham, Aylesbury, and Wendover. On its journey through the Chilterns, the main line reaches a height of at Tring summit. From the south, it ascends through a series of locks which follow the valleys of the rivers Gade and Bulbourne to reach Cowroast Lock. After a relatively short summit, the canal starts its descent at Bulbourne, picking up the valley of the River Ouzel. Each boat crossing the summit level draws off nearly of water; Barnes knew that local water supplies would not be sufficient to sustain this. Wendover is located on the north- facing escarpment of the Chiltern Hills, with a chalk aquifer feeding natural springs which could supply water all year round, and so the Wendover branch was conceived as a non-navigable feeder, to carry water from the springs and streams in the area to the Tringford reservoirs which fed the Tring summit. However, the cost of widening it was small, and so it was always a navigable channel from the time of its completion in 1799. The water supply was supplemented by mill streams, which were diverted into the canal after the company bought out mills at Wendover, Halton and Weston Turville. They also built Weston Turville reservoir in 1798, which was used to supply the mills in Aylesbury, whose water supply had been diverted into the canal. The reservoir was also used to replenish the canal and, as milling technology developed, this became its primary purpose. A steam pump was installed in 1814 which fed water to the canal through underground pipes. Although only installed as a temporary solution, it continued to operate until 1839. It soon became clear that the supply of water from Wendover was insufficient, and in 1802 the first of four reservoirs was constructed. Wilstone reservoir was followed by Marsworth, completed in 1806, Tringford, completed in 1814 and Startops End, completed in 1815. The banks of Wilstone reservoir were raised in 1811 and 1827, and extensions in 1835 and 1839 increased its size four-fold. It now has a capacity of . There was a pumping station at Whitehouses, which pumped water from the reservoir into the canal. It housed a Newcomen engine which operated until around 1835, but the station was demolished when pumping was concentrated at Tringford. Tringford pumping station was built in 1816 and 1817, and contained a Boulton and Watt beam engine. The cast-iron beam was long, and the single cylinder was in diameter, with an stroke. A second steam engine was added when the station was extended between 1836 and 1838, after which Whitehouses was demolished. A building to house diesel engines was added in 1911, and the second steam engine was scrapped in 1913. Following removal of the beam engine in 1927, the height of the main engine house was reduced. The diesel engines were later superseded by electric pumps. The canal was used for the carriage of coal, timber, straw and manure. Straw was shipped to London, for use as bedding for horses, and horse manure was transported in the opposite direction, from the bus depots of London, to be used as fertiliser on farms in the locality. Coal was delivered to Aston Clinton House from the canal, and to three gas works, which were located at Wendover, Halton and near Bucklandwharf bridge, which carries the old route of the A41 road over the canal. The coal came from the Midlands, and was used to produce coal for lighting. The Gas Works at Aston Clinton survived until 1964. In 1875, Heygates flour mill was built on the banks of the canal at Gamnel Bridge. It was powered by steam engines, for which the canal supplied the water. Grain was delivered by boat, and the processed flour was transported away by boat. After the end of the Second World War water transport was superseded by trucks, and in 2013 the mill operated a fleet of 16 trucks to deliver flour to markets in the south of England. Next to the flour mill was a boat yard belonging to Bushell Brothers of Tring. There had been a boat repair business on the site from 1850, and Bushell's was established in 1875. As well as building and maintaining wooden boats for several small and medium-sized carrying companies operating on the canal network, they also trained a number of craftsmen who later held important positions at other boat building yards. The business closed in 1952. Very few original wooden boats survive, and only one built by Bushell's is known to exist. Roger was built in 1936 for Arthur Harvey-Taylor, a coal merchant and carrying company based at Aylesbury, and worked until 1968. After a period in use as a residential boat, and a period of dereliction, restoration was completed in 2000 by the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust, with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund. It is on the National Register of Historic Vessels. Other notable boats built at the yard and launched into the canal included a tug named Bess, built during the First World War, which was designed to pull ten 100-ton barges, and a tug named Progress, which was the largest boat built by Bushell's. Tools and other objects used at Bushell Brothers, as well as other various old tools that one of the Bushell brothers, who was always interested in rural crafts, collected during his retirement, were donated to the Museum of English Rural Life in 1963. The Wendover Arm itself had a working life of 100 years. Part of its downfall was that some sections leaked. Much of it was repuddled within 10 years of its construction, to try to prevent some of the leakage. There is speculation that a section called The Narrows was lined with concrete and faced with bricks to prevent leakage into a large neighbouring property, Aston Clinton House, but this is unconfirmed. The company tried using asphalt to line the canal in 1857, but that failed after 13 years, due in part to inexperience in the use of the material. In 1897, which was drier than usual, the Grand Union company decided that the arm was leaking more water than it was supplying, and stop planks were used to block off the arm at Little Tring. The stop planks were replaced by a stop lock, which was operational by 1901. By 1904 the canal company had decided to abandon the arm as a navigation. The top were again repuddled, the water level was lowered, and all of the water flowing along it was fed into Wilstone reservoir. This put an extra load on the pumps at Tringford, as the Wilstone reservoir is at a lower level than the Tringford one. A pipeline was therefore laid from a sump at Drayton Beauchamp to the Tring pumping station, along the bed of the disused canal, so that water arrived at the pumps at a higher level. The new system was still not satisfactory, due to the large variations in flow along the feeder, and it was redesigned in 1912. After reconstruction, the water was pumped directly into the main line, with surplus water flowing into Tringford reservoir. The section of canal between Wendover and Drayton Beauchamp remained in water, resembling a chalk stream. In 1917, German prisoners of war built a railway bridge over it near Wendover. The standard gauge railway line was used to remove timber from Wendover Woods, and also supplied Halton Camp, a base for the Royal Flying Corps, which subsequently became RAF Halton. The line was in use until 1963, and the bridge was demolished as a training exercise by sappers in 1965. A footbridge was subsequently erected in the same location. The Wendover Arm, as part of the Grand Junction Canal, became part of the Grand Union Canal on 1 January 1929, when an agreement between the parent company and the Regents Canal was authorised by Act of Parliament. Following nationalisation in 1948, responsibility for the canal passed to British Waterways in 1963 and then to the Canal & River Trust. Interest in the arm was revived in 1967, when the Inland Waterways Association held a public meeting in Watford to debate the future of the Grand Union Canal. In February 1967 the Grand Union Canal Society was formed, and later began campaigns to reopen both the Slough Arm and the Wendover Arm. The initial plan failed due to a lack of local interest, and because the legal position was not sufficiently strong to mount a successful campaign. In 1979 the Grand Union Canal Society was worried that nature conservation lobbying might lead to the arm being closed to boats completely, so it organised a campaign cruise to Little Tringford Pumping Station, the head of navigation at the time. By 1985 there was enough interest in reviving the arm that a separate Wendover Arm Group was formed, which included members from the Grand Union Canal Society, the Inland Waterways Association, the Aylesbury Canal Society and representatives from local boat clubs. They planned a two-stage project, involving first the section from Tringford Pumping Station to Aston Clinton, where the A41 road crossed, with a second stage covering the remainder of the route into Wendover. In 1986 the group published a report called Water to Wendover, to highlight its plans. Their position was strengthened in 1988 when the Department of Transport announced that the Aston Clinton bypass would include a navigable culvert where the new road would cross the arm. This led to the formation of the Wendover Arm Trust, and the identification of the arm by the Inland Waterways Association as one of the ten restoration schemes most likely to benefit from its backing. In February 1989 the Wendover Trust was formed as a charitable trust with the aim of restoring and promoting the canal. The organisation is also registered as a private company limited by guarantee with Companies House. The trust is funded primarily by donations (with some funding from British Waterways, now known as the Canal & River Trust). The major fund-raising activity was an annual canal festival which began in 1990; however a site is no longer available to run this, and new funding is being sought. Phase 1 of the restoration involved the first of the canal from Bulbourne Junction () to Little Tring Farm (). Major engineering work included the refurbishment of the stop lock, and the construction of a winding basin at the terminus, to allow boats to turn round. Between the two, Little Tring Road crossed the course of the canal on an embankment which was constructed in 1973 when the original bridge was demolished. This was replaced by a new reinforced concrete bridge, built to a traditional design, which is faced with bricks to give it an authentic appearance. It was funded by the Wendover Arm Trust, and the award-winning bridge was completed by British Waterways in 2000–01 at a cost of £223,000. In 2003 the Association of Independent Navigation Authorities (AINA) published a report called Demonstrating the value of waterways, in which they outlined methods for assessing restoration projects, and their likely social and economic benefits. British Waterways produced a report in the following year, called Waterways 2025 – Our vision for the shape of the Waterways Network, which used many of the methods suggested by the AINA report to identify 18 restoration schemes which they thought might be completed before 2025, and which they would support. The Wendover Arm appeared in the list, but the report was abandoned two years later, after other groups claimed that not being included undermined their ability to raise funds. The Phase 1 project was completed on 28 March 2005, when the refurbished section between Tringford stop lock and the new winding basin was opened. Construction had been finished in November 2004, and the new section was re-watered during March 2005. The total cost of this phase was £400,340. Phase 2 involves a dry section from Little Tring to Drayton Beauchamp (), and includes the navigable culvert under the Aston Clinton bypass. Original plans drawn up in the late 1990s for converting the A41 to a dual carriageway and bypassing Aston Clinton included a low level crossing of the canal, which would have prevented restoration. However, negotiations resulted in the Highways Authority funding a diversion of the canal to a point where there was sufficient headroom for navigation. The Trust argued that an pipe to carry away rain water from the road would be insufficient in storm conditions, and that excavating of new canal would be a better solution. The old route of the canal has become a reed bed, acting as a settling pond for water from the road, before it joins the new channel. British Waterways funded restoration of a further through Drayton Beauchamp bridge, where repairs to the feeder pipeline which runs along the bottom of the canal were needed to prevent flooding in the village. The pipeline will not be needed once the work is completed. However it will remain in place under the canal, and is having to be capped with concrete to prevent the restored canal collapsing into it. As work proceeds, the channel is being re-profiled, and then lined with Bentomat liner, which consists of a layer of Bentonite clay sandwiched between two layers of geotextile. Concrete blocks have been laid over the liner on the side walls of the channel, with turf above water level. As each new section is re-profiled, the spoil removed is used to cover the bed of the canal on the previous section to a depth of . While the phase one section is navigable by broad-beamed boats, the phase two section will only accommodate narrow boats. The re-profiled channel has sloping sides, which benefit wildlife but do not allow mooring, and so three mooring recesses have been built. Around of this section were rewatered at Easter 2015, and although water levels were initially kept lower than the design depth, the channel successfully held water for the first time in 120 years. The rewatered section runs eastwards from Drayton Beauchamp, rather than connecting to the section which is already navigable, and a further was expected to be rewatered during 2016. To speed up progress, the Trust considered using contractors for some of the work, and in November 2015 submitted a bid for a grant of £1.9 million to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Phase 3, from Drayton Beauchamp via Buckland Wharf () and Halton () to Wendover (), requires major engineering work to three road bridges. This section has never been de-watered but is environmentally sensitive. The channel will require dredging, with work to improve the towpath and probably to raise and strengthen some of the banks. The canal passes the site of Aston Clinton House, owned by Sir Anthony de Rothschild and his descendants from 1853 to 1923, and subsequently used as a school and hotel. The property and its grounds were acquired by Buckinghamshire County Council between 1959 and 1967, and the house was demolished, to be replaced by Green Park Training Centre. This location has been suggested as a site for a trailboat festival in 2020. The canal ends at a wider section, which was the location of Wendover Wharf, beyond which is a gauging station on the feeder supplying the canal. The water supply for the canal originates to the south of Wendover in surface springs and artesian wells near Wellhead Farm and the grade II* listed church of St Mary, which is constructed of flint rubble and blocks of stone. Much of it dates from the fourteenth century, although it was heavily restored in 1839 and 1869. The water flows northwards through the town, past a former water mill, which was operational until 1923, but was converted into a house between 1929 and 1931. It enters Wendover Basin, the start of the canal, where the flow is monitored by a gauging station. Records of the flows exist for the period between 1841 and 1897, and from 1963 onwards, making it the earliest known set of such records in the United Kingdom. The canal runs in a northerly direction, with a towpath on the western bank, and is crossed by a footbridge at the site of the branch line to Halton Camp. The start of a channel which connects the canal to Weston Turville reservoir is marked by a paddle on the towpath. The reservoir, which is a designated nature reserve, covers , and is used for fishing and by Aylesbury Boat Club for sailing. The canal loops around the east and north of the village of Halton, passing under Perch bridge and Halton bridge, after which it runs in a generally north-easterly direction. There is a footpath on both sides of the canal at this point. As it reaches the edge of RAF Halton, there is a grade II listed bridge made of ornamental ironwork, with piers of ashlar stone and brick. Halton House is a large country house, built between 1881 and 1883 for Alfred de Rothschild, which has been used as an officers mess since 1919. At Harelane bridge, the footpath on the left bank stops, and the towpath continues on the right bank. On the opposite side to the towpath is Green Park, once the grounds of Aston Clinton house, where there is a wharf, and a swing bridge once gave access from the grounds to the towpath. The next crossing is Bucklandwharf Bridge, which carries the former A41 road, and the towpath crosses back to the left hand bank at this location. Just beyond it is an accommodation bridge, which allows residents to reach a row of cottages. As the canal approaches the A41 bypass, the old bed has been turned into a reedbed, to filter the runoff from the road before it enters the canal. A paddle controls the flow into the canal, which has been diverted to the south, to pass under the road where it is at a higher level. Beyond the crossing, the channel rejoins its original course, and continues to Drayton Beauchamp bridge. The section beyond the bridge contained the culvert to maintain the flow to Tringford pumping station, some of which has now been rewatered, and is the location for the current restoration work by the Wendover Arm Trust. The canal crosses the border between Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, and then there are two wooden footbridges, erected in 2007 to provide easier access to the canal bed while it was being restored. The second one is on the site of a swing bridge which carried a road from Tring to Wilstone reservoir. Between them, the remains of Whitehouses wharf and pumping station have been excavated. Part of the canal was filled with rubbish in the early twentieth century by the local authority, and was excavated by bottle collectors before restoration began. There is no towpath on a short section to Little Tring bridge, but walkers can follow a minor road to rejoin the canal, which is navigable at this point. A public footpath follows the right bank for most of the way to Gamnel Bridge, but leaves the canal to join the B488 road at Tring. A permissive path runs along the left bank, passing the grade II listed Tring pumping station, Heygates flour mill, and the site of Bushell's Boat Yard. This is the only part of the canal which was built on an embankment, rather than following the contours of the land. Gamnel Bridge dates from 1797, and is a narrow hump- backed bridge, constructed of brown bricks with a red brick arch and blue brick decoration and copings. To the left of the final section is Tring Sewage Treatment Works, built in the late nineteenth century by the Urban District Council, assisted by funding from Nathan and Emma Rothschild. Its outflow normally supplements the water in the canal. However, between July 2012 and April 2013, the inlet screens failed to operate correctly on several occasions, and the canal became polluted with sewage sludge and debris. The Environment Agency prosecuted the operators, Thames Water, who were fined £1 million, the largest fine ever imposed for such a prosecution. Thames Water subsequently replaced the inlet screens at a cost of £30,000. The Arm joins the main line of the Grand Union canal at a footbridge which carries the towpath, next to which is a toll house. To the north, the main line starts its descent through the Marsworth locks, while to the south it continues on the level to Bulbourne and beyond. Wendover Arm Trust The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. Its main line starts in London and ends in Birmingham, stretching for with 166 locks. It has arms to places including Leicester, Slough, Aylesbury, Wendover and Northampton. The Grand Union Canal was also the original name for part of what is now part of the Leicester Line of the modern Grand Union: this latter is now generally referred to as the Old Grand Union Canal to avoid ambiguity. With competition from the railways having taken a large share of traffic in the second half of the 19th century, improvements in roads and vehicle technology in the early part of the 20th century meant that the lorry was also becoming a threat to the canals. Tolls had been reduced to compete with the railways, but there was little scope for further reduction. The Regent's Canal and the Grand Junction Canal agreed that amalgamation and modernisation were the only way to remain competitive. The Grand Union Canal in its current form came into being on 1 January 1929, and was further extended in 1932. It was formed from the amalgamation of several different canals, and at ( when excluding the shared line with the Oxford Canal), is by far the longest merged canal in the UK, whilst the Leeds & Liverpool Canal for being and having parts of the now-extinct southern end of the Lancaster Canal, is considered the longest single Canal in the UK: London area Regent's Canal – original company, Hertford Union Canal – bought by the Regent's Canal in 1857 Main Line Warwick and Napton Canal – bought by the Regent's Canal in 1927, Warwick and Birmingham Canal – bought by the Regent's Canal in 1927, Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal – bought by the Regent's Canal in 1927, Grand Junction Canal – bought by the Regent's Canal in 1927 Leicester Line Old Grand Union Canal – bought by the Grand Junction in 1894, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal – bought by the Grand Junction in 1894, Leicester Navigation – bought by the Grand Union in 1932, Loughborough Navigation – bought by the Grand Union in 1932, Erewash Canal – bought by the Grand Union in 1932 A 5-mile (8-km) section of the Oxford Canal forms the main line of the Grand Union between Braunston and Napton. Although the Grand Union intended to buy the Oxford Canal and Coventry Canal, this did not take place. The section of the main line between Brentford and Braunston (formerly the Grand Junction Canal), was built as a 'wide' or 'broad' canal – that is, its locks were wide enough to accommodate two narrowboats abreast (side by side) or a single wide barge up to in beam. However, the onward sections from Braunston to Birmingham had been built as 'narrow' canals – that is, the locks could accommodate only a single narrowboat. An Act of Parliament of 1931 was passed authorising a key part of the modernisation scheme of the Grand Union, supported by Government grants. The narrow locks (and several bridges) between Napton and Camp Hill Top Lock in Birmingham were rebuilt to take widebeam boats or barges up to in beam, or two narrowboats. The canal was dredged and bank improvements carried out: the depth was increased to to allow heavier cargoes, and the minimum width increased to to enable two boats of 12 feet 6 inches to pass. Lock works were completed in 1934 when the Duke of Kent opened the new broad locks at Hatton, and other improvements finished by 1937. However, these improvements to depth and width were never carried out between Braunston and London. Camp Hill Locks in Birmingham were not widened, as it would have been very expensive and of little point, since they lead only to further flights of locks not in the ownership of the Grand Union. A new basin and warehouse were constructed at Tyseley, above Camp Hill, to deal with this. Although the Grand Union company had a number of broad boats built to take advantage of the improvements, they never really caught on and the canal continued to be operated largely by pairs of narrow boats, whose journeys were facilitated by the newly widened locks in which they could breast up. The three sections between Norton junction and the River Trent (collectively known as the 'Leicester line') are mixed in size. From Norton to Foxton, the route is a narrow canal. From below Foxton to Leicester it is a wide canal. From Leicester to the Trent, the route is effectively the River Soar and the locks and bridges are wide. Another Act of 1931 authorised the widening of the locks at Watford and Foxton, but with Government grants for this section not forthcoming, the work was not carried out. The Grand Union Canal was nationalised in 1948, control transferring to the British Transport Commission, and in 1962 to the British Waterways Board, later British Waterways. Commercial traffic continued to decline, effectively ceasing in the 1970s, though lime juice was carried from Brentford to Boxmoor until 1981, and aggregates on the River Soar until 1996. However, leisure traffic took over, and the canal is now as busy as it ever was, with leisure boating complemented by fishing, towpath walking and gongoozling. More recently freight traffic has returned with the carriage of aggregates from Denham to West Drayton in barges and narrow boats, and the opening of a new wharf for re-cyclables and aggregates at Old Oak Common. One end of the Grand Union Canal (Grand Junction Canal – Main Line) is at Brentford on the River Thames in west London, where the canal follows the engineered course of the Brent. The double Thames Lock at Brentford separates the Tideway administered by the Port of London Authority from the River Brent/Grand Union Canal, administered by the Canal & River Trust. The locks on the canal are partially numbered: numbered consecutively south of its turn-off for Leicester, Braunston Junction. Thames Lock is lock number 101. For more than upstream of Thames Lock, the canal and the Brent are one and the same, and the waterway is semi-tidal until the double Gauging Lock (lock 100) at Brentford. Just upstream of the Gauging Lock was a large canal basin, now known as Brentford Lock, from which the canal covers more distance passing through two more locks. The river and canal part at the base of the Hanwell flight of locks (92–97), before two more locks take the canal to Norwood Green. It then heads westward over level ground through Southall, Hayes and West Drayton until it reaches the gentle valley of the Colne. Three miles (5 km) from Norwood on this long level is Bulls Bridge Junction, once the site of the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company's main dockyard. At Bulls Bridge, the Paddington Arm branches off to the north and runs to join the Regents Canal at Little Venice (see below). Just before Uxbridge is Cowley Peachey Junction, where the Slough Arm branches off westward. At suburban Cowley, before the 1930s a rural village, the canal begins to climb the valley of the River Colne north north-west into the adjoining town of Uxbridge. After Denham and Harefield villages, it passes to the south of Rickmansworth. Here it merges with the Rivers Chess, Colne and Gade. After Rickmansworth, the canal follows the valley of the Gade, passing the site of Croxley paper mill. The canal skirts Watford through Cassiobury Park, passing under the M25 motorway as it approaches Kings Langley. Locks become more frequent as the climb into the Chiltern Hills steepens. The original four locks here were replaced in 1819 by five shallower ones to alleviate problems with water supply to the nearby paper mills. This realigned the canal to the south of its former course; the locks here are still referred to – without irony – as "The New 'Uns" by traditional boaters, and the term has been passed on to a new generation of canal users. After Kings Langley and Apsley – the site of more former paper mills – the canal passes the town Hemel Hempstead and Boxmoor Common. From here the canal follows the course of the River Bulbourne through Bourne End with the well-known swingbridge at Winkwell, and the "Port of Berkhamsted, a small compact town". At Cow Roast Lock the canal reaches the 3-mile (5-km) summit at Tring in the Chiltern hills, having risen through 54 locks since Brentford. At the north-west end of the summit level is Bulbourne Works, where lock gates were manufactured until 2003 for the southern canal network. Half a mile (800 m) further on, the canal reaches the top of the Marsworth flight of seven locks, which begin the descent to the Vale of Aylesbury. A Wendover Arm branches off westwards from the summit level under a bridge adjacent to Marsworth Top Lock and is currently navigable for just over a mile to moorings and a winding hole; it has restoration project to extend it back to Wendover. This part of the canal in parlance used by natives and canal staff was "the withered arm" and in fact was only really "opened" to allow the pumping station there to pump water into the uppermost level. A few hundred metres beyond the bottom lock of the flight, the Aylesbury Arm branches off to the south west. The Grand Union crosses the wide valley gradually, descending by interspersed locks past the villages of Cheddington, Horton and Slapton until it reaches Leighton Buzzard. Traditionally this section of the canal is called "Slapton Fields" or just "The Fields" by boaters. A few miles further on it enters Milton Keynes at the outskirts of Bletchley at Fenny Stratford Lock, which is unusual in lowering the level by only . The next stretch of is on the level. A 21st century plan (see below) to dig a new arm from here to the Great Ouse at Bedford. North of the centre, it traverses the modern New Bradwell Aqueduct, the first on the Grand Union in over 100 years. Leaving Milton Keynes at Wolverton, the canal runs on a high embankment before passing over the Great Ouse at Cosgrove "Iron Trunk" aqueduct. After rising through Cosgrove Lock, (and passing the start of the abandoned Buckingham Arm) another long level section brings the canal to the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne flight of seven locks. At the top of this flight is the Stoke Bruerne Canal Museum followed shortly by Blisworth Tunnel, at one of the longest of UK canals. Once clear of the tunnel, the canal passes Blisworth village and reaches Gayton Junction where the Northampton Arm branches off to the east. This arm has 17 narrow locks as it descends to join the navigable River Nene (see below). The long level stretch continues past several villages including Nether Heyford and Weedon Bec and is very rural in character. At Whilton, the canal reaches the bottom of the Buckby flight of seven locks which raise it to Braunston summit the village of which parish is away. Beyond the top lock is Norton Junction where the Leicester line (not strictly a branch) heads off north. A few miles further on the canal passes through the 2040-yard (1865-m) Braunston Tunnel, which pierces a low range of hills that are part of the Northamptonshire uplands. The canal then drops down the Braunston flight of six locks until it reaches Braunston Junction having covered just over . At Braunston Junction, the Oxford Canal diverges north and south. The north section leads to Rugby and Coventry; the southward fork carries both the Oxford Canal and the Grand Union for to Napton Junction. Here, the Grand Union heads north towards Birmingham, while the Oxford Canal veers south towards Banbury and Oxford. Shortly after Napton Junction, the Grand Union reaches three locks at Calcutt, which begin the descent to the Warwickshire River Avon. After a 3-mile (5-km) level, the canal descends into the valley of the River Leam by the Stockton flight of 10 locks (often known as 'the Itchington Ten'). Above the eighth lock down the flight, a short arm (now used as pleasure craft moorings) used to serve Southam cement works. From the bottom of the locks, a 3-mile (5-km) level leads to the four Bascote locks. The top two form a 'riser' or staircase. Six more interspersed locks lead to Radford, after which a 5-mile (8-km) level takes the canal through Leamington Spa to Warwick. Between these two towns, the canal crosses the River Avon and the former Great Western Railway on aqueducts. At Warwick, the canal rises by two locks to Budbrooke Junction (formerly the junction with the then-independent Warwick and Birmingham Canal). To the left is the restored Saltisford Canal Arm, a short stretch that used to run under the railway to the original canal basin complex and terminus of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal – the basin was filled-in in the 1970s. The canal used to serve the oldest gas works in the world and several unusual hexagonal buildings remain opposite Sainsbury's. After half a mile the mainline reaches the bottom of the Hatton flight of 21 locks that lift the canal up out of the Avon Valley. The first 10 locks are spaced out but from the middle lock the flight is tightly spaced. Three miles (5 km) from Hatton Top Lock the canal passes through Shrewley Tunnel, with its separate horse tunnel, and then passes Rowington village to Kingswood Junction where a short spur connects with the Stratford-upon-Avon Canal. Another lead to the Knowle flight of five locks. Finally, an 11-mile (18-km) level takes the canal through Elmdon Heath, Solihull, Acocks Green and Tyseley to the heart of Birmingham. The main line may be considered to terminate at Bordesley Junction. From here, there are two routes, both part of the Grand Union Canal. The original line of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal leads to the Digbeth Branch Canal of the Birmingham Canal Navigations at the Warwick Bar, while the later line of the Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal leads to the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (and Tame Valley Canal) at Salford Junction, which in turn has connections to the Coventry Canal and the Trent and Mersey Canal. Formed by amalgamations of once-independent canals, the 'Leicester Line' of the Grand Union Canal runs north from Norton Junction for about until it reaches Leicester, where it joins the River Soar to provide a link to the River Trent and to the Trent and Mersey Canal. It includes tunnels south of Crick and north of Husbands Bosworth The village of Crick is home to a popular annual boat show. The stretch of the canal that passes through the centre of Leicester is known as the 'Mile Straight' and is home to Leicester Rowing Club, a rowing and sculling club. The club hosts regattas on a stretch co- running with the Soar, typically held in mid-April by over 100 crews over a course. Also on this section are the Foxton Locks and Watford Locks, both staircase locks. Beside Foxton locks is the site of a long-abandoned inclined plane boat lift. This was constructed as part of a project to create a wide- beam canal route to connect the northern and southern parts of the canal system, something which does not exist to this day. Funding to deal with the narrow locks at Watford was not forthcoming and the scheme was aborted. The canal north of Foxton Junction is wide-beam to Leicester and onwards. It was originally intended to build a canal at this width all the way to the River Nene at Northampton. However, that canal never went further than the basin at Market Harborough. The Leicester Line continues along the River Soar Navigation, and reaches the River Trent at Soar Mouth, north of Ratcliffe-on- Soar. It is possible to continue to the Trent and Mersey Canal, Coventry Canal and North Oxford Canal, to complete a circuit known as the Leicester Ring. The Grand Union Canal has six main branches, usually termed 'arms'. Paddington Arm or Branch Five miles (8 km) from Brentford, the Paddington Arm runs circuitously on the flat to a lock and a junction with the Regent's Canal, the latter running north and east of Central London. The triangular basin formed by the junction is called Little Venice, Maida Vale. The Arm's final 500 m runs south-east to Paddington Basin. Slough Arm From Cowley Peachey, the Slough Arm runs to the west. Wendover and Aylesbury Arms From Marsworth, about by canal from Brentford, two arms diverge: one to Wendover (currently in-part navigable as being restored by the Wendover Arm Trust;) the other descends through 16 narrow locks for to Aylesbury. Northampton Arm From Gayton Junction, about from Brentford, the Northampton Arm links with the River Nene. Saltisford Canal Arm, Warwick At Warwick the northern-most branch off of the Grand Union Canal (also known by regular users as the "GU"), the Saltisford Canal Arm begins. The restored arm is close to the centre of Warwick. It was originally the main line of the Warwick and Birmingham Canal, 1799, leading to the terminus and a basin with wharfs for timber. When the Warwick and Napton Canal opened, this bypassed channel remained as the town's wharf. The Saltisford Canal Trust have restored most of the surviving canal, 1990-2015, such as installing long lengths of sheet piling and restoring a warehouse in 2007. Its last were lost in the 1970s saving a disused road bridge that stands isolated in a car park. Warwick's narrowboat moorings are on the Arm by a public park partly in view of the Castle. Over 800 visiting narrowboats cruise to Warwick each year and moor on the arm. The Leicester Line has two modest arms of its own, see Grand Union Canal (old). The Bedford and Milton Keynes Partnership (B&MK;) plans to build a canal connecting the Grand Union at Milton Keynes to the River Great Ouse at Bedford at an estimated cost of £170 million. The project is supported by British Waterways (and its successor, the Canal & River Trust), the Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust, other waterways campaign groups, and also local councils. The first element of the canal is an underpass under the A421, completed in 2009 and efforts are continuing to obtain funding to complete the scheme in 'bite-size chunks'. The new waterway would create a new cruising ring connecting through from the Grand Union to the waterways of East Anglia which are beneficial to leisure cruising as boat hirers are able to take circular routes. The project was first discussed in 1810 when its promoters included Samuel Whitbread. From Milton Keynes, the canal is planned to pass beneath the M1 utilising an existing cattle creep, then cross over Brogborough Hill, and across the Marston Vale through to the River Great Ouse in Kempston. The Buckingham Arm once ran from Cosgrove, Northamptonshire to Buckingham. It was built as an arm of the Grand Junction Canal, in two separate phases, opening in 1800 and 1801. It was disused from 1932, but was not finally abandoned until 1964. It is now the subject of a restoration project. The predecessor to the Canal and River Trust, British Waterways, received mild financial support indications from the two local authorities covering Slough and Eton, Berkshire to extend the Slough Arm to join the Thames, via any course i.e. covering a minimum ; the 2008-estimated cost was £30 million. The trust confirmed in 2012 this remains a long-term objective, to be actioned when the economic conditions allow. List of canals of the United Kingdom, Grand Union Canal 145 mile Race, Wendover Arm Canal Map of the Grand Union Canal and River Trust

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Figure skating has been part of the Olympic Games since 1908 and has been included in 25 Olympic Games. There have been 271 medals (91 gold, 90 silver, and 90 bronze) awarded to figure skaters representing 29 representing National Olympic Committees (NOCs). Six events have been contested but one, men's special figures, was discontinued after a single Olympics. The team event is the newest Olympic figure skating event, first contested in the 2014 Games. It combines the four Olympic figure skating disciplines (men's singles, ladies' singles, pairs, and ice dance) into a single event with the team earning the most placement points winning gold. German figure skater Maxi Herber is the youngest Olympic figure skating champion (at the age of 15 years and 128 days) when she won gold in pair skating together with Ernst Baier at the 1936 Winter Olympics. American figure skater Scott Allen is the youngest Olympic medalist in figure skating. He won the bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics two days before his 15th birthday. Finnish figure skater Walter Jakobsson is the oldest Olympic figure skating champion. At age 38, he won the gold medal with his partner Ludowika Jakobsson at the 1920 Olympics. British figure skater Edgar Syers is the oldest Olympic medalist in figure skating. At age 45, he won the bronze medal with his wife Madge Syers at the 1908 Olympics. The following lists show the Olympic medalists in figure skating ordered by the age of the skater, or by the average age of the two skaters. The following lists show the top 10 youngest female and male Olympic figure skating champions ordered by the age of the skater. The following lists show the top 10 youngest female and male Olympic medalists in figure skating ordered by the age of the skater. The following lists show the top 10 oldest female and male Olympic figure skating champions ordered by the age of the skater. The following lists show the top 10 oldest female and male Olympic medalists in figure skating ordered by the age of the skater. Figure skating at the Olympic Games, List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, World Figure Skating Championships, Major achievements in figure skating by nation General International Skating Union's Skater Biographies (accessed August 3, 2010). This page is a gateway to listings, by discipline, of the official biographies submitted to the ISU from their most recent year of competition under ISU jurisdiction. It does not list most skaters who competed prior to 2000., , ISU – Olympic Games Figure Skating results:, 1908–2002 Men Ladies Pairs Ice dance, 2006 2010 2014 2018 Specific International Skating Union Tara Kristen Lipinski (born June 10, 1982) is an American former competitive figure skater, actor, and sports commentator. A former competitor in ladies' singles, she is the 1998 Olympic champion, the 1997 World champion, a two-time Champions Series Final champion (1997–1998), and the 1997 U.S. national champion. She was until 2019, the youngest skater to win a U.S. Nationals, the youngest skater to win a World Figure Skating title, and was the youngest to win an Olympic gold medal. She is the first women to complete a triple loop- triple loop combination, her signature jump, in competition. Lipinski retired from competitive figure skating in 1998. She won every competition she entered during her professional career and was the youngest skater to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships. She performed in over 300 live shows before retiring from figure skating in 2002. Lipinski, along with sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friend Johnny Weir, commentated for skating in two Olympics; they became NBC's primary figure skating commentators in 2014. Tara Lipinski was born on June 10, 1982 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the only child of Patricia (née Brozyniak) and oil executive and lawyer Jack Lipinski. She spent her earliest years in Sewell, New Jersey. All four of her grandparents were born in Poland. When Lipinski was 2, while watching the 1984 Summer Olympics, she stood on a Tupperware bowl and pretended to be a gold medalist. At the age of 3, she began roller skating; when she was 9 years old, she became a national champion in her age group. She began figure skating when she was 9, transferring her skills to the ice rink, later switching exclusively to figure skating and taking lessons at the University of Delaware. In 1991, Lipinski's father received a job promotion, so the family moved to Sugar Land, Texas near Houston. She trained at the Houston Galleria, an upscale mall with a public rink. Two years later, in 1993, her father stayed in Texas to support the family and Lipinski and her mother moved back to Delaware to resume her training there with coach Jeff DiGregorio, who worked with Lipinski, on and off, for three years before their move to Texas. In 1995, Lipinski and her mother moved to Bloomfield, Michigan to train with coach Richard Callaghan at the Detroit Skating Club. In 1994, Lipinski earned a silver medal in the novice women's division at the 1994 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. When she was 12, she became the youngest athlete to win a gold medal at the 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival and took first place in her first international competition, the Blue Swords in Chemnitz, Germany. According to Cosmopolitan Magazine, the media began to notice Lipinski after Blue Swords in November 1995. As a junior skater, she came in fourth place at the 1995 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and with six triples in her long program, second place at the 1995 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. In late 1995, she placed fifth at the 1996 World Junior Figure Skating Championships; according to the Washington Post, the competition marked "the end of the relationship between the Lipinskis and DiGregorio". After what sports writer E.M. Swift called a "whirlwind coaching tour", when Lipinski and her mother interviewed and took sample lessons from figure skating coaches around the country, they hired Richard Callaghan. In January 1996, Lipinski won a bronze medal as a senior-level skater at the 1996 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She closed out the 1995—1996 season and gained international attention by qualifying for the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships. In what figure skating historian James Hines called "a disappointing first outing", she placed 22nd after the short program, but her long program, which included seven triple jumps and which Sports Illustrated called "sparkling", brought her up to 15th place. Lipinski and Callaghan spent the next year making her "appear more mature"; she enrolled in ballet classes and hired choreographer Sandra Bezic to "create programs for Lipinski that expressed delight yet looked adult". In late 1996, she added the triple loop-triple loop combination, which became her signature jump and added technical difficulty to her programs. She became the first women to complete the combination in competition. Lipinski competed in the ISU Champions Series (later renamed the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating) during the 1996—1997 season; she came in second at Skate Canada, third at Trophée Lalique, and second at the 1996 Nations Cup. She won the gold medal at the Champion Series final and defeated Michelle Kwan by completing more successful jumps in her short and free programs. In February 1997, at the age of 14, with her signature triple loop-triple loop combination, Lipinski became the youngest skater to win a U.S. Nationals title. She broke the record made by Sonya Klopfer, who was 15 when she won U.S. Nationals in 1951. She defeated Kwan, Nationals champion in 1996, who won the short program, but left the door open for Lipinski's victory when she fell twice and landed only four out of seven of her planned triples during her long program. Skating last, Lipinski had to come in first in the free skate, which she did by skating a clean program, with seven triple jumps, including "a history-making triple loop- triple-loop combination". According to Swift, the 1997 U.S. Nationals was the start of the Kwan-Lipinski rivalry. A month later, Lipinski came in first place at the 1997 World Figure Skating Championships and became the youngest female skater to win at Worlds. She was a month younger than the previous record holder, Sonya Henie from Norway, when Henie won the first of 10 World Championships in 1927. Lipinski completed seven triple jumps, as she had done at the U.S. Nationals and the Champion Series final and came in first place after the short program. She also completed two double axels, which one rival coach said had little elevation. Her artistic marks were mostly 5.7 or 5.8, and according to the Associated Press, were "in line" with her technical scores. Three out of four judges gave her higher artistic scores than technical scores. Reporter Jere Longman of The New York Times called Lipinski's free skate "a light, airy performance" and said she was "composed and nearly flawless". Longman reported that Lipinski opened with a double axel, and included a triple flip and her "signature triple-loop, triple-loop combination". She received 5.8's and 5.9's in her technical scores and a 5.7 and 5.8 for her presentation scores. The final results after the free skate were close; Longman stated that the judges were unable to declare a clear winner of the free skate. Lipinski, Kwan (who was fourth after the short program), and Russian skater Irina Slutskaya all received first-place votes. In what Swift called "a split decision", Kwan's free skate came in first place because she had more first- and second-place votes, and Lipinski came in first place overall because she received more second-place votes in the free skate than Slutskaya. Longman reported that if two more judges had placed Slutskaya before Lipinski after the free skate, Kwan would have won the competition but instead came in second place. It was the first time the U.S. finished first and second at Worlds since 1992, when Kristi Yamaguchi won the gold medal and Nancy Kerrigan won the silver medal. Between seasons, Lipinski grew two inches and turned 15 years old. She went into the 1997—1998 season by continuing to add more "sophistication" to her routines, by improving her artistry, and by taking daily dance classes from Russian ballet teacher Marina Sheffer. She selected film scores for both her short program and free skate, both of which were choreographed by Sandra Bezic. According to writer Ellyn Kestnbaum, the American press played up "the Kwan-Lipinski rivalry for all it was worth". At Skate America, Kwan defeated Lipinski for the first time in four competitions and won the gold medal. Lipinski came in second place after Kwan in both her short program and free skate and took second place over all. Despite performing more difficult jumps than Kwan during her short program, Lipinski received "consistently lower" required element scores. During her free skate, in "an otherwise strong and technically difficult performance", she fell while performing a triple-lutz combination jump. According to Kestnbaum, Callaghan "expressed bewilderment in why the judges had so marked down the reigning world champion, who by virtue of that position might otherwise have been expected to receive the benefit of any doubt". Lipinski came in second place at Trophée Lalique, behind French skater Laetitia Hubert, who had not won a major competition since the 1992 World Junior Championships, and who had come in eleventh place at her previous competition. Lipinski was tied for fourth place in standings coming into the Champion Series final. She came in first place, skating her first clean program of the season. Kwan, although she was eligible, withdrew from the finals due to injuries. Mike Penner, a writer from the L.A. Times, reported that both Lipinski and Callaghan were concerned about what they considered unfair treatment by the judges at the Champion Series that season, who gave her lower technical scores than the previous season, as low as 5.3, for "an incorrectly launched lutz". Callaghan told Penner that the judges told him that Lipinski regularly performed her lutz jumps from the inside edge of her blade instead of from the correct outside edge, something skaters called "the flutz". Lipinski and Callaghan disputed the judges' scoring of her jumps, stating that she had performed them the same way the previous season, when she won both Worlds and the U.S. Nationals. Kestnbaum reported that Lipinski's lower scores were subject of several articles in major U.S. newspapers. According to reporter Nancy Armour of the Spokesman Review, Lipinski skated her season's best at the finals, "nailing her triple lutz". Lipinski came in second at the 1998 U.S. Figure Skating Championships; Kwan came in first place. She had "a devastating fall" after attempting a triple flip during her short program, which Lipinski called "the lowest point" of her career. Lipinski recovered enough from her short program to come behind from fourth place to second overall. She would have had to win the free skate and Kwan would have had to come in third place or lower for Lipinski to win the championship. She performed her free skate program "with determination". She completed all seven triple jumps, including her trademark triple loop-triple loop combination and a difficult triple toe loop-half loop-triple toe combination sequence. The judges awarded her all 5.8s and 5.9s, except for a pair of 5.7s for presentation. U.S. Figure Skating chose Kwan, Lipinski, and Nicole Bobek, who came in third place at Nationals, to send to the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Lipinski and Kwan came into the Olympics as "co- favorites" to win the gold medal. At the Olympics in Nagano, Kwan "easily" won the short program; eight of the nine judges put her in first place. Lipinski came in second place. Sports writer E.M. Swift called Lipinski's performance of her short program, which was technically more difficult than Kwan's, "luminous—fast and light and joyful". Lipinski's free skating program, with her triple loop-triple loop combination and seven triple jumps total, was the most technically difficult program in Olympic history. She received 5.8s and 5.9s in presentation scores. Kwan received all 5.9s in presentation scores, but she received lower technical scores than Lipinski. According to Washington Post reporter Amy Shipley, Kwan performed her free skate almost perfectly, other than "a bobble on a jump", and that Kwan "skated brilliantly and Lipinski skated better". According to Swift, Kwan's performance of her free skate "would have been enough to win at any other Olympics", but the judges, by awarding her with five 5.7s in her technical scores, left room for Lipinski to move ahead. Swift said that Lipinski "had a blast" skating her long program and "soared and spun with abandon, filling the [rink] with her joy". Like Kwan, she completed seven triples, but "the difference was her trademark triple loop-triple loop combination and a wonderful closing triple toe-half loop-triple Salchow sequence". Her jumps were not as big as Kwan's and her jump takeoffs "were not always ideal", but her landings were clean and according to Kestnbaum, seemed to increase in speed as she came out of them. Her spins were faster than Kwan's, but they were not as difficult and their positions were weaker. Kestnbaum also stated, "Nor did [Lipinski's] program demonstrate transitional steps as complex, stroking quality as nuanced, or body carriage and line as controlled and elegant". She was awarded 5.8s and 5.9s for her technical and artistic scores, and earned six out of nine first- place marks from the judges. Lipinski was the youngest Olympic gold medalist in figure skating history. She was the sixth American woman to win an Olympic gold medal. Kwan came in second, and Chinese skater Lu Chen was the "surprise bronze medal winner". Lipinski was two months younger than Sonja Henie when she came in first place at the Olympics in 1928, breaking a record that had stood for 70 years. It was the first time singles skaters from the same country won the gold and silver medals at the Olympics since Americans Tenley Albright and Carol Heiss did it in 1956. In March 1998, Lipinski announced her decision to withdraw from the 1998 World Figure Skating Championships, citing a serious glandular infection that required her to have two molars extracted, constant fatigue, and possible mononucleosis. In April, Lipinski announced her intention to turn professional in an interview on the Today Show, thus ending her eligibility to compete in the Olympics again. She cited a desire to end her family's separation caused by her skating career and to focus on other goals such as attending college in another two years. According to The New York Times, her decision "sent tremors through the Olympic figure skating community". According to skater Scott Hamilton, Lipinski "took an enormous amount of heat" for turning professional. He reported that USA Today criticized her decision, stating that she had taken "the easy way out" and compared it to "joining the circus". Lori Shontz of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believed that Lipinski was treated unfairly by the figure skating establishment after her decision to leave competitive skating. The Associated Press reported that in 1998, Lipinski's net worth, due to many endorsements and book deals, was "possibly as high as $12 million". She signed "an exclusive deal" with CBS to do some acting and to perform in skating shows and non-sanctioned competitions. She skated in over 300 live shows, including professional team competitions like Ice Wars on CBS. Also on CBS, Lipinski produced and starred in a two-hour special called "Tara Lipinski: From This Moment On". She won every competition she entered during her professional career. After the Olympics, Lipinski toured with Champions on Ice, visiting 90 U.S. cities. In August 1998, Lipinski ended her association with Champions on Ice, which she had performed with since 1995, and joined the cast of Stars on Ice in order to expand artistically and to participate in the company's group numbers, which were called "the highlight" of the tour. The Associated Press reported that Lipinski suffered from sore hips and an injured hip during rehearsals. In 1999, Lipinski performed with Stars on Ice for a second season and on the ISU-sanctioned Grand Slam of Figure Skating, became a spokeswoman for Boys and Girls Clubs of America and an anti-drug advocate, appeared on the soap opera The Young and the Restless, and acted in television shows for the Fox Family Network and Nickelodeon. She also became the youngest skater to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships, completing a triple flip, a triple toe loop, and a triple salchow in her free skating program. Denise Biellmann from Switzerland, who came in second place, said that Lipinski had improved in her artistry. Her scores consisted of two 10s, 11 9.9s, and one 9.8; she came in first by more than one point over Biellmann. In 2011, Lipinski reported that her hip surgery in 2000, at the age of 18, saved her career. Her injury, a torn labrum in her hip, had been misdiagnosed for four or five years, and that it had caused her a great deal of joint pain. She became a spokesperson to increase awareness about deep vein thrombosis (DVT), "a dangerous potential side effect of surgery". The injury, which may have occurred before the Nagano Olympics, became progressively worse until she was unable to tour. The surgery, which usually lasted 45 minutes, took 3 1/2 hours to complete because she was developing arthritis and because cartilage had grown over the bone. She was back on the ice seven days later for light practice with Stars on Ice. She was able to return to touring but had to withdraw from the 2000 World Professional Championships. In 2002, the Houston Chronicle reported that she toured 61 U.S. cities with Stars on Ice. In 2011, the Houston Chronicle reported that Lipinski retired from skating in 2002. Lipinski's skating influences were Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, and Christopher Bowman. Her skating style was often compared to her "rival" Michelle Kwan's; Jere Longman of The New York Times called Lipinski "the consistent Energizer bunny of a jumper", but called Kwan "the more sophisticated, complete artist". Frank Carroll, who coached Kwan, called Lipinski's style "wonderful" and said that she was "turning easy, jumping easy". Writer Ellyn Kestnbaum stated that compared to Kwan's "more carefully choreographed expressions of joy", Lipinski projected "unselfconsious and spontaneous joy in her own movement that projected a greater air of confidence and command of the space". Kestnbaum discussed Lipinski's skating technique in her book Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning, to illustrate women and girls' influence on figure skating. Kestnbaum stated, "Cynics and purists who valued the artistic possibilities of the sport or the fine points of skating technique complained that the judges who awarded Lipinski her gold medals were just counting the jumps and not paying attention to the quality of those jumps, much less to the quality of the rest of her skating". Kestnbaum used Lipinski as an example of how teenagers, especially teenage girls, dominated the sport, and how many in the press criticized the sport, and sometimes even Lipinski herself, for encouraging it. Her jumps, which Kestnbaum called "small and in some cases technically flawed", became a "topic of hot debate" in the press in 1997 and 1998. Kestnbaum said that Lipinski's early programs, choreographed by Sandra Bezik, emphasized her youth and femininity, but by the 1998 Olympics, they emphasized "greater polish or 'maturity' in her presentation skills". Jere Longman of The New York Times said that Lipinski "has propelled the sport forward with the difficulty of her jumps". E. M. Swift of Sports Illustrated said that although Lipinski was "not a great leaper", her spins were "so fast that she seems to dematerialize, like Tinkerbell, in the midst of her jumps". In March 1997, Swift stated that Lipinski had "musicality and poise that are far beyond her years", and although he admitted that she often suffered from nerves, she was "the complete skating package, if a diminutive one, and a pleasure to watch". In 2018, U.S. Figure Skating president Sam Auxier credited Lipinski for "raising the bar technically" and for increasing the level of complexity of Olympic skating. Lipinski spent a few years traveling and working "here and there" after her retirement from figure skating. She did some acting, but decided that, as she told Cosmopolitan in 2018, that it "just wasn't my thing". In 2009, longing for the "high" she felt as a figure skater, she contacted U.S. Figure Skating's streaming service Ice Network and offered to work as a commentator for competitions. She began commentating for Universal Sports in 2010 and transitioned to NBC and NBC Sports in 2011, where she covered almost every international figure skating competition broadcast by the network. For competitions not broadcast live, she would call figure skating from studios in the U.S., instead of from the competition venue. She also became a special correspondent for Extra and covered skating for WDIV in Detroit and WHDH in Boston. In 2014, Lipinski teamed with sports commentator Terry Gannon and fellow figure skater and good friend Johnny Weir at the Sochi Olympics as the network's second team of figure skating commentators for their daily live broadcasts. At first Lipinski worked with Gannon during the women's events, and Weir worked with Gannon during the men's events. After realizing they worked well together and after recognizing their "instant chemistry", they pitched the idea of the three working together to NBC; Lipinski stated that it "was sort of meant to be". According to sports writer Tom Weir, "they had instant comedic harmony, with their casual chatter and humorous asides playing amazingly well against the staunch and exacting backdrop of figure skating". Tom Weir also reported that the trio had generated the 10 best weekday daytime audiences in NBC's history. In September 2014, Lipinski, Weir, and Gannon were promoted to NBC's primary figure skating commentators, replacing Scott Hamilton, Sandra Bezic, and Tom Hammond. Lipinski and Weir were hired by NBC's Access Hollywood in 2014, to analyze fashion during the red carpet at the Oscars. She served as "a fashion, lifestyle, and social media correspondent" for NBC Sports, including, with Weir, the Beverly Hills Dog Show in 2017, the National Dog Show every year since 2015 (with Weir in 2015—2016 and 2019), the Kentucky Derby in 2014—2017 and 2018 (as "fashion and lifestyle experts" in 2016), and pre-game coverage for the Super Bowl in 2015 and 2017. They were named "culture correspondents" for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Lipinski, along with Weir and Gannon, was an analyst at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She stated that she had worked for ten years to commentate during prime time during the Olympics. Lipinski, Weir, and Gannon were also slotted to host the closing ceremonies in Pyeongchang. According to the Houston Chronicle, Lipinski approached broadcasting "with passion, vigor and an arduous work ethic similar to what she brought to the ice". She spent hundreds of hours researching skaters. Her broadcasting influences were Peggy Fleming and Dick Button. She called her broadcasting career her "second dream". In 2018, she told Entertainment Tonight, "I feel extremely grateful that Johnny and I have found this spot in our world, and it gives us opportunities outside of skating". In 2018, the Washington Post reported that viewers' response to Lipinski and Weir were mixed; some considered them "Olympic darlings—a one-stop shop for knowledge, sass and brass", while others found them "mean, obnoxious, and distracting". Scott Hamilton, who was replaced at NBC by Lipinski, Weir, and Gannon, called them a "phenomenon" and "such a breath of fresh air". GQ called their commentating style "a Gladwell-ian ability to demystify figure skating for the uninitiated and an extreme candor for which they've caught some heat". Lipinski and Weir's commentating style was honest and colorful; they used bantering and avoided "fluffy, polished performances". They tried to present figure skating in an accessible way to their viewers, keeping the more technical aspects of the sport to a minimum but emphasizing its "gossipy nuances". Tom Weir reported that Dick Button told Olympic reporters he thought Lipinski and Weir were "excellent", but that Lipinski "might talk a little too much", although Tom Weir stated that when skaters were "elegant and error- free", both Lipinski and Weir had "the good sense to stay silent". Lipinski is Catholic; she had a devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux since 1994. Lipinski credited St. Therese for her Olympic win in 1998 and the recovery from her hip surgery in 2000. She wore a necklace with a good-luck charm, given to her by her uncle, that said, "Short, but good", as well as a medal of St. Therese, given to her by Rev. Vince Kolo, a Catholic priest from Pittsburgh, during the Olympics. She thanked St. Therese at the kiss and cry after her short program in Nagano, and her coach held a small statue of St. Therese during her long program. Lipinski would also place a statue of the saint on the boards before every competition. A few months after the Nagano Olympics, she donated her medal and costume to an exhibit. Ann Rogers-Melnick of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported in 2001 that Lipinski had established a playroom in Saint Therese's honor in the children's ward in a Detroit hospital. Lipinski told Rogers-Melnick that roses, a symbol of St. Therese, had "always appeared at her best and worst moments". In June 2017, after two years of dating, Lipinski married sports producer Todd Kapostasy. They met in May 2015, when Lipinski presented Kapostasy an award at the Sports Emmys. Weir was a "bridesman" and Scott Hamilton was a guest. About her friendship with Weir, Lipinski stated that although their skating careers had not occurred during the same time periods and as a result, they did not know each other well when they began to work together at the Sochi Olympics, they bonded "on air and off air". She also said, "It's like a long-lost soul mate that I met late in life. I can't imagine my life without him". Both Lipinski and Weir told GQ that they would bring dozens of suitcases to the competitions they announced, and would do their best to wear matching clothes and never the same outfit twice. By the 2018 Olympics, they brought every item of clothing they owned and would "sort it out" at the event. They also reported that they assisted fellow broadcaster Terry Gannon with his on-air fashion choices. Youngest athlete (12 years old) to win a gold medal at the U.S. Olympic Festival (1995)., First women to complete a triple loop-triple loop combination, her signature jump, in competition., Youngest skater (14 years old) to win a U.S. Nationals title (1997)., Youngest woman (14 years old) to come in first place at the World Figure Skating Championships (1997)., Youngest skater (15 years old) to win an Olympic gold medal (1998)., Sixth American woman to win an Olympic gold medal., Youngest skater (16 years old) to win the World Professional Figure Skating Championships (1999)., Youngest inductee into the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame. GP: Champions Series (Grand Prix) 1998 Skate TV Championships: 1st, 1998 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA), 1998 Jefferson Pilot Financial Championships: 1st, 1999 Team Ice Wars: 2nd (Team USA), 1999 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA), 1999 Grand Slam Super Teams of Skating: 1st, 1999 World Professional Championship: 1st, 2001 World Ice Challenge: 1st (Team USA), 2002 Ice Wars: 1st (Team USA) Touched by an Angel (1999) - Alex Thorpe, Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (1999) - Herself, The Young and the Restless (1999) - Marnie Kowalski, Ice Angel (2000) - Tracy Hannibal, Are You Afraid of the Dark? (2000) - Ellen, Vanilla Sky (2001) - Girl at Party (uncredited), Arliss (2002) - Herself, 7th Heaven (2003) - Christine, Generation Jets (2003) - Jessica (voice), The Metro Chase (2004) - Natalie Jordon, Still Standing (2005) - Sarah, What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2005) - Camp Counselor Grey, Malcolm in the Middle (2006) - Carrie, Superstore (2016) - Herself, Kidding (2018) - Herself, Family Guy (2018) - Herself Inductee, the United States Figure Skating Hall of Fame, 2006. Spokesperson: Childhood Leukemia Foundation, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign., Texas Children's Hospital, Children's Circle of Care, Make-a-Wish Foundation., Candie's Foundation, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Totally Tara – An Olympic Journey (1998), Tara Lipinski: Triumph on Ice (1998) Kestnbaum, Ellyn (2003). Culture on Ice: Figure Skating and Cultural Meaning. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. . Swift, E.M. (February 24, 1997). "Kid Stuff". Sports Illustrated. pp. 28–31. Retrieved September 4, 2019. Tara Lipinski Alysa Liu (born August 8, 2005) is an American figure skater. She is the 2019 U.S. national champion and the 2019–20 Junior Grand Prix Final silver medalist. Liu is the youngest-ever U.S. ladies' national champion, having won at age 13. On the junior level, she is also the 2019 JGP United States champion, the 2019 JGP Poland champion, and the 2018 U.S. national junior champion. Liu was the first junior American female skater to successfully complete a triple axel in competition, and the fourth American woman to do so. She was the first American woman to successfully complete a quadruple lutz in competition. Liu was born on August 8, 2005, in Clovis, California, the oldest child of Arthur Liu, an attorney who immigrated to the U.S. from a small mountain village in the Sichuan Province, China in the 1990s at the age of 25, after earning degrees in China. He was further educated in California, earning an MBA and a law degree. Liu is the oldest of five children; like her siblings (a sister and triplets—two boys and a girl), she was conceived through an anonymous egg donor and a surrogate mother. She attended Chinese school for three years, then attended the Oakland School for the Arts, which, at the time, offered an emphasis in figure skating. When she started missing too much school due to traveling to competitions, she began homeschooling at her father's law office in between practices. She uses the same online program that other skaters, including fellow Bay Area skaters Karen Chen and Vincent Zhou, have used. Liu began skating at the age of five, when her father, a fan of Michelle Kwan, brought her to the Oakland Ice Center. She began taking group lessons with her coach, Laura Lipetsky, a former figure skater who had trained under Frank Carroll, and quickly moved to individual sessions. Her coach, Laura Lipetsky, began teaching her at 5½ years old and her choreographer, Cindy Stuart, also started working with her when she was young. Liu's first skating competition was as a juvenile in 2015, when she came in 7th place at the Central Pacific Regionals. At the 2016 U.S. Championships, she became the youngest woman to earn the intermediate gold medal, winning by less than a point. She was first after the short program; her free skate included two triple salchows, the first completed in combination with a double toe loop and earning her a "program-high 7.00 points". Competing in the novice category, Liu placed fourth at the 2017 U.S. Championships. She was in first place after her short program, with a 1.22 point lead. Her short program included a split jump into a triple lutz-triple toe loop combination, which was ruled under-rotated, and a triple flip. Liu fell to 4th place after the long program, where she landed two triple-triple combinations but did not earn sufficient program component scores to retain her narrow lead. Liu opened her season with a silver medal at the 2017 Asian Open Trophy, where she finished second to Japan's Mana Kawabe. She was the youngest skater to compete in the junior division at the 2018 U.S. Championships in San Jose, California. She won the competition, despite suffering from a cold and sore throat. She scored a season's best in the short program with an almost seven- point lead going into the free skate. Her short program included three level-4 spins, a triple flip-triple toe loop combination combination, and a triple lutz, earning her 63.83 points. She earned 120.33 points during her long program, after landing two double axels and seven triple jumps, which were all backloaded in the second half of the program. Liu was given extra points on all her jumps, except for the triple flip-single loop-triple salchow combination. She earned an overall score of 184.16 points, almost 18 more than silver medalist Pooja Kalyan and the second highest-ever score on the junior level. Despite winning the gold, Liu was ineligible to compete at the 2018 World Junior Championships because she was not old enough. She was sent to the 2018 International Challenge Cup instead, where she won the advanced novice silver medal behind Hanna Yoshida of Japan. In August 2018, Liu competed as a novice at the 2018 Asian Open Trophy in Bangkok, Thailand. She won the gold, outscoring the silver medalist, Japan's Sara Honda, by over ten points. She landed a ratified triple Axel in the free skate, becoming the youngest skater in history to perform a clean triple Axel in competition and the fourth American lady to do so, following Tonya Harding, Kimmie Meisner, and Mirai Nagasu. Although Liu was too young to compete internationally at the senior or junior level, she qualified to compete in the senior ranks at the 2019 U.S. Championships in Detroit, Michigan. On January 25, 2019, she broke Tara Lipinski's previous record by becoming the youngest skater to win the U.S. senior women's title, after placing second in the short to defending U.S. champion Bradie Tennell with a record score (which was broken minutes later by Tennell), and first in the free skate. She became the youngest female skater to land a triple axel at the U.S. Nationals, as well as the third woman to do so (after Harding and Meissner), and the first woman during a short program at Nationals. She was also the first woman to complete three triple axels in U.S. competition. Liu scored 73.89 points in her short program, 2.71 points behind Tennell, the leader after the short program. In the long program, Tennell and Mariah Bell, who took third place in the short program, both made errors, ""opening the door for Liu". Her program component score "fell well short of Tennell's and Bell's", but her technical scores made up the difference, and she posted an overall score of 217.51. She completed two consecutive triple axels, the first one in combination, during her long program, and out of the other six triples she completed (one of which was also in combination), only the flip was downgraded. Liu's first competition for the 2019–2020 season was at the inaugural Aurora Games, an international all-women competition held in August 2019. She earned perfect scores, led the U.S. team to first place overall, and was the first American woman to successfully complete a quadruple Lutz in competition, albeit in one not sanctioned by the ISU. Liu made her international competition debut at the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Lake Placid in August 2019. Skating to "Don't Rain on My Parade" by Barbra Streisand in her short program, she scored 69.30 points, breaking her own personal best short program record by almost 20 points. She completed all her jumps, including three triples, completed three level-4 spins, and earned positive grades of execution for all seven elements. During her long program, Liu became the first American women to complete a quadruple lutz in a competition. She also became the first female skater to complete a quadruple jump and a triple axel in the same program in a competition. Skating to pianist Jennifer Thomas’ version of “New World Symphony," which was choreographed by Lori Nichol, Liu started her long program with a triple axel-double toe loop combination, followed by her quadruple lutz, which she earned 13.80 points for. She fell on her second triple axel, but was able to successfully execute her following six triple jumps. She also earned level-4 scores for her three spins and top marks for her step sequence, earning a 59.66 program component score. She won the event by 21.52 points over the silver medalist, South Korean Park Yeon-jeong. It was the first in 20 Junior Grand Prix events that a non-Russian skater won and the first time an American won a Junior Grand Prix event since Polina Edmunds in 2013. Liu's second slot in the Junior Grand Prix was in Poland. She came in fourth after the short program, but came from behind to win the event. In her short program, she completed, at the start of her program, a triple axel- triple toeloop, the first in Junior Grand Prix history. She doubled a planned triple loop, trailing by a little over four points going into the free skate. In her free skate, Liu "just about held onto" her first jump, a triple axel, but improved as she went along, completing a combination that included a double toeloop. She then completed a quadruple lutz, a "much better" triple axel, a triple lutz, and "two excellent combinations—triple Lutz-triple toeloop and triple Lutz-Euler-triple Salchow". She ended her program with a triple flip, and earned three level-4 spins. She earned a season's best score of 138.99 in the free skate and 203.10 overall. She qualified for the Junior Grand Prix Final in second place, the first American lady to do so since Karen Chen and Polina Edmunds in 2013, with 30 points. Liu won the silver medal at the Junior Grand Prix Final behind Russia's Kamila Valieva and ahead of Daria Usacheva, also of Russia. A little over two points separated the first and fourth place skaters in the short program. Liu placed first in the short program, with a triple axel-triple toe combination and 71.09 points, a little over one-point lead. Although her jumps were the most difficult in her long program and she successfully completed six triple jumps, both her quadruple lutzes and a triple axel were judged underrotated, and she fell on her opening triple axel, placing her second in the free skate and second overall. She told reporters afterwards, "I think I should have only done one quad but I really wanted to go for it just for the fun of it". Second lady to land a quadruple lutz at the 2019 JGP United States behind Alexandra Trusova., First lady to land a triple Axel and a quad in the same program (2019 JGP United States), First American lady to attempt multiple quad lutzes & multiple triple axels in one/the same program., First American lady to successfully land a quadruple lutz. Schwindt, Troy (March 2019). "Geico U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Detroit 2019: Senior Ladies". Skating. 96 (3): 12—14. Retrieved 1 September 2019. Arthur Liu's YouTube channel

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Cersei Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, where she is portrayed by English actress Lena Headey. In the later novels of the series, she is a point of view character. Introduced in 1996's A Game of Thrones, Cersei is a member of House Lannister, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families on the continent of Westeros. She subsequently appeared in A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). She becomes a prominent point of view character in the novels beginning in A Feast for Crows (2005) and A Dance with Dragons (2011). The character will also appear in the forthcoming volume The Winds of Winter. In the story, Cersei Lannister, Queen of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, is the wife of King Robert Baratheon. Her father arranged the marriage after his attempt to betroth her to Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, as she wanted, failed. The Targaryen dynasty lost the war, and her father schemed his way into the role of a political counselor for the newly crowned King Robert. The Lannisters are the richest family in Westeros and helped him to win the Throne, which is why Robert agreed to a marriage between them. Cersei has a twin brother, Jaime, with whom she has been involved in an incestuous affair. All three of Cersei's children are Jaime's, which is unbeknownst to the king and causes a power struggle in the wake of his death known as the 'War of Five Kings'. Cersei's main character attributes are her lust for power and love for her children, whom she seeks to protect. Headey has received critical acclaim for her portrayal of the character on the HBO series Game of Thrones. She has been nominated for five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Headey and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In season 5, a young version of the character is portrayed by Nell Williams in a flashback. Cersei is the only daughter and the eldest child of Tywin Lannister and his wife, Joanna; her twin brother, Jaime, was born soon after Cersei. Cersei and Jaime looked so similar as children that Cersei occasionally wore Jaime's clothes and was mistaken for him. The twins experimented sexually at an early age but were discovered by a servant, who informed their mother. Joanna tasked a guard to keep the twins separated and kept the matter a secret from their father, threatening the twins that she would inform him if they ever repeated it. Soon afterward, Joanna died giving birth to the twins' younger dwarf brother, Tyrion. Cersei blamed Tyrion for Joanna's death and started to abuse him as a baby. Martin said in Rolling Stone: From the time she was very young, Tywin hoped his daughter would marry Rhaegar Targaryen, and he rejected the Princess of Dorne's proposal to betroth Oberyn Martell and Elia Martell to Cersei and Jaime, respectively. Cersei became infatuated with Rhaegar; feelings she hid from her brother as her father advised her. At the age of 11, Jaime was sent away to serve as a squire for Lord Sumner Crakehall. A year later, Aerys Targaryen rejected the proposal that Cersei marry his son, humiliating Tywin. Tywin took Cersei to King's Landing and, in the following years, refused every offer of marriage for her. In 281 AC, when Cersei and Jaime were 15, Jaime, newly knighted on the battlefield and on his way to Casterly Rock, came to King's Landing to visit his sister, from whom he had been separated for four years. She informed Jaime that their father planned to marry him to Lysa Tully and persuaded him to join the Kingsguard in order to be near her, after the twins had slept together for the first time. Thus started an affair that continued throughout Cersei's marriage to Robert Baratheon. While she was initially happy about marrying Robert, he didn't return Cersei's affections and repeatedly cheated on her. She then resumed her incestuous affair with Jaime, resulting in the births of Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. During her teenage years, believing that her betrothal to Rhaegar would soon be announced, Cersei brought her companions Melara Hetherspoon and Jeyne Farman to a witch named Maggy the Frog. Jeyne was instantly frightened and left the tent. Cersei and Melara stayed and tried to get the witch to tell them a prophecy. In the face of Cersei's threats, Maggy agreed to answer three questions. In response to those questions, Maggy told Cersei she would marry the king and not the prince, that she would be overthrown by a younger and more beautiful queen, that Cersei's children would die during Cersei's lifetime, and that the valonqar (High Valyrian for "little brother") would come to end her life. Melara then asked if she would marry Jaime; Maggy answered that Melara wouldn't marry anyone and would die that night. It is implied that Cersei killed the girl to prevent her from speaking of the prophecies and for having ideas above her social status. Cersei spends her entire adult life attempting to subvert the prophecy and develops a strong paranoia, which eventually causes the prophecy to come to fruition. Robert, Cersei, and most of the court visit the North to appoint Eddard Stark as Hand of the King. During the royal visit to Winterfell, Eddard's son Bran finds Cersei and Jaime committing incest in a tower. To prevent their adultery and incest from being revealed, Jaime pushes Bran from the tower. Bran survives, but has no memory of the fall and is left paraplegic. Eddard eventually discovers the truth of Cersei's infidelity and confronts her, giving her the opportunity to flee into exile and thus spare her children certain execution. Cersei had already arranged Robert's death in a hunting "accident"; when he dies, Cersei seizes control as regent and has Eddard arrested for treason. Cersei intends for Eddard to publicly confess and join the Night's Watch as punishment, but instead Joffrey orders Ned executed. Frustrated with Cersei's many political blunders as well as her failure to control Joffrey, Tywin appoints Tyrion Hand of the King, with explicit instructions to control Cersei and Joffrey. Once at the capital, Tyrion enters into a bitter power struggle with Cersei, subverting her authority and removing her supporters from positions of power. In Jaime's absence, Cersei begins taking other lovers, including their cousin Lancel Lannister. When Stannis Baratheon sails on King's Landing, Cersei and Joffrey hide in a tower, leaving Tyrion to mastermind the defense of the city. Ultimately, Tywin arrives in time to force Stannis to retreat and save the city. After formally assuming his position as Hand of the King, Tywin makes it clear to Cersei that she is no longer welcome at Small Council meetings, de facto stripping her of political authority. Furthermore, Tywin intends to wed Cersei to Wilas Tyrell in order to form an alliance with House Tyrell. This state of affairs is shaken when Joffrey is poisoned at his wedding feast. Maddened with grief at the loss of her eldest child, Cersei lashes out against Tyrion, accusing him of poisoning the king out of revenge. Cersei manipulates Tyrion's trial to ensure a guilty verdict, by bribing and intimidating witnesses. When Tyrion demands a trial by combat, Cersei selects the imposing Gregor Clegane, "The Mountain," as the Crown's champion. The Mountain prevails, killing Tyrion's champion Oberyn Martell. Tywin then pronounces Tyrion guilty and sentences him to death, but Tyrion escapes prison and kills Tywin. Cersei is once again in complete control of the capital. With the deaths of her father and elder son, Cersei de facto rules the kingdom. Her youngest child, Tommen Baratheon, is crowned king but is widely considered weak, signing every decree that passes in front of him. He is leading a kingdom on the brink of ruin: the huge losses suffered by House Lannister in the war, combined with the wartime disruptions to trade and harvest, render the Lannisters dependent on resources from House Tyrell. The Tyrells leverage this position and begin to build power in the capital, much to Cersei's consternation. Furthermore, Cersei makes a series of political and economic blunders, alienating allies such as Pycelle and Kevan Lannister. In an attempt to undermine the Tyrells, as well as release her son from his marriage to Margaery Tyrell, Cersei attempts to frame Margaery for adultery and treason. However, this plot backfires as the investigation into Margaery reveals evidence of Cersei's own adultery and Cersei's complicity in Robert's death, resulting in her arrest by the Faith. Cersei sends a letter to Jaime, asking him for help, but he burns her note. Cersei confesses her post-marital affairs (although not her relationship with Jaime), while the more serious charges of regicide and incest are to be settled in a trial by combat. Cersei is punished with a walk of shame, forced to strip and walk naked through the capital in full view of the public. She nearly breaks down in tears near the end. With Cersei confined to the Red Keep awaiting trial, the kingdom is run by Pycelle and Kevan. However, at the nadir of Cersei's fortunes, Varys returns to the capital and murders both Pycelle and Kevan. The book ends with Cersei's fate unknown. Cersei Lannister is played by Lena Headey in the television adaption of the book series. In October 2014, Headey and several other key cast members, all contracted for six seasons of the series, renegotiated their deals to include a potential seventh season and salary increases for seasons 5, 6, and 7. The Hollywood Reporter called the raises "huge", noting that the deal would make the performers "among the highest-paid actors on cable TV". Deadline Hollywood put the number for season 5 at "close to $300,000 an episode" for each actor, and The Hollywood Reporter wrote in June 2016 that the performers would each be paid "upward of $500,000 per episode" for season 7 and the potential season 8. In 2017, Headey became one of the highest paid actors on television and will earn £2 million per episode for the show. Much of Cersei's storyline from the first and second seasons in the television series is unchanged from the books. However, a notable change in the show is Joffrey's authorising the purge of Robert's bastards, rather than Cersei. Cersei learns that her husband Robert is in danger of finding out that the children he sees as his heirs to the throne are not his. Robert meets his end as the result of a boar attack on a hunting trip, before Ned Stark tells him the truth about his children. Cersei works quickly to instate her oldest son, Joffrey, on the throne, with her as his chief political advisor and Queen Regent. Joffrey, however, quickly shows signs of independence. Tywin decides that Cersei does not exercise enough control over her son and sends Tyrion as an additional political advisor. Cersei and Tyrion do not get along, and constantly try to undermine each other's authority over the crown. As of the end of season 2, Tyrion has accumulated more sway over the Iron Throne, has shipped Cersei's only daughter off against Cersei's will to be married to the Prince of Dorne, and is forcing their cousin Lancel, with whom Cersei is having an affair, to inform on her. Tywin's arrival with the Tyrell army robs both siblings of their influence at the last possible moment. Cersei comes to fear that Margaery Tyrell intends to usurp her as queen and unsuccessfully tries to alienate Joffrey from her. Cersei is delighted when Tywin learns of the Tyrells' plan to wed Sansa Stark to Margaery's brother Loras, and he intervenes by having Tyrion marry Sansa instead, but is furious when Tywin also orders Cersei to marry Loras. When Jaime returns to King's Landing, he immediately seeks out Cersei, who is shocked to discover that his sword hand has been cut off. Cersei has Tyrion arrested after Joffrey is fatally poisoned. Mourning and vindictive, it's implied that guilty or innocent, she wants Tyrion dead, while Jaime refuses to believe Tyrion is capable of familial regicide. Indeed, at Tyrion's trial, it is apparent Cersei has manipulated the proceedings so that the witnesses give either incomplete or entirely false testimonies to implicate Tyrion and Sansa further in the murder. When Tyrion demands a trial by combat, Cersei chooses Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane as royal champion, to further diminish Tyrion's chances, and bribes Bronn via betrothal to a noblewoman, to secure his veto as Tyrion's champion. Cersei's wish comes true when Tyrion's champion, Oberyn Martell, is killed by Clegane. She still refuses to marry Loras, threatening even to reveal the truth of her incestuous relationship with Jaime and their three blond children. Tywin is killed by an escaping Tyrion soon afterward. Cersei receives a threat from Dorne, where Myrcella is betrothed to Trystane Martell, and sends Jaime to Dorne to retrieve her. Tommen is married to Margaery, who tries to manipulate Tommen into sending Cersei to Casterly Rock. Fearful of losing her power, Cersei meets the religious leader, the High Sparrow, appoints him as the High Septon, and gives him authority to re- establish the Faith Militant. In order to destabilise House Tyrell, Cersei arranges for the High Sparrow to arrest Loras for his homosexuality, and have Margaery also arrested for perjury after lying to defend Loras. However, Cersei's plot backfires when Lancel, now a member of the Faith Militant, confesses to his affair with Cersei and his role in Robert's assassination, and accuses Cersei of incest, prompting the High Sparrow to arrest her. Cersei is eventually allowed to return to the Red Keep after confessing to having committed adultery with Lancel, but has her hair cut off and is forced to walk naked through the streets of King's Landing as atonement. Cersei returns, distraught from the abuse directed at her by the smallfolk of King's Landing, but is consoled by Qyburn's successful reanimation of Ser Gregor Clegane. Cersei remains in the Red Keep, confined to her chambers and stripped of her authority. Although she accepts Tommen's apology for his lack of action in her arrest and walk of atonement, she remains looked down upon by other members of the court. Cersei learns from Tommen that the High Sparrow plans to have Margaery do a walk of atonement before Cersei's trial and conspires with the Small Council to have the Tyrell army march on the Sept of Baelor to secure Margaery's and Loras' release. Their plan backfires when it is revealed that Margaery has joined the Faith of the Seven and has convinced Tommen to merge the Faith and the Crown. Despite being stripped of her allies, Cersei opts to remain in King's Landing, having named Ser Gregor as her champion in her trial by combat. However, Tommen announces that trial by combat has been abolished and replaced by trial by the Seven. Cersei arranges for a cache of wildfire to be detonated beneath the Sept during Loras' trial, which kills the High Sparrow, Margaery, Loras, and the rest of the Small Council. As a result of Cersei's actions, Tommen commits suicide. In the power vacuum following Tommen's death, Cersei claims the Iron Throne as the first ever Queen Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms. Despite nominally being ruler of Westeros, Cersei's grip on the throne is tenuous, with the Riverlands in upheaval following Arya Stark's massacre of House Frey, the Vale and the North's declaration of Ned Stark's bastard son Jon Snow King in the North, and Tyrion, Yara Greyjoy, Dorne, and the Reach all supporting Daenerys Targaryen, whose fleet has seized Dragonstone. Cersei remains cold and distant after Tommen's suicide, viewing it as a betrayal of their family. With no children left to protect, Cersei's malice and vindictiveness have grown, and she relentlessly seeks to expand her power and destroy her enemies. Cersei reaches out to the King of the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy, to form an alliance, but rejects Euron's marriage proposal as she considers him untrustworthy. Euron later ambushes Daenerys' fleet and captures Yara Greyjoy, Ellaria, and Tyene Sand, and presents them as a "gift" to Cersei. She agrees to marry Euron after the war is won; however, she continues her affair with Jaime, no longer attempting to hide their relationship from their servants. Cersei imprisons Ellaria and Tyene in the dungeons, kills Tyene with the same poison used to kill Myrcella, and keeps Ellaria alive to watch her daughter die. Tycho Nestoris of the Iron Bank arrives in King's Landing to request repayment of their debt. Cersei requests a fortnight in order to comply. She then has the Lannister and Tarly armies attack Highgarden, defeating the Tyrells. Olenna Tyrell commits suicide following the defeat and gloats to Jaime that she was responsible for poisoning Joffrey. The Tyrells' wealth is transported safely to King's Landing, but the food the Lannisters steal from the Reach is destroyed when Daenerys attacks the caravan with her Dothraki horde and dragon, Drogon. Jaime barely survives the battle and encourages Cersei to consider a ceasefire. Tyrion infiltrates the capital to meet with Jaime, and Jaime tells Cersei that Daenerys and Jon want to meet with Cersei to negotiate an armistice while mankind fights the threat of the White Walkers. Cersei is skeptical but agrees, and tells Jaime that she is pregnant. Daenerys and Jon meet with Cersei in the Dragonpit on the outskirts of King's Landing, and present to her a wight captured from the White Walkers as evidence of their threat. Although terrified, Cersei initially refuses to agree to an armistice, as Jon refuses to remain neutral in the war between the Lannisters and Targaryens. Tyrion speaks to Cersei in private, and apparently persuades her to ally with the rival monarchs. However, she later reveals to Jaime that she intends for her enemies to wipe each other out and then attack the victor, and has sent Euron to Essos to transport the Golden Company to Westeros. Disgusted by Cersei's selfishness and shortsightedness, Jaime finally abandons her side and goes north on his own, leaving Cersei alone. Cersei is informed that the White Walkers have breached the Wall, to her delight. Euron Greyjoy returns to King's Landing with the Golden Company, and Cersei finally has sex with him. Cersei tasks Qyburn with hiring Bronn to kill Jaime and Tyrion, using the crossbow with which Tyrion had killed Tywin. Cersei permits civilians to seek refuge in the Red Keep – ostensibly to protect them from an invasion of King's Landing, but in reality she plans to use them as human shields to deter an attack. The Iron Fleet kills one of Daenerys' dragons, Rhaegal, and takes her advisor Missandei captive. When Euron returns to King's Landing, Cersei reveals that she is pregnant and lies that it is his. Daenerys, Tyrion, and her other advisors travel to King's Landing demanding Cersei's surrender, but Cersei is unmoved and has the Mountain behead Missandei in front of Daenerys. Daenerys subsequently launches an attack on the Iron Fleet, the Red Keep, and the anti-dragon defenses Cersei has had installed on King's Landing's walls, but then continues to burn the rest of the city. Cersei attempts to take shelter and is found by Jaime, who had infiltrated the Red Keep on Tyrion's orders to evacuate her. However, their passage is blocked by rubble. The Red Keep begins to collapse, and Jaime comforts Cersei in their final moments as they are crushed by falling debris. Their bodies are later found by Tyrion, whose subsequent grief leads him to renounce his loyalty to Daenerys and persuade Jon Snow to kill her. In 2019, Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage appeared as Cersei and Tyrion Lannister alongside Elmo in a Sesame Street PSA on the importance of being respectful to one another, as part of Sesame Street's "Respect Brings Us Together" campaign. Cersei has been continuously praised as one of the most complex and multi- faceted characters in either version of the story. Rolling Stone ranked her at No.5 on a list of the "Top 40 Game of Thrones Characters", describing Cersei as a character who'd "rather die than give you control". On a similar list made by Rolling Stone ranking the "30 Best Game of Thrones Villains", Cersei was ranked No.1 and described as the "most dangerous human being in Westeros" as well as "one of the most complex and fascinating characters on television...she's also a strangely sympathetic figure, warped by being treated like an expensive brood mare by powerful men her entire life and genuine in her affections". Alyssa Rosenburg of The Washington Post wrote, "As the men...destroy themselves and each other, leaving a generation of women without husbands, sons, and marriage partners, [Cersei] may be the only [person] left to repair the shattered world". James Hibberd of Entertainment Weekly wrote glowingly of Headey's Cersei: "Many members of the show's cast have improved over the years, but Headey has been winning raves from critics from the very start — since the early episodes of season 1 Headey has perfectly delivered Cersei’s uniquely toxic mix of pride, vindictiveness, impatience, cunning, and spite. Given Cersei’s long list of murderous sins, the character by all rights should be considered GoT’s outright villain. Yet thanks to the show’s textured writing and Headey’s delivery, Cersei has never been anything less than a fully realized character." Lena Headey has received much critical praise and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei, and has received multiple accolades including the Portal Award for Best Actress in 2012, the EWwy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama in 2012, the Women's Image Network Award for Actress Drama Series in 2014, and the Gold Derby TV Award for Best Drama Supporting Actress in 2015 and 2016. Andrew Anthony in The Guardian opined that Game of Thrones was "most often at its best when Headey was on screen and radiating cold calculation and ruthless intrigue." He described Headey's Cersei as "a study in tyranny as a seductive art. There was something magnetically human about her inhumanity. You were drawn to her devious charms even as you recoiled from her brutal deeds." Headey has received several award nominations for her performance in the series, including five nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film in 2016. Other nominations include the Portal Award for Best Actress in 2011, the Women's Image Network Awards for Actress Drama Series in 2011, the Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2012, the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television in 2012 and 2017, the Gold Derby TV Award Best Drama Supporting Actress in 2012 and 2014, the SFX Awards for Best Actress in 2013, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television in 2016, the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2016, and the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2017. Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is an English actress. She is best known for her acclaimed portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO fantasy drama series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which she has received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Headey made her film debut in the mystery drama Waterland (1992). She continued to work steadily in British and American films and on television, before gaining further recognition with her lead performances in the films The Brothers Grimm (2005) and 300 (2007). Her other film credits include The Remains of the Day (1993), The Jungle Book (1994), Mrs Dalloway (1997), Ripley's Game (2002), Imagine Me & You (2005), Dredd (2012), The Purge (2013), (2014), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016), and Fighting with My Family (2019). Outside of film, Headey starred as Sarah Connor in the science fiction television series (2008–2009). She provided voices for the role-playing video game Risen (2009) and the video game tie-in film (2016), as well as the animated series Danger Mouse (2015–2017) and Trollhunters (2017–2018), and puppet-animated series (2019). Headey was born in Hamilton, Bermuda, to English parents, Sue and John Headey. Her father, a Yorkshire police officer, was stationed there at the time in the Bermuda Police Service. She has one younger brother, Tim. She is of part Irish descent. The family moved to Somerset when she was five, and then to Highburton, near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, when Headey was 11. She took ballet lessons as a child. Headey had her first experience of acting when she was a pupil at Shelley College; she was noticed at age 17, when performing in a school production at the Royal National Theatre, and was picked for a role in the 1992 film Waterland. At the age of 17, Headey performed in a one-off show and afterwards a casting agent took a photo and asked her to audition. She eventually obtained a supporting role in the drama Waterland (1992), in which she had the opportunity to work with actors who had been in the business several years before her. She also had a small role in the critically acclaimed 1993 drama film The Remains of the Day, which received eight Academy Awards nominations. Her career would continue to grow in England throughout the decade, and see larger parts in bigger motion pictures. In 1997, she appeared in the drama series Kavanagh QC, playing the role of Natasha Jackson. Headey played Kitty Brydon, the childhood friend and romantic interest of Mowgli, in Disney's The Jungle Book (1994). James Berardinelli praised the cast's "solid performances" as part of a positive critical reception, and the film found moderate commercial success in theaters. She appeared opposite Vanessa Redgrave in the 1997 romantic drama Mrs Dalloway, portraying the closest friend of a housewife, who is now wife of a self-made millionnaire and mother of five. She was then cast in the drama Onegin (1999), a film based on the 19th-century Russian novel Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin, in which she portrayed the fiancée of an aspiring poet and appeared with Ralph Fiennes and Liv Tyler. The film was critically and financially unsuccessful. In 2000, Headey played a newly promoted lawyer with no apparent emotional attachments in the romantic comedy Aberdeen, receiving the Silver Iris Award for Best Actress at the 2001 Brussels European Film Festival, and also starred as a troubled college student in the psychological drama Gossip, with Kate Hudson. In 2001's comedy The Parole Officer, Headey took on the role of a police officer, alongside Steve Coogan in his first film role. While the film was warmly received, ViewLondon remarked: "The only disappointment is Lena Headey, who, despite being fantastically sexy (she's given both a nude scene and a 'dressed as a prostitute' scene), smirks her way through the entire film, even at the most inappropriate moments". In 2002, she appeared as a mousey Victorian lesbian artist with Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart in the mystery drama Possession, based on the 1990 by British author A. S. Byatt, and as the wife of a law- abiding art framer dying of leukemia in the thriller Ripley's Game, adapted from the 1974 novel of the same name. In its review for the latter, Eye for Film noted: "Whilst this is very much a male-centered film, Lena Headey turns in a powerful performance as Jonathan's wife, creating a sense of balance and normality against which other events are contrasted". Headey appeared in the comedy The Actors (2003), opposite Dylan Moran and Michael Caine, portraying the love interest of a struggling actor. She is credited as voice actor for the character Callista in the video game Dishonored. Headey found much wider recognition when she starred with Matt Damon and Heath Ledger in Terry Gilliam's adventure fantasy film The Brothers Grimm (2005), as Angelika, whose woodsman father was transformed into a werewolf by the Evil Queen. She was drawn to the "tomboy" nature of her character, on which she stated: "She lives and grows up and survives in the forest. Terry and I talked about how her instincts are almost animalistic and she can see 360 degrees around her. She is aware of what is going on. That is how she is grounded. She is of the earth". The Brothers Grimm received mixed reviews and made US$105.3 million worldwide. In 2005, Headey also starred with actress Piper Perabo in the films The Cave and Imagine Me & You. The horror film The Cave saw the actress play a member of a group of divers who become trapped in an underwater cave network. While critical response was negative, the film managed to turn a profit at the box office. In the romantic dramedy Imagine Me & You, she took on the role of a woman who becomes infatuated with a newlywed bride, causing a stir among the bride's family and friends. The film found a limited release in theaters, but Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle stated that the actress "has a forthright, irresistible appeal and a face and especially a smile that suggest intelligence, integrity and lots of fun". Her most known film role came perhaps in 2007, when Headey played Queen Gorgo in Zack Snyder's epic war film 300, based on the 1998 comic series of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae within the Persian Wars. Her character has a much larger role in the film than she does in the comic book, where she only appears in the beginning, and required her to film naked for one scene. "It's always weird the thought of taking your clothes off in front of 20 people and then to have it projected in front of many more", she said during an interview. "I think it was necessary because we only get that scene to establish their relationship. It is a very obvious moment but I think it does it in quite a beautiful way." The film received mixed reviews, but was a box office success, grossing over US$450 million. In 2007, she also appeared as the stuffy Miss Dickinson in the sixth release of the St. Trinian's film series. Headey starred as Fembot in Austin Powers, as well as Sarah Connor in Fox's , a television spin-off of James Cameron's popular Terminator franchise. The show ran for 31 episodes in two seasons, from January 2008 to April 2009. Variety praised "Headey's gritty performance as Sarah —managing to be smart, resourceful and tough, yet melancholy and vulnerable as well". For her performance, she was nominated twice for the Saturn Award for Best Actress on Television. In 2008, she starred alongside Matthias Schweighöfer and Joseph Fiennes in The Red Baron, a biographical film of the legendary World War I fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, appeared in Ridley Scott-produced sci-fi drama Tell-Tale, a film based on the short story by Edgar Allan Poe, and played a radiologist in the horror film The Broken, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. While the three aforementioned films went largely unnoticed by audiences, some critics praised Headey's performance in The Broken, including Kim Koynar, of Cinematical, who wrote that Headey "largely carries the film, and does so quite ably". In 2009, Headey played an ill-fated character in the slasher film Laid to Rest, which received a DVD release, had a part in a short film titled The Devil's Wedding, and also provided her voice for an episode of the Cartoon Network series The Super Hero Squad Show, playing Black Widow and Mystique. She briefly appeared in the independent comedy Pete Smalls Is Dead (2010). Beginning in April 2011, Headey portrayed queen regent Cersei Lannister on the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. She was cast in the role after her friend and eventual co-star, Peter Dinklage, suggested her casting to producers. Her performance as the ruthless queen has received critical acclaim, earning a Scream Award nomination for Best Fantasy Actress for the role in 2011 and Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2018. After guest-starring in the White Collar episode "Taking Account" in 2011, Headey took on the role of the leader of a drug dealing gang and the primary villain in the 3D sci-fi action film Dredd (2012), alongside Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby. Her performance was inspired by punk-rock singer Patti Smith, and on the character, Headey asserted: "I think of [Ma-Ma] like an old great white shark who is just waiting for someone bigger and stronger to show up and kill her [...] she's ready for it. In fact, she can't wait for it to happen [...] She's an addict, so she's dead in that way, but that last knock just hasn't come". Despite a positive critical response, the film flopped at the box office, seeing greater success following its home release; it has since been recognised as a cult film. Headey joined again with Ethan Hawke to star in The Purge (2013), a "micro-budget" horror film, in which she took on the role of the matriarch of a family who find themselves endangered by a gang of murderers during the annual Purge, a night during which all crime, even murder, is temporarily legal. The film at number one position in the United States, grossing over US$36 million over the weekend; it eventually made US$89.3 million worldwide. She next played shadowhunter Jocelyn Fray/Jocelyn Fairchild in (also 2013), based on the first book of The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, and opposite Lily Collins and Jamie Campbell Bower. The film flopped at the box office, and as a result, plans for sequels were eventually canceled. Following the success of 300 (2007), Headey reprised her role as Queen Gorgo in , which was released in 2014. Like the first film, Rise of an Empire received mixed reviews, but was a major commercial success, grossing over US$337 million worldwide. In 2014, she also starred in the fantasy adventure film and the biographical film Low Down, which detailed the life of jazz pianist Joe Albany. In 2015, she played the wife of a federal prosecutor running for office who cannot stop himself from sleeping with high-class escorts in the political thriller Zipper, opposite Patrick Wilson. In the historical action comedy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Headey appeared as Lady Catherine de Bourgh, with her former Game of Thrones, Century and The Contractor co-star Charles Dance. Andrew Barker, of Variety, found her to be "excessively diverting" in what he considered a "tolerable, but not handsome enough" film. In 2017, Headey appeared as a "predictably hard-boiled boss" in the crime thriller Thumper, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and provided the voiceover for Mercedes A-Class television advertisement and Morgana in . She has appeared on the covers of TV Guide, G3, Sunday Mirror and Germany's Filmstar. She ranked No. 64 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list. She was listed at No. 4, No. 10 and No. 3 in AfterEllen's list of the Hot 100 in 2007, 2008 and 2009, respectively. Headey was vegetarian; however, in a 2011 interview she stated she now eats meat again, albeit rarely. Headey has a number of tattoos. Her tattoos include a large floral design on her back as well as a Pema Chödrön quote on her ribs. She told Esquire: "I love tattoos. I find it calming." Her tattoos often require covering when Headey works, although she has stated, "you can usually get away with it by keeping your clothes on." Headey married musician Peter Loughran in May 2007; their son, Wylie Loughran, was born on 31 March 2010. She has spoken about suffering from postnatal depression following Wylie's birth. Headey and Loughran separated in 2011, and she filed for divorce in the Los Angeles County Superior Court on 20 July 2012. The divorce was finalised on 26 December 2013. She was linked to Game of Thrones co-star Jerome Flynn. The relationship allegedly ended badly some time before March 2014, resulting in the two being kept apart on set. However, Flynn rebuffed the claims in 2019, saying the two had worked in a scene together, while adding "And the last time I saw Lena we were speaking, so I wouldn’t believe everything you read, and like I said, [the media] can get pretty desperate for stories." On 10 July 2015, Headey gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Teddy, with director Dan Cadan (her childhood friend, who also worked with Headey on his short film The Devil's Wedding). They had separated by June 2019. Headey has been close friends with actress Piper Perabo since they starred together in the 2005 films The Cave and Imagine Me & You. She is also good friends with her Game of Thrones co-stars Pedro Pascal and Peter Dinklage, the latter of whom first suggested to producers on Game of Thrones that she be cast as Cersei Lannister. Headey has campaigned on behalf of animal rights. In 2008, she spoke out against animal abuse in an advertisement for animal welfare group PETA. Headey supports the LGBT rights organisation NOH8, and in April 2015 appeared on a T-shirt designed by them and sold through Represent.com to raise funds for the cause. She has been involved with humanitarian organization the International Rescue Committee (IRC), advocating for migrants languishing in Greece during the European migrant crisis, saying that in the face of rising populism, and the "lost humanity in leadership", people should continue to "fight for the good". In 2018, Headey did a voice-over for an advertisement by the charity Alzheimer's Research UK, which launched ahead of World Alzheimer's Day (21 September). Headey's most critically acclaimed and commercially successful films, as of 2018, include: Jaime Lannister is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin and its television adaptation Game of Thrones. He becomes a prominent point of view character in the novels beginning with A Storm of Swords (2000). Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Jaime is a knight of the Kingsguard and a member of House Lannister, the wealthiest and one of the most powerful families in the kingdom of Westeros. He is the elder son of Tywin Lannister and the brother of both his twin sister, Cersei, with whom he has a longstanding incestuous relationship, and his brother Tyrion. Although Jaime first appears to be unscrupulous and immoral, he later proves to be far more complex, honorable, and sympathetic. His lengthy and complex character development has been lauded by fans and critics of both the novels and the television show. Jaime is portrayed by the Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the HBO series Game of Thrones, for which he has received critical acclaim. He was nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television, a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series and a People's Choice Awards Favorite TV Anti-Hero for his performance in the show's third season, and for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the show's seventh season. He and the rest of the cast were nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. In A Game of Thrones (1996), Jaime is introduced as one of the Kingsguard, the royal security detail, and the son of the wealthy and powerful Tywin Lannister, the former Hand of the King. Jaime's twin is Cersei, the Queen of Westeros by virtue of her marriage to King Robert Baratheon. Perhaps the greatest swordsman in the kingdom, Jaime is derisively referred to as "the Kingslayer" because he killed the "Mad King" Aerys Targaryen in the coup that put Robert on the Iron Throne. Eric Dodds of TIME described Jaime as "handsome, an incomparably skilled fighter and disarmingly witty". The New Yorker called the Lannisters "a crowd of high-cheekboned beauties ... who form a family constellation so twisted, charismatic, and cruel that it rivals Flowers in the Attic for blond dysfunction". Lev Grossman wrote for TIME that while Jaime and Cersei's younger brother Tyrion is a grotesque dwarf, "the rest of the Lannisters are stunted too, but on the inside." The Los Angeles Times called Jaime "handsome and unscrupulous", though Dodds noted in 2014: Jaime loses his sword hand in A Storm of Swords, the third book in the series. He is depicted as having a prosthetic at times thereafter and learns to fight with his non-dominant hand. Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly noted that in the novels, "[Jaime is] a vaguely villainous minor character in Game of Thrones, then is basically absent from Clash of Kings, and suddenly he becomes a tragic hero in Storm of Swords." In A Game of Thrones, Jaime is not only carrying on an incestuous affair with his twin sister, but he pushes a young Bran Stark out a high window to his likely death after the boy witnesses them in the act. Jaime admits these crimes to Catelyn Stark in A Clash of Kings (1998), and tells her a horrific story of Aerys Targaryen's cruelty. In A Storm of Swords (2000), Jaime initially loathes the female warrior Brienne of Tarth, but both his honor and his reluctant respect for Brienne compel him to lie to their captors to prevent her from being raped. He later explains to Brienne that he killed Aerys because the king had planned to incinerate all of King's Landing and its inhabitants rather than let it fall into Robert's hands. When Jaime is released to be sent back to King's Landing in deference to his father, he first saves Brienne, who has been thrown into a bear pit for the mercenaries' amusement. Martin told Rolling Stone in 2014: Specifically addressing Jaime's attempted murder of Bran, Martin said: Jaime Lannister accompanies the royal family to Winterfell, where King Robert Baratheon hopes to persuade his old friend Ned Stark to serve as Hand of the King. During the visit, Ned's young son Bran inadvertently spies Jaime and Cersei having sex in a remote tower, at which point Jaime pushes the boy out a window, intending to kill Bran to keep their relationship secret. Bran survives, though crippled and with no recollection of the incident. When an assassin later tries to kill Bran, his mother Catelyn Stark accuses and arrests Tyrion. In revenge, Jaime instigates a brawl with Ned and his men in the streets of King's Landing, killing many on both sides. Ned later discovers that Robert's three children are actually the products of Jaime and Cersei's affair, but is executed by the oldest child, Joffrey Baratheon, upon the latter's ascension as king. Jaime then rides for the Riverlands to aid Tywin in his campaign against the Riverlands, taking command of half the Lannister host. He besieges the Riverlands' capital of Riverrun, but his army is waylaid by Robb Stark's army in the Battle of the Whispering Wood. Jaime is taken prisoner and incarcerated in Riverrun. In the meantime, Joffrey has named Jaime as commander of his Kingsguard. Hillary Busis of Entertainment Weekly called the twist of Jaime and Cersei in the tower "lurid and shocking, exactly what I needed to jolt me awake and make me start paying closer attention ... By the end of the chapter — 'The things I do for love' — I was totally hooked on Thrones". Mikal Gilmore of Rolling Stone noted in 2014 that the moment in which Jaime pushes Bran to his likely death "grabs you by the throat". Martin commented in the interview: Tyrion makes several attempts to free Jaime, first by having disguised Lannister guards attempt to break him out and then by offering to swap Arya Stark and Sansa Stark for Jaime. After hearing of the supposed deaths of Bran and Rickon Stark, Catelyn interrogates Jaime. Jaime admits to pushing Bran out the tower window, to his incest with Cersei and to fathering her children. Jaime then mocks Ned for having tarnished his own honour by fathering a bastard, prompting Catelyn to call her bodyguard Brienne of Tarth for her sword. Jaime is freed by Catelyn and sent to King's Landing to exchange for Sansa and Arya, escorted by Brienne of Tarth and Jaime's cousin Ser Cleos Frey. Cleos is killed by bandits and Jaime and Brienne are captured by the Brave Companions, who were formerly in service to Tywin but have defected to Roose Bolton. Their leader, Vargo Hoat, cuts off Jaime's sword hand in the hope that Tywin will blame Roose and prevent the Boltons defecting to the Lannisters. While held captive at Harrenhal, Jaime reveals to Brienne the circumstances surrounding his murder of King Aerys. Roose Bolton releases Jaime but keeps Brienne hostage. While returning to King's Landing, Jaime has a dream about Brienne and decides to return to Harrenhal to rescue her from Hoat. Continuing on to King's Landing, Jaime and Brienne learn that Robb and Catelyn have been murdered at the Red Wedding, and that Joffrey has been poisoned, with Tyrion on trial for the murder; Jaime refuses to believe Tyrion is guilty. Tywin gifts Jaime with a Valyrian steel sword forged from House Stark's ancestral sword Ice and reveals that he plans to have Jaime released from his vows to the Kingsguard, disowning him when Jaime declines. Jaime passes the sword on to Brienne and tasks her with finding and protecting the fugitive Sansa Stark. He then forces Varys into helping Tyrion escape, confessing to Tyrion that he owed him a debt for his role in Tysha's fate. Outraged, Tyrion spitefully reveals to Jaime Cersei's affairs during his imprisonment, swears vengeance on Jaime and the rest of House Lannister, and lies that he did indeed kill Joffrey, before killing Tywin. Jaime and Cersei's relationship breaks down after he repeatedly declines her requests to become the new Hand of the King and he becomes more disturbed by Cersei's arrogance and impulsive leadership. Jaime tries to reconcile Kevan and Cersei, in hopes that Kevan will take the role of Hand. Kevan rebuffs Jaime's efforts, and implies that he knows of Jaime and Cersei's incestuous relationship. Cersei orders Jaime to go to Riverrun and dislodge Ser Brynden "Blackfish" Tully. Before his leaving, Jaime has an armorer forge him a prosthetic hand. He takes the tongueless Ser Ilyn Payne with him to teach him to fight with his left hand, using the lessons to confess to his numerous crimes. During the march, he encounters his cousin Lancel, who confesses to his affair with Cersei. Jaime persuades Edmure Tully to force the Blackfish's surrender by threatening to sack the castle and kill Edmure's child when it is born, though Edmure assists the Blackfish in escaping. Jaime later receives a letter from Cersei, who has been imprisoned by the High Sparrow and is awaiting trial and begs Jaime to be her champion in her trial by combat, but Jaime has the letter burned without reply. Jaime travels to Raventree Hall and negotiates Lord Tytos Blackwood's surrender, officially ending House Stark's insurrection. In the aftermath, he is approached by Brienne, who claims that Sansa is in danger from Sandor "The Hound" Clegane. It is unknown how much of this is true, as Brienne was previously seen as a prisoner of a reanimated Catelyn Stark and the anti- Lannister Brotherhood Without Banners. Jaime is portrayed by Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the HBO adaptation Game of Thrones. His casting was announced on August 20, 2009. In October 2014, Coster-Waldau and several other key cast members, all contracted for six seasons of the series, renegotiated their deals to include a potential seventh season and salary increases for seasons five, six, and seven. The Hollywood Reporter called the raises "huge", noting that the deal would make the performers "among the highest-paid actors on cable TV". Deadline Hollywood put the number for season five at "close to an episode" for each actor, and The Hollywood Reporter wrote in June 2016 that the performers would each be paid "upward of per episode" for seasons seven and the potential eight. In 2017, he became one of the highest paid actors on television and will earn £2million per episode for the show. Matt Fowler of IGN noted in 2013 that "the people who do seem to get redemption arcs on this show are the villains". Over the course of the first three seasons, the series has transitioned Jaime from an obvious villain to an antihero of sorts. Eric Dodds of Time wrote that Jaime had become "a complex, bizarrely likable character". Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast explained: Fowler wrote that Jaime's adventure with Brienne was "the best storyline of the season" in Season 3, aside from the Red Wedding. Jaime's apparent rape of Cersei in the fourth season episode "Breaker of Chains" created controversy among fans and journalists, who debated the show's depiction of sexual violence against women as well as Jaime's character development. The showrunners never commented on what their intention with the scene actually was. The cast members involved initially gave only vague comments, but after the fourth season was released on Blu-ray and the showrunners avoided making any comment about the scene in it (it is conspicuously the only episode which has no commentary track), both Coster- Waldau and Headey publicly stated that the scene was never intended to portray rape at all - they were given no instructions to this effect (such as in the script) nor did they play it that way, and apparently the scene was just edited very confusingly. In the source novel A Storm of Swords, the sex between Jaime and Cersei in the equivalent scene is consensual. Several critics argued that the TV series' change damaged Jaime's redemption arc. Dodds noted that the episode "irreparably changes the way we see Jaime Lannister". Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post wrote: Coster-Waldau said, "If you look closer there are those moments where she—well, I haven't seen the finished edit, of course—but we tried to have it where she goes into it then she pulls away, she goes in then she pulls away, but of course he is forcing himself." Later he and his co-star Lena Headey (Cersei) spoke with Entertainment Weekly during the filming of season 5, admitting that they were never directed or intended to film a rape scene. Headey stated: The Jaime- Cersei scene was subsequently ignored for the rest of Season 4 and the rest of the series. Writing on website TheMarySue.com, Rebecca Pahle claimed that not referring to the scene again, instead of as a long and developed subplot, trivialized rape—if, in fact, it was ever the actual intention to portray it as a rape scene. Pahle argued that in real life a woman would be traumatized by being raped, not act as if nothing had happened immediately afterwards. Pahle said that even if the show's creators did not intend it as a rape scene, ignoring questions about the scene and hoping they would go away over time was insensitive to the audience. In 2016, Christopher Hooton wrote for The Independent: Jaime's storyline in the first season remains, for the most part, identical to his book storyline, with only minor details altered. Introduced in the pilot, "Winter is Coming", Jaime is established as queen Cersei Lannister's brother and head of King Robert Baratheon's Kingsguard. After being discovered by Brandon Stark to be having an affair with Cersei, Jaime pushes the boy to his presumed death, only for Bran to survive the fall, admittedly with life- changing injuries and little recollection of the event. As the season continues, Cersei expresses her concern to Jaime that Bran will one day remember being pushed and expose their incestuous affair, which has spawned all three of Cersei's children. Jaime soon joins his father Tywin Lannister in the field as they face off against Robb Stark's army following the imprisonment of Ned Stark in King's Landing. At the Battle of Whispering Wood, Robb captures Jaime from the Lannister forces and uses him as a hostage. In the aftermath of Jaime's capture, he confesses to Catelyn that he tried to kill Bran, but refuses to reveal why. Robb brings a captive Jaime with his camp as they march through the Westerlands, as Robb fears Tywin may coerce one of his bannerman into freeing Jaime. At one point Jaime attempts to escape by beating his cousin and fellow inmate Alton Lannister to death and strangling his guard Torrhen Karstark when he comes to investigate. Jaime is soon recaptured by Robb's bannermen, but the anger of Torrhen's father Rickard proves fatal for Robb's campaign in the coming months. After Jaime goads Catelyn by mentioning Ned's rumoured infidelity, she releases him and has Brienne of Tarth escort him to King's Landing to trade for her daughters, Sansa and Arya. After spending several weeks on the road, Jaime attempts to free himself from Brienne's escort and return home to King's Landing by himself. During his attempts to do this, however, they are soon captured by a squad of soldiers sporting the banners of House Bolton. As their prisoner, Jaime manages to convince them not to rape Brienne, but their leader Locke takes umbrage when Jaime tries to use his status to secure his own release. He chops off Jaime's sword hand. In the days following this incident, Jaime is shown to be weak and delirious, with his wound becoming increasingly infected. The two are taken to Harrenhal, where the former maester Qyburn treats Jaime's wound. Jaime reveals to Brienne the truth about why he killed the Mad King Aerys during Robert's Rebellion. Roose Bolton lets Jaime return to King's Landing but insists on keeping Brienne prisoner for abetting treason, though Jaime ultimately returns to rescue Brienne from being killed by a bear for Locke's amusement. The two return to King's Landing and Jaime is reunited with Cersei. Tywin gifts Jaime a Valyrian steel sword forged from House Stark's ancestral sword, Ice, and asks him to resign from the Kingsguard and rule Casterly Rock, disowning him when he refuses. Qyburn fits Jaime with a gilded steel hand, while Tyrion arranges for Jaime to have sword lessons with his bodyguard Bronn. After their son Joffrey is poisoned at his own wedding, Cersei initially refuses to resume their relationship. She is then raped by Jaime in front of Joffrey's body. Jaime gifts Tywin's sword to Brienne, as well as the services of Tyrion's squire Podrick Payne. Jaime asks her to find Arya and Sansa and take them to safety. With Tyrion accused of Joffrey's murder, Jaime convinces Tywin to spare Tyrion in return for leaving the Kingsguard, though Tyrion later chooses trial by combat. Tyrion loses the trial and is sentenced to death, but Jaime releases him from his cell and helps him escape to Essos. Cersei guilts Jaime for releasing Tyrion, and Jaime later admits to Bronn that he intends to kill Tyrion the next time they meet. When a message arrives from Martells subtly threatening Myrcella as revenge for Prince Oberyn Martell's death in Tyrion's trial by combat, Jaime and Bronn travel to Dorne in secret to retrieve her. As they make their escape they are accosted by Oberyn's bastard daughters, the Sand Snakes, and engage in a fight before all five are arrested by the Water Gardens' palace guards. Doran Martell realises that the message was sent by Oberyn's paramour Ellaria Sand and decides to send Myrcella and his own son Trystane back to King's Landing with Jaime as a peace offering between the two houses. As the ship sets sail, Myrcella admits to Jaime that she has always known he is her father, and that she feels happy knowing this. The two share a brief embrace before Myrcella suddenly collapses and dies, having been poisoned by Ellaria. Jaime returns to King's Landing with Myrcella's corpse. He orders Trystane to stay on the boat outside the city to protect him from Cersei's wrath, and sends word to Doran naming Ellaria as Myrcella's killer. After Doran receives this news, Ellaria promptly kills Doran, sends Obara and Nymeria to King's Landing to kill Trystane, and seizes control of Dorne. At Myrcella's funeral, Jaime confronts the religious leader, the High Sparrow, for having forced Cersei to walk naked through the streets of King's Landing as punishment for adultery, but is forced to stand down at the arrival of the Faith Militant. Jaime enlists the Tyrell army to march on the Sept of Baelor to secure the release of Margaery and Loras Tyrell. However, they find that Margaery has seemingly become a follower of the High Sparrow and that Tommen has forged an alliance with the Faith Militant. As punishment for taking up arms against the Faith, Jaime is removed from the Kingsguard. He is sent to Riverrun with Bronn to assist House Frey in reclaiming the castle from Brynden "Blackfish" Tully and the occupying Tully forces. After a failed parlay, Brienne arrives and implores both Jaime and the Blackfish to end the siege without bloodshed, so the Tully rebels can help Sansa Stark retake Winterfell. Brienne fails in this task, so Jaime threatens the captured Edmure Tully with the promise that his infant son will be killed if Edmure does not order a surrender. Edmure is released and promptly opens the gates to the Lannisters. Jaime sees Brienne and Podrick fleeing by boat from the castle walls, but only waves a discreet farewell and does not alert his men. After traveling to House Frey's fortress The Twins for a feast to celebrate their victory at Riverrun, Jaime returns to King's Landing. Upon arrival, he is horrified to discover that the Great Sept of Baelor has been destroyed in a wildfire explosion, with the majority of House Tyrell and the entire Faith Militant killed in the attack. He returns to the Red Keep in time to witness Cersei being crowned as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, immediately realizing that Cersei wiped out every high-ranking rival in the explosion in order to acquire her new power. Despite his discomfort at the circumstances leading to Cersei's coronation, Jaime remains loyal to his sister, with Daenerys Targaryen and her forces sailing on Westeros. Cersei agrees to marry Euron Greyjoy after the war against Daenerys is won, but continues her relationship with Jaime, no longer attempting to hide their intimacy from their servants. Jaime negotiates with Randyll Tarly to pledge allegiance to the Lannisters, and with the help of House Tarly's forces he leads the Lannister army to defeat the Tyrell army at Highgarden. The Tyrell family matriarch, Lady Olenna, had defected to Daenerys following Cersei's role in the death of the other Tyrells. In the aftermath of the battle, Jaime allows Olenna a painless suicide-via-poison, rather than the torturous death Cersei had ordered. Before dying, Olenna reveals she was responsible for poisoning Joffrey. As the Lannister forces return to King's Landing via road, they are ambushed by Daenerys' Dothraki forces. Their army is nearly completely destroyed in the attack, until Bronn temporarily wounds Drogon with a scorpion ballista. Jaime attempts a desperate, horseback lance charge on the dismounted Daenerys, but only escapes being burnt to death when Bronn intervenes. The two men plunge into the Blackwater Rush, and are carried downstream, away from the carnage of Daenerys' victory. They return to King's Landing, where Jamie warns Cersei of certain defeat should Daenerys escalate the conflict. Cersei is not entirely convinced of that or Olenna's confession. Bronn takes Jaime to the Red Keep cellars under the pretense of more training. However, Tyrion (now Hand to Daenerys after his journey in Essos) is there for a parley. Tyrion wants a truce between the two queens in order to form an alliance against the White Walkers, as well as a meeting between Daenerys and Cersei to present evidence of the danger. Jaime is convinced by Tyrion and relays the message to Cersei, who is skeptical, but remains adamant that the Lannisters will prevail against any foe. She also reveals that she is pregnant with Jaime's child. At the meeting in King's Landing, Jon Snow and the Hound present an undead wight to Cersei's court, and Jamie realizes the impending doom. After some persuasion from Tyrion, Cersei relents to sending the Lannister forces north against the Army of the Dead. However, Cersei reveals to Jaime that she had no intention of sending the Lannister army north to assist in the fight. Instead, she has ordered Euron Greyjoy to travel to Essos and retrieve the Golden Company, an army of sellswords, and wait for the Northern forces to be weakened (or eliminated). Upon learning this, Jaime decides to head North alone, and leaves King's Landing as winter arrives. Jaime arrives in Winterfell and encounters Bran, who has been waiting for him in the courtyard. He is visibly shocked to see the Stark boy again. Brought before Daenerys and the Northern lords, Jaime justifies his actions against the Starks and Targaryens as being in service to House Lannister. Brienne vouches for Jaime, citing his protection of her from Roose Bolton's soldiers, and Sansa and Jon Snow let him live. Afterwards, Jaime speaks to Bran alone in the Godswood and apologizes for trying to kill him; however, Bran holds no anger towards Jaime for his deeds. Jaime also speaks with Brienne and declares that he wishes to fight under her command in the upcoming battle against the White Walkers. Later, drinking with Brienne and others before battle, Jaime knights Brienne. Jaime fights the Army of the Dead in the Battle of Winterfell alongside Brienne and the others; both survive as the living win. After the battle, Jaime and Brienne become lovers. After learning that Daenerys' army are planning to seize King's Landing and execute Cersei, Jaime ignores Brienne's pleas and leaves for King's Landing to aid his sister. Daenerys' forces capture him on the road, but Tyrion frees him so that he can surrender on Cersei's behalf and take her away from King's Landing and Westeros. Before Davos smuggles Jaime away, Jaime tells Tyrion he never actually cared about the common folk of King's Landing. Jaime enters King's Landing during the battle between Daenerys' and Cersei's forces. As the city falls, Euron attacks and grievously wounds Jaime, but Jaime manages to kill him. Jaime reunites with Cersei in the Red Keep - the pair are killed when the dungeon vaults of the castle collapse over them during the sacking of the city. In the series finale, titled "The Iron Throne", Tyrion discovers Jaime and Cersei's bodies buried under the rubble in the crypt under the Red Keep and, in his grief, renounces his loyalty to Daenerys and persuades Jon Snow to kill her. Matt Roush wrote for TV Guide that Coster-Waldau plays "dastardly" Jaime "with malevolent charisma", and Dodds noted that, despite the "despicable things" he has done, "the Kingslayer remains one of Game of Thrones most popular characters". Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe wrote: Coster-Waldau has received several nominations for his portrayal of Jaime, including the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2013, the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film in 2013, the Gold Derby TV Award for Best Drama Supporting Actor in 2013, the People's Choice Award for Favorite TV Anti-Hero in 2014, the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor on Television in 2014, the Zulu Award for Best Actor in 2017, and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018.

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The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The Browns play their home games at FirstEnergy Stadium, which opened in 1999, with administrative offices and training facilities in Berea, Ohio. The Browns' official club colors are brown, orange, and white. They are unique among the 32 member franchises of the NFL in that they do not have a logo on their helmets. The franchise was founded in 1945 by Brown and businessman Arthur B. McBride as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). The Browns dominated the AAFC, compiling a 47–4–3 record in the league's four seasons and winning its championship in each. When the AAFC folded after the 1949 season, the Browns joined the NFL along with the San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts. The team won a championship in their inaugural NFL season, as well as in the 1954, 1955, and 1964 seasons, and in a feat unequaled in any of the North American major professional sports, played in their league championship game in each of the Browns' first ten years of existence. From 1965 to 1995, they qualified to play in the NFL playoffs 14 times, but did not win another championship or play in the Super Bowl during that period. In 1995, owner Art Modell, who had purchased the Browns in 1961, announced plans to move the team to Baltimore. After threats of legal action from the city of Cleveland and fans, a compromise was reached in early 1996 that allowed Modell to establish the Baltimore Ravens as a new franchise while retaining the contracts of all Browns personnel. The Browns' intellectual property, including team name, logos, training facility, and history, were kept in trust and the franchise was regarded by the NFL as suspended, with a new team to be established by 1999 either by expansion or relocation. The Browns were announced as an expansion team in 1998 and resumed play in 1999. Since resuming operations in 1999, the Browns have struggled to find success. They have had only two winning seasons (in 2002 and 2007), one playoff appearance (2002), and no playoff wins, winning only around a third of their games in total. The franchise has also been noted for a lack of stability with head coaches (10 full time and two interim since 1999), and quarterbacks (30 different starters since 1999), along with the longest active playoff drought in the NFL at 17 seasons. The history of the Cleveland Browns American football team began in 1944 when taxi-cab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride secured a Cleveland franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Paul Brown was the team's namesake and first coach. The Browns began play in 1946 in the AAFC. The Browns won each of the league's four championship games before the league dissolved in 1949. The team then moved to the more established National Football League (NFL), where it continued to dominate. Between 1950 and 1955, Cleveland reached the NFL championship game every year, winning three times. McBride and his partners sold the team to a group of Cleveland businessmen in 1953 for a then-unheard-of $600,000. Eight years later, the team was sold again, this time to a group led by New York advertising executive Art Modell. Modell fired Brown before the 1963 season, but the team continued to win behind running back Jim Brown. The Browns won the championship in 1964 and reached the title game the following season, losing to the Green Bay Packers. When the AFL and NFL merged before the 1970 season, Cleveland became part of the new American Football Conference (AFC). While the Browns made it back to the playoffs in 1971 and 1972, they fell into mediocrity through the mid-1970s. A revival of sorts took place in 1979 and 1980, when quarterback Brian Sipe engineered a series of last-minute wins and the Browns came to be called the "Kardiac Kids". Under Sipe, however, the Browns did not make it past the first round of the playoffs. Quarterback Bernie Kosar, whom the Browns drafted in 1985, led the team to three AFC Championship games in the late 1980s but lost each time to the Denver Broncos. In 1995, Modell announced he was relocating the Browns to Baltimore, sowing a mix of outrage and bitterness among Cleveland's dedicated fan base. Negotiations and legal battles led to an agreement where Modell was allowed to move the team, but Cleveland kept the Browns' name, colors, and history. After three years of suspension while Cleveland Stadium was demolished and FirstEnergy Stadium was built on its site, the Browns started play again in 1999 under new owner Al Lerner. The Browns struggled throughout the 2000s and 2010s, posting a record of 95–224–1 () since their 1999 return. The Browns have only posted two winning seasons and one playoff appearance (2002) since returning to the NFL. The team's struggles have been magnified since 2012, when the Lerner family sold the team to businessman Jimmy Haslam. In six seasons under Haslam’s ownership, the Browns went through four head coaches and four general managers, none of whom had found success. In 2016 and 2017 under head coach Hue Jackson, the Browns went 1–31 () (including a winless 0–16 season in 2017), the worst two-year stretch in NFL history, and received the number one overall draft pick in both of those years. The Browns are the only National Football League team without a helmet logo. The logoless helmet serves as the Browns' official logo. The organization has used several promotional logos throughout the years; players' numbers were painted on the helmets from 1957 to 1960; and an unused "CB" logo was created in 1965, But for much of their history, the Browns' helmets have been an unadorned burnt orange color with a top stripe of dark brown (officially called "seal brown") divided by a white stripe. The team has had various promotional logos throughout the years, such as the "Brownie Elf" mascot or a Brown "B" in a white football. While Art Modell did away with the Brownie Elf in the mid-1960s, believing it to be too childish, its use has been revived under the current ownership. The popularity of the Dawg Pound section at First Energy Stadium has led to a brown and orange dog being used for various Browns functions. But overall, the orange, logo-less helmet continues as the primary trademark of the Cleveland Browns. On February 24, 2015, the team unveiled its new logos and word marks, the only differences being minor color changes to the helmet with the helmet design remaining largely as is. The original designs of the jerseys, pants, and socks remained mostly the same, but the helmets went through many significant revisions throughout the years. The Browns uniforms saw their first massive change prior to the 2015 season. Jerseys: 1. Brown - brown (officially "seal brown") with orange colored numbers and writing, and an orange-white-orange stripe sequence on the sleeves. 2. White (away) - white with orange numbers and writing, with a brown-orange-brown stripe sequence. 3. Orange - orange with white numerals and writing, and a brown-white-brown stripe sequence. Pants: 1. Brown - brown pants with an orange-white-orange stripe sequence down two-thirds the length of the pants. The other third is the word "BROWNS," written in orange. 2. White - white pants with a brown-orange-brown stripes. "BROWNS" is written in brown. 3. Orange - orange pants with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence. "BROWNS" is written in brown. Socks: 1. Solid brown. 2. Solid white. 3. Solid orange. Helmet: Solid white (1946–1949); solid white for day games and solid orange for night games (1950–1951); orange with a single white stripe (1952–1956); orange with a single white stripe and brown numerals on the sides (1957–1959); orange with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence and brown numerals on the sides (1960); orange with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence (1961–1995 and 1999–present). Over the years, the Browns have had on-and-off periods of wearing white for their home games, particularly in the 1970s and 80s, as well as in the early 2000s after the team returned to the league. Until recently, when more NFL teams have started to wear white at home at least once a season, the Browns were the only non-subtropical team north of the Mason-Dixon line to wear white at home on a regular basis. Secondary numerals (called "TV numbers") first appeared on the jersey sleeves in 1961. Over the years, there have been minor revisions to the sleeve stripes, the first occurring in 1968 (brown jerseys worn in early season) and 1969 (white and brown jerseys) when stripes began to be silk screened onto the sleeves and separated from each other to prevent color bleeding. However, the basic five-stripe sequence has remained intact (with the exception of the 1984 season). A recent revision was the addition of the initials "AL" to honor team owner Al Lerner who died in 2002; this was removed in 2013 upon Jimmy Haslam assuming ownership of the team. Orange pants with a brown-white-brown stripe sequence were worn from 1975 to 1983 and become symbolic of the "Kardiac Kids" era. The orange pants were worn again occasionally in 2003 and 2004. Other than the helmet, the uniform was completely redesigned for the 1984 season. New striping patterns appeared on the white jerseys, brown jerseys and pants. Solid brown socks were worn with brown jerseys and solid orange socks were worn with white jerseys. Brown numerals on the white jerseys were outlined in orange. White numerals on the brown jerseys were double outlined in brown and orange. (Orange numerals double outlined in brown and white appeared briefly on the brown jerseys in one pre-season game.) However, this particular uniform set was not popular with the fans, and in 1985 the uniform was returned to a look similar to the original design. It remained that way until 1995. In 1999, the expansion Browns adopted the traditional design with two exceptions: first, the TV numbers, previously on the sleeves, were moved to the shoulders; and second, the orange-brown-orange pants stripes were significantly widened. Experimentation with the uniform design began in 2002. An alternate orange jersey was introduced that season as the NFL encouraged teams to adopt a third jersey, and a major design change was made when solid brown socks appeared for the first time since 1984 and were used with white, brown and orange jerseys. Other than 1984, striped socks (matching the jersey stripes) had been a signature design element in the team's traditional uniform. The white striped socks appeared occasionally with the white jerseys in 2003–2005 and 2007. Experimentation continued in 2003 and 2004 when the traditional orange-brown- orange stripes on the white pants were replaced by two variations of a brown- orange-brown sequence, one in which the stripes were joined (worn with white jerseys) and the other in which they were separated by white (worn with brown jerseys). The joined sequence was used exclusively with both jerseys in 2005. In 2006, the traditional orange-brown-orange sequence returned. Additionally in 2006, the team reverted to an older uniform style, featuring gray face masks; the original stripe pattern on the brown jersey sleeves (The white jersey has had that sleeve stripe pattern on a consistent basis since the 1985 season.) and the older, darker shade of brown. The Browns wore brown pants for the first time in team history on August 18, 2008, preseason game against the New York Giants. The pants contain no stripes or markings. The team had the brown pants created as an option for their away uniform when they integrated the gray facemask in 2006. They were not worn again until the Browns "family" scrimmage on August 9, 2009 with white-striped socks. The Browns have continued to wear the brown pants throughout the 2009 season. Browns quarterback Brady Quinn supported the team's move to wearing the brown pants full-time, claiming that the striped pattern on the white pants "prohibit[ed] mobility". However, the fans generally did not like the brown pants, and after being used for only one season, the team returned to their white shirt-on- white pants in 2010. Coach Eric Mangini told The Plain Dealer the Browns won't use the brown pants anymore. "It wasn't very well-received," Mangini said. "I hope we can get to the point where we can wear fruit on our heads and people wouldn't notice." At the time, the brown pants weren't officially dropped by the team, but simply not used. The Browns chose to wear white at home for the 2011 season, and wound up wearing white for all 16 games as when they were on the road, the home team would wear their darker colored uniform. The Browns brought back the brown pants in their home game against the Buffalo Bills on October 3, 2013 on Thursday Night Football, pairing them with the brown jerseys. It marked the first time the team wore an all-brown combination in team history. On April 14, 2015, the Cleveland Browns unveiled their new uniform combinations, consisting of the team's colors of orange, brown and white. The Browns brought back the all-brown look for the NFL Color Rush program in 2016, minus the white elements. In 2018 the uniform was worn at home three times. For the 2019 season, the Browns promoted the Color Rush uniform to their primary home uniform and will wear it for six home games as well as any away game in which the home team chooses to wear white (although for the Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams, the Browns wore all-orange socks instead of brown. For the two remaining home games, the browns will wear their previous brown home uniforms as alternate uniforms. The Cleveland Browns have rivalries with all three of its AFC North opponents. In addition, the team has had historical rivalries with the Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Detroit Lions. The team's biggest rival in the AAFC was the San Francisco 49ers, though this has cooled and in some cases turned into a friendly relationship, as the Browns now play in the AFC and the 49ers play in the NFC. Additionally, many 49ers personnel helped the Browns relaunch in 1999 as well as former team President Mike Holmgren having started his NFL career in San Francisco. Also, 49ers owners John York and Denise DeBartolo York reside in Youngstown, 60 miles southeast of Cleveland. Former long-time veteran placekicker and fan favorite, Phil Dawson, signed with the 49ers in 2014, along with backup quarterback Colt McCoy. Often called the "Turnpike Rivalry", the Browns' biggest rival has long been the Pittsburgh Steelers. Former Browns owner Art Modell scheduled home games against the Steelers on Saturday nights from 1964 to 1970 to help fuel the rivalry. The rivalry has also been fueled by the proximity of the two teams, number of championships both teams have won, players and personnel having played and/or coached for both sides, and personal bitterness. The teams have played twice annually since 1950, making it the oldest rivalry in the AFC and the fifth-oldest rivalry in the NFL. Though the Browns dominated this rivalry early in the series (winning the first eight meetings and posting a 31–9 record in the 1950s and 1960s), the Steelers went 15–5 in the 1970s and 34–6–1 since the Browns returned to the league in 1999. The Steelers have been particularly dominant in Pittsburgh, posting a 42–6 record when hosting the Browns since 1970, including winning streaks of 16 (1970–85) and 15 games (2004-present). The Steelers currently hold a 75–58–1 lead. The Browns and Steelers met in the playoffs in and , with the Steelers winning both meetings. Though the rivalry has cooled in Pittsburgh due to the Modell move as well as the Browns' poor play since 1999, the Steelers still remain the top rival for Cleveland. Originally conceived due to the personal animosity between Paul Brown and Art Modell, the "Battle of Ohio" between the Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals has been fueled by the sociocultural differences between Cincinnati and Cleveland, a shared history between the two teams, and similar team colors, as Brown used the exact shade of orange for the Bengals that he used for the Browns. (Though this has changed since then, as the Bengals now use a brighter shade of orange.) Modell, in fact, moved the Browns to the AFC after the AFL–NFL merger in order to have a rivalry with the Bengals. The rivalry has also produced two of the eight highest-scoring games in NFL history. Cincinnati has the all-time edge 50–41. While the Bengals have a 26–14 edge since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999, the Browns-Bengals series has been more competitive than the Browns' series with their other division rivals. Created as a result of the Browns' relocation to Baltimore, the rivalry between the Browns and Baltimore Ravens was more directed at Art Modell than the team itself, and is simply considered a divisional game in Baltimore. This matchup is more bitter for Cleveland than the others due to the fact that the draft picks for 1995 to 1998 resulted in the rosters that won the Super Bowl for the Ravens in 2000. Had the Browns stayed in Cleveland, these teams (drafted by general manager Ozzie Newsome) might have given the Browns the title after a 35-year drought. This bitterness was compounded when the Ravens won their second Super Bowl in 2012. The Ravens lead the overall series 30–10. The two teams have not met in the playoffs. The Detroit Lions rivalry began in the 1950s, when the Browns and Lions played each other in four NFL championships. The Lions won three of those championships, while the Browns won one. This was arguably one of the NFL's best rivalries in the 1950s. Since the NFL-AFL merger of 1970, the teams have met much less frequently with the Browns' move to the AFC. From 2002 to 2014, the two teams played an annual preseason game known as the "Great Lakes Classic". The Bills rivalry had its roots back to the days of the AAFC, when there was a team from Buffalo with the same name in that league. The Browns and AAFC Bills played six games, including a league championship game, before the Browns were selected to merge into the NFL and the Bills left out. After the current incarnation of the Bills joined the NFL, the Browns and Bills have played each other from time to time. Though the Browns and Bills are in different AFC divisions, a mellow rivalry defined by mutual respect has since developed between the teams due to the similarities between Buffalo and Cleveland and shared misfortune between the teams. Despite this "rivalry" being known for ugly games, such as an 8-0 Browns win played in a blizzard in 2007 and a 6-3 Browns win in 2009 in which Browns quarterback Derek Anderson only completed 2 of 17 passes, there have been some competitive moments between the Bills and Browns as well, such as a playoff game in 1990 and two games with playoff- implications in 2007 and 2014. The Browns fans' respect for the Bills is partly due to Bills founding owner Ralph Wilson being one of only two NFL owners to vote against the decision to move the original Browns team to Baltimore. The Browns had a brief rivalry with the Denver Broncos that arose from three AFC Championship Games from 1986 to 1989. In the 1986 AFC Championship, quarterback John Elway led The Drive to secure a tie in the waning moments at Cleveland Municipal Stadium; the Broncos went on to win in 23–20 in overtime. One year later, the two teams met again in the 1987 AFC Championship game at Mile High Stadium. Denver took a 21–3 lead, but Browns' quarterback Bernie Kosar threw four touchdown passes to tie the game at 31–31 halfway through the 4th quarter. After a long drive, John Elway threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to running back Sammy Winder to give Denver a 38–31 lead. Cleveland advanced to Denver's 8-yard line with 1:12 left, but Broncos' safety Jeremiah Castille stripped Browns' running back Earnest Byner of the football at the 2-yard line—a play that has been called The Fumble by Browns' fans. The Broncos recovered it, gave Cleveland an intentional safety, and went on to win 38–33. The two teams met yet again in the 1989 AFC Championship at Mile High Stadium, which the Broncos easily won by a score of 37–21. A 2006 study conducted by Bizjournal determined that Browns fans are the most loyal fans in the NFL. The study, while not scientific, was largely based on fan loyalty during winning and losing seasons, attendance at games, and challenges confronting fans (such as inclement weather or long-term poor performance of their team). The study noted that Browns fans filled 99.8% of the seats at Cleveland Browns Stadium during the last seven seasons, despite a combined record of 36-76 over that span. Perhaps the most visible Browns fans are those that can be found in the Dawg Pound. Originally the name for the bleacher section located in the open (east) end of old Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the current incarnation is likewise located in the east end of FirstEnergy Stadium and still features hundreds of orange and brown clad fans sporting various canine-related paraphernalia. The fans adopted that name in 1984 after members of the Browns defense used it to describe the team's defense. Retired cornerback Hanford Dixon, who played his entire career for the Browns (1981–1989), is credited with naming the Cleveland Browns defense 'The Dawgs' in the mid-1980s. Dixon and teammates Frank Minnifield and Eddie Johnson would bark at each other and to the fans in the bleachers at the Cleveland Stadium to fire them up. It was from Dixon's naming that the Dawg Pound subsequently took its title. The fans adopted that name in the years after. Due to this nickname, since the team's revival the Browns have used a bulldog as an alternate logo. The most prominent organization of Browns fans is the Browns Backers Worldwide (BBW). The organization has approximately 305,000 members and Browns Backers clubs can be found in every major city in the United States, and in a number of military bases throughout the world, with the largest club being in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, the organization has a sizable foreign presence in places as far away as Egypt, Australia, Japan, Sri Lanka, and McMurdo Station in Antarctica. According to The Official Fan Club of the Cleveland Browns, the two largest international fan clubs are in Alon Shvut, West Bank and Niagara, Canada, with Alon Shvut having 129 members and Niagara having 310. Following former Browns owner Randy Lerner's acquisition of English soccer club Aston Villa, official Villa outlets started selling Cleveland Browns goods such as jerseys and NFL footballs. This has raised interest in England and strengthened the link between the two sporting clubs. Aston Villa supporters have set up an organization known as the Aston (Villa) Browns Backers of Birmingham. The Cleveland Browns were the favorite team of Elvis Presley. This was because his friend Gene Hickerson - with whom he had played football in their common youth in Memphis - was contracted by the Browns in 1957 and played there during his entire career until 1973. Also defender Bobby Franklin, who had played from 1960 to 1966 for the Browns, was a friend of Presley. WWE Hall of Fame wrestler and commentator Jerry "The King" Lawler - though he has spent most of his life in Memphis - spent part of his childhood in the Cleveland area and is a fan of the Browns. Fellow WWE wrestlers The Miz and Dolph Ziggler (both Cleveland natives) are also fans. Another fan of the team is baseball legend Hank Aaron. Other famous Browns fans include LeBron James, Arsenio Hall, Drew Carey, Patricia Heaton (her father, Chuck Heaton, was a sportswriter for The Plain Dealer, which covered the Browns and wrote two books about the team), Terri Garr, Martin Mull, Condoleezza Rice, Two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Stipe Miocic, Valerie Bertinelli (her husband is from the Northeast Ohio area, and she starred in Hot in Cleveland), Machine Gun Kelly, Paul Adelstein, Iron Chef, Tom Holland, Michael Symon, C. J. McCollum, and Brad Paisley. The Cleveland Browns have the fourth largest number of players enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a total of 16 enshrined players elected based on their performance with the Browns, and eight more players or coaches elected who spent at least one year with the Browns franchise. No Browns players were inducted in the inaugural induction class of 1963. Otto Graham was the first Browns player to be enshrined as a member of the class of 1965, and the most recent Browns player to be included in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is Gene Hickerson, who was a member of the class of 2007. All of the Browns' Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees thus far have been from the pre-1996 incarnation; no members of the Hall of Fame played for the Browns after 1999. The Cleveland Browns legends program honors former Browns who made noteworthy contributions to the history of the franchise. In addition to all the Hall of Famers listed above, the Legends list includes: Beginning in 2010, the Browns established a Ring of Honor, honoring the greats from the past by having their names displayed around the upper deck of FirstEnergy Stadium. The inaugural class in the Browns Ring of Honor was unveiled during the home opener on September 19, 2010, and featured the 16 Hall of Famers listed above who went into the Hall of Fame as Browns. In 2018, Joe Thomas was entered into the Ring of Honor with the number 10,363 - commemorating his NFL record of consecutive snaps played on offense. In 2019, four-time Pro Bowl linebacker Clay Matthews was entered into the Ring of Honor. Numerous Browns players and staff have had statues made in their honor: In and around First Energy Stadium 1964 NFL Champion and Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown - since 2016, Three-time NFL Champion and Hall of Fame quarterback Otto Graham - since 2019 In and around Cleveland Late owner Alfred Lerner in front of the team's headquarters/practice facility in Berea, Ohio - since 2003, Browns Hall of Fame offensive tackle/kicker Lou Groza in front of a youth football field that bears his name, also in Berea - since 2016 WKNR (850 AM), WKRK-FM (92.3 FM), and WNCX (98.5 FM) serve as co-flagship stations for the Cleveland Browns Radio Network. Play-by-play announcer Jim Donovan calls games on-site alongside color analyst Doug Dieken, a former Browns left tackle, and sideline reporter Nathan Zegura - who made news when he had to serve an eight-game suspension due to arguing with officials during a game in 2018. WKRK-FM personality Ken Carman and WKNR personalities Tony Rizzo & Je'Rod Cherry host the network pregame show, while WKRK-FM personalities Jeff Phelps and Dustin Fox host the network postgame show. WLFM- LP (87.7 FM) serves as the Spanish-language outlet for the team. WEWS-TV (TV channel 5) serves as the broadcast TV home of the Browns, airing year-round team programming as well as non-network preseason games. Jay Crawford serves as play-by-play announcer, former Browns quarterback Tim Couch serves as color analyst, and former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar and Dustin Fox serve as sideline analysts. SportsTime Ohio (STO) is the cable outlet for the team, airing various Browns related programming during the season, STO had previously served as the team's cable outlet from its founding in 2006 until 2014. The Browns in-house production team won a pair of Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards in 2005. One was for a primetime special honoring the 1964 NFL Championship team (The 1964 Championship Show) and one was for a commercial spot (The Paperboy). The Browns have (either directly or indirectly) been featured in various movies and TV shows over the years. Notable examples include: Cleveland native Arsenio Hall's television program, The Arsenio Hall Show, is known for the audience's shouting "Woof, woof, woof!" while pumping their fists—a chant that was used by fans of the Browns. He would refer to a section of the live audience as his "Dawg Pound"., On The Drew Carey Show, Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar appears (uncredited) in the episode "Drewstock" (aired January 29, 1997). In the episode "Drew Goes To The Browns Game", (aired September 29, 1999), Drew attends the Browns' first regular season game since re-joining the NFL. (In real life, Drew Carey actually did appear on-field at the first regular season game when the team returned in 1999.), Cleveland Brown is the name of a character originally featured on the Fox TV show Family Guy, and the central character of the spin-off series The Cleveland Show., On the TV show How I Met Your Mother, in the seventh-season premiere, the main characters go to a Cleveland Browns-themed wedding., The Browns have been featured on some level in episodes of Hot In Cleveland and even in promotional videos using at least one of the main characters. In the episode "How Did You Guys Meet, Anyway?" (January 4, 2012), the characters reminisce about how they met in the 1980s while waiting in the restroom line at a Cleveland Browns game. In the episode "God and Football" (January 18, 2012), Melanie (Valerie Bertinelli) develops a relationship with the Browns place kicker (played by Dan Cortese). In the episode "The Gateway Friend" (May 2, 2012) Browns wide receiver/return specialist Josh Cribbs appears as himself portraying a karaoke contestant. After Super Bowl XLVI, Betty White appears in a video as Elka wearing a Browns jacket congratulating the New York Giants and hoping that the Browns win it one season. After the first round of the 2014 NFL draft, the four main characters appear in a video welcoming Justin Gilbert and Johnny Manziel to the Browns., The 1966 film The Fortune Cookie with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau features the Browns and the city of Cleveland throughout the movie and was made with the cooperation of the Browns., The 2008 film explains how Ernie Davis is traded to the Browns by the Washington Redskins. Early in the film, Jim Brown is taking photos in his Browns uniform after being drafted by them. Later in the film, it shows Davis struggling with leukemia after being drafted and the Browns hold a special pre-game ceremony for him., In the 2010 film Hot Tub Time Machine, the Browns win the (the game famous for former Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway's 98-yard drive). It is explained that the reason why the Browns win this game is due to the butterfly effect., In the 2014 film Draft Day, fictional Browns general manager Sonny Weaver, Jr. (Kevin Costner) attempts to land the number one pick in the NFL draft. The history of the Cleveland Browns American football team began in 1944 when taxi-cab magnate Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride secured a Cleveland, Ohio franchise in the newly formed All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Paul Brown, who coach Bill Walsh once called the "father of modern football", was the team's namesake and first coach. From the beginning of play in 1946 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the Browns were a great success. Cleveland won each of the AAFC's four championship games before the league dissolved in 1949. The team then moved to the more established National Football League (NFL), where it continued to dominate. Between 1950 and 1955, Cleveland reached the NFL championship game every year, winning three times. McBride and his partners sold the team to a group of Cleveland businessmen in 1953 for a then-unheard-of $600,000. Eight years later, the team was sold again, this time to a group led by New York advertising executive Art Modell. Modell fired Brown before the 1963 season, but the team continued to win behind running back Jim Brown. The Browns won the championship in 1964 and reached the title game the following season, losing to the Green Bay Packers. The team subsequently reached the playoffs three times in the late 1980s, but fell short of playing in the Super Bowl, the inter-league championship game between the NFL and the rival American Football League (AFL) that started in 1966. When the AFL and NFL merged before the 1970 season, Cleveland became part of the new American Football Conference (AFC). While the Browns made it back to the playoffs in 1971 and 1972, they fell into mediocrity through the mid-1970s. A revival of sorts took place in 1979 and 1980, when quarterback Brian Sipe engineered a series of last-minute wins and the Browns came to be called the "Kardiac Kids". Under Sipe, however, the Browns did not make it past the first round of the playoffs. Quarterback Bernie Kosar, who the Browns drafted in 1985, led the team to three AFC Championship games in the late 1980s but lost each time. In 1995, Modell announced he was relocating the Browns to Baltimore, sowing a mix of outrage and bitterness among Cleveland's dedicated fan base. Negotiations and legal battles led to an agreement where Modell was allowed to move the team, but Cleveland kept the Browns' name, colors and history. After three years of suspension while the old municipal stadium was demolished and Cleveland Browns Stadium took its place, the Browns started play again in 1999 under new owner Al Lerner. Since resuming operations, the Browns have made the playoffs only once, as a wild-card team in 2002. The Browns are only one of 12 NFL franchises to predate the 1960 launch of the American Football League, and are only one of three such teams in the AFC. In 1944 Arch Ward, the influential sports editor of the Chicago Tribune, proposed a new professional football league called the All-America Football Conference. The AAFC was to challenge the dominant National Football League once it began operations at the end of World War II, which had forced many professional teams to curtail activity, merge or go on hiatus as their players served in the U.S. military. It was a bold proposition, given the failure of three previous NFL competitors and the dominance of college football, which was more popular than the professional game at the time. Ward, who had gained fame and respect for starting all-star games for baseball and college football, lined up deep-pocketed owners for the new league's eight teams in hopes of giving it a better chance against the NFL. One of them was Arthur B. "Mickey" McBride, a Cleveland businessman who grew up in Chicago and knew Ward from his involvement in the newspaper business. McBride spent his early career as a circulation manager for the Cleveland News, and went into business for himself in the 1930s, buying a pair of Cleveland taxi companies and running a wire service that supplied bookies with information about the results of horse races. He had connections to organized crime in Chicago and Cleveland arising from the wire service. McBride developed a passion for football attending games at Notre Dame, where his son went to college. In the early 1940s he tried to buy the NFL's Cleveland Rams, owned by millionaire supermarket heir Dan Reeves, but was rebuffed. Having been awarded the Cleveland franchise in the AAFC, McBride asked Cleveland Plain Dealer sportswriter John Dietrich for head coaching suggestions. Dietrich recommended Paul Brown, the 36-year-old Ohio State Buckeyes coach. After consulting with Ward, McBride followed Dietrich's advice in early 1945, naming Brown head coach and giving him an ownership stake in the team and full control over player personnel. Brown, who had built an impressive record as coach of a Massillon, Ohio high school team and brought the Buckeyes their first national championship, at the time was serving in the U.S. Navy and coached the football team at Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago. The name of the team was at first left up to Brown, who rejected calls for it to be christened the Browns. McBride then held a contest to name the team in May 1945; "Cleveland Panthers" was the most popular choice, but Brown rejected it because it was the name of an earlier failed football team. "That old Panthers team failed", Brown said. "I want no part of that name." In August, McBride gave in to popular demand and named the team the Browns, despite Paul Brown's objections. For several years, Brown he would occasionally cite an alternate history of the team name. He claimed that the second name-the-team contest yielded the name "Brown Bombers," after then- world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis, whose nickname was "The Brown Bomber." According to this version, Brown wanted his team to have a nickname befitting a champion, and felt the nickname "Brown Bombers" was apropos. The name was reportedly shortened to simply "Browns." This alternate history of the name was even supported by the team as being factual as recently as the mid-1990s, and it continues as an urban legend to this day. However, Paul Brown never held fast to the Joe Louis story, and later in his life admitted that it was invented in part because of his wariness of having the team being named after him. The Browns and the NFL now both support the position that the team was indeed named after Paul Brown. As the war began to wind down with Germany's surrender in May 1945, the team parlayed Brown's ties to college football and the military to build its roster. The first signing was Otto Graham, a former star quarterback at Northwestern University who was then serving in the Navy. The Browns later signed kicker and offensive tackle Lou Groza and wide receivers Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie. Fullback Marion Motley and nose tackle Bill Willis, two of the earliest African-Americans to play professional football, also joined the team in 1946. Cleveland's first training camp took place at Bowling Green University in northwestern Ohio. Brown's reputation for winning notwithstanding, joining the team was a risk; the Browns and the AAFC were nascent entities and faced tough competition from the NFL. "I just went up there to see what would happen", center Frank Gatski said many years later. Cleveland's first regular-season game took place September 6, 1946 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium against the Miami Seahawks before a then-record crowd of 60,135. That contest, which the Browns won 44–0, kicked off an era of dominance. With Brown at the helm, the team won all four of the AAFC's championships from 1946 until its dissolution in 1949, amassing a record of 52 wins, four losses and three ties. This included the 1948 season, in which the Browns became the first unbeaten and untied team in professional football history. The Browns had few worthy rivals among the AAFC's eight teams, but the New York Yankees and San Francisco 49ers were their closest competition. While the Browns excelled on defense, Cleveland's winning ways were driven by an offense that employed Brown's version of the T formation, which emphasized speed, timing and execution over set plays. Brown liked his players "lean and hungry", and championed quickness over bulk. Graham became a star under Brown's system, leading all passers in each of the AAFC's seasons and racking up 10,085 passing yards. Motley, who Brown in 1948 called "the greatest fullback that ever lived", was the AAFC's all-time leading rusher. Brown and six players from the Browns' AAFC years were later elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Graham, Motley, Groza, Lavelli, Willis and Gatski. The Cleveland area showered support on the Browns from the outset. Meanwhile, the Browns unexpectedly had Cleveland to themselves; the NFL's Cleveland Rams, who had continually lost money despite winning the 1945 NFL championship, moved to Los Angeles after that season. The Browns' on-field feats only amplified their popularity, and the team saw average attendance of 57,000 per game in its first season. The Browns, however, became victims of their own success. Cleveland's dominance exposed a lack of balance among AAFC teams, which the league tried to correct by sending Browns players including quarterback Y. A. Tittle to the Baltimore Colts in 1948. Attendance at Browns games fell in later years as fans lost interest in lopsided victories, while attendance for less successful teams fell even more precipitously. The Browns led all of football during the undefeated season in 1948 with an average crowd of 45,517, but that was more than 10,000 less than the average per game the previous year. These factors – combined with a war for players between the two leagues that raised salaries and ate into owners' profits – ultimately led to the dissolution of the AAFC and the merger of three of its teams, including the Browns, into the NFL in 1949. The NFL does not acknowledge AAFC statistics and records because these achievements – including the Browns' perfect season – did not take place in the NFL or against NFL teams, and not in a league fully absorbed by the NFL. The AAFC proposed match-ups with NFL teams numerous times during its four-year existence, but no inter-league game ever materialized. That made Cleveland's entry into the NFL in the 1950 season the first test of whether its early supremacy could continue into a more established league. The proof came quickly: Cleveland's NFL regular-season opener was against the two-time defending champion Philadelphia Eagles on September 16 in Philadelphia. The Browns lit up the Eagles' vaunted defense for 487 total yards—including 246 passing yards from Graham and his receivers—in a 35–10 win before a crowd of 71,237. This decisive win quashed any doubts about the Browns' prowess. Behind an offense that featured Graham, Groza, Motley, Lavelli and running back Dub Jones, Cleveland finished the 1950 season with a 10–2 record, tied for first place in the Eastern Conference. After winning a playoff game against the New York Giants, the Browns advanced to the NFL championship match against the Los Angeles Rams in Cleveland. The Browns won 30–28 on a last-minute Groza field goal. Fans stormed the field after the victory, carting off the goalposts, ripping off one player's jersey and setting a bonfire in the bleachers. "It was the greatest game I ever saw", Brown later said. After five straight championship wins in the AAFC and NFL, the Browns appeared poised to bring another trophy home in 1951. The team finished the regular season with 11 wins and a single loss in the first game of the season. Cleveland faced the Rams on December 23 in a rematch of the previous year's title game. The score was deadlocked 17–17 in the final period, but a 73-yard touchdown pass by Rams quarterback Norm van Brocklin to wide receiver Tom Fears broke the tie and gave Los Angeles the lead for good. The 24–17 loss was the Browns' first in a championship game. The 1952 and 1953 seasons followed a similar pattern: Cleveland reached the championship game but lost both times to the Detroit Lions. In 1952's championship game, Detroit won 17–7 after a muffed punt by the Browns, several Lions defensive stands and a 67-yard touchdown run by Doak Walker scuttled Cleveland's chances. The team finished 11–1 in 1953, but lost the championship to the Lions 17–16 on a 33-yard Bobby Layne touchdown pass to Jim Doran with just over two minutes left. While the championship losses disappointed Cleveland fans who had grown accustomed to winning, the team continued to make progress. Len Ford, who the Browns picked up from the defunct AAFC's Los Angeles Dons team, emerged as a force on the defensive line, making the Pro Bowl each year between 1951 and 1953. Second-year wideout Ray Renfro became a star in 1953, also reaching the Pro Bowl. During the summer before the 1953 season, the Browns' original owners sold the team for a then-unheard-of $600,000. The buyers were a group of prominent Cleveland men: Dave R. Jones, a businessman and former Cleveland Indians director, Ellis Ryan, a former Indians president, Homer Marshman, an attorney, and Saul Silberman, owner of the Randall Park race track. McBride had been called in 1950 to testify before the Kefauver Committee, a congressional body investigating organized crime, which partly exposed his ties to mafia figures but did not result in any charges. While McBride never said so, the Kefauver hearings and the growing public association between him and the mafia may have played a role in his decision to get out of football. While the Browns came into 1954 as one of the top teams in the NFL, the future was far from certain. Graham, whose leadership and throwing skills were instrumental in the Browns' championship runs, said he planned to retire after the season. Motley, the team's best rusher and blocker, retired at the beginning of the season with a bad knee. Star defensive lineman Bill Willis also retired before the season. Still, Cleveland finished the regular season 9–3 and met Detroit the day after Christmas in the championship game for a third consecutive time. This time Cleveland dominated on both sides of the ball, intercepting Bobby Layne six times while Graham threw three touchdowns and ran for three more. The Browns, who lost the last game of the regular season to the Lions only a week before, won their second NFL championship 56–10. "I saw it, but still hardly can believe it", Lions coach Buddy Parker said after the game. "It has me dazed." Cleveland's success continued in 1955 after Brown convinced Graham to come back, arguing that the team lacked a solid alternative. Cleveland finished the regular season 9–2–1 and went on to win its third NFL championship, beating the Los Angeles Rams 38–14. It was Graham's last game; the win capped a 10-year run in which he led his team to the league championship every year, winning four in the AAFC and three in the NFL. Rams fans gave Graham a standing ovation when Brown pulled him from the game in the final minutes. Without Graham, the Browns floundered in 1956. Injuries to two Browns quarterbacks left the relatively unknown Tommy O'Connell as the starter, and Cleveland finished with a 5–7 record, its first losing season. Dante Lavelli and Frank Gatski retired at the end of the season, leaving Groza as the only original Browns player still on the team. While the Browns' on-field play in 1956 was uninspiring, off-the-field drama developed after a Cleveland-based inventor let Brown test a helmet with a radio transmitter inside. After trying it out in training camp, Brown used the helmet to call plays during the pre- season with long-time backup George Ratterman behind center. The device allowed the coach to direct his quarterback on the fly, giving him an advantage over franchises who had to use messenger players to relay instructions. The Browns used the device off and on into the regular season, and other teams began to experiment with their own radio helmets. Bert Bell, the NFL commissioner, banned the device in October 1956. Today, however, all NFL teams use in-helmet radios to communicate with players. With Otto Graham and most of the other original Browns in retirement, by 1957 the team was struggling to replenish its ranks. In the first round of that year's draft, Cleveland took fullback Jim Brown out of Syracuse University. In his first season, Brown led the NFL with 942 yards of rushing and was voted rookie of the year in a United Press poll. Cleveland finished 9–2–1 and again advanced to the championship game against Detroit. The Lions dominated the game, forcing six turnovers and allowing only 112 yards passing in a 59–14 rout. Before the 1958 season, O'Connell, who lacked the stature and durability Paul Brown wanted in a starter, retired to take a coaching job in Illinois, and Milt Plum was named as his replacement. Cleveland, however, was relying increasingly on the running game, in contrast to its pass-happy early years under Graham. As the team built up a 9–3 regular-season record, Brown in 1958 ran for 1,527 yards – almost twice as much as any other back and a league record at the time. Entering the final game of the 1958 season, Cleveland needed to either win or tie against the New York Giants to clinch the Eastern Conference title and the right to host the championship game. Cleveland lost that game under snowy conditions on a 49-yard field goal by Pat Summerall as time expired, and then lost a playoff game against the Giants the following week to end the season. The Giants went on to play the Baltimore Colts in the championship, a game often cited as the seed of professional football's popularity surge in the U.S. Cleveland's campaigns in 1959 and 1960 were unremarkable, aside from Brown's league-leading rushing totals in both seasons. Plum, meanwhile, became the established starting quarterback, bringing a measure of stability to the squad not seen since Graham's retirement. He led the team to a 7–5 record in 1959 and an 8–3–1 record in 1960, but neither was good enough to win the Eastern Conference and advance to the championship. Behind the scenes, however, all was not well. A conflict took shape between Paul Brown and Jim Brown; emboldened by his success, the fullback began to question his coach's disciplinarian methods. He called the coach "Little Caesar" behind his back. At halftime during a game in 1959, Paul Brown questioned the severity of an injury Jim Brown was sidelined for, which further inflamed tensions between the two. Fred "Curly" Morrison, a former Browns running back who worked as an advertising executive for CBS television, learned in 1960 that Dave Jones was looking to sell the Browns and told the story to Art Modell, a 35-year-old advertising and television executive from Brooklyn. Modell was intrigued, partly because of the potentially lucrative television rights that one of the NFL's most successful franchises could bring as football began to challenge baseball as America's biggest sport. Having borrowed as much money as he could, Modell completed the purchase in March 1961 for $3.925 million. Bob Gries, who had a share in the Browns from the beginning, agreed to buy in again at the new valuation and take a stake of almost 40%, defraying Modell's costs substantially. As the previous owners did when they took over, Modell quickly assured Cleveland fans that Brown would "have a free hand" in running the organization and awarded him a new eight-year contract. "As far as I'm concerned Paul Brown can send [plays] in by carrier pigeon", Modell said. "In my opinion he has no peer as a football coach. His record speaks for itself. I view our relationship as a working partnership." The 1961 season was typical on the field: Jim Brown led the league in rushing for the fifth straight season and the team ended with an 8–5–1 record. That left Cleveland two games out of a berth in the championship. During that year, however, players began to question Paul Brown's strict and often overbearing demeanor, while many challenged his control over the team's strategy. Milt Plum spoke out against Brown calling all the team's offensive plays, and Jim Brown said on a weekly radio broadcast that the coach's play-calling and handling of Plum were undermining the quarterback's confidence. They found a willing listener in Modell, a bachelor who was closer to their age than the coach's. Further cracks appeared in the "working partnership" between Paul Brown and Modell before the 1962 season. Brown made a trade without informing Modell, giving up star halfback Bobby Mitchell to acquire the rights to Syracuse running back Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Davis was chosen by the Washington Redskins with the first overall pick in the 1962 draft, but while Davis was the first black player ever selected by Washington, team owner George Preston Marshall made the move only after being given an ultimatum to add an African-American player or risk losing his stadium lease. Davis demanded a trade, leaving the door open to the Browns, who signed him to a three-year contract worth $80,000. As Davis was preparing for the College All-Star Game, however, he came down with a mystery illness and was later diagnosed with leukemia. Brown ruled Davis out for the season, but the running back returned to Cleveland and began a conditioning program after one of his doctors said playing football would not exacerbate his condition. Modell thought Davis could be prepared to play, and Davis, who by then knew he was dying, wanted to be part of the team. Brown, however, continued to insist that he sit out, driving a deeper wedge between him and Modell. Davis died the following May. The rift between Brown and Modell only widened as the 1962 season progressed. Frank Ryan took Milt Plum's place as the team's starting quarterback by the end of the season, and the Browns finished with a 7–6–1 record. Jim Brown was not the NFL's leading rusher for the only time in his career. On January 9, 1963, Art Modell sent a statement to the newswires: "Paul E. Brown, head coach and general manager, will no longer serve the team in those capacities", it said. Immediate reaction to the decision was muted due to a newspaper strike that kept the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Cleveland Press off the newsstands until April. A printing company executive, however, got together a group of sportswriters and published a 32-page magazine fielding players' views on the firing. Opinions were mixed; Modell came in for his share of criticism, but tackle and team captain Mike McCormack said he did not think the team could win under Brown. Nonetheless, it was a shocking end to the 17-year Cleveland career of a coach who was already a seminal figure in the city's sports history. Among many innovations, Brown was the first coach to call plays for his quarterback, give players IQ and personality tests and use game film to evaluate opponents. Even Jim Brown lauded his pioneering role in integrating the game: Paul Brown integrated pro football without uttering a single word about integration. He just went out, signed a bunch of great black athletes, and started kicking butt. That's how you do it. You don't talk about it. ... [I]n his own way, the man integrated football the right way – and no one was going to stop him. Modell named Brown's chief assistant, Blanton Collier, as the team's new head coach. Collier was a friendly, studious man who became a player favorite as an assistant on both offense and defense under Brown. He installed an open offense and allowed Ryan to call his own plays. In Collier's first season, the Browns finished with a 10–4 record but fell short of a division title. Jim Brown won the MVP award in 1963 with a record 1,863 yards rushing. Dominant blocking from the Browns' offensive line, which included guard Gene Hickerson and left tackle Dick Schafrath, helped boost his totals. Cleveland climbed back to the top of the eastern division in 1964 with a 10–3–1 record behind Jim Brown's league-leading 1,446 yards of rushing. Rookie wide receiver Paul Warfield led the team with 52 catches, and Frank Ryan cemented his place as the team's starting quarterback, recording the best game of his career in the season closer against the New York Giants, a game the Browns needed to win to advance to the championship. Yet despite Cleveland's prowess, the Browns went into the championship game as heavy underdogs against the Baltimore Colts. Most sportswriters predicted an easy win for the Colts, who led the league in scoring behind quarterback Johnny Unitas and halfback Lenny Moore. The Browns' defense, moreover, was suspect. The team gave up 20 more first downs than any other in the league. The teams, however, had not faced each other for three years. Before the game, Collier and Colts coach Don Shula agreed to give each other full access to video of regular-season games. Ever the student, Collier took full advantage of the opportunity. The Browns had run what was dubbed a "rubber band" pass defense, allowing short throws while trying to prevent big plays. The Colts' top receivers, however, Raymond Berry and Jimmy Orr, were not fast. They tended to pick apart defenses with short, tactical completions, which led Collier to institute a man-to-man pass defense for the game. This, he figured, would buy more time for the defensive line and force Unitas to scramble — not his forte. The strategy paid off, and in the wind-whipped Cleveland Municipal Stadium two days after Christmas, the Browns beat the Colts 27–0. Neither team scored in the first half, prompting New York Times columnist Red Smith to quip, "Never have so many paid so dearly – $10, $8, and $6 – and suffered so sorely to see so little." In the second half, the Browns' defense held on and the offense kicked into gear. Baltimore's cornerbacks were double-teaming Warfield, which Ryan exploited by throwing three touchdowns to his second wideout, Gary Collins. The Browns scored 10 points in the third quarter and a further 17 in the fourth, clinching the first title since Otto Graham's departure after the 1955 season. Collins was named the game's MVP. This would be the last time that any professional sports team from Cleveland would win a league title until 2016, when the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers won the 2016 NBA Finals. To date, this remains the last time that the Browns have won the NFL title. The following year was a strong one as Jim Brown gritted out another league-leading rushing season. The Browns ended with an 11–3 record and comfortably won the eastern division. That set up a second straight appearance in the NFL Championship game against the Packers on a slippery, mucky Lambeau Field on January 2, 1966. While the score was close early on, Vince Lombardi's team held the Browns scoreless in the second half, winning 23–12 in an upset on a Paul Hornung touchdown. After the season, the NFL and the competing American Football League agreed to merge starting in 1970, but would play an inter- league championship from the 1966 season onward. The 1965 championship thus became the NFL's last before the Super Bowl era, which ushered in a new age of popularity and prosperity for professional football. In early 1966 Jim Brown, who had begun an acting career two years before, was shooting for his second film in London. The Dirty Dozen cast Brown as Robert Jefferson, a convict sent to France during World War II to assassinate German officers meeting at a castle near Rennes in Brittany. Production delays due to bad weather meant he would miss at least the first part of training camp on the campus of Hiram College, which annoyed Modell, who threatened to fine Brown $1,500 for every week of camp he missed. Brown, who had previously said that 1966 would be his last season, announced his retirement instead. At the end of his nine-year career, Brown held records for most rushing yards in a game, a season and a career. He also owned the record for all-purpose yards in a career and best average per carry for a running back at 5.22 yards, a mark that still stands. With Brown gone, halfback Leroy Kelly became the team's primary rusher in 1966. Kelly, an eighth-round draft choice who saw limited playing time in two years as a backup, ably filled his predecessor's shoes. Cleveland missed the playoffs in 1966, but made it to the postseason the following year after a realignment of the NFL's divisions that placed the Browns in the new Century Division. The Browns, however, lost the 1967 eastern conference championship to the Dallas Cowboys. After a year in which he made just 11 of 23 field goal attempts, placekicker Lou Groza, the last remaining player from the inaugural 1946 Browns team, retired before the start of the 1968 season. Groza, who had been on the roster for 21 seasons and was 44 years old when he hung up his spikes, said in his memoir that retiring was "the saddest day of my football life." Further playoff defeats followed. In 1968, as a 32-year-old Ryan was benched in favor of Bill Nelsen, the Browns finished with a 10–4 record but lost to the Colts in the playoffs. Another playoff loss ended the Browns' season in 1969, this time to the Minnesota Vikings. After the American Football League's merger with the NFL was finalized in early 1970, the Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts moved to the new American Football Conference along with the 10 teams of the former AFL. The Browns were slotted in the AFC Central in the 26-team league, alongside the Steelers, the Houston Oilers and the Cincinnati Bengals, a team Paul Brown founded in 1968 in the AFL. Cleveland's first big move under the new league structure was to trade star receiver Paul Warfield in January 1970 to the Miami Dolphins for the rights to draft Purdue University quarterback Mike Phipps as a replacement for Bill Nelsen, who had a pair of bad knees. The Browns opened the first post-merger season of 1970 by beating Joe Namath and the New York Jets in the first-ever broadcast of Monday Night Football on September 21. The following month, Cleveland faced Paul Brown's Bengals for the first time in a regular-season game, winning 30–27. That game was a highlight in an otherwise unsuccessful season. The Browns lost their second match against the Bengals 14–10 in November, when Phipps made his first start — Brown called it "my greatest victory" — and finished 7–7. Plagued by hearing problems, the 64-year-old Collier announced his retirement before the end of the 1970 season. In eight years as coach, Collier led Cleveland to a championship and a 74–33–2 record. Nick Skorich was named as his replacement the following year. Skorich came to the Browns as offensive coordinator in 1964, when the team won the championship. In Cleveland's first year under Skorich, the team improved to 9–5 but lost to the Colts in a divisional playoff. Mike Phipps was promoted to starting quarterback over Nelsen before the 1972 season. After a sluggish start, the Browns went on tear and finished with a 10–4 record. That put Cleveland in a playoff against the undefeated Miami Dolphins. The Browns took a lead in the fourth quarter on a touchdown catch by wide receiver Fair Hooker, but the Dolphins responded with a long drive of their own, aided by a pair of Paul Warfield receptions. Running back Jim Kiick ran for a touchdown, sealing a 20–14 win and preserving the Dolphins' perfect season. The following year, Phipps threw 20 interceptions and completed less than half of his passes. After winning four of the first six games, the Browns slumped and placed third in the division with a 7–5–2 record. Transition and poor play marked the mid- to late-1970s. Though Collier agreed to come back to the Browns as a quarterbacks coach on an informal basis, his retirement severed the last direct link to Brown and the team's early years. Meanwhile, a new generation of players began to replace the old hands who kept Cleveland in playoff contention through most of the 1960s. Gene Hickerson, an anchor on the offensive line in the 1960s, retired at the end of the 1973 season. An aging Leroy Kelly left the same year to play in the short-lived World Football League. Offensive lineman Dick Schafrath, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, retired in 1971. Against that backdrop, the Browns finished the 1974 season with a 4–10 record, only the second losing season in the team's history. Phipps' woes persisted, and he shared playing time with rookie quarterback Brian Sipe, who Cleveland selected in the 13th round of the 1972 draft out of San Diego State. Modell fired Skorich after the season. "You've got to be a winner in this game, and I just didn't produce", Skorich said at the time. After pursuing Dolphins offensive line coach Monte Clark, Modell hired Forrest Gregg as Skorch's replacement. Gregg, an assistant coach and former Green Bay Packers offensive lineman, preached a hard-nosed, physical brand of football, learned as an offensive lineman on Green Bay's dynastic 1960s teams under Lombardi. His success as a player, however, did not immediately translate into success as a coach. The regular season began with the worst losing streak in Cleveland's history. Gregg's first win did not come until November 23 against Paul Brown's Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland finished with a 3–11 record. The team improved the following year, ending with a 9–5 record but missing the playoffs. The highlight of that season was an 18–16 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 10. Kicker Don Cockroft booted four field goals, while defensive end Joe "Turkey" Jones' pile-driving sack of quarterback Terry Bradshaw added fuel to the heated rivalry between the teams. While Gregg won the NFL's Coach of the Year award for turning the Browns around as Sipe became the starting quarterback, by the beginning of the 1977 season the same kind of friction that dogged Paul Brown's relationship with Modell was surfacing between the owner and the hotheaded Gregg. Cleveland got off to a strong start that year, but Sipe hurt his shoulder and elbow in a November 13 game against the Steelers, and backup Dave Mays took the reins. With Mays as the quarterback – Modell traded Phipps to the Chicago Bears for a couple of draft picks – Cleveland slipped to 6–7 going into the final game of the season and Modell asked Gregg to resign. Modell said he would look outside the Browns organization for a new coach, a break from past hirings that drew from the team's own ranks. Peter Hadhazy, who Modell had hired as the Browns' first general manager, recommended a 45-year-old New Orleans Saints receivers coach named Sam Rutigliano. After an interview before Christmas in which Modell and Rutigliano spent hours talking and watching game film in Modell's basement, the owner named him head coach on December 27, 1977. An affable, charismatic man with an even temper, Rutigliano was a stark contrast to Gregg. Sipe immediately flourished under Rutigliano, racking up 21 touchdowns and 2,906 passing yards during the 1978 season, when the NFL moved to a 16-game schedule. His prime targets were Reggie Rucker, a veteran receiver the Browns signed in 1975, and Ozzie Newsome, a rookie tight end out of Alabama who the Browns drafted with a pick acquired in the Phipps trade. Cleveland won its first three games, but poor defense dashed the team's playoff chances and the Browns finished with an 8–8 record. Rutigliano was a gambler: he tinkered with offenses, took chances on trick plays and was not afraid to break with the play-calling conventions of his time. The coach, who earned the nickname "Riverboat Sam" for his risk-taking approach, once said that security was "for cowards". "I believe in gambling", he said. "No successful man ever got anywhere without gambling." This seat-of- your-pants philosophy began to manifest itself on the field in 1979. The campaign started with a nail-biter against the New York Jets that the Browns won in overtime on a Cockroft field goal as time expired. "If we continue to play 'em that way all year, I'll be gone before the 10th game because my heart just won't take it", Rutigliano said after the game. In the second week, Cleveland beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27–24 on a Sipe touchdown to Rucker with 52 seconds left. The third game was an equally improbable 13–10 win against the Baltimore Colts. Cleveland Plain Dealer sports editor Hal Lebovitz wrote after the game that these "Kardiac Kids" were lucky to have pulled off the win after Colts kicker Toni Linhart missed three field goals. After a string of four wins and three losses, the late-game heroics returned in an overtime victory on November 18 against the Miami Dolphins. "You should never pipe Browns games into an intensive care unit, expose them to anyone weak of pulse", wrote Toledo Blade columnist Jim Taylor. "They're one of those teams that stands 8–4, and could easily be 1–11." While the Browns' 9–7 record did not get the team into the playoffs – the defense struggled all year, forcing Sipe and the offense to compensate with late-game comebacks – a sense of optimism and excitement took hold. The Kardiac Kids magic returned in the third game of the next season against the Chiefs, when the Browns scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to win 20–13. More down-to-the-wire games followed, including one against Green Bay on October 19 in which the team won on a touchdown to receiver Dave Logan on the last play of the game. After a close win over the Steelers and a victory over the Bears in which Sipe broke Otto Graham's club record for career passing yards, the Browns met the Colts and eked out a 28–27 win. The team ended with an 11–5 record. That was good for first place in the AFC Central and a trip to the postseason for the first time since 1972. The Browns began their playoff run against the Oakland Raiders on January 4, 1981 in a bitterly cold Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The game started slowly: each team scored only a touchdown in the first half, although Cockroft missed Cleveland's extra point because of a bad snap. In the third quarter, Cleveland went ahead 12–7 on a pair of Cockroft field goals, but the Raiders came back in the final period, driving 80 yards down the field for a touchdown. That put Oakland ahead 14–12. The ball changed hands five times with no scoring from either side, and with 2:22 on the clock, Cleveland had a final shot to win the game. Sipe and the offense took over at the Browns' 15-yard line. In eight plays, Cleveland drove down to Oakland's 14, leaving 56 seconds on the clock. After a one-yard Mike Pruitt run, Rutigliano called a timeout. A short field goal would have been the safe bet — that was all Cleveland needed to win. Rutigliano, ever the risk-taker, decided to go for a touchdown. The coach was reluctant to stake the game's outcome on the usually sure-footed Cockroft, who had missed two field goals and an extra point earlier in the game. The play he called was Red Right 88, a passing formation in which a slanting Logan would be Sipe's primary target, while Newsome was insurance. If everyone was covered, Rutigliano told Sipe on the sidelines, "if you feel you have to force the ball, throw it into Lake Erie, throw it into some blonde's lap in the bleachers." Sipe took the snap, dropped back and threw to Newsome as he crossed to the left. But Oakland safety Mike Davis leaped in front and intercepted the ball, cementing the Oakland win. The Raiders went on to win Super Bowl XV, while Red Right 88 became an enduring symbol of Cleveland's postseason stumbles. Despite 1980's playoff defeat, the Browns were widely expected to be even better the following year. But 1981 came with none of the comebacks or late-game magic the Kardiac Kids were known for. Several games were close, but most were losses. Sipe threw only 17 touchdowns and was intercepted 25 times. The team finished 5–11. The 1982 NFL strike, which began in September and lasted until mid-November, shortened the regular season the following year to nine games. Coming off a poor year, Sipe split starts with his backup, Paul McDonald, and neither was able to bring back the old Kardiac Kids spark. The team ended with a 4–5 record, which qualified for an expanded Super Bowl playoff tournament created to accommodate the shorter season. The Browns faced the Raiders in a rematch of 1980's playoff thriller. This time, though, McDonald was the starter and the ending was far from tense. The Raiders won 27–10. The following two years brought the Sipe era and the short-lived success of the Kardiac Kids to an end. Sipe returned to form in 1983, and the team narrowly missed a spot in the playoffs after a loss to the Houston Oilers in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Sipe signed before the end of the season to play for the New Jersey Generals, a team owned by real estate mogul Donald Trump in the upstart United States Football League. In training camp before the 1984 season, cornerback Hanford Dixon tried to motivate the team's defensive linemen by barking at them between plays in practice and calling them "the Dogs". "You need guys who play like dogs up front, like dogs chasing a cat", Dixon said. The media picked up on the name, which gained traction in part because of the improvement of the Browns' defense during the regular season. Fans put on face paint and dog masks, and the phenomenon coalesced in rowdy fans in Cleveland Stadium's cheap bleachers section close to the field. The Dawg Pound, as the section was eventually nicknamed, is a continuing symbol of Cleveland's dedicated fan base. Despite the defensive improvement, Sipe's departure left Cleveland's offense in disarray in 1984. Browns began the season 1–7 with McDonald at quarterback, and fans' frustration with the team and Rutigliano boiled over. The breaking point came in an October 7 game against the New England Patriots that bore an eerie resemblance to Cleveland's 1980 playoff loss to the Raiders. The Browns were down 17–16 in the fourth quarter, and lost on an interception in New England's end zone as time expired. Chants of "Goodbye Sam" rung out from the stands after the New England game. Modell called the play-calling "inexcusable" and fired Rutigliano two weeks later. Defensive coordinator Marty Schottenheimer took over, and the Browns ended with a 5–11 record. The selection of University of Miami quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1985's supplemental draft ushered in a new, largely successful era for Cleveland. With Schottenheimer, Kosar and a cast of talented players on offense and defense, the team reached greater heights than Rutigliano and Sipe ever did. Though they became consistent playoff contenders in this era, the Browns did not reach the Super Bowl, falling one win short three times in the late 1980s. Kosar, who wanted to play for Cleveland because his family lived in a suburb of nearby Youngstown, Ohio, signed a five-year contract worth nearly $6 million in 1985 and was immediately embraced by the Browns organization and the team's fans. "It's not an everyday occurrence that somebody wants to play in Cleveland", Modell said. "This has lent such an aura to Bernie." Kosar saw his first action in the fifth week of the 1985 season against the New England Patriots, when he substituted before halftime for Gary Danielson, a 34-year- old veteran who the Browns had acquired in the offseason from the Lions. Kosar fumbled his first-ever NFL snap, but rebounded and led the team to a 24–20 win. A mix of success and failure followed, but Kosar progressed a bit more each Sunday and led the team to an 8–8 record. Two young running backs, Earnest Byner and Kevin Mack, complemented Kosar's aerial attack with more than 1,000 yards rushing each. While not stellar, the Browns' record won first place in a weak AFC Central, and the team looked poised to shock the heavily favored Miami Dolphins in a divisional playoff game on January 4, 1986. Cleveland surged to a 21–3 halftime lead, and it took a spirited second-half comeback by Dan Marino and the Dolphins to win it 24–21 and end the Browns' season. Despite the loss, many people expected Cleveland to be back the following year. "The Browns' days, the good days, are here and ahead of us", radio personality Pete Franklin said. Prior to the 1986 season the Browns lost standout safety and former defensive rookie of the year Don Rogers. Rogers died of a cocaine overdose leaving the team without one of its best defenders in the secondary for the 1986 season. Despite the tumultuous off season, 1986 marked Cleveland's entry into the ranks of the NFL's elite as Kosar's play improved and the defensive unit came together. Kosar threw for 3,854 yards to a corps of receivers that included Brian Brennan, Newsome and rookie Webster Slaughter. On defense, cornerbacks Frank Minnifield and Hanford Dixon emerged as one of the NFL's premiere pass-defending duos. After a slow start, the Browns rose to the top of the divisional standings, twice beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and ending a 16-game losing streak at Three Rivers Stadium. A 12–4 record earned Cleveland home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Browns' first opponents in the 1986 playoffs were the New York Jets. The Jets were ahead for most of the game and held a 20–10 lead as time wound down in the final quarter. But Cleveland took over and began a march down the field, ending with a Kevin Mack touchdown. The defense forced the Jets to punt after the ensuing kickoff, leaving the offense with less than a minute to get within field goal range and even the score at 20–20. A pass interference penalty and a completion to Slaughter put the ball at the Jets' five-yard line, and kicker Mark Moseley booted through the tying score with 11 seconds left. In an initial 15-minute overtime period, Moseley missed a short field goal and neither team scored, sending the game into double overtime. This time, Moseley made a field goal and won the game for the Browns 23–20. It was the team's first playoff victory in 17 years. The following week, the Browns matched up against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game in Cleveland. Denver got out to an early lead, but Cleveland tied the game and then went ahead 20–13 in the fourth quarter. After the ensuing kickoff, the Broncos were pinned at their own 2-yard line with 5:32 remaining. Denver quarterback John Elway then engineered a 98-yard drive for a touchdown with the cold, whipping wind in his face. "The Drive", as the series came to be known, tied the score and sent the game into overtime. Cleveland received the ball first in the sudden-death period but was stopped by the Denver defense. On Denver's first possession, Elway again led the Broncos on a long drive ending with a Rich Karlis field goal that sailed just inside the left upright and won the game. The drive that tied the game has since come to be seen as one of the best in playoff history, and is remembered by Cleveland fans as an historic meltdown. Denver went on to lose Super Bowl XXI to the New York Giants. Although downtrodden by 1986's playoff defeat, Cleveland continued to win the following season. Minnifield and Dixon excelled defending the pass, while Matthews and defensive tackle Bob Golic kept runners in check. The Browns finished with a 10–5 record in 1987 and won the AFC Central for the third year in a row. In the divisional playoff round, the Browns faced the Indianapolis Colts and won 38–21. The win set up a rematch with the Broncos in the AFC Championship in Denver. The Broncos held a 21–3 lead at halftime, but a pair of rushing touchdowns and another by receiver Reggie Langhorne brought Cleveland to within seven points. Cleveland scored again in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos went ahead again by seven points on a touchdown with four minutes left. After Denver's kickoff, Kosar and the offense reached the Broncos' eight-yard line with 1:12 remaining. Kosar handed the ball to Earnest Byner on a second down. Byner ran left and broke inside with a clear path to the end zone, but was stripped by Denver's Jeremiah Castille just before crossing the goal line. The Broncos ran down the clock before intentionally taking a safety and winning 38–33. "The Fumble" quickly entered the lexicon of the Browns' modern-era disappointment, just as The Drive had a year before. The 1988 season was marred by injuries to the Browns' quarterbacks. Kosar was injured in the opener against Kansas City Chiefs and two backups were subsequently injured, leaving Don Strock, who the Browns signed as an emergency fill-in, to start before Kosar's return. Kosar came back but was hurt again at the end of the regular season. Despite the rotating cast of quarterbacks, Cleveland managed to finish with a 10–6 record and made the playoffs as a wild-card team. Cleveland met the Houston Oilers in the wild-card playoff round at home, but lost the game 24–23. Four days after the Oilers loss, Schottenheimer and Modell announced that the coach would leave the team by mutual consent. Modell felt hiring an offensive coordinator was necessary to keep pace with the Oilers and the Bengals, a pair of divisional opponents then on the rise, but Schottenheimer said it "became evident that some of the differences we had, we weren't going to be able to resolve." Modell named Bud Carson as his replacement. Carson, an architect of Pittsburgh's 1970s "Steel Curtain" defenses, made several changes to Cleveland's lineup. Byner was traded to the Washington Redskins in April, while the Browns moved up in the draft to acquire Eric Metcalf. Kevin Mack, meanwhile, was suspended for the first four games of the 1989 season after pleading guilty to cocaine possession. Despite these changes, Kosar led Cleveland to a division-winning 9–6–1 record in 1989, including a season- opening 51–0 shutout of the rival Pittsburgh Steelers and the team's first victory over the Denver Broncos in 15 years. Cleveland narrowly survived a scare from the Buffalo Bills in the first playoff game, staving off a comeback thanks to an interception in the Browns' end zone by Clay Matthews with 14 seconds on the clock. The victory set up the third AFC championship matchup in four years between the Browns and Broncos. The Broncos led from start to finish, and a long Elway touchdown pass to Sammy Winder put the game way in the fourth quarter. Denver won 37–21. The defeat in Mile High Stadium proved to be the last of Cleveland's streak of playoff appearances in the mid- to late-1980s. Kosar played through numerous injuries in 1989, including bruising on his right arm and a bad knee. Strong defense had carried the Browns to the playoffs even when the offense faltered, but that all crumbled in 1990. Kosar threw more interceptions than touchdowns for the first time in his career, and the defense allowed more points than any other in the league. The Browns' 2–7 start cost Carson his job. Jim Shofner was named interim head coach, and the team finished 3–13. After the season Bill Belichick, the defensive coordinator of the then-Super Bowl champion New York Giants, was named head coach. Belichick, who came to the Browns after 12 years mostly with the Giants under Bill Parcells, quickly made his mark by restricting media access to the team. He acted gruff or bored at press conferences, shrugging, rolling his eyes and often giving short answers to long questions. This bred the perception that the new coach was not a good communicator and lacked a vision for the team. Behind the scenes, however, he was trying to remake the Browns. He reformed Cleveland's scouting methods and, in conjunction with player personnel director Mike Lombardi, tried to form a coherent identity: a big and strong cold-weather team. Belichick's new way forward, however, did not immediately translate to on-field success. Cleveland's record only improved slightly in 1991 to 6–10 as the offense struggled to produce scoring drives and the defense was plagued by injuries. Kosar was a rare bright spot, passing for almost 3,500 yards and 18 touchdowns. Bridging the end of the 1990 season and the beginning of 1991, the quarterback threw a then-record 307 straight passes without an interception. Kosar broke his ankle twice and sat out for most of the 1992 season, leaving quarterback Mike Tomczak under center. The team finished with a 7–9 record and did not make the playoffs. By the end of 1992, Kosar's physical decline had long been apparent to Belichick, which left the coach with a difficult choice. Kosar was Cleveland's most popular athlete, a hometown boy who had forgone big money and a bigger profile to lead a struggling team back to the top. While he recognized it would be an unpopular decision, Belichick wanted to bench Kosar, and in 1992 the team picked up a potential replacement in Vinny Testaverde from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Belichick named Kosar the starter before the 1993 season, but in the third game against the Raiders, Belichick pulled Kosar after he threw his third interception of the night. Taking over with Los Angeles ahead 13–0, Testaverde led two touchdown drives to win the game. Two weeks later, Belichick named Testaverde the starter. On the verge of tears after a loss to the Dolphins, Kosar said he was disappointed with the decision and felt he had done what he could with what was at his disposal. Kosar returned after Testaverde suffered a separated right shoulder in a win against the Steelers on October 24, but it was only temporary. The day after a loss against the Broncos the following week, the team cut him. Belichick cited his declining skills, while Modell said it was the right move and asked fans to "bear with us." Fans brought out grills and set fire to their season tickets. A 20-year-old student at Baldwin–Wallace College picketed outside the team's training facilities with a sign that read, "Cut Belichick, Not Bernie." Cleveland won only two of the eight games after Kosar's release, finishing with a 7–9 record for the second year in a row. Cleveland managed to right the ship in 1994. While the quarterback situation had not stabilized, the defense led the league in fewest points allowed. The Browns finished 11–5, making the playoffs for the first time in five years. The Browns beat the Patriots in a wild-card game, but arch-rival Pittsburgh won a 29–9 victory in the divisional playoff, ending the Browns' season. As the Browns recaptured a hint of past success in 1994, all was not well behind the scenes. Modell was in financial trouble. The origins of Modell's woes dated to 1973, when he worked out a deal to lease Cleveland Municipal Stadium from the city for a pittance: only enough to service the facility's debt and pay property taxes. Cleveland Browns Stadium Corporation, or Stadium Corp., a company Modell and a business associate created and owned, held the 25-year lease. Stadium Corp. then subleased the stadium to the Browns and the Cleveland Indians, and rented it out for concerts and other events. While the deal worked fine for the city and Modell early on, the owner was later dogged by excessive borrowing and lawsuits. When the stadium was profitable, Modell had used Stadium Corp. to buy land in Strongsville that he had previously acquired as the potential site for a future new stadium. Modell originally paid $625,000 for the land, but sold it to his own Stadium Corp. for more than $3 million. Then, when the stadium was taking losses in 1981, he sold Stadium Corp. itself to the Browns for $6 million. This led to a fight the following year with Bob Gries, whose family had been part of the Browns' ownership group since its founding and had 43% of the team to Modell's 53%. Gries's complaint was that Modell treated the Browns and Stadium Corp. as his own fiefdom, rarely consulting him about the team's business. The sale of Stadium Corp. to the Browns, he argued, enriched Modell at the team's expense. Gries's case went to the Ohio Supreme Court, where he won. In 1986, Modell had to reverse the Browns' purchase of Stadium Corp. and pay $1 million in Gries's legal fees. This left Modell in need of financial help, and it came in the form of Al Lerner, a banking and real estate executive who bought half of Stadium Corp. and 5% of the Browns in 1986. His reputation damaged by the lawsuits, Modell was eager to get out of Cleveland. He met with Baltimore officials about selling the Browns to Lerner and buying an expansion team to replace the Colts, who had left for Indianapolis in 1984. He also discussed moving the Browns. Proposals were made to spend $175 million on a stadium renovation after the Indians and Cleveland Cavaliers got new facilities in downtown Cleveland, but it was not enough. As the Browns started the 1995 season with a 4–4 record, word leaked that Modell was moving the team. Beset by rising player salaries and political indifference to the team's financial plight, he said he was forced to move. The day after Modell formally announced the move, Cleveland voters overwhelmingly approved the $175 million of stadium renovations. Despite this, Modell ruled out a reversal of his decision, saying his relationship with Cleveland had been irrevocably severed. "The bridge is down, burned, disappeared", he said. "There's not even a canoe there for me." The city immediately sued to prevent the move, on the basis that the lease of the stadium was active until 1998. Fans were in an uproar, staging protests, signing petitions, filing lawsuits and appealing to other NFL owners to block the relocation. Advertisers pulled out of the stadium, fearing fans' ire. Talks between the city, Modell and the NFL continued as the Browns finished the season with a 5–11 record. At the team's final home game against the Bengals, unruly fans in the Dawg Pound bleachers section rained debris, beer bottles and entire sections of seats onto the field, forcing officials to move play to the opposite end to ensure players' safety. Cleveland won the game, its only victory after the announcement of the move. The following February, the warring parties reached a compromise. Under its terms, Modell would be allowed to take his personnel to Baltimore, but would leave Cleveland the Browns' colors, logos and heritage for a reactivated Browns franchise that would take the field no later than 1999. The $175 million earmarked for stadium improvements was to be used instead build a new stadium, with up to $48 million of additional financial assistance from the NFL. Further, Modell was ordered to pay Cleveland $9.3 million to compensate for lost revenues and taxes during the Browns' three years of inactivity, plus up to $2.25 million of the city's legal fees. As a result of the deal Modell's team was technically an expansion franchise, called the Baltimore Ravens. Preparations for a reactivated franchise began shortly after Modell, the city and the NFL struck their compromise. The NFL established the Cleveland Browns Trust to direct the Browns' return in early 1996, and in June appointed Bill Futterer as its president. Futterer, who had helped bring the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte Hornets expansion teams to North Carolina, was charged with marketing the team, selling season tickets and representing the NFL's interests in the construction of a new stadium. The trust also leased suites, sold personal seat licenses in the new stadium and reorganized Browns Backers fan clubs. By September 1996, architects were finalizing the design of a new stadium to be built following the destruction of Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Demolition work began on the old stadium in November, and the ground-breaking for the new stadium took place the following May. As the stadium's construction got underway, the NFL began to search for an owner for the team, which the league decided would be an expansion franchise March 23, 1998. A litany of potential owners lined up, including Kosar and a group backed partly by HBO founder Charles Dolan, comedian Bill Cosby and former Miami coach Don Shula. The ultimate winner was Al Lerner, the Baltimore man who had helped Modell in 1986 by buying a small stake in the Browns. A seven-member NFL expansion committee awarded the team to Lerner for $530 million in September 1998. Lerner, then 65 years old, had a majority share, while Carmen Policy, who helped build the 49ers dynasty of the 1980s, owned 10% of the team and was to run football operations. As the Browns geared up to reactivate, the Browns Trust set up a countdown clock for the team's return and used Hall of Famers such as Lou Groza and Jim Brown extensively to promote the team, alongside celebrity fans including Drew Carey. Lerner and Policy hired Dwight Clark, a former 49ers wide receiver, as the team's operations director in December 1998. The owners then signed Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Chris Palmer in January 1999 as the reactivated team's first head coach. The NFL then conducted an expansion draft the following month to stock the new Browns team with players. The team added to its roster through free agency, and was also given the first pick in the draft in April 1999, which it used to draft quarterback Tim Couch. Construction on the new stadium finished on time in August 1999, paving the way for Cleveland to host a football game for the first time in more than three years. During the years after Modell's move and the Browns' suspension, a dozen new stadiums were built for NFL teams. Citing the precedent set by the Browns' relocation, NFL owners used the threat of a move to convince their cities to build new stadiums with public funds. Cleveland fans' hopes were high upon the arrival of the new team. However, as an expansion team the Browns were forced to build a new roster from scratch using rookies, free agents, and the players other teams chose not to protect in the expansion draft. With a new team composed of a mix of fresh faces and castoffs, the Browns floundered. The Steelers shut out the Browns 43–0 in the season opener at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 12, 1999, the first of seven straight losses. A 2–14 season in 1999 was followed by a 3–13 record in 2000 after Couch suffered a season-ending thumb injury. Early in 2001, Policy and Lerner fired Palmer. The coach and the team, Policy said, were not headed in the right direction. Mike McCarthy, New Orleans' offensive coordinator, Herman Edwards, a Tampa Bay assistant coach, and Marvin Lewis, Baltimore's defensive coordinator, were mentioned as possible replacements for Palmer. Policy also met with Butch Davis, the head coach of the University of Miami's football team. After rejecting an initial offer in December, Davis accepted the job the following month. Davis had turned around Miami's football program and put the team back in championship contention; Policy and Lerner hoped he could do the same in Cleveland. The Browns improved under Davis, and contended for a spot in the 2001 playoffs until a loss in the 15th week against Jacksonville that featured one of the most controversial calls in team history. As time expired in the fourth quarter with the Jaguars ahead 15–10, Couch led a drive into Jacksonville territory. On a fourth-down play that the team needed to convert to stay in the game, Couch threw to receiver Quincy Morgan over the middle. Morgan appeared to bobble the ball before grasping it firmly as he hit the ground. After the pass was ruled complete and Couch spiked the ball to stop the clock, officials reversed Morgan's catch on a Jacksonville challenge. As Davis pleaded his case that the play could not be reviewed because another play had been run, frustrated fans began throwing plastic beer bottles onto the field. Amid the bedlam, later named "bottlegate", officials ended the game with 48 seconds on the clock and left the field as objects rained down on them from the stands. After most of the fans had left, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue called and ordered the game to be completed. Jacksonville ran down the clock for the win, and the Browns finished the season at 7–9. Cleveland improved again in 2002, but Lerner did not live to see his team make the playoffs. He died in October 2002 at 69 of brain cancer. Browns players wore a patch with the initials "AL" for the remainder of the season. Ownership of the team, meanwhile, passed to his son Randy. Cleveland finished the season with a 9–7 record, earning a spot in the playoffs as a wild-card team. Couch suffered a broken leg in the final game of the season, however, and backup Kelly Holcomb started in the Browns' first playoff game versus the Steelers. Cleveland held the lead for most of the game as Holcomb passed for 429 yards. But a defensive collapse helped Pittsburgh come charging back in the fourth quarter and win 36–33 to end the Browns' season. To date, this is the only postseason appearance for the Browns since resuming operations in 1999. The team's progress under Davis screeched to a halt in 2003. The Browns finished 5–11, and Randy Lerner embarked upon a major front-office reshuffling. Policy resigned unexpectedly as president and chief executive of the Browns in April 2004, saying things had changed after Al Lerner's death. "I opened the door and it was like someone sucked the air and the life out of Berea", he said. "He was a major presence for the organization. I'm talking about the aura, and the inner power of the man." John Collins was named as his replacement. Several other front-office executives also stepped down, including chief contract negotiator Lal Heneghan and lead spokesman Todd Stewart. The 2004 season was little better, and Davis resigned in November with the team at 3–8. Lerner had given him a contract extension through 2007 that January, but Davis said "intense pressure and scrutiny" made the move necessary. Offensive coordinator Terry Robiskie was named head coach for the remainder of the season, which the Browns finished 4–12. On January 6, 2005, while the Browns were still searching for a new head coach, the team announced Phil Savage's appointment as general manager. Savage, who was director of player personnel for the Baltimore Ravens for two years, had a hand in drafting Ed Reed, Jamal Lewis, Ray Lewis and other stars for the Ravens. A month later, Cleveland brought in Romeo Crennel as the head coach, signing him to a five-year deal worth $11 million. Crennel was the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots, who had just won the Super Bowl. His style was described as "quiet, reserved and gentlemanly", but he said he wanted to stock the team with tough, physical players. Before the start of training camp, the Browns acquired veteran quarterback Trent Dilfer from the Seattle Seahawks. In the draft that year the Browns took wide receiver Braylon Edwards with the third pick in the first round. Dilfer was the starting quarterback to begin the 2005 season. The team started 2–2, but had two three-game losing streaks later in the season and finished with a 6–10 record. In the team's final five games, rookie Charlie Frye took over as the starting quarterback, winning two of those contests. Before the Browns' final regular-season game, the front office was embroiled in a controversy that threatened to send the team into rebuilding mode. Citing sources, ESPN reported that president John Collins was going to fire general manager Phil Savage over "philosophical differences" in managing the salary cap. The resulting uproar from fans and local media was so strong that it was Collins who resigned on January 3, 2006. A replacement for Collins was not immediately named, and Randy Lerner assumed his responsibilities. Cleveland regressed in the ensuing season, finishing with a 4–12 record. Edwards and tight end Kellen Winslow Jr., who the Browns had drafted in 2004, put up respectable numbers, but the Browns were close to the bottom of the league in points scored and offensive yards gained. Frye injured his wrist toward the end of the season and shared starts with quarterback Derek Anderson, who showed promise in the five games he played in. During the season, the team produced a series of articles on its website called 60th Moments. The series commemorated the establishment of the Browns 60 years before in 1946, recapturing the 60 greatest moments in franchise history. Beginning on September 6, 2006, the Browns' site ran articles covering those 60 moments; the final article ran on December 31, 2006. After two losing seasons, the Browns made it back to contention in 2007. After opening with a 34–7 loss to the Steelers, the Browns traded Frye to the Seahawks and put Anderson in as the starter. In his first start, Anderson led the Browns to a surprise 51–45 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, throwing five touchdown passes and tying the franchise record. More success followed, and the Browns finished the regular season with a 10–6 record, the team's best mark since finishing 11–5 in 1994. While the Browns tied with the Steelers for first place in the AFC North, the team missed the playoffs because of two tie-breaking losses to Pittsburgh earlier in the season. Still, six players were selected for the Pro Bowl, including Anderson, Winslow, Edwards, kick returner Josh Cribbs and rookie left tackle Joe Thomas. Crennel agreed to a two-year contract extension until 2011, and the team hired Mike Keenan as team president, filling a position left vacant upon the departure of Collins two years before. Expectations were high for the 2008 season, but Cleveland finished last in the AFC North with a 4–12 record. Anderson shared starts with Ken Dorsey, who the Browns had acquired by trading away Trent Dilfer, and Brady Quinn, a young quarterback the team drafted in 2007. The Browns never contended during 2008 and failed to score a touchdown in the final six games. Near the end of the season, two scandals shook the team. It was revealed that several Browns players, including Winslow, were suffering from staph infections, which raised questions about sanitation in the Browns' Berea practice facilities. In November, Savage found himself in the center of a media storm after an angry e-mail exchange with a fan was published on Deadspin, a sports blog. Shortly after the final game, a 31–0 loss to the Steelers, Lerner fired Savage and, a day later, Crennel. Cleveland pursued former Steelers coach and Browns linebacker Bill Cowher and former Browns scout Scott Pioli for the head coaching job. The team, however, hired former New York Jets coach Eric Mangini in January 2009. Before the start of the season, Mangini and the front office traded Winslow to the Buccaneers after five seasons marked by injuries and a motorcycle crash that threatened to end the tight end's career. The Browns showed little sign of improvement in Mangini's first year, finishing 5–11 in 2009. While Cleveland lost 11 of its first 12 games, the team won the final four games of the season, including a 13–6 victory over the rival Steelers. At the end of the season, Lerner hired former Packers coach Mike Holmgren as team president, moving Keenan to chief financial officer. A month later, the owner hired Eagles front-office executive Tom Heckert as general manager. Heckert replaced former general manager George Kokinis, who was fired the previous November. The new management said Mangini would return for a second season. Under Holmgren and Heckert's watch, the Browns overhauled the quarterbacking corps. Brady Quinn was traded to the Denver Broncos for running back Peyton Hillis in March, while Derek Anderson was released. Meanwhile, Jake Delhomme was acquired from Carolina and Seneca Wallace from Seattle. The team also drafted quarterback Colt McCoy from the University of Texas. With Delhomme as the starting quarterback, Cleveland lost its first three games and continued to struggle. Wallace started four games, but was replaced by McCoy in the second half of the season. Hillis had a breakout season, rushing for 1,177 yards, and was later chosen to appear on the cover of the Madden NFL 12 video game. Despite the emergence of Hillis, the Browns finished with a 5–11 record for the second season in a row, and Mangini was fired in January 2011. Following Mangini's firing, the Browns named Pat Shurmur as his replacement. Formerly the offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams, Shurmur helped groom quarterback Sam Bradford. Holmgren and Heckert hoped he could do the same with McCoy. Contract negotiations between the NFL Players Association and the league shortened the 2011 off-season, which gave Shurmur little time to coach McCoy or institute his version of the West Coast offense. The team started at 2–1, then 3–3, but McCoy's struggles and a lack of offensive production led to a series of defeats, including six straight losses to end the year. The Browns finished the season at 4–12. During that same season, comedian and frustrated Browns fan Mike Polk made a video to complain about the team's futility, screaming "You are a factory of sadness!" while facing Cleveland Browns Stadium. "Factory of Sadness" has since become a colloquial nickname for the stadium. In the offseason, Hillis signed as a free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs after a lackluster season and unsuccessful contract talks with the Browns. In the 2012 draft, the Browns chose running back Trent Richardson with the third selection and took quarterback Brandon Weeden with the 22nd pick. Weeden was expected to replace McCoy at quarterback after McCoy's limited success in one and a half seasons as the starter. On September 6, Art Modell died in Baltimore at the age of 87. Although the Browns planned to have a moment of silence on their home opener for their former owner, his family asked the team not to, well aware of the less-than-friendly reaction it was likely to get. Weeden started the Browns' first game of the season. The 28-year-old rookie threw four interceptions in a 17–16 loss to Philadelphia in which the Browns' only touchdown was scored by the defense. In July 2012, owner Randy Lerner announced he planned to sell the Browns to businessman Jimmy Haslam. The sale was finalized on August 2, 2012, in excess of $1 billion. Haslam officially was approved as the new owner on October 16, 2012, at the NFL owners' meetings, and the very next day former Eagles president Joe Banner was named as the Browns' new CEO. The Browns began the 2012 season by losing their first five games. Having lost their last six games to end the 2011 season, this marked an 11-game losing streak, tied for the longest in team history with the 1974–1975 teams. On October 12, the Browns defeated the Bengals 34–24 in Cleveland, behind two touchdown passes from rookie quarterback Brandon Weeden (on his 29th birthday) to end the streak. On December 31, 2012, head coach Pat Shurmur and general manager Tom Heckert were fired. Shurmur went 9–23 in his two seasons as head coach. After interviewing numerous candidates such as Chip Kelly and Ken Whisenhunt, the Browns decided to hire former offensive coordinator and tight ends coach, Rob Chudzinski, on January 10, 2013. On January 15, 2013, Haslam and Banner announced the naming rights to Cleveland Browns Stadium were sold to FirstEnergy, and the stadium would be renamed FirstEnergy Stadium. The name change officially received Cleveland City Council approval on February 15, 2013. On January 18, 2013, the Browns hired Michael Lombardi – who had a previous stint with the Browns in the player personnel department in the 1980s and 90s – as Vice President of Player Personnel (two months later he was officially given the title of general manager), making him Tom Heckert's replacement. The Browns would finish with a 4-12 record in the first season under the new regime, finishing last in the AFC North Division, and losing seven in a row to finish the 2013 campaign. Following the 2013 season finale on December 29, 2013, the Browns fired Chudzinski after only one year as head coach. On January 24, 2014, the Browns hired Bills defensive coordinator Mike Pettine as the 15th full-time head coach in team history. On February 11, 2014 the Browns announced that Lombardi would be replaced by Ray Farmer as general manager, and that Joe Banner would resign as CEO. In the first round of the 2014 NFL draft, the Browns selected cornerback Justin Gilbert from Oklahoma State with the eighth pick, and Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Johnny Manziel of Texas A&M; with the 22nd overall pick. Beginning in the 2014 season, the Browns use a live bullmastiff named "Swagger" as their new mascot. On October 5, 2014, the Browns staged the largest rally in team history, when after trailing the Tennessee Titans 28-3 with 1:09 left in the second quarter, Cleveland scored 26 unanswered points to win the game 29-28. This was also the largest rally by a road team in NFL history. After a 7-4 start, the Browns would lose their final five games to finish the 2014 season at 7-9, last in the AFC North. In February 2015, the team made headlines when two high-profile players were in the news due to substance abuse issues. On Monday February 2, it was announced quarterback Johnny Manziel had checked himself into a treatment center, reportedly for alcoholism. The following day, wide receiver Josh Gordon was suspended for the 2015 season due to failing a drug test. On February 28, it was revealed that former Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Josh McCown had signed a three-year deal with the Browns. On March 30, the NFL announced that Browns general manager Ray Farmer would be suspended for the first four regular season games, and that the team would be fined $250,000 (U.S.) for Farmer text messaging the coaching staff during games in the 2014 season, which is against NFL rules. The story had been dubbed "Textgate" due to its scandalous nature. On April 14 at a ceremony at the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland, the team unveiled their new uniforms. They feature brown, white, and orange jerseys along with brown, white, and orange pants that can be worn in any combination. Unique features include the word "Cleveland" across the front of the jersey, the word "Browns" going down the pant leg, and the words "Dawg Pound" on the inside collar - all first of their kind features on NFL uniforms. Browns President Alec Scheiner compared these new jerseys to those of the Oregon Ducks football team, as the Ducks are known for their various uniform combinations. In the 2015 NFL draft, the Browns had two first round picks, selecting nose tackle Danny Shelton from Washington at #12, and offensive lineman Cameron Erving from Florida State at #19. On September 8, 2015, the Browns announced that they indefinitely suspended offensive line coach Andy Moeller after an alleged domestic assault incident at his home during Labor Day weekend. This meant that at the beginning of the 2015 regular season, the team had a player (Josh Gordon), a coach (Moeller), and a front office executive (Ray Farmer) all suspended for various league and legal infractions. Moeller would subsequently be fired on September 29. After starting 2-3, the Browns lost 10 of their last 11 games to finish the 2015 season at 3-13. This stretch included a 33-27 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens in which Ravens safety Will Hill return a blocked field goal 64 yards for a touchdown on the game's final play. The Browns lost at home 37-3 to the division-rival Cincinnati Bengals the following week, dropping the team´s record to 2-10 and making them the first team in the 2015 season to be mathematically eliminated from playoff contention. On January 3, 2016, soon after the final game of the season (a 28-12 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers), both Ray Farmer and Mike Pettine were fired from their respective positions as general manager and head coach. In January 2016, the Browns made headlines when after firing Farmer and Pettine, promoted general counsel Sashi Brown to executive vice president of football operations, and hired longtime baseball executive Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer. These moves were viewed nationally as the Browns trying to take a more analytics intensive approach to building the team, taking a page from the "Moneyball" style of Major League Baseball teams like the Oakland Athletics - of which DePodesta helped pioneer during his time as an assistant to Athletics general manager Billy Beane. With Brown essentially taking over general manager duties, this marks the fourth different head of personnel (either as general manager or similar job title) under the Haslam ownership era, which began in 2012. On January 13, 2016, the Browns hired Bengals offensive coordinator (and former Oakland head coach) Hue Jackson as head coach - making him the eighth full-time head coach since the team's return in 1999 and fourth since 2012, when the Haslam ownership era began. On January 28, the Browns hired Andrew Berry—a longtime scout with the Indianapolis Colts–as vice president of personnel. Berry, being a Harvard alumnus like DePodesta and Sashi Brown, has been noted as furthering the Browns new analytic approach, and the trio has been dubbed as the "Harvard Connection" (and other similar monikers) by local and national media. On March 4, team president Alex Scheiner announced he would be stepping down from his post effective March 31, and would remain with the team as a consultant for the rest of the year. With this move, Paul DePodesta essentially became the top ranked executive of the team in his role as Chief Strategy Officer. This makes DePodesta the fourth different top executive of the team under the Haslams' ownership. On March 11, following two seasons of inconsistent play on the field and numerous highly publicized incidents off the field, the Browns waived quarterback Johnny Manziel. On March 24, the Browns signed quarterback Robert Griffin III to a two-year contract. Going into the 2016 NFL Draft, the Browns had the #2 overall pick. They traded that pick to Philadelphia in exchange for the #8 pick in the first round (along with various later round 2016 picks, and Philadelphia's first round pick in 2017). On draft night they traded the #8 pick to Tennessee in exchange for the #15 pick in the first round (and later round picks). With the #15 pick in the 2016 draft, the Browns selected wide receiver Corey Coleman from Baylor. The 2016 season began with the Browns losing their first 14 games, which combined with losing their last three games in 2015, gave the team a franchise record 17 game losing streak. On December 24, in a game that has since been dubbed "The Christmas Miracle", the Browns defeated the San Diego Chargers 20-17. The Browns then lost their last game of the season to finish 1-15 - then the worst record in team history. With that final game loss, the Browns clinched the #1 pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, with which the Browns selected Myles Garrett, a defensive end from Texas A&M.; In the midst of a disappointing 2017 season, Brown was fired as executive vice president of football operations on December 7, 2017, and hired John Dorsey as general manager the same day, making him the ninth general manager/head of personnel since the Browns' return in 1999, and the fifth in the Haslam ownership era. The Browns finished the 2017 season with an 0–16 record, becoming only the second team in league history to do so, and for the second straight season giving the team the #1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft (along with the #4 pick, which was previously acquired via trade from Houston). Despite the winless season and a 1-31 record as head coach of the Browns, Hue Jackson was retained by Haslam. With the first overall pick, the Browns selected former Oklahoma quarterback and 2017 Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield. Despite Mayfield's status as the #1 overall pick, the Browns began the 2018 NFL season with veteran Tyrod Taylor as the starting quarterback. On opening day, the Browns tied the Pittsburgh Steelers 21–21 after neither team scored in overtime, ending the Browns' losing streak at 17 games, but extending their winless streak to 18 games. Two weeks later, on September 20, Mayfield entered the game near the end of the first half after Taylor left with a concussion and led the Browns to a 21–17 comeback victory over the New York Jets at FirstEnergy Stadium. The victory was the Browns' first since week 16 of the 2016 season, ending their winless streak at 19 games, which was the 4th-longest in NFL history. Four days later, Jackson announced Mayfield as the Browns' starter for the remainder of the season. On October 7, 2018, the Browns defeated the Baltimore Ravens 12–9 in overtime to end an 18-game winless streak against divisional opponents dating back to 2015. After a Week 8 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers that dropped the Browns to a 2-5-1 record, Hue Jackson was fired as head coach along with offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Jackson's final record of 3-36-1 as the Browns' head coach is the worst of any coach's with a single franchise in NFL history. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams was named interim head coach and running backs coach Freddie Kitchens was named interim offensive coordinator. Their 35–20 win over the Cincinnati Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium on November 25 was the Browns' first win away from home since 2014 and broke a 25-game road losing streak that ranks second all-time in NFL history. Three weeks later, the Browns defeated the Denver Broncos 17–16 at Broncos Stadium at Mile High, their first win over Denver since 1990. Following the coaching changes the Browns won five of their remaining eight games to finish the season 7–8–1, one win shy of having their first winning season since 2007. Mayfield enjoyed a successful rookie season, throwing for 3,725 yards and 27 touchdowns (an NFL record for a rookie quarterback) despite starting only 13 games. On January 9, 2019, owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager John Dorsey named interim offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens the 17th head coach of the Cleveland Browns, due in part to the offense's rapid improvement and Baker Mayfield's growth under Kitchens in the second half of the 2018 season. On March 12, 2019, the Browns acquired Pro Bowl wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and pass rusher Olivier Vernon in two separate trades with the New York Giants in exchange for offensive guard Kevin Zeitler, safety Jabrill Peppers, and two draft picks, including the Browns' 2019 first-round pick. The trade is widely considered one of the most significant and bizarre in NFL history: the Giants traded Beckham (26 years old on the day of the trade) despite his status as one of the best wide receivers in the NFL only one year after signing him to the largest contract for a wide receiver in NFL history at the time. The move instantly raised expectations for the Browns, with many declaring them a Super Bowl contender despite their recent history and 16-year playoff drought, the longest active streak in the NFL. However, the 2019 season would be a disaster for the Browns as they finished with a record of 6–10. With that record, combined with many numerous discipline problems from both on and off the field plus poor play, the Cleveland Browns fired Freddie Kitchens hours after the Browns' loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on December 29. Two days later, the Browns also parted ways with general manager John Dorsey after disagreements with discussions about structural reformations of the team. List of Cleveland Browns seasons Cleveland Browns official web site The 1994 Cleveland Browns season was the team's 45th season with the National Football League. It was the only season that the Browns qualified for the playoffs under head coach Bill Belichick. The Browns finished as the NFL's number one defense in terms of points surrendered per game (12.8 points per game). In the playoffs, Belichick got his first playoff victory as a head coach in the AFC Wild Card Game against his eventual current team, the New England Patriots, 20–13. The Browns would lose to the Steelers 9–29 in the divisional round. The Browns would not return to the playoffs again until the 2002 season. As of the conclusion of the 2019 season, this is the last season Cleveland has won a playoff game. Traded 2x11 and 1995 2x26 to Philadelphia Eagles for 1x29 Week One @ Cincinnati Both Vinny Testaverde and falling third-year Bengal David Klingler were picked off twice. Testaverde got the better of the first round of 1994's Battle Of Ohio as he raced the Browns to a 28–13 lead, enough to absorb a Klingler touchdown in the fourth to Darnay Scott. The Browns won 28–20. Week Two vs. Pittsburgh The Steelers ended a four-game road losing streak to the Browns as they erased a 10–0 Browns lead with 17 unanswered points. Vinny Testaverde was picked off four times in the 17–10 loss. The Browns hosted Buddy Ryan, now coach of the Cardinals after his tumultuous stay with the Oilers. Ryan had to bear witness as Vinny Testaverde tossed two touchdowns and ran in a third while Jay Schroeder and Jim McMahon combined for just 26 of 58 passes with three interceptions in a 32–0 Browns shutout win. Week Four @ Indianapolis In a 21–14 Browns win, Testaverde threw three more touchdowns as the game lead tied or changed on every score. Testaverde's scores offset scores by Marshall Faulk and Jim Harbaugh, both destined to be important rivals of Browns coach Bill Belichick in the future. Week Five vs. New York Jets Eight years after their infamous playoff meeting, the Jets and Browns renewed acquaintances and the Browns raced to a 27–0 lead before Jack Trudeau, subbing for regular starter Boomer Esiason, found the endzone from 24 yards out. Trudeau was picked off twice as well in the 27–7 Browns win. The game was the first meeting as head coaches of Jets coach Pete Carroll and Browns coach Bill Belichick. Week Six – BYE WEEK, Week Seven @ Houston On a rare Thursday Night NFL game, the collapse of the Oilers following their 1993 season continued as the Browns clawed out a Vinny Testaverde touchdown, a two-point conversion, and a field goal in the second quarter, offsetting a fourth-quarter score from Billy Joe Tolliver. The 11–8 loss put the Oilers at 1–5 with the Browns now 5–1. Week Eight vs. Cincinnati The winless Bengals clawed to a 13–10 halftime lead, then the Browns exploded to 27 unanswered points en route to a 37–13 rout; one touchdown came off a goalline fumble by the Bengals. Former Redskins hero Mark Rypien came in late and completed three of eleven passes. Week Nine @ Denver The Browns remained haunted by the ghost of their two bitter playoff failures to John Elway as Elway led a Broncos offense putting up 457 yards of offense and 26 points to offset two Matt Stover field goals and a touchdown from Mark Rypien. The 26–14 Broncos win was only the third of their season. Week 10 vs. New England Bill Belichick faced his former boss Bill Parcells and got the better of Parcells and second-year quarterback Drew Bledsoe, intercepting him four times as Mark Rypien tossed a one-yard score to Leroy Hoard. The 13–6 outcome put the Browns at 7–2 while the Patriots fell to 3–6 awaiting the Vikings. Week 11 @ Philadelphia The 7–2 Eagles were crushed 26–7 as Randall Cunningham was picked off once and held to just 242 yards of offense; the loss began a season-ending spiral for the Eagles and coach Rich Kotite. Week 12 @ Kansas City Joe Montana managed only 169 passing yards but still got the better of the Browns 20–13 as three different passers for the Browns managed only 152 yards and a pick. Week 13 vs. Houston The Browns completed a season sweep of the Oilers – now under new coach Jeff Fisher – 34–10, limiting the Oilers to 182 yards of offense. Week 14 vs. New York Giants Facing his former team, Bill Belichick saw the Giants unable to reach 300 yards of offense yet still win 16–13, picking off Vinny Testaverde twice while sacking him four times. The game was a penalty-laden affair with 21 combined fouls for 162 yards. Week 15 @ Dallas Once again Testaverde couldn't deliver much yardage – just 118 passing yards with one touchdown and one pick – but he did enough for a 19–14 win over the defending Super Bowl champions. The Browns picked off Troy Aikman twice while forcing two fumbles. Matt Stover's four field goals were sufficient for the win. Week 16 @ Pittsburgh The measuring stick for the Browns has always been the Steelers and once again the Browns came up short, this time 17–7. Testaverde had one touchdown and two picks while Barry Foster rushed for 106 yards and Neil O'Donnell had 175 passing yards and a touchdown. The win locked up the AFC Central for the Steelers, but the Browns nonetheless were also in the playoffs. Week 17 vs. Seattle Vinny Testaverde scored three times, once on the ground, as five different Cleveland backs combined for over 100 rushing yards and two additional scores in a 35–7 rout of the Seahawks. With vaunted 1993 rookie Rick Mirer faltering, two different Seahawks quarterbacks combined for 229 yards and a pick. As of 2018, this is the Browns' most recent home playoff game and their most recent playoff victory.

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Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (released in France as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Fountain of Youth) is a 2011 American fantasy swashbuckler film, the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series and the follow-up to (2007). It is the first film in the series not to be directed by Gore Verbinski, replaced by Rob Marshall. Jerry Bruckheimer again served as producer. It is technically a stand-alone sequel to the previous installments. In the film, which draws its plot loosely from the novel On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) is joined by Angelica (Penélope Cruz) in his search for the Fountain of Youth, confronting the infamous pirate Blackbeard (Ian McShane). The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and released in the United States on May 20, 2011. It was the first film in the series to be released in the Disney Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D formats. Writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio first learned of Powers's novel On Stranger Tides during the back-to-back production of (2006) and , and considered it a good starting point for a new film in the series. Pre-production started after the end of the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, with Depp collaborating with the writers on the story design. Principal photography lasted for 106 days between June and November 2010, with locations in Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Puerto Rico and California. Filming employed 3D cameras similar to those used in the production of the 2009 film Avatar, and ten companies were involved with the film's visual effects. Following inflated production costs which ballooned the net budget to $379 million, the film currently ranks as the most expensive film ever made. On Stranger Tides broke many box office records and was the third highest-grossing film of 2011. It is the 37th highest-grossing film of all time worldwide when not adjusting for inflation. Reviews were mixed, with criticism for its plot, screenplay, direction, excessiveness, and lack of originality, but compliments for the acting, action sequences, musical score, visuals, and the shorter runtime. A fifth film, titled , was released in May 2017, and a sixth film is in development. After a failed attempt to rescue his first mate, Joshamee Gibbs, in London, Captain Jack Sparrow is brought before King George II. The king wants Jack to guide an expedition to the Fountain of Youth before King Ferdinand and the Spanish Navy can locate it. Jack's old nemesis, Captain Hector Barbossa, now a privateer in service to the British Navy after losing his leg and ship, the Black Pearl, which he says was sunk, is heading the expedition. Jack refuses the offer and escapes. He meets up with his father, Captain Teague, who warns Jack about the Fountain's rituals. Jack learns someone is impersonating him to recruit a crew to find the Fountain. The impostor is Angelica, Jack's former lover, and the daughter of the ruthless pirate Blackbeard, who practices voodoo magic and wields the mythical "Sword of Triton" that controls his ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge. While Jack is shanghaied aboard Blackbeard's ship, Gibbs escapes execution by memorizing and destroying Jack's map showing the Fountain's location, forcing Barbossa to take him along. Meanwhile, after a failed mutiny aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, Jack is forced to guide the crew to the Fountain. Blackbeard seeks the Fountain's power to circumvent his predestined fatal encounter with a "one-legged man", who happened to be Barbossa. Jack must find two silver chalices aboard Juan Ponce de León's missing flagship, the Santiago. The Fountain's water must simultaneously be drunk by two people from the chalices. Drinking from one chalice containing a mermaid's tear will extend life; the second person dies, their remaining years of life transferred to the other drinker. Jack also discovers that the Black Pearl was captured and shrunk before being added to Blackbeard's collection of other shrunken ships in bottles. The Queen Anne's Revenge heads for Whitecap Bay to find and harvest mermaid tears. After managing to lure in a mermaid named Tamara, she summons other mermaids to attack the crew before Jack causes an explosion that scares them away. A mermaid named Syrena is caught: then Philip Swift, a captive missionary, falls in love with her. Reaching Ponce de León's ship on an uncharted island, Angelica and Blackbeard coerce Jack into retrieving both chalices. Jack locates the grounded, decaying vessel, only to find Barbossa there. Both guess that the Spanish have taken the chalices, after they are nowhere to be found on the vessel. Jack and Barbossa team up to sneak into the Spanish camp and steal the chalices. Barbossa reveals he only wants revenge against Blackbeard for attacking the Black Pearl, and his leg being amputated. Jack and Barbossa escape with the chalices. Meanwhile, Syrena, reciprocating Philip's love, is tricked into shedding a tear. Blackbeard collects it, leaving her to die of dehydration while Philip is forced to go with them. Jack returns with the chalices and bargains with Blackbeard for Angelica's safety, Jack's confiscated magical compass (which they took from him before sending him to get the chalices), and Gibbs' release. In return, Jack vows to give Blackbeard the chalices and lead him to the Fountain; Blackbeard agrees, and Gibbs is set free with the compass. At the Fountain, Blackbeard's crew is confronted by Barbossa and his men and they battle while Barbossa and Blackbeard fight. The Spanish suddenly arrive, intending to destroy the Fountain, believing its power an abomination against God. They crush the chalices and throw them in the swamp. When Barbossa stabs Blackbeard with a poisoned sword, Angelica pulls it out and is cut and poisoned. Jack notices Angelica is poisoned and begins frantically searching the swamp for the chalices. Barbossa obtains Blackbeard's magic sword and gains control of the Queen Anne's Revenge and her crew. Despite resistance from Blackbeard's crew, the Spanish successfully pull down a pillar, crushing the Fountain of Youth. The Spanish army leaves once the fountain is in ruins. Philip is mortally wounded, but he returns to free Syrena. She helps Jack retrieve the missing chalices and gives them to him, telling him not to waste her tear. Syrena goes back to the dying Philip. She says she can save him if he asks her to. When he asks for her forgiveness, she kisses him and takes him underwater. With Blackbeard and Angelica both nearing death, Jack retrieves the last remaining drops of water from the destroyed fountain and puts the tear in one of them. Knowing that one of them must be sacrificed, he wants Angelica to drink from the chalice containing the tear. Instead, Blackbeard drinks it, asking his daughter to save him. Angelica agrees and drinks from the second chalice. Jack is upset to lose Angelica, but reveals that he made a mistake about which chalice contained the tear. Neither of the two are happy, and they both believe Jack deliberately tricked them. Angelica's wounds are healed as the Fountain fatally consumes Blackbeard's body, killing him. Eventually, Jack and Angelica admit their love for each other, yet he distrusts her intentions (aware that she may try to avenge her father) and strands her on a cay. Now wielding Blackbeard's magical sword, Barbossa captains the Queen Anne's Revenge and returns to piracy. Jack finds Gibbs, who had used the compass to locate the Revenge. He reclaims the shrunken Black Pearl and the other conquered ships in bottles, carrying them in a gunny sack. The two leave, . In a post-credits scene, a voodoo doll of Jack crafted by Blackbeard washes ashore and is found by Angelica, who then smiles. Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow: Former captain of the Black Pearl., Penélope Cruz as Angelica: Jack's former love interest, and daughter of Blackbeard., Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa: Jack's former-rival-turned-ally, and former captain of the Black Pearl., Ian McShane as Blackbeard: Legendary pirate, and captain of the Queen Anne's Revenge., Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs: Jack's friend, and former first mate., Sam Claflin as Philip Swift: A missionary, kept prisoner aboard Blackbeard's ship., Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey as Syrena: A mermaid captured by Blackbeard, and love interest of Swift., Stephen Graham as Scrum: A self-serving member of Blackbeard's crew., Greg Ellis as Lt. Cmdr. Theodore Groves: Barbossa's second-in-command, former second-in-command of Cutler Beckett and James Norrington's crew., Damian O'Hare as Lt. Gillette, Barbossa's third-in-command, former second-in-command of James Norrington., Óscar Jaenada as The Spaniard: King Ferdinand's most trusted agent., Richard Griffiths as King George II, Keith Richards as Captain Edward Teague: Jack's father, former Pirate Lord of Madagascar, and keeper of the code of the Bretheren Court., Gemma Ward as Tamara: A mermaid. Shortly before the premiere of , Jerry Bruckheimer stated it was the end of the trilogy, but the idea of a spin-off was still possible. After the film's successful opening weekend, Dick Cook, then Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, said he was interested in a fourth installment. Los Angeles Times also reported that rights to a book were bought. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio had started working on a script in 2007, but they were interrupted by the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, and only resumed in mid-2008. In June 2009, Bruckheimer indicated Disney would prefer the fourth installment of Pirates to be released before The Lone Ranger film, which he, Johnny Depp, Ted Elliott, and Terry Rossio had been working on for release on May 20, 2011. He hoped Gore Verbinski would return to direct the fourth film, as his BioShock film adaptation had been put on hold. As Verbinski was unavailable due to his commitment with Rango the same year, Bruckheimer suggested Rob Marshall, who he considered a "premiere filmmaker", stating that "Every film [Marshall] made I thought was unique and different." On July 21, 2009, Marshall accepted the job, because of the "whole new story line and set of characters. It felt new, and that was important to me." Marshall said the film provided him a long- awaited opportunity to work with Depp, and that his directing was helped by his experience as a choreographer—"the action sequences felt like big production numbers." On September 11, 2009, at Disney's D23 convention during a Disney event, Cook and Johnny Depp, in full Captain Jack Sparrow costume, announced that a fourth Pirates film was in development. The title was announced as Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Marshall visited the Pirates of the Caribbean ride in Disneyland for inspiration, eventually paying homage with a skeleton holding a magnifying glass in Ponce de León's ship. An appearance of "Old Bill", the pirate who tries to share his rum with a cat, was also filmed but cut. Pintel and Ragetti were originally supposed to make an appearance, but director Rob Marshall opted out of the idea as he feared their roles would be cut. Cook resigned in September 2009 after working for Disney for over 38 years. Depp's faith in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was somewhat shaken after the resignation, with Depp explaining that "There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment. It was all born in that office". Depp also explained Cook was one of the few who accepted his portrayal of Jack Sparrow: "When things went a little sideways on the and others at the studio were less than enthusiastic about my interpretation of the character, Dick was there from the first moment. He trusted me". During production of and At World's End, writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio discovered Tim Powers's 1987 novel On Stranger Tides, which they considered a good foundation on which to base "a new chapter" in the Pirates series. Disney bought the rights to the novel in April 2007. Rossio stated that he and Elliot had considered using Blackbeard and the Fountain of Youth in the story before reading the book, "but whenever you say those words, Powers's novel comes to mind. There was no way we could work in that field without going into territory Tim had explored." However, they denied that it would be a straight version of the novel: "Blackbeard came from the book, and in the book there is a daughter character, too. But Jack Sparrow is not in the book, nor is Barbossa. So I wouldn't call this an adaptation." Rossio declared the script was written to be a standalone film, "kind of a James Bond sort of thing", instead of the "designed to be a trilogy" structure of the previous installments. They hoped to "design a story that would support new characters," as characters such as Will Turner would not return. Bruckheimer added that there was a decision to "streamline the story a little bit, make it a little simpler and not have as many characters to follow", as the number of characters and subplots in At World's End caused the film to have an unwieldy length. The duo decided to employ another sea myth alluded in the previous episodes: mermaids, which are briefly referenced in the book. The mermaids' role expanded in the script, which included a vast attack sequence. Depp was deeply involved with the story design, frequently meeting the writers to show what he was interested in doing, and in the words of Rossio, being "involved in coming up with story lines, connecting characters, creating moments that we would then fashion, shape and then go back." Among Depp's suggestions were turning Phillip into a missionary and having a Spanish contingent following the protagonists. Afterwards, Rob Marshall and executive producer John DeLuca met Rossio and Elliot, and did alterations of their own, including building the female lead. Depp signed on to return as Captain Jack Sparrow in September 2008, saying that he would come back if the script was good. Almost a year later, Disney announced that Depp would be paid $55.5 million for his role, realizing that without him the franchise would be "dead and buried." Geoffrey Rush expressed interest in returning to his role as Barbossa, and Bruckheimer later confirmed his presence. Rush was positive on Barbossa having lost a leg, as he considered the disability made him "angrier, more forceful and resilient as a character", and had to work with the stunt team for an accurate portrayal of the limp and usage of crutch, particularly during sword fighting scenes. While the production team considered a prop pegleg to be put over Rush's leg, the tight schedule caused it to be replaced with a blue sock that was replaced digitally, with a knob on the shoe to give Rush a reference for his walk. Three other actors from the previous films returned, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Greg Ellis as Lt. Theodore Groves, and Damian O'Hare as Lt. Gilette. Keith Richards also had a cameo, reprising his role as Captain Teague from At World's End; he and Depp tried to persuade Mick Jagger to audition for the part of a pirate elder. Previous cast members Orlando Bloom (Will Turner) and Keira Knightley (Elizabeth Swann) stated that they would not reprise their roles, as they wanted to be involved in different films. They both thought the storyline involving their characters had gone as far as it could. On August 1, 2009, Bill Nighy expressed his desire to return as Davy Jones, who died in the saying the possibility to resurrect the character, but at the end, his inclusion was scrapped. On February 5, 2010, Mackenzie Crook also announced he would not be reprising his role of Ragetti, stating, "They haven't asked me. But actually I don't mind that at all. I'm a fan of the first one especially and I think the trilogy we've made is great. I'd almost like them to leave it there." New cast members include Ian McShane, who plays the notorious pirate and primary antagonist of the film, Blackbeard, and Penélope Cruz, who plays Angelica, Jack Sparrow's love interest. According to Marshall, McShane was chosen because "he can play something evil but there's always humor behind it as well" and the actor accepted the job due to both the "very funny and charming" script and the opportunity to work with Marshall. The beard took one hour and a half to get applied, and McShane likened the character's costume to "a real biker pirate—it's all black leather.” Marshall said Cruz was the only actress considered for the role, as she fit the description as "an actress who could not only go toe to toe with Johnny and match him, but also needed to be all the things that Jack Sparrow is in a way. She needed to be funny and clever and smart and crafty and beautiful", and invited her for the role as they wrapped the production of Nine. The actress spent two months working out and learning fencing for the role. During filming, Cruz discovered she was pregnant, leading the costume department to redesign her wardrobe to be more elastic and the producers to hire her sister Mónica Cruz to double for Penélope in risky scenes. Depp recommended Stephen Graham, who worked with him in Public Enemies, to play Scrum, a Machiavellian pirate and sidekick to Jack Sparrow, and Richard Griffiths for the role of King George II, as Depp was a fan of Griffiths' work on Withnail and I. Sam Claflin, a recent drama school graduate with television experience, was chosen to play the missionary Philip, and British actor Paul Bazely also joined the cast. Spanish news website El Pais reported that the film had four Spanish actors: Cruz, Bergès-Frisbey, Óscar Jaenada, and Juan Carlos Vellido. Jaenada was picked for both his work in The Losers and a recommendation by Cruz. Casting for mermaids required the actresses to have natural breasts—no implants. As Bruckheimer explained to EW, "I don't think they had breast augmentation in the 1700s, [...] So it's natural for casting people to say, 'We want real people.'" Marshall invited Spanish-French actress Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey to play Syrena after seeing her in a French magazine article on up-and-coming actresses. Bergès-Frisbey had to take lessons of English, swimming and breath control for the role. The rest of the mermaid portrayers, such as Australian supermodel Gemma Ward, were chosen for having "exotic sense, an otherworldly sensibility, but also under those layers a deadly quality", according to Marshall, and had to take swimming lessons to learn movements such as the dolphin and eggbeater kicks. Principal photography began on June 14, 2010, in Hawaii. Filming was moved to California in August 2010, primarily at the Long Beach shore and a recreation of Whitecap Bay done in the Universal Studios backlot, as the original Hawaiian location on Halona Cove was plagued with strong tides. After a brief shoot in Puerto Rico, with locations in both Palomino Island and the Fort of San Cristóbal in San Juan, production moved to the United Kingdom in September, where principal photography wrapped on November 18 after 106 days of shooting. Locations included Hampton Court Palace in London, Knole House in Kent, and Old Royal Naval College at Greenwich. Interiors were shot at London's Pinewood Studios, and a replica of an 18th-century London street was built on the backlot alongside the soundstages. The producers also considered using New Orleans as a location. In October, security was breached at the UK site when a celebrity impersonator gained access to filming at the Old Royal Naval College by dressing up as Captain Jack. After the joint production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End cost over $300 million, Disney decided to give a lower budget to the fourth installment. Many costs had to be cut, including moving primary production to Hawaii and London, where tax credits are more favorable, and having a shorter shooting schedule and fewer scenes featuring special effects compared to At World's End. The tighter schedule—according to Bruckheimer, "We had a 22-week post, and for a picture like this, with almost 1,200 visual effects shots, it's usually 40 weeks"—meant that Marshall supervised editing of sequences during filming. The British financial statements of the film revealed total expenditures of £240.7 million ($410.6 million) by 2013, with Disney receiving a rebate of $32.1 million from the British government, making Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides the most expensive film ever made to date. Bruckheimer said the decision to film in 3D was made due to its being "immersive filmmaking; I think it makes you part of the actual filming because you're part of the screen." Bruckheimer described it as the first major "exterior movie" to be shot in 3D, as Avatar was mostly done in sound stages. At first Marshall was not much interested in 3D, but the director eventually considered it a film that could benefit from the format. "You are on an adventure and with the 3D experience you are inside that adventure." While the original plan was to add 3D effects during post-production, the decision was made to shoot digitally with 3D cameras. Only one sequence was shot conventionally and needed a 3D conversion. The cameras were improved versions of the ones James Cameron developed for Avatar, which were made more compact for extra mobility. This meant the cameras could be brought into locations such as the Hawaiian jungle. Queen Anne's Revenge was built atop Sunset, the same ship used to depict Black Pearl in previous installments. In February 2010, Sunset was sailed from Long Beach to a shipyard in Hawaii for the reforms, where a big concern was to make it imposing, with three stories, without sacrificing actual seakeeping. Given Blackbeard was meant to be the meanest pirate to appear in the series, the look for Queen Anne's Revenge was ominous, with sails dyed blood red, various elements on fire, and a decoration based on skulls and bones (drawing inspiration from the Sedlec Ossuary in Czech Republic). Damage from cannon fire was also added to show that "not only Blackbeard was a dying man, but his ship is also a dying ship". The ship's figurehead also drew inspiration from Blackbeard's pirate flag. The replica ship was used for Barbossa's ship, HMS Providence, and all the scenes aboard Providence were shot on the Long Beach shore as Surprise could not be sailed to Hawaii. Over 50 designs were considered for the Fountain of Youth, with the final one representing a temple built by an ancient civilization around the Fountain, which itself was located in a round rocky structure to represent "the circle of life". The locations leading up to the Fountain were shot in the Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Oahu, but the Fountain itself was built at the 007 Stage on Pinewood. On Stranger Tides employed 1,112 shots of computer-generated imagery, which were done by ten visual effects companies. Cinesite visual effects supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp claimed that the most difficult part was doing the effects in 3D: "Rotoscoping is tricky. Cleaning up plates is double the work, and tracking has to be spot on." The lead companies, with over 300 effects each, were Industrial Light & Magic—responsible for, among others, the mermaids and most water effects—and Moving Picture Company, who created digital ships and environment extensions, such as changing weather and designing cliffs and waterfalls. Filming the mermaids involved eight model-actresses, who portrayed them outside the water, as well as 22 synchronized swimming athletes and a group of stuntwomen, both of whom wore motion capture suits to be later replaced by digital mermaids. Mermaid corpses were depicted by plaster models. The design tried to avoid the traditional representations of mermaids in paintings and literature, instead going for a scaly body with a translucent membrane inspired by both jellyfish and the fabric employed in ballet tutus. To make the mermaids more menacing underwater, the faces of the actresses had some digital touch-ups on the underwater scenes, adding sharper teeth and a shimmery fish scale quality on the skin. ILM also handled Blackbeard's death, where Ian McShane's actual performance was covered by digital doubles which turned him into a "boiling mass of blood and clothing", and a hurricane-like formation that represented "the waters of the Fountain taking his life". Cinesite handled the recreation of London and Barbossa's peg leg, CIS Hollywood did 3D corrections and minor shots, and Method Studios created matte paintings. The film's score was written by Hans Zimmer, who had worked in all of the previous entries in the franchise; being the main composer for the second and third installments. Zimmer said that he tried to incorporate a rock n' roll sound, as he felt "pirates were the rock 'n' rollers of many, many years ago", and Spanish elements, which led to a collaboration with Mexican guitarists Rodrigo y Gabriela and a tango song written by Penélope Cruz's brother Eduardo. American composer Eric Whitacre contributed several choir-based cues, as well as regular assistant Geoff Zanelli. On January 6, 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2011, following Columbia Pictures' announcement of a delay in the Spider-Man reboot and Paramount Pictures slating Thor for May 6, 2011. The film was released in IMAX 3D, as well as traditional 2D and IMAX format, with Dolby 7.1 surround sound. This film was also the first film to be released in the 4DX motion theaters in Mexico and in the Western Hemisphere, featuring strobe lights, tilting seats, blowing wind and fog and odor effects. It is available exclusively at select Cinépolis cinemas. The world premiere of On Stranger Tides was on May 7, 2011, at a premium ticket screening at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, home of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride that inspired the film series. Many of the film's stars were in attendance. Two other early screenings followed, one in Moscow on May 11, and another during the Cannes International Film Festival on May 14. The international release dates fell within May 18 and 20, with opening dates in the United Kingdom on May 18, in Australia on May 19, and in North America on May 20. The film was released on a then-record 402 IMAX screens, 257 screens in North America, and 139 in other territories. The total number of theaters was 4,155 in North America and 18,210 worldwide. Disney's marketing president, MT Carney, said that the film's advertising campaign was intended "to remind people of why they fell in love with Jack Sparrow in the first place and also introduce new elements in a way that was elegant". Sony Pictures' former marketing president, Valerie Van Galder, was hired as a consultant. The first footage from the film appeared on Entertainment Tonight on December 4, 2010. Three trailers were released, one in December, which had a 3D version included with the release of and broadcast by ESPN 3D; a Super Bowl XLV spot on February 2011, which was later released online in an extended version; and a final trailer in March that focused more on the plot than the previous trailer and commercials. Promotional tie-ins included Lego Pirates of the Caribbean toy sets and , a cell phone app by Verizon Wireless, a special edition of Pirate's Booty, lines of nail polish by OPI, clothing from Hot Topic, and jewelry from Swarovski. Goldline International produced replicas of the "Pieces of Eight" coins from the movies and gold Mexican Escudo coins, which were given in sweepstakes at the El Capitan Theatre. At Disney California Adventure Park, the Pirates of the Caribbean segment of the World of Color show was extended to include visual clips and music from On Stranger Tides. The film was released on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 12, 2011 in the UK, topping both the Blu-ray and DVD sales charts during its first two weeks. The film had its high-definition home release on October 18, 2011 in the United States and Canada. Three different physical packages were made available: a 2-disc combo pack (Blu-ray and DVD), a 5-disc combo pack (2-disc Blu-ray, 1-disc Blu-ray 3D, 1-disc DVD, and 1-disc Digital Copy), and a 15-disc collection featuring all four Pirates movies. On Stranger Tides was also released as a movie download in both high definition and 3D. The regular DVD edition came out on December 6. In its first week of release, it sold 1.71 million Blu-ray units and generated $48.50 million, topping the weekly Blu-ray chart. However these results were quite skewed due to the one-month delay of its DVD-only release. It sold 3.20 million Blu-ray units ($83.46 million) after 11 weeks. It has also sold 1.12 million DVD units ($19.32 million). Upon its television premiere on December 29, 2013 in the UK on BBC One, it was watched by a total of 5.4 million viewers, making it the third-most watched program that night, according to overnight figures. On Stranger Tides earned $241.1 million in the North America and $804.6 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $1.045 billion. It is the 37th highest-grossing film worldwide, the third-highest-grossing 2011 film, the second most successful installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, the 20th highest-grossing Disney feature and the fourth highest-grossing fourth film in a franchise (behind , Jurassic World and ). On its worldwide opening weekend, it grossed $350.6 million, surpassing At World's Ends $344 million opening as best in the series and ranking as the seventh-highest worldwide opening. It scored an IMAX worldwide opening-weekend record with $16.7 million (first surpassed by ). It set records for the least time to reach $500, $600, and $700 million worldwide (in 10, 12 and 16 days, respectively). The first of these records was first surpassed by Dark of the Moon and the other two by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. After 46 days in theaters (July 2, 2011), it became the eighth film in cinema history and the fourth film released by Walt Disney Studios to cross the $1-billion-mark. It set a record for the fastest Disney-distributed film to reach the milestone (first surpassed by Marvel's The Avengers) and it is the fifth-fastest film overall to achieve this. During its Thursday-midnight showings, On Stranger Tides earned $4.7 million from 2,210 theaters, and $34,860,549 in total on its opening day. It earned $90.2 million on its opening weekend, topping the weekend box office, but earning much less than its two immediate predecessors (At World's End – $114.7 million and Dead Man's Chest – $135.6 million) and the directly preceding Johnny Depp spectacle (Alice in Wonderland – $116.1 million). 3D showings accounted for only 46% of its opening-weekend gross. It closed on September 29, 2011, with a $241.1 million gross, ranking as the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2011 and the least profitable film of the franchise. However, it was the top-grossing movie during May 2011 (with $166.8 million by May 31). Outside North America, On Stranger Tides is the sixth-highest-grossing film, the third-highest-grossing Disney film, the second-highest-grossing 2011 film and the highest-grossing film of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. It is the highest-grossing Pirates film in at least 58 territories. During its opening day (Wednesday, May 18, 2011), On Stranger Tides made $18.5 million from 10 territories. It added 37 territories and $25.7 million on Thursday, for a two-day total of $44.2 million, and on Friday, it expanded to almost all countries, earning $46.2 million for a three-day total of $92.1 million. On its five-day opening weekend as a whole, it earned a then-record $260.4 million from 18,210 screens in more than 100 territories, in all which it reached first place at the box office. The record debut was surpassed later in the same summer season by Deathly Hallows Part 2. Earnings originating from 3-D showings accounted for 66% of the weekend gross, which was a much greater share than in North America. Its highest-grossing countries during its first weekend were Russia and the CIS ($31.42 million including previews), China ($22.3 million) and Germany ($20.53 million). It dominated for three weekends at the overseas box office despite competition from The Hangover Part II, Kung Fu Panda 2, and . It reached the $300, $400 and $500-million-mark at the box office outside North America in record time (7, 11 and 14 days respectively), records first surpassed by Deathly Hallows – Part 2. On Stranger Tides set opening day records in both Russia (including the CIS) and Sweden. Subsequently, it set opening-weekend records in Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, Norway, Ukraine and Turkey, still retaining the record in Russia ($26.8 million) and Ukraine ($2.15 million). Its highest-grossing market after North America is Japan ($108.9 million), followed by China ($71.8 million) and Russia and the CIS ($63.7 million). It is the highest-grossing film of 2011 in Russia and the CIS, Austria, Ukraine, Greece, Portugal and Angola, South Africa, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt, Estonia, and Latvia. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 33% based on 259 reviews, with an average rating of 5/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "It's shorter and leaner than the previous sequel, but this Pirates runs aground on a disjointed plot and a non-stop barrage of noisy action sequences." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating to reviews, gives the film an average score of 45 out of 100, based on 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". CinemaScore polls reported that the average grade moviegoers gave the film was a "B+" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert gave On Stranger Tides two out of four stars, saying that although the removal of Knightley and Bloom as well as the addition of Cruz were positive aspects, the film in general was "too much of a muchness" for him. Tom Long of The Detroit News gave a D+, saying that Jack Sparrow had "worn out his welcome". Despite the more linear plot, "the movie is still ridiculous". He found On Stranger Tides to be "precisely what you'd expect of the fourth installment of a movie based on an amusement park ride: a whole lot of noise, plenty of stunts and complete silliness." British film critic Mark Kermode gave the film an overwhelmingly negative review on his 5 Live show, saying "it's not as staggeringly misjudged as the third part, because it is just nothing, it is just a big empty nothing, whereas part three I think was an active atrocity, it's just nothing at all". As with the previous films, the plot was criticized as incoherent and confusing. The Arizona Republic critic Bill Goodykoontz rated the film two out of five, stating that "the movie is a series of distractions tossed together in the hopes that they will come together in a coherent story. That never really happens." Online reviewer James Berardinelli considered the script "little more than a clothesline from which to dangle all of the obligatory set pieces", and USA Todays Claudia Puig found On Stranger Tides "familiar and predictable...often incoherent and crammed with pointless details." Mike Scott from The Times-Picayune mentions that "while this latest chapter isn't quite sharp enough to restore the sense of discovery that made that first outing so darn exciting, it's enough to make up for most of the missteps that made the third one so darn arrgh-inducing." Writing for The A.V. Club, Tasha Robinson described On Stranger Tides as "a smaller film than past installments, by design and necessity", and felt that "the series has needed this streamlining" as the film "feels lightweight, but that's still better than bloated." On Stranger Tides also had positive reviews; some critics found the film to be entertaining and well-made. Richard Roeper gave the film a B+, describing it as "the most fun installment since the first", calling the story "pure cartoon, but a lot easier to follow than the other sequels", and summing as "the franchise is getting tired, but Penelope energizes it." Along the same lines, Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post gave the film three out of four stars, writing that it "feels as fresh and bracingly exhilarating as the day Jack Sparrow first swashed his buckle, infusing new reckless energy into a franchise that shows no signs of furling its sails". She said that Marshall "swiftly and without fuss delivers the action set pieces and eye-popping escapism" and praised Depp, Cruz, and McShane's performances. Ray Bennett from The Hollywood Reporter considered that Marshall "shows terrific flair with all the usual chases and sword fights, and he handles the 3D well", and welcomed Penélope Cruz's character, saying she "brings her Oscar-winning vivacity" and had "lively sexual tension" with Depp. Writing for The Globe and Mail, Rick Groen found the action scenes to range from "merely competent to tritely cluttered", but he was pleased with the overall result, calling McShane a "fresh villain" whose "stentorian tones are welcome anywhere". Variety's Andrew Barker considered the film derivative, but accessible. "It has nary an original idea and still doesn't make much sense, but it's lost all pretensions that it should". He praised Geoffrey Rush, stating that he "not only gets the funniest lines and reaction shots, but also starts to siphon away much of the roguish charm that used to be Depp's stock and trade." The film was nominated for four Teen Choice Awards: Sci-Fi/Fantasy Movie, Sci- Fi/Fantasy Actor, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Actress, and Villain. Its trailer and TV spot were nominated for Golden Trailer Awards. The film won Best Movie for Mature Audiences Award at the 2012 Movieguide Awards. The fifth installment in the franchise, , was directed by Kon-Tiki directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, and released in May 2017. Pirates of the Caribbean is a Disney franchise encompassing numerous theme park attractions and a media franchise consisting of a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme ride attraction, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disney theme park attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends and folklore. Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC) became a media franchise with the release of in 2003. As of October 2016, Pirates of the Caribbean attractions can be found at five Disney Parks, Experiences and Products. The films have grossed over worldwide as of March 2019, putting the film franchise 14th in the list of all-time highest grossing franchises and film series. Pirates of the Caribbean (attraction), Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, The Legend of Captain Jack Sparrow (attraction) 1. (2003) 2. (2006) 3. (2007) 4. (2011) 5. (2017) Adventures in the Magic Kingdom by Capcom featured a stage in which the player had to rescue six civilians from pirates in an island resembling the attraction., by Eidos Interactive included a level in which players can race water boats at the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction in Walt Disney World., Pirates of the Caribbean (Originally entitled Sea Dogs II) was released in 2003 by Bethesda Softworks to coincide with the release of . Although it had no relation to the characters, it features the movie's storyline about cursed Aztec gold and undead pirates, and it was the first of several games to be inspired by the attraction, prior to this exploring the stories that made Captain Jack Sparrow a legend., Pirates of the Caribbean Multiplayer Mobile for mobile phones, Pirates of the Caribbean Online a massively multiplayer online role-playing game which was released in Autumn 2007., Kingdom Hearts II features a world based on Pirates of the Caribbean, "Port Royal", taking place during the events of the first film, with movie characters such as Jack Sparrow, Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner, and Captain Barbossa making appearances. In the first visit, the story is directly copied from the film, but partially modified to fit the Kingdom Hearts II storyline, shown with the inclusions of Sora, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pete. The second visit focuses more on Organization XIII's activities in Port Royal, as well as Sora, Jack, Donald and Goofy's first encounter with Luxord., for Game Boy Advance (Nintendo) and a few others. This game is based on Captain Jack Sparrow's misadventures in the pursuit of saving Ria Anasagasti with his shipmate Will Turner., was released for the PlayStation 2 console and for PC., , was released for the Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, Game Boy Advance and others., was released on May 22, 2007 and was based on the film of the same name which was released on May 25, 2007. It was the first game in the series to be released for a seventh generation console., , an action and role playing video game, was being developed by Propaganda Games but was cancelled in October 2010., , released in May 2011, is the most recent Pirates game. It features all four films as well as over 70 characters and over 21 levels., Pirates of the Caribbean: Master of the Seas, a gaming app available on Android and iOS., Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa, and Davy Jones are playable characters in Disney Infinity and other entries in its series. A playset themed after the franchise was included with the starter pack., Kingdom Hearts III features the return of the world of Pirates of the Caribbean based on the third movie with some features from the second film. Jack Sparrow returns as a Party member. Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and Hector Barbossa return while Joshamee Gibbs, Tia Dalma, Cutler Beckett and Davy Jones make their debut in the series. Two series of young reader books have been printed as prequels to the first film: (12 books), (5 books) In addition there is a novel written for adults: by Ann C. Crispin One young reader book was made as a prequel to the fifth film: The Brightest Star in the North: The Adventures of Carina Smyth by Meredith Rusu Several additional works have been derived from the franchise: In 2000, Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for Buccaneer Gold, opened at DisneyQuest at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort. The attraction allows up to five players to board a virtual pirate ship and attempt to sink other ships with water cannons., Ron Gilbert often has said that the Monkey Island computer game series was the inspiration for Pirates of the Caribbean (especially upon seeing the second movie), although he has said that he mainly got his inspiration from Tim Powers' book On Stranger Tides (which later inspired the fourth film in the franchise). Within both the film and the adventure game is a key-carrying dog named Walt, whose name is a nod to Walt Disney and whose appearance is based on the jail scene from the rides., A Pirates of the Caribbean board game Monopoly is manufactured by USAopoly., A Pirates of the Caribbean version of the board game The Game of Life was developed., A Pirates of the Caribbean version of the board game Battleship is produced by Hasbro under the title of Battleship Command., Pirates of the Caribbean was the name of a team participating in the 2005–2006 Volvo Ocean Race. Their boat was named the "Black Pearl.", A Pirates of the Caribbean multiplayer online game was released by Disney on October 31, 2007., The British melodic hard rock band Ten have released an album entitled Isla de Muerta, the title of which is about the legendary island of the series. Jack Sparrow, Hector Barbossa, Will Turner, Joshamee Gibbs, Elizabeth Swann, Henry Turner, Davy Jones, James Norrington, Cutler Beckett, Weatherby Swann, Pintel and Ragetti, Blackbeard, Angelica, Philip Swift, Syrena, Kraken, Captain Salazar, Tia Dalma List of locations in Pirates of the Caribbean Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of fantasy swashbuckler films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and loosely based on Walt Disney's eponymous theme park ride. Directors of the series include Gore Verbinski (films 1–3), Rob Marshall (4) and Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg (5). The series is primarily written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (1–4); other writers include Stuart Beattie (1), Jay Wolpert (1) and Jeff Nathanson (5). The stories follow the adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley). Characters such as Hector Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and Joshamee Gibbs (Kevin McNally) follow Jack, Will and Elizabeth in the course of the films. The fourth film features Blackbeard (Ian McShane) and Angelica (Penélope Cruz), while the fifth film features Armando Salazar (Javier Bardem), Henry Turner (Brenton Thwaites) and Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario). The films take place in a fictionalized historical setting; a world ruled by the British Empire, the East India Trading Company (based on the real East India Trading Company) and the Spanish Empire, with pirates representing freedom from the ruling powers. The film series started in 2003 with , which received positive reviews from critics and grossed US$654 million worldwide. After the first film's success, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a film series was in the works. The franchise's second film, subtitled , was released three years later in 2006; the sequel proved successful, breaking financial records worldwide the day of its premiere. Dead Man's Chest ended up being the number one film of the year upon earning almost $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office. The third film in the series, subtitled , followed in 2007 earning $960 million, and Disney released a fourth film, subtitled , in 2011 in conventional 2D, Digital 3-D and IMAX 3D. On Stranger Tides succeeded in also grossing more than $1 billion, becoming the second film in the franchise and only the eighth film in history to achieve this. The franchise has grossed over $4.5 billion worldwide; it is the 14th-highest-grossing film series of all time, and it was the first franchise where more than one film grossed $1 billion worldwide. Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate Captain Jack Sparrow to save Turner's love, Elizabeth Swann, from cursed pirates led by Jack's mutinous former first mate, Hector Barbossa. Jack wants revenge against Barbossa, who left him stranded on an island before stealing his ship, the Black Pearl, along with 882 pieces of cursed Aztec Gold. Lord Cutler Beckett of the East India Trading Company arrests Will and Elizabeth for aiding Captain Jack Sparrow in the previous film. Beckett offers clemency if Will agrees to search for Jack's compass in a bid to find the Dead Man's Chest—and inside, the heart of villainous Davy Jones—which would give Beckett control of the seas. However, Jack wants the Chest to escape from an unpaid debt with Jones, who made Jack captain of the Black Pearl for 13 years in exchange for 100 years of service aboard Jones' ship, the Flying Dutchman. Lord Beckett gains power over Davy Jones and, with the help of the Flying Dutchman, he is now executing his plans to extinguish piracy forever. To stand against the East India Trading Co., Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, and the crew of the Black Pearl set out to rescue Captain Jack Sparrow from Davy Jones' Locker. As one of the Nine Pirate Lords, Jack is needed in order to release an ancient goddess with the power to defeat Beckett's forces. Captain Jack Sparrow is on a quest to find the fabled Fountain of Youth and crosses paths with a former lover, Angelica. She forces Jack aboard the Queen Anne's Revenge, a ship captained by the infamous pirate Blackbeard, Angelica's father. Both are also in search of the Fountain: Angelica to save her father's soul, Blackbeard to escape a prophecy of his demise at the hands of a one- legged man. Joining the hunt is former pirate captain Barbossa, now a privateer in King George II's Navy, who is in a race against the Spanish for the Fountain of Youth. A group of ghostly Spanish Royal Navy soldiers led by Jack Sparrow's old nemesis, Captain Armando Salazar, escape from the Devil's Triangle, with the goal of killing every pirate at sea, including him. To survive, Jack seeks out the legendary Trident of Poseidon, a powerful artifact whose owner can control the seas and break curses. Shortly before the release of , it was reported that Disney was planning to shoot the fifth and the sixth films back-to-back, although ultimately only the fifth installment was developed. By March 2017, director Joachim Rønning stated that Dead Men was only the beginning of the final adventure, confirming that it would not be the last film of the series. In September 2017, producer Jerry Bruckheimer indicated that another Pirates of the Caribbean is still in development. In October of the same year, Kaya Scodelario stated that she is contractually signed to return for a sixth film. Shortly after, it was confirmed that Rønning will direct the film. In October 2018, it was reported that Disney was planning on reinvigorating the franchise with Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick hired to write the script, with Jerry Bruckheimer again serving as producer. In December 2018, Walt Disney Studios President of Production, Sean Bailey, stated: "We want to bring in a new energy and vitality. I love the [Pirates] movies, but part of the reason Paul and Rhett are so interesting is that we want to give it a kick in the pants. And that's what I've tasked them with". The presence of Captain Jack Sparrow in the next movie has not yet been confirmed nor denied officially. By February 2019, Reese and Wernick quit the project. In October of that year, Craig Mazin and Ted Elliott joined the project as co-screenwriters. Wenches Scarlett (Lauren Maher) and Giselle (Vanessa Branch) fix each other up for their wedding, in which they would each marry their groom. Upon realizing that both their grooms were the same man—Jack Sparrow—the two wenches find themselves in an auction led by the Auctioneer. The short film serves as a prequel to The Curse of the Black Pearl, explaining just why Jack Sparrow's boat, the Jolly Mon, was seen sinking at the beginning of the whole story, and explaining why wenches Scarlett and Giselle were so upset with him, and it also implies how Cotton lost his tongue. The plot took inspiration from the "Auction scene" from the original Disney park attraction. The short was directed by James Ward Byrkit, and was only included as a special feature in the US 15-disc 3D Blu-ray/2D Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy box set that includes films 1–4; and in the similar UK five-disc set. Byrkit conceived the idea for the project while on sets Rick Heinrichs designed for (2006) and (2007). As the pirate cove sets from the feature films—where the short film takes place—were set to be demolished, the short project was prepped in a matter of days and shot over three days. Byrkit based the short film on the Pirate Code Book as it was a device that could tie into other stories later. In the early 1990s screenwriters Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio conceived a supernatural spin on the pirate genre after completing work on Aladdin, but there was no interest from any studio. Undeterred, the writing team refused to give up the dream, waiting for a studio to pick up their take on a pirate tale. Disney had Jay Wolpert write a script based on the Pirates of the Caribbean, which producer Jerry Bruckheimer rejected, feeling it was "a straight pirate movie". Bruckheimer brought Stuart Beattie in to rewrite the script in March 2002, due to his knowledge of piracy, and later that month Elliott and Rossio were brought in. Elliott and Rossio, inspired by the opening narration of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, decided to give the film a supernatural edge. As the budget rose, Michael Eisner and Robert Iger threatened to cancel the film, though Bruckheimer changed their minds when he showed them concept art and animatics. In June 2002 Gore Verbinski signed on to direct , and Johnny Depp and Geoffrey Rush signed on the following month to star. Verbinski was attracted to the idea of using modern technology to resurrect a genre, one that had disappeared after the Golden Age of Hollywood, and recalled his childhood memories of the ride, feeling the film was an opportunity to pay tribute to the "scary and funny" tone of it. Depp was attracted to the story as he found it quirky: rather than trying to find treasure, the crew of the Black Pearl were trying to return it in order to lift their curse; also, the traditional mutiny had already taken place. Verbinski approached Rush for the role of Barbossa, as he knew he would not play it with attempts at complexity, but with a simple villainy that would suit the story's tone. Orlando Bloom read the script after Rush, with whom he was working on Ned Kelly, suggested it to him. Keira Knightley came as a surprise to Verbinski: he had not seen her performance in Bend It Like Beckham and was impressed by her audition. Tom Wilkinson was negotiated with to play Governor Swann, but the role went to Jonathan Pryce, whom Depp idolized. Shooting for The Curse of the Black Pearl began on October 9, 2002 and wrapped by March 7, 2003. Before its release, many executives and journalists had expected the film to flop, as the pirate genre had not been successful for years, the film was based on a theme-park ride, and Depp rarely made a big film. However, The Curse of the Black Pearl became both a critical and commercial success. After seeing how well the first film was made, the cast and crew signed for two sequels to be shot back-to-back, a practical decision on Disney's part to allow more time with the same cast and crew. Writers Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio knew that with an ensemble cast, they weren't free to invent totally different situations and characters, as with the Indiana Jones and James Bond series, and so had to retroactively turn The Curse of the Black Pearl into the first of a trilogy. They wanted to explore the reality of what would happen after Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann's embrace at the end of the first film, and initially considered the Fountain of Youth as the plot device. They settled on introducing Davy Jones, the Flying Dutchman and the Kraken, a mythology mentioned twice in the first film. They introduced the historical East India Trading Company (also mentioned in the first film), which for them represented a counterpoint to the themes of personal freedom represented by pirates. Filming for the sequels began on February 28, 2005, with finishing on March 1, 2006, and on January 10, 2007. The second film was also the first Disney theatrical feature film with the computer-generated Walt Disney Pictures logo. Rossio and Elliot discovered the novel On Stranger Tides during production of Dead Man's Chest and At World's End and decided to use it as the basis for a fourth film. As Gore Verbinski was unavailable, Bruckheimer invited Rob Marshall to direct the film. Elliott and Rossio decided to do a stand-alone film, with a story that would support new characters, and incorporate elements from the novel, such as Blackbeard, the Fountain of Youth and mermaids—the latter two having been already alluded to in the previous films. Depp, Rush, Greg Ellis and Kevin McNally returned to their roles, and the cast saw the additions of Ian McShane as Blackbeard and Penélope Cruz as Angelica, Blackbeard's daughter and Jack Sparrow's love interest. A further addition was Richard Griffiths as King George II of Great Britain. After the costly production of two simultaneous films, Disney tried to scale down the fourth installment, giving a lower budget, which led to cheaper locations and fewer scenes with special effects. However, with a budget of $378.5 million, On Stranger Tides holds the record for most expensive film ever made. Filming for began June 14, 2010 and ended on November 19, 2010. It was also filmed in 3D, with cameras similar to the ones used in Avatar. It was released in the United States on May 20, 2011. On January 14, 2011, it was confirmed that Terry Rossio would write the screenplay for the fifth installment, without his co-writer Ted Elliott. On January 11, 2013, Jeff Nathanson signed on to write the script for the film. On May 29, 2013, it was announced that Norwegian directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg were selected to direct. On August 22, 2013, the two revealed that the title of the fifth film would be , alluding to the line well known from the Pirates of the Caribbean theme park attractions. The film was given an alternative title, Salazar's Revenge, in selected European, South American, and Asian countries for marketing purposes. They also confirmed that they were working on the film, speaking highly of Jeff Nathanson's "funny and touching" script and that they are inspired by the first film, . On September 10, 2013, Disney pushed back the film's initial 2015 release, with sources indicating that a Summer 2016 release was likely. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that script issues were behind the delay, and that Jeff Nathanson was at work on a second attempt based on a well-received outline. A spokesman for the Australian Arts Minister confirmed that the fifth installment was set to shoot in Australia after the government agreed to repurpose $20 million of tax incentives originally intended for the remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Disney and Ian Walker the Queensland Arts Minister, confirmed on October 2, 2014, that filming was expected to start in February 2015, stating that filming will take place exclusively in Australia, being the largest production to ever shoot in the country. Village Roadshow Studios and Port Douglas were officially confirmed as filming locations. Production began in Australia on February 17, 2015 and wrapped on July 9, 2015. While Disney originally announced a release on July 7, 2017, Dead Men Tell No Tales was released on May 26, 2017. The Pirates of the Caribbean film series was successful at the box office, with each film grossing over $650 million, and all but Dead Men Tell No Tales at some point ranking among the fifty highest-grossing films of all time. It also became the first ever series to have multiple films passing the billion dollar mark in box office revenues with Dead Man's Chest and On Stranger Tides, since followed by other film franchises. The Curse of the Black Pearl was the third-highest-grossing 2003 film in North America (behind and Finding Nemo) and fourth worldwide (behind The Return of the King, Finding Nemo and The Matrix Reloaded). Dead Man's Chest was the most successful film of 2006 worldwide, and At World's End led the worldwide grosses in 2007, though being only fourth in North America (behind Spider-Man 3, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Shrek the Third). On Stranger Tides was the third-highest- grossing film of 2011 worldwide (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 and ) and the fifth in North America. The first three sequels broke box office records upon release, of which the most notable are the opening-weekend record in North America (Dead Man's Chest), the Memorial-Day weekend record in North America (At World's End) and the opening-weekend record outside North America (On Stranger Tides). The series is noted for its high quality of acting talent, and is one of the aspects of the films that is always praised. The visual and practical effects are considered some of the best ever done on film, so much so that audiences believed certain CGI elements of the films were real and done practically. However, the plots of the four sequels have received mixed reviews, with the general consensus that they are too bloated and convoluted to follow. Pirates of the Caribbean is noted for reinvigorating the pirate genre of film after decades of either no pirate films or failed pirate films. The success of the series saw Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer try to replicate the franchise's success by launching films such as and The Lone Ranger, the latter of which directed by Gore Verbinski. Both movies failed critically and commercially. Together, the first three films were nominated for a total of 11 Academy Awards, of which a single award was won. Together, all the four films were nominated for a total of 2 Golden Globe Awards, of which neither were won. Together, all the first three films were nominated for a total of 13 MTV Movie Awards, of which 4 were won. Together, the first four films were nominated for a total of 32 Teen Choice Awards, of which 17 were won. List of Pirates of the Caribbean cast members

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Enodia portlandia, the southern pearly eye, Portland pearlyeye or just pearly eye, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the United States from eastern Oklahoma and eastern Texas east through the southeast. The wingspan is 56–70 mm. The upperside is brown with dark eyespots at the margins. The underside is light brown. Adults feed on sap, rotting fruit, carrion and dung. The larvae feed on the leaves of Arundinaria tecta. The species overwinters in the larval stage. Enodia portlandia portlandia, Enodia portlandia floralae, Enodia portlandia missarkae Carrie Rachel Brownstein (born September 27, 1974) is an American musician, actress, writer, director, and comedian. She first came to prominence as a member of the band Excuse 17 before forming the rock trio Sleater-Kinney. During a long hiatus from Sleater-Kinney, she formed the group Wild Flag. During this period, Brownstein wrote and appeared in a series of comedy sketches alongside Fred Armisen which were developed into the satirical comedy TV series Portlandia. The series went on to win Emmy and Peabody Awards. Sleater-Kinney eventually reunited; as of 2015 Brownstein was touring with the band as well as in support of her new memoir. Brownstein was born in Seattle, Washington, and was raised in Redmond, Washington. Her mother was a housewife and a teacher, and her father was a corporate lawyer. They divorced when Carrie was 14, and she was raised by her father. Brownstein has a younger sister. Her family is Jewish. She attended Lake Washington High School before transferring to The Overlake School for her senior year. Brownstein began playing guitar at 15 and received lessons from Jeremy Enigk. She later said: "He lived in the neighborhood next to mine, so I would just walk my guitar over to his house. He showed me a couple of open chords and I just took it from there. I'd gone through so many phases as a kid with my interests that my parents put their foot down with guitar. So [the instrument] ended up being the [first] thing that I had to save up my own money for and maybe that was the whole reason that I actually stuck with it." After high school, Brownstein attended Western Washington University before transferring to The Evergreen State College. In 1997, Brownstein graduated from Evergreen with an emphasis on sociolinguistics, and stayed in Olympia, Washington for three years before moving to Portland, Oregon. While attending Evergreen, Brownstein met fellow students Corin Tucker, Kathleen Hanna, Tobi Vail, and Becca Albee. With Albee and CJ Phillips, she formed the band Excuse 17, one of the pioneering bands of the riot grrrl movement in the Olympia music scene that played an important role in third- wave feminism. Excuse 17 often toured with Tucker's band Heavens to Betsy. The two bands contributed to the Free to Fight compilation. With Tucker, she formed the band Sleater-Kinney as a side project and later released the split single Free to Fight with Cypher in the Snow. After both Excuse 17 and Heavens to Betsy split up, Sleater-Kinney became Brownstein and Tucker's main focus. They recorded their first self-titled album in early 1994 during a trip to Australia, where the couple were celebrating Tucker's graduation from Evergreen (Brownstein still had three years of college left). It was released the following spring. They recorded and toured with different drummers, until Janet Weiss joined the band in 1996. Following their eponymous debut, they released six more studio albums before going on indefinite hiatus in 2006. In a 2012 interview with DIY magazine, Brownstein said that Sleater-Kinney still planned to play in the future. On October 20, 2014, Brownstein announced on Twitter that Sleater-Kinney would be releasing a new album, No Cities to Love, on January 20, 2015, and would tour in early 2015. At the same time the announcement was made, they released the video for the first single from the album. The single, "Bury Our Friends", was also made available as a free MP3 download. Critics Greil Marcus and Robert Christgau deemed the band one of the essential rock groups of the early 2000s; In 2015, Stereogum Chief Editor Tom Breihan called them the greatest rock band of the past two decades. Brownstein and former Helium guitarist/singer Mary Timony, recording as The Spells, released The Age of Backwards E.P. in 1999. In summer 2009, Brownstein and Weiss worked together on songs (produced by Tucker Martine) for the soundtrack of the documentary film !Women Art Revolution by Lynn Hershman Leeson. In September 2010, Brownstein revealed her latest project was the band Wild Flag, with Janet Weiss, Mary Timony, and Rebecca Cole, formerly of The Minders; according to Brownstein, about a year earlier "I started to need music again, and so I called on my friends and we joined as a band. Chemistry cannot be manufactured or forced, so Wild Flag was not a sure thing, it was a 'maybe, a 'possibility.' But after a handful of practice sessions, spread out over a period of months, I think we all realized that we could be greater than the sum of our parts." They released a self-titled album in September 2011. In 2011, they toured for a second time, and played at CMJ Music Marathon. In 2006, Brownstein was the only woman to earn a spot in the Rolling Stone readers' list of the 25 "Most Underrated Guitarists of All-Time." Brownstein began a career as a writer before Sleater-Kinney broke up. She interviewed Eddie Vedder, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Karen O, and Cheryl Hines for The Believer magazine. Brownstein has also written a couple of music-related video game reviews for Slate. From November 2007 to May 2010, Brownstein wrote a blog for NPR Music called "Monitor Mix"; she returned for a final blog post in October, thanking her blog readers and declaring the blog "officially conclud[ed]." In March 2009, Brownstein was contracted to write a book to "describe the dramatically changing dynamic between music fan and performer, from the birth of the iPod and the death of the record store to the emergence of the 'you be the star' culture of American Idol and the ensuing dilution of rock mystique"; The book, called The Sound of Where You Are, is to be published by Ecco/HarperCollins. In an April 2012 interview on Marc Maron's WTF podcast, Brownstein said she was no longer working on the book. Brownstein's memoir, Hunger Makes Me A Modern Girl, was released on October 27, 2015. The book was published by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Books USA. Brownstein has acted (what she calls a "mere hobby") in the short film Fan Mail, the experimental feature Group, and the Miranda July film Getting Stronger Every Day. Brownstein and Fred Armisen published several video skits as part of a comedy duo called "ThunderAnt". She also starred opposite James Mercer of The Shins in the 2010 independent film Some Days Are Better Than Others. The film had its world premiere at SXSW on March 13, 2010. After their ThunderAnt videos, Brownstein and Armisen developed Portlandia, a sketch comedy show shot on location in Portland, for the Independent Film Channel. The two star in the series and write for it with Allison Silverman from The Colbert Report and Jonathan Krisel, a writer for Saturday Night Live. The show, which features appearances of some of the characters from ThunderAnt, premiered in January 2011. The series has received positive feedback, and has been renewed up to its eighth season. As of September 2014, Brownstein portrays the role of Syd in the Amazon Studios original series Transparent. In 2015, Brownstein portrayed Genevieve Cantrell in the Todd Haynes film Carol, based on Patricia Highsmith's novel The Price of Salt. However, the majority of her scenes were cut due to the film's length. The film had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, 2015. It began a limited release on November 20, 2015. Brownstein has also appeared as a guest on Saturday Night Live, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Man Seeking Woman, among other shows. Brownstein was outed as bisexual to her family and the world by Spin when she was 21 years old. The article discussed the fact that she had dated bandmate Corin Tucker in the beginning of Sleater-Kinney (the song "One More Hour" is about their breakup). After the article was out, she said: "I hadn't seen the article, and I got a phone call. My dad called me and was like, 'The Spin article's out. Um, do you want to let me know what's going on?' The ground was pulled out from underneath me... my dad did not know that Corin and I had ever dated, or that I even dated girls." In 2006, The New York Times described Brownstein as "openly gay". In a November 2010 interview for Willamette Week, she laid to rest questions about her sexual orientation, stating that she identifies as bisexual. She says, "It's weird, because no one's actually ever asked me. People just always assume, like, you're this or that. It's like, 'OK. I'm bisexual. Just ask.'" Since working together on ThunderAnt, Brownstein and Fred Armisen developed what Brownstein has called "one of the most intimate, functional, romantic, but nonsexual relationships [they have] ever had." According to Armisen, their relationship is "all of the things that I've ever wanted, you know, aside from like the physical stuff, but the intimacy that I have with her is like no other." Official Sleater-Kinney website, Carrie Brownstein's blog, "Monitor Mix" at NPR (2007-2010), Radio interview on Fresh Air (35 minutes; 2015) The eighth and final season of the sketch comedy series Portlandia premiered on IFC in the United States on January 18 and ended on March 22, 2018 with a total of 10 episodes. The series stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein Kyle MacLachlan as Mr. Mayor / Sean The series was originally renewed through 2017 with season 7 intended to be the last, but Armisen and Brownstein hinted at the possibility of doing season 8. On January 5, 2017, IFC renewed Portlandia for a 10-episode final season, ahead of the season 7 premiere. In addition to introducing new guests stars, Natasha Lyonne, Jeff Goldblum, Kumail Nanjiani and Kyle MacLachlan were announced to return as guests for the final season. Armisen admitted that writing the season was "tricky" due to the change in administrations and said that the rise of Donald Trump "changed the way [Armisen] looks at some of the characters." Production concluded on September 9, 2017. The eighth and final season received generally favorable reviews. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a score of 83%, based on 6 reviews. In his review for The A.V. Club, John Hugar praised the series finale for ending "on a high note, with a delightfully ridiculous episode that features the show’s off-beat humor at its finest." Melanie McFarland, writing for Salon, said that the finale "remains true to the core of the series and its devotion to the timelessness of its weirdness."

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The Hobbit is a 1977 Japanese-American animated musical television special created by Rankin/Bass, a studio known for their holiday specials, and animated by Topcraft, a precursor to Studio Ghibli. The film is an adaptation of the 1937 book of the same name by J. R. R. Tolkien, and was first broadcast on NBC in the United States on Sunday, November 27, 1977. The plot of the animated production is in most respects similar to that of the book; but certain plot points are significantly compressed or removed due to the time limitations of the format. In addition, certain scenes are obviously edited for commercial breaks. In general, alterations are confined to simple omission of detail, and the story follows the source text. The lyrics of the songs are adapted from songs in the book, but are generally longer. Orson Bean – Bilbo Baggins, Richard Boone – Smaug, Hans Conried – Thorin Oakenshield, John Huston – Gandalf / Narrator, Otto Preminger – The Elvenking, Cyril Ritchard – Elrond, Brother Theodore – Gollum, Paul Frees – Bombur, Troll #1, Jack DeLeon – Dwalin, Fíli, Kíli, Óin, Glóin, Ori, Nori, Bifur, Bofur, Troll #2, Don Messick – Balin, Goblin, Lord of the Eagles, Troll #3, John Stephenson – Dori, Bard, Great Goblin, Glenn Yarbrough – The Balladeer, Thurl Ravenscroft – Goblin (singing voice), Background voice Producers/Directors – Arthur Rankin Jr., Jules Bass, Writer – Romeo Muller, Based on "The Hobbit" – J. R. R. Tolkien, Music – Maury Laws, Lyrics – Jules Bass, Production Designer – Arthur Rankin Jr., Animation Coordinator – Toru Hara, Animation Supervisor – Tsuguyuki Kubo, Character Designers – Lester Abrams, Tsuguyuki Kubo, Background Designer – Minoru Nishida, Animation Directors – Katsuhisa Yamada, Koichi Sasaki, Animators – Kazuyuki Kobayashi, Tadakatsu Yoshida, Hidemi Kubo, Yukiyoshi Hane, Hidetoshi Kaneko, Kazuko Ito, Sound Effects – Tom Clack, Sound Recorders – John Curcio, Dave Iveland, Bob Elder, Choral Director – Lois Winter, Associate Producer – Masaki Iizuka The film was produced and directed by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass Productions and was adapted for the screen by Romeo Muller, with Rankin taking on the additional duties of production designer. When interviewed for the film, Rankin declared that he would add nothing to the story that wasn't in the original. The New York Times reported that The Hobbit cost $3 million. The story's hero, Bilbo Baggins, is voiced by Orson Bean, backed up by noted Hollywood director and actor John Huston as the voice of Gandalf. In supporting roles, the comedian and performance artist Brother Theodore was chosen for the voice of Gollum, and Thurl Ravenscroft performed the baritone singing voices of the goblins. The gravelly voice of the dragon Smaug was provided by Richard Boone, with Hans Conried as Thorin Oakenshield, rounding out the cast of primarily American voice actors. The Hobbit was animated by Topcraft, a now-defunct Japanese animation studio whose animation team re-formed as Studio Ghibli under Hayao Miyazaki. Topcraft successfully partnered with Rankin/Bass on several other co-productions, including The Last Unicorn. According to Rankin, the visual style of the film took its basic cue from the early illustrations of Arthur Rackham. While Topcraft produced the animation, the concept artwork was completed in the US under the direction of Arthur Rankin. The Rhode Island-based artist Lester Abrams did the initial designs for most of the characters; Rankin had seen Abrams' illustrations to an excerpt from The Hobbit in Children's Digest. Principal artists included coordinating animator Toru Hara; supervising animator/character designer Tsuguyuki Kubo; character and effects animators Hidetoshi Kaneko and Kazuko Ito; and background designer Minoru Nishida. The same studio and crew members were also used for The Return of the King. Harry N. Abrams published a large coffee-table illustrated edition of the book featuring concept art and stills. Jules Bass primarily adapted Tolkien's original lyrics for the film's musical interludes, drawn primarily from the songs that feature prominently in the book. He also assisted Maury Laws, Rankin/Bass's composer and conductor-in- residence, in the composition of an original theme song, "The Greatest Adventure (The Ballad of the Hobbit)", sung by Glenn Yarbrough as the sole original song written for the film. This folk ballad came to be associated with Yarbrough, who reprised it in the soundtrack to 1980 animated film The Return of the King. The Hobbit first aired as an animated television special in 1977 with the goal of producing an accompanying tie-in storybook and song recordings for children, as in other Rankin/Bass productions. The Hobbit was released on LP with the soundtrack and dialogue from the film was also released in 1977 by Disney through its Buena Vista Records label, and an edited version, along with accompanying "storyteller read-alongs", was later issued for the Mouse Factory's Disneyland Records imprint. A second music album by Glenn Yarbrough of music "inspired" by The Hobbit was also released. In 1978, Romeo Muller won a Peabody Award for his teleplay for The Hobbit. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but lost to Star Wars. A few days before its first airing, John J. O'Connor wrote in The New York Times that "Rankin and Bass Productions have now carefully translated 'The Hobbit' into film. The result is curiously eclectic, but filled with nicely effective moments. […] The drawings frequently suggest strong resemblances to non-Tolkien characters… The goblins could have stepped out of a Maurice Sendak book. But […] the Dragon and Gollum the riddle aficionado bring some clever original touches… Whatever its flaws, this television version of 'The Hobbit' warrants attention." Critics primarily focused on adaptation issues, including the unfamiliar style of artwork used by the Japanese-American co-production team, whereas some Tolkien fans questioned the appropriateness of repackaging the material as a family film for a very young audience. Douglas A. Anderson, a Tolkien scholar, called the adaptation "execrable" in his own introduction to the Annotated Hobbit, although he did not elaborate; and a few critics said it was confusing for those not already familiar with the plot. On the other hand, critic Tom Keogh praised the adaptation as "excellent", saying the work received "big points" for being "faithful to Tolkien's story" and that the "vocal cast can't be improved upon." Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, which compiles reviews from a wide range of critics, gives the film a score of 67% based on reviews from 15 critics. The Hobbit was released by ABC Video Enterprises in the early 1980s on Betamax and VHS by Sony, and CED by RCA. Warner Home Video released the film on VHS in 1991, again in 1996 (as part of the Warner Bros. Classic Tales VHS line), and on DVD in 2001 (through Warner Bros. Family Entertainment). Parade Video released the film on DVD and VHS in 2004. The earlier 1980s and 1990s videocassette releases contain sound effects that were edited out of the 2001 DVD without explanation. The film was also released on DVD by Warner Bros. as part of the DVD trilogy boxed set, which includes Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings and the Rankin Bass production of The Return of the King. A remastered deluxe edition DVD was released on July 22, 2014. Sound effects missing in previous DVD releases are absent from this release as well. Before The Hobbit ever aired on NBC, Rankin/Bass and its partner animation houses were preparing a sequel. Meanwhile, United Artists released J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 1978, an animated adaptation directed by Ralph Bakshi, originally intended as the first part in a two-part film. United Artists's sequel having been cancelled after a disagreement with Bakshi, Rankin/Bass proceeded to produce a television installment of The Lord of the Rings, bringing back most of the animation team and voice cast. Taking elements from the last volume of The Lord of the Rings which had not been used by Bakshi, they developed the musical The Return of the King. They were unable to provide continuity for the missing segments, developing instead a framing device in which both films begin and end with Bilbo's stay at Rivendell, connecting the later film directly to the better-received Hobbit. The Hobbit film series (live action), The Last Unicorn (film), List of animated feature films, The Lord of the Rings (1978 film), directed by Ralph Bakshi, Rankin/Bass Productions, The Return of the King (1980 film), also by Rankin/Bass from the CED edition. Also features links to galleries of screen captures from other Tolkien animated films. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is a 2013 epic high fantasy adventure film directed by Peter Jackson and produced by WingNut Films in collaboration with New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and is the second installment in the three-part film series based on the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The film was preceded by (2012) and followed by (2014); together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The film follows the titular character Bilbo Baggins as he accompanies Thorin Oakenshield and his fellow dwarves on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug. The film also features the vengeful pursuit of Azog the Defiler and Bolg, while Gandalf the Grey investigates a growing evil in the ruins of Dol Guldur. The ensemble cast includes Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, and Orlando Bloom. Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro wrote the screenplay. The films were shot simultaneously in 3D at a projection rate of 48 frames per second, with principal photography taking place around New Zealand and at Pinewood Studios. Additional filming took place throughout May 2013. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug premiered on 2 December 2013 in Los Angeles and was released internationally on 11 December 2013 in both conventional and IMAX theatres. The film received generally positive reviews and grossed over $958 million at the worldwide box office, surpassing both and , and making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2013. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film received nominations for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound Mixing. Thorin and his company are being pursued by Azog and his Orc party following the events of . They are ushered along by Gandalf to the nearby home of Beorn, a skin-changer who can take the form of the bear. That night, Azog is summoned to Dol Guldur by the Necromancer, who commands him to marshal his forces for war, so Azog delegates the hunt for Thorin to his spawn Bolg. The following day, Beorn escorts the company to the borders of Mirkwood, where Gandalf discovers Black Speech imprinted on an old ruin. Heeding a promise he made to Galadriel, he warns the company to remain on the path and leaves to investigate the tombs of the Nazgûl. Upon entering the forest, the dwarves lose their way and are ensnared by giant spiders. Bilbo sets about freeing them with the help of his recently acquired invisibility ring. He subsequently drops the ring and first begins to understand its dark influence after he brutally kills a creature to retrieve it. The remaining spiders are fended off by the Wood-elves led by Tauriel and Legolas. They also capture the Dwarves and bring Thorin before their king Thranduil. Thranduil offers helps towards Thorin in exchange for starlight crystals in Erebor but Thorin confronts Thranduil about his neglect of the Dwarves of Erebor following Smaug's attack 60 years earlier, and is consequently imprisoned with the other Dwarves. Bilbo, having avoided capture, arranges an escape using empty wine barrels that are sent downstream. While being pursued by the Wood-elves, they are ambushed by Bolg and his Orc party, and Kíli is wounded with a Morgul shaft. They engage in a running three-way battle down the river, but ultimately the Dwarves are able to escape both groups of pursuers. Thranduil then seals off his kingdom when an Orc captive reveals an evil entity has returned and is amassing an army in the south, but Tauriel decides to leave and assist the Dwarves, and Legolas goes after her. Meanwhile, Gandalf and Radagast go to investigate the tombs of the Nazgûl, which they find to be empty. The company are smuggled into Esgaroth by a bargeman called Bard, but are discovered raiding the town armory for new weapons. Thorin promises the Master, his councilor Alfrid, and the people of Laketown a share of the mountain's treasure, and it is revealed that Bard is a descendant of the last ruler of Dale, and possesses the last black arrow capable of killing Smaug. Kíli is forced to remain behind, tended to by Fíli, Óin, and Bofur, as the remaining company receive a grand farewell. Meanwhile, Gandalf travels south to the ruins of Dol Guldur, while Radagast leaves to warn Galadriel of their discovery at the tombs of the Nazgûl. Gandalf met Thrain, Thrain remembers he was captured and tortured by Azog. Gandalf finds the ruins infested with Orcs and is ambushed by Azog. Gandalf and Thrain make an escape attempt, but the Necromancer kills Thrain and overpowers Gandalf before revealing himself as Sauron. Thorin and his remaining company reach the Lonely Mountain, where Bilbo discovers the hidden entrance. He is sent in to retrieve the Arkenstone, and while doing so, he accidentally awakens Smaug. While trying to find Bilbo, Smaug reveals his knowledge of Sauron's return. Back in Laketown, Bard attempts to bring the black arrow to the town's launcher, as he fears what may happen when the Dwarves enter the mountain. However, he is arrested by the Master and Alfrid in the process and leaves his son to hide the arrow. Bolg and his Orc party infiltrate the town and attack the four Dwarves, but are quickly dispatched by Tauriel and Legolas. Tauriel then tends to Kíli, while Legolas beats Bolg and leaves to pursue him. Meanwhile, Gandalf watches helplessly as Azog and an Orc army march from Dol Guldur towards the Lonely Mountain. Back inside the mountain, during a long chase, Bilbo and the Dwarves rekindle the mountain's forge using Smaug's flames to create and melt a large golden statue of Thrór, hoping to bury Smaug alive in the molten gold. They do so, but Smaug emerges from the gold, storms out of the mountain and flies off to destroy Laketown, while Bilbo watches in horror. Some characters in the film are not in the novel, but created for the film. Legolas appears in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, but not in the novel The Hobbit. Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins: a hobbit hired by the 13 dwarves, on the advice of wizard Gandalf, to accompany them on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from Smaug., Ian McKellen as Gandalf: an Istari wizard who recruits Bilbo and helps to arrange the quest to reclaim the dwarves' lost treasure in Erebor., Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield: the leader of the Company of dwarves and the true heir to Erebor's throne who has returned to reclaim Erebor from Smaug., Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug (vocal performance and motion capture): an enormous, powerful and psychopathic great dragon of Middle-earth who claimed the Lonely Mountain, its vast treasures and the surrounding human areas. Cumberbatch also plays the Necromancer, a mysterious sorcerer residing in Dol Guldur with the ability to summon the spirits of the dead, who is later revealed to be the Dark Lord Sauron., Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel: the elven Chief of the Mirkwood Guards serving under Thranduil, who develops romantic feelings towards Kíli and falls in love with him., Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman: a skilled archer living in Esgaroth and the heir of Girion, the last king of old Dale. Evans also plays Bard's ancestor, Girion, in a flashback., Lee Pace as Thranduil: the aloof and cold-hearted Elven king of the northern part of Mirkwood (the Woodland Realm)., Stephen Fry as The Master of Lake-town: the pompous and greedy mayor of the settlement of Men at Lake-town near the Lonely Mountain., Orlando Bloom as Legolas Greenleaf: an elf from Mirkwood and the prince of the Woodland Realm - he is Thranduil's son., Graham McTavish as Dwalin: Balin's brother., Ken Stott as Balin: Dwalin's brother., Aidan Turner as Kíli: one of Thorin's nephews and Fíli's younger brother. He develops romantic feelings towards the Elf Tauriel and falls in love with her., Dean O'Gorman as Fíli: another of Thorin's nephews and Kíli's older brother., Mark Hadlow as Dori: Nori and Ori's brother., Jed Brophy as Nori: Dori and Ori's brother., Adam Brown as Ori: Dori and Nori's brother., John Callen as Óin: Glóin's brother., Peter Hambleton as Glóin: Óin's brother and father of Gimli, the noble Dwarf who accompanies Frodo on his quest to destroy the One Ring., William Kircher as Bifur: Bofur and Bombur's cousin., James Nesbitt as Bofur: Bombur's brother and Bifur's cousin., Stephen Hunter as Bombur: Bofur's brother and Bifur's cousin., Cate Blanchett as Galadriel: an Elven co-ruler of Lothlórien along with her husband, Lord Celeborn., Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn: A skin-changer who can assume the appearance of a great black bear., Sylvester McCoy as Radagast: an Istari wizard whose wisdom is based on nature and wildlife., Manu Bennett as Azog: An Orc and the nemesis of Thorin Oakenshield, on whom he seeks revenge for losing his forearm and hand in battle., Lawrence Makoare as Bolg: Son of Azog the Defiler., Craig Hall as Galion: Thranduil's butler, whose fondness for drink allows for Bilbo and the dwarves' escape attempt., Ryan Gage as Alfrid: The Master of Laketown's conniving and arrogant servant., John Bell as Bain: Bard's son, who is described as "confident and brave and ready to do battle if required even though he is still a boy.", Mark Mitchinson as Braga: captain of the Lake-town Guard., Ben Mitchell as Narzug: An Orc who gets interrogated by Thranduil after the ambush at the River Gate., Stephen Ure as Fimbul, Azog's second-in-command, Robin Kerr as Elros: an Elf of the Woodland Realm who is a captain of the Woodland Guard and Keeper of the Keys - initially charged with watching the dwarves, he is later charged with watching the Front Gate of Thranduil's Halls., Simon London as Feren: an Elf of the Woodland Realm., Dallas Barnett as Bill Ferny Snr: An assassin sent by Azog to kill Thorin Oakenshield in Bree and retrieve the Key to Erebor. The following appear only in the Extended Edition: Antony Sher as Thrain: Thorin's father who is held captive in Sauron's stronghold of Dol Guldur. Additionally, Peter Jackson makes a cameo appearance in the film, reprising his role as the man eating a carrot in Bree, his daughter Katie portrays Barliman Butterbur's wife Betsy, Philippa Boyens's daughter Phoebe and scale double Kiran Shah appear as a waitress and a Hobbit in the Prancing Pony, James Nesbitt's daughters Peggy and Mary portray Tilda and Sigrid, the daughters of Bard, Stephen Colbert and his family along with WingNut Films' assistant Norman Kali and producer Zane Weiner appear as Lake-town spies, and editor Jabez Olssen appears as a fishmonger. Brian Sergent (who portrayed the Hobbit Ted Sandyman in the extended edition of ) and Peter Vere-Jones provide the voices of the spiders in Mirkwood. In a skit for The Late Show in 2019, Colbert reprised his character, dubbing him "Darrylgorn" alongside Peter Jackson. Most of the filming was finished during 2012, ending in July 2012. During May 2013, additional shooting for the film and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies began in New Zealand, lasting 10 weeks. Unmanned aerial vehicles or drones were used for some shots in the film. The musical score for The Desolation of Smaug was composed by Howard Shore. Shore provided orchestral sketches and synth mock-ups to orchestrators James Sizemore and Conrad Pope (who also conducted the orchestra). It was performed by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, London Voices and Tiffin' Boys Choir, as well as two New Zealand Gamelan orchestras. The score featured themes from the previous film and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but relied heavily on the themes of Smaug, Laketown, the Woodland Realm (including themes for Tauriel and for Legolas), etc. In the process, the themes for the company of the Dwarves were discontinued and were replaced by a new thematic identity. The original motion picture soundtrack album was released on 10 December 2013. It received positive reviews, especially for its new themes. English singer- songwriter Ed Sheeran wrote and recorded "I See Fire", which plays during the end credits. The song was released on iTunes on 5 November 2013. Peter Jackson provided the first details about the second film in the series at a live event held on 24 March 2013. The access code was attached to the DVD editions of . The live-broadcast event revealed some plot details; Jackson said that the role of Tauriel, acted by Evangeline Lilly, is a part of the elven guard and a bodyguard of the Elvenking, Thranduil. In addition, he revealed a scene from the film in which Gandalf and Radagast the Brown search for the Necromancer fortress and discover that the Ringwraiths have been released from their graves. The first trailer for the film was released on 11 June 2013. On 4 November 2013, an extra long 3 minute trailer/sneak peek was released and revealed new footage and major plot points. On 4 November 2013, a special Desolation of Smaug live online fan event, hosted by Anderson Cooper in New York, was held across eleven different cities with participants including Peter Jackson, Jed Brophy, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Luke Evans, Andy Serkis and Richard Armitage. Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Luke Evans, Evangeline Lilly, Peter Jackson and, to a lesser extent, Orlando Bloom and Ian McKellen, took part in the press tour, appearing on talk shows and giving interviews before the film's release. A video game titled Lego The Hobbit (video game) and based on the first two films came out coincidentally with the second film's home media release on April 14th 2014. The film premiered in Los Angeles at the Dolby Theatre on 2 December 2013, and was released internationally on 11 December 2013 and in the United Kingdom and United States on 13 December 2013. An extended edition of the film had a limited re-release on 7 October 2015, accompanied by a special greeting from Peter Jackson. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on 7 April 2014 in the United Kingdom and on 8 April 2014 in the United States. Three different versions were released: a Limited Collector's Edition Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD, and digital download combo pack; a Blu-ray 3D combo pack; a Blu-ray combo pack, and a two-disc DVD special edition. Extras include three making-of featurettes, 4 production web videos, and a music video for "I See Fire" by Ed Sheeran. An extended edition of The Desolation of Smaug was released digitally on 21 October 2014, and was released on DVD, Blu-ray and 3D Blu-ray 3 November 2014 in the United Kingdom, and 4 November 2014 in the United States, with 25 minutes of new material and original music. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug grossed $258 million in North America and $700 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $958 million. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline Hollywood estimated that the film made a profit of $134.1 million when factoring together all expenses and revenues, making it the fourth most profitable release of 2013. It was the fourth highest-grossing 2013 film. It grossed $209 million worldwide on its opening weekend. In North America, The Desolation of Smaug earned $8.8 million during its midnight opening, making it the second-highest December showing ever, behind only the first installment. The film topped the box office on its opening day with $31.2 million. It remained in first place throughout its opening weekend, grossing $73,645,197, a 13% drop from its . The Desolation of Smaug was in first place at the box office for three consecutive weekends. Outside North America, The Desolation of Smaug was released internationally on 16,405 screens. The film earned $135.4 million in its opening weekend. Its largest openings occurred in China ($33.0 million), Germany ($19.0 million) and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Malta ($15.2 million). It topped the box office outside North America on four consecutive weekends and five in total. It is the highest-grossing film of 2013 in many European countries, as well as in New Zealand and Fiji. The film's largest markets outside North America are Germany ($88 million), China ($74.7 million), United kingdom ($70 million), Russia-CIS ($45 million), France ($44.7 million) and Australia ($34.5 million). After the Los Angeles premiere, Metro noted that early critical reaction was "glowing", with critics describing it as a "spectacle", while The Guardian reported that it was receiving "much stronger early reviews". However, before the film's theatrical release, E! reported that reviews had been "mixed", but stated they were still "much better" than the previous film. After the film's international release, MTV reported that the film has garnered a "positive" critical reaction, while the Los Angeles Times stated the consensus is that the film "reinvigorates" the series, putting it "back on course". The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 74% approval rating with an average rating of 6.81/10 based on 239 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "While still slightly hamstrung by 'middle chapter' narrative problems and its formidable length, The Desolation of Smaug represents a more confident, exciting second chapter for the Hobbit series." On aggregate review site Metacritic, the film has a score of 66 out of 100 based on 44 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. According to CinemaScore polls the film received an "A-" from audiences. Nick de Semlyen of Empire awarded the film five stars out of five and wrote that "Middle-earth's got its mojo back. A huge improvement on the previous installment, this takes our adventurers into uncharted territory and delivers spectacle by the ton", while Richard Corliss of TIME declared it one of the top ten films of 2013, and wrote "In all, this is a splendid achievement, close to the grandeur of Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films." Justin Chang of Variety wrote that "After a bumpy beginning with An Unexpected Journey, Peter Jackson's 'Hobbit' trilogy finds its footing in this much more exciting and purposeful second chapter." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "Nearly everything... represents an improvement over the first installment of Peter Jackson's three-part adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved creation." He also praised the high frame rate of The Desolation of Smaug as being better than that of An Unexpected Journey. Mark Hughes, who reviewed the film for Forbes, was highly enthusiastic, and felt "The Desolation of Smaug is another grand entry in the Tolkien saga, raising the emotional and physical stakes while revealing more of the sinister forces," before concluding "It’s pleasing to see a filmmaker this in love with storytelling, this committed to creating entire worlds... that’s a rare thing indeed, and for it to turn out so well is even more rare. It’s a sight to behold, and you won’t be sorry you did." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian scored the film four stars out of five, writing, "It's mysterious and strange, and yet Jackson also effortlessly conjures up that genial quality that distinguishes 'The Hobbit' from the more solemn 'Rings' stories." Total Film also scored the film four stars out of five, but reviewer Matt Maytum noted that, in his opinion, the film suffered "from middle-act wobbles." Despite this, he praised the "rousing action... incredible visuals... and one stupendous dragon", and concluded his review saying "There’s a lot to admire in The Desolation of Smaug." Jim Vejvoda, who reviewed the film for IGN, awarded it 8.5 out of 10, and felt "It's a breathlessly told, action-packed crowd-pleaser that restores the luster of the saga for those underwhelmed by its predecessor and leaves you excited for the final chapter in the trilogy." Conversely, Peter Travers, who reviewed the film for Rolling Stone, gave it two and a half stars out of four. He felt it was "a little less long and a little less boring" than the first installment, and offered praise for the depiction of Smaug, saying "as a digital creation, Smaug is a bloody wonder of slithering fright." He was, however, very critical of the film's padding of a "slender novel", but concluded: "I'd endure another slog through Middle-Earth just to spend more time with Smaug". Robbie Collin of The Daily Telegraph was even less admiring, and awarded it two stars out of five. He too criticised the decision to turn Tolkien's book into three films and felt Jackson "is mostly stalling for time: two or three truly great sequences tangled up in long beards and longer pit-stops." He continued, writing "There is an awful lot of Desolation to wade through before we arrive, weary and panting, on Smaug's rocky porch," and disapproved of the introduction of a love triangle to Tolkien's narrative, adding: "Maybe this really is what a lot of people want to see from a film version of The Hobbit, but let's at least accept that Tolkien would probably not have been among them." The New York Post's Lou Lumenick was extremely negative in his 1.5/4 star review and he compared it to , remarking "There are probably enough moments to satisfy hard-core fans, but for the rest of us, this amounts to the Middle Earth equivalent of “,’’ a space-holding, empty-headed epic filled with characters and places (digital and otherwise) that are hard to keep straight, much less care about." De-aging in film The Hobbit Blog Official blog of The Hobbit movies, The Tolkien Nerd’s Guide to "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" Smithsonian The Hobbit, or There and Back Again is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction. The book remains popular and is recognized as a classic in children's literature. The Hobbit is set within Tolkien's fictional universe and follows the quest of home-loving Bilbo Baggins, the titular hobbit, to win a share of the treasure guarded by Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's journey takes him from light-hearted, rural surroundings into more sinister territory. The story is told in the form of an episodic quest, and most chapters introduce a specific creature or type of creature of Tolkien's geography. Bilbo gains a new level of maturity, competence, and wisdom by accepting the disreputable, romantic, fey, and adventurous sides of his nature and applying his wits and common sense. The story reaches its climax in the Battle of Five Armies, where many of the characters and creatures from earlier chapters re-emerge to engage in conflict. Personal growth and forms of heroism are central themes of the story, along with motifs of warfare. These themes have led critics to view Tolkien's own experiences during World War I as instrumental in shaping the story. The author's scholarly knowledge of Germanic philology and interest in mythology and fairy tales are often noted as influences. The publisher was encouraged by the book's critical and financial success and, therefore, requested a sequel. As Tolkien's work progressed on the successor The Lord of the Rings, he made retrospective accommodations for it in The Hobbit. These few but significant changes were integrated into the second edition. Further editions followed with minor emendations, including those reflecting Tolkien's changing concept of the world into which Bilbo stumbled. The work has never been out of print. Its ongoing legacy encompasses many adaptations for stage, screen, radio, board games, and video games. Several of these adaptations have received critical recognition on their own merits. Bilbo Baggins, the titular protagonist, is a respectable, reserved hobbit. During his adventure, Bilbo often refers to the contents of his larder at home and wishes he had more food. Until he finds a magic ring, he is more baggage than help. Gandalf, an itinerant wizard, introduces Bilbo to a company of thirteen dwarves. During the journey the wizard disappears on side errands dimly hinted at, only to appear again at key moments in the story. Thorin Oakenshield, the proud, pompous head of the company of dwarves and heir to the destroyed dwarvish kingdom under the Lonely Mountain, makes many mistakes in his leadership, relying on Gandalf and Bilbo to get him out of trouble, but proves himself a mighty warrior. Smaug is a dragon who long ago pillaged the dwarvish kingdom of Thorin's grandfather and sleeps upon the vast treasure. The plot involves a host of other characters of varying importance, such as the twelve other dwarves of the company; two types of elves: both puckish and more serious warrior types; Men; man-eating trolls; boulder-throwing giants; evil cave-dwelling goblins; forest-dwelling giant spiders who can speak; immense and heroic eagles who also speak; evil wolves, or Wargs, who are allied with the goblins; Elrond the sage; Gollum, a strange creature inhabiting an underground lake; Beorn, a man who can assume bear form; and Bard the Bowman, a grim but honourable archer of Lake-town. Gandalf tricks Bilbo Baggins into hosting a party for Thorin Oakenshield and his band of dwarves, who sing of reclaiming the Lonely Mountain and its vast treasure from the dragon Smaug. When the music ends, Gandalf unveils Thrór's map showing a secret door into the Mountain and proposes that the dumbfounded Bilbo serve as the expedition's "burglar". The dwarves ridicule the idea, but Bilbo, indignant, joins despite himself. The group travels into the wild, where Gandalf saves the company from trolls and leads them to Rivendell, where Elrond reveals more secrets from the map. When they attempt to cross the Misty Mountains they are caught by goblins and driven deep underground. Although Gandalf rescues them, Bilbo gets separated from the others as they flee the goblins. Lost in the goblin tunnels, he stumbles across a mysterious ring and then encounters Gollum, who engages him in a game of riddles. As a reward for solving all riddles Gollum will show him the path out of the tunnels, but if Bilbo fails, his life will be forfeit. With the help of the ring, which confers invisibility, Bilbo escapes and rejoins the dwarves, improving his reputation with them. The goblins and Wargs give chase, but the company are saved by eagles before resting in the house of Beorn. The company enters the black forest of Mirkwood without Gandalf. In Mirkwood, Bilbo first saves the dwarves from giant spiders and then from the dungeons of the Wood-elves. Nearing the Lonely Mountain, the travellers are welcomed by the human inhabitants of Lake-town, who hope the dwarves will fulfil prophecies of Smaug's demise. The expedition travels to the Lonely Mountain and finds the secret door; Bilbo scouts the dragon's lair, stealing a great cup and espying a gap in Smaug's armour. The enraged dragon, deducing that Lake-town has aided the intruder, sets out to destroy the town. A thrush had overheard Bilbo's report of Smaug's vulnerability and reports it to Lake-town defender Bard. Bard's arrow finds the hollow spot and slays the dragon. When the dwarves take possession of the mountain, Bilbo finds the Arkenstone, an heirloom of Thorin's family, and hides it away. The Wood-elves and Lake-men besiege the mountain and request compensation for their aid, reparations for Lake-town's destruction, and settlement of old claims on the treasure. Thorin refuses and, having summoned his kin from the Iron Hills, reinforces his position. Bilbo tries to ransom the Arkenstone to head off a war, but Thorin is only enraged at the betrayal. He banishes Bilbo, and battle seems inevitable. Gandalf reappears to warn all of an approaching army of goblins and Wargs. The dwarves, men and elves band together, but only with the timely arrival of the eagles and Beorn do they win the climactic Battle of Five Armies. Thorin is fatally wounded and reconciles with Bilbo before he dies. Bilbo accepts only a small portion of his share of the treasure, having no want or need for more, but still returns home a very wealthy hobbit roughly a year and a month after he first left. In the early 1930s Tolkien was pursuing an academic career at Oxford as Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon, with a fellowship at Pembroke College. Several of his poems had been published in magazines and small collections, including Goblin Feet and The Cat and the Fiddle: A Nursery Rhyme Undone and its Scandalous Secret Unlocked, a reworking of the nursery rhyme Hey Diddle Diddle. His creative endeavours at this time also included letters from Father Christmas to his children—illustrated manuscripts that featured warring gnomes and goblins, and a helpful polar bear—alongside the creation of elven languages and an attendant mythology, including the Book of Lost Tales, which he had been creating since 1917. These works all saw posthumous publication. In a 1955 letter to W. H. Auden, Tolkien recollects that he began work on The Hobbit one day early in the 1930s, when he was marking School Certificate papers. He found a blank page. Suddenly inspired, he wrote the words, "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." By late 1932 he had finished the story and then lent the manuscript to several friends, including C. S. Lewis and a student of Tolkien's named Elaine Griffiths. In 1936, when Griffiths was visited in Oxford by Susan Dagnall, a staff member of the publisher George Allen & Unwin, she is reported to have either lent Dagnall the book or suggested she borrow it from Tolkien. In any event, Dagnall was impressed by it, and showed the book to Stanley Unwin, who then asked his 10-year-old son Rayner to review it. Rayner's favourable comments settled Allen & Unwin's decision to publish Tolkien's book. The setting of The Hobbit, as described on its original dust jacket, is "ancient time between the age of Faerie and the dominion of men" in an unnamed fantasy world. The world is shown on the endpaper map as "Western Lands" westward and "Wilderland" as the east. Originally this world was self- contained, but as Tolkien began work on The Lord of the Rings, he decided these stories could fit into the legendarium he had been working on privately for decades. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings became the end of the "Third Age" of Middle Earth within Arda. Eventually those tales of the earlier periods became published as The Silmarillion and other posthumous works. One of the greatest influences on Tolkien was the 19th-century Arts and Crafts polymath William Morris. Tolkien wished to imitate Morris's prose and poetry romances, following the general style and approach of the work. The Desolation of Smaug as portraying dragons as detrimental to landscape, has been noted as an explicit motif borrowed from Morris. Tolkien wrote also of being impressed as a boy by Samuel Rutherford Crockett's historical novel The Black Douglas and of basing the Necromancer—Sauron—on its villain, Gilles de Retz. Incidents in both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are similar in narrative and style to the novel, and its overall style and imagery have been suggested as having had an influence on Tolkien. Tolkien's portrayal of goblins in The Hobbit was particularly influenced by George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin. However, MacDonald influenced Tolkien more profoundly than just to shape individual characters and episodes; his works further helped Tolkien form his whole thinking on the role of fantasy within his Christian faith. Tolkien scholar Mark T. Hooker has catalogued a lengthy series of parallels between The Hobbit and Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth. These include, among other things, a hidden runic message and a celestial alignment that direct the adventurers to the goals of their quests. Tolkien's works show much influence from Norse mythology, reflecting his lifelong passion for those stories and his academic interest in Germanic philology. The Hobbit is no exception to this; the work shows influences from northern European literature, myths and languages, especially from the Poetic Edda and the Prose Edda. Examples include the names of characters, such as Fili, Kili, Oin, Gloin, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Dori, Nori, Dwalin, Balin, Dain, Nain, Thorin Oakenshield and Gandalf (deriving from the Old Norse names Fíli, Kíli, Oin, Glói, Bivör, Bávörr, Bömburr, Dori, Nóri, Dvalinn, Bláin, Dain, Nain, Þorin Eikinskialdi and Gandálfr). But while their names are from Old Norse, the characters of the dwarves are more directly taken from fairy tales such as Snow White and Snow-White and Rose-Red as collected by the Brothers Grimm. The latter tale may also have influenced the character of Beorn. Tolkien's use of descriptive names such as Misty Mountains and Bag End echoes the names used in Old Norse sagas. The names of the dwarf-friendly ravens, such as Roäc, are derived from Old Norse words for "raven" and "rook", but their peaceful characters are unlike the typical carrion birds from Old Norse and Old English literature. Tolkien is not simply skimming historical sources for effect: the juxtaposition of old and new styles of expression is seen by Shippey as one of the major themes explored in The Hobbit. Maps figure in both saga literature and The Hobbit. Several of the author's illustrations incorporate Anglo-Saxon runes, an English adaptation of the Germanic runic alphabets. Themes from Old English literature, and specifically from Beowulf, shape the ancient world Bilbo stepped into. Tolkien, a scholar of Beowulf, counted the epic among his "most valued sources" for The Hobbit. Tolkien was one of the first critics to treat Beowulf as a literary work with value beyond the merely historical, and his 1936 lecture is still required in some Old English courses. Tolkien borrowed several elements from Beowulf, including a monstrous, intelligent dragon. Certain descriptions in The Hobbit seem to have been lifted straight out of Beowulf with some minor rewording, such as when the dragon stretches its neck out to sniff for intruders. Likewise, Tolkien's descriptions of the lair as accessed through a secret passage mirror those in Beowulf. Other specific plot elements and features in The Hobbit that show similarities to Beowulf include the title thief, as Bilbo is called by Gollum and later by Smaug, and Smaug's personality, which leads to the destruction of Lake-town. Tolkien refines parts of Beowulf plot that he appears to have found less than satisfactorily described, such as details about the cup-thief and the dragon's intellect and personality. Another influence from Old English sources is the appearance of named blades of renown, adorned in runes. In using his elf-blade Bilbo finally takes his first independent heroic action. By his naming the blade "Sting" we see Bilbo's acceptance of the kinds of cultural and linguistic practices found in Beowulf, signifying his entrance into the ancient world in which he found himself. This progression culminates in Bilbo stealing a cup from the dragon's hoard, rousing him to wrath—an incident directly mirroring Beowulf and an action entirely determined by traditional narrative patterns. As Tolkien wrote, "The episode of the theft arose naturally (and almost inevitably) from the circumstances. It is difficult to think of any other way of conducting the story at this point. I fancy the author of Beowulf would say much the same." The name of the wizard Radagast is widely recognized to be taken from the name of the Slavic deity Rodegast. The representation of the dwarves in The Hobbit was influenced by his own selective reading of medieval texts regarding the Jewish people and their history. The dwarves' characteristics of being dispossessed of their ancient homeland at the Lonely Mountain, and living among other groups whilst retaining their own culture are all derived from the medieval image of Jews, whilst their warlike nature stems from accounts in the Hebrew Bible. The Dwarvish calendar invented for The Hobbit reflects the Jewish calendar in beginning in late autumn. And although Tolkien denied allegory, the dwarves taking Bilbo out of his complacent existence has been seen as an eloquent metaphor for the "impoverishment of Western society without Jews." George Allen & Unwin Ltd. of London published the first edition of The Hobbit on 21 September 1937 with a print run of 1,500 copies, which sold out by December because of enthusiastic reviews. This first printing was illustrated in black and white by Tolkien, who designed the dust jacket as well. Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York reset type for an American edition, to be released early in 1938, in which four of the illustrations would be colour plates. Allen & Unwin decided to incorporate the colour illustrations into their second printing, released at the end of 1937. Despite the book's popularity, paper rationing due to World War II and not ending until 1949 meant that the Allen & Unwin edition of the book was often unavailable during this period. Subsequent editions in English were published in 1951, 1966, 1978 and 1995. Numerous English-language editions of The Hobbit have been produced by several publishers. In addition, The Hobbit has been translated into over forty languages, with more than one published version for some languages. In December 1937 The Hobbit publisher, Stanley Unwin, asked Tolkien for a sequel. In response Tolkien provided drafts for The Silmarillion, but the editors rejected them, believing that the public wanted "more about hobbits". Tolkien subsequently began work on The New Hobbit, which would eventually become The Lord of the Rings, a course that would not only change the context of the original story, but lead to substantial changes to the character of Gollum. In the first edition of The Hobbit, Gollum willingly bets his magic ring on the outcome of the riddle-game, and he and Bilbo part amicably. In the second edition edits, to reflect the new concept of the One Ring and its corrupting abilities, Tolkien made Gollum more aggressive towards Bilbo and distraught at losing the ring. The encounter ends with Gollum's curse, "Thief! Thief, Thief, Baggins! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!" This presages Gollum's portrayal in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien sent this revised version of the chapter "Riddles in the Dark" to Unwin as an example of the kinds of changes needed to bring the book into conformity with The Lord of the Rings, but he heard nothing back for years. When he was sent galley proofs of a new edition, Tolkien was surprised to find the sample text had been incorporated. In The Lord of the Rings, the original version of the riddle game is explained as a "lie" made up by Bilbo under the harmful influence of the Ring, whereas the revised version contains the "true" account. The revised text became the second edition, published in 1951 in both the UK and the US. Tolkien began a new version in 1960, attempting to adjust the tone of The Hobbit to its sequel. He abandoned the new revision at chapter three after he received criticism that it "just wasn't The Hobbit, implying it had lost much of its light-hearted tone and quick pace. After an unauthorized paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings appeared from Ace Books in 1965, Houghton Mifflin and Ballantine asked Tolkien to refresh the text of The Hobbit to renew the US copyright. This text became the 1966 third edition. Tolkien took the opportunity to align the narrative even more closely to The Lord of the Rings and to cosmological developments from his still unpublished Quenta Silmarillion as it stood at that time. These small edits included, for example, changing the phrase "elves that are now called Gnomes" from the first, and second editions, on page 63, to "High Elves of the West, my kin" in the third edition. Tolkien had used "gnome" in his earlier writing to refer to the second kindred of the High Elves—the Noldor (or "Deep Elves")—thinking "gnome", derived from the Greek gnosis (knowledge), was a good name for the wisest of the elves. However, because of its common denotation of a garden gnome, derived from the 16th-century Paracelsus, Tolkien abandoned the term. He also changed "tomatoes" to "pickles" but retained other anachronisms, such as clocks and tobacco. In The Lord of the Rings, he has Merry explain that tobacco had been brought from the West by the Númenóreans. Since the author's death, two editions of The Hobbit have been published with commentary on the creation, emendation and development of the text. In The Annotated Hobbit, Douglas Anderson provides the text of the published book alongside commentary and illustrations. Later editions added the text of "The Quest of Erebor". Anderson's commentary makes note of the sources Tolkien brought together in preparing the text, and chronicles the changes Tolkien made to the published editions. The text is also accompanied by illustrations from foreign language editions, among them work by Tove Jansson. The edition also presents a number of little-known texts such as the 1923 version of Tolkien's poem "Iumonna Gold Galdre Bewunden". With The History of The Hobbit, published in two parts in 2007, John D. Rateliff provides the full text of the earliest and intermediary drafts of the book, alongside commentary that shows relationships to Tolkien's scholarly and creative works, both contemporary and later. Rateliff provides the abandoned 1960s retelling and previously unpublished illustrations by Tolkien. The book separates commentary from Tolkien's text, allowing the reader to read the original drafts as self- contained stories. Tolkien's correspondence and publisher's records show that he was involved in the design and illustration of the entire book. All elements were the subject of considerable correspondence and fussing over by Tolkien. Rayner Unwin, in his publishing memoir, comments: "In 1937 alone Tolkien wrote 26 letters to George Allen & Unwin... detailed, fluent, often pungent, but infinitely polite and exasperatingly precise... I doubt any author today, however famous, would get such scrupulous attention." Even the maps, of which Tolkien originally proposed five, were considered and debated. He wished Thror's Map to be tipped in (that is, glued in after the book has been bound) at first mention in the text, and with the moon letter Cirth on the reverse so they could be seen when held up to the light. In the end the cost, as well as the shading of the maps, which would be difficult to reproduce, resulted in the final design of two maps as endpapers, Thror's map, and the Map of Wilderland (see Rhovanion), both printed in black and red on the paper's cream background. Originally Allen & Unwin planned to illustrate the book only with the endpaper maps, but Tolkien's first tendered sketches so charmed the publisher's staff that they opted to include them without raising the book's price despite the extra cost. Thus encouraged, Tolkien supplied a second batch of illustrations. The publisher accepted all of these as well, giving the first edition ten black- and-white illustrations plus the two endpaper maps. The illustrated scenes were: The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the-Water, The Trolls, The Mountain Path, The Misty Mountains looking West from the Eyrie towards Goblin Gate, Beorn's Hall, Mirkwood, The Elvenking's Gate, Lake Town, The Front Gate, and The Hall at Bag-End. All but one of the illustrations were a full page, and one, the Mirkwood illustration, required a separate plate. Satisfied with his skills, the publishers asked Tolkien to design a dust jacket. This project, too, became the subject of many iterations and much correspondence, with Tolkien always writing disparagingly of his own ability to draw. The runic inscription around the edges of the illustration are a phonetic transliteration of English, giving the title of the book and details of the author and publisher. The original jacket design contained several shades of various colours, but Tolkien redrew it several times using fewer colours each time. His final design consisted of four colours. The publishers, mindful of the cost, removed the red from the sun to end up with only black, blue, and green ink on white stock. The publisher's production staff designed a binding, but Tolkien objected to several elements. Through several iterations, the final design ended up as mostly the author's. The spine shows runes: two "þ" (Thráin and Thrór) runes and one "d" (door). The front and back covers were mirror images of each other, with an elongated dragon characteristic of Tolkien's style stamped along the lower edge, and with a sketch of the Misty Mountains stamped along the upper edge. Once illustrations were approved for the book, Tolkien proposed colour plates as well. The publisher would not relent on this, so Tolkien pinned his hopes on the American edition to be published about six months later. Houghton Mifflin rewarded these hopes with the replacement of the frontispiece (The Hill: Hobbiton-across-the Water) in colour and the addition of new colour plates: Rivendell, Bilbo Woke Up with the Early Sun in His Eyes, Bilbo comes to the Huts of the Raft-elves and Conversation with Smaug, which features a dwarvish curse written in Tolkien's invented script Tengwar, and signed with two "þ" ("Th") runes. The additional illustrations proved so appealing that George Allen & Unwin adopted the colour plates as well for their second printing, with exception of Bilbo Woke Up with the Early Sun in His Eyes. Different editions have been illustrated in diverse ways. Many follow the original scheme at least loosely, but many others are illustrated by other artists, especially the many translated editions. Some cheaper editions, particularly paperback, are not illustrated except with the maps. "The Children's Book Club" edition of 1942 includes the black-and-white pictures but no maps, an anomaly. Tolkien's use of runes, both as decorative devices and as magical signs within the story, has been cited as a major cause for the popularization of runes within "New Age" and esoteric literature, stemming from Tolkien's popularity with the elements of counter-culture in the 1970s. The Hobbit takes cues from narrative models of children's literature, as shown by its omniscient narrator and characters that young children can relate to, such as the small, food-obsessed, and morally ambiguous Bilbo. The text emphasizes the relationship between time and narrative progress and it openly distinguishes "safe" from "dangerous" in its geography. Both are key elements of works intended for children, as is the "home-away-home" (or there and back again) plot structure typical of the Bildungsroman. While Tolkien later claimed to dislike the aspect of the narrative voice addressing the reader directly, the narrative voice contributes significantly to the success of the novel. Emer O'Sullivan, in her Comparative Children's Literature, notes The Hobbit as one of a handful of children's books that have been accepted into mainstream literature, alongside Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World (1991) and J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series (1997–2007). Tolkien intended The Hobbit as a "fairy-story" and wrote it in a tone suited to addressing children although he said later that the book was not specifically written for children but had rather been created out of his interest in mythology and legend. Many of the initial reviews refer to the work as a fairy story. However, according to Jack Zipes writing in The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales, Bilbo is an atypical character for a fairy tale. The work is much longer than Tolkien's ideal proposed in his essay On Fairy-Stories. Many fairy tale motifs, such as the repetition of similar events seen in the dwarves' arrival at Bilbo's and Beorn's homes, and folklore themes, such as trolls turning to stone, are to be found in the story. The book is popularly called (and often marketed as) a fantasy novel, but like Peter Pan and Wendy by J. M. Barrie and The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald, both of which influenced Tolkien and contain fantasy elements, it is primarily identified as being children's literature. The two genres are not mutually exclusive, so some definitions of high fantasy include works for children by authors such as L. Frank Baum and Lloyd Alexander alongside the works of Gene Wolfe and Jonathan Swift, which are more often considered adult literature. The Hobbit has been called "the most popular of all twentieth-century fantasies written for children". Jane Chance, however, considers the book to be a children's novel only in the sense that it appeals to the child in an adult reader. Sullivan credits the first publication of The Hobbit as an important step in the development of high fantasy, and further credits the 1960s paperback debuts of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as essential to the creation of a mass market for fiction of this kind as well as the fantasy genre's current status. Tolkien's prose is unpretentious and straightforward, taking as given the existence of his imaginary world and describing its details in a matter-of- fact way, while often introducing the new and fantastic in an almost casual manner. This down-to-earth style, also found in later fantasy such as Richard Adams' Watership Down and Peter Beagle's The Last Unicorn, accepts readers into the fictional world, rather than cajoling or attempting to convince them of its reality. While The Hobbit is written in a simple, friendly language, each of its characters has a unique voice. The narrator, who occasionally interrupts the narrative flow with asides (a device common to both children's and Anglo-Saxon literature), has his own linguistic style separate from those of the main characters. The basic form of the story is that of a quest, told in episodes. For the most part of the book, each chapter introduces a different denizen of the Wilderland, some helpful and friendly towards the protagonists, and others threatening or dangerous. However the general tone is kept light-hearted, being interspersed with songs and humour. One example of the use of song to maintain tone is when Thorin and Company are kidnapped by goblins, who, when marching them into the underworld, sing: This onomatopoeic singing undercuts the dangerous scene with a sense of humour. Tolkien achieves balance of humour and danger through other means as well, as seen in the foolishness and Cockney dialect of the trolls and in the drunkenness of the elven captors. The general form—that of a journey into strange lands, told in a light-hearted mood and interspersed with songs—may be following the model of The Icelandic Journals by William Morris, an important literary influence on Tolkien. The evolution and maturation of the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is central to the story. This journey of maturation, where Bilbo gains a clear sense of identity and confidence in the outside world, may be seen as a Bildungsroman rather than a traditional quest. The Jungian concept of individuation is also reflected through this theme of growing maturity and capability, with the author contrasting Bilbo's personal growth against the arrested development of the dwarves. Thus, while Gandalf exerts a parental influence over Bilbo early on, it is Bilbo who gradually takes over leadership of the party, a fact the dwarves could not bear to acknowledge. The analogue of the "underworld" and the hero returning from it with a boon (such as the ring, or Elvish blades) that benefits his society is seen to fit the mythic archetypes regarding initiation and male coming-of-age as described by Joseph Campbell. Chance compares the development and growth of Bilbo against other characters to the concepts of just kingship versus sinful kingship derived from the Ancrene Wisse (which Tolkien had written on in 1929) and a Christian understanding of Beowulf. The overcoming of greed and selfishness has been seen as the central moral of the story. Whilst greed is a recurring theme in the novel, with many of the episodes stemming from one or more of the characters' simple desire for food (be it trolls eating dwarves or dwarves eating Wood-elf fare) or a desire for beautiful objects, such as gold and jewels, it is only by the Arkenstone's influence upon Thorin that greed, and its attendant vices "coveting" and "malignancy", come fully to the fore in the story and provide the moral crux of the tale. Bilbo steals the Arkenstone—a most ancient relic of the dwarves—and attempts to ransom it to Thorin for peace. However, Thorin turns on the Hobbit as a traitor, disregarding all the promises and "at your services" he had previously bestowed. In the end Bilbo gives up the precious stone and most of his share of the treasure to help those in greater need. Tolkien also explores the motif of jewels that inspire intense greed that corrupts those who covet them in the Silmarillion, and there are connections between the words "Arkenstone" and "Silmaril" in Tolkien's invented etymologies. The Hobbit employs themes of animism. An important concept in anthropology and child development, animism is the idea that all things—including inanimate objects and natural events, such as storms or purses, as well as living things like animals and plants—possess human-like intelligence. John D. Rateliff calls this the "Doctor Dolittle Theme" in The History of the Hobbit, and cites the multitude of talking animals as indicative of this theme. These talking creatures include ravens, a thrush, spiders and the dragon Smaug, alongside the anthropomorphic goblins and elves. Patrick Curry notes that animism is also found in Tolkien's other works, and mentions the "roots of mountains" and "feet of trees" in The Hobbit as a linguistic shifting in level from the inanimate to animate. Tolkien saw the idea of animism as closely linked to the emergence of human language and myth: "...The first men to talk of 'trees and stars' saw things very differently. To them, the world was alive with mythological beings... To them the whole of creation was 'myth-woven and elf-patterned'." As in plot and setting, Tolkien brings his literary theories to bear in forming characters and their interactions. He portrays Bilbo as a modern anachronism exploring an essentially antique world. Bilbo is able to negotiate and interact within this antique world because language and tradition make connections between the two worlds. For example, Gollum's riddles are taken from old historical sources, while those of Bilbo come from modern nursery books. It is the form of the riddle game, familiar to both, which allows Gollum and Bilbo to engage each other, rather than the content of the riddles themselves. This idea of a superficial contrast between characters' individual linguistic style, tone and sphere of interest, leading to an understanding of the deeper unity between the ancient and modern, is a recurring theme in The Hobbit. Smaug is the main antagonist. In many ways the Smaug episode reflects and references the dragon of Beowulf, and Tolkien uses the episode to put into practice some of the ground-breaking literary theories he had developed about the Old English poem in its portrayal of the dragon as having bestial intelligence. Tolkien greatly prefers this motif over the later medieval trend of using the dragon as a symbolic or allegorical figure, such as in the legend of St. George. Smaug the dragon with his golden hoard may be seen as an example of the traditional relationship between evil and metallurgy as collated in the depiction of Pandæmonium with its "Belched fire and rolling smoke" in Milton's Paradise Lost. Of all the characters, Smaug's speech is the most modern, using idioms such as "Don't let your imagination run away with you!" Just as Tolkien's literary theories have been seen to influence the tale, so have Tolkien's experiences. The Hobbit may be read as Tolkien's parable of World War I with the hero being plucked from his rural home and thrown into a far-off war where traditional types of heroism are shown to be futile. The tale as such explores the theme of heroism. As Janet Croft notes, Tolkien's literary reaction to war at this time differed from most post-war writers by eschewing irony as a method for distancing events and instead using mythology to mediate his experiences. Similarities to the works of other writers who faced the Great War are seen in The Hobbit, including portraying warfare as anti-pastoral: in "The Desolation of Smaug", both the area under the influence of Smaug before his demise and the setting for the Battle of Five Armies later are described as barren, damaged landscapes. The Hobbit makes a warning against repeating the tragedies of World War I, and Tolkien's attitude as a veteran may well be summed up by Bilbo's comment: "Victory after all, I suppose! Well, it seems a very gloomy business." On first publication in October 1937, The Hobbit was met with almost unanimously favourable reviews from publications both in the UK and the US, including The Times, Catholic World and New York Post. C. S. Lewis, friend of Tolkien (and later author of The Chronicles of Narnia between 1949 and 1954), writing in The Times reports: The truth is that in this book a number of good things, never before united, have come together: a fund of humour, an understanding of children, and a happy fusion of the scholar's with the poet's grasp of mythology... The professor has the air of inventing nothing. He has studied trolls and dragons at first hand and describes them with that fidelity that is worth oceans of glib "originality." Lewis compares the book to Alice in Wonderland in that both children and adults may find different things to enjoy in it, and places it alongside Flatland, Phantastes, and The Wind in the Willows. W. H. Auden, in his review of the sequel The Fellowship of the Ring calls The Hobbit "one of the best children's stories of this century". Auden was later to correspond with Tolkien, and they became friends. The Hobbit was nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald Tribune for best juvenile fiction of the year (1938). More recently, the book has been recognized as "Most Important 20th-Century Novel (for Older Readers)" in the Children's Books of the Century poll in Books for Keeps. Publication of the sequel The Lord of the Rings altered many critics' reception of the work. Instead of approaching The Hobbit as a children's book in its own right, critics such as Randell Helms picked up on the idea of The Hobbit as being a "prelude", relegating the story to a dry-run for the later work. Countering a presentist interpretation are those who say this approach misses out on much of the original's value as a children's book and as a work of high fantasy in its own right, and that it disregards the book's influence on these genres. Commentators such as Paul Kocher, John D. Rateliff and C. W. Sullivan encourage readers to treat the works separately, both because The Hobbit was conceived, published, and received independently of the later work, and to avoid dashing readers' expectations of tone and style. While The Hobbit has been adapted and elaborated upon in many ways, its sequel The Lord of the Rings is often claimed to be its greatest legacy. The plots share the same basic structure progressing in the same sequence: the stories begin at Bag End, the home of Bilbo Baggins; Bilbo hosts a party that sets the novel's main plot into motion; Gandalf sends the protagonist into a quest eastward; Elrond offers a haven and advice; the adventurers escape dangerous creatures underground (Goblin Town/Moria); they engage another group of elves (Mirkwood/Lothlórien); they traverse a desolate region (Desolation of Smaug/the Dead Marshes); they are received and nourished by a small settlement of men (Esgaroth/Ithilien); they fight in a massive battle (The Battle of Five Armies/Battle of Pelennor Fields); their journey climaxes within an infamous mountain peak (Lonely Mountain/Mount Doom); a descendant of kings is restored to his ancestral throne (Bard/Aragorn); and the questing party returns home to find it in a deteriorated condition (having possessions auctioned off / the Scouring of the Shire). The Lord of the Rings contains several more supporting scenes, and has a more sophisticated plot structure, following the paths of multiple characters. Tolkien wrote the later story in much less humorous tones and infused it with more complex moral and philosophical themes. The differences between the two stories can cause difficulties when readers, expecting them to be similar, find that they are not. Many of the thematic and stylistic differences arose because Tolkien wrote The Hobbit as a story for children, and The Lord of the Rings for the same audience, who had subsequently grown up since its publication. Further, Tolkien's concept of Middle-earth was to continually change and slowly evolve throughout his life and writings. The style and themes of the book have been seen to help stretch young readers' literacy skills, preparing them to approach the works of Dickens and Shakespeare. By contrast, offering advanced younger readers modern teenage- oriented fiction may not exercise their reading skills, while the material may contain themes more suited to adolescents. As one of several books that have been recommended for 11- to 14-year-old boys to encourage literacy in that demographic, The Hobbit is promoted as "the original and still the best fantasy ever written." Several teaching guides and books of study notes have been published to help teachers and students gain the most from the book. The Hobbit introduces literary concepts, notably allegory, to young readers, as the work has been seen to have allegorical aspects reflecting the life and times of the author. Meanwhile, the author himself rejected an allegorical reading of his work. This tension can help introduce readers to readerly and writerly interpretations, to tenets of New Criticism, and critical tools from Freudian analysis, such as sublimation, in approaching literary works. Another approach to critique taken in the classroom has been to propose the insignificance of female characters in the story as sexist. While Bilbo may be seen as a literary symbol of small folk of any gender, a gender-conscious approach can help students establish notions of a "socially symbolic text" where meaning is generated by tendentious readings of a given work. By this interpretation, it is ironic that the first authorized adaptation was a stage production in a girls' school. The first authorized adaptation of The Hobbit appeared in March 1953, a stage production by St. Margaret's School, Edinburgh. The Hobbit has since been adapted for other media many times. The first motion picture adaptation of The Hobbit, a 12-minute film of cartoon stills, was commissioned from Gene Deitch by William L. Snyder in 1966, as related by Deitch himself. This film was publicly screened in New York City. In 1969 (over 30 years after first publication), Tolkien sold the film and merchandising rights to The Hobbit to United Artists under an agreement stipulating a lump sum payment of £10,000 plus a 7.5% royalty after costs, payable to Allen & Unwin and the author. In 1976 (three years after the author's death) United Artists sold the rights to Saul Zaentz Company, who trade as Tolkien Enterprises. Since then all "authorized" adaptations have been signed-off by Tolkien Enterprises. In 1997 Tolkien Enterprises licensed the film rights to Miramax, which assigned them in 1998 to New Line Cinema. The heirs of Tolkien, including his son Christopher Tolkien, filed suit against New Line Cinema in February 2008 seeking payment of profits and to be "entitled to cancel... all future rights of New Line... to produce, distribute, and/or exploit future films based upon the Trilogy and/or the Films... and/or... films based on The Hobbit." In September 2009, he and New Line reached an undisclosed settlement, and he has withdrawn his legal objection to The Hobbit films. The BBC Radio 4 series The Hobbit radio drama was an adaptation by Michael Kilgarriff, broadcast in eight parts (four hours in total) from September to November 1968. It starred Anthony Jackson as narrator, Paul Daneman as Bilbo and Heron Carvic as Gandalf. The series was released on audio cassette in 1988 and on CD in 1997. The Hobbit, an animated version of the story produced by Rankin/Bass, debuted as a television movie in the United States in 1977. In 1978, Romeo Muller won a Peabody Award for his teleplay for The Hobbit. The film was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, but lost to Star Wars. The adaptation has been called "execrable" and confusing for those not already familiar with the plot. A children's opera was written and premiered in 2004. Composer and librettist Dean Burry was commissioned by the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, who produced the premiere in Toronto, Ontario, and subsequently toured it to the Maritime provinces the same year. The opera has since been produced several times in North America including in Tulsa, Sarasota and Toronto. In Decembers of 2012, 2013, and 2014, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and New Line Cinema released one part each of a three-part live-action film version produced and directed by Peter Jackson. The titles were , , and . A three-part comic book adaptation with script by Chuck Dixon and Sean Deming and illustrated by David Wenzel was published by Eclipse Comics in 1989. In 1990 a one-volume edition was released by Unwin Paperbacks. The cover was artwork by the original illustrator David Wenzel. A reprint collected in one volume was released by Del Rey Books in 2001. Its cover, illustrated by Donato Giancola, was awarded the Association of Science Fiction Artists Award for Best Cover Illustration in 2002. In 1999, The Hobbit: A 3-D Pop-Up Adventure was published, with illustrations by John Howe and paper engineering by Andrew Baron. ME Games Ltd (formerly Middle-earth Play-by-Mail), which has won several Origins Awards, uses the Battle of Five Armies as an introductory scenario to the full game and includes characters and armies from the book. Several computer and video games, both licensed and unlicensed, have been based on the story. One of the most successful was The Hobbit, an award- winning computer game published in 1982 by Beam Software and published by Melbourne House with compatibility for most computers available at the time. A copy of the novel was included in each game package. The game does not retell the story, but rather sits alongside it, using the book's narrative to both structure and motivate gameplay. The game won the Golden Joystick Award for Strategy Game of the Year in 1983 and was responsible for popularizing the phrase, "Thorin sits down and starts singing about gold." While reliable figures are difficult to obtain, estimated global sales of The Hobbit run between 35 and 100 million copies since 1937. In the UK The Hobbit has not retreated from the top 5,000 bestselling books measured by Nielsen BookScan since 1998, when the index began, achieving a three-year sales peak rising from 33,084 (2000) to 142,541 (2001), 126,771 (2002) and 61,229 (2003), ranking it at the 3rd position in Nielsen's "Evergreen" book list. The enduring popularity of The Hobbit makes early printings of the book attractive collectors' items. The first printing of the first English-language edition can sell for between £6,000 and £20,000 at auction, although the price for a signed first edition has reached over £60,000. Early American editions of The Hobbit, Middle-earth in film , 1st edition The official Harper-Collins Tolkien website, Collection of edition covers, 1937–2007, The Hobbit covers around the globe – gallery, Every UK edition of The Hobbit, Guide to U.S. editions of Tolkien books including The Hobbit, 1966 Gene Deitch 12 minute version of The Hobbit